Guyana Times Daily - December 15, 2014

Miss Guyana World Rafieya Husain made it to the Top 10 of the Miss World Pageant which concluded in London on Sunday. For her performance, she was later crowned Miss Caribbean by the pageant organisers

BRIDGE OPENINGS

WEATHER TODAY

Weather: Light rain showers are expected, with sunny conditions otherwise prevailing during the day and partly cloudy skies at night. Temperatures are expected to range between 24 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Easterly at 3.57 to 4.47 metres per second.

BoG to miners: Cut production costs to stay afloat

There is a glimmer of hope for gold miners, particularly small operators as the price for the precious metal is expected to hit US$1400 within the next 18 months given current trends.

But in the meantime, players in the industry are urged to invest in cost effective measures and more productive equipment to keep their operations afloat.

According to Goldprice. org, the current price for gold stands at US$1221, an increase from US$1136 about two weeks ago, but a significant dip from US$1800 a few years back.

Bank of Guynaa (BoG) Governor, Dr Gobind Ganga, speaking to Guyana Times in a recent interview, said it was widely expected that the price for gold would fall, but not to the level it has declined.

He said given the current state of affairs in the industry, miners will have to adjust the way they manage their operations, pointing out that the focus should be on lowering production costs.

Some small miners have complained that the meltdown in price has put their business under severe strain, while others say it has forced them to close up shop.

Recently, Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman Ramesh Persaud and Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) President Patrick Harding in separate interviews had told Guyana Times that even if calls were realised for value-added production

of gold in Guyana, it would not be enough to save the gold mining industry from its current problem as is hoped by the Government and other stakeholders. The gold mining sector has been a catalyst for economic growth, contributing to improvements in the well-being of citizen.

This has been achieved because of the consistently rising levels of gold declarations and prices over the last decade. The importance of the gold mining sector to the economy cannot be overemphasised since gold has been the largest earner of foreign revenue for the last seven years.

The fluctuation in gold prices has left miners scared and contemplating the way forward, since they are of the opinion that the industry will be unable to survive, given all that is happening.

Still hope

However, Dr Ganga, an Economist by profession and also head of the Guyana Gold Board, said notwithstanding the trying times confronting the industry, there was still hope for all miners.

Hope, he said, will come from prudent management and this entails operators trying to bring down production costs. He contending that if this was achieved, even with a decline in prices, miners would still make a profit.

“There is no ifs and buts of the problem the gold sector is experiencing, because of declining prices. You have to understand that expecta-

tions are as such that when prices are reduced by that level, everyone would say hey', it is not profitable'.

“We know that for some miners, it is not profitable as it was before, but as I said, we need the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association to also participate in working with the Guyana Gold Board (GGB), the Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to provide the wherewithal for more efficient ways of producing gold or mining the gold.

“The situation calls for an adjustment. You cannot expect prices to remain high all the time, so you have to do some adjustment, you still have to do much more adjustments, the adjustments are to increase productivity and if you can increase pro-

ductivity, it would mean a reduction in cost of production, prices would come down, and you still have a level of profit, but it will be at a lower level,” he said.

Concessions

Government has offered a range of concessions to miners to support their operations in light of the slump in the price for gold. All small and medium-scale operations benefit from duty-free concessions on All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs); excavators; bulldozers and other machinery used in the mining sector.

The waivers are available for new entrants and for current miners based on production levels.

Additionally, waivers are granted for double-cab pickup trucks based on the production levels of miners.

Three categories were established: Declarants with 5000 ounces and more annually, declarants between 2000 and 4999 ounces annually and declarants between 500 and 1999 annually.

Nineteen suppliers of mining equipment and spares also received tax waivers on the importation of equipment.

“This will reduce the cost of spares and critical suppliers for miners and in addition to the items that are currently imported dutyfree, such as pumps, flexes and matting,” the GGMC had said.

Central Bank Governor, Dr Gobind Ganga

Editor: Nigel Williams

Tel: 225-5128, 231-0397, 226-9921, 226-2102, 223-7230 or 223-7231. Fax: 225-5134

Mailing address: 238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown

Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, sales@guyanatimesgy.com

Editorial

Crime concerns

Citizens are understandably skittish about crime in the Christmas season. In what is supposed to be "the season for giving" it would appear that there have always been some that translate the aphorism as "the season for taking - by any means necessary". The recent armed raid on the Sterling Products business on the East Bank Demerara Public Road invoked thoughts of the notorious Linden ‘Blackie’ London, who unleashed a wave of audacious and brutal attacks on businesses back in the late 1990s.

Those attacks - which included kidnappings, robberies of banks and cambios - are now conceded to have been part and parcel of the Opposition PNC's programme of destabilisation of the PPP/C Government immediately before and after the 1997 elections. The PNC had been voted out in 1992 under "free and fair" elections, accepted by the PNC leader Desmond Hoyte only because the US, which had sponsored them since 1964, pulled the rug with the end of the Cold War.

In one of the earliest acts of provocation, Hoyte had descended on the East Bank of Essequibo, and told some of his supporters at the Rosinante Cooperative near Vergonoegen Coop to "shoot to kill" anyone who stepped on the Coop's land. The land in question had been acquired by individuals deemed to be supporters of the PPP/C. It is not a coincidence that Blackie London hailed from Vergenoegen and was a Special Forces Member who had been trained during Brigadier David Granger's running of the Army.

Hoyte, of course, notoriously attended the funeral of Blackie London, who had been run to the ground in Eccles and killed in a hail of bullets by the Police. In the operation, the army contingent, under the command of Captain McAllister, brother of PNC MP James Mc Allister refused to fire on London. Hoyte draped a flag of Guyana over the bandit's coffin at the Square of the Revolution and armed gunmen were allowed to accompany his coffin in a "hero's" procession to Vergenoegen.

The hundreds of millions of loot that the London gang snatched from innocent businessmen - 30 killed between 1998-1999 alone - we're never recovered and it is widely speculated it became the war chest to finance the PNC's disturbances launched after the 1997 elections, which the PNC again lost ignominiously.

Andrew Douglas, one of the "Mash Five Prison Escapees" was an ex-Policeman and a lieutenant in the gang of Blackie London. Along with Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins, who was one of his lieutenants, Douglas took the nexus between crime and politics to new lows in Guyana.

In light of the foregoing, it is now understandable why Winston Felix, as the Commissioner of Police during the height of the armed conflagration by the political bandits, refused to constitute and deploy a Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team - even though one had been formed and trained by the British.

His secretly taped conversation with Basil Williams, Executive Member of the PNC about "heading off" the civilian authorities from the trail of the bandits, after one particularly brutal massacre at Agricola, is instructive of the crime-politics connection in Guyana.

It is not coincidental that directly after his mandatory retirement from the Police Force, Felix marched in the PNC protest of the 2006 elections and became their MP after. He is now the "Security Expert" to the PNC in Parliament.

As the PNC/APNU now prepares to make another assault on the reins of power - this time in coalition with the Alliance For Change (AFC) - the foregoing demonstrates that the fears of the citizens are not just paranoia. The question as to why the new SWAT team, which was commissioned last year, was not deployed to deal with the Sterling armed invasion and murder must be answered.

A condign message should have been sent to those who would want a repeat of the deadly political-crime cocktail in our country.

Happiness: a word widely used but not properly understood

Dear Editor,

In response to the article in your paper, “Happiness”, on November 23 by Narine Dat Sookram, I would like to say to Hindus especially in Guyana and of the world that the word happiness is widely used but not properly understood.

Material wealth is not what we are made for and misery in this context is called happiness.

In the light of Hinduism, happiness is to be in union with the Almighty, to realize God. It is a state of controlling our mind. Please understand that I am not a pandit, but I understand what happiness is, but to reach that will take many more births. It could be only achieved by preparing and the purification of the mind.

In the spiritual world, it is realizing (happiness) God. In the material world, we spend our life and all our efforts in the pursuit of happiness.

According to our Hindu scripture, happiness is when one achieves moksha (salvation). This is achieved only when we eradicate all our bad karma, which could only be done by severe penance through severe sacrifice. The purpose of Vedic philosophy through Sanatana Dharma (Hindusim) is to help man to understand

how to reach that goal of happiness.

What we understand as happiness are mere miseries as indicated in our Vedic scripture. Man is endowed with mind, intelligence and ego, collectively known as consciousness, which is a source of thinking, understanding and acting.

As the wheel of life turns, consciousness experiences the five miseries of life, namely: ignorance, selfishness, attachment, aversion and love of life. These in turn leave the consciousness in five different states which may be dull, wavering, partially stable, one-pointed attention and controlled.

Each one of these miseries mentioned could be elaborated on, in more detail. This is the material aspect of happiness. Once you have an understanding of these miseries, you will be encouraged to work for the spiritual happiness.

Consciousness is like fire, fueled by desires. Consciousness in the pure state becomes a source of enlightenment. Until we understand the profundity of these words, happiness will remain the misery in our world.

According to our Hindu Scriptures the purpose of human life is to realize the absolute truth. In order to know the truth, the mind

must be prepared, purified and sublimated. All the rituals and Karma Kandas are meant for acquiring the purity of mind.

Performance of Havan, Yagna, Vrata, Puja, Japa (mantra chanting) help purify the mind and get one’s desire fulfilled. By adhering to these ‘codes’ we will be able to reach the real happiness.

Our five senses are the mechanized system that activate our ego of which brings us to that state of mind where we can work for that happiness of being in company with the Lord. This is what happiness is all about, to be in union with God.

The Bhagavat Gita, Upanishad and the Vedas are purposely designed to help us reach real happiness.

An example of a great mind is Mahatma Gandhi, who worked for happiness. With consciousness, he died for all India and the people. He became a spiritualist that was aligned with happiness, God and human beings.

Happiness forms a central theme in religion and leads to a state of everlasting peace. In the material world, ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming craving in all forms of happiness, such as acquiring ‘monetary wealth’ and maintaining

good friendships.

Monetary wealth is a necessity for good living and the welfare of all beings, but you get whatever you want and need, but this is not a permanent happiness.

Monetary wealth can disappear at anytime, this will cause despair in life. Happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance and health. They are called happiness.

This is true ‘unconditional happiness’ that keeps increasing rapidly every moment, until you achieve the full access to the reservoir in form of spiritual happiness. Spiritual wealth is forever and is the happiness we seek.

As mentioned above we create our own hell or happiness which now is now called ‘happiness’. The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven. We can see that many people on this earth are carrying around their own happiness, experiencing the miseries of life which are ignorance, selfishness, attachment, aversion and love of life. Misery is now called ‘happiness’.

S N Singh

The Lions Club made scores of children’s Christmas brighter with a fete over the weekend (Carl Croker photo)

We all bear responsibility for the way things are Suspension of E-Government Project disappointing

Dear Editor, It must now be absolutely clear to all our fellow Guyanese that our political culture is being developed along lines that will see us forever mired in controversy and a spirit of con-cooperation and non-compromise.

This is further exacerbated by other players on the national spectrum who should have been the instruments of inculcating some measure of sanity into our debates and decisions.

These include the bar, human rights and other associations in society, the media, and other func-

tionaries who should be at least objective and all-inclusive in their utterances. Instead, we find that most of these are always consistent with their posture of antagonism and condemnation.

Further, we should not delude ourselves into believing that this culture would end with any change in the political structure.

The way forward towards the advancement of the affairs of our country must surely lie in much self-examination of our individual stances and actions in each of the events being played out nationally.

This necessitates that we should all understand and appreciate that we are all human beings, with all of us having some amount of goodness, with none of us perfect, and with all of us subject of the strains of daily life, especially in such a divided state in which we find ourselves, expressly because of this vast divide which we have created in our beloved country.

I appeal to all our people, however, they are involved and in whatever they are now occupied, to realise that our salvation as a people lies in the fact that we all bear responsibility for the way things

are, and we all need to conduct this self-examination and deal with one another empathically, more compassionately and with a large dose of brotherliness in our actions.

This would prove not so problematic if we regard our nation as one large family, as it virtually is, and deal with one another as we would with members of our own household – with a spirit of empathy, compassion and earnest desire to create real peace, justice, equality and national unity in our nation.

Roy Paul

GPL should return to bargaining table without pre-condition

Dear Editor, The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) deprecates the ill-advised decision of the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) to abort a sensitive meeting on December 9 with the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) – an affiliate of FITUG – to discuss the long-delayed meeting to address wage/salary hike for GPL employees for year

2014. The Federation understands that NAACIE went to attend the meeting with two members of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) as advisors and that was the sole reason for GPL to walk away from the meeting, which the employees of the most important utility company in the country eagerly want to take place with a view to having the Union’s wage/salary claim settled with the employer.

Counterpart employees of GPL in the Public Service are to receive five and eight per cent wage/ salary increases retroactive to January 1 in keeping with the recent decision of the Government.

In negotiations, at whatever forum, any team has the inalienable right to decide on its team composition, including its chosen advisors, as was the case of NAACIE at the scheduled NAACIE/GPL meeting on December 9.

FITUG believes such an insignificant matter, which has so far stymied NAACIE and GPL from meeting, could trigger unnecessary industrial action by the employees of the company.

FITUG takes the opportunity to call upon the GPL to return to the bargaining table without any pre-condition with respect to the composition of the Union’s delegation.

FITUG

All students should study religious education

Dear Sir/Madam,

I wish to congratulate the Government of Guyana, the Minister of Education and the Ministry of Education, all teachers and the shining stars (students) for their exemplary performances at the 2014 CSEC and CAPE examinations.

Your excellent results have made us (Guyana) so proud of you. You are

the future of our beautiful nation; please continue to strive for excellence in your future endeavors. I further wish to encourage all students to study religious education, for I am sure that this knowledge will cause you to be a better human being in our diverse and multicultural society. It will certainly assist you to be more tolerant and

understanding of the other faiths.

I applaud the Board of Directors of the ISA Islamic School Inc, the administration and teachers for making it mandatory that each of their students who are preparing for the CSEC sit the Religious Education (RE) examination in Grade 11.

Finally, I extend con -

gratulations to the three students (Br Ibrahim Khan, Sr Sakeena Khan and Sr Saahirah Khan) for their excellent performance and great accomplishment in securing placement within the top 10 students from the Caribbean who wrote the RE exams.

Nazar Mohamed

Dear Editor,

It is both disturbing and disappointing to read that the fibre-optic cable component of the E-Government Project has been suspended since November 2013 due to faulty instillation that now requires remedial works (Guyana Times, December 12).

Why only now are we made aware of this? And who would be held accountable for the flop? This revelation by the Project Manager Alexi Ramotar also comes as a huge surprise to those keenly following the progress of the project.

In January 2014, President Donald Ramotar assured that the project was experiencing minor challenges and that “we have pushed it back, the handing over to August 2014. However, we expect all the parts to be finished by April 2014, we are on track for that and the April to August period is where we will be doing a lot of testing, and optimisation of the network and so forth. These are very standard things that happen in telecoms.”

Correspondingly, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds reassured in February of this year that the “E-Government Project

unit aimed for an April 2014 completion date. However, this has been extended for August 2014”, and “additional delays stemmed from difficulty of procuring piles, adverse weather conditions, and the provision of electrical access to the sites. By no stretch of the imagination can these delays be considered extensive.”

Now we are being told that the complications surrounding the project aren’t so subtle.

That aside, this represents a severe blow to our private sector and Guyana’s global competitiveness profile. Projects and initiatives like these should ideally be left to the private sector to undertake.

Digicel has for years expressed an interest in a fibre optic cable and it was only until October this year that the company was informed that its application for a submarine cable was approved.

Government should only intervene if a gap or vacuum exists. And if the Government does commit to such projects, hire professionals with the requisite competence and experience to successfully execute the job.

Clinton Urling

Page Foundation

Amid a spike in Ebola transmission rates in Sierra Leone, the United Nations envoy coordinating the massive global crisis response has travelled to the West African nation to help implement a surge in efforts to contain the outbreak.

“We need to put in place a big surge to get those case numbers down, and we’ve been working on implementing that surge in the last week,”

Anthony Banbury, head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), said in a press release following his twoday visit to the country’s capital, Freetown, from December 11 to 12.

“I came to see how that’s going, how the preparations are and to see what more UNMEER can do,” he added.

With some 8069 cases, Sierra Leone is now the worstaffected country in West Africa, according to UNMEER’s latest data. Together, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have so far registered over 18,000 cases of Ebola, including more than 6300 deaths.

The increasingly high transmission rates in Sierra Leone were reported in recent weeks, leading the Government of Sierra Leone and UNMEER to mount a surge response.

Earlier in the week, the UN Special Envoy on Ebola, Dr David Nabarro, also noted that Sierra Leone had become an “area of concern” due to the high levels of viral transmission and

urged “a much more intense response”.

He pointed out that some of the most experienced Ebola responders in the world were currently working in that area, together with UNMEER’s “Western Area Surge team”, the Government, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) and partners to ensure there were enough beds and burial teams.

In addition, the UN envoy explained the logistical difficulty of staffing the Ebola treatment units with 300 beds that require some 300 people. The staff needed to change shifts every three to four hours because of the heat of the protective clothing, and each changeover was a dangerous moment, as was each interaction with patients, particularly with needles.

During his trip to Freetown, Banbury visited an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) being run by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and the Sierra Leone armed forces and praised the work being done on the ground.

“It’s one of the few ETUs anywhere in the region that is run by the people in the country,” said Banbury. “They have very good outcomes, good survival rates; it’s working very well. It’s impressive.”

Banbury is winding down his appointment as UNMEER chief and will be succeeded by Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania in early January 2015. (UN News)

Christmas focuses on many significant morals. You can teach children about the many lessons surrounding Christmas, even without delving into the religious aspects of the holiday. It is common belief that actions speak louder than words and there are many ways in which we as parents can make this season much more practical for our children to learn the morals that should come with the season, while bringing joy to other children’s lives.

Giving to others

Most children get much during the Christmas season. They may get gifts from multiple family members and friends. Let us aim to teach them that Christmas is as much about giving as

Inspirational

We spend precious hours throughout the year fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use this season to reflect and project for the New Year while taking time to adore our families, cherish our friends, and living our lives as beautiful as possible. This will teach our children to do the same in their lives.

it is about receiving. You can remind them that not all children are privileged enough to have many gifts. Go with your son or daughter to buy a gift for a disadvantaged child. It is not very hard to find a family who is underprivileged

a special gift themselves can add meaning to the holiday, especially when they see how much their loved ones treasure the gifts. They can also use art to express what Christmas means to them. You can assign them to the task of drawing the

ing. For instance, if you live near a senior citizen home, take your child to volunteer there. Just having a child visitor can bring smiles to senior citi zens

that would greatly appreciate a present for someone, because they are unable to purchase for themselves. Look down the streets or inquire from a friend to find a family to whom you can give for the season. This act will teach your child the need to look out for others.

Your child can also create crafts and art projects for their loved ones. Making

good things one can do during Christmas to bring joy to others. This will facilitate the process of them being creative in helping others.

Volunteering

Christmas is about sharing joy with others. Your child can do this in a very personal way by volunteer-

come to see them. Your child can also sing Christmas carols with you. Seeing the joy others feel can teach them about how simple it can be to do something to bring happiness to others.

Family Time

Christmas is also a great deal about family. Your child can learn that Christmas involves spending meaningful time with their loved ones. You can have them spend special one-on-one time with a grandparent or an older relative. They can try to make an effort to speak nicely to someone they may not get along with, such as a sibling. Let them understand that the holiday shows how important family bonds truly are.

These important ideals will hopefully be remembered throughout the years to come.

Please remember that children need to be protected and cared for throughout the year especially during the Christmas season. Do whatever you can to put a smile on their young angelic faces.

Please contact us on telephone number 231-7174 or at programmes.childlink@networksgy.com for any support you may need with parenting and any other challenges that you may be experiencing with your children, or call the Child Protection Agency on 2274082.

Cuban Ambassador: US reinforcing, not ending embargo

Cuban Ambassador to Guyana Julio Gonzales Marchante said there is no indication that the US will end the trade embargo on Cuba.

In fact, the Ambassador told Guyana Times that the embargo has actually intensified.

The Ambassador said the embargo has affected practically every aspect of life in Cuba over the past 50 years, and even though a number of countries, institutions and influential persons have spoken out against it, the US remains unmoved.

In July, the US Government had clamped down on a number of banks that were facilitating transactions with Cuba.

USAToday had reported that six banks were being investigated in Germany, France, Italy or Japan for

“processing transactions linked to countries that the US has designated as rogue nations”.

Ambassador Marchante said US President Barrack Obama had made attempts to get talks started on the issue as the US citizenry are generally against the 50 year trade blockage.

However, regarding President Obama’s attempts on the embargo, Mercopress has reported that he may not have much control over the removal of the ban as it was a decision that had been made by the US Congress in 1996 through the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act.

According to this Act, sanctions levied against Cuba and the embargo cannot be removed unless Cuba is to renege on socialist policies to a more democratic

perspective as well as deal with the human rights issues affecting the State.

There have been many concerns regarding human rights, lack of political expressions and freedom of rights in Cuba.

Robert Menendez, a Democrat and Senior Senator of New Jersey, had written the New York Times about their being a total of 7500 political arrests documented this year alone.

Meanwhile, some have called the embargo justified, yet there has been many cries of human rights contravention in the Middle East, Africa but these countries have not been banned from trading with the USA. This, of course begs the question what exactly is the obstacle.

“It’s a war that have no sense and (very much) unjustified,” Ambassador Marchante stated, contending that “we’re not in war, we are offering cooperation.”

Cuba has been a longstanding ally of Guyana and has in a tangible way contributed to the growth of the local health sector through the training of Guyanese to become doctors in Cuba. Cuban doctors have also been assigned to work here.

Health Minister, Dr Bheri Ramsaran had also joined with Ambassador Marchante in calling for the removal of the trade blockade on Cuba.

Cut production costs...

Miners also have a concession on fuel whereby it only attracts 10 per cent CIF (cost, insurance and freight) excise tax. They also have access to 10 per cent of their gold sales available in US dollars to assist in retooling, capital acquisition and diversification of investments.

In addition, the GGDMA had proposed to the GGMC and the Natural Resources Ministry the reduction of rental paid on mining properties and lowering royalty payments from the current five per cent.

The Association had also agreed to submit a proposal recommending the rates for royalty and rental payments which will be reviewed by the Ministry and the Commission.

Stay firm Central Bank Governor said the sweet spot for gold is US$1400, especially in a situation where there are declining oil prices, as he

emphasised the need for miners to hold their nerve, noting that the road to recovery is within reachable distance.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the downward spiral in the price for gold, but from all indications, the chief cause appears to be the US dollar.

Dr Ganga explained that currently, the value of the US dollar is high, and naturally, there is a movement towards the currency as it is also an investment instrument.

The high value of the US dollar results in high returns but interest rates in the US are quite low; however, they are expected to increase.

“So once the interest starts to increase, you will find that gold prices will start to decline. You will find that when the equity market is doing good, people move away from investing in gold, that will cause prices to decline as they

Amerindian Song Festival wows NCC audience

Saturday evening for many ended with strange melodies in unknown dialects, spellbound dances and images of art ranging from costume to body paintings.

Many took home visions of forest and hunters with face paintings.

It all happened at the first ever Indigenous Song Festival hosted by the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry at the National Cultural Centre (NCC).

The Indigenous Song Festival was awaited by many in their bid to see the Amerindian culture being portrayed through songs and dances.

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said the festival is geared towards reviving the dying Amerindian languages.

He said it has been a goal

of his to ensure the survival of the various Amerindian dialects, and in order to do this, everyone needs to recognise and accept the Amerindian culture as an integral part of the Guyanese culture.

He was a bit concerned that residents, particularly on the coastland, never heard an Amerindian dialect.

The Minister said his Ministry has been working tirelessly to ensure Amerindians use their dialects more in their daily lives and to ensure their children remain knowledgeable of it.

Persons who are not Amerindians can also learn an Amerindian dialect or two as the Ministry has published dictionaries of the dialects of the various Amerindian tribes in Guyana.

Similar publications for

the Carib and Wai-Wai will be completed in 2015, the Minister said. Also on the agenda for the promulgation of the Amerindian languages is the publication of Amerindian stories by the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry.

Speaking on the Song Festival, the Minister suggested that CDs of the event be made available to others so as to popularise the occasion.

Festival Co-ordinator Ovid Williams was able to guide the audience rather successfully in understanding the dances and the songs that were belted out by quite a few talented tribesmen. A linguist and scholar, Williams suggested to the Ministry that steps be taken to train Amerindians in their singing as some truly had talent.

From page 3

move to the equity market, that is, in terms of stocks.

“You will find that when a country is not doing well, in particular India and let us say China, two of the major buyers of gold, when they are importing less, it means that the demand for gold is not there, which will result in a downward spiralling of prices.

“We also know that inflation is very low, almost everywhere, with low levels of inflation, it means that there is no other safe investment; gold is no longer a safe investment, because of the risk, so you move to the alternative investment instrument.

“We are hoping though that these trajectories will change and you will have an increase in prices, let us say within the next year or 18 months you should have an increase to a level about US$1400, as expected by most analysts,” the Central Bank Governor said.

Amerindian singers in action at the National Cultural Centre on Saturday

Cuban Ambassador to Guyana Julio Gonzales Marchante

Motorcyclist dies after colliding with car

Acollision between a car and a motorcycle claimed the life of a young man on Friday at Number 74 Village, Corentyne, Berbice at approximately 18:30h.

Dead is 20-year-old Shawn Alex Lakeram of Number 72 Village. The accident occurred as Lakeram was making his way home.

According to reports, the two vehicles were proceeding in opposite directions, when the driver of the car, a grey wagon, turned into a street and Lakeram made a right turn at the said time on his motorcycle, colliding with the car.

According to Lakeram’s father, Jerry, proprietor of the popular Jerry’s General Store,

he was in Georgetown when he was informed of the accident. He related that from his understanding, his son was riding his cousin’s motorbike and was proceeding along the road when he and the driver

of the car both turned into a street and the vehicles collided Lakeram was thrown off the bike and received head injuries. He was picked up in an unconscious state and rushed

to the Skeldon Hospital where he received medical attention. The young man, who was in critical condition, had to be transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital.

The elder Lakeram further related that around midnight, his son’s condition worsened and he was then transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, but succumbed on the way there.

The driver of the motor car is in Police custody assisting with the investigation.

Lakeram, the eldest of three children, leaves to mourn his siblings and parents. A Post-Mortem Examination is expected to be conducted today to determine his cause of death.

Eyew tness

Changes...

...in Agricultural development??

At long last, it seems our large scale agricultural development might be taking off.

Trinidad confirmed responsibility for doling out 10,000 acres in Canje to their own farmers to produce items for export to their country. The Trinidad Minister of Agriculture's here again - but now with a team that's supposed to "spec out" the land.

But this Eyewitness has to be frank...he's really not convinced that much will come out of this initiative. It's not that he's a pessimist, but the Trinis do seem to be quite confused about what they're trying to achieve. When the Minister came some months ago, he said that the goal was to "reduce the food imports into Trinidad".

Now there's nothing wrong about that. But the last time we looked, Guyana was not part of Trinidad - so how the heck will the products shipped from Guyana not count as "imports" into Trinidad?? The Trinis also aren't clear about the involvement of locals in the venture. While we Guyanese may snicker about how tiny Trinidad is, in reality, there's lots of prime agricultural land available that's not being utilised.

Less than a decade ago, the former PNM Government of Patrick Manning launched 18 "mega farms" in Trinidad with the same goal of "reducing food imports". They've all gone belly up - even after the Government pumped millions into them. The problem with the effort was that Trinidad's lost its farmer "class" but - unlike what's happened over in Suriname - they refuse to allow the free movement of Guyanese into their country to get the job done.

In Guyana, the Trinis don't seem to have engaged many - if at all, any - locals and unless they do this pronto they won't even be able to get off the ground. Also, it doesn't seem to have dawned on the Trinis that the land they've been offered is literally virgin territory, which has to be drained, and then irrigated for those crops that'll be cultivated in the dry season.

In the estimation of this Eyewitness, the Trinis are trying to reinvent the wheel. The Jagdeo Initiative - under which the land was offered to all Caricom countries at dirt cheap rates - Trinidad was asked to address one of the eight identified "constraints" - finance. All Trinidad needed to do is to establish a fund that would finance large scale agriculture in Guyana.

By accepting proposals on products for which Trinidad would provide the markets, they could've had their cake and eat it too.

Its not too late.

...in multi-racial politics

Few were actually fooled when the AFC - launched in 2005 - boasted they were introducing "multi-racial" politics in Guyana. How?? Well because they SAID so!! And that the two top guns from the PNC and PPP/C were respectively "African" and "Indian"!!

The irony that EVERY political party (with the exception of GUMP in the 1960s and ROAR in the 2000s) has made the same claim - with the same technique - fronting persons from the various ethnic groups - seems to've been lost on the group.

But recently, the mask has been ripped from the AFC's pretensions when the party was invited by the Africandominated APNU to send their top leaders to a meeting. The AFC's Indian leaders - Ramjattan and Nagamootoosent the African ones and studiously stayed away. For once they admitted they did so because they would be "dead meat" if their Indian supporters saw them on an "African" stage. Multiracial?? Ha!!!

Recently, this paper asked non-Indian AFC's Treasurer Dominic Gaskin how he could be a member of a party that shunned Africans.

Exhibiting severe cognitive dissonance, Gaskin stoutly denied what his leader had explicated announced!!

...in presidential power?? Nope!

After complaining about "abuse" of presidential power ...more specifically the use of the prorogation prerogative, David Granger turned a complete somersault. He now says when it comes to clipping presidential powers...the "people" should pronounce!!

Shawn Alex Lakeram

Many businesses don’t remit VAT

…some

not certified

By Jomo Paul

Guyana

Revenue Authority (GRA)

Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur has confirmed that more than half of Guyana’s registered Value Added Tax (VAT) collectors do not remit the money collected to Government at the scheduled time. He also noted that some establishments are Chinese-owned business which are not certified to charge VAT.

Sattaur, in an interview with the Guyana Times on Sunday, said that some shrewd businessmen have found ways to cheat the system and keep some or all of the monies paid to them by consumers for themselves.

VAT was introduced locally on January 1, 2007, together with an Excise Tax (ET) on motor vehicles, petroleum, tobacco products and alcohol. VAT, along with ET, replaced six existing taxes, including

Consumption Tax. VAT was introduced as part of the Government’s plan to modernise and streamline the taxation system. The concept of VAT was invented in the 1950s and it is now in operation, in one form or another, in more than 120 countries worldwide.

Sattaur stated that

while the businesses are registered to charge VAT, most times the accounting systems are severely flawed which result in them not paying the full amounts collected to the Revenue Authority. This means that the Government gets cheated out of possibly millions of dollars in revenue each year.

He explained too that these businesses are able to thwart the VAT system with the aid of both complicit and unsuspecting consumers.

He told this newspaper that “some persons are willing to accept the option of not paying VAT as offered to them by the business, but they would not actually be sure whether they too are not being cheated.”

Cheating

He said that this is done when the customer is offered the option of not receiving a bill for their purchases in which case they pay marginally less for the item.

However, they have no way of knowing whether it is the accurate amount.

Sattaur also remarked that the businesses have found ways to receive more than what is due to them when they are claiming VAT refunds.

According to Sattaur, some businesses go to the extent of manufacturing receipts for VAT paid to import produce. Others have also altered receipts to claim more than what was actually paid.

Annually the revenue body pays more than $3.5 billion in VAT refunds to businesses. Refunds are covered under Section 35 (1) of the Value Added Tax Act which states that:

“Where the total amount of the input tax creditable by a taxable person under section 24 for a period exceeds the person’s output tax for that period; or the amount of tax paid by a person, other than in circumstances specified..., was in excess of the amount properly charged to tax under this Act, the amount of the excess shall be treated in the manner provided in this section.

“Provided that a taxpayer exports over 50 per cent of his taxable supplies, he may file a claim every month to

Chain

AFreedie love a freebie

Every body who know Freedie de man kisser know that Freedie like free tings. Not only free books from de U-Gee library and all de way from Canada whah he used to thief. But any where he go, he like to get free tings. Once Freedie de man kisser write bout havin dinner or lunch wid someone, is more than likely de other person pay de bill. Freedie always never got money, or he fuhget he money in he car, or he gone to de washroom when de bill reach de table.

Freedie mek fight in a suit store fuh free suit. Freedie mek fight in a pizza place fuh free pizza. Freedie mek fight in a hardware store de other day just to pass out wid some ting free. Thank God fuh security or Freedie woulda get away scot free. Again!

Freedie only hear that G-Pee-Hell and G-Tea-an-Tea sharin poles de other day and Freedie went early morning to line up at G-Pee-Hell. Freedie thought dem was sharin OUT poles. He wasn’t sure whah kinda poles, but he still show up. After all, Freedie like any kinda pole.

Freedie got de guts (wid no b*lls) to bad talk people who show up at a supermarket to get 10 per cent discount. At least dem people pay fuh whah ever dem had in dem basket at de end of all de shoppin.

That is some ting whah Freedie not accustom to. And Freedie just don’t wanna admit that he was also headin to the 10 per cent discount, but is because he couldn’ta finda park, he get vex and drive away. And that was de next day column.

De bottom line is that once any body seh freebie, there will be also be Freedie. De problem wid that bottom line is that it ain’t got no bottom just like how it ain’t got no limit to Freedie not havin any shame.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! All who got shops, look out fuh Freedie. He gon show up fuh a freebie any time soon.

the GRA for a refund of the excess credits attributable to the zero-rated supplies.”

The GRA Chief explained that on an annual basis, the amount of input tax utilised against output take has been steadily increasing.

He added that “we must first identify the nature of the problem before considering the solutions".

He said the problems are as diverse as not keeping adequate and proper records for the GRA to audit the extent of the unreported sales to not been in a position to properly conduct the audits of VAT refunds or the extent of the input tax credits that

are fraudulently used as set off against the output taxes reported monthly in their VAT returns.

With respect to Chinese nationals not having tax certificates, he pointed out that it was the “the lesser of two evils”.

Sattaur told the Guyana Times that given the fact that the Chinese have a “lax” accounting system, it is better to not certify them in some instances.

He explained should they be registered, chances are a considerable amount of the monies collected as payment for VAT would not be accounted for.

snatcher shot in the end

20-year-old man was shot in the buttocks after he snatched a chain from a woman’s neck at High Street, Georgetown around 09:45h on Sunday.

The injured man, identified as Jamal Letlow of Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, has been hospitalised.

According to reports, Letlow was travelling in a minibus when he requested

to be put off at High Street. As he was exiting the bus, he snatched a gold chain from the neck of a female passenger.

In a release, Police disclosed that an alarm was immediately raised by persons in the bus. Ranks of a City Constabulary Patrol were in the vicinity at the time and responded immediately. They gave chase after the young man and con-

fronted him. “Jamal Letlow was confronted by one of the ranks whom he attacked with a knife, despite being called upon to desist, and was shot to his buttocks,” the Police revealed.

Letlow has been admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital under guard as the investigation into the matter continues. His condition has been listed as stable.

GRA Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur

Times Notebook

The US Embargo against Cuba

The American Embargo against Cuba is a crime against a whole nation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that it was not able to pay Cuban doctors fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone because of the US Cuban Embargo.

The Cubans represent the largest contingency of volunteers fighting against Ebola, the dreaded killer disease in Africa. There are more than 260 Cuban doctors in Sierra Leone and dozens of others in Guinea and Liberia.

They are paid U$S250 per day to meet all their living expenses, including boarding and lodging. Yet the Cuban Government had to intervene to pay the doctors because the WHO would be breaking Embargo rules if it pays the doctors.

Cuba’s work in Africa fighting Ebola is not new.

Cuba has for more than 50 years been providing support to virtually every African country and has been in the forefront fighting diseases such as HIV and Malaria in Africa and other parts of the world.

America itself has praised Cuba for its recent work in African countries fighting against Ebola. Secretary of State John

Kerry has publicly heaped praise on Cuba. American doctors work daily alongside their Cuban colleagues as they save lives in Africa.

When the Cuban Foreign Minister described the Embargo against Cuba as “genocidal and vile”, some may say that was hyperbole. But the Embargo has affected Cuba significantly and has in turn affected other countries that have benefitted from Cuban support.

When GAVI, an international organisation providing vaccines for children tried to take vaccines into Cuba years ago, the Embargo prevented Cuban children from getting lifesaving vaccines.

On October 27, the UN

for the 23rd time called on the US to end the Cuban Embargo. The gradual shift to a near-unanimous vote in favor is a clear sign of the widespread disapproval of the Embargo. Guyana has voted to end the Embargo since 1993. Guyana was one of the first countries to recognize Cuba after the revolution and Dr Cheddi Jagan had appointed an Ambassador to Cuba since 1962. Long before the Caribbean leaders came together in 1972 to establish diplomatic ties with Cuba, Cheddi had already charted that journey.

Recently, the Heads of Governments of Caricom renewed their call for the US to end the Embargo. Yet 55 years after it was first

imposed, President Obama renewed the Embargo against Cuba, which is one of the longest standing trade freezes in the world. It was imposed in 1960, strengthened in 1962 and earlier this month renewed by President Obama who had promised during the Presidential Elections in 2008 that he would end the Embargo.

Actually, Obama cannot lift the Embargo with one of his infamous “Executive Orders” because of the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act which requires US Congressional approval to lift the Embargo. Such approval is subject to human rights improvements and the democratic election of a new Havana Government, preferably without a Castro family member at the helm.

However, the US has never had much issue creating diplomatic ties with one-party states, nor have

they ever needed ‘democracy’ as a reason to trade. Alliances with extremely repressive regimes, such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, help cement the idea that the reasons given for this Embargo are disingenuous at best.

The recent Report on the Treatment of Prisoners at Guantanamo shows the US Government itself is guilty of human rights violations.

How can the Americans justify the cases in Ferguson and in Staten Island on the human rights platform? What about the cases in the US where journalists have been jailed or threatened with prison terms unless they cooperate with the US Government?

The Cuban Government estimates that it has lost US$116.8 billion since the Embargo was first instituted. Although Cuba still receives a substantial

amount of tourists each year from European and Latin American nations, including some Americans that manage to sneak in, the amount of money they’ve lost in the tourist sector alone due to the Embargo is estimated in the millions of dollars. But the US itself estimates that America loses up to about US$5 billion annually. Given the 55 years of the Embargo, the US itself has lost more than US$200B.

American hypocrisy knows no end. President John F Kennedy ordered an aide to buy him as many Cuban cigars as he could just hours before he authorized the Embargowhich subsequently made them illegal. This is the same country that lectures us on corruption.

Readers are invited to send their comments by email or Facebook to times. notebook@gmail.com.

The Cuban Government estimates that it has lost US$116.8 billion since the Embargo was first instituted

AFC/APNU coalition…

Unambiguous conditions needed – WPA

By Vahnu Manikchand

With talks of a possible coalition between the Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) said that it is awaiting the conditions that would frame the coalition.

WPA Manager Desmond Trotman in an interview with Guyana Times on Sunday explained that unless the conditions are clearly spelt out for the coalition, his party will not be commenting on the matter.

Trotman pointed out that the WPA has to hear about the conditions that would give rise to a broad democratic front.

He added that these conditions would then have to be discussed at the level of APNU; hence, the WPA is awaiting this to decide on the way forward.

“People can throw out the idea of a coalition but (we) can only determine the way forward after the conditions are put out there and discussed,” Trotman told this newspaper.

The WPA has been critical of the AFC in the past for not supporting APNU in its demonstrations against President Donald Ramotar’s decision to prorogue the 10th Parliament. In a statement last month, the party expressed its concern over the AFC’s absence at the many protest actions.

“The AFC, the Opposition’s junior partner that initiated the NoConfidence Motion which precipitated the prorogation move by the Government to thwart the vote for early elections, has been so far conspicuously absent from the firing line, except for a guest appearance at the APNU rally of November 14.

Momentum is being lost and reaction to the Government’s derailing of the No-Confidence Motion appears to be protest in

slow motion,” the statement said.

Game plan

The WPA outlined in the statement that there needs to be a game plan to effectively tackle the issue, “a meaningful Action Plan for implementing decisions relating thereto, and a clear conceptualisation of the End Game that signals victory for the people and defeat for the usurpers of power”.

Asked about its reconciliation plan with the minority parliamentary Opposition party if the AFC/ APNU coalition should materialise, Trotman reiterated that the way forward can be determined when all the conditions are set out so that discussions can be held.

The WPA was one of the parties that joined forces with the People’s National Congress (PNC) to form the APNU going into the 2011 General and Regional Elections and Trotman posited that the WPA is satisfied with the work that has been done.

He stated that APNU has been working within the framework that spelt out the conditions of the coalition. He went onto say that the WPA is prepared and not afraid to be in alliance with other parties or groups that has the inter-

ests on the Guyanese people as priority.

The WPA Manager added that the party never opted to contest the elections independently because it feels that forming an alliance is the best way to effectively help the people.

After coalition, the APNU became the majority Opposition party and gained 26 seats in the National Assembly while the AFC got seven. The situation caused the combined Parliamentary Oppositions to hold the majority seats in the house over the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Administration and ultimately resulted in many of Government’s business being held up.

This includes massive cuts to the National Budgets presented every year since the November 2011 elections and two No-Confidence Motions, one brought on by APNU against Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee. The other motion was filed by the AFC against the Donald Ramotar Administration after they claimed that Government continues to unlawfully spend money without the approval of the National Assembly.

On November 10, at the first post-recess sitting of the National Assembly, President Ramotar suspended Parliament after the combined Opposition threatened to proceed with debating the motion against his administration, saying that he is preserving the life of the 10th Parliament.

Subsequently on December 6, he announced that he will be dissolving Parliament next year and head to the polls. He is yet to name a date for General and Regional Elections, however, the President said that while he knows, the announcement will be made when the time is right, which he teased will be in the first quarter of 2015.

Caribbean Airlines working to make Piarco more hub-friendly

– steps being taken to speed-up connections for Guyanese

Officials of Caribbean Airlines said that it is working to make the Piarco Airport more hub-friendly to assist the thousands of Guyanese who suffer humiliation and other forms of harassment while in-transiting there.

At a reception in New York last week Carl Stuart, for many years Station Manager of Caribbean Airlines (CAL/BWIA) at CJIA, Timehri, was introduced to travel agents at a CAL sponsored holiday reception at the Hampton Inn, JFK.

Stuart is now stationed in New York as Sales Director. Stuart, who has been with CAL (BWIA) for over 20 years, and who also worked with Guyana Airways, is now CAL’s travel agent liaison for the greater New York area.

The honours was done by Senior Manager for Sales Valerie Murphy Rahman, who is based at CAL’s Piarco headquarter, Trinidad. She flew in especially for the introductory honours because of the important role Stuart will play in sales the New York area and for his enormous contributions in Guyana.

The Sales Manager of CAL for the New York metro area is Nazie Mohammed, who is based in Toronto. Mohammed will be handing over most of his New York responsibilities to Stuart. Mohammed, who is well known in the New York area among the large number of Guyanese travel agents, did

the honours of introducing Valerie Murphy- Rahman, who spoke briefly about efforts to improve CAL’s service to Guyana and to help Guyanese travellers who were stranded in Guyana and New York as a result of problems with flights by other airlines.

Murphy-Rahman gave an update on CAL’s service. She noted that Guyana is an important market and that CAL is taking measures to improve its product. She thanked travel agents for working with the airline patiently over the years to sell CAL/BWIA.

She appealed to the agents to continue to sell CAL. She promised that 2015 will be an exciting year with many changes.

“We would like you to know that we will keep you informed with everything that is happening. We have four to five non-stop flights a week to Guyana, and we have non-stop flights to Jamaica and Grenada.”

She told the agents: “We are always here to serve you. When there are problems with other carriers with regards to Guyana, we assist. We work with you to help stranded passengers.”

Murphy-Rahman also addressed the issue of Guyanese being in-transit in Piarco, Trinidad. She said she is aware of complaints from Guyanese passengers about having to get off the plane at Piarco, going through security checks and re-boarding.

She said that is a require-

ment of the Government and not CAL. “CAL has nothing to do with that. The public needs to know that it is not the airline’s rule but it is part of the security administration at Piarco”.

She said Caribbean Airlines is currently in talks with airport authorities in an effort to make Trinidad more “hub-friendly” for passengers travelling to and from Guyana whether it is deplaning or direct flights.

She reminded agents that CAL has non-stop direct flights from New York to Guyana.

“We’re hoping that next year we will get a smoother connection at Piarco,” Murphy-Rahman said. She said the airline is working on a plan to address complaints and speed up connections. She showered accolades on Carl Stuart for his service to CAL in Guyana. In his remarks, Stuart promised to work closely with travel agents to sell Caribbean Airlines as a reliable carrier and to increase flights. He noted: “The thing about Caribbean Airlines is that we move families, friends, communities, and freight. We want to sell Caribbean Airlines 365 days a year.”

He told agents: “There is a lot more we can do if we work together.” He urged them to get in touch with him if they have issues, concerns and problems so he can help resolve them. The agents were treated to light drinks and hot and cold snacks.

Sales Director (New York) Carl Stuart and other Caribbean Airlines officials at the reception

WPA Manager Desmond Trotman

Guyana places in Top 10 of Miss World

…pageant’s favourite Miss South Africa takes crown

Guyana’s Rafieya Husain has made many Guyanese proud by putting the country back in the pageantry limelight after she earned a spot in the Top 10 at the Miss World Pageant 2014 on Sunday held in London.

Husain had done exceptionally well throughout the pageant – the best performance seen by a Guyanese contestant since the 1970s. She even copped several coveted awards including the Beauty with a Purpose Award. For this competition, contestants are judged on the basis of the value they have added to society and for the first time ever, there was not one but many win-

crowned Miss World Guyana 2014 in May last, and promised to work with various organisations to fight the scourge of domestic violence, by tackling it from the grassroots level.

The Anna Regina, Essequibo, born young woman grew up in Georgetown, before relocating to the United States at age 11. She is currently a third-year Business Administration student. Husain aspires to be an entrepreneur, and hopes her studies will equip her with the tools to be successful. In her spare time she enjoys archery, cooking and reading, and likes to travel as much as possible, collecting snow globes from

ners declared for the competition. Husain was also named Miss Caribbean after being the only contestant from a Caribbean Country to be placed in the Top 10. Additionally, she placed second in the Multimedia Award contest.

Husain’s platform was domestic violence and she has been working to highlight and make people aware about domestic violence faced by young married women. She revealed that she was once a victim of domestic violence, which motivated her to take an active stand against the societal scourge. In her commentary, she related the story of a brave 21-year-old girl called ‘Natasha’, whose two children were killed by her husband in a drunken stupor. “My personal mission is to bring more awareness through education on recognising the early signs of Domestic Violence. I am passionate about the things set before me and ambitious enough to accomplish the task at hand,” her profile on the Miss World Website states.

The 22-year-old was

all the places she visits. Meanwhile, the Miss World 2014 pageant favourite, Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss took away the coveted title. The 22-year-old beauty queen was crowned onstage at the competition's grand finale at the Excel London ICC Auditorium.

Strauss outshone her 121 contestants from around the world. The first runner up was Miss Hungary Edina Kulcsár while the thirdplace winner was Miss United States Elizabeth Safrit. During the ceremony, contestants wore colourful costumes representing their countries and territories and several also took part in a group performance of the hit ballad "You Raise Me Up" made famous by singer Josh Groban.

The Miss World 2014 winner, in the question and answer segment, said that she should win the pageant because "Unity, respect, forgiveness exist and are the aspirations of the Miss World organisation. Humanity, forgiveness and peace is important," and she has all these qualities. And, it looks

like the judges agreed.

After she was crowned, the remaining contestants on stage danced to LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem". Strauss, the daughter of a doctor and nurse, is a fourth-year medical student at the University of the Free State. She is passionate about health, women and South Africa. For her "Beauty With A Purpose" project, which she also won, she worked to make education available to every girl child in her country.

For a little over three weeks, the contestants experienced the wonder of England's vibrant multicultural metropolis while they took part in the Miss World Challenge Events.

Guyana’s Rafieya Husain along with the other winners of the Miss World’s “Beauty With A Purpose” competition including Miss World winner Rolene Strauss after the pageant

Miss World 2014, South Africa’s Rolene Strauss

Christmas cheer: Children feted by various groups

As Christmas Day approaches, NonGovernment Organisations and the ruling party, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), are showing their festive side as they spread holiday cheer to children and the elderly across the country.

Just recently, the Gafoor Foundation donated close to 2000 books to eight nursery and primary schools along the East Coast of Demerara. Better Hope Nursery, Prince William Street Nursery, Chateau Margot Nursery, Vryheid’s Lust South Nursery, Good Hope Nursery, Beterverwagting/Quamina Road Nursery, Triumph Nursery and Vryheid’s Lust North Nursery were among the recipients.

In making the donations, Gafoor Foundation’s Administrator Ameena Gafoor said in order to nurture a literate society, suitable books and other appropriate learning materials for creative activities must be given to children at a very early stage to aid in their growth and development.

“Children must be encouraged to develop the habit of reading for the sheer pleasure of it. Teachers and parents have an immense role to play in shaping young minds,” Gafoor added.

Gafoor Foundation has been in existence for over 20 years, quietly responding to requests from the most vulnerable persons in society. One of the areas it focuses on is assisting families to keep children in school.

“School dropouts do not augur well for the development of our nation.”

The purchase of books by the donors was matched by an equal number of books given by the Guyana Book Foundation free of cost through its “Matching Books” project.

Administrative Coordinator of the Guyana Book Foundation, Deborah Skeete said she was encouraging parents, teachers and students at all levels of learning to visit the Foundation where books on various topics can be purchased at very affordable prices. The Guyana Book Foundation is locat-

ed at 56 New Garden and Anira Streets, Queenstown, Georgetown.

Meanwhile, the Scout Association of Guyana in keeping with its annual tradition visited a number of communities and institutions, sharing hot meals to the less fortunate under the Share-a-Meal initiative.

This year saw groups visiting the Dharma Shala in Georgetown and in Berbice, the New Nazareth Home in Carmichael Street, and several depressed communities. Persons received hot meals, drinks, sweet treats, in addi-

child also had the privilege of bouncing on the bouncing castle and trampoline and also had their face painted.

In Berbice, in keeping with the spirit of the season of sharing and goodwill, the PPP on Sunday hosted two events to spread Christmas joy to hundreds of children.

The first, which was held at the residence of former President and founder of the PPP, the late Dr Cheddi Jagan, in Ankerville Port Mourant, saw an attendance of over 300 children.

The second was held at the Bath Primary School,

tion to gifts.

This year SAG welcomed on board new groups; the Tain Clifton and John Community Scout Group and Sacred Heart RC Scout Group.

Over in Essequibo, the Lions Club of Essequibo Coast and the Lions Club of Demerara Lioness on Saturday collaborated to execute a Kiddies Christmas Extravaganza at the Anna Regina Multilateral School. Two hundred needy children from across the Essequibo Coast were identified and were treated to lunch, a goodies bag, ice-cream, and a toy from Santa Claus. Each

It’s beginning to look like

By Sedhee Ramnauth

Downtown Georgetown is indeed beginning to look like Christmas as Guyana Times took a stroll around the capital City on Saturday afternoon, talking with persons who have been taking in the bargains being offered by many businesses as the Christmas holidays steps in.

It was a joyous sight to see the hustle and bustle on Regent and Camp Streets, with both the young and old engaged in Christmas shopping. Some of the citizens took the time out to speak with this publication on their preparations for the festive season. While some seem ecstatic about the holidays as it is the season of giving and sharing, others are concerned that the meaning of Christmas will die away.

Christmas for most persons begun since December 1 and sales and bargains will

HIV among leading causes of maternal mortality – UN official

HIV/AIDS continues to be among the leading causes of death among pregnant women across the world, United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) Country Representative, Dr Roberto Campos has said.

But despite the growing incidence of this, Guyana has been able to keep the situation at bay, eradicating every instance of Mother to Child Transmission.

Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice and had a similar attendance. At both events, the General Secretary of the PPP, Clement Rohee, handed out gifts and other Christmas goodies to the children who clearly enjoyed themselves. As part of the merriment, the children sang Christmas songs and engaged themselves in many fun-filled games.

Rohee and other Party officials interacted with the younger ones and extended best wishes for the Christmas season. They also express satisfaction at the turnout and success of both events.

Christmas

continue to drive Guyanese into more buying.

Veronica Narine, who was shopping along Regent Street with her daughter, explained that Christmas is always the happiest time of the year. She said that it is around this time, the prices of items at businesses are affordable and she is able to cover her “Santa Wish List”.

Simian Marks also

shared his take on the festive season. He said during this time the City is very hectic, which for him is a win situation since he is a vendor.

When asked about his preparations for Christmas, he said “well I am intending to spend my holidays lush with all I can eat and drink”. Marks noted that December is not a month of pressure for him, as it is more of a stressfree one.

Guyana Times also spoke to visitor who wanted to experience the “Guyanese Christmas”.

“I will eat pepper pot with Bakewell bread till I drop,” he said in Guyanese accent.

Yulanda James, who is a member of FOCUS, a Non-Governmental Organisation, explained how she celebrates the Christmas holidays.

“The main problem I have during this time is the cleaning… nothing bothers me more. The cooking and baking I can always handle,” James said.

She continued that persons are shopping and buying all the fancy decorations, but hopes that Guyanese do not forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Reminding Guyana Times of her upbringing, James said Christmas is not only a season of giving and sharing, but also one to reflect on the birth of Christ.

At the launching of the Guyana Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) acceleration framework and campaign to improve maternal health recently, the UNAIDS representative said that there was no doubt that the HIV epidemic is linked to maternal mortality.

“Although it is not a reality in Guyana, HIV has impacted maternal mortality at the highest level. It is important to know that HIV is among the leading causes of death among women within the reproductive age that is between 15 and 49”.

Outside of Guyana, the mortality rate in South Africa and other parts of Africa is very high.

“In recent years, Guyana has made significant progress in HIV response. The country has also been awarded recently among six other Caribbean countries to have eliminated the mother to child transmission [via the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Programme (PMTCT)].

Local response

The UNAIDS representative said although the rising number of HIV cases had been a reality in past years, Guyana has made “commendable” progress in its HIV response.

The Plan of Action in the continued fight against HIV includes capacity building, integrated service and the integration of the PMTCT Programme, among others, Campos said.

The improvement of maternal health is identified as MDG Five, a declaration adopted by Guyana’s Government along with 188 others some 14 years ago.

For nations with high HIV prevalence, AIDS has become a leading cause of death during pregnancy and after birth. There is also some evidence that women living with HIV are at greater risk of maternal death. Overall, it was estimated that there were 42,000 deaths due to AIDS among pregnant women globally in 2008. About half of those were estimated to be maternal. HIV-related death was highest in sub-Saharan Africa where nine per cent of all maternal deaths were AIDS-related.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé said Integrating HIV services with maternal and sexual and reproductive health services is imperative to stop mothers from dying and babies from being born with HIV.

Reports emanating out of South Africa based on World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations for the Safe Motherhood programme underscored that HIV-related illness is the most common cause of maternal deaths.

Mortality rates

The strengthening of HIV services for pregnant women, especially in countries with a high burden of HIV infection, will reduce HIVrelated and un-related maternal mortality rates. HIV is also said to be an increasing contributor to direct and indirect causes of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.

A review of data published on maternal deaths and their association with HIV shows that reliable data come from the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths from South Africa, population-based surveys in sentinel populations, and facility-based data.

Despite an increase in knowledge of the HIV status of pregnant women and the initiation of antiretroviral treatment, reversals in trends towards increased maternal deaths are not being observed, according to reports.

UNAIDS Country Representative Roberto Campos

Persons checking out items on the pavement

Teachers and students from the Beterverwagting/Quamina Road and Triumph Nursery Schools receiving the books on behalf of their schools from Guyana Book Foundation Administrative Coordinator Deborah Skeete (left) and Gafoor Foundation Administrator Ameena Gafoor

PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee hands out gifts and other Christmas goodies to Berbice children

Exit polls show big win for Japan’s Abe

Media exit polls in Japan point to a commanding victory for Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition in Sunday’s elections.

The vote was dubbed a referendum on the incumbent Prime Minister’s reflationary recipe for reviving Japan’s economy.

Abe, 60, called the election two years early in order to obtain a fresh mandate for his “Abenomics” strategy of hyper-easy monetary policy, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms after his decision to put off an unpopular sales tax rise next year for fear it would derail a recovery already in doubt.

Abe could use the big win – which appears to have come on the back of rockbottom turnout – to push ahead with painful economic reforms, analysts say, but might instead turn more attention to his conservative agenda that includes revising Japan’s pacifist constitution to ease limits on the military.

“I have been pushing for Abenomics, the policies designed to create jobs and

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

raise salaries,” Abe told voters in Tokyo’s neon-lit Akihabara electronics district on the eve of the election.

“Japan can be much richer. Please let our coalition have power.”

Despite weakening popularity ratings, a recession and messy campaign finance scandals, the governing coalition was projected to win thanks to Japan’s tendency towards a one-party politi-

cal system, voter apathy and a lack of viable alternatives.

Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from Tokyo, said the election had been met with confusion rather than enthusiasm.

“A poll showed around 63 per cent of voters were baffled as to why this election had to take place, there has been criticism of its cost, and the delays it will cause to Government business,” he said. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

China: Nursery school collapse kills three children

Three children have been killed after a building collapsed at a nursery school in northern China, state media says.

The children were taken to hospital but died of their injuries, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Around

Turkey arrests: Raids target Gulen-linked critics of Erdogan

Turkish Police have made at least 23 arrests during raids on a newspaper and TV station with close ties to United States-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Those detained are accused of forming an illegal organisation and trying to seize control of the state.

Gulen, the spiritual leader of the Hizmet movement, is a rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The raids come days after Erdogan pledged a fresh campaign against Gulen’s supporters. Among those arrested are journalists, pro-

DR Congo:

ducers, scriptwriters and a Police Chief in eastern Turkey.

The Chairman of Samanyolu TV, which also has links to Gulen, was detained in a separate raid in Istanbul.

Hidayet Karaca told reporters the operation was “a disgrace for Turkey” before his arrest.

“Sadly in 21st Century Turkey this is the treatment they dish out to a media group with tens of television and radio stations, Internet media and magazines,” the English edition of Zaman quoted him as saying.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the

leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, called the raids “a coup”.

Staff at Zaman had been expecting the raid after details of the swoop were leaked by a Twitter user known as Fuat Avni, who has previously leaked advance details of Police operations.

The Police operation comes a year after corruption allegations against allies of Erdogan emerged. He said it was a plot orchestrated by Gulen supporters to topple him.

Gulen denied this. He has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999.

Many dead after ferry sinks on Lake Tanganyika

At least 129 bodies have been recovered from Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after a ferry capsized on Friday.

Local Transport Minister Laurent Sumba Kahozi said the search for survivors was continuing.

Rescue workers found passengers in the water on Sunday, clinging on to petrol cans and other objects.

Correspondents say such accidents are fairly common in the region as ferries are often overloaded.

Three other children were injured in the incident, in Yongqing county, in Hebei province, Xinhua added.

Safety standards of school buildings have been a public concern in China since many collapsed during a devastating earthquake in 2008. Thousands of school

children were among the almost 90,000 dead, leading to a public outcry over shoddy construction and the lack of safety measures.

Five children were killed earlier in the week in eastern China, when the wall at the side of a basketball court suddenly collapsed, officials said. (BBC News)

Weakened deal reached in Peru climate talks

About 190 nations have agreed upon the building blocks of a deal to combat climate change in 2015 amid warnings that far tougher action will be needed to cut rising world greenhouse gas emissions.

The Lima deal, reached early on Sunday, lays out a wide range of options for a global deal to be reached in Paris, due in December 2015, and also lays out how each nation will submit its own plans for curbing warming in the first half of 2015. It is a watered-down version of the original deal following an extra day of bargaining between rich and poor countries.

Negotiators had been struggling to unblock the United Nations climate talks after developing countries rejected a draft deal they said would allow rich countries to shirk their re-

Developing countries have accused wealthier nations of failing to take responsibility for climate change

sponsibilities to fight global warming and pay for its impacts.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru’s Environment Minister, presented a new, fourth draft just before midnight and said he hoped it would satisfy all parties, giving a sharply reduced body of remaining delegates an hour to review it.

“As a text it’s not perfect but it includes the po-

sitions of the parties,” said Pulgar-Vidal, who is conference chair and had spent all afternoon and evening meeting the delegations separately. The main goal for the two-week session in Lima was relatively modest: to reach agreement on what information should go into the pledges that countries submit for a global climate pact expected to be adopted next year in Paris.

(Excerpt

Life jackets are also often missing and many people cannot swim.

Officials in Katanga province said strong winds

and overloading caused the boat, the MV Mutambala, to capsize.

A number of women and children were among the victims in the disaster, which happened in the early hours

of Friday morning. Initial reports said 26 people had died. The number of survivors stands at 232, mostly men, the provincial Minister for Transport said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Haiti’s Prime Minister resigns amid protests

Haiti’s Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, has announced he is resigning along with several Ministers in the wake of violent anti-government protests and a commission’s call for him to step down.

In a speech made early on Sunday morning, Lamothe said he was leaving “with a sense of accomplishment”.

“This country has undergone a deep and dynamic transformation and a real change in benefit of its people,” he said.

President Michel Martelly said earlier he accepted the findings of the commission that had recommended Lamothe’s replacement.

Protesters have been seeking Lamothe’s resignation, but many also want Martelly to step down.

Martelly has been accused by Opposition groups of returning Haiti to dictatorial rule, after repeatedly delaying elections expected since 2011.

Lamothe and Martelly have blamed six Opposition senators for blocking the vote.

The senators say the legislation is unconstitutional and favours the Government.

Martelly appointed Lamothe as Prime Minister in 2012, and there is now speculation that Lamothe might seek the presidency in upcoming elections.

Haiti’s capital Port-auPrince has endured a growing number of violent demonstrations in recent weeks during which protesters have demanded the holding of elec-

tions that were expected in 2011 and the resignations of Lamothe as well as Martelly.

On Saturday, one man was found dead in a protest in Port-au-Prince during clashes with Police who fired tear gas. It was not immediately clear how the man died, but he was shot at least once in the wrist. Demonstrations also spread to other towns, including Gonaives and CapHaitien. (Al Jazeera)

DR Congo: Many dead after ferry sinks on Lake Tanganyika

Laurent Lamothe had been Prime Minister since 2012

Habitat For Humanity making strides in Guyana with help of youths

Recognising that over 50 per cent of the world’s population is under the age of 30, Habitat For Humanity Guyana (HFHG) values youths as significant contributors to improving the lives of vulnerable people whilst strengthening communities.

For 20 years, HFHG has supported over 3000 families in their efforts to own their own homes.

Furthermore, the Edward B Beharry Company Limited (EBB) and HFHG have partnered to raise funds for the construction of low-income homes for families.

HFHG works in collaboration with affiliates, home partners, sponsors and volunteers to continuously provide homes to the most vulnerable in order to alleviate poverty and adverse living conditions in Guyana.

Habitat understands that access to comfortable and affordable housing is key to breaking the continuous cycle of poverty. HFHG has noted and highlighted the value and strength of youths in advocating for the right to adequate housing in Guyana.

With volunteer corps in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Region Four (DemeraraMahaica); and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), Habitat has vibrant youth involvement system.

Habitat Volunteers are equipped with the necessary training and mobilisation skills to serve targeted communities. Training in Disaster Risk Management Techniques (with special emphasis on Participatory Approach to Safe Shelter Awareness [PASSA]); Resource and Community Mobilisation skills; Financial Literacy; Leadership; and First Aid among others allow for effective community education, partnership and sustainability.

Through an ongoing study, “Voices of the Slums”, which is being undertaken by Habitat Volunteers, HFHG seeks to discover and

share the voices of destitute families.

With “Voices of the Slums” – which includes some video elements, HFHG seeks to explore the impact of affordable housing in breaking the cycle of poverty in Guyana.

The “Voices from Slums” advocacy project aims to highlight challenges faced in the squatting settlements and find linkages for the residents with the relevant authorities to effect change which can result in successful partnerships with stakeholders and lead to policy amendments and other in-

they will never be able to get out of the situation and turn their lives around,” Stellingburg related.

Despite the pessimistic attitudes, Stellingburg noted, every family interviewed dreams of owning their own homes.

“They agreed that owning their own homes would mean the world to them.”

Habitat Volunteers are being assisted in the implementation of the “Voices of the Slums” Project by Project Development Consultancy.

During the past year, the Volunteer Programme has implemented sever-

terventions for better living conditions for these families.

Helping find solutions

So far, assessments were done on five areas: Tiger Bay, Plastic City, Broad and Lombard Streets, Barrack and High Streets and behind the Chinese Embassy.

“A few of the families have gone into the Ministry to acquire land, but are yet to be contacted, others were given land but lack the necessary finances to even pay for the land,”

Volunteer Coordinator

Onika Stellingburg told the Guyana Times

She further stated that those who did not apply expressed a sense of hopelessness in the situation as they believe as though it would not make a difference even if they try.

“They feel as though

5000 Caribbean people risk their lives by sea to avert poverty – UN

Nearly 5000 Caribbean people took to boats this year to flee poverty or in search of asylum, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a recent report.

Many travelled in rickety, unseaworthy boats. Others die or fall victim to human traffickers. Most of the cases are Haitians and other citizens from the rest of the Caribbean islands. The UNHCR said too that almost 350,000 people have taken to the seas this year in search of asylum or migration.

The Commission said this was a record number of people involved in the risky sea journeys around the world. Since January this year, 348,000 people had boarded the boats. The bulk of the arrivals had been in Europe, where more than 207,000 people had crossed the Mediterranean.

This was almost three times more than the previous high of about 70,000 in 2011 during the Libyan civil war. The conflicts in Libya were again a factor this year, as well as the situation in Syria and Iraq, and the war in Ukraine.

Worldwide this year, 4,272 people had died in the process of making sea journeys. UN High

Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said Governments must focus on saving lives, rather than keeping foreigners out.

“This is a mistake, and precisely the wrong reaction for an era in which record numbers of people are fleeing wars,” he said in a statement.

“Security and immigration management are concerns for any country, but policies must be designed in a way that human lives do not end up becoming collateral damage.”

Guterres said the international community’s response had been marred by confusion over how to tackle the problem. He said all players should address the root causes of why people had fled and should crack down on the criminal networks profiting from desperate would-be migrants.

He also highlighted the importance of having systems to deal with arrivals to distinguish real refugees from migrants. His comments were made as the UNHCR began a two-day debate on the issue with Government officials, aid workers, coastguards, lawyers, academics and other experts.

Less than two months ago, Italy announced it would halt a sea rescue mis-

sion – Mare Nostrum – that had saved the lives of more than 100,000 migrants from Africa and the Middle East since it began more than a year ago. Italy said it would be replaced by a smaller European Union scheme.

UNHCR said for the first time, people from “refugee producing countries” had become a major source of those leaving their homelands by boat, accounting for almost half the individuals undertaking sea journeys.

Most were from Syria, where conflict has raged for nearly four years, and Eritrea, where human rights experts said national service was an indefinite conscription that amounted to forced labour. Besides the Mediterranean, there were at least three other major sea routes being used by migrants and asylum seekers. In the Horn of Africa, more than 80,000 people, mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia, crossed the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea between the start of January and the end of November en route to Yemen or Saudi Arabia.

In South East Asia, an estimated 54,000 people had taken to the sea so far this year, most of them leaving Bangladesh or Myanmar to head to Thailand or Malaysia.

Three new schools to be built under Improvement Project

Three new schools will be built under the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP) as the Education Ministry seeks to achieve Universal Secondary Education by 2015.

The Ministry has noted its dissatisfaction with not being able to meet the important goal this year, but said it is optimistic of reaching the target next year.

al community projects, one of which is the massive pedestrian painting and tree planting exercise along the East Coast of Demerara corridor between Industry and Mahaica.

Volunteers are now planning a toy drive for persons living in squatter settlements along the East Bank of Demerara.

Persons can donate toys, including used ones, to Habitat’s Toy Drive for Christmas.

For more information on the Habitat Volunteer Programme or keep up to date with their latest projects, follow on them on Twitter @HVPGuyana, subscribe to and like their page on Facebook www.facebook.com/ HabitatVolunteerProgram or call their Head Office on 231- 7664.

GSEIP is a US$10 million World Bank funded project geared to improve access to secondary education.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand said a total of US$7.15 million of the mentioned amount will go towards physical development of secondary schools and the construction of three new schools, namely at Parfait Harmony, Yarakabra and Good Hope.

“We have not as yet attained Universal Secondary Education in every region, although we have attained Universal Secondary Education in most of our regions, the Minister said, but noted that “we will not rest until Universal Secondary Education is available to all our secondary-age students.”

Construction of the schools is slated to begin in the New Year.

She assured that the locations of the schools were chosen based on assessments done by the Ministry and feedback from residents.

The schools are expected to provide access to some 3600 new secondary school students when completed next year.

According to the Ministry’s website, “an estimated 1800 students would’ve otherwise been excluded from secondary education”.

Of the 3600 students

to be housed in the new schools, 56 per cent of them are expected to be females, a big boost to education and development of young girls. Furniture and other essentials for the new schools have been budgeted for under the GSEIP Project.

A component of the project also focuses on capacity-building and project management skills. Some US$1.05 million has been allocated for this aspect of the project, which seeks to strengthen the Education Management Information System (EMIS).

Habitat For Humanity Volunteers receiving first aid training

Habitat For Humanity Volunteers repainting a pedestrian crossing along the East Coast Demerara Road

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

Govt talks up “transformation” in energy sector

Government said it has since 1992 billions of dollars in the rehabilitation and modernisation of the country’s energy sector, aimed at reducing power outages and providing a more reliable supply of energy, while reducing losses.

Electricity supply has drastically increased over the past decades, coming from a place where 10 megawatts of generation were available to meet a demand of 33 megawatts, to one where 140 megawatts of Wartsila units are available to meet a demand of 108 megawatts.

Over the last eight years, over US$150M was injected into the Guyana Power and Light Inc., (GPL) itself, with more than half of that amount being spent on enhancing its distribution systems. “We are much better off than we ever were,” said Prime Minister Samuel Hinds during a special programme on the National Communications Network (NCN) on Friday, along with GPL’s Chairman, Winston Brassington, Chief Executive Officer, Bharrat Dindyal, and Head of the Hinterland Electrification Programme, Horace Williams.

From 1992-1997, all focus

of the then Guyana Electricity Corporation (GEC) was on improving generation. In 1993, 11 megawatts were commissioned in Garden of Eden, 11 in 1995, 22 at Kingston in 1997, and in 2009 a further 20.7 and 15.6 in 2011. The recent addition has been the 26 megawatt plant at Vreed-enHoop. “It was always recognised that there was need to upgrade the transmission system, and we have been able to do that over the past three years. We have had the transmission upgrade programme which was financed with the assistance of the Chinese, and now we have some seven substations across the network, and three of the generators were upgraded at the power station… so we have made a great step in transmission. We have from the power stations, feeds running out up to 40 miles,” the Prime Minister explained.

He added that it was a great challenge for Government to acquire the amount of resources needed for this huge transformation. However, along the way there was assistance, especially from the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) and other partners to make these investments possible.

New projects

The US$30M power plant at Vreed-en-Hoop is another great investment that will increase the capacity from a current 87 megawatts to 106 megawatts in Demerara. “The transmission project is not completed, so we have one interconnected grid between Demerara and Berbice, in fact a lot of power is now going up from Demerara to feed Berbice using that link…we have expanded the infrastructure to connect customers, the infrastructure is being built to connect over 45,000 customers and most of those per-

sons have already come onto the grid, so today we have about 175,000 customers,” Brassington said.

There are also new substations at Edinburgh, Good Hope, Georgetown and Columbia (Mahaicony), one expanded sub-station at Kingston, the central control center and 80 km of interconnecting transmission lines and fibre optic cable. The Golden Grove and North Ruimveldt sub-stations are currently under construction, and the expansion at the Onverwagt power plant. A new generator was also installed at the Leguan Power Station and GPL is working on the setting up of a third unit, while a new power plant will also be installed in Anna Regina and another in Bartica. All of these projects will be completed within two years. Other initiatives include the upgrading of the company’s customer information systems, and it is seeking to improve the overall infrastructure, expand generation and install transmission systems.

One of the major challenges that the power company faces is electricity theft, which contributes to about 30 percent of technical losses. “Technical and commercial losses continue to be a major challenge. A few years ago losses were about 44 percent; today it is under 30 percent which is both technical and commercial. To reduce those losses the company would have had to invest in both commercial and technical aspects,” Brassington added.

Interventions

The next phase of works will be the rebuilding of the company’s distribution system, and in this regard, recently, IDB and the European Union approved US$65M which will be used over the next three years. Of this

Pay up or generate your own power – PM Hinds to GPL customers

Prime Minister Samuel said that any Guyanese, who feels that the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is burdening them, has the right to generate their own electricity, which is provided for in the law.

The Prime Minister was at the time speaking on ‘Political Scope’ on the National Communications Network last Friday, a Government Information Agency (GINA) release stated. Responding to A Partnership for National Unity’s, General Secretary, Joseph Harmon that the power company should “find ways to reduce tariff, get off Guyanese backs”, the Prime Minister stated that, “That kind of talk is the basis for many of our Guyanese citizens feeling that they have a right to steal electricity. From the very high to the low Guyanese has been responding to those kinds of talks and it shouldn’t be.”

The cost for generation runs at 30 to 40 cents per kilowatt per hour, and this is diesel based. Prime Minister Hinds pointed out that the government has over the years been working to shift from diesel to fuel oil which brings down

the generation cost to about 20 cents. “I don’t think you can get more than that. When we wrote the Electrification Sector Act, we particularly put in there that everyone has the right to self generate, and you find that when the people are put to the test they can’t do very much better than the rate that they are receiving,” he pointed out.

The Prime Minister said that the company has always been seeking ways in which it can reduce tariffs, and one of such intervention is the use of heavy fuel oil. “Mr. Harmon should be the last person to be talking about our electricity prices… if we had gone to Amaila (hydropower project), we would be having generation cost which will be averaging in the order of 10 cents per kilowatt per hour rather than 22 cents per kilowatt per hour, and we would have been able to halve our generation cost. The other thing he should be doing is to call on the people to end the theft of electricity,” the Prime Minister stated.

In the south of Georgetown, non technical losses average about 40 percent, and there were also reports coming

amount, over $30M will be used to install new lines and conductors, and replace transformers among other works. According to Brassington, this will see an improvement in the overall distribution system, metering, and a drastic improvement in GPL’s ability to execute its duties. Further, the company will expand on its pilot project of smart metering where it can measure and track consumption in real time. The target is to reduce technical losses to 5 percent and non-technical losses to 3 percent within the next five years.

Meanwhile, the thriving housing development programme which Government has been focusing on, that saw new housing schemes being established, has created a demand for continued distribution. Dindyal said that the company will have to seek ways in which it can reach those demands and eventually stay ahead of it.

Speaking on the issue of power outages, he said that most of these are network related, which are caused by poor vegetation management.“Vegetation is 90 percent of the issue and the other 10 percent are obtained from the generation machine trips…there is currently a concerted effort across the Demerara and Berbice systems to look at vegetation particularly for primary lines. There is also an issue with structure maintenance. Unfortunately there were some electrification works that had to be done; those were completed, especially in Region Six. The focus now is trying to fix the distribution network,” Dindyal explained. In terms of generation, Guyanese can expect less interruption. In fact, “for the first time in years we are going into the Christmas season with a healthy generation, the only challenge is on the network side,” Dindyal stressed.

(GINA)

from Enterprise and Enmore, among other areas on the East Coast, and GPL has been clamping down on persons responsible for electricity theft.

Meanwhile, GPL’s Chairman, Winston Brassington said that the company continues to work with all of the parties, the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), China Railway and China Development Bank towards the realisation of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project which is the single most important contributor to reducing cost, and by extension tariff.

“We have been working, and I believe that very soon we will be able make some positive announcements with regards to getting this project on stream…in 2013 we were hoping to have financial closure by the end of the year, but Parliament did not vote unanimously on this project and Site Global pulled out. As we speak now, the project could get started, if everything goes well in the latter part of next year,” Brassington pointed out. However, he said that will be almost two years lost and the opportunity savings from each year with Amaila would be about US$100M.

A balanced life

Life balance is a challenge these days, because many people feel pressured to be the first one to arrive at work and the last one to leave.

In other words, this means those of us who are parents are most likely to say goodbye to our children in the morning and say hello to them in the night.

Narine Dat Sookram

I know of many people who don’t use up their vacation time and when on vacation still feel compelled to check texts and emails. A lot of this has to do with our managers these days, meaning that many of them treat employees more like ‘working horses’ and don’t take into consideration personal and family obligations outside of work.

One of the major problems too is that many organizations have not built a process for leaders to discuss personal and professional goals with employees into their culture and they don’t realize that without this important process, many managers have a natural tendency to demand much and listen little.

One thing to keep in mind is that experience has shown that if we take care of our employees, they’ll take care of our customers.

There are many ways for us to know when our life is not balanced. For example, when we have little time for our important relationships, such as family and friends. One very big and common one is that people often work overtime and engage in regular work-away-from work and take few or no breaks while working.

And this even gets worse when we have no interests or hobbies for a break from our busy schedule. Let’s not forget too that the simplest things are usually the most important It could be that we are exercising little, or in some cases not at all.

Some of us may not consider these, but some other ways to know when our life is not balanced would also be things like us having difficulties falling asleep or in some cases not having enough sleep, and even eat too much or too little.

The thing to understand is that life balance is when we are successfully and joyfully managing and living our lives to the fullest. In others words, it is about balancing work, leisure and family time.

The best way to explain this is to be able know when to shift from one task to the next and being able to do so.

There is an old saying that all relationships, whether it is a friendship or a relationship, are all essential for our wellbeing and a balanced life. The thing that makes it challenging is when we live our life without a purpose, because life without purpose can be stressful. Though we may be successful at our work and have achieved a lot at work, that could put us close to reaching a point of burnout. I think that it’s important to realize that balance starts with our relationship to our own minds, keeping in mind though that just thinking about it will not do the trick.

For questions, comments or feedback, please email them to mcnarine@rogers.com.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

(May 21June 20)

CANCER

You will regret it if you become involved with someone or something inappropriate. Keep your goals in sight and stay focused on getting ahead professionally and financially.

Your romantic life is heating up. Trying something out of the ordinary will introduce you to a fascinating new group or connection. A friend or relative will be difficult to deal with. Remain calm.

A beneficial change to your career is imminent. Potential professional partners will want to find out more about your ideas and will offer suggestions that will help you implement them effectively.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Keep your cool. Your position in the workplace may be at risk if you have a falling out with a colleague. It’s time to look into different ways to increase your cash flow.

A neighbour will provide the final piece of a puzzle that you’ve been trying to solve with regard to a new venture. A friendship will develop if you socialise.

Your creativity will be magnified today, and new ideas must not be disregarded. Approach projects imaginatively. Find better ways to reach your goals instead of trying to cut corners.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Nothing will escape your notice today. Pay attention to detail and carefully gauge what needs to be done and how much it will cost. Caution will spare you from loss.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Try something new. Use your unique talents and expertise to make vocational changes. Follow your heart and let your skills speak for you. Have faith in your abilities.

CAPRICORN (June 21July 22)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

It will be easier to complete projects if you work alone. Asking questions will lead to interference. No one needs a step-by-step accounting of your actions. Don’t make unrealistic promises.

(Jan. 20Feb. 19) (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Trust in your judgment. You will not feel satisfied if you try to live up to someone else’s expectations. Reconsider your past choices and make adjustments that suit your current needs.

AQUARIUS

PISCES

(Feb. 20March 20)

Money will come to you from a quite unusual source. Your knowledge will be instrumental in helping someone get a project off the ground. Make sure you get credit for your contribution.

Resist the temptation to get romantically involved with a co-worker. Relationship woes could lead to a costly mistake if you mix your business and personal lives.

GEMINI

Peanuts

Calvin and Hobbes

dilbert

arCHie

Respect the Game chairty basketball...

Team Bond edge Team Toney

By TreisTon Joseph

Award winning Sports Journalist, Edison

Jefford maneuvered his way through traffic to hit the game winning lay-up with about 30s left to give Team Bond a 59-58 win over Team Toney when the ‘Respect the Game’ basketball charity event was held on Saturday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Jefford, who went scoreless for three quarters during the exhibition game, nailed to big shots in the fourth quarter, one being the game winner while forcing a crucial turnover in the final minute of the ball game.

Rawle Toney would miss a buzzer beater with 1.5s left on the clock in hope of winning

the game.

However, it is fitting to note the scores were adjusted to 49-49 at the start of the fourth in order to provide the thrilling finish. Team Toney was leading by a 12 point margin at the end of the third quarter.

Meanwhile Akeem “The Dream Kanhai” put on a show for the fans in attendance with a number of spectacular dunks including a nasty poster dunk on Jefford as well as an alley-oop throw down.

Kanhai started with a baseline two handed slam over jefford before throwing down a sick one handed tomahawk dunk. Kanhai finished his show with a two handed alley-oop from star guard Shelroy Thomas.

Jermaine Slater also

threw down a two handed jam to get the crowd going early in the game.

West Indies and Guyana’s cricketer Christopher Barnwell was the top scorer for Team Bond with 10 points while James ‘007’ Bond had six points. Kanhai ended with a team high 15 points while Toney had 12 points in the loss.

Bond thanked all the sponsors of the game as well as the fans for supporting the charity event as the organisers aim to continue their work by adding more “respect to the game”. In the earlier exhibition games , UG defeated Qualfon 79-44, Starr’s Computer defeated the Diplomatic Corp 65-51 and St Roses High defeated St Stanislaus College 19-13

Williamson wins vacant Super Bantamweight title

– Simon falls to Lake

By Andrew CArmiChAel

Richard Williamson is Guyana’s Super Bantamweight Champion after winning the vacant title on Sunday morning at the area H Ground in Rose Hall Town.

Williamson gained a unanimous decision over Dilan ‘Lil Buck’ Allicock on the ‘Rose Hall Town Showdown’ card which was staged by Mark Thom Promotions.

Both fighters showed determination and courage throughout the fight which was the second time the two had faced each other in the ring with the same result.

Judges Trevor Arno and Francis Abraham scored the bout 117-111 while Judge Eion Jardin scored it 117-112 all in favour of Williamson.

Williamson was very watchful during the early rounds but used his jab effectively while Allicock defended solidly and mixed it with some right hand shots to the head of Williamson.

After two rounds of heads shots Williamson went to a defence style in round three as Allicock seemingly took control of the fight with the effective use of his left jab.

However, Williamson came out in the fourth round, using a series of com-

binations to the midsection and head of Allicock; finishing the round with punishing left hooks to Allicock’s cranium.

As both boxers begun to tire while trading punches, Williamson regained some composure and returned late in the ninth round to register some solid right hooks that connected to Allicock; the last of which sent him into the ropes just before the toll of the bell.

On the start of round ten Williamson went to Allicock with a barrage of punches, seemingly landing at will.

With the title belt at stake, Williamson boxed smartly by having Allicock work to land punches by moving his feet and dancing

around the ring.

In the penultimate round Williamson delivered a right uppercut to Allicock, followed with a left hook to the head before landing a devastating right hook that sent Allicock to the canvas as he took the mandatory eight count.

After the fight Williamson speaking with Guyana Times Sport from his dressing room said while not difficult, the fight was challenging.

“All he doing is try coming to the body and he booting a lot, so every time he come clinching I had to duck because he keep booting. That was the only thing difficult to deal with. It was my first twelve round and I have to thank God and many oth-

ers.”

He said his uncle Howard Eastman assisted him in preparing for the fight and was a useful sparring partner. He said he is not fearful of a third encounter with Allicock but will like a shot at the Jamaican Rudolph Hedge for the Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) title.

Meanwhile home town boy Kishawn Simon lost a unanimous decision to former Lightweight Champion of Guyana, Revlon Lake in the main supporting bout over eight rounds.

Simon however challenged the decision of the judges. The fight was scored 80-72 by Trevor Arno and Dexter Torrington while Judge Francis Abraham scored it 79-73.

During the fight Lake connected to the body of Simon almost effortlessly.

Simon, on the other hand failed to display the required skills as he kept holding onto his opponent for most of the fight.

In addition, when he was on the attack, Simon launched his body forward without extending his arms resulting in only a few of his punches being effective. Simon was however successful in opening a cut over the left eye of Lake.

Guyana’s middleweight

champion Derick Richmond and James ‘Sack’ Walcott were involved in a six rounds bout as a rematch on last December’s encounter between the two when Walcott was knocked out.

This time around Walcott survived but the result was still the same as Richmon came out on top.

Walcott was not allowed to make effective use of his superior reach opting in-

stead to maintain a solid guard.

Richmond worked on the lower body and occasionally went through the guard connecting with Walcott’s head.

Two exhibition armature bouts started the evening off as Jamal Eastman out pounced Tyrone Lashley. Colin Hinds was considered TKO after this third eight count in his fight against Julius Kesney.

Kishwan Simon (left) and Revlon Lake square off

Richard Williamson poses as the New Super Bantamweight champion

Kanhai hangs on the rim after one of his dunks

Lloyd hopes for better itineraries in cricket

Time to explore a country for its cricket conditions and culture, time for contemplation between matches, time for cricketers to go through cycles into and out of form. That is how Clive Lloyd, now chairman of the West Indies selection panel, remembers cricket tours and that is what he hopes they will return to.

“Nice, spaced out tours would be the best thing for cricket,” Lloyd said in Centurion, ahead of West Indies’ Test series in South Africa. “The public will be seeing players who are fit enough and hungry enough to play and not just hoping that the game is over quickly. Right now, everything is crammed. I think you need to have a better itinerary where cricket is concerned.”

Lloyd also wants to see more traditional tours, where the visiting side competes in first-class matches against local teams, something he believes benefits both parties.

“I’ve always advocated that we should at least have two four-day games before any tour. One game is not enough. Suppose that game was washed out - we’d have had no practice,” he said. “And we should probably have one in-between. It’s not only for our players but for your players. You’d want them to play against the touring team to see them.”

Despite being in South Africa for 15 days before the start of the Test series, only one practice match - against a South African Invitation XI - was organised for West Indies. That game, scheduled for three days, lasted for just two, after rain washed out the final day. Although the West Indians were able to assess both areas of their game, because they batted and bowled, Lloyd explained why it may not be enough.

“We just jump into a country and then we are gone. You don’t see other pitches, you don’t see a lot of the country. I think it’s wrong. I think we should have had at least three games surrounding this Test series,” he said. “If somebody is out of form, they can go into a four-day game and get back into it but we don’t have that. You can’t tell if a player is doing well in the nets. It’s not the right place. Match situation

is what it’s about.”

Lloyd would also like use tour matches as a way to ease new players in to international cricket. “You can’t groom players anymore. I think that’s the thing you need when you go on tour. You try a few youngsters to see how they will match up against the opposition,” he said. “I’m not saying you have to have 10 games, but enough games that youngsters will get a chance. Now, you have to play players who you think will play in the Test match but if there were more games outside of the Test match, you could try one or two who you think will be able to get experience.”

If West Indies did play their likely Test team in the Benoni match, then it appears left-armer Sheldon Cottrell, who took five wickets in the tour game, could form part of their pace attack. Lloyd is satisfied with Cottrell, who is a private in the Jamaican Defence Force, after watching him play at home just days before arriving in South Africa.

“I watched him play a game in Trinidad the other day. We asked him to play that game because we wanted to see how fit he is. He is always very enthusiastic and being a soldier, I think he is fit enough and he wants to play. Left-hand quicks don’t come often and he is somebody we need to nurture and take along with us as long as possible. He could be very lively. On these pitches here, if he swings it and bowls as well as he has been bowling, he could give batsmen some trouble.”

It could mean that either Shannon Gabriel or Jason Holder could miss out because Lloyd seemed hesitant for West Indies to go into the Test without a spinner, even though South Africa are toying with the idea.

“I would think we would

play Sulieman Benn. He is our best spinner, he has got a lot of experience and he tends to get the team going,” Lloyd said.

The Centurion surface is expected to be tailor-made for South Africa’s seamers, as they attempt to add to a successful streak at the venue which has seen them win 14 of the 19 Tests played there. Although the spicysurface strategy backfired in March, when Mitchell Johnson gave the hosts some of their own medicine, South Africa are likely to stick with it against a West Indian batting line-up without Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo. Lloyd could be easily worried by that but he is hopeful some of the potential he has seen will bloom.

“This is a chance for youngsters to go out there and show their mettle,” he said. “They are playing against one of the best teams in the world. That alone should galvanise them to do well. We have youngsters here who we feel are good enough. Wherever we go, West Indies players are still respected because of what we achieved over the years and now they have their own era to work on. I hope that they do. This is the best stage you can have. It’s a wonderful country, terrific people and they love sport. If you can make a name for yourself here, you’re on a roll.”

Five West Indians recently did exactly that, but not in the way Lloyd intended. Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo competed in the domestic twenty-over competition and all of them put in telling performances for their respective franchises. That none of them are part of the Test squad is seen as highlighting the pull of T20 competitions.

While Lloyd didn’t dwell on that, he admitted he was disappointed those players are not regulars in the national team. “It’s obvious that people want to earn a living and they are probably the best at that style of cricket and they have done fairly well. But I want to see them playing for us a little bit more often,” he said. “They are supposed to be our best players and you want your best players playing for you.” (Cricinfo)

NBA Roundup… Warriors win 15th straight

The Golden State Warriors won their franchise-record 15th straight game, with Stephen Curry scoring 29 points and Klay Thompson adding 25 Saturday in a 105-98 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Warriors became the 12th NBA team to open a season 20-2. Steve Kerr, in his first season, is the first coach to start that fast.

Curry and Thompson each scored 17 in the first half as Golden State ran out to a 28-point lead. The Mavericks got as close as seven in the final minute of

into overtime and scored a career-high 36 points, leading Memphis past Philadelphia.

The Grizzlies rallied from 18 points down over the final 7 minutes of regulation to keep the Sixers winless at home. Conley scored 16 points in the fourth and kept Memphis in the hunt for best record in the Western Conference.

Zach Randolph had 24 points and 11 rebounds. Conley was 13 of 22 from the floor, hit five 3-pointers and had nine assists.

Michael Carter-Williams

the game.

Monta Ellis scored 24 points to lead the Mavericks, who played without Chandler Parsons because of a sore back. Dallas dropped to 0-5 against the top seven teams in the Western Conference.

MAGIC 100, HAWKS 99

Tobias Harris got a leaning, 13-foot jumper to rattle in at the buzzer as Orlando snapped Atlanta’s ninegame winning streak.

Harris finished with 20 points, Evan Fournier added 19 and Nik Vucevic 18. Orlando took the second game of the back-to-back after Atlanta’s victory at home on Friday.

The game was tight throughout, featuring 10 ties and 15 lead changes. The Magic had 10 first-quarter turnovers, but just five the rest of the game.

Jeff Teague had 24 points, leading six Hawks players in double figures. Al Horford added 18 and Kyle Korver 11.

GRIZZLIES 120, 76ERS 115, OT

Mike Conley hit the tying 3-pointer to send the game

had an empty triple-double for the Sixers with 16 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds. But a handful of turnovers and poor shot selection helped doom the Sixers in the fourth and OT.

ROCKETS 108, NUGGETS 96

Dwight Howard had 26 points and 13 rebounds in his return from injury, James Harden had a tripledouble, and Houston overcame an early deficit to beat Denver.

Howard, who missed the previous 11 games with a strained right knee, also reached a milestone, eclipsing 10,000 rebounds in his career.

Harden had 24 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his third career triple-double. He almost didn’t get it, grabbing his 10th rebound with less than a second left in the game.

Ty Lawson had 19 points and 12 assists, and Darrell Arthur had a season-high 20 points for the Nuggets.

BUCKS 111, CLIPPERS 106

Brandon Knight scored 22 points, Giannis

Antetokounmpo added 20, and Milwaukee beat the Clippers.

Jamal Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left to pull the Clippers to 109-106. Knight’s inbounds pass was tipped out of bounds by Matt Barnes, who was tied up with Khris Middleton on a close play.

The referees reviewed the replay and confirmed that the Bucks had the ball. Milwaukee inbounded again, and Knight hit a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining to close the scoring.

Barnes scored a seasonhigh 26 points and JJ Redick added 25 for Los Angeles.

TRAIL BLAZERS 95, PACERS 85

LaMarcus Aldridge had 19 points and 14 rebounds, Damian Lillard added 18 points and Portland finished its five-game road trip with a victory over Indiana.

Portland (18-6) had lost two straight overall and four straight on the Pacers’ home court.

C.J. Watson had 23 points and Rodney Stuckey added 14 for the struggling Pacers (7-17), who have lost eight straight. It’s Indiana’s longest losing streak since an eight-game skid in December 2009.

Portland shot 77.8 percent from the field against the Pacers’ usually stout defense in the second quarter, turning a one-point deficit into a 58-38 halftime lead.

The Trail Blazers led by as much as 29 early in the third, and Indiana never got closer than eight.

NETS 114, HORNETS 87

Joe Johnson scored 22 points, Deron Williams and Mason Plumlee had double-doubles and Brooklyn beat Charlotte for its second straight victory.

Johnson was 9 of 16 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range as the Nets shot 16 of 23 from beyond the arc.

Williams had 18 points and 10 assists, and Plumlee outplayed counterpart Al Jefferson with 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets (10-12), who eclipsed 100 points for the first time in 11 games.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 15 points for the Hornets (6-17), who shot 36 percent from the field in their second straight loss. (The Blade)

Clive Lloyd

Stephen Curry

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Shehzad, Afridi quell new Zealand

The personality of Pakistan’s batting line-up is a gripping study and the chapter that was added in Sharjah could well be a blueprint of how to build an ODI innings. The primary ingredient was a firm century from Ahmed Shehzad and it was supplemented by a stroke-filled fifty from stand-in captain Shahid Afridi as Pakistan rocketed to 364 for 7 - their third-highest total in 50over cricket and the highest in Sharjah in 218 matches. New Zealand slipped and slid and finally succumbed for 217, beaten with almost 12 overs left.

Pakistan’s batsmen were intent on warding off those loose shots that frustrate them and their fans so badly. There was a determined effort to collect singles, which hindered the bowlers’ chances of building pressure. Each of the first three partnerships added more than 50 runs to the score with Shehzad being the common denominator. But whatever Pakistan do, there just has to be a see-sawing of fortunes.

Birthday boy Matt Henry took out Shehzad for 113 and Asad Shafiq the very next ball with the score on 210 in the 38th over, but Pakistan managed to circumvent those setbacks thanks to an enterprising partnership between Afridi and Haris Sohail. They added 89 runs in 46 balls and on that steam Pakistan made 125 runs in the last 10 overs.

The only period of play when New Zealand managed to threaten the target was when Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson were together. Both batsmen seemed highly conscious of not letting scoreboard pressure dictate their strokeplay and they trusted their strength - Taylor his power and Williamson his foot-

work - to collect their runs.

But the end of their union was rather symbolic of how things had been for New Zealand all day.

Taylor, who had showed immense skill cutting from the stumps, was bowled while attempted to do so by an Afridi slider. Tom Latham, too, added to the imagery when his beloved slog sweep found deep square leg to gift Shehzad his first ODI wicket. Pakistan gambled with Sohail’s part-time left-arm spin and got three wickets, including Williamson.

No batsman could reach fifty. No partnership could reach fifty. New Zealand had been run over by a stampede in the first innings and just could not recover. Afridi could not hide his smile as it became apparent that victory was only a matter of time. He barely put a foot wrong, right from the toss which he won and watched his batsmen take full advantage.

Having been ruffled by pace previously in the series, Pakistan’s strategy was to take on the short ball and an easy-paced pitched helped their endeavor. They also did not need to deal with Adam Milne, the fastest of New Zealand’s bowlers and also one of the more injuryprone, rested. Every batsman was keen to pull and Shehzad managed to find the middle of the bat even off the front foot. Midwicket was his most productive area and the pull, his most productive shot.

Shehzad’s poise at the crease was striking, so much that at times he was able to hit a selection of his 14 boundaries without much footwork. The four he drilled through point to reach his fifty was set up by shifting his weight onto a rather stationary back foot. He showed off his balance when he ran down the

pitch as well, and on one such occasion he heaved a length ball clean out of the stadium in the 20th over. Nathan McCullum, who was brought in place of Daniel Vettori, could only watch. His constant search for singles - he found 41 of them - facilitated a strike rate just under a-run-a-ball. At times, he wanted a single where there wasn’t one and did have a couple of run-out scares. On other occasions he would question his partner when they refused. It almost seemed like he would not accept anything less than a century, judging by how he stole two runs to a dab that barely went past the 30-yard circle at midwicket to move to 99. There

are only three Pakistan openers - Saeed Anwar, Salman Butt and Rameez Raja - who have more hundreds than Shehzad’s six. A 63-run opening stand in 47 balls between Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez had laid the foundation and Afridi fancied himself. Pakistan had listed him down at No. 8 at the toss, but he strode out at No. 5 ahead of the returning Umar Akmal and the red-hot Sarfraz Ahmed. Twenty-five balls of calculated carnage followed. Mis-timed belts sailed over midwicket and square leg, slices pinged to the point and cover boundaries and the straight hits were typically emphatic. (Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan innings (50 overs maximum)

Mohammad Hafeez c †Ronchi b Anderson 33

Ahmed Shehzad c Williamson b Henry 113

Younis Khan c Anderson b McCullum 35

Asad Shafiq b Henry 23

Shahid Afridi* c Williamson b McClenaghan 55

Haris Sohail c Williamson b Henry 39

Umar Akmal run out (Guptill) 0 Sarfraz Ahmed† not out 30

Sohail Tanvir not out 17

Extras (lb 5, w 11, nb 3) 19

Total: (7 wickets; 50 overs; 230 mins) 364

Did not bat: Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan Fall of wickets: 1-63 (Mohammad Hafeez, 7.5 ov), 2-133 (Younis Khan, 21.6 ov), 3-210 (Ahmed Shehzad, 37.1 ov), 4-210 (Asad Shafiq, 37.2 ov), 5-299 (Haris Sohail, 44.6 ov), 6-300 (Umar Akmal, 45.2 ov), 7-313 (Shahid Afridi, 46.6 ov)

Bowling: MJ Henry (9-0-69-3); MJ McClenaghan (10-0-69-1); CJ Anderson (10-0-96-1); JDS Neesham (10-0-70-0); NL McCullum (10-0-49-1); AP Devcich (1-0-6-0)

New Zealand innings (target: 365 runs from 50 overs)

WICB, WIPA erred...

MJ Guptill c Shahid Afridi b Mohammad Irfan 12 AP Devcich c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Mohammad Irfan 0 KS Williamson* c & b Haris

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ov) Bowling: Sohail Tanvir (5-0-20-0); Mohammad Irfan (6-0-26-2); Wahab Riaz (8-0-62-1); Shahid Afridi (9.2-0-37-3); Haris Sohail (7-0-45-3); Ahmed Shehzad (3-0-22-1)

– senior players must take significant blame for termination of India tour

- The Captain is in charge of the team on the field of play with access to the Manager and Head Coach.

- The Captain is also the mentor to the team off the field of play.

3. The players’ contracts must be given to players at least three (3) weeks before a Tour. The players must return them at latest, one week before the tour. Failure to return a signed contract will disqualify the player from selection on the team.

4. The WICB should recruit the services of a sports psychologist on a retainer basis to help our players with mental preparation especially young players. It is noted that two (2) of our

greatest prospects are currently out of the team because of “unexplained personal reasons”.

5. The WICB print an Employees Handbook which will be given to WIPA and to every player who represents the West Indies. The Handbook should include:

- A précis of the MOU and CBA

- Players manual with selection criteria

- The Retainer Contract

- Three (3) cricket formats – Test, ODI and T20

- A-team and Youth Team Tours

- CPL and WICB Professional Franchise

- Any other relevant information

6. The WICB should con-

vene bonding sessions twice yearly between players, management and the Board to foster harmonious relations. Individual members of the Executive Committee which normally meets more often than the Board should be selected to oversee and solve any personal or cricketing problems revealed by players.

7. A new CBA should contain a provision such as is contained in legislation relating to Essential Services to the effect that before the withdrawal of labour or any other industrial action be taken that a minimum period of notice be given by WIPA to WICB (say 14 days) of any industrial action contemplated by

WIPA or the players as a result of an identified dispute. We would recommend that a similar provision be put into the individual player’s contracts. This would obviate any circumstance as occurred in India. Breach of such a condition would be a breach of contract.

8. There should be a reversion to the former tradition of a management committee comprising the following persons who generally accompany the team:

- The Manager as Chairman

- The Head Coach

- The Chairman of Selectors

- The Captain

- A WIPA representative and/or a senior player

Braithwaite cops major prizes at GNRA awards ceremony

Guyana and West Indies individual fullbore shooting champion Lennox Braithwaite secured the major prizes when the Guyana National Rifle Association held its 2014 Presentation ceremony Saturday at Olympic House on Main Street.

Ryan Mc Kinnon, National smallbore captain Dale Hing, and Peter Persaud were also among the leading awardees.

Braithwaite captured the National senior championship Trophy, the Sigmund Douglas Trophy for winning the Grand Aggregate,

the Neville Denny Club Championship Trophy as well as the prestigious Wood Davis Cup, the Lushington Trophy among others.

Ransford Goodluck who was dethroned by Braithwaite was also among the top awardees.

Peter Persaud was named top Junior shooter following his success at the National Championships while Leo Romalho was voted most improved shooter for 2014.

There were also prizes for National fullbore captain Mahendra Persaud, Dylan Fields, Terrance Stuart and

Dane Blair.

In the smallbore section, Mc Kinnon was in top form winning the senior division of the .22 Pistol shoot as well as the Standard Division in the Practical Pistol championships.

Hing won the Production division at the championships and finished second to Mc Kinnon in the .22 shoot while Ray Beharry was third.

In junior category of the .22 match, Ray Amjad was first followed by Surujbali Persaud and Ray Amjad second and third respectively.

Hand Qualification

Certificates were presented to the following (Expert Rating) Colin Merriman, Shawn Smith and Compton Serabo, (Sharp Shooter Rating) – Annbelle Sharma and Ray Beharry (Marksman First Class) Totaram Bisundat, Azaad Hassan, Surujabali Persaud, Randy Sarjoo, Joshua Ramlakhan, Rajiv Lashana and Sekani Fredericks.

There were also appreciation awards for sports journalists Franklin Wilson of Kaieteur News, Stephan Sookram of NCN and Troy Peters, Public Relations Officer of the GNRA.

St Stephen’s, Stella Maris to contest final

St Stephen’s and Stella Maris have secured the two coveted spots in the final of the inaugural Petra Organisation’s Girls Under-11 Primary Schools football competition following the penultimate day of action at the Education Ministry ground on Carifesta Avenue on Sunday.

Apart from the two semifinals, there were four other games to determine positions 5-12.

Both semi-finals had to be determined by sudden death penalty kicks after regulation time failed to produce a clear winner.

Stella Maris won 2-0 on

the spot kicks against West Ruimveldt after both schools failed to score.

In the other ‘final four’ match, St Stephen’s edged favourites Enterprise in an exciting shootout that ended 10-9.

The two teams had earlier played to a 1-1 stalemate when the final whistle was blown.

Akesha Glascow had put Enterprise ahead in the 3rd minute, before Odelle Straughn equalised 21 minutes later.

In the playoff for positions 5 and 6, South Ruimveldt edged Tucville 1-0 with Kealia Phillips netting

in the 5th minute, while in the playoff for spots 7 and 8, North Georgetown, through

an Angel Denny goal, needled F.E. Pollard 1-0.

St Pius won 1-0 over St Margaret’s in the 9-10 playoff with Britney Sampson scoring the all-important goal, while East La Penitence won by walkover from Smith’s Memorial in the 11-12 playoff.

The grand final and third place playoff will take place on Thursday afternoon at the same venue.

The competition is a collaborative effort of the Petra Organisation, Health (Guyana) 2000, the Health Ministry and Ansa McAl Trading under its Smalta brand.

National Junior Men’s Hockey Team Road to 2016

Guyana’s national junior men’s hockey programme will take its first step on the road to the 2016 Junior Pan American Championships in Canada, this week when they take on their counterparts from Trinidad & Tobago.

A team of 18 players has been selected from the 35 member training squad to represent Guyana in a three match series against the Trinidad & Tobago junior squad.

This developmental tour will exposed the majority of the team to playing on artificial turf for the first time and will be a good gauge of where the team is in comparison to one of the best hockey playing nations in the Pan American region.

Described as a work in progress by their coaching staff, the squad features 14 players who will be making their international debuts. In spite of the side’s inexperience as a unit, individual standouts such as Captain Mark Sargeant, Jamarj Assanah, Andrew Stewart and Aroydy Branford have all tasted success as part of the senior national team.

The quartet were instrumental in helping Guyana win their first ever medal at the Indoor Pan American

Cup in Uruguay earlier this year, when Guyana defeated Argentina in the bronze medal match.

The team is scheduled to arrive in the twin island republic early Monday morning and will have their first training session on the artificial pitch at 10:00h, followed by a warm up match against Paragon Hockey Club in the evening.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the team will

have training sessions on the turf from 08:00h then compete against Trinidad’s national side in the evenings. The players will also be exposed to specialty skill sessions run by some of Trinidad’s top senior national players during the 5 day trip.

National Junior Men’s Hockey Team 2014 Mark Sargeant (Capt), Medroy Scotland, Daniel Hooper, Kareem McKenzie, Keon McKenzie, Shaquille Leung, Rosario Ramsammy, Jamarj Assanah, Andrew Stewart, Aroydy Branford, Leon Bacchus, Stephon Sprosta, Deheron Wilkinson, Omar Hopkinson, Ato Greene, Hilton Chester, Paramanand Dindial and Shemar Boston. Coaches - Dwayne Alleyne & Robert Fernandes, ManagerHubert Forrester.

Rockers steal win from warriors

Athree pointer by forward Michael Bowen with five seconds left in the game helped Smythfield Rockers secure a crucial win over arch rivals New Amsterdam Warriors in the Banks DIH Classic Basketball tournament on Saturday at the Vryman’s Ervin Court in New Amsterdam.

With forty seconds left on the clock and the score dead locked on 39-39, Carlos Crandon for the Warriors moved down the court with the ball and then passed it to Shemroy Me kenzie who failed to score.

Bowen collected the rebound and approximately 35 feet from the basket heaved a prayer that swished the net with five seconds to play as Warriors were unable to score as the game ended 39-42.

The game was the first for both teams and despite a slim 11-10 first quarter lead,

Smythfield could not hold on to it when the half time whistle came as they trailed 20-27. They went into the last quarter trailing by four points but Jamal Felix playing an important role for the Rockers ensured that within the last four minutes the scores were equal despite only scoring six points.

Bowen had a game high of 15 points for the Rockers while Neil Wills supported well with 12 points. For the losers L Edwards lead the scoring with 10 points.

The Banks DIH Classic Basketball tournament organized by sports enthusiast Vibert ‘Town Man’ Garrett is being played on a round robin basis at the group stages with the top two teams in each group emerging to contest the semifinals. The winners will meet on December 26 in the final. (Andrew Carmichael)

The awardees pose with their trophies

Paramanand Dindial

Shaquille Leung

St Stephens Primary and Enterprise go scoreless

Petra Girls U-11 football...

Respect the Game chairty basketball...

Team Bond edge Team Toney

WICB, WIPA erred significantly says Task Force

– senior players must take significant blame

for termination of India tour

The Task Force set up by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to investigate the premature ending of the tour to India citing contractual issues by the players has filed its report on the issue.

“We are of the view that the fundamental and overriding excuse for the players withdrawing their labour (refusing to play the 5th ODI and subsequent matches) was the attempted imposition of new contractual terms of employment on the players negotiated between the Board and WIPA, which the players saw for the first time after they got to India.

“There is something fundamentally wrong in sending a team to faraway places with only an historical view of their terms of employment and then to radically change those historical terms after they arrive in that distant place,” the report stated.

Further, the Task Force headed by Michael Gordon (Chairman), Sir Wes Hall and Sir Richard

Cheltenham found it baffling that they were unable to arrive to the percentage that the player’s compensation would have been reduced by.

“It was the conclusion of the players in India that their compensation would be reduced by some seventy percent. In our view it is irrelevant whether their calculations were accurate or not.

“Sufficient to say that we, as a task force, even with the help of Mr Gerard E Pinard, a labour relations expert contracted by the Board to assist the Task Force, were unable to arrive with certainty at what compensation each player would receive in the new arrangement. The Task Force noted that there was no mention of any incentive scheme in the Players’ contracts.” the report went on.

The Task Force also went onto question the September signed MOU, “It will be remembered that the new MOU was signed by WIPA and the Board on 19 September, 2014 and that all the players ar-

rived in India without their Player Contracts, which according to the Board had to be based on the new September, 2014 MOU. “Very real questions arise as to

whether the September MOU was or was not a contract.”

Meanwhile the Task Force stressed that the changes and the development process of the league needed to be communicated in a much more efficient and effective manner which was the a significant error on the part of both the WIPA and the WICB.

However, the Task Force also threw some blame at the feet of the players, “A significant proportion of the blame for the termination of the tour must also lie with the players, and in particular their leaders. The tour was called off when the players refused to play the 5th ODI on 17th October 2014. At that time according to Mr Bravo the players knew that Mr Cameron, and Mr Hinds were due to come to India to meet with them on the 21st October some 4 days later.

“Their anxiety to bring the tour to a premature end without waiting the additional 4 days certainly suggested to the Task Force that,

to use a West Indian phrase, ‘there was more in the mortar than the pestle’. There was, however, no information on what the ‘more’ was, but that it existed, the Task Force felt certain”.

The report added: “senior players in any overseas squad bear a great responsibility to set standards and create examples for the more junior players to follow. This, the Task Force felt, the senior players failed to do”.

The recommendations of the Task Force are as follows:

1. The WICB must now build pillars of trust and respect with the players who are the Board’s employees. In this process WIPA and the senior players have a very real role to play.

2. The WICB should simplify the Team’s Management Structure as follows:-

- The Manager is in charge of the team for home and away tours.

- The Head Coach is in charge of cricket matters with easy access to the Manager at all times.

Team Bond hoists the championship trophy

Sir Wes Hall

Akeem Kanhai dunks of Edison Jefford

Christopher Barnwell takes an easy floater