Guyana Times Daily - May 13, 2015

UNASUR submits preliminary report on election findings P11

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 2491

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Pharma procurement:

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Page 3

MoH says Opposition playing “Russian Roulette” with lives

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Guyana raked in $90B in P2 remittances last year – IDB

...full payment not made; all rules followed

PPP/C candidates, polling agents beaten , injured – Jagdeo Page 5

Kwame McCoy was seriously injured by a mob of APNU/AFC supporters at St Sidwell's Primary, Georgetown, which resulted in him being hospitalised

GECOM still to deliver official election results

Page 9

PPP/C condemns coalition’s declaration of results

83% of firsttime voters cast ballots for same party as parents – survey P2 PPP/C blames APNU/AFC for post election unrest P5

Region 2 remains peaceful, calm

P5

– residents anticipating results with optimism

Joint Services appeal for calm, restraint

Page 9

P10

2 news

wednesday, may 13 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Guyana raked in $90B in remittances last year – IDB

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emittances from the United States to Guyana totalled US$438 million, (G$ 90.7 billion), according to a new report by the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).

According to “Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean Set a New Record High in 2014”, the increase reflects significant growth in remittance flows to Mexico (eight per cent), Central America (7.4 per cent) and the Caribbean (6.3 per cent), linked to the recovery of the economy and labour market in the United States.

However, there was a decrease of one per cent to South America, partly caused by the economic situation in Spain, which constitutes a major source of remittance flows to that subregion.

Since the 2008-2009 international financial crisis, and up until 2013, the total amount of remittances sent by migrants to their countries of origin had failed to match the levels of 2008, when they sent a record high of almost US$65 billion.

“Remittances remain an important source of income for millions of families in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Fernando Jimenez-Ontiveros, Acting General Manager of the MIF. “The remittance sector has evolved by adopting new technologies and options for sending and receiving, and has seen a decline in fees. However, it is essential to continue working so that those who receive them have opportunities for savings and investment.”

Mexico, which receives more than a third of all remittances sent to the Region, continues to be the largest recipient, with US$23.6 billion, followed

by Guatemala with US$5.5 billion, the Dominican Republic with US$4.5 billion, El Salvador with US$4.2 billion, and Colombia with US$4 billion.

83% of first-time voters cast ballots for same party as parents – survey

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According to the MIF-IDB report, the recovery of remittances is projected to continue or even accelerate in 2015, given growth forecasts for the United States, Spain, and Latin America.

The MIF, a member of the IDB Group, supports Private Sector-led development benefiting low-income populations and the poor – their businesses, their farms, and their households.

The aim is to give them tools to boost their incomes: access to markets and the skills to compete in those markets, access to finance, and access to basic services, including green technology. A core MIF mission is to act as a development laboratory – experimenting, pioneering, and taking risks to build and support successful micro, small and medium business models.

ost first-time voters on Monday claim that they cast their ballots based on policy, but at the same time voted for the same party that their parents voted for.

During a simple, random poll that was conducted by the Guyana Times of first-time voters on Monday, it revealed that many of them did not make the choice for themselves. The survey also found that only one person was told which party to vote for.

All of those interviewed said they cast a ballot for a particular party based on the policies of that party.

However, 83 per cent said it was the same party which their parents voted for.

The poll was conducted using 10 voters in New Amsterdam, which is a stronghold of the Opposition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, 10 voters from East Canje, which is considered a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) stronghold and 10 randomly chosen voters. A total of 15 men and 15 women were interviewed.

The poll sought to find out about the voting process and expectations, the reasons for voters choosing particular parties, whether it was the same party that their parents voted for and how long ago the voter made up his or her mind to cast a ballot in favour of that party. Of those interviewed all said the voting process met their expectations, with one voter saying that at a particular school many decisions were taken after a vote. “The only difference is that this is a bigger one.”

Of the 30 persons interviewed, only one person was positive that he did not vote for the same party his parents voted for. Five people said that they did not know which party their parents voted for while 24 said it was the same party. Of those who said that they did not know which party their parents voted for, two were from East Canje, two from New Amsterdam and one randomly chosen. Three of these voters were female and two male.

Asked how long ago they made up their minds to cast a ballot in favour of a particular party, 33 per cent said it was when the campaign period started. Of those 10 persons, two were from New Amsterdam and four from East Canje.

One person said that the final decision was taken when the AFC coalesced with APNU. One person from each of the three selected groups said that the decision was made on Election Day, while one person from New Amsterdam said the decision was made ever since he knew himself. A total of 10 persons said their decision was made within the last two months, including a young woman who said that it was only about 17:00h on Monday that she made her decision to vote.

“I was not coming and vote, but my sisters kept telling me to go and vote and after I reach home from work, they say if I go and vote they will do my work at home for me.”

All of the voters interviewed said that they were happy to be part of the decision-making process in Guyana.

news

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wednesday, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic from Wednesday, May 13, 2015 – 13:00h-14:30h and Thursday, May 14 – 14:00h-15:30h

The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 – 12:20h-13:50h and Thursday, May 14 – 13:30h-15:00h

FERRY SCHEDULE Ferries will be departing the Parika and Supenaam stellings on: Wednesday, May 13 – 08:00h and 16:00h Thursday, May 14 – 05:00h and 16:00h

WEATHER TODAY Heavy rain showers can be expected in the morning, with light rain in the afternoon.

Light rain showers and thunderstorms can be expected in the evening over coastal regions and near inland locations. Temperatures are expected to range between 25 degrees and 28 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-easterly between 5.36 metres and 6.70 metres per second.

High Tide: 00:06h and 12:37h reaching maximum heights of 2.37 metres and 2.39 metres respectively.

Pharma procurement:

MoH says Opposition playing “Russian Roulette” with lives

... full payment not made; all rules followed

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sked for a response to the sensationalised Kaieteur News headline attributed to Opposition Candidates Carl Greenidge and Khemraj Ramjattan, on the day after election, a Health Ministry (MoH) official said that these individuals seem willing to risk the lives of Guyanese in scoring political points.

“I find it very disheartening that individuals vying to lead the country are willing to play Russian Roulette with Guyanese lives. And this is what they are demanding when they insist that our Ministry does not keep the supply chain intact for drugs to

Low Tide: 06:07h and 18:37h reaching minimum heights of 0.87 metre and 0.77 metre respectively.

Opposition Candidate Khemraj Ramjattan

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treat patients,” the official stated in an exasperated tone.

“We are five months into the new year... do these gentlemen believe that the health issues that our system treats with medication took a leave of absence because of elections and electioneering?” he asked. “All the functions of Government must go on, health services being one of the most urgent and critical.”

The official was asked for a response to the statement made which suggested that there was “sole sourcing” in the award of the contract to NEW GPC as was again alleged by Greenidge and Ramjattan, even after they were corrected when the same claim was made in an Opposition ad just before Election Day. “When we pointed out the fallacy in that earlier allegation, we assumed that even though irresponsible, it was made to garner some votes - the usual sensationalisation for effect. But it appears now that there is some other mischief afoot so I will recap the facts once again,” the official said.

“First of all, the prequalification procedure

Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon

to bid for the bulk of our pharmaceutical supplies and other medical essentials is one that was recommended by the World Health Organisation and World Bank. No government in the world can place individual orders on a piecemeal, day-to-day basis. There is a need for consolidation, reliability of supply and quality that must be considered. The procedure overseen by the National Procurement and Tender Board [NPTAB] was the most transparent and rules based ever,” the official said. “It is absolutely not “sole sourcing” because even after selection of the vendor, the MoH matches the prices of the pharmaceuticals against those of the internationally vetted automatically qualified suppliers such as PAHO, IDA

etc.”

Since last July, Cabinet Secretary, Dr Luncheon had announced that NEW GPC was the only company that was pre-qualified to supply the large contracts of pharmaceuticals and had challenged the Trinidad Company ANSA McAL to produce to the public the bid it had submitted to the Tender Board. “Our result was that, there is only one company that satisfied those requirements as far as NPTAB was concerned, and that was brought to Cabinet,” according to Dr Luncheon.

Asked whether the criteria used to pre-qualify a company were biased in favour of NEW GPC, the same claim that the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News are making once again, the Cabinet Secretary had replied, “The criteria are biased in favour of safety.”

ANSA McAL has yet to provide evidence that its bid had satisfied all the criteria, but yet it’s partisans continue with the old claims.

The Health Ministry official pointed out, “It is absolutely untrue that the full costs of the contract have been paid to the NEW GPC... simply the legally allowed one twelfth that was obviously placed there by the lawmakers to

prevent Guyana running out of pharmaceuticals to keep the nation healthy.”

This rebuttal of “full payment” was already made by the Health Ministry in response to the same allegation made by the Stabroek News.

In conclusion, the official said, “I want to emphasise that I hope politicians would become more responsible. I have to sadly conclude that they are intent on raising tensions since other companies that receive smaller contracts totalling billions every year have also received contracts and were paid their one twelfth.

How come there is no men-

Opposition Candidate Carl Greenidge

tion of them? Is it because that these suppliers publicly supported them with statements in the public domain?

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wednesday, may 13, 2015

Views 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

Gender inequalities

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he issue of women’s advancement in Guyana has been given much attention on the recent campaign trail, particularly by the major parities – PPP/C and APNU/AFC. Both parties boasted of having a comprehensive plan in terms of advancing women’s rights and ensuring that they take their rightful place in the society which they hope to implement once elected.

To its credit, Guyana has made significant progress in advancing women’s empowerment under the PPP/C Government. Even though there is still much work to be done, Guyana must be commended for the progress it has made in ensuring that; in addition to women being protected under the law, they are also given the relevant opportunities for their personal and professional advancement.

Further, it should be mentioned that this country was ranked 29th in the world out of 143 countries by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2013 and 42nd of 200 countries, in terms of political and educational empowerment by the Global Gender Gap Index. In essence, irrespective of what the naysayers will want us to believe, there is much the world can learn from us in terms women’s empowerment.

At present, the International Development Partners and Governments are putting their finishing touches on the Post2015 Development Agenda, and the issue of gender equality and women’s empowerment is getting the attention it deserves.

At a recent forum to mark the 20th anniversary of the landmark conference on women that enshrined the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark stressed that, in addition to a specific gender equality goal in the new Post 2015 global development agenda, it is crucial to ensure all policies at the national and local levels are seen through a “gender lens” to help overcome historic inequalities between men and women.

Clark was quoted as saying that in pursuing economic growth which benefits all citizens, it is important to focus not only on ensuring that women can participate in the decisions which affect their lives, but also on overcoming the barriers, including institutionalized discriminatory practices and attitudes, which severely affects women from moving forward.

This includes addressing the scourge of violence against women, and also the disproportionate burden of unpaid work carried out by women and girls which deprives them of time to earn money, gain new skills, and take part in public life.

According to the UNDP, during the last few decades, poverty rates have declined in every region of the world. Between 1990 and 2010, the proportion of people in developing regions living under the threshold of US$1.25 a day, the international benchmark for measuring extreme poverty, fell from 47 per cent to 22 percent.

Progress for women is also visible. For example, at least 50 per cent of the world’s women are now in paid wage and salary employment, an increase from forty per cent since the 1990s.

Also, women’s political participation has increased worldwide.

In 1995, women comprised 11.3 percent of parliamentarians.

Today, they make up 22.1 percent of parliamentarians, which is, however, still below the 30 per cent target set by the UN. However, despite the progress, too many challenges remain. According to a recent UN report on the Millennium Development Goals progress, more than 1.2 billion people still live in extreme poverty, and women continue to be more likely than men to be among them.

Despite the increased number of women in paid wage and salary employment, women remain disproportionately represented in vulnerable employment, and earn ten to thirty per cent less than men do for the same work. Moreover, across countries and regions, women are less likely than men to have access to decent work, assets, and formal credit, and do not have an equal voice in decision-making.

In this regard, Clark highlighted key steps to boost women’s empowerment, these include: supporting legal reforms to ensure women’s equal access to land, credit and assets, guarantee equal pay for equal work, and strengthen labour protections; developing employment and entrepreneurship programmes which target women; and establishing social protection measures which are of particular benefit to women, such as maternity benefits, unemployment and health insurance, and greater livelihood security.

These are some very valid suggestions which we hope will be taken seriously by all stakeholders.

Artful nature Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido is home to the sulphurous, belching and bubbling Jigoku-Dani, or Valley of Hell, a 24-acre geothermal crater that formed from the eruption of Mt Kuttara some 20,000 years ago (Thomas Volstorf/Getty photo)

Laughing from Freddie’s column Dear Editor, I laughed till “meh belly bust” as I read Freddie’s column.

Freddie said he was sent to campaign and give speeches where there was no civilization and no one living there.

He said he wanted to know “whe dem people deh he supposed to talk to”. Everywhere he went, he said no one showed

up at the meeting. He was talking to himself. He blamed it on PNC and AFC organizers.

The chap so intelligent he does not understand why he was sent to campaign in no man’s land and why no came to the meeting.

Freddie, you were sent to campaign in far flung places in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night be-

cause your party people don’t want you to be seen.

You are an irritant. You turn off people. You would have turned off supporters of your party. Because of your attack on Indians, many who were thinking of voting AFC went back “home”.

Freddie penned that a couple weeks ago in Lusignan, he was tasked with introducing

Sandra Granger and when he came on stage, there was no one at the meeting. But after he spoke, the crowd showed up.

Fred, really you don’t understand why people don’t come to listen to you? Why don’t you come to my introductory polis ci class so I can explain basics to you.

Vishnu Bisram

After the polls: A time for patience Dear Editor, The US Embassy congratulates the Guyanese people on the democratic process that we observed in yesterday’s elections.

It was heartening to witness the enthusiasm with which Guyanese voters participated in the electoral process which will ultimately choose their next government.

The Guyana Elections Commission has once again done a credible job in ensur-

ing that this critical election day phase of the process was free and fair. It dealt effectively with the challenges posed by high voter turnout and community exuberance in a manner that has ensured the integrity of the vote.

We would like to congratulate Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally, Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, and the Commissioners and staff of the Guyana Elections Commission for their successful organization of these

polls.

The Guyana Elections Commission is now faced with the equally complex task of tallying the results of yesterday’s vote. This process is certain to take some time, but we are confident that it will be done accurately and in accordance with Guyanese law.

As we all await the final announcement of results, the US Embassy urges all Guyanese to remain patient and to avoid any actions that could provoke conflict or vio-

lence. It is our hope that political leaders on all sides will remain proactively engaged with their respective supporters in order to promote calm and reconciliation.

When the final tally is known, we call on all political parties to accept the ultimate results, to encourage their supporters to do the same, and to resolve any outstanding disputes through the established judicial process.

US Embassy

Let GECOM complete its work in an environment of peace Dear Editor, The verification process of the counting and tabulation of SOPs is taking too long, leading to much unease among the population and the diaspora as well. But GECOM wants to get it right and not make a mistake in making a premature announcement as happened in earlier elections. Hence the long drawn out process -- over 24 hours since the polls closed.

Nevertheless, it is not brain science to count a maximum of 400 ballots per polling station and it does not take forever.

The counting finished quickly.

The verification process takes a long time - it should not have, but that has been our history in democratic elections since 1992.

The two major parties

know the election numbers because these would have been given to them by their polling agents. So they know which party won and which one lost. GECOM also knows which party won from the preliminary phoned in reports of the SOPs. But it has to go through the verification process before making an official declaration.

It is doubtful such an announcement would come before Wednesday afternoon because of slow process of verification of SOPs. This is not good for the country. But nothing can be done about it.

It is most unfortunate that we have both parties claiming victory (or in the lead as claimed by Ramotar and victory as claimed by Granger)

with about the same number of votes in reverse order.

The supporters of the party claiming victory are celebrating. They may have won but until GECOM says who has won, the parties and their supporters have to respect the power of GECOM. How could it be possible for both parties to claim victory? One of the two is not giving us the correct information or may have made a mistake in its aggregate summation of the SOPs. Or may one has an ulterior motive and an agenda? We do not know and aspersions should not be cast.

Whichever party lost must be prepared to concede defeat and congratulate the winner, once there is no fraud. That is how democracy works. The

peoples’ verdict is final.

As I penned earlier, the best government is one which is inclusive of representatives of all stakeholders in the society – parties, civics, business groups. It is the only way for national reconciliation that is needed now more than ever.

In the meanwhile, the two major parties must heed the call of Dr. Surujbally to calm the emotions of their supporters and let GECOM finish its official work without hindrance or to act under duress. Only GECOM can certify and declare a winner! There should be no violence in the streets. Let the peace prevail.

Everyone, all parties, must accept the will of the people.

Vishnu Bisram

News

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wednesday, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

PPP/C blames APNU/AFC Region 2 remains peaceful and calm – residents anticipating results with optimism for post-election unrest

By Indrawattie Natram

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo blames PNC-led APNU/AFC for disorder and confusion

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he People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is forthrightly blaming the People’s National Congress (PNC) led A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition for the series of unrest that erupted on Elections Day.

ony among Guyanese, and created confusion in society.

In some cases, particularly in Sophia, serious harm was done. Jagdeo said the PPP/C believes that these events were orchestrated attempts by the Opposition to undermine the integrity of the polls and mar the entire election process.

Election Day was owed to various malicious rumours that the ballot boxes were under threat.

These rumours wasted no time in spreading through various communities, especially those dubbed as PNC/APNU strongholds where residents appeared to be “extremely paranoid” about the integrity of the ballots.

As a result, these rumours caused the Opposition supporters to violently retaliate.

Tucville

Jagdeo further added that the incident in Tucville, Georgetown appeared to be another gimmick by the Opposition coalition to incite fear into supporters, making them believe that the ballot boxes were under threat.

“We heard from APNU that the PPP/C sent someone in Tucville, at 11 this

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s Guyanese await the results of Monday’s election, the atmosphere in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) was peaceful, with calm prevailing. After voting at the 138 polling stations in the Region, residents are optimistic and have tuned into the local channels, monitoring for themselves the count.

May 12 was a regular day for Essequibians and business activities continued as per normal. Supermarkets were filled with persons shopping groceries as usual.

Residents remain steadfast and await the final result from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), though rumours twirl in various communities generating some tension.

According to one resident from Golden Fleece, she remains prayerful and awaits GECOM results, “ I voted and that was important, if I didn’t I would have felt guilty ‘cause I could not complain, voting means my voice could be

heard.”

Another resident from Anna Regina said she was happy she voted and was part of Guyana’s decision-making process.

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive Member Alli Baksh commended residents for their patience and for behaving mannerly during this significant time for Guyana.

He said the PPP/C continued to call for peace during this time and called on persons to respect the election result as released by GECOM. Baksh outlined that traditionally Region Two remains calm during the post-election period.

Speaking about the electoral process on Monday, he highlighted that it was smooth and there was no confrontation between any political parties. He said at the moment he could not make any regional pronouncement and was waiting on the Registration Officer to sign off regionally.

This newspaper tried to contact the Opposition rep-

resentative of the Region, but our efforts served futile.

However, during the voting process, there was a full representation of polling agents within the Region.

According to G Division (Essequibo Coast and Islands) Commander Kevin Adonis, ranks remained vigilant and the riot unit was around. He noted that there were no major hiccups and whatever reports were brought before him, he promptly attended to them.

The Commander said the monitoring process would continue until the results are announced and patrols continued in the villages.

Region Two was also visited by representatives of the Private Sector Commission and the diplomatic community who came to observe the electoral process.

They too deemed the process as clam and peaceful, as systems were well in place and polling was organised. CV Nunes Primary and Cotton Field Secondary were the polling places visited by these observers.

Beepats shows appreciation for new mothers

Post-election unrest in Sophia

In an emergency press conference at its headquarters sometime after midnight on Tuesday, PPP/C Executive and former President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo issued a stern condemnation against the developments that took place throughout Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), particularly the chaos that broke out in Sophia, Greater Georgetown.

Jagdeo said the PPP/C is holding the coalition responsible for the acts of confusion and disorder that occurred.

“The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) lays the blame solely at the feet of the APNU/AFC coalition.

We had for some time now, been pointing out that the statements made by APNU in the run up to the elections could lead to a situation that we are experiencing…Mr Granger himself had said to his supporters that on election night they must show up at polling stations to guard the ballots,” he highlighted, adding that the PPP/C has made a report to the international observers about their position on the issue.

During the electoral process on Monday, interruptions occurred at some polling stations in communities across the country. These actions stirred fear and ag-

In justifying these claims, Jagdeo disclosed that credible information reveals that the APNU/AFC coalition had coordinated transportation to take willing supporters to certain villages with the intent to create havoc.

Maintaining that the Opposition deliberately set out to cause this confusion, Jagdeo pointed out that in the lead up to the elections, he and other PPP/C members had warned Opposition leaders about the tone and language they were using, and the atmospheric tension and paranoia it creates.

Most of the pandemonium that took place on

morning (Monday) to steal the ballot boxes. What could be more ludicrous, preposterous than the PPP/C sending someone into APNU’s stronghold where you have all the presiding officers, tonnes of APNU people around to steal at 11am, a ballot box,” Jagdeo said.

He added, “I believe… that this was just an excuse to say that they have to come out to reinforce what they did earlier, the statements that were made earlier by Mr Trotman and Mr Granger. This incident was to instigate, stir up people that they have to come out and guard the vote.”

Brand Manager Vondette De Florimonte Porter (left) along nurses, midwives and mothers who give birth on Mother’s Day

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he management and staff of Beepats on Sunday expressed their appreciation for mothers everywhere by giving back to new mothers. The business entity took the time to honour those who gave birth on Mother’s Day distributing gifts to the new mothers at the Georgetown Public Hospital,

Medical Arts and St Joseph Mercy Hospital.

The packages of Bebin Diapers were delivered to the mothers by Brand Manager Vondette De Florimonte Porter and other representatives of Beepats.

Bebin Diapers were distributed because of their superior quality and many features like

the wet indicator, the breathable cloth-like panels, the ultra elastic waistband, adjustable tabs, embossed channels and anti-leak leg cuffs. They also contain a hypoallergenic compound with soothing Aloe Vera and Vitamin E which prevents break outs and rashes and ensure that babies are clean, happy and healthy.

PPP/C Candidates, polling agents beaten and injured – Jagdeo

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ormer President of Guyana and People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive Member, Bharrat Jagdeo said several PPP/C Candidates and polling agents were victims of assault and abuse during the height of the chaos and disorder on Election Day. During an emergency press conference at the party’s headquarters on Tuesday, Jagdeo said several of the party’s polling agents were beaten, threatened, injured and held hostage by persons who pledged their allegiance to the People’s National Congress

Kwame McCoy hospitalised

(PNC) led A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.

He disclosed that polling agents in Sophia and other areas during the violent attack were in “sticky situations” where they were threatened and fearful for their lives, noting that some were even badly beaten.

Party member, Joseph Hamilton, who was trapped in the ordeal in Sophia on Monday evening, was also being threatened by the angry supporters.

Jagdeo added that party members Priya Manickchand and Dharamkumar Seeraj were held hostage in a building at Belladrum, Region Five

(Mahaica-Berbice) by a ‘mob’ he believes was instigated by the Opposition Leaders.

Further, he noted that the driver of PPP/C member Julian Burton was beaten in Paradise by another set of angry protestors in Paradise, East Coast Demerara and the vehicle was overturned in a nearby canal.

Additionally, Kwame McCoy was seriously injured by a “mob of APNU/ AFC supporters” at Sidwell, Georgetown, which resulted in him being hospitalised.

In Linden, Bishop Juan Edghill was subject to as-

sault from the coalition’s supporters which resulted in him lodging a formal report to the Organisation of American States (OAS) after he came under attack.

In highlighting these disturbances, Jagdeo urged the entire Guyanese population to remain vigilant and ensure they take the necessary measures to protect themselves against these vile acts of violence.

Independent observers already predict that these acts of violence and social unrest will continue in the days to come.

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Foundation

How parents and teachers can help children understand and confront adversity

By Joanne Foster and Dona Matthews

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arents and teachers sometimes find children preoccupied by very serious and worldly matters. Even young children will think about illness, death, war, the fury of Mother Nature, or the complexities of the human condition, and this may occur long before they are able to fully grasp the ideas and put them into perspective. The kinds of worries and fears that children grapple with become more frightening when the adults they know can be heard talking or possibly whispering about problems such as terrorism, gun violence, pandemics, or natural disasters. Indeed, disturbing occurrences (outbreaks, forest fires, hurricanes, evacuations, and so on) have affected countless numbers of adults and children around the globe. Children, and in particular those who are knowledgeable about news events, well-read, or astute, can experience troubling thoughts and feelings.

Despite (or maybe because of) their intelligence or insightfulness they might find it difficult to cope with their fears and misgivings. They may see that many of their peers are far more focused on their own day to day activities, or they are not as interested in upsetting events.

The adults in their lives may not be willing or adequately prepared to discuss matters with them. It can sometimes be a struggle for children to

put their apprehension into words, to share concerns, to get past a sense of isolation, or to calm a gut feeling that for some reason (perhaps beyond anyone’s comprehension) the world seems more troubled now.

Children may be young and comparatively inexperienced but that does not mean they lack sensitivity or the ability to understand matters, especially when given appropriate help to do so. Cognitive development is complicated, and people learn, grow, and come to comprehend things at different times in their lives – with depth, breadth, rate, and direction quite variable, and importantly dependent on an individual’s opportunities to learn. This is also quite variable, as one might imagine.

Parents and teachers have to recognise and respect this variability. Moreover, children are often motivated to learn more about whatever troubles them. Motivation is complex – there are different types, degrees, underlying reasons, and outcomes.

Adults should be careful not to dismiss or trivialise children’s desire to learn, or minimise their levels of understandings, but rather enable those understandings, ease their discomfort, and support their desire to learn more, even when a particular area of interest is one that is difficult for people to confront or reconcile. It is a good idea to provide suitable learning opportunities and resources while still acknowledging that some matters or circum-

logue and connectivity. Being approachable is the first step toward being approached.

What follows are numerous suggestions for effective, responsive adult-child interaction in times of trouble, and ways to promote children’s emotional wellbeing.

Although the strategies have been divided into two areas of focus (for parents and teachers) this is presented as such for purposes of reference simplicity, and we encourage flexible application of these recommendations in the context of home and school.

Ways parents can help children

stances are not always easily understood.

Parents and teachers who offer a safe and dependable environment, active listening, and open communication, are on track to support children’s emotional well-being. Regardless of a child’s age, temperament, ability, exceptionality or concern, adults should respond to individual development and to intense reactions to worldly occurrences by working honestly, and collaboratively with children to bring some sensibility to situations that may seem volatile or senseless. How can parents and teachers provide the kinds of support necessary to help children during troubling times?

To begin with, it is important that adults wrestle with their own anxieties and emotional responses to adversity. This means thinking carefully about what is

disturbing, and what strategies are useful to get past the worry or unsettling circumstances. Thoughtfully working through the process of how to deal with such matters can heighten awareness of how to help children cope with and overcome their troubling thoughts and concerns. Adults who ask themselves questions about what really matters to them and why, and how or if they can improve things, are better positioned to help children do the same. By establishing clear lines of communication between adults and children, and home and school, parents and teachers can help to shape children’s perceptions in informed ways.

However, remember that children may not think parents and teachers are approachable or receptive when perceived as upset, distracted, condescending, or harried and this can inhibit open dia-

* Listen, really listen, to children’s questions. Pay attention to their words, hear what they are asking, and be attuned to what they are not asking (but might want to know). Show genuine interest in their concerns. * Value their opinions. * Consider issues sensitively, one at a time. Be honest, and respond with only as much detail as the child is able to handle. Children’s cognitive levels differ with age, development, and personal experience. * Provide resources that are suited to a child’s level of understanding. Stretch that by offering assistance, especially if the child is keen to learn more. * Help children focus on what they can do to help a situation. For example, participating in hurricane readiness or relief efforts, or local fundraising initiatives. This kind of involvement, when age-appropriate, can prevent

children from becoming fixated on finding solutions that are beyond their capacity due to age and expertise. * Emphasise the joys, reason, and goodness within the world. * Emphasise the resilience of people. * Discuss the importance of tolerance and relationshipbuilding. There are many resources available in print and online, and educators and librarians can work with you to find those that best fit the individual and situation at hand. * Be sure to take stock of your own feelings before attempting to address children’s concerns. This will help to ensure that you are and will remain calm. * Encourage children to play. They should continue to be active and to maintain balance in their lives. They may need to be reassured that if they have fun it does not mean they lack sensitivity to the misfortune of others. * Help children to appreciate the value of self-expression in the form of art, music, or journal or poetry writing.

These can be wonderful outlets for conveying feelings, and also serve as springboards for discussion. * Try to have conversations about matters that are anxiety provoking only at those times when everyone is relatively relaxed. Choose a comfortable space, and ample time for open dialogue and respectful listening. * When children are deeply troubled and cannot be calmed, consider consulting with a professional who has some expertise in working with those who are highly intelligent or sensitive, and who has experience in providing psychological services. * Maintain a sense of constancy, with continued nurturing and ongoing attention to daily routines. * Respect the fact that sometimes children do not want to share their ideas. A warm hug or a few quiet moments can be very comforting, too. * Help children steer clear of excessive exposure to conflict, violence, or human suffering on television or in the media. Acknowledge that there are troubles in the world but explain that it is not constructive to focus on it too much. * Help children find ways to make wise choices in their efforts to contribute to the community through religious, recreational, or character education programs that may be offered in the neighbourhood. Positive action and opportunities to connect with others serves the greater good and strengthens society. * Fortify family ties and reinforce friendships. During times of trouble, a strong social support system can make a big difference to a child.(www. sengifted.org)

TO BE CONTINUED

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wednesday, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

EOM/OAS presses Western diplomats hail GECOM for earlier electoral process preliminary results ...urge calm, peace

Deputy Chief of Mission David Álvarez Veloso, Chief of Mission Lisa Shoman, and OAS Representative (Guyana) Jean Ricot Dormeus

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rapping up its fifth cycle of observing elections in Guyana, the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organisation of American States (EOM/ OAS) in its preliminary findings recommended that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) broadcast the preliminary results in a timelier manner, particularly to avoid violent situations on Election Night.

At a press conference at the Marriott Hotel on Tuesday, OAS Chief of Mission Lisa Shoman said “the Mission encourages GECOM to consider implementing a system of issuing preliminary results for national elections”, noting that the use of technology should be able to assist in this regard.

Shoman said the EOM/ OAS team acknowledges that the process of transmitting the results in Guyana contains safeguards to reinforce the accuracy of the outcome, but the manual process is inherently time-consuming.

As such, the use of technology is recommended to speed up the process all the while maintaining the accuracy of the results.

Following the close of polls on Election Day at 18:00h, GECOM initially promised the dissemination of preliminary results by 23:00h.

On Election Night, disorder prevailed in several areas throughout Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) which caused several delays in the tabulation of the results.

Results were then rescheduled to be broadcast at 18:00h on Tuesday, but there were some complications in that regard, resulting in another delay in the announcement of the preliminary results.

“I understand that some of the issues with preliminary results have to do with the fact that there were demonstrations and groups of people out-

side of polling stations and that caused a bit of a lag in the tabulation of the results…,” Shoman said.

Constructive dialogue

She indicated that the tone and language and “harsh rhetoric” issued by politicians may have contributed to the divisiveness displayed on Election Day. As such, the EOM/OAS urges all political parties to build constructive dialogue based on programmatic actions that benefit the Guyanese people and avoid aggressive personal disqualification.

Other preliminary findings include concerns raised by stakeholders regarding equitable access to the State Media.

EOM/OAS recommended that consideration be given to regulation that promotes equitable access to all contenders of the electoral process.

EOM/OAS also recommended that consideration of some form of state funding be provided for political parties in order to promote equity.

The Mission reports that it recognises the existence of a legal framework regarding political financing, but there is a clear need to revise and modernise aspects of the law which are obsolete and which will show violations and non-compliance with few sanctions.

In addition, EOM/OAS highlighted that there is usually a long line of electors who wait for hours before they cast their vote and made a recommendation to address the issue.

“The Mission recommends the introduction of a standardised process that will allow verification of electors to enable verification of at least one or two additional voters while one voter is casting his/her ballot,” Shoman stated.

EOM/OAS also raised concerns emanating from a range of stakeholders relating to a 20 per cent increase

in the number of voters on the list. The Mission indicated that this could be due to a lack of timely procedures for cleansing and updating the voter registry.

Finally, the Mission observed the significant presence of women throughout the electoral process and commended GECOM on its enforcement in this regard.

GECOM requires that every political party’s List of Candidates has at least 33 per cent women.

Results

Meanwhile, as Guyana awaits the results of the polls, part of the EOM/ OAS team will remain in Guyana until such results are made available.

Shoman related that the results should be made available before Friday.

In the meantime, she reiterated to the political parties and citizens of Guyana that the only official source of election results is GECOM. This reminder comes at the time when the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition revealed to the nation that it is leading the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) by some 20,000 votes. The PPP/C later indicated the reverse.

The EOM/OAS team consists of 22 observers from 13 countries and they were present from the opening of the polls up to the counting of the votes in all 10 regions of Guyana, visiting a total of 379 polling stations during Election Day. Aside from the issues mentioned, EOM/OAS said there have been significant improvements made

by GECOM since 2011 as it relates to planning and preparing for the electoral process, specifically in the areas of transparency, logistics and inclusiveness of political parties in the process.

A more detailed report on the elections in Guyana will be made available shortly at www.oas.org.

From left: Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Bryan Hunt; UK High Commissioner Greg Quinn and Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Nicole Giles outside Linden Technical Institute on Monday

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he top diplomats of the United States, Britain and Canada here have congratulated Guyanese on the conduct of Monday’s General and Regional Elections and also hailed the process as credible and the elections management body for its work.

In a statement, the US Embassy said it congratulated the Guyanese people on the democratic process that was observed during Monday’s election. “It was heartening

to witness the enthusiasm with which Guyanese voters participated in the electoral process which will ultimately choose their next government.”

The embassy said the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has once again done a credible job in ensuring that this critical Election Day phase of the process was free and fair. “It dealt effectively with the challenges posed by high voter turnout and community exu-

berance in a manner that has ensured the integrity of the vote. We would like to congratulate Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally, Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, and the Commissioners and staff of the Guyana Elections Commission for their successful organisation of these polls.”

The US said that GECOM is now faced with the equally complex task of tallying the results of Monday’s vote. turn to page 10

8 NEWS

wednesday, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Suspect in city wharf gun smuggling remanded

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man suspected of being involved in the smuggling of a shipment of AK-47 rifles, pistols and ammunition which was found at a city wharf was remanded to jail on Tuesday on an illegal firearm possession charge.

The defendant, 21-yearold Jamal Murphy of 40 Vigilance, East Coast Demerara, was brought to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts Tuesday morning.

Two AK-47 rifles, four .40 pistols, 11 9mm pistols, 15 extra magazines for the firearms, and 489 various calibre rounds were found in a box shipped to the defendant from Ron Murphy from the United States of America. A bulletproof vest, a haversack and food items were also among the contents of the box.

Murphy pleaded not guilty to the offence and his lawyer, Delise Daniels, informed the court that the prosecution is “hardpressed to prove any case of possession” by her client.

She said that the defendant was expecting food stuff in the box and had no knowledge of the firearms that were found with his food items.

She petitioned the court for bail as her client has been quite cooperative with the Police, informing that someone else may be involved with the firearms and provided a name. She told the court that her client is quite young, has never been accused of any offence, and presently has no matter in court.

However, Police Prosecutor Bharat Mangru told the court that Murphy

Jamal Murphy

actually gave three addresses to the Police, one being in Plaisance.

He explained that a Customs Officer was checking the box shipped to

Murphy when the Officer realised that it had other compartments. Thus, the search was stopped and the Officer’s superiors and Murphy were contacted.

Murphy came in and a further search of the box was done, which led to the discovery of the guns.

Prosecutor Mangru told the court that this shows that the defendant had control of the guns and thus knowledge of it.

Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, who stated that there was no justifiable reason given as to why the defendant would not flee if granted bail.

She remanded him to prison, and transferred his case to be tried by Magistrate Judy Latchman in Court Three. Murphy will be back in court on May 20.

Essequibo man charged for rice farmer’s murder

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man accused of murder from the county of Essequibo appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday to answer to the charge.

The accused, Kalesh Chattergoon, is alleged to have murdered 65-year-old rice farmer Richard Etwaroo in Paradise, Essequibo between May 6 and 7.

Chattergoon was not required to plead to the charge as it is indictable. His matter was transferred to the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court.

According to information received, Etwaroo left his home on Wednesday morning and never returned home, and was not seen again until his body was found near the Exmouth

Seawall on Thursday morning.

He was last seen by family members who reported that he would usually leave home early “to graze his cow” by the seawall.

A post-mortem examination conducted on the rice farmer’s body on Friday revealed that Etwaroo died as a result of an incised wound to his neck.

Kalesh Chattergoon remanded for the charge of murder

Trio charged with Linden businesswoman's murder further remanded

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he three men charged with the murder of a prominent Linden businesswoman, Shevon Gordon, made their second appearance Tuesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

The men, 22-year-old Robin Maxwell Thomas of 120 West Montrose, East Coast Demerara; 29-year-old Aiden Bowen of Blueberry Hill, Wismar, Linden; and 29-yearold Anthony Primo of 153 Laing Avenue, Georgetown, were not re-

quired to plead to the indictable charge which stated that on April 4 at Block 22, Wismar, they murdered Shevon Gordon.

Attorney-at-Law Melville Duke appeared on behalf of Primo and stated that his client did not know the two other de-

fendants. Primo has been charged in the past for robbery under arms and the unlawful possession of a firearm.

The men were remanded and the matter has been transferred to the Linden Magistrate’s Court for May 19.

Eyew tness Election Day vignettes...

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...Guylines

ack in the day, when your Eyewitness was a tyke, he got to learn about "Guy-lines". In the days of the PNC shortages, it didn't matter what you wanted - you had to join a line to get it. With the proliferation of organisations and institutions named with the prefix "Guy" - for Guyana - now that we're became a republic ( GuySuco, Guystac, Guymine,etc...) wags dubbed these lines "Guylines". And who said we didn't have a laugh under the PNC? But at the time, your young Eyewitness didn't find it funny. His mother on spying a line - any line... it didn't matter where it ended - would insist that he join in to "hold the space" for her. So here was your Eyewitness, still in short pants with his knobby knees knocking, in the midst of a bunch of testy housewives elbowing each other to get ahead. Never let it be said that he wasn't educated in the "school of hard knocks": these ladies could teach Merryweather a trick or two.

So all these thoughts rushed into your Eyewitness mind as he joined the line so as to get his index finger dirty and not so incidentally help choose the next government of his great country. His childhood experience had made him obviously wary of lines but your Eyewitness must report that this "Guyline" - to choose a government - was nothing like those of his woebegone childhood.

Here everybody were good-naturedly joshing each other about one thing or another and there were chuckles all around. No elbows. By the time your Eyewitness got to the end of the line - to be heralded with his name and occupation announced aloud like the Prince at the ball in Cinderella - he had enough biographical data on the ladies in front and behind him, he could've blackmailed them and lived in easy street for the rest of his life.

The interesting thing was - NOT A SINGLE SOUL SPOKE ABOUT POLITICS!! And for all this talk about "race voting" - which your Eyewitness knew would be revealed when the votes were counted - there certainly was no "race talk" in the "Guyline" at the polling station. Anyhow your Eyewitness sheepishly allowed that he was in fact the same fella whose name and credentials were presented. And after clerks and observers all around conscientiously make their scratches on their slips of paper in front of them, your trusty Eyewitness made his mark on his ballot paper that would decide the fate of his country.

Ah...the responsibilities a democracy places on its citizens. But then imagine it has made even the Guylines become a lime!!

...rations

What made the "Guyline" analogy probably come to mind was your Eyewitness' wife's insistence on stocking up on "rations". Now Your Eyewitness knows that "rations" are those fixed amounts of foodstuff that's given to soldiers and sailors - especially in wartime or to the general population in times of shortage.

So he'd actually grinned when he discovered in school how apt his mother's talk about standing in lines for "rations" during the "Burnham Days". But today? Rations??...when food was overflowing the shelves like a veritable cornucopia? But his missus insisted that there was going to be "trouble" and as the one tasked with taking care of home and hearth, by golly, she was going to stock up on "rations"!

Your Eyewitness' (deep) analysis that no one was going to create "trouble" because the international community wouldn't allow it was summarily dismissed.

She had her "gut" feeling and so "rations" it was,

...miracles

The scenes were right out of the New Testament: the lame walked, the deaf heard and the blind saw. It was Election Day in Guyana!

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wednesday, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

PPP/C condemns coalition’s declaration of results L ess than an hour after the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) coalition declared that it won the 2015 General and Regional Elections based on the data received, it came in for major condemnation by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

According to the PPP/C, this reckless act on the part of the coalition could result in civil unrest, if the results are not in its favour.

APNU/AFC Presidential Candidate David Granger had told the press that based on data gathered from 2025 Statements of Polls (SOPs), which represents 88 per cent of all votes, the coalition was in the lead with some 182,176 votes while the PPP/C secured some 157,947 votes – a difference of 24,229.

But while addressing the press at Freedom House in the presence of the PPP/C Prime Ministerial

of continuing in office, our Party has always demonstrated a sense of responsibility with regard to Guyana and Guyanese.”

Counters claim

President Donald Ramotar addressing journalists at Freedom House on Tuesday in the presence of PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candidate Elisabeth Harper and Candidate, Dr Frank Anthony

Candidate Elisabeth Harper and PPP/C Candidate, Dr Frank Anthony, Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar said APNU/AFC’s proclamation was simply malicious, emphasising that only the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has the power to declare a winner.

“Our Party views this action by the Opposition as

reckless and a wanton demonstration of disregard of the related consequences which can lead to instability. This is clearly a continuous trend by the Opposition to compromise the integrity of the May 11 elections.”

He said the APNU/AFC coalition issued its declaration, although GECOM has continuously warned against such acts. Ramotar

said although the PPP/C has its own tally based on the SOPs, it refused to make a declaration.

“We have shown tremendous restraint in this regard and continue to respect and abide by the conditions set out by GECOM. We believe that this is the most responsible action to be taken during this sensitive period.

While we remain optimistic

However, Ramotar said while the PPP/C will not declare victory ahead of GECOM’s official announcement, based on statistical data garnered, the Party at the time of the press conference was leading by some 30, 000 votes.

It was explained that from a total of 2213 SOPs processed by the ruling party, figures suggest that it is in the lead with some 182,662 votes, while the APNU/AFC was lagging behind with some 151,095 votes.

“We have won Regions One, Two, Three, Five, Six, not clear where Region Eight is as yet, but we have won Region Nine. We have won clearly six regions,” the President further pointed

out.

Though confident that the PPP/C will return to Government, Ramotar stressed that he would not declare victory, noting that had it not been for the APNU/AFC’s pronouncement, PPP/C would not have disclosed its figures. “I just wanted to clear the air…,” he added.

Nevertheless, based on the view that the Opposition has acted irresponsibly by declaring a win, the PPP/C has called on GECOM and the international observers present to condemn the move. President Ramotar reiterated that the “irresponsible declaration creates a dangerous situation given that GECOM is yet to announce the official results. We believe that this latest reckless action by the Opposition is in keeping with their plan to build false hopes in the minds of their supporters.”

GECOM still to deliver official election results

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espite promising that the election results would have been announced on Tuesday evening, and at the latest, this morning, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) continues to remain iffy on a definite day for the announcement of the highly-anticipated information.

Despite the growing anxiety among the populace, GECOM’s Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally said that the Commission was still awaiting more Statements of Poll (SoPs) while those in its possession were being processed.

GECOM had assured

Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

that it will ensure that the results of the General and Regional Elections are released in the soonest possible time. Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield had said provided that all went well on Election Day, the elections body would have tried to have the results available by Tuesday evening or by this morning.

On Monday morning, a media notice was sent out promising that GECOM will be announcing to the media Tuesday at 11:00h (at a press conference), the first set of Preliminary Results. However, as media operatives eagerly awaited the results, they were merely greeted with the information that the elections body had received more than 1500 official SoPs from various parts of the country, but could not produce any preliminary results 18 hours after the polls had closed on May 11.

Dr Surujbally’s statement was substantiated by the Chief Elections Officer, who said he was still awaiting the SoPs from Regions One, Seven and Eight, while several SoPs of the other regions had to be returned for corrections and checks as the Representation of the People Act dictated.

However, at another press conference which was called at 18:00h, GECOM said that the legal requirements stipulated under the Representation of the People Act, coupled with the wet conditions and other factors in the hinterland regions, were the reasons the results were being delayed.

According to Lowenfield, when a SoP is brought to GECOM, it is thoroughly checked for errors and discrepancies so as to ensure that there is no compromise or loss of integrity in the process. Lowenfield said that if it is found that a SoP has an error, whatever it may be, the Representation of the People Act demands that the SOP be returned to

Elections out of 29,000 counted votes. The Chief Elections Officer promised that by midday today, more results would be forthcoming since the other SoPs would have reached GECOM by then.

Dr Surujbally maintained that the body was ensuring that the results are credible and would not sacrifice accuracy for expediency.

GECOM’s Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally

the Presiding Officer at the polling station from which the data was derived. It was on this note that he admitted that several errors were discovered and as such, these had to be returned.

Lowenfield explained that this was a long and drawnout process; hence, adding delays in the release of results.

Thus far, however, after almost 24 hours (up to press time), Lowenfield said that 279 SoPs were fully processed by the body.

These were not confined to one area but were drawn from Regions Three, Four, Five, Six and 10. As it currently stands, the figures released by GECOM to the media indicate that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition was leading, followed by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C).

The coalition had a lead in the largely two partyrace, with some 6797 votes more than the PPP/C in the General Elections and 4059 votes in the Regional

When questioned on the time taken by the elections body to provide the results of the elections when compared to other nations across the world, in the 21st Century, Dr Surujbally said he would like to see a change made in the next elections by having electronic systems in place.

“We cannot continue to remain with Jurassic meth-

odologies … we cannot continue this way… we have, in the past, recommended that this system be changed,” he noted.

He urged citizens to remain patient, explaining that GECOM has to follow the law and ensure that the integrity of the results is maintained and the systems followed to ensure accuracy before dispatch.

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guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, may 13, 2015

News

Joint Services appeal for calm, restraint

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Brigadier Mark Phillips

ore than 24 hours after the polls closed in the General and Regional Elections, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is yet to issue any form of substantial results to the anxious waiting nation.

In light of the development, it is anticipated that Guyanese will react if the results continue to be delayed by the body which has the sole responsibility to pronounce the results, particularly as both of the main political groupings have claimed victory.

On Monday, angry A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) supporters in Sophia created some disturbances. It is predicted that more will follow in days to come if the results are not released in a timely manner.

GECOM is calling for patience, and the political parties have also been making the same call. In addition, the Chairman of the Joint Services, Brigadier Mark Phillips, is urging all of Guyana to remain calm during this time.

“As the nation awaits the official results from the Guyana Elections Commission, I urge that all Guyanese remain calm.

Do not allow yourselves to be provoked, and do not give way to negative emotions and suggestions of negative occurrences.

GECOM is the only institution by which we can get the official results of the elections,” he stated.

He urged Guyanese to be patient and implored the electorate that after the final announcement is made, to demonstrate maturity and let good sense

will be involved in various patrols in support of the Guyana Police Force with the intent to ensure stable, safe and secure communities across Guyana.

I urge you to support our troops as they carry out their constitutional tasks to keep you and your communities safe. You do not need to fear our troops. We are working to ensure your safety.”

The Army Chief-of-Staff also posited that the Joint Services looked forward to the eventual announcement of the final results from GECOM and more so, looked forward to con-

Joint Services Officers in Sophia on Tuesday

prevail by accepting the results.

Phillips noted that as Guyanese, we are all in the situation together and there is nothing to be gained by destroying communities and harming each other. “Progress and real development will not come through violence,” he noted.

Brigadier Phillips also emphasised that the

The aftermath of Monday’s post election unrest in Sophia

Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will continue to provide support to the Guyana

Police Force (GPF) during this time.

He stated, “The GDF

tinuing to build Guyana in partnership with its citizens.

Western diplomats hail...

“This process is certain to take some time, but we are confident that it will be done accurately and in accordance with Guyanese law. As we all await the final announcement of results, the US Embassy urges all Guyanese to remain patient and to avoid any actions that could provoke conflict or violence. It is our hope that political leaders on all sides will remain proactively engaged with their respective supporters in order to promote calm and reconciliation. When the final tally is known, we call on all political parties to accept the ultimate results, to encourage their supporters to do the same, and to resolve any outstanding disputes through the established judicial process.”

Meanwhile, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn said he too welcomed the successful completion of voting in Guyana’s General and Regional Elections on May 11. “I now urge all parties and their supporters to have patience and give the Guyana Elections Commission the space and respect it needs to accurately tally the votes.”

As only GECOM is mandated to announce the election outcome, any results from other sources should be treated with significant caution, the UK envoy said.

“Now is the time for calm and I encourage all Guyanese, and their political leaders, to avoid any actions which could lead to violence. I deplore any election related violence that has taken place and once again urge all to do what they can to promote reconciliation and a peaceful conclusion to the electoral process.

I would also like to take this opportunity to commend once again the work of GECOM and the Guyanese authorities in conducting these elections.”

Additionally, the High Commission of Canada said it was also pleased to participate in the observing of Regional and General Elections in Guyana on May 11.

“The enthusiasm displayed by voters to participate in Guyana's electoral process and to have their voice heard by casting their ballots is commendable. The Guyana Elections Commission organised an

from page 7

overall smooth, credible, free and fair electoral process. I congratulate the Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally, the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, the Commissioners and all GECOM staff and officials for the successful culmination of many months of hard work and planning.”

The High Commission said “the people of Guyana have spoken through the ballots they cast on May 11. I urge all Guyanese and stakeholders to practice patience and to allow GECOM to now do their work to deliver the official results. It is important to remember that the only official results are those that are tabulated and issued by the designated, official elections body – GECOM. Several weeks ago political parties signed the Code of Conduct for Political Parties in an expression of their commitment to a peaceful election process and acceptance of results. I hope that all political parties continue to remind their supporters of their commitment to respect the democratic process and accept the official GECOM results.”

wednesday, may 13, 2015

guyanatimesgy.com

11

News

UNASUR submits preliminary report on election findings A

fter observing Monday’s polling day activities, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) compiled and presented a preliminary report on its findings from monitoring the electoral process.

The report was handed over to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Tuesday morning at the Commission’s Media Centre in Kingston, Georgetown. Before the handing over, Head of the UNASUR Observer Mission, Dr Domingo Paredes, noted that his team had monitored the opening of polls, the voting process, the closure of polling stations and the tabulation of the Statement of Poles (SOPs).

Dr Paredes praised the Commission for its efforts

GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally receives a copy of UNASUR preliminary report on its findings from Dr Wilma Velasco, the Coordinator General of UNASUR

in ensuring that the electoral process was efficiently executed. He added that barring a few incidents, there

were no major disruptions of polling activities.

“We have to highlight that despite some of the

GfP calls on parties to exercise leadership over supporters for peace

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he Guyanese for Peace (GfP) group has called on the leaders of the two main political groupings, A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to show leadership over their supporters during this sensitive time.

The ballots have been cast and the countdown to the next Government of Guyana has started, but several instances of violence across Guyana illustrates the present dangers and the high level of concern Guyanese share about the results from the May 11 elections.

On Monday night, a house wrongfully suspected of being a fake polling station in Sophia as well as six vehicles and a stable were burnt by residents after hundreds of people surrounded the building. That was among several incidents precipitated by residents who said they were guarding the ballot boxes, thus preventing fraud.

On Tuesday morning at an emergency press conference, former President Bharrat Jagdeo said the PPP/C was holding the coalition responsible for the acts of confusion and disorder that occurred.

The GfP, a group of Guyanese seeking to support efforts towards peace, stability, respectful engagement and inclusive prosperity, urged the political leaders of these parties to evoke control over their followers by appealing to them to maintain the peace, no matter what the results may hold when officially

announced by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

The leaders were reminded of the Code of Conduct they signed on April 29, a code that obligates them to keep the peace and put the interests of Guyanese first.

Maintain decorum

The peace group highlighted Section Six of the Code of Conduct where the political parties committed to maintain “modesty and decorum and commit itself to govern in all-encompassing interests of Guyana”.

Both APNU/AFC and PPP/C were urged to be guided by the Constitution of Guyana, which is the guidebook for the way forward for this country. Article 13 of the Constitution was of particular interest to the group, as they enforced the importance that should be placed on the well-being of all Guyanese in the process of governance.

GfP concluded by urging both parties to put Guyana first, as Guyana will have to ultimately be the winner of their services.

Meanwhile, the High Commission of Canada, in a release, also called for the political parties to remember the Code of Conduct they signed “in an expression of their commitment to a peaceful election process

and acceptance of results.”

It was also stated that the parties should not waste a moment in reminding their supporters “to respect the democratic process and accept the official GECOM results”.

The High Commission called on all Guyanese and stakeholders to practise patience and allow GECOM to do its work, expressing its confidence in the electoral body to do its job competently and fairly. The Commission also congratulated GECOM on what it has been able to accomplish thus far.

In addition, it was stated that only GECOM has the authority to announce any results. A fact that GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally reiterated, as he appealed for calm.

The Canadian High Commission’s statements come after the main political groupings publically declared themselves as having the most votes and thus winning the 2015 elections.

Citizens are once again reminded that only GECOM would be aware of the official results and would be able to make that pronouncement.

At GECOM’s evening press briefing, Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield indicated that the Statements of Polls (SoPs) were still coming and the process of verification was slower than expected.

Results are thus not likely before this afternoon. GfP stressed on its Facebook page that while it appreciates that “these unanticipated delays may be difficult to manage”, it urges continued efforts at calm and responsible behaviour

comments and some of the information around that there were some disruptions, we are happy to confirm that no interference, no event was detected. We are also very pleased to see that the constituencies have been able to exercise their right to vote in a free, open and just manner,” he was translated to have said.

Meanwhile, GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally expressed gratitude to the mission for rec-

ognising the tremendous work the Commission has put into the electoral process as they strive to deliver their mandate in an effective manner.

Dr Surujbally noted that while there were several challenges that the Commission was confronted with, they managed to overcome them.

“Thank you for your kind words; but more importantly, the endorsement of the efforts of the Commission…

I too believe that it is a good result of our work technically, administratively and logistically. I do believe that we have done well,” the GECOM Chairman stated.

UNASUR had observers at 33 polling stations in four of the administrative regions. There were observers at 12 polling stations in Parika, eight polling stations in Georgetown, as well as eight in New Amsterdam and five in Linden.

On the other hand, at a press briefing on Monday, Dr Paredes pointed out that the voting stages adopted by Guyana, are not seen in any other South American country. He referred to the displaying of ID cards in poll-

ing stations, the presence of security personnel at all stations and political representatives in the stations among others.

In commending the Election Commission for a job well done, Paredes noted that the voters’ education programme was on par. He specifically mentioned the visual aid on display, even on Election Day at various polling stations, depicting the stages of the voting process. Furthermore, he had high praises for the polling staff as well as citizens, noting that the staff were knowledgeable about their job and the electorates were patient in the process.

Nevertheless, the UNASUR Head of Mission highlighted a few issues that came to their attention, such as the lack of accessibility for the handicapped and the elderly to polling stations.

Additionally, he outlined that there are limited polling stations available hence there were long queues.

UNASUR is among four other international observer missions that are in Guyana to monitor the election process and to an extent, its aftermath.

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News

wednesday, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Carter Centre commends Guyana’s electoral process … says few issues were dealt with efficiently

BY VAHNU MANIKCHAND

D

espite highlighting a few hiccups during Monday’s polling day activities, the Carter Centre has praised Guyana for conducting an efficient election.

At a press briefing on Tuesday at the Pegasus Hotel, the US-based observer mission commended the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), noting that thousands of dedicated poll workers, party agents and officials of the Commission served with honesty, integrity, and professionalism.

Co-leader of the mission, former Barbadian Foreign Affairs Minister, Dame Billie Miller, said that Guyanese should be proud over the manner in which elections was conducted.

“This is especially true because their efforts took place in an atmosphere of tension and anxiety that, unfortunately, was generated by key political leaders who played on fears during the electoral process. Rumors and allegations of provocative confrontations between ruling and Opposition supporters

The officials of Carter Centre at the press briefing on Tuesday

swirled throughout Election Day. On closer inspection by international observers, most issues, with only a few exceptions, turned out to be largely unfounded or easily explained,” she stated.

Assistant Programme Director of the Democracy Programme in Atlanta, US, Brett Lacy, disclosed that the observers visited some 297 polling stations in all 10 administrative regions, thus providing a relatively high degree of observation coverage. “Carter Centre observers witnessed opening, polling, closing, and counting procedures in all areas.

In addition, Carter Centre

teams are currently in nine of the 10 regions to observe the work of GECOM returning officers,” she added. According to Lacy, the Carter Centre’s Observer Mission will be delivering a more comprehensive statement within a few days that will summarises observations and key recommendations.

On the other hand, she noted that amid tension, GECOM acted efficiently and coordinated a response to these issues that improved the transfer of materials.

Meanwhile, the second of three co-leaders of the

Observer Mission, Dame Audrey Glover of the United Kingdom, calls on Guyanese and the political parties to remain patient as the Elections Commission continues to conduct the tabulation and results process.

“The Carter Centre strongly urges political parties and their leaders to act responsibly and call for patience among their supporters and allow the process to proceed to its conclusion, reflecting the dignity that their constituents displayed on Election Day,” she outlined.

Further questioned about the pace at which GECOM is taking to an-

National forest funds can help tackle climate change

N

ational forest funds (NFFs) – publicly-managed financing mechanisms intended to support sustainable forest management – hold vast potential to catalyse greater investment in forestry, including investment aimed at addressing climate change.

However, their role still remains largely unrecognised, according to a new Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) policy paper. As a number of new national and international financing mechanisms have come into existence, such as those related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, the magnitude of potential funding has increased. However, so has the complexity of accessing such resources, according to the publication, launched at the 11th Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests, where financing for sustainable forest management is among the most prominent issues being discussed.

Properly designed and managed NFFs can act as coordinating mechanisms to channel investment streams from multiple sources towards implementation of schemes like payments for environmental services or nation-

al programmes aimed at Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), the paper says.

“With growing recognition of the critical roles played by forests in addressing global challenges such as climate change, food security and poverty alleviation, supporting sustainable forest management remains key,” said Eva Müller, Director of FAO’s Division of Forest Economics, Policy and Products. “Through this publication and related support for capacity building, FAO hopes to contribute to the development of National Forest Funds that are able to translate forestry investments into effective national action, promoting sustainability.”

Making NFFs work

Despite the presence of NFFs in more than 50 countries, limited information is available on the way they work and a number of countries have yet to transform them into effective financing tools. “One of the key requirements for such a transformation is having a strong policy and legal basis for their establishment and operation that ensures transparency and accountability. This will enable the

Governments to mobilise funds from both domestic and international investors and donors,” said the author of the publication, Rao Matta.

Mobilising financial resources is particularly complex when it involves harnessing international funding, particularly sources related to climate change. Doing so requires national structures capable of absorbing, re-directing and using large amounts of money efficiently, he noted. Having the necessary policy and institutional frameworks in place facilitates better access to international funding. This is the case for Costa Rica’s National Forest Fund, which was, therefore, able to access funding from the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility to implement an emission reductions programme.

Cross-sectoral approach

Cross-sectoral collaboration is critical for implementing schemes like REDD+, and NFFs should ensure participation of stakeholders from other sectors – particularly finance, tourism, energy and infrastructure, the FAO publication also notes. For example, the National Forest Fund of

FAO Forest Division Director Eva Müller

Vietnam is working closely with the Industry and Trade Ministry to ensure that small and mediumsized hydroelectric plants pay for the environmental services provided by upstream forests. Carefully designed NFFs can avoid the fragmentation of efforts and overlapping of mandates and activities of various institutions, coordinate efforts and enhance financial resources by bringing them under the same organisational umbrella. Based on practical experiences, the publication “Towards Effective National Forest Funds” outlines the general structure of NFFs and potential measures for improving their performance.

nounce the results, Glover pointed out that according to local laws, the Commission has 15 days after Election Day to announce final results. She explained that given the country’s geographical layout, the result is obviously going to take a while to come, hence she is not concerned. Asked about

the political parties ignoring calls by GECOM to refrain from certain actions such as making pronouncements on the election results, Glover said she cannot comment on the matter since the final results are not out as yet.

However she remains hopeful that there will be no disturbances.

Meanwhile, Field Office Director of the Carter Centre, Jason Calder condemned the incident in Sophia where residents were burning vehicles. “Clearly that kind of behaviour is not warranted, it’s unfortunate it took place. Most of the time on Election Day as observer receive different reports we chase them down and they were easy explained and quickly defuse as such person quickly returned to voting to exercise their franchise.”

CDB channels funds to Belize for housing development

T

he Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is providing funding to the Development Finance Corporation of Belize (DFC) to better support the productive sector, including small businesses; to assist students to access tertiary level education and skills training programmes; and families to acquire or improve their own homes.

Officially initiated today at the CDB-DFC project launch workshop in Belize City, the programme, on completion in 2016, should benefit 50 MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises); 200 students and 150 lower middle income households. The project is being made possible via a loan of US$10.5 million and a grant of US$86,000 to be used for: loans to the productive sector including micro-enterprises, mortgage financing, student loans, and Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) Pilot Programmes.

The financing also includes the funding of a pilot programme among existing viable businesses to demonstrate the benefits of EE/RE. This EE/RE component of the loan will be accompanied with a grant of US$86,000 from CDB’s Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services (CTCS) to finance the cost of energy audits of participating businesses.

Target outcomes over the next four years are expected to be increased number of skilled graduates from poor households; improved standard of living for low and lower middle income household; increased economic production and employment throughout the private sector; and increased awareness and usage of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

“Consistent with our development mandate, CDB has supported the national development priorities of the Government and people of Belize with more than US$400 million in loan and grant funding over the past four decades. This new loan of US$10.5 million is a continuation of CDB’s support and it is noteworthy that this loan is directly to the DFC, following an independent consultant’s assessment that this new DFC conforms to current best practices with respect to the implementation of good corporate governance measures,” said Deidre Clarendon CDB’s Social Sector Division Chief.

A team from CDB is in Belize for the next two days working with the Ministry of Finance, the Board of Directors, management, and staff of DFC, and other key stakeholders, to apprise them of the implementation, reporting requirements and expected results of the project. The PLW (trend analysis tool) is being used as a mechanism to help mitigate risks such as loss of institutional memory, and to ensure greater clarity regarding CDB’s procedures. Particular emphasis is being placed on the pilot EE/RE component of the project.

CDB’s strong governance standards, developed over 45 years of funding projects of various scales across the Caribbean, are shared to ensure responsibility, accountability and efficient implementation. CDB presenters will discuss and answer questions on legal conditions; procurement; disbursements; project supervision; design and monitoring framework; managing for development results; stakeholder review; scheduling and monitoring for development results.

news

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wednesDAY, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Elections were free, fair and credible – PSC

By Gomatie Gangadin

F

ive of the 14 local observers, which were accredited for Monday’s General and Regional Elections, have given thumbs up to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the hosting of what they described as “free and fair elections”.

The five local observer missions comprising of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB), Yhe British High Commission, the United States Embassy and the Canada High Commission have all given GECOM thumbs up for the recently held National and Regional Elections.

Speaking at a press conference at the Private Sector Commission Tuesday afternoon, Chairman of the Commission Ramesh Persaud told media operatives that the PSC was particularly pleased with the holding of the General and Regional Elections this year.

“I was particularly pleased with the consistency I have seen across the country with regards to the application of the rules and policies by GECOM… we are happy with what we have seen in the entire GECOM process yesterday (Monday). We have a lot of confidence in the process and the rules, in our opinion from what we were observing, were consistent across. It seems as though it was a franchise system seemingly applied at all areas, and we believe that that is fantastic. It has only served to increase our confidence in the process,” Persaud said.

He noted that the observers did not find any material evidence that can possibly affect the results of the polls in any way. Meanwhile, Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Nicole Giles, said that the conduct of the Guyanese people should be applauded. “I found that the enthusiasm that was displayed by the voters

The Private Sector Commission press conference

in the elections was very commendable and in many ways, humbling. I found it inspiring that Guyanese voters patiently waited in line to take their turn to cast their ballots and let their voices be heard, and I think that all the Guyanese should be commended for that,” the Canadian High Commissioner said.

According to her, it was her belief that GECOM organised a smooth, credible, free and fair electoral process, even as she urged Guyanese to practice patience in being able to receive the results of the process. “It takes time and we need to give GECOM the space and time to do that, and to also keep in mind that the official results are coming out must be from GECOM.” United States (US) Charge d’ affaires to Guyana Bryan Hunt told media operatives that he believes, in no doubt whatsoever, that the elections were free, fair and credible. He noted that the election process could not be faulted as no irregularities were discovered by the 68 member team. “What Guyana had yesterday was a free, fair and credible polling process.”

He noted that the electoral system of the country, while time consuming, was designed to guarantee credibility and, as such, citizens must trust and accept the results of the process.

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn, also expressed

similar sentiments. He noted that should the parties refuse to accept the results, there are measures which are in place to deal with such, but underlined that everything should be done in a peaceful manner.

“Everything was being done diligently…We need to give GECOM the time

it needs; everybody needs to accept the results. Any problems, there is a judicial process. What this country needs, and what this Government wants, is a country which can represent everybody here,” the diplomat shared.

Meanwhile, the British High Commissioner, the

US Charge d’affaires, Canadian High Commissioner and the Private Sector Commission Chairman, all praised the efforts and response of the Police Force, especially at the unrest which prevailed in Sophia on Monday evening. PSC Chairman Persaud also said that the

Police should be credited for ensuring that the process was incident free.

Sophia residents of C Field, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, erupted on Monday evening, transforming the community into a virtual warzone over allegations of electoral impropriety by a political activist. In the ensuing battle, five cars, one minibus and a house, along with a horse stable were burnt.

The violence stemmed from allegations that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member Narine Kooblall, had taken ballot boxes into his home and was keeping them there. Residents stormed Kooblall’s home, attempting to set it ablaze.

All of the officials have issued a call to the Guyanese public to remain calm, peaceful and to accept the results of the elections.

14

guyanatimesgy.com

w ednesday, may 13, 2015

Regional

France’s Hollande meets Natalee Holloway’s father pursues Fidel and Raul Castro

French President Francois Hollande (left) meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro

F

rench President Francois Hollande has met Cuba’s 1959 revolutionary leaders Fidel and Raul Castro on a historic trip to Havana. Hollande also called for an end to the decades-long United States (US) trade embargo against Cuba.

Hollande is the first French

President to visit Cuba since 1898, and the first Western European leader on the island since the 1980s. President Hollande and Fidel Castro spoke for an hour, according to Liberation journalist Laure Bretton. He later met Fidel’s brother and current President Speaking earlier on Monday at

the University of Havana, President Hollande said France would do its utmost to ensure that “the measures which have so badly harmed Cuba’s development can finally be repealed”.

He was referring to the US trade embargo, which remains in place, although relations between the US and Cuba have improved in recent months.

Hollande announced plans to double the number of scholarships to enable Cuban students to continue their studies in France, as part of attempts to increase academic and scientific cooperation between the two nations.

The President’s first appointment on Monday morning was to bestow France’s highest award, the Legion of Honour, on the head of the Catholic Church in Cuba, Cardinal Jaime Ortega. The Cuban Catholic Church has acted as a mediator between dissidents and the Communist Government.

The BBC’s Will Grant in Havana says that unlike some other European countries, France has long maintained reasonably good relations with Cuba and wants to benefit from the new economic openness. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Trinidad promises TT$100 houses under PP leadership

P

eople who have been living in Housing D e v e l o p m e n t Corporation (HDC) units for over 30 years are being promised that they will get the chance to buy those houses for just TT$100 (US$15.89) if the People’s Partnership (PP) wins the next General Election.

Prime Minister Kamla

Persad-Bissessar made the promise at the Monday night forum of the United National Congress – one of the four political parties in the PP Coalition – in Diego Martin.

“We will work through the Ministry of Housing and the HDC that every person in a HDC house for over 30 years, should you want it, we

will give it to you for $100,” she told the crowd gathered at the Diego Martin North Secondary School last night.

The Prime Minister added that if the PP got a second term in office, it would also regularise about 30,000 squatters. However, she stressed, only those captured in a satellite photograph would benefit.

“I am not talking about all those squatters who go running tomorrow to squat...

You must have been there when that photograph was taken,” Persad-Bissessar insisted.

The Prime Minister also assured there would be no job or salary cuts under a PP Administration. (Caribbean 360)

new lead in Aruba

T

he father of Natalee Holloway, the 18-year-old who went missing in Aruba a decade ago, has returned to Aruba to investigate new clues in the disappearance and presumed death of his daughter.

Reports say that Dave Holloway is working with a private investigator to follow up on recent claims from a witness who said he saw longtime suspect Joran Van der Sloot with Holloway, and later saw him with her body.

“I saw Natalee Holloway on the last night she was alive...I saw that Joran was chasing Natalee into a small building under construction. In about five minutes, he came out with Natalee in his arms, and slammed the body of Natalee on the floor, and then he made an opening in a crawl space…I knew she was dead,” Jurrien de Jong, the eyewitness stated.

Holloway said that de Jong told him about what he had seen last year. De Jong told the Algemeen Dagblad, a Dutch newspaper, earlier this year that he didn’t come forward sooner as he was involved in illegal drug activity at the time, and did not want to go to the Police.

Natalee Holloway disappeared on May 30, 2005 while celebrating her high school graduation in Aruba

Natalee Holloway

with friends. Witnesses say she was seen leaving a club with Van der Sloot, who was 17 at the time.

Van der Sloot is currently in prison in Peru, where he is serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores in a Lima hotel room. Once his sentence is complete, he will be extradited to the United States, where he will face charges of extorting and defrauding Holloway’s mother.

There have been numerous supposed leads in the case over the years, including conflicting statements from Van der Sloot himself, who was arrested twice but never charged.

The case, however, remains unsolved. (Excerpt from the Daily Herald)

Colombia cracks down on illegal Antigua bank workers stay off job over Banking Act concerns mines in Amazon

A

C

olombia’s armed forces have arrested 59 people in a major crackdown on illegal mining in the Amazon.

Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said they had dismantled an illegal financing network used by the FARC guerrilla group.

He stated that 63 sites near the border with Brazil and Venezuela – where gold, tungsten and cobalt were being mined – were raided.

The FARC and the Government have been in peace talks for the last two years.

“It is the cleanest and hardest blow in more than a decade, possibly one of the biggest in history, against illegal mining,” said Pinzon.

The operation involved more than 600 troops, Police and Magistrates in several regions of southern and eastern Colombia where guerrilla groups and criminal gangs are active.

Many of the mines were operating within indigenous reservations.

Among those arrested were 12 FARC guerrillas

fter ignoring the Government’s plea to show up for work as usual on Monday, hundreds of bank employees are expected to stay off the job and meet with their unions again.

On Monday, they met at the Newgate Street, St John’s headquarters of the Antigua & Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU), as they insisted that their concerns about the controversial Banking Act be ad-

dressed.

Their action resulted in the closure of five of the country’s commercial banks in the morning. Others opened their doors but with a skeleton staff.

The bank employees are meeting again today for another “strategy” session.

“The workers are still of the view they would like the matter of severance addressed in having it properly outlined rather than join-

ing it with other parts of a sentence which could have a different meaning,” the Union’s General Secretary David Massiah is quoted as saying in the Antigua Observer newspaper.

In a statement issued after reports that there would be protest action yesterday, the Gaston Browne-led Administration urged workers not to be take industrial action on any false premises.

(Caribbean 360)

LIAT says safety remains its #1 priority Amazon forest destroyed due to illegal mining in Colombia

and five foreign nationals, including four Brazilians and a Venezuelan.

President Juan Manuel Santos has said that he believes mining is a substitute for FARC’s falling drug profits. The organisation had become a major farmer, refiner and illegal exporter of coca and cocaine by the 1990s, with ties to international groups and markets.

The vast sums of money

it earned from the trade financed its dramatic military expansion. But now after a decade of heavy military pressure from the Colombian military, FARC is much reduced.

In recent years, criminal gangs have emerged and moved in to take over drugtrafficking operations previously run by the paramilitaries. (Excerpt from BBC News)

L

eeward Islands Air Transportation (LIAT) has taken note of comments made by a talk-show host on the Voice of Barbados Radio on Tuesday regarding a recent company advisory about high winds in Dominica and St Vincent.

Head of Corporate Communications Desmond Brown said that LIAT’s number one priority is to run a safe and reliable operation throughout its network.

The Dash-8 aircraft, which originally formed the majori-

ty fleet operated by LIAT, are now all over 20 years old and had to be replaced. The Dash8 is no longer manufactured, and so the airline had to consider suitable alternatives for operation in the region.

Brown explained that landing and taking off at certain airports in the region, either at night or during adverse weather conditions, is governed by the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA).

“Currently at Dominica airport we have been experienc-

ing tailwinds in excess of 15 knots, which is the aircraft limit for night landings/landings in adverse weather and LIAT’s aircraft are not permitted to land there beyond these limits. A similar situation exists in St Vincent.”

Brown reiterated that at this time of the year the wind conditions in St Vincent restrict the take-off weight of the aircraft and when this occurs, the company is obliged to restrict the number of bags that can be taken on the aircraft. (St Kitts and Nevis Observer)

wednesday, may 13, 2015

guyanatimesgy.com

15

Around the World

2nd earthquake hits Nepal Kerry arrives in Russia to

discuss conflicts with Putin

U

More buildings brought down by this second quake

A

nother major earthquake has struck eastern Nepal, near Mount Everest, two weeks after more than 8000 people died in a devastating 7.8 magnitude quake.

This earthquake struck at 12:35h Nepali time, 02:50h Guyana time, and was centred in a rural area close to the Chinese border. It hit near the town of Namche Bazaar with a magnitude of 7.3. At least 37 people have died and more than 1000 injured, officials say; 17 have also died in India. The quake was felt in northern India, Tibet and Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala called for “courage and patience” and urged all those who had assisted Nepal since the 25 April quake “to once again extend your helping hand”.

A BBC correspondent who was in Nepal’s mountains when the latest earthquake struck, said, “The earth shook and it shook for a pretty long time. I can completely understand the sense of panic. We have been seeing tremors...but this one really felt like it went on for a really long time; people have been terrified.”

BBC’s Navin Singh Khadka reported that the

new earthquake has brought down more houses and lodges in the Everest region, but that local officials report very few tourists were still in the area following the 25 April quake.

The latest quake struck at a depth of 15km (9.3 miles), according to the US Geological Survey - the same depth as the April quake. Shallow tremors are more likely to cause greater damage at the surface.

Tuesday’s earthquake is likely to be one of the largest to hit Nepal, which has suffered hundreds of aftershocks since the 25 April quake. (Excerpt from BBC News)

nited States (US) Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin with an eye on easing badly strained relations over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

Kerry flew to Sochi on Tuesday for the highestlevel US visit to Russia in two years, to discuss issues including the Iran nuclear talks, Yemen and Libya.

With relations between the two countries at their lowest level since the Cold War, the trip appears designed to maintain contact between the two nations.

“It’s important for us to keep these lines of communication open; to try to talk to the senior decision-maker,” said a Senior US State Department Official travelling with Kerry.”We have a lot of business that we could do together if there is interest,” he goes on to say.

“Through dialogue, it is possible to find ways for a normalisation - closer coordination in dealing with international problems,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Adding that, “Russia was never the initiator of this cooling of relations.”

Relations between

US Secretary of State John Kerry (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) shaking hands

Washington and Moscow have sunk since Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula in March of last year and backed pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow accuses Washington of orchestrating last year’s overthrow of a Ukrainian President who was backed by Russia. The

US has accused Russia of failing to withdraw heavy equipment such as air defence systems, tanks and artillery from eastern Ukraine in violation of a peace plan agreed in February and known as Minsk 2. More than 6100 people have been killed since April 2014 in the Ukraine crisis. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Strikes rock Yemen Ex-CIA officer Niger passes law to tackle migrant smuggling ahead of ceasefire sentenced for leaks

N

iger has approved a law against the smuggling of migrants in an effort to stem the deadly flow of vulnerable Africans across its vast desert north, many of them headed toward Libya and on to Europe.

The law, approved unanimously by Parliament late on Monday, translates onto Niger’s statutes as a United Nations (UN) protocol against the smuggling of migrants, allowing judges and Police to take action.

A spike in the numbers of immigrants attempting the dangerous sea crossing from Libya has sparked alarm in Europe, particularly after some 800 people drowned in a Mediterranean shipwreck last month.

Authorities in Niger promised a crackdown af-

ter at least 92 migrants from Niger died of hunger and thirst in the desert in October 2013 after being abandoned by traffickers who were taking them to Algeria.

In an effort to prevent migrants without papers from being brutalised by security forces, the law emphasised that smuggled persons were victims of human rights abuses.

“The adoption of this law aims essentially to protect the frontiers of our country,” said Justice Minister Amadou Marou.

“In these times of uncertainty, where organised cross-border crime is sowing terror in our country, it is indispensable that all those who travel in our country carry their identity documents. This law imposes that.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

S

audi-led coalition aircraft have carried out fresh air strikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, hours before a five-day ceasefire is set to begin.

An arms depot used by the Houthi rebel movement in the city’s north-east was targeted for a second day, sending a column of smoke into the sky.

The coalition also bombed rebel positions in the southern city of Aden.

However, Saudi Arabia has said its offer of a pause in air strikes is conditional on the Houthis reciprocating and not exploiting the ceasefire for military advantage.

The Houthis have agreed to the truce, but said they will “respond” to any violations.

Explosions caused by two strikes on the depot on Monday, sent debris crashing down the mountainside

onto a residential area. At least 69 people were killed and more than 100 injured, medical officials said.

The United Nations (UN) says at least 828 civilians have been killed and 1511 injured since the start of the coalition air campaign on 26 March to restore Hadi, President of Yemen.

On Monday, the UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos called on all sides in the conflict to “stop the fighting and bombing and give the people of Yemen respite”.

“Given the deteriorating humanitarian situation on the ground in Yemen with hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians trapped in the middle of fighting and unable to access lifesaving aid it is essential that this pause materialise,” a statement said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Indonesia to turn back Rohingya boats

I

ndonesian military has told Al Jazeera that they will send back any boat with Rohingya migrants entering its waters as a vessel carrying hundreds of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh was turned away towards Malaysia on Monday.

Fuad Basya, Indonesian Military spokesperson, said they pulled back a boat “full of people in dire conditions, smell-

ing bad, some were screaming”, adding that they provided the migrants with water, food, medicine and fuel.

Meanwhile, rights groups have urged regional Governments to save thousands of migrants believed to be stranded at sea in Southeast Asia and at the risk of death.

An estimated 6000 to 8000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya

Muslims from Myanmar remain trapped in crowded, wooden boats, officials and activists said on Tuesday.

Nearly 2000 people have reached Malaysia and Indonesia in the past two days after Thailand announced a crackdown on smuggling routes. They were rescued from overcrowded boats after being stranded at sea.

Even as a large number

of migrants originated from Myanmar, its Government said that they will not take responsibility for migrants who are not their own citizens.

“If it is true and proven that they are from Myanmar, we will take responsibility for them. But not the Bangladeshis,” Zaw Htay, the Director of Myanmar’s President’s office told Al Jazeera. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

over Iran mission

A

former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Officer, Jeffrey Sterling, was sentenced on Monday to three and a half years in prison for leaking details of a secret mission to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

He had faced a recommended sentence of 20 years or more under federal sentencing guidelines for violations of the Espionage Act. A jury convicted him in January of telling New York Times journalist James Risen about a classified plan to trick the Iranian Government by slipping flawed nuclear blueprints through a Russian intermediary.

Prosecutors sought a stiff sentence at Monday’s hearing in federal court in Virginia. The defence said his punishment should be more in line with that of former CIA Director David Petraeus, who last month received probation for leaking classified information to his biographer.

Former Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testified at Sterling’s trial that the Merlin mission was one of the few options available to the United States as it

Former CIA Officer Jeffery Sterling

sought to stop Iran’s nuclear programme. She said the mission was one of the most closely held secrets during her time as national security adviser.

Sterling was under investigation for years as a potential source of the leak and was charged in 2010.

Prosecutors argued that Sterling was motivated by spite to retaliate against perceived mistreatment at the agency. Sterling, who is African-American, had sued the agency for racial discrimination but had a lawsuit tossed out after the CIA invoked a statesecrets privilege. (Excerpt from Al

Jazeera)

16 news

wednesday, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Processing of SoPs continues – GECOM

G

uyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield said that the Commission’s staff were processing the Statements of Polls (SOPs) received thus far, and the exercise was progressing smoothly. In excess of 1500 of the 2299 SoPs are in GECOM’s possession.

During its 11:00h press briefing on Tuesday at its Kingston, Georgetown Office, GECOM has reported that Districts Two, Three, Four, Five and Six (which corresponds to the regions) were being processed. Lowenfield said the Commission received all of the statements from District Four, and had almost all for District Five. The Commission was awaiting the arrival of statements from the riverine areas of the latter district, the Government Information Agency reported.

For District Six, the Chief

From left to right: GECOM’s CEO Keith Lowenfield; Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally and the Commission’s Public Relations Officer, Richard Francois

Election Officer said that the majority of these statements have been received, except those from the Corentyne and Canje Rivers. Also, statements from District Three, specifically the

West Coast and West Bank of Demerara were finalised, and the commission was awaiting the arrival of the statements from the Essequibo Islands and riverine areas.

“We are receiving these statements, (we) are going through the processes to ensure the accuracy that is so required,” Lowenfield stressed.

Meanwhile, SoPs from

Districts One, Seven, Eight, Nine, and a part of 10 are yet to arrive in Georgetown. Lowenfield explained that due to inclement weather in District Nine, especially in the Deep South area, statements were held up at Lethem, Annai, Masakenari and Aishalton. These statements, he said will arrive this afternoon, barring bad weather.

In District Eight, statements were already collected from the Mahdia sub-region and polling agents were in the North Pakaraimas, going across to those 16 communities in that sub-district. In District Seven, statements from the riverine communities are still to be collected and sent to Bartica for onward passage to Georgetown. In District One, the statements are at Port Kaituma and Mabaruma for departure.

At its last press conference at 18:00h, the elections body had processed some 279 SoPs.

Asia tops biggest global school rankings

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he biggest global school rankings have been published, with Asian countries in the top five spots and African countries at the bottom.

Singapore heads the

we have a truly global scale of the quality of education,” said the OECD’s education director, Andreas Schleicher.

“The idea is to give more countries, rich and

If Ghana, the lowest ranked country, achieved basic skills for all its 15-yearolds, the report says that it would expand its current GDP by 38 times, over the lifetime of today’s youngsters. table, followed by Hong Kong, with Ghana at the bottom.

The UK is in 20th place, among higher achieving European countries, with the US in 28th.

The OECD economic think tank says the comparisons – based on test scores in 76 countries – show the link between education and economic growth.

“This is the first time

poor, access to comparing themselves against the world’s education leaders, to discover their relative strengths and weaknesses, and to see what the longterm economic gains from improved quality in schooling could be for them,” he said.

The top performer, Singapore, had high levels of illiteracy into the 1960s, said Schleicher, showing how much progress could

be made.

In the UK, the study shows about one in five youngsters leave school without reaching a basic level of education – and the OECD says that reducing this number and improving skills could add trillions of dollars to the UK economy.

“I think it’s partly a mindset, an expectation.

There are plenty of examples of schools that have raised the bar dramatically,” said education minister Lord Nash.

The analysis, based on test scores in maths and science, is a much wider global map of education standards than the OECD’s Pisa tests, which focus on more affluent industrialised countries.

This latest league table, ranking more than a third of the world’s nations, shows how countries such as Iran, South Africa, Peru and Thailand would appear on an internation-

Vietnam has overtaken the US: An Italian scooter company’s factory near Hanoi

al scale.

It shows once again the poor performance of the United States, slipping behind successful European countries and being overtaken by Vietnam. It also highlights the decline of Sweden, with the OECD warning last week that it had serious problems in its education system.

The rankings are based

on an amalgamation of international tests taken in different regions, putting developed and developing countries on a single scale.

The findings will be formally presented at the World Education Forum in South Korea next week, where the United Nations is to convene a conference on targets for raising global education by 2030.

‘Every student to succeed’ The top five places are all taken by Asian countries – Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

The five lowest-ranked countries are Oman in 72nd, Morocco, Honduras, South Africa and Ghana in last spot.

“If you go to an Asian classroom you’ll find teachers who expect every student to succeed. There’s a lot of rigour, a lot of focus and coherence,” says Schleicher.

“Poor education policies and practices leave many countries in what amounts to a permanent state of economic recession,” says the report.

Millennium targets Improving education would produce “long-term economic gains that are going to be phenomenal”, says Schleicher.

If Ghana, the lowest ranked country, achieved basic skills for all its 15-year-olds, the report says that it would expand its current GDP by 38 times, over the lifetime of today’s youngsters.

The report will provide evidence for next week’s World Education Forum of how achieving education targets can deliver economic gains.

The milestone conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, will mark 15 years since the setting of education targets by world leaders.

These millennium targets for education, such as providing all children with a primary education, have not been fully achieved.

But the World Education Forum will set another round of global targets for the next 15 years.

NEWS

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wednesDAY, may 13, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com

Substantial El Niño ECLAC panel discussion event predicted explores innovative financing solutions for the Caribbean

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Guyana last experienced El Niño last year, but the drought normally experienced failed to materialise

he El Niño effect, which can drive droughts and flooding, is under way in the tropical Pacific, say scientists.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology predicted that it could become a “substantial” event later in the year.

The phenomenon arises from variations in ocean temperatures.

The El Niño is still in its early stages, but has the potential to cause extreme weather around the world, according to forecasters.

US scientists announced in April that El Niño had arrived, but it was described then as “weak”.

Australian scientists said models suggested it could strengthen from September onwards, but it was too early to determine with confidence how strong it could be.

“This is a proper El Niño effect, it’s not a weak one,”

David Jones, manager of climate monitoring and prediction at the Bureau of Meteorology, told reporters.

“You know, there’s always a little bit of doubt when it comes to intensity forecasts, but across the models as a whole we’d suggest that this will be quite a substantial El Nino event.”

An El Niño comes along about every two to seven years as part of a natural cycle.

Every El Niño is different, and once one has started, models can predict how it might develop over the next six to nine months, with a reasonable level of accuracy.

How can we predict El Niño?

In the tropical Pacific Ocean, scientists operate a network of buoys that measure temperature, currents and winds.

The data – and other information from satellites

and meteorological observations – is fed into complex computer models designed to predict an El Niño. However, the models cannot predict the precise intensity or duration of an El Niño, or the areas likely to be affected.

Researchers are trying to improve their models to give more advance notice.

A strong El Niño five years ago was linked with poor monsoons in Southeast Asia, droughts in southern Australia, the Philippines and Ecuador, blizzards in the US, heatwaves in Brazil and extreme flooding in Mexico.

Another strong El Niño event was expected during last year’s record-breaking temperatures, but failed to materialise.

Professor Eric Guilyardi of the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading said it would become clear in the

summer whether this year might be different.

“The likelihood of El Niño is high, but its eventual strength in the winter when it has its major impacts worldwide is still unknown,” he said.

“We will know in the summer how strong it is going to be.”

conomic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Deputy Executive Secretary Antonio Prado moderated a panel discussion at the Forum on the Future of the Caribbean on Thursday , where he outlined important areas of focus for countries of the Region, like the need to address the issue of debt relief in a sustainable manner and the possibility of mobilising resources through diaspora bond issue and increased remittances.

The session, entitled Advocating Innovative Financing Solutions, which examined opportunities that exist for domestic and international development financing for Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), was considered especially timely given the upcoming United Nations Conference on Financing for Development being held in Addis Ababa in July.

nancing. He estimated that remittances now represent about six per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the Region and as much as 21 per cent of GDP in Haiti.

The session addressed the dilemma of the Caribbean’s middle income status and its impact on access to concessional financing. The panellists reiterated the need to look beyond income per capita to states’ ability to mobilise finances, debt ratios, vulnerability to shocks and social challenges in determining eligibility for concessional funding.

Prado, in closing the session, pointed to ongoing initiatives by ECLAC in the sub-region, including pursuit of advocacy for a broader set of criteria to take account of the vulnerability of SIDS; design of a strategy to pursue debt reduction and improve fiscal management in Caribbean states; and expansion of its capacity development efforts to-

Weather patterns

The El Niño is a warming of the Pacific Ocean as part of a complex cycle linking atmosphere and ocean.

The phenomenon is known to disrupt weather patterns around the world, and can bring wetter winters to the southwest US and droughts to northern Australia.

The consequences of El Niño are much less clear for Europe and the UK. Research suggests that extreme El Niño events will become more likely as global temperatures rise. (BBC News) ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary Antonio Prado

The panel included Gail Hurley, Policy Specialist on Development Finance at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York, and Jwala Rambarran, Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, and two discussants, Ransford Smith, former Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat and career diplomat in the Foreign Service of Jamaica, and Professor Compton Bourne, former President of the Caribbean Development Bank.

Hurley highlighted the biggest challenge for the Region as being financing development.

Governor Rambarran underscored the opportunity presented by increased remittance flows to the Region, noting that they had become a very important source of external fi-

wards enhancing resilience building and risk reduction among member states to improve the response to losses from external events and advocate for more secure access to international finance to address this challenge.

The forum under the heading “Disruptive Thinking.

Bold Action.

Practical Outcomes”, provided the opportunity for regional and international leaders to tackle challenges to Caribbean development, and identify strategies for securing a sustainable future. It was co-hosted by the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago in collaboration with United Nations System, regional inter-governmental partners, and The Commonwealth Secretariat.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, may 13, 2015

ARCHIE

Love and romance are highlighted.

Networking (March 21- with friends and neighbors April 19) will open your eyes to an intriguing new field. A lucrative partnership is in the offing.

ARIES

Don’t damage your repuTAURUS tation by sharing private de(April 20- tails. You will lose the trust of May 20) friends and family if you divulge information that someone trusted you to keep secret.

dilbert

Refrain from being stubGEMINI born.

There is usually more (May 21than one way to do things. If June 20) you share your ideas and philosophies with others, you will find new ways to conquer old challenges.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

An elderly friend or relative will provide meaningful advice. Listen and learn.

Legal, financial or health issues have to be dealt with promptly. Put your needs first.

Keep up with career inLEO novations and trends. A busi(July 23ness meeting or event will Aug. 22) introduce you to prospective colleagues. Joint ventures look promising. Move forward with confidence.

Calvin and Hobbes

Don’t resist change. The VIRGO very matter that seems neg(Aug. 23ative now will turn out to be Sept. 22) a blessing in disguise. Be patient and follow through on your plans.

LIBRA Don’t wait for someone (Sept. 23- else to make the first move.

Oct. 23) If you resolve to be an active participant, you will learn much more than if you sit on the sidelines. Aim to finish first.

SUDOKU

You don’t have to stick SCORPIO to the status quo. You have (Oct. 24Nov. 22) what it takes to improve matters. A change in attitude or appearance will breathe new life into your routine.

Volunteering your time SAGITTARIUS or services is a great way to (Nov. 23- socialize with people who Dec. 21) share your views and values. Brainstorming with new colleagues could lead to advancement and adventure.

Solution

You can gain an advanCAPRICORN tage over your competition if (Dec. 22- you watch and learn. By beJan. 19) ing observant, you will be able to wait for the ideal opportunity to execute your plans.

AQUARIUS

You will meet someone who is persistent and intent (Jan. 20- on discovering your personal Feb. 19) secrets. Don’t give in to pressure. Be firm and keep your thoughts to yourself. A short trip will provide inspiration.

PISCES You will encounter some(Feb. 20- one who is drawn to you. To March 20) avoid a mishap, be very clear about where you stand and what you are willing to do.

Don’t send the wrong message. Jealousy is apparent.

wednesday, may 13, 2015

19

Djokovic returns Windies, Sri Lanka aiming to climb ladder with win in women’s cricket D S

efending champion Novak Djokovic returned to action after a three-week break with victory over Spain’s Nicolas Almagro at the Italian Open.

The world number one, who missed last week’s Madrid Open to rest, beat Almagro 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 in Rome.

Djokovic, 27, will next

days.”

Victoria Azarenka needed a visit from the doctor on court and made 16 double faults before seeing off Lucie Hradecka 7-5 2-6 6-1.

Djokovic became the first man to win the opening three ATP Masters 1000 events of the season when he took the Monte Carlo title last month, and extend-

Novak Djokovic

face another Spaniard, Roberto Bautista Agut.

Maria Sharapova led Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 3-1 when the Australian retired, with Serena Williams to play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova later on Tuesday.

“Madrid was really the start of my clay court season,” said Sharapova, who reached the semi-finals last week.

“My preparations started a little bit later this year than in previous ones. I have to take my time and get into a groove, it’s been a while since I’ve played that many matches within a span of six

ed his winning run to 18 matches against Almagro.

The Spaniard made him work hard for it, reeling off five points in a row to take the second set tie-break and holding firm in the decider until the seventh game.

Djokovic finally got the break when Almagro netted and the Serb converted his second match point to reach round three.

Eighth seed Stan Wawrinka battled past Juan Monaco 4-6 6-3 6-2, but ninth seed and US Open champion Marin Cilic went down 6-4 6-3 to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. (BBC Sport)

WADA: Micro-doses of drugs could escape detection

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he World Anti-Doping Agency has acknowledged that a French documentary “did raise questions” about the ability of athletes to take microdoses of banned substances and escape detection under biological passport rules.

A week ago, WADA criticized the documentary on French TV network France 2. WADA director general David Howman said at the time the study “does not accurately follow the Athletes Biological Passport guidelines.”

WADA backed off

Tuesday and said the documentary indicated athletes could take “minimal amounts of performance enhancing substances without testing positive.”

In a statement, WADA says, “We are very alert to ‘micro-dosing’; it is an issue that we are exploring in great detail with experts from across the anti-doping community.”

In the documentary, eight athletes were given micro-doses of EPO, human growth hormones and blood transfusions. (ESPN)

ri Lanka and West Indies will aim to boost their standings when they go head to head in round three of the ICC Women’s Championship, which starts in Colombo on Wednesday The series includes four ODIs but only the final three matches scheduled for 15, 18 and 20 May will count towards the eight-team ICC Women’s Championship.

The top four sides from this tournament will qualify automatically for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, while the bottom four sides will play in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier.

The West Indies is currently sitting fifth on the table while Sri Lanka is seventh. A 3-0 series victory for the visitors would see it join early pace-setters Australia at the top of the table.

Sri Lanka, in contrast, would create daylight between itself and India at the bottom end of the table if it wins the series. A series whitewash would see it move into third position on the league table, while a 2-1 victory for the hosts would see it climb two places to join England on seven points.

Looking ahead to the three-match ODI series, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapaththu said: “We are excited to play West Indies in our home town and the team is looking forward to the start of the series.

“The ICC Women’s Championship is already proving to be a good initiative for the women’s game and the structure will see each team compete each other in a home and away series

which is very important to all teams and will guarantee at least 21 ODI games for each team. This is very important to develop the game and its standards around the world.

“Every ODI series that we play is very important to us and this will naturally create awareness and in-

fit very easily into the set up.

“We are determined to do well here because, coming out of our series loss in Australia, it is very important for us to gain points in this series to continue to compete for a top spot in the ICC Women’s Championship rankings.”

ninth spot with Australia’s Jessica Cameron. Apart from Taylor, the other bowler inside the top 20 to feature in the series is Anisa Mohammed (fourth).

Squads

Sri Lanka (from): Chamari Athapaththu (captain), Chathurani Gunewardena, Ama

A confident Windies women ready for Sri Lanka

terest across the women’s game.”

West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira added: “The team arrived in Sri Lanka a few days ago and had a successful training camp ahead of the start of the series which gave us an opportunity to get acclimatised to the Sri Lankan conditions.

“It is more humid than we are accustomed to but we have adjusted very quickly. The girls are coming off the domestic season in the West Indies and are ready and rearing to go. Although we have some of our experienced players absent due to injury, the players who have replaced them have all been in the team before and have

The West Indies will once again be pinning its hopes on Stafanie Taylor, the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2012. The 23-year-old Jamaican will be the highest-ranked batter, bowler and all-rounder from either side in the series.

Taylor is ranked sixth in the Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Batters, while she tops the Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Bowlers as well as Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for All-rounders.

Deandra Dottin is the other West Indies batter inside the top 10 in eighth position while Sri Lanka’s Chamari Jayangani shares

Kanchana, Sugandhika Kumari, Eshani Lokusuriya, Lasanthi Madushani, Dilani Manodara (wk) , Hasini Perera, Chamari Polgampola, Udeshika Prabodhini, Inoka Ranaweera, Maduri Samuddika, H.A.S.D. Siriwardene, Prasadini Weerakkody (wk) and Sripalee Weerakkody West Indies (from): Merissa Aguilleira (captain/ wk), Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Subrina Munroe, Tremayne Smartt and Stafanie Taylor

FIFA steps up racism surveillance for 2018 qualifiers A

new system of match observers monitoring incidents of racism and discrimination at 2018 World Cup qualifiers was announced by FIFA on Tuesday.

The system will be coordinated by world football’s ruling body and implemented in cooperation with the European anti-discrimination organisation FARE. Any incidents of discrimination or racism will be reported to FIFA which has pledged to impose disciplinary sanctions on any countries involved.

The implementation of

Sepp Blatter

the new system is particularly apt as racism is rife in

football in Russia, hosts of the 2018 World Cup. More than 200 acts of racism were committed by Russian fans between 2012 and 2014 according to a recent report by the Sova Center, a Moscow-based racism-monitoring group.

Last month FIFA president Sepp Blatter said “a lot of work needs to be done” to wipe the scourge of racism and discrimination from Russian football and the game in general.

FIFA and European football’s governing body UEFA have often handed out relatively minor pun-

ishments when incidents have occurred in the past.

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure said there needed to be tougher action against racist behaviour.

“For me the real matter is we need to take real sanctions,” he said at the launch of the FIFA initiative.

“We can see we have a couple of clubs that are bigger than a country now and pay maybe 20 thousand and something like that for me is not enough. We need to do more.” (Reuters)

20 Pietersen misled by Barcelona reach Champions League final ECB – Michael Vaughan B guyanatimesGY.com

wednesday, may 13, 2015

Kevin Pietersen

K

evin Pietersen has been misled by the England and Wales Cricket Board, according to former England captain Michael Vaughan.

Pietersen will not be considered for England this summer, two months after incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves suggested a return was possible.

“He’s been misled and mistreated,” Vaughan told BBC Sport.

“He’s done everything that was asked of him, but taken down a path that was a dead end.”

Pietersen was told his international career was over in February 2014, only for Graves to suggest the 34-year-old could add to his 104 England caps if he joined a county and scored enough runs to merit a recall.

As a result, the right-

hander pulled out of a deal with Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad and signed for Surrey.

He made 355 not out against Leicestershire but has been told by new England director of cricket Andrew Strauss that he will not be selected this summer because “trust has eroded” between Pietersen and the ECB. Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart, another former England captain, said: “He probably feels a little bit let down after Colin Graves’ comments, where it was, ‘if you play county cricket, if you score runs, the slate’s been wiped clean, you will be considered’.

“He’s given up a contract to play in the Indian Premier League, he’s done what’s been asked of him and now the door has been

shut. He’s given up a quarter of a million pounds on the back of Colin Graves’ comments.

“That word trust may be a two-way thing.”

Despite telling Pietersen he is surplus to requirements, Strauss did offer him a job of consultant to the limited-overs teams, one which was turned down.

“It’s absurd, because you can’t say ‘I don’t trust you to play in the side, but can I pick your brains for the oneday game’,” said Vaughan.

“Strauss will probably have to answer many questions about that.

“I hope somewhere down the line Kevin can be used, because he has a good cricket brain.”

However, Vaughan did say he believes Strauss is a good appointment as director of cricket, a new post created following the departure of managing director Paul Downton.

As well as ruling on Pietersen’s future, Strauss, who twice captained England to Ashes success, has also sacked coach Peter Moores.

“Strauss is a good appointment, the right man for the right role,” said Vaughan.

“He’s got tough decisions to make and has made one already to get rid of Moores.

That was the right decision for the England team.” (BBC

Sport)

NBA Playoff roundup…

Warriors even series with Grizzlies M

VP Stephen Curry scored 21 of his 33 points by halftime, and the Golden State Warriors snapped their twogame skid Monday night by routing the Memphis Grizzlies 101-84 to tie their Western Conference semifinal at 2-2.

The Warriors hadn’t lost three straight games all season, and they never came close as they took back homecourt advantage.

Curry hadn’t scored more than 23 points in this series, and he nearly had that by halftime.

Draymond Green (Michigan State) had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors while Klay Thompson had 15 points, Harrison Barnes 12 and Andre Iguodala 11.

Marc Gasol had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis while Zach Randolph (Michigan State) had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Mike Conley finished with 10 points and seven assists but was 4 of 15 from the field. Memphis pulled its starters with 3:00 left.

Game 5 is Wednesday

night at Golden State.

Memphis coach Dave Joerger gave his Grizzlies a history lesson reminding them how they had blown 2-1 leads in the postseason.

It didn’t help as the Grizzlies lost their fourth straight Game 4, the third of those on their own court. They just didn’t play with the same defensive intensity as the last two games.

Instead, it was the Warriors beating the Grizzlies to nearly every loose ball, scrapping to keep their dream season as the NBA’s best team from falling to the brink of elimination.

They got back their offensive rhythm as well leading by as many as 26 points, and they had their best game shooting outside the arc knocking down 14 3s.

Green looked like the forward who got the most first-place votes for defensive player of the year. He teamed with Andrew Bogut and Barnes making the night miserable for Randolph and Gasol in the paint. Green also pitched in offensively hitting his first three shots, and he finished with three 3s

after coming into this game 5 of 17 outside the arc for the series.

Memphis led only briefly with its last at 9-8 and never got within double digits in the second half.

The Warriors took control with a 16-6 run that turned a tie at 18 into a 34-24 lead early in the second quarter, their biggest lead since the opener of this series.

arcelona reached their first Champions League final since 2011, despite Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich salvaging pride in the return leg in Germany.

Trailing 3-0 from the first leg, Bayern revived their hopes through Medhi Benatia’s early downward header.

Barca levelled when Luis Suarez squared for a tap-in from Neymar, who drilled

maintained their ambitions of a La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey treble.

But Bayern were left wondering what might have been after spurning several chances and failing to keep out Barca’s potent attack with some hazardous defending.

Guardiola’s side had made the perfect start through Benatia’s first Champions League goal.

by their vocal fans, continued on the front foot and created several chances which were notably squandered by Muller and Lewandowski.

But the tactic left them vulnerable - and the Bundesliga champions were punished again on the halfhour mark.

The home side were short of numbers defensively as Suarez and Neymar sprung forward, with the former Liverpool striker again tee-

in after the pair combined again.

Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller both curled in as Bayern won on the night, but Barca still progressed.

And the Catalan club’s success means the tantalising prospect of an ‘El Clasico’ showpiece against Real Madrid in the 6 June final in Berlin remains alive.

Their La Liga rivals must overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit against Italian champions Juventus on Wednesday for the opportunity to defend their European crown against Barca.

Few outsiders had given German title-winners Bayern any chance of overturning the visitors’ advantage after a clinical victory at the Nou Camp last Wednesday.

And ultimately they were proved right as the Spanish league leaders comfortably

The defender was allowed a free header to nod into the bottom left corner from 15 yards.

But the optimism that swept across the vast majority of the Allianz Arena lasted less than eight minutes.

Guardiola, in charge of Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, insisted his team would attack sensibly and patiently as they aimed to become only the second team to overturn a threegoal first-leg deficit in a Champions League knockout tie.

However, Bayern were guilty of naive defending as their early lead on the night was wiped out.

Lionel Messi’s perfectly-weighted pass allowed Suarez to run beyond the home defence, before the Uruguayan unselfishly squared for team-mate Neymar to roll in.

Bayern, still encouraged

ing up his team-mate who had time and space to chest down and drill into the near corner.

That goal effectively killed off the tie, leaving Bayern needing to become the first team since 1994 to score six times against Barca.

Barca, who need one win from their final two matches to retain the Spanish title, removed Suarez at the break and offered little attacking threat in the second half as Bayern fought back.

Lewandowski showed neat footwork to create space and precisely finish, before Muller scored from a similar range with 16 minutes left.

But it was too little too late as Barcelona moved within just one more victory of their fifth European crown. (BBC Sport)

points by the end of the quarter, including a 27-footer giving Golden State a 28-20 lead at the end of the quarter. The Warriors outscored Memphis 33-24 in the second, taking a 61-44 lead into halftime.

had 18 points and 10 rebounds as three of Atlanta’s four All-Stars played significant roles to help the Hawks even their second-round series at two games apiece.

Washington’s lone All-

Atlanta 106, Washington 101 Jeff Teague scored 26 points, Paul Millsap added 19 points, six assists and five rebounds, and Al Horford

Star, point guard John Wall, missed a third consecutive game with a broken left hand.

Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night

at Atlanta.

“To me, personally, I think this is the best we’ve played all series,” said Millsap, who had eight points in Game 3, when he was dropped from the starting lineup because of flu-like symptoms. “Thirty assists, the way we played defense, the way we stepped up, the way we helped each other, the way we moved the basketball, the way we set screens.”

Still, this one wound up being tight toward the end.

Two days after hitting a buzzer-beater to win Game 3, Washington’s Paul Pierce missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied the score coming out of a timeout with 9.5 seconds left.

“Thought I got a great look,” Pierce said.

Said Bradley Beal, who scored a career playoff-high 34 points for the Wizards: “I thought it was going in. …

That open one’s always the hardest one to make.” (The Detroit

Neymar strikes for Barcelona

Stephen Curry

Curry didn’t take his first shot until 3:30 left in the first quarter, and he missed his first 3 along with a layup. He settled down and had seven

News)

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21 Bowlers, Iyer give Daredevils consolatory win A NEWS

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n exceptionally disciplined show from the Delhi Daredevils bowlers restricted table-toppers Chennai Super Kings to 119 for 6, to set up a convincing and consolatory sixwicket win on a slightly uneven and sluggish pitch in Raipur. Ironically, Daredevils were without their their top three wicket-takers of the season so far, Imran Tahir, Amit Mishra and Nathan Coulter-Nile, who was excluded for Gurinder Sandhu.

Daredevils’ chase was later steered with 20 balls to spare by an unbeaten and uncluttered fifty from Shreyas Iyer.

The loss means that Super Kings still haven’t technically made it to the playoffs. Even though they are on top with 16 points and a game to go, they could be out on net run rate.

Nothing went Super Kings’ way apart from the toss, as Daredevils opened with left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and Zaheer Khan. The two suffocated Super Kings’ destructive openers, who rely on boundaries early on. Nadeem started with a maiden with the help of a few seamups and gave no room to Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum; and Zaheer hardly gave them any pace to utilise, bowling a stump-tostump line. The pressure resulted in McCullum’s wicket on the last ball of the frugal Powerplay, which yielded only 16 runs, including 27 dot balls. It was Super Kings’ second-worst Powerplay across eight seasons, and the thirdworst by any team.

The pressure never allowed Super Kings to breathe on a hot evening. Smith took 12 balls to get off the mark, struggled the most to time the ball, and was trapped lbw for 18 off 24 on Albie Morkel’s first ball. For a brief period, it looked like Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis would rescue their team. Raina rotated the strike from ball one

and du Plessis decided to find gaps instead of clearing the boundary on the big ground.

But offspinner Jayant Yadav got rid of Raina seven balls after Smith’s wicket, which brought the already-struggling MS Dhoni out.

He and du Plessis briefly consolidated the innings, scoring runs off Sandhu and

Ishwar’s first three overs read 3-1-7-2, but his last over, the seventh of the innings, dashed Super Kings’ hopes and chances. Yuvraj struck fluent fours on the first and sixth balls, and Iyer unleashed an inside-out drive for six and a beautifully-timed on-drive for four off consecutive deliveries to ac-

midwicket off a rare slog.

Yuvraj and Iyer scored at least a boundary for next five overs to bring the required run rate to a comfortable four per over. Iyer brought up his fourth fifty of the tournament and even though Yuvraj and Morkel fell to Pawan Negi’s successive overs towards end, Iyer took them home comfort-

Zaheer Khan ended with figures of 4-1-9-2 and bowled 19 dot balls

Yuvraj Singh, with a stand of 37 in six overs. But du Plessis’ wicket in the 16th over threw Super Kings off track again.

Thirteen runs from the next over, off Yuvraj, and 11 off Sandhu in the next helped Super Kings’ score past 100 but Zaheer and Sandhu conceded only nine from the last two to keep Daredevils’ required run rate to exactly six per over.

Daredevils’ chase was uncharacteristically smooth after losing two wickets early on. Even though Iyer struck three fours in the first two overs, Ishwar Pandey, who came in for an ill Ashish Nehra, removed Quinton de Kock and Duminy, for 3 and 6 respectively. An unfazed Iyer avoided any extravagant or risky shots to keep the chase on course. He cashed in on the room offered by Mohit Sharma early and used his feet and played the ball late against the spinners.

cumulate 20 from the over.

Super Kings made things worse for themselves when Mohit dropped a high catch of Iyer, on 32 then, wide of deep

ably. Super Kings’ spinners tried to make use of the slow pitch, which offered some turn but they had very little to defend. (Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD Chennai Super Kings innings (20 overs maximum) DR Smith lbw b Morkel 18 BB McCullum c Duminy b 11 Khan SK Raina c Duminy b Yadav 11 F du Plessis b Morkel 29 MS Dhoni*† c Nadeem b Khan 27 DJ Bravo c Duminy b Sandhu 8 5 P Negi not out RA Jadeja not out 3 7 Extras (lb 7) Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 119 Did not bat: R Ashwin, MM Sharma, IC Pandey Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-34, 3-46, 4-83, 5-105, 6-110 Bowling: S Nadeem 4-1-18-0, Z Khan 4-1-9-2, GS Sandhu 4-0-33-

1, JA Morkel 3-0-21-2, J Yadav 2-0-8-1, Yuvraj Singh 3-0-23-0.

Delhi Daredevils innings (target: 120 runs from 20 overs) Q de Kock† c Ashwin b Pandey 3 70 SS Iyer not out JP Duminy* b Pandey 6 Yuvraj Singh c Sharma b Negi 32 JA Morkel c Pandey b Negi 8 KM Jadhav not out 1 Extras 0 Total (4 wickets; 16.4 overs) 120 Did not bat: SS Tiwary, J Yadav, GS Sandhu, Z Khan, S Nadeem Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-24, 3-93, 4-114 Bowling: IC Pandey 4-1-272, MM Sharma 2-0-17-0, R Ashwin 4-0-24-0, RA Jadeja 2.4-0-16-0, SK Raina 1-08-0, P Negi 3-0-28-2.

Tom Brady will appeal against ‘Deflate-gate’ ban N ew England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will appeal against the four-game ban issued to him after an inquiry into under-inflated balls.

The 37-year-old was punished by the National Football League on Monday following a scandal that has become known as ‘Deflate-gate’.

“The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis and we will appeal,” said Brady’s agent Don Yee. Brady has three days to submit the appeal to commissioner Roger Goodell.

The NFL investigated claims the Patriots had deflated match balls to give themselves an advantage in January’s 45-7 play-off victory over Indianapolis Colts which sent them to the Super Bowl.

According to reports, 11 of the 12 game balls they provided for the rain-

Tom Brady

affected match were under-inflated by about two pounds per square inch, giving Brady more grip in the cold and wet conditions.

Brady was “at least generally aware of inappropriate activities”, according to the independent Wells Report.

The New England Patriots quarterback will not receive any pay during his ban, while the team were fined $1m (£642,000).

But Yee and Patriots owner Robert Kraft was both highly critical of the NFL investigation.

“In my opinion, this outcome was pre-determined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever,” said Yee. “I am very confident the Wells Report will be exposed as an incredibly frail exercise in factfinding and logic.”

Kraft added: “This punishment far exceeded any reasonable expectation. Tom Brady has our unconditional support. Our belief in him has not wavered.” (BBC Sport)

22

guyanatimesGY.com

wednesday, may 13, 2015

iNet Communications U-13 football…

Fruta Conquerors, Santos Edghill, Singh debuts to contest Saturday’s final at Canadian World Circuit in close loss H ost club Fruta Conquerors and Santos have booked their places in the final of the inaugural iNet Communications Under-13 football competition following comfortable wins on Sunday.

Fruta Conquerors needed just a solitary goal to get past their ‘A’ team and book a place in Saturday’s championship game. Playing on the Tucville ground on Sunday last, a Jermaine Garrett goal accounted for Fruta Conquerors success, paving their path to the final.

In comparison, Santos did a demolition job against Western Tigers, blasting in three unanswered goals to storm to the final. Rondell Jordan, Jermaine Padmore and Darren Niles were the goalscorers for Santos.

Daniel Thomas

Secretary of the Fruta Conquerors Football Club, Daniel Thomas, said the competition has been able to unearth numerous talents in the Georgetown area and those will be developed at the club level to ensure con-

tinuity.

Thomas is urging parents of the players and football fans to come out in their numbers and witness the future of Georgetown football in action. He also expressed gratitude to iNet Communications for investing in the Under-13s, noting that it is money well spent.

All players on the champion team will be given scholarships by the sponsor. The third place game between Fruta Conquerors A and Western Tigers will commence at 15:00h, while the final between Fruta Conquerors and Santos will start an hour later.

Representatives of iNet Communications will be on hand to witness the games and assist in the presentation of prizes at the conclusion.

Kyle Edghill

Jeremey Singh

ational junior player Kyle Edghill and national cadet player Jeremey Singh made their debut at the 2015 Canadian Open World Junior and Cadet Circuit event on May 11 in Markham Ontario Canada.

In their first competi-

tion against Canada ‘D’, Guyana lost the match 3-2.

Edghill won both of his individual matches, topping Frederik Dufresne twice, both times by a 3-0 margin while Jeremey Singh lost twice to Wenbin Zhang at 3-2 and 3-0.

The fifth match-up saw

N

the Guyanese duo losing to the Canadian duo 3-0 to cap of their first team match.

The tournament provides the opportunity both players to benefit from much needed exposure in view of developing their tactical and technical capacity while gaining critical world ranking which is key to advancing their competitiveness in future international and regional competitions.

Edghill will be competing in the 18 years and under boys singles and teams while Singh will be competing in the cadet boys singles and teams. The team is being managed and coached by Lisa Lewis Chelsea Edghill has participated in this event with great honours having won gold in the girls cadets in 2012 and Bronze in 2013.

Collingwood not thinking about England job

P

aul Collingwood, the veteran former England allrounder who has already declared his ambition to coach at the highest level when he retires from playing, says that only “a ridiculous offer” would interest in him

given that he has already worked with England during a brief stint as assistant to former limited-overs coach Ashley Giles.

Collingwood will be 39 in two weeks’ time but asked if he would be putting his name forward following the

was Scotland’s assistant coach at this year’s World Cup, announced he would retire from playing at the end of last season only to change his mind.

“I spoke about last year being my last one, but if I keep taking wickets and

The iNet Communications Under-13 football tournament will conclude this weekend

West Indies gain points in Test ranking

S

outh Africa have stretched their lead at the top of the ICC Test Team Rankings, while India and New Zealand both moved upwards to occupy three of the top four positions in the table after the latest annual update. With the results from the 2011-12 season now dropped from calculations and outcomes from 201314 weighted at 50 percent, South Africa extended their advantage over second-placed Australia to 22 rating points.

India, though, gained the most from the update, as it meant that their 4-0 whitewashes at the hands of England and Australia

were no longer taken into consideration. The latest calculations had India with four more rating points, enough to move them up to fourth in the table, just behind New Zealand.

However, only three ranking points separate New Zealand in third, and Sri Lanka in seventh.

Prior to the annual update, the gap between the third and seventh-ranked sides was seven points.

England and Pakistan lost six points each, dropping to fifth and sixth respectively in the table. This is due to England’s 4-0 win over India, and Pakistan’s 3-0 sweep against England among other results in

2011-12 being dropped from the rankings calculations.

West Indies, meanwhile, gained five ranking points to reduce the gap with Sri Lanka from 17 to 12. Bangladesh, in ninth spot, still remain a long way behind the major teams, but they managed to swell their lead over bottom-ranked Zimbabwe to 34 points.

Rankings 1 South Africa (130 points), 2 Australia (108), 3 New Zealand (99), 4 India (99), 5 England (97), 6 Pakistan (97), 7 Sri Lanka (96), 8 West Indies (84), 9 Bangladesh (39), 10 Zimbabwe (5) (Cricinfo)

Paul Collingwood briefly served as England’s fielding coach under Ashley Giles

the current England vacancy.

Yorkshire’s first-team coach Jason Gillespie and fellow Australian Justin Langer currently head the betting for next England coach and Andrew Strauss, the new director of England cricket, confirmed at his first news conference that Gillespie was a candidate.

Were England to go in another direction, though, and shy away from putting an Australian in charge for an Ashes campaign, then Durham captain Collingwood would be a front-runner, especially

sacking of Peter Moores, he said his thoughts are on continuing his playing career, possibly even into next season.

“I’m still playing cricket for Durham,” he said. “I have a contract until the end of the season and I’m looking forward to fulfilling that.

“At the moment, unless some kind of ridiculous offer comes in, something I can’t refuse, I’m more than happy playing cricket for Durham, maybe even the season after this.”

Collingwood, who has also coached with UAE and

scoring runs and keep enjoying it, and bringing some good youngsters through here at Durham, it is going to be a hard thing to give up.”

Captain when England won the only ICC trophy in their history at the 2010 World Twenty20, Collingwood impressed with his energy and manmanagement skills in leading Durham to the County Championship in 2013, during a traumatic season in which their director of cricket, Geoff Cook, was recovering from a heart attack. (Cricinfo)

23 WICB takes off with JetBlue Williams cruises past sponsorship – Cameron Pavlyuchenkova S P guyanatimesGY.com

wednesday, may 13, 2015

resident of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron believes the recent signing of a sponsorship agreement between the regional governing body and New York-based JetBlue Airways is a testament to the value of the West Indies cricket brand.

JetBlue Airways signed a 2015 Home International Series deal with the WICB. The agreement covers the West Indies’ just-concluded three-match Test series against England, as well as the upcoming twomatch Test series against Australia.

“The sponsorship is a rather fortuitous one and we are grateful for JetBlue coming on board,” said Cameron.

“They are a relative newcomer to the Caribbean region, but since then, they have noticed the value of cricket to the people of region.

“To this end, they see it as a great opportunity to associate themselves with the West Indies team.”

The sponsorship, among other things, has resulted in JetBlue, which recently launched direct flights to Antigua and Grenada, providing patrons with rewarding match-day experiences.

These include givea-

Dave Cameron

ways of JetBlue return tickets from the Caribbean to New York for fans attending the matches.

Cameron, who was recently re-elected WICB president for a second twoyear term, expressed the hope that JetBlue’s sponsorship is the start of such arrangements.

Ideal opportunity “The West Indies cricket brand is a respected one regionally and worldwide, and for a company looking to invest, it is an ideal opportunity,” he said.

“This, especially so now, is what we hope will be the resurgence of the West Indies team.”

Eighth-ranked West Indies, on the back of a

number of match-winning performances from young players Jason Holder, Jermaine Blackwood, and Kraigg Brathwaite, last week drew 1-1 with thirdplace England in their Wisden Trophy clash.

The first Test in Antigua ended in a draw; England won the second in Grenada by nine wickets; while the West Indies captured the third by five wickets.

Cameron, whose administration recently renegotiated sponsorship arrangements with longtime team sponsor Digicel and signed new deals with Jomo Sports, an apparel company and YepMe.com, an internet technology firm, also expressed hope that the West Indies’ recent success would continue.

“When the team is winning, it makes everyone feels good - fans, players, officials and investors,” he pointed out.

“It is, therefore, imperative that we continue to do well on the field.”

The Australia series, for the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy, is set to begin on June 3, with the first Test at Windsor Park in Dominica and will conclude with the second at Sabina Park in Jamaica, beginning on June 11. (The Jamaican Gleaner)

Fraser-Pryce doubts 200m WC defence S helly-Ann FraserPryce may only be running one individual event in Beijing at the World Championships this August.

Speaking to the press at the Jamaica International Invitational last Saturday, Fraser-Pryce revealed that she hasn't yet decided to defend the 200-metre title she won in Moscow as the second part of a splendid 2013 World Championships sprint double.

She made the admission after placing third over 200 metres in a season's best time of 22.37 seconds at the Invitational.

That time was a massive improvement over the 22.96 clocking that gave her victory at the UTech Classic last month.

"This 200 was to execute, not how I executed that last one because I ran the corner a little too hard in the first one," she explained.

"So I came out a little bit slower than normal and to try to come off the corner as hard as possible," she said, outlining her approach to Saturday's race.

The winner was Bahamian Shaunae Miller in 22.14 seconds.

"I didn't win, but at the same time I'm really happy about the time because this time last year I wasn't running 22.3 this time," she said with a broad smile. "So

I'm really excited."

Asked about areas she will work on to improve her 200-metre running, FraserPryce replied: "You work on everything, especially when it comes to the 200, and considering the fact that I'm not sure I'm doing that event at

Given the big improvement of her seasonal best from 22.96 to 22.37 seconds, her personal best of 22.09 might be under threat this year.

Like all reigning World champions, Fraser-Pryce has the IAAF wildcard se-

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

the World Championships this year."

Personal Best Threatened though she is history's most successful 100-metre runner with two Olympic titles and two World Championships titles, Fraser-Pryce is a relative newcomer to big time 200m running.

She was second to American Allyson Felix at the 2012 Olympics in her major championship debut in the 200m. A year later, in Moscow, she was World champion.

lection to both the 100m and 200m, but the Stephen Francis-coached MVP Track Club sprint ace is taking the season on a step-by-step basis.

"I'm just taking it one race at a time," she concluded.

"It's going to be a competitive year," she said expectantly. "I'm looking forward to it."

She also revealed that she would run her first 100-metre race of the year next week at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting.

(The Jamaica Gleaner)

erena Williams was utterly dominant against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in reaching the third round of the WTA Internazionali d’Italia.

Double defending champion Serena Williams began her bid for a third straight WTA Internazionali d’Italia crown with

the second put her on the verge of victory.

Although she dropped her serve for the first time when attempting to hold for the match, Williams broke back immediately to wrap up victory in just over an hour.

Two-time champion Maria Sharapova also

Serena Williams

6-1 6-3 a convincing win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Williams, winner of this WTA Premier clay-court event in the last two seasons, as well as back in 2002, made short work of the world number 39.

The American broke her opponent twice in the first set and two more breaks in

enjoyed a safe passage into the third round, the third seed looking well on course for victory at 6-2 3-1 up on Jarmila Gajdosova before her opponent retired due to a shoulder injury.

Gajdosova’s fellow Australian Casey Dellacqua was also forced to pull out before her match with 2013 runner-up

Victoria Azarenka.

That meant lucky loser Lucie Hradecka was given a second chance, but she failed to make the most of it as Azarenka prevailed 7-5 2-6 6-1 to set up a meeting with Caroline Wozniacki.

However another lucky loser, Kristina Mladenovic, in the draw to replace Svetlana Kuznetsova, took advantage of her reprieve to see off Monica Puig 7-5 6-2.

Tenth seed Carla Suarez Navarro was taken the distance by Mona Barthel before securing a 6-4 2-6 6-3 victory, while Daria Gavrilova had to come from behind to defeat Belinda Bencic 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-2.

Irina-Camelia Begu also fought from a set down to prevail 4-6 6-2 6-1 over Urszula Radwanska, and Bojana Jovanovski edged out Caroline Garcia 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-2.

There were more straightforward wins for Elina Svitolina - 6-4 6-2 against Flavia Pennetta and Timea Bacsinszky - 6-4 6-3 over Sabine Lisicki.

Elsewhere, Alexandra Dulgheru overcame Misaki Doi 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-3, Lucie Safarova defeated Anna Schmiedlova 7-6 (86) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 and Jelena Jankovic saw off Camila Giorgi 7-5 7-5. (Digicel SportsMax)

Sports is no longer our game, it’s our business

wednesday, may 13, 2015

Sunil Narine expected to be major force in CPL 2015 D

espite his struggles with his bowling action at the current Indian Premier League (IPL), spinner Sunil Narine will be a force at the upcoming Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament. This is the belief of manager of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Omar Khan. He said that the management team of the Guyana Amazon Warriors has been backing their star player 100 per cent through his struggles and is confident that he will be as potent as ever.

“Sunil has shown that he has tremendous mental strength and he can come back from his troubles. Sunil will go down in history as being the first bowler to come back to the top of his game

after being called for an illegal bowling action.” Narine had to undergo two tests in Chennai during the current IPL season after his bowling action was deemed ille-

Omar Khan

gal by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Bowling Action Committee.

Three days ago, Narine came back to form with figures of 4/19 and Khan thinks he will only move from strength to strength with this. Khan said, “Sunil bowled very well a couple days ago and it showed his mental strength and it showed that he is back and not ready to cave in.

We at the Guyana Amazon Warriors will give him all the support he needs in order to come back to where he would like. He is our trump card in the upcoming CPL and we are confident that he will play very well for us as usual.”

Meanwhile, Khan added that veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul will also come good for his team. Chanderpaul is having his first stint with the Guyana Amazon Warriors

in the upcoming tournament and will be looking to recover his lost form.

“There is a specific role for Shiv in the Guyana Amazon Warriors set up and he will serve us well. He might not be in the best of form right now but in T20 cricket anyone can strike form at any moment.

Once he goes out there and plays to his capabilities and with his experience, he would do a good job for us,” he said.

Chanderpaul struggled against England in the recent Test series and will be looking for a better showing against the mighty Australians, when they come for two Tests from June 3. He is currently 86 runs short of becoming the highest ever Test run scorer for the West Indies, clipping Brian Lara. (Trinidad Guardian)

Sunil Narine

Mayweather, Pacquiao fight smashes boxing records T

he Floyd MayweatherManny Pacquiao fight on May 2 officially destroyed all-time boxing records for pay-per-view buys, payper-view revenue and live gate -- just some of the numerous financial records shattered by the richest fight in the sport’s history.

According to initial figures released Tuesday by Showtime and HBO, more than 4.4 million pay-per-view telecasts of the MayweatherPacquiao fight were purchased in the United States, generating more than $400 million in revenue. Those figures more than doubled the previous record for PPV buys and tripled the mark for highest PPV revenue.

Also, the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced Tuesday that the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight generated $72,198,500 from the sale of 16,219 tickets at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The blockbuster welterweight title unification fight, more than five years in the making, may have been a dud in the ring as Mayweather outboxed Pacquiao for a unanimous decision but it was a gargantuan commercial success.

“I think it was something we knew we would beat the prior record, but we didn’t have any reasonable expectation that it would exceed it by as much as it did,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum,

Pacquiao’s promoter, told ESPN.com. “We were confident it would go over 3 million (PPV buys), maybe do 3.5 million on the outside. But it just caught fire.”

Arum said the initial number was “conservative” and projected that the final totals for the pay-per-view buys will “definitely” surpass 4.5 million.

“People were fascinated by the event,” Arum said.

The previous pay-perview revenue record and gate record had been set by Mayweather’s junior middleweight title unification victory against Canelo Alvarez in 2013. That fight, also at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, generated $150 million in PPV revenue and $20,003,150 from the sale of 16,146 tickets.

Mayweather’s 2007 junior middleweight title victory against Oscar De La Hoya had held the previous record for pay-per-view buys at 2.48 million, and its gate of $18,419,200 from the sale of 15,423 tickets to the MGM Grand now stands at No. 3 all-time.

“The incredible demand for the fight produced these unbelievable numbers,” Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told ESPN. com “Everyone involved with the promotion is extremely thankful and appreciative for the fans.

“Floyd always has an in-

credible expectation and he pushes everyone on his team toward our internal goal. He set the bar high for these record-breaking kind of events and none of this would be possible without the support of the fans across the globe.

There are no losers when you

could earn $250 million, with Pacquiao set to make more than $120 million.

“Floyd is going to make a lot of money,” said Ellerbe, who was at a loss for any other words on the topic.

The event will easily soar past $500 million in total rev-

the title beer sponsor; • Nearly $19 million in national closed circuit revenue from tickets sold at more than 5,000 bars, restaurants and commercial establishments; • Another $6.9 million in closed circuit revenue from a record 46,000 tickets sold (at

Manny Pacquiao lands a right on Floyd Mayweather during their box office bout

talking about chopping up this kind of paper (money).”

The deal between the camps called for Mayweather to earn 60 percent of the revenue and for Pacquiao’s side to receive 40 percent. With such a massive pay-per-view total, they will both earn millions more than initially expected.

Mayweather said he

enue, making it by far the richest fight in boxing history.

Additional fight revenue included: • A record of approximately $40 million from international television rights from 175 countries; • A record $13.2 million from sponsorships, including $5.6 million paid by Tecate as

$150 apiece) at MGM Resorts International properties in Las Vegas; • Merchandise sales approaching several million dollars.

Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank, the event’s co-promoters, said numerous times prior to the fight that there would be no free tickets,

but according to the commission gate report, there were 46 complimentary tickets issued -- four in the $10,000 price category and 42 in the $2,500 price range. Surprisingly, there were nine unsold tickets to the fight -- six in the $7,500 category, two in the $5,000 category and one in the $3,500 price range.

As for the breakdown, $12.26 million came from the sale of 1,226 tickets with a face value of $10,000. Another $11.955 million came from the sale of 1,594 tickets in the $7,500 range.

The most money -- $24.67 million -- came from the sale of 4,934 tickets in the $5,000 range. Another $14,143,500 came from the sale of 4,041 tickets at $3,500 apiece.

The $2,500 price range generated $6.335 million from the sale of 2,534 tickets and the $1,500 price range generated $2.835 million from the sale of 1,890 tickets.

The average face value cost of tickets to the fight was $4,451.48, although it was much greater in reality because of the mark up of the ticket prices on the secondary market.

To put the MayweatherPacquiao gate record in perspective, the Super Bowl typically generates a gate of around $80 million. The big difference, however, is that there are usually more than 70,000 tickets available for the Super Bowl. (ESPN)

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