Guyana Times Daily

Kaieteur News emails fake

Awareness lacking on sickle cell –Association President Plaisance residents protest operations of NDC

Police burn huge ganja fields at Haurauni

New mining guide launched

Chikungunya infected persons should be quarantined – CMO

Courts plugs $2M into GuyExpo

Courts Guyana Inc on Wednesday pumped $2 million into GuyExpo 2014, which is set to be the biggest yet.

The cheque was handed over by Courts Country Manager Clyde de Haas to acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Alli at a simple ceremony on Tuesday at the company’s Main Street, Georgetown headquarters.

de Haas said GuyExpo is a unique event, creating tourism awareness both locally and internationally, and the company is happy to be onboard.

He added too that the company is interested in national development and will support moves in this direction.

Minister Alli expressed gratitude to the company for their support and added that Courts is always bringing value home,

which is also the aim of GuyExpo 2014.

The Minister explained that the expo is also used as a vehicle to entice overseas-based Guyanese to return home.

He added that Court Guyana Inc is always willing to support the tourism sector, and is a good example of a good cooperate citizen, which fits perfectly with the theme for GuyExpo this year “Transformation: Partnering for a better Guyana”.

Also speaking at the ceremony was Public Relations and Promotions Officer Roberta Furguson, who told the media that Courts is pleased to support the development of Guyana’s tourism sector.

She said the event unites all Guyanese and gives them a better un-

derstanding of the country and what it has to offer.

Courts Marketing Manager Purnell Cummings said the company is a big fan of GuyExpo and will continue to support the event in years to come.

Cummings noted that not only will the company be donating to the expo, but Guyanese also will be benefiting from their booths there as there will be lots of giveaways and special discounted prices on selected items.

The event will be staged from October 2-5 at the Sophia Exhibition Centre. The four-day event aimed at bringing awareness to Guyana’s diverse cultural heritage and tourism products is marketed in North America and the Caribbean.

Awareness lacking on sickle cell

– Association President

The sickle cell disease is painful and disruptive to one’s life but it is difficult to identity that something is wrong with an infected person as they appear as normal as any other person.

The sickle cell gene does not make one vulnerable to infections or even make one miss out on all the great activities that school may offer. Sickle cell is never even noticed on one’s person, thus making it quite impossible for persons to know they have

Hospital and Eureka Laboratories. However, there is no widespread screening for the illness in Guyana.

Bond said there needs to be more awareness of the disease, noting that health centres across Guyana have a list of illnesses doctors or the health centres look for when diagnosing a patient and sickle cell is not on the list.

Not a reported disease

Thus, he said, it is not a “reported disease” in

there are things that can be done to stay healthy. It is important, particularly to ensure that persons with the disease are never dehydrated, and always equipped medicinally to fight infections.

London stated that his son does a “regime of antibiotics” daily. This was the case since diagnosed at nine months old.

Nevertheless, London was sure to explain that the disease is quite individualistic as not all persons may have the same problem.

the potential to conceive a child with the sickle cell disease.

According to Grace Bond, from the Guyana Nursing Association (GNA), there is a one in four chance that persons with the sickle cell gene (or the trait) may produce a child with the disease.

She explained that knowledge is key because once persons are aware of what exactly the disease is, and how it affects them, they can take measures to ensure that their children do not inherit it.

Bond meant that infected parents have the choice to have children, knowing that they may be affected by the disease.

Thus, testing for the trait or the gene of the sickle cell disease is very important. She informed Guyana Times that the trait or the sickle gene is found in persons who have the “full blown” disease, and carriers.

Carriers are persons who simply have the sickle gene, not the effects of it.

Testing for this can only be done at the Antenatal Clinic in the Georgetown Public

Guyana.

Nevertheless, Bond gave an estimate of no “less than 500 persons in Georgetown” having been referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment of the disease.

Guyana Sickle Cell and Thalasasaemia Association (GSCTA) President Errol London disclosed that his 13-yearold son is a sickle cell case but thrives at secondary school.

He informed Guyana Times that his son was nine months old when he was diagnosed with the disease.

He and his wife had noticed that their son seemed ever uncomfortable and had a “distended abdomen”. London stated that they had taken him to the St Joseph Mercy Hospital for quite a number of tests. However, it was not until a result came back from Trinidad and Tobago from an electrophoresis test that they knew that he had the disease. He remarked that there is no cure for sickle cell disease; however,

Some persons may need medications monthly or some not at all. Others may require steady blood transfusions while other may not. He is quite grateful his son fits into the latter category.

London shared that persons with the sickle cell disease cannot exert themselves too much, so exercises and cricket games are taken quite cautiously with his son. Even so, his son enjoys playing games with his brother and his friends at school.

Suzanne-Abigail Claxton, a sickle cell sufferer told Guyana Times that she was diagnosed with the disease since she was two years old.

Claxton related that she experiences pains but this is eased with steady medication, antibiotics and the avoidance of strenuous activities.

Claxton is thankful to her parents for their support, noting that it has helped her to have a cheery, upbeat view of life.

She is part of the GSCTA which offers support for sickle cell victims.

Courts Country Manager Clyde de Haas addressing the audience as acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Alli, Courts Public Relations and Promotions Officer Roberta Furguson and Marketing Manager Purnell Cummings looks on

The Guyana Sickle Cell and Thalasasaemia Association (GSCTA) banner advocating awareness of the disease

Weather:

OPENINGS

Family farming is the bedrock of agricultural sector – Ramsammy

Winds: East North-easterly between 3.12 metres and 3.57 metres per second.

High Tide: 10:34h and 23:04h reaching maximum heights of 2.21 metres and 2.27 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 03:53h and 16:30h reaching minimum heights of 0.89 metre and 1.05 metres respectively.

WEATHER TODAY LOTTERY NUMBERS

Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy has lauded family farmers for investing most if not all of their resources into boosting the sector.

The Minister was at the time delivering his remarks at the Guyana Agriculture School (GSA) activity for Agriculture Month 2014, which is being observed under the theme “Enhancing agriculture through family farming and the use of sustainable technologies”.

According to the Minister, agriculture is the vehicle not only for sustainable growth but for social progress and prosperity. He identified Guyana as a major producer of foods that are being used around the world. Ramsammy recognised the importance of family farming and the accomplishments it has yielded over the years. “The family farm continues to be the foundation on which we build and promote agriculture in Guyana,” the Minister said as he highlighted that it was family farming that made the rice industry in Guyana bloom into a giant in the Region.

He boasted that not even the entire Caricom combined can compare to the level of rice production that Guyana engages in. He disclosed that the country is on its way to achieving a milestone of exporting 500,000 tonnes of rice this year, with an estimated production of 600,000 tonnes of rice in 2014.

Investments made

On this note, the Minister highlighted the investment made in Guyana by small farmers for this year when compared to family farmers. He revealed that small farmers plugged over $30 billion into the rice industry while those in the cash crop sub-sector invested some $10 billion and artisanal fisherman put in another $10 billion. However, family farmers have injected in excess of $50 billion annually.

“That is because they have come to see that agriculture is profitable, that agriculture produces and feed people. They have come to see that agriculture can create employment,” he stated. Ramsammy noted Agriculture Month is being observed this year in recognition of those farm -

us a chance to begin an accelerated movement towards sustainable technology to improve agriculture at a brand new level, at the medium-size farms and in mega-farms,” he stated. According to the Minister, among the high costs in agriculture are pesticides and fertiliser use, and he noted that

The Minister went on to talk about mechanisation in the agriculture sector, which he noted the sugar industry have adopted and the rice industry is close to fully adopting. He said that through the GSA, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), and the Guyana Livestock Development Association (GLDA) along with the fisheries department, the Agriculture Ministry is introducing new technology such as the use of bio-fertilisers.

“Guyana in 2014 has decided we have to find a greater role for bio-fertilisers and introduced natural predators for the pests that take over our crops. I want to show to the world that tests we are willing to try sexy things, but that we are willing to try sustainable technology not as a test but to replace the unsustainable practices that

ers who invested all their resources to grow the agriculture industry. He recommitted Governments support’s towards small and family farmers’ development and sustainability through technology. “2014 Agriculture Month gives

the issue of a sustainable environment must be addressed. “We are already combating climate change because in our earlier periods of development around the world, we were not too cognisant of the impact we are having on the environment,” he stated.

are used in Guyana, in the Caribbean and around the world,” he declared.

Ramsammy remarked that while the agriculture sector has come a far way, there is still a long way to travel to make the sector the pillar of a diversified economy.

A section of the students in audience

Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy addressing students at the GSA

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

Farmers’ Month

October in Guyana is “Agriculture Month” and it is a shame that more citizens are unaware of this. This country was founded by the Dutch in the 17th century because of its agricultural potential and this is what has sustained us into the 21st century.

While some may point to its decline from being 30 per cent of our economy, just two decades ago, to the present 20 per cent, it is important to note that this is a relative decline. In absolute terms, agriculture is as big as it ever was, notwithstanding the recent fall in the fortunes of sugar.

But while it is important that Guyana continues to forge ahead in the manufacturing and service sectors as other countries have done, it would be foolish to ignore agriculture simply because it is “old”. The importance of agriculture has in fact increased rapidly in the last few decades as some of the most populous countries in the world, such as China and India, moved their populations from their countrysides into cities, where they have to be supplied with food.

Agriculture, therefore is now defined as a “strategic” resource which must be protected and projected. One of the fallacies in thinking about agriculture is that it is only concerned with the land: but the human resource is even more important than the land. The Israelis have made a desert bloom because of their farmers and farming techniques. In Guyana, “Agriculture Month”’ could just as well have been called “Farmers Month”.

In Guyana, the per capita GNP calculated as “Purchasing Power Parity”, or the amount of goods the dollardenominated per capita GNP can actually purchase, is twice what it is denominated in, because of the cheap basket of goods our farmers produce. Because of the global demand for food, Guyana is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities since it has both the land and the farmers to raise its agricultural production to a much higher plateau.

There are so many opportunities. Earlier this week, there was a news item that Jamaica will be allowed to increase the amount of mangoes it can ship to the US, because it was able to address concerns about its fruit flies accompanying the fruit.

Guyana has never really explored the markets for its fruits – including mangoes and sapodillas. The demand for these two latter fruits have skyrocketed in the US because of the increase of that country’s “foreign born” population from tropical lands – including Guyana.

We have done well to increase the production of rice to a point where we can become a significant player in the world market if we make that push to reach the million tonne mark in exports.

The Government has done a commendable job in addressing drainage and irrigation needs, but marketing remains the Achilles Heel of the industry. The new markets in Panama and Africa demonstrate that our sales can keep pace with production once there is a concerted, planned push in this area.

Even though there has been much talk over the last decade of “mega farms” being the wave of the future, sadly there has not been the matching “walk” from even our Caricom partners to whom we have offered our land at below bargain basement prices. This was one of our contributions to the Caribbean becoming self sufficient in its food needs, via the Jagdeo Initiative in Agriculture. A much touted and heralded recent initiative from Trinidad appears to have withered on the vine.

While we hope the Government has not given up on mega farms, interestingly enough, the theme this year for Agriculture Month is, “Enhancing agriculture through family farming and the use of sustainable technologies”.

It would appear that the Government is not placing all its (agricultural) eggs in one basket. Studies have shown that the 15-acre family farm, with appropriate technology, is the most efficient of them all.

Kaieteur News publication of fake emails contemptuously perverts course of justice

Dear Editor,

The Attorneys for Mohan "Glenn" Lall and Kaieteur News ought to be aware of the principle of sub judice and the concept of contempt of court.

For their edification, the sub judice rule regulates the publication of matters which are under consideration of the court and matters are considered and remain sub judice once proceedings are active.

In the case of criminal charges, the proceedings are deemed active when a person is arrested, a warrant for arrest has been issued, a summons has been issued or a person has been charged and remain so active until conviction.

Prejudicial publication of material which is sub judice comprises contempt of court, a crime under the laws of Guyana.

In light of the foregoing, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) wishes to advise that statements purportedly attributed to Mr Robin Hunte, Attorney for Glenn Lall, Bhena Lall and Kaieteur News are evidently contemptuous, since statements published are likely to create, and were calculated to create a substantial risk of prejudicing the course of justice in the proceedings against Glenn Lall, Bhena lall, Garbassi Brijnan and Narootandeo Brijnan.

These statements are intended to interfere with

the administration of justice in pending proceedings.

The GRA is of the view that the statements attributed to Hunte are as erroneous as they are contemptuous.

The defendants were charged with various offences against the Customs Laws including dealing with goods with intent to defraud the Revenue Authority of duties, fraudulent evasion of Customs duties, making and subscribing a false declaration, etc.

The Revenue Authority maintains that these charges were properly laid and contends that Mr Hunte misapprehended the laws perhaps to the

detriment of his clients, or with intent to pervert the course of justice in this matter.

It is apparent that the Kaieteur News and Mr Hunte intend to engage in trial by newspaper rather than trial by judicial process. The Revenue Authority calls upon the Guyana Bar Association to condemn this attempt by one of its members to pervert the course of justice and on the Chancellor of the Judiciary to protect the administration of Justice and the integrity of the Judicial process.

Respectfully submitted, Guyana Revenue Authority

Police not laying sexual assault charges in another case

Dear Editor,

A few days after an allegation of sexual assault of an Amerindian woman in Madhia was reduced to physical assault, an almost identical case is being played out in Matthew’s Ridge, North West District as reported in another sec-

tion of the media. Neither the Police nor the medical staff at Pakera Hospital investigated the allegation of sexual assault made by a 55-yearold woman because she could not narrate the story as clearly as they would have liked.

The woman sustained a speech impediment as a result of a stroke about 18 months ago. Despite the evidence of a torn underwear, as well as the presence of relatives and friends capable of understanding what the woman was saying, the Police and

doctor focused entirely on physical assault.

The Police also claim she did not complain of rape.

Submitted by, Executive Committee Guyana Human Rights Association

Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) soldiers and firefighters make rescue works among mountain lodges, covered with volcanic ash near the peak of Mount Ontake, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures in this September 28 picture (Reuters)

Electioneering for Municipal and Local Government Elections Tribute to the late Joseph Bacchus

Dear Editor,

I am about to return to Guyana after spending a couple weeks with professional colleagues, family and friends in Toronto and Ottawa.

I used to work and live in Toronto in the 1970s when immigrants from around the world, including Guyana, were not as widely and numerically present as they obviously are these days.

The relatively high representation of immigrants and their offspring in all spheres of their Canadian life, especially in professional, community and cul-

tural activities was a special joy to behold.

This contrasted remarkably with my recollection of the 1970s. For example, at an intersection close to my family home in Markham, a part of the Greater Toronto area, there are 15 colourful, obviously costly pictorial placards of the candidates vying for election.

Judging by their photos and names, four are women and 12 are apparently descendants of immigrants. Also interesting was the fact that the placards are planted on the ground at all busy intersections for weeks without any noticea-

ble attempt to vandalise or remove them by any of the 15 contestants or their respective supporters.

In my view, this is uniquely refreshing and speaks volumes for the high level of sophistication and good sense of mutual respect for civic responsibility.

It was also quite uplifting to note the absence of mud-slinging in the campaigns among the candidates. The positive, non-accusatory electioneering for municipal/local government representation and the relatively high participation rates among immigrants

and their Canadian-born children and grandchildren are worthy of note by their families and friends ‘back home’.

Of note also was the apparent absence of rancor and presence of civility during the televised mayoral debates.

Having regard to the possibility of imminent elections in Guyana, one hopes that the level of sophistication and civility witnessed in Toronto can be emulated in spirit and action among our compatriots.

Respectfully,

Nowrang Persaud

Dear Editor, I hasten to pay tribute to the late Mr Joseph Bacchus, of 22 Trotman Alley, Wismar-Christianburg in the Town of Linden, Demerara who died on the September 30.

He was Leader of the National Democratic Front, a political party which played a significant role in the struggle for the consolidation of democracy and the role of free and fair elections.

As Leader of the National Democratic Front (NDF), his party was a member of the Patriotic Coalition for

Democracy (PCD) which spearheaded the change in election procedures of Guyana by championing the system of counting ballots at the place of poll.

His political party was one of the founding parties in the formation of APNU.

Mr Bacchus played a major part in the political struggles for the masses during the 1960s and faced many challenges. May his soul rest in eternal peace!

Sincerely,

Clifton M Llewellyn John

We do not shoot animals indiscriminately

Dear Editor, I wish to correct the misinformation stated in an article appearing in the Sunday Stabroek of September 28 and Kaieteur News on September 29 about the slaughtering of wild animals. The article and photo of a puma gave the impression that this was a recent incident. The facts are that this photograph was taken nearly two years ago on a goat farm in the Ituni Savannahs where jaguars and pumas, including this one, had reduced the flock of goats

from nearly 1000 to just about 400 now.

This could be verified by the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA). The cats are still roaming free on the farm killing at will. Many cage traps were set to catch the predators alive, but without any success. We asked the authorities for permission to purchase tranquilliser guns so that we can catch these large cats and transfer them out of the area, but no one seems to know how to go about it. We were not successful in obtaining it.

We do not shoot ani-

mals indiscriminately. Many animals we caught alive were donated to the zoo. We are as much conservative as the writer of that article.

Another thing is that the author of the article referred to the animal as a pregnant female. The cat in the photograph is a male. He was shot with a shot gun. The meat was given to a Chinese friend of ours. The meat is considered a delicacy. (I could supply you with the names if needed.)

Jaguars and pumas continue to this date to wreak havoc with mostly goats on the farm and the number keeps dwindling. Cows are also reared on the farm, but because of their size, kills by these large cats are kept at a minimum.

I would like to inform you that a herd of Boer Goats – a special breed of goats, some weighing between 100 and 150 pounds were imported from USA, costing millions of dollars. These were cross bred with local goats to improve their size and to help in their acclimatisation to the local conditions. We have been selling prize rams and ewes to farmers all over the country in order to improve the local breed. You could check this out with GLDA.

In this country, people shoot jaguars which kill their farm animals. This is considered good news. Hardly anyone complains about this even though jaguars are an endan-

gered species all over the world.

I wonder what agen-

da the author of the article in the Stabroek News and Kaieteur news has for

campaigning so bitterly about a puma shot nearly two years ago under the same circumstances.

It should be noted that pumas are being hunted legally to this day even in the USA.

I am sending a photo of a cow which was mauled by some of these large cats and one goat recently killed and left behind on the farm.

I trust that the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News will give these photos the same prominence that they gave the puma killed nearly two years ago.

Yours truly, A Persaud

The cow mauled by the large cats

A goat recently killed

Page Foundation

BY MARYLENE CLOITRE, PHD

When someone dies it is a terrible loss and shock to their families, friends, and community. Families and communities who experience such losses often experience old feelings of hurt and pain as well as deep empathy for those who are most impacted by the deaths. Often parents are uncertain how to help their teens and children reach out to those who are directly affected, or how to help their teens and children manage their own reactions.

How to help a friend or loved one who has experienced a loss

In order for you and your family to support a friend or loved one during this difficult time, it is important to know that people respond very differently to traumatic events and losses. Some may be very upset, cry, yell, or shake. Others may seem calm and composed or even numb, cold and detached. Some may want to talk about the event while others may wish to remain quiet. Some may want physical contact while others may not want to be touched.

Typical reactions to sudden death include any number of emotions including feelings of fear, anger, guilt, sadness, and confusion. Some individuals who have endured traumatic situations, despite how they are feeling, may believe it is necessary to assure others that they are fine. They may not want to “bother” others with their problems or may want to get “back to normal.” It is common for people to experience mood swings during this time, and survivors may misdirect anger towards others

or towards themselves. Some survivors may feel overly dependent upon or become overprotective of others. Each individual will experience unique reactions and may alternate among these reactions.

Communicate: Send a message of concern by phone, mail, or email. Do something that does not necessarily require a response from the person, as he or she may already feel overwhelmed by the immediacy of the event and the tasks they are confronting in the initial days and weeks following a loss or traumatic event. It may be tempting to compare their situation to one you have experienced but it is better to simply listen to what the person feels and wants as people may have different reactions from you and may even feel differently from day to day.

Support: Often, friends and family feel a need to “problem solve” or offer advice. This is often not necessary. For those who are close to a grieving person, physical presence and support are usually more valuable. Suggestions as to what a grieving person should have done or should do now are usually not helpful.

Education: Educate yourself about trauma and the healing process. Learn about common reactions to traumatic experiences and about resources by attending seminars, searching the Internet, reading books, or talking to a counsellor.

Listen: Listen and allow the survivor to talk about the traumatic experience at his or her own pace. Friends can let the survivor

know that they are there to listen and give support when the survivor is ready. Do not focus solely on the trauma: Take a break from talking about it. Follow the survivor’s lead on when to talk about it and when to take a break. Allow time for mutual relaxation and engaging in ordinary tasks and activities.

Return control: By respecting the survivor’s wishes and allowing them to make decisions, friends can help return control to them.

in his or her reaction to traumatic events. Emotions differ across individuals and may include sadness, anger, anxiety, worry, shock, and grief. Reactions may range from preoccupation on all details surrounding the event to avoidance of discussions and information gathering. Adults and adolescents who have previously experienced violent or traumatic events are at increased risk for developing these symptoms and reactions. Nevertheless, adults and teens can have strong reactions even if they have never experi-

How to help your child or teenager affected by the loss of a friend or peer Reactions to traumatic events vary depending on your child’s individual temperament, personality, and coping styles. Past stressful life events, loss, or exposure to trauma also play a significant role

enced a trauma in the past or are not directly involved in the traumatic event.

Be aware of your own feelings and thoughts. Anxiety, worry, sadness, and anger are all expected reactions to unexpected events and loss. It is important that you understand your own feelings and thoughts. Children and even teenagers will look to you for support and ways in which to cope. If you are overwhelmed, your children may react with fear and anxiety. Approaching the situation in a calm manner will help your child or teen feel safer and supported. Do not make assumptions. Each individual has different reactions and responses to a traumatic event. It is important that you do not make assumptions about your children’s thoughts and feelings. It is recommended that you speak to your adolescent or child directly and ask them about their thoughts and feelings.

Engage in open communication. It is important that you address your adolescent’s or child’s concerns and invite questions. Listen to what your children have to say and invite questions. If you have difficulty answering questions, it is okay to say that you do not know the answer. Keep in mind that conversations about the event and related feelings may be ongoing among your teen or child’s peer group. (aboutourkids.org) To be conTinued

Trotman sodomy allegations:

Welshman to answer gag order in 10 days

Johnny Welshman, the young man who has accused Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman of sexually assaulting him when he was younger, has been given 10 days to respond in an affidavit to claims that he made libellous statements against Trotman.

On Wednesday, acting Chief Justice Ian Chang granted Welshman leave to file his affidavit in response to a gag order and lawsuit filed against him by Trotman after he came forward with the revelations late last month.

The injunction prevents Welshman from making further allegations against Trotman or repeating the allegations in public domain.

Trotman is being represented by Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman, Attorney Nigel Hughes, while Welshman appeared on behalf of himself.

According to Welshman, he was also advised by Chang to seek legal representation.

Questioned by the media following an in-camera hearing, Welshman said he was prepared to face the law if his case fell through.

He said he has confidence that the law will rule in his favour given the overwhelming evidence he has.

He noted too that he was prepared to take his case to the Caribbean Court of

Justice (CCJ) and thereafter, the Privy Council, if he fails in his bid to have Trotman held responsible for his alleged atrocities.

“I am ready big time; I am ready to go to the CCJ

or the Privy Council; I am ready for the fight,” remarked Welshman.

He also dispelled concerns that his actions might have some political motivations, pointing out that if that was the case, he would have had a barrage of attorneys with him when he went to court. He opined, however, that the notion that he was being politically motivated was being put out there simply to “shove the issue under the rug”.

Again, Welshman affirmed that he had met with several sections of the media and journalists who refused to hear his pleas, but he plans to expose them in due time.

Welshman had told Guyana Times that he had met with Kaieteur News Editor Adam Harris and spoke with a reporter, but the media house refused to carry his story, asking him to wait until a later date to come forward.

“If it comes to a point where I have to expose journalists and who and who and who, I will do it,” a defiant Welshman said.

A Yarrowkabra, Linden Highway man was now in Police custody, as he was one of the persons implicat-

ed in the assault allegations made by Welshman.

A Division (Georgetown) Commander Clifton Hicken had told this newspaper that the suspect is being questioned by members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

He said that since the report was lodged, an investigation was launched, while disclosing that there were no eyewitnesses to support the young man’s claims.

As such, charges are not likely to be instituted at this stage. There have been reports circulating that the Speaker of the National

Assembly will be charged as well.

Guyana Times understands that Welshman, would have accompanied a detective from the CID to Yarrowkabra on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway where he pointed out the house and creek where he was molested.

The suspect reportedly refused to cooperate with the Police and allegedly told Welshman ,“You could have come to me first.”

Trotman on Tuesday avoided answering questions on the shocking child molestation allegations against him during a news conference at his office.

He had said earlier that “unfortunately, Welshman seems to have been conveniently encouraged by manipulative and diabolic political forces.

"There is absolutely no truth in the allegation, and I am confident that the masterminds and supporters of this dastardly plot will soon be exposed.

"I call for a thorough and professional investigation into this scurrilous allegation. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” he said.

Plaisance residents protest operations at NDC

Dozens of residents from Plaisance, East Coast Demerara picketed the Industry/Plaisance Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) over a number of burning issues, including the appointment of

for National Unity (APNU) Community Representative Shawn Austin explained that the new overseer was appointed on Tuesday, although there was an acting overseer for more than 15 years. Austin contended

an overseer.

Carrying placards, the protesters called for the removal of the overseer who took office on Tuesday. According to the peaceful protesters, the Local Government Ministry’s decision to appoint an overseer on the NDC is greatly flawed.

A Partnership

that the new overseer has no knowledge of the Local Government System.

“They have brought someone new who has no knowledge about Local Government. Who doesn’t know the duty of an overseer and so they have asked her to train the new overseer.

"Now that is gross dis-

respect,” Austin said as he led the protest. Attempts to reach the Chairman of the NDC and the newlyappointed overseer proved futile.

But the appointment of the overseer was just one of the many problems the residents highlighted during their picketing exercise.

According to the protesters, the Government of Guyana, through the Agriculture Ministry, is attempting to seize their backlands despite the history behind the community of Plaisance.

“A number of vehicles with Policemen with arms and ammunition moved in there with weapons cocked and said to our people if they don’t move, they will shoot. And that is threatening,” Austin said.

The APNU representative said the Police carried out the brazen exercise about 03:00h on Wednesday, as the squatters were asleep.

According to reports, women and children were even assaulted in the process. Fearing for their lives, the squatters disbursed.

But apart from the Police intimidating the more than 400 squatters who were occupying the backlands, Austin said the Government has flooded the land.

He explained that the land had been neglected for more than 15 years when residents decided to occupy it, given the growing population. Another Community Representative Rodwell Lewis said they will not be moved.

“Our ancestors bought this land, the land of Plaisance was bought by 65 freed slaves and we have to

make our ancestors proud. And at no time, we will allow them to turn in their graves,” he said. According to Lewis, the Agriculture Ministry is permitting GuySuCo to flood their backlands, much to the dissatisfaction of residents. But despite the methods being used to deter the spirits of residents, Lewis said, they will not surrender.

Lewis further alleged that the Government has even sold their drains and cemetery. The question that now is “what next?”, the protesters believe.

Johnny Welshman exiting the Chambers of the Chief Justice

Some of the protesters on Wednesday standing in front of the Industry/Plaisance NDC

APNU Community Representative Shawn Austin

Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman

19-year-old sentenced to three years for narcotics trafficking

A19-year-old was on Wednesday sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined $30,000, after pleading guilty to possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Jermaine Dowridge pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts which stated that on Monday, September 29 at Arangan Landing, Cuyuni River, Region Seven, he had in his possession 295 grams of marijuana for the

purpose of trafficking.

The court was made to understand that on the day in question at around 01:00h, the Police were at Arangan Landing where they saw the defendant acting in a suspicious manner. They stopped him and conducted a search. Upon searching the defendant, a plastic bag which he was walking with contained the illicit drug. Police claimed the bag contained leaves, seeds and stems they suspected to be cannabis.

The Haslington, East

Coast Demerara resident told the court he was sorry and begged for mercy, explaining that he had no money and a man asked him to take “this” (meaning the plastic bag) to a shop and in return he would pay for him to leave the interior.

The Chief Magistrate explained to Dowridge that pleading guilty to such a charge has a mandatory penalty which she cannot change but the first timer maintained his guilty plea.

Bail denied for man allegedly caught with 30 grams cannabis

Jawanza Marvin appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry to address a charge which was laid against him.

On September, 29 at Madhia Police Station, Marvin had in his possession a narcotic, that is to say 30 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

The unrepresented man pleaded

guilty but after the Chief Magistrate explained the mandatory penalty for such an offence, he changed his plea.

On the day in question at around 19:00h, Marvin went to the Police Station in a bus. At the station, the Police conducted a search on the defendant. While doing so a plastic bag was found with 20 small ziplock bags, each containing leaves, seeds and stems which they (Police) sus-

pected to be marijuana.

Marvin begged for mercy stating that he has a nine month old son but Police Prosecutor, Inspector Michael Grant objected to bail stating that no special reasons were given by the defendant as it related to having possession of the illicit drug.

The case was transferred to the Madhia Magistrate’s Court for October 20.

Former GDF member granted self bail on several charges

Thirty-five-year-old

Gordon James, also known as “James Bond” of Linden was placed on his own recognisance on Wednesday afternoon after he was charged for several offences.

James appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry.

It was alleged that on

September 30 at Republic Avenue, Linden, he made use of abusive language and threatening language to Rihanna Williams. On the same day, he drove motor vehicle PLL 1951 in a manner dangerous to the public and with tinted windows so as to obstruct persons from seeing the driver and other members using the vehicle. To all these charges,

which were read separately, James pleaded not guilty. He was represented by an Attorney who told the court that his client is an unemployed, married man with two children. He noted that he is a former member of the Guyana Defence Force and requested that he be released on self bail.

The Chief Magistrate then asked Police Prosecutor Michael Grant whether he had any objections in the defendant being granted self bail, to which he replied in the negative.

His matter is transferred to the Christianburg Magistrates’ Court for November 18.

Meadowbrook Drive man accused of simple larceny

A21-year-old resident of Meadowbrook Drive, Georgetown, was on Wednesday morning remanded after being charged for simple larceny.

John Kelvin Headekar appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry. His charge was read by the Chief Magistrate and stated that on September 30 at East Street, Georgetown, he stole two car shocks valued $40,000 which initially belonged to Eyon Grant. Headekar pleaded guilty to the charge and a chance to explain himself which was granted to him. In his defence, he told the court that he was passing by and saw the shocks in the bin. He then picked it up when the owner of the car came and began beating him. However, the Police Prosecutor, Inspector Michael Grant told the court that the explanation is partially correct. He objected saying that Grant saw the defendant loos-

ening the shocks from the car. Inspector Grant then objection to bail stating that although the defendant has told the court he has residency in Meadowbrook Drive, according to Police reports, the defendant has no fixed place of abode.

Headekar will return to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Magistrate Dylon Bess on October 7.

Eyew tness

Sh*tting bricks

...by AFC on no confidence

Slowly the day of doom approaches for the AFC. Their No-Confidence Motion is on the parliamentary agenda for the next session that’s just a week away. But from what has been going down during the “recess”, all that’s clear is even the AFC’s supporters don’t have any confidence in the party.

Moses Nagamootoo had talked “fat” to the Stabber News in a throwaway comment back in June, about getting rid of the PPP/C Government via a “no-confidence” vote. He and his party never expected it to be picked up. But it was...and suddenly they had a tiger by the tail. President Ramotar and the PPP/C immediately said, “Bring it on!!”. In fact, the President in his usual ebullient manner, dared the AFC to “make my day!”

Point of the matter is the combined Opposition –having their one-seat majority in Parliament – always had the option of calling such a motion and having elections held three months later. But they never did so for two reasons. Firstly, they always knew that even if they stood on their heads with their skirts dropped to the ground, they could never deny the PPP/C a plurality. And there was always the danger of the latter raking in an absolute majority!!

They could lose corn and husk! This is the fear explicitly articulated by Opposition elements like Tacuma Ogunseye, who see the No-Confidence Motion as a high stake gamble where the PPP/C is like the casino – the odds are always with the house!

The other reason is that for the No-Confidence Motion to pass, the PNC/APNU has to vote WITH the AFC. From PNC/APNU’s perspective this is untenable, since if they go along, they’re seen as FOLLOWING the AFC.

Whatever might’ve been the bonhomie between the two parties in Parliament, let’s not forget if elections are called, they’re gonna compete for the same pool of voters. The AFC has made it clear in rejecting PNC/APNU’s overtures for a pre-electoral coalition, that this would be the worst possible alternative. It’ll be a kiss of death –their Waterloo.

Apart from feeling the sting of rejection (What’s the matter?? Our breaths stink?), PNC/APNU has to show they’re also “man”. Hence, their Local Government Elections (LGE) gambit.

And that’s why the AFC top guns are sh*tting bricks. Even though PNC/APNU are saying, “Yes, yes, we’re behind you”, the question is, “What are they behind with??” Their LGE or no confidence??

Ah...the PPP/C must be chuckling all the way to the (vote) bank!!!

...in emailgate

The noose is slowly tightening around the necks of Mohan “Glenn” Lall and his house slave Adam Harris over at the Muckraker in the evolving scandal of emailgate. Fake emails might not be a crime in Guyana in the legal sense.

According to Ramesh Dookhoo, the former Private Sector Commission’s head, the law was proposed, but never passed. But we hope the authorities are taking note of what’s at stake here. The entire security of the state. What comes to mind is Rupert Murdock’s News of the World (NOTW) hacking into the voice mails of innocent citizens – including politicians. And then using the hacked messages in its newspaper. The NOTW was the model for the muckraking sensationalism practiced by the Kaieteur News here. NOTW’s fondness for sex scandals earned it the nickname, “News of the Screws”.

The authorities should introduce laws patterned after the British, one under which NOTW was prosecuted – and eventually closed down. This confounded nonsense of sending fake emails must stop!

...in Red Thread

This Eyewitness is disappointed in the Red Thread organisation. It hemmed and hawed trying to defend its silence in the buggery allegations against Raphael Trotman. After trenchantly criticising the Government for all kinds of depravities, Red Thread’s now setting them up as their moral standard?? Oh judgement...

Jermaine Dowridge

John Kelvin Headekar

Kaieteur News emails fake – GRA

… continued

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Wednesday deemed a string of emails from Kaieteur News purporting to be correspondence between the Commissioner General and the Attorney General being contrived, and called on the newspaper to respect the principle of sub judice and the concept of contempt of court in its continued publication of the fake emails.

In a recent report, the GRA Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur categorically denied ever sending any emails purporting to have been despatched by him to high ranking Government officials on tax information on several media houses. Notably, information on Kaieteur News was excluded, yet its publisher, Glenn Lall has been repeatedly claiming that Government has a plot to destroy his newspaper.

“What is troubling is how the information got out there. I call upon political parties to question Lall on how he gets infor-

publication in contempt of court

mation from within GRA,” Sattaur was quoted as saying in a local news outfit. Sattaur believes his email was hacked and used for sinister purposes. “I want the Police to investigate how Lall is receiving on daily basis, information on GRA,” he said. Further, on Tuesday, Guyana Times was informed that the emails were faked and concocted by Lall to create a diversion from the probe launched by the tax body.

Sources said Lall may

have hacked into Sattaur’s email to create public mischief and add credence to his claims that a plot was being rolled out against his newspaper. “These are desperation tactics being employed by the publisher of the media house to avoid possible prosecution, rake up public sympathy and possibly influence the judiciary,” one senior official at GRA told this publication.

The source said that in all of the “fake emails” published thus far, no information was disclosed about the Kaieteur News. “Hence the so-called plot to destroy Kaieteur News is only a concoction,” said the official. “That publication might end up destroying itself.”

Sub judice

The GRA noted that the sub judice rule regulates the publication of matters which are under consideration of the court and matters are considered and remain sub judice once proceedings are active. “In the case of criminal charges the proceedings are

deemed active when a person is arrested, a warrant for arrest has been issued, a summons has been issued or a person has been charged and remain so active until conviction,” the statement said.

Prejudicial publication of material which is sub judice comprises contempt of court, a crime under the Laws of Guyana. In light of the foregoing, the GRA said statements purportedly attributed to Robin Hunte, Attorneyat-Law for Glenn Lall, Bhena Lall and Kaieteur

News are evidently contemptuous, since statements published are likely to create, and were calculated to create a substantial risk of prejudicing the course of justice in the proceedings against the Lalls, Gharbassi Brijnan and Narootandeo Brijnan. “These statements are intended to interfere with the administration of justice in pending proceedings,” the GRA said.

The GRA is of the view that the statements attributed to Hunte are as erroneous as they are con-

temptuous. The defendants were charged with various offences against the Customs Laws, including dealing with goods with intent to defraud the Revenue Authority of duties, fraudulent evasion of Customs duties, and making and subscribing a false declaration, etc.

The Revenue Authority maintains that these charges were properly laid and contends that Hunte misapprehended the laws perhaps to the detriment of his clients, or with intent to pervert the course of justice in this matter. It is apparent that the Kaieteur News and Hunte intend to engage in trial by newspaper rather than trial by judicial process, the GRA said.

The Authority called upon the Guyana Bar Association to condemn this attempt by one of its members to pervert the course of justice and on the Honourable Chancellor of the Judiciary to protect the administration of Justice and the integrity of the judicial process.

AFC, APNU huddle on No-Confidence Motion

The combined Opposition on Wednesday met to fine-tune their plan of action for the pending reconvening of the National Assembly.

High on the agenda at the meeting held at the Leader of the Opposition’s Office was the No- Confidence Motion against the Donald Ramotar Administration.

In separate statements, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) said they are looking forward to returning to the National Assembly. In its statement, APNU said the party leaders used the meeting to synchronise their position on support for the No-Confidence-Motion and the demand for Local Government Elections.

“The AFC and APNU reiterated their support for the No-Confidence Motion and the call for President Ramotar to announce a date for Local Government Elections,” the APNU statement added.

The AFC for its part said APNU reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to passing the vote of no confidence against the Government at the earliest sitting of the National Assembly. The AFC delegation comprised Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan; Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo; Catherine Hughes (Party Whip); and General Secretary David Patterson. The APNU’s parliamentary delegation comprised its Chairman and Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier (Ret’d) David Granger; Dr Rupert Roopnaraine; Basil Williams (Deputy Speaker); Ms Amna Ally (Opposition Chief Whip); Ronald Bulkan, MP; and Winston Felix.

“APNU strongly reiterated support for the motion of no confidence against the minority PPP/C Government, which was tabled in the National Assembly by AFC’s MPs, Mr Nagamootoo and Ms Hughes,” the AFC statement read, adding that the two sides insisted that the No-Confidence Motion should take precedence over all other matters on the parliamentary agenda when the National Assembly reconvenes this month.

No conflict

The parties, which have held a majority of seats in the National Assembly since the 2011 elections, emphasised that the holding of Local Government Elections or the setting of a date for such elections, would not deflect from or affect passage of the vote of no confidence. The Government, they maintained, is bound by the Constitution to periodically hold Local Government Elections, which were last held in 1994.

Wednesday’s meeting came on the heels of

People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/Civic) General Secretary Clement Rohee saying that his Party was prepared for any eventuality, pointing out that the Opposition parties need to make a decision on which elections they really prefer. Speaking at a recent press conference Rohee said his Party has always been prepared for Local Government Elections. “As the General Secretary of the PPP/C, I say yes. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Party machinery in all its manifestations is ready. We have always been ready.”

Citing the recent dis-

closure of Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Rohee said the PPP/C is on the same road, with the same level of confidence. He said APNU and the AFC seem divided on the pending No-Confidence Motion. Rohee said it was quite obvious that one party is heading east, while the other is heading west and he was waiting to see where both parties end up.

In a historic move, the AFC last month submitted a No-Confidence Motion against the ruling PPP/C Government. But questions have been posed about APNU’s real position, since although it is calling for President Ramotar to name a date for Local Government Polls, it has also signalled its commitment to the NoConfidence Motion put forward by the AFC. This division is quite clear, Rohee noted, in the recent assertion made by AFC Leader Ramjattan that the PPP/C Administration was seeking to buy out Opposition parliamentarians on the upcoming No-Confidence Vote.

According to him, when cornered, Ramjattan admit-

ted that the MPs are from APNU’s side of the House. “I would have thought that since he and Mr Granger are such close buddies, he would have called Mr Granger and tell him I have this information on three of your MPs.” This, Rohee said, indicates clear division. He said it is interesting to see what is unfolding between the two parties, as instead of speaking to each other, both parties are making “public disclosures” though the media. “So I am wondering how close this alliance is really. These two parties seem to be on a collision course.”

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee

APNU Leader David Granger

AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan

Kaieteur News Publisher Glenn Lall

GRA Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur

E-Networks rolls out new high-speed broadband

... using O3b Trunking Solutions

O3b Networks on Wednesday announced that local Internet Service Provider (ISP)

E-Networks has signed a multi-year agreement to use O3b’s unique “Fibre in the Sky” satellite network.

The Guyanese ISP will be the first Latin American

client to be brought up on the O3b network since it commenced commercial operations earlier in the year.

E-Networks engineers recently trained at 03b’s Manassas facilities and will be working with O3b as a certified partner in Guyana. According to a release, the use of O3b satel-

lites, which are in a unique orbit closer to the Earth than conventional geostationary satellites, reduces latency, increases data rates and improves voice and video quality for the user. The high throughput O3b satellites also offer much greater capacity, supporting up to 1.6 Gbps in a single beam.

E-Networks Managing Director Vishok Persaud said: “We are very proud to be part of this pioneering venture with O3b Networks. The O3b capacity will significantly improve our customer offering, allowing us to enhance a number of high-performance services for both corporate customers and consumers. We now have the unique ability to offer international services to our corporate customers either on fibre or O3b or a combination of both while maintaining low latency.”

“This gives us the most resilient network in Guyana. Access to the O3b network gives us the ability to open up new services countrywide where it would otherwise be difficult to have access to fibre.” This deployment will be used to further enhance E-Networks Fibre-optic and 4G Data Networks, Persaud said.

Next generation O3b Region Vice President for LATAM and Africa, Omar Trujillo, said: “We are delighted to welcome E-Networks to the rapidly expanding O3b family and congratulate them on being the first Latin American ISP to be up on the O3b network. Working with E-Networks in Guyana is another great example of O3b bringing vital high performance connectivity to the underserved areas of the world. Once in service with O3b, E-Networks will be able to enhance its commercial data services over the most resilient backbone network available in Guyana.”

O3b Networks Limited is a global satellite service provider building a nextgeneration satellite network for telecommunications operators, Internet Service Providers, enterprise and Government customers in emerging markets.

The O3b system will combine the global reach of satellite with the speed of a fibre-optic network providing billions of consumers and businesses in

A watchman fuh de watchman

When ever yuh hire a watch man, yuh does always have to hire a watch man to watch de watch man. Yuh does have to watch de watch man before he either sleep or before he thief, or both. Plus it got some watch man who does wait till you sleep before dem thief!

If de watchie sleep, yuh gon leff wid nutten fuh de watchie watch. If de watchie thief, yuh gon still leff wid nutten fuh de watchie watch. That is why de watch man fuh de watch man so important. But some watch man does watch too much.

Three watch man was watchin a lil boy a long time. By Uncle Rafeel fuhget how de name of de poor lil boy spell. It look like, back then dem three watch men was too busy buying school bag, pen, pencil, eraser, ruler, geometry set and exercise book.

Plus sweet drinks, sweetie, ice cream, snow cone, lollipop, popsicle, icicle, fudge, sugar cake, fruitee, tamarind ball and nut crush. And some KY. So de name never ring a bell once dem bell was ringin.

Well, years down de line and de lil boy start to do some speakin and he do some leakin. Now Uncle Rafeel seekin to stop de leakin. But de (w)hole problem peakin and all dem three watch man gettin weaken.

But right now it gotta setta watch man at de S*ity Council. In fact, in these days when people talkin bout gender bias, dem can’t seh de S*ity Council got that problem. Because it got some watch woman deh and not just watch man.

And it look like de watch woman dem watchin more than de watch man. Sober seh both man Green and woman Green watchin she. But Sober also seh she ain’t sure which one of de two watchin she more strong.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! It might not be man Green because nutten fuh he ain’t strong, except he mouth of course. Well, that only leave woman Green. And she like every ting strong!

nearly 180 countries with low-cost, high-speed, lowlatency Internet and mobile connectivity.

O3b Networks’ investors include SES, Google, Liberty Global, HSBC Principal Investments, Northbridge Venture Partners, Allen & Company, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Sofina, Satya Capital and Luxempart. O3b Networks is headquartered in St Holier, Jersey, Channel Islands.

E-Networks Inc, on the other hand, prides itself on being Guyana’s premier triple-play service provider providing highspeed Internet access, television, and 4G Broadband over a combination of Fibre and wireless connections. With its own satellite facility and dedicated access to the Submarine Fibre-optic

Cable, the company can provide its services across a wide coverage area at a very low cost. E-Networks has a wide range of corporate clients ranging from diplomatic missions, financial institutions, insurance companies to small and medium-sized business. Its corporate services range from dedicated IP, Internet Services, Corporate Wide Area Networks, VPNs and Professional Network Services.

E-Networks also offers 4G Mobile Broadband services, including flexible prepaid and post-paid models with data speeds ranging from one to five Megabits. In 2013, the company launched its fibre-optic network to the home which supports Internet service: OnFiber and High Definition IPTV service: DreamTV.

E-Networks Managing Director Vishok Persaud

Teen in ICU following Stewartville accident

Ateenager is now a patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Georgetown Public Hospital following an accident on Sunday evening along the Stewartville Public Road, West Coast Demerara.

Jameel Mounter, 13, of Stewartville Housing Scheme is reportedly in stable but critical condition. The young man is said to be in a coma.

According to reports received, on the night of the accident, the teen was in the company of his two cousins who were heading to the Uitvlugt Community Centre Ground for the Region Three Jamboree.

As they were walking along the Stewartville Public Road, a motor car reportedly veered out of control and slammed into the young man who was between the two girls.

He was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH), but was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital due to the seriousness of the wounds.

From the time of the accident, Mounter has been in an unconscious state.

Melvyn Mounter, the father of the teenager told

Guyana Times that he received a telephone call about 21:00h from a relative, informing him that his son was involved in an accident.

He was subsequently told to visit the WDRH. There, he said he saw his son lying on a bed and was being attended but a decision was taken for him to be transferred to Georgetown.

At that time, he said he did not bother to find out what had occurred, but was concentrating on making sure his son was okay. He explained that the driver of the motor car was late in being taken into Police custody. He reportedly claimed that the young man was walking on the roadway and might have stepped into his path as he drove past.

Mounter, however, stated that the two young ladies who were with his son visited the Police station on Wednesday where they gave written statements, describing how the accident occurred.

The driver was later released on bail after the 72 hours detention period had expired.

Speaking from the Georgetown Hospital on Wednesday, he admitted

that he did not get to speak with the doctors concerning his son’s condition, but the nurses are claiming that the next week will be crucial. He is not responding to anyone, the father stated.

Guyana Times understands that the teen’s cousin, Rayshan Cooke,21, of Lot 36 Crane Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara was stuck down and killed on the same night after he left the event that the young man was heading to.

According to information received, the Transport and Harbour employee, who was stationed at the Parika Stelling was not wearing a helmet and was under the influence of alcohol at the time. He was riding his CG motorcycle bearing registration number CE 4343.

Cooke was reportedly at the Region Three Jamboree at Uitvlugt and would have left with the intention of changing his clothing to return.

While he was heading home, he allegedly came into contact with a motor car, resulting in him falling on the road. He was subsequently run over by another car that was travelling close behind.

Medical evidence does not support woman’s rape claim

– G Division Commander

GDivision Commander Kevin Adonis has reported that medical examinations by doctors have failed to support the claim by a Devonshire Castle woman that she was raped during a brutal attack.

According to the Commander, “no sperm” was found in the victim, but he said that the woman has received treatment for bruises she sustained at the hands of her attacker.

Speaking to Guyana Times, the mother of the victim said her family has been living in fear since the incident.

Her daughter, she said, is receiving treatment from doctors and has seldom spoken since the attack.

According to the mother, her daughter was brutally attacked and raped, noting that she received

news about the incident from a neighbour around 04:00h on Sunday.

She said when she went to see what happened, she could not imagine the sight before her – her daughter was bleeding profusely.

The mother related that her daughter said the ordeal was committed while the perpetrator held a knife to her throat.

The victim, who is 30 years old and a mother of four, was found nude lying a clump of bushes in the neighbourhood.

The mother said a man from the neighbhourhood took off his shirt and covered her daughter, after which she was taken to the Charity Oscar Joseph Hospital.

The mother said all the groceries from her daughter’s home were also stolen.

Applications for PCA investigator posts close on Friday

Those interested in becoming independent investigators for the Police Complaint Authority (PCA) have until Friday to submit their applications.

This is according to its Chairman, retired Chief Justice Cecil Kennard, who said that the applications are sent directly to the Home Affairs Ministry, after which they will be sent to him.

While he has not been briefed officially on the response, he said he was made to understand that quite a number of applications have already been submitted.

After the deadline, he will have the task of going through the applications and shortlisting the most suitable applicants. He reiterated that there are specified criteria that are being looked at.

One, he noted, is that the applicants must have at least seven years experi-

ence in the field of criminal investigation.

He also hinted that some form of training might be planned once the investigators are hired. He posited that investigative work is a vital component in his department and was happy that Cabinet had given the greenlight to hire staff.

Over the years, he noted that the PCA has worked

without a team of investigators, but the department has done well and is optimistic that with the new members, the process of investigating a matter will take less time.

In August, Cabinet granted permission for the establishment of an investigative arm of the PCA, the premier watchdog agency against Police excesses.

This decision was taken following the overwhelming recommendations made by the Home Affairs Ministry, taking into consideration the importance of such a body.

The approval is to hire four qualified investigators to conduct investigations on behalf of the authority, independent of the Guyana Police Force.

The assignment of an investigative arm to the PCA was one of the recommendations that arose from the Disciplined Services Commission report.

Winners in STAG “Command Centre” receive prizes

The victim’s husband, Doodnauth Singh said he has to search for a new job since he cannot go back to sea.

Singh usually spends most of his time at sea to provide for his family.

The husband said his wife begged him not to return to sea as the perpetrator had threatened to kill her.

He said the perpetrator gained entrance to the home from the back door and attacked his wife with a knife taken from their kitchen.

The husband also related that some of his clothes were missing.

Police are investigating the incident and no one so far has been arrested.

Residents are calling on the Police to beef up patrol in the area.

STAG Command Centre winners (except Renatta Hughes) collecting their prizes and the STAG representatives

Nine very happy STAG customers on Wednesday received their STAG ‘Command Centre’ prizes at the ANSA McAL Trading Limited Office, Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara.

The winners are Shaun Mahadeo of Non Pariel, who won a 50” television; Brian Rampaul of Crane Housing Scheme who won a pools table; and Renatta Hughes of New Amsterdam who walked away with a lounge chair.

In addition, Donella Dorish of Queenstown, Essequibo won a football table while William Hardy of Phillip Park, Kimberley Nandalall of Mon Repos, Erlin Narine of Vreed-en-

Hoop, Sherwin Hopkinson of North Ruimveldt and Tito Sancho of New Amsterdam, Berbice, each won a Stag Cooler filled with Stag Beers.

Stag Brand Coordinator John Maikoo said the response to the promotion has been overwhelming since the first drawing which was held on September 26 at Sweet Point Bar, Georgetown.

There were over 100,000 entries from which to pull the first nine consolation prizes.

Maikoo congratulated the first nine winners in the promotion and informed that there will be four more drawings with an additional mini-draw-

ing to be held at the Stag Regional Night at GuyExpo on October 5. The STAG Command Centre will give 46 lucky winners the opportunity to win fabulous prizes inclusive of one Toyota Tacoma! Drawings will be held every fortnight in Berbice, Linden and Essequibo, with the final draw in Georgetown. The promotion will run for two months; to enter into the promotion, persons 18 years and older are required to enter three STAG crowns with their name, address and telephone number in an envelope and drop it off into any of the 65 promotional boxes located at outlets nationwide.

PCA Chairman, retired Justice Cecil Kennard

Devonshire Castle incident…

Ramotar meets Guyanese in Los Angeles

Guyanese of the Los Angeles area of Southern California spent Sunday afternoon at a town hall meeting with President Ramotar and First Lady Deolatchmie Ramotar, courtesy of the Guyana Medical Relief (GMR).

Later, the President’s party was treated at a special invitation only dinner, again courtesy of the GMR.

At the Town Hall Meeting, the President updated Guyanese on the issues facing the country. He reiterated the call for a more equitable distribution of wealth between the developed countries and the developing countries, noting that there is still an imbalance of capital flow of over $200 billion in favour of the developed countries.

The President also pointed out that Guyana, having graduated into the classification of

a middle income country from that of a highly indebted one, has lost many concessions that are usually granted by the world institutions.

Questions were asked about the state of the garbage situation in Georgetown; about the need for security, especially for Guyanese who want to return to Guyana; about the telephone services; and about the state of race relations in Guyana.

The City and County of Los Angeles bestowed certificates of welcome to the President.

After the meeting, Guyanese were impressed at the “down to earth” nature of the President. As one person said: “I find him to be a very nice man, very down to earth. It is a pity they cannot work together to make the country develop as it should.” The GMR gave the First Lady a pre-

sent that represented its appreciation of her visit with her husband.

Later that evening, the President gave certificates of appreciation to two partners of the GMR, Direct Relief and TOMS shoes for their invaluable contribution to Guyana’s health care system and children.

It was noted that the GMR, celebrating its 30th year of existence this month, is the longest running NGO of Guyanese origin. This organisation has sent over US$50 million in medicines and medical supplies to Guyana, thanks to its partner Direct Relief. In addition, through TOMS, GMR has donated thousands of pairs of shoes to Guyana’s school children. The GMR has also built VIA clinics, and other facilities at various hospitals throughout Guyana.

GPHC gets beds from FFTP

Food For The Poor, Guyana Inc recently donated 18 medical beds to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) as part of its continued commitment to the health sector.

The donation was made at the Food For The Poor complex, Festival City, Georgetown, by its Chief Executive Officer Kent Vincent to Georgetown Public Hospital Assistant Director Noshella Lalckecharan.

In making the donation, Vincent stated that Food For The Poor is pleased to come to the assistance of the health sector once again.

“We would normally make donations of assorted medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and over the counter medications, not only to the public hospitals, but also to health centres around the country.”

He reiterated that they are aware that beds are always needed at the hospital.

In accepting the gift, the

Pedestrians, cyclists educated on proper road use

The B Division (Berbice) Traffic Department has embarked on a campaign to educate cyclists and pedestrians on the proper use of the roadways. The campaign will teach the public about safe walking, riding and crossing practices so as to avoid accidents.

The initiative comes at a critical time since the number of accidents recorded so far this year is by far the highest for road accidents in recent times.

“Cyclist who are found without the proper safety gears on their bikes will have it impounded at the Police station, and will be returned to them once the gears are produced and affixed to the bicycles.”

Officer-in-Charge Boodnarine Persaud, addressing a gathering at the Whim Police Station, said educating the public about safety and pedestrian fatalities and how to prevent them will certainly help to save lives and make the roadways safer.

Persaud explained that the key to stopping these preventable incidents from occurring is through education and enforcement of safety for both cyclists and pedestrians.

“Many times, we get to speak to drivers through seminars and we get the opportunity to speak with children through schools, we teach them about the curb drills and the safety of road users but we hardly get the opportunity to speak with pedal cyclists and most of them are in danger because the road is not a safe place for pedal cyclists, there is no proper lanes for cyclists and most of them ride without lights, brakes and reflec-

tors.”

According to Persaud, some of the persons explained that their bicycles were sold without lights.

In addressing the issue, Persaud stated, “Maybe it meant for them to ride in the day, however, when using the road in the nights they need to fit the lights on and they don’t see the danger, that is why we say we do a campaign whereby those cycles that are without the proper gear will be impounded, when they produce the necessary accessories, they will receive their bikes and will be educated on the proper safe use of the roadways.”

Informative

Residents expressed gratitude for the session, noting that they have learnt a lot.

“They were very attentive and welcome the talk and at the same time we realise many did not even know the curb drill, some said they never heard about it before. I want to continue to do this, not for the purpose of harassing any-

one, because we won’t prosecute, we want to send the message of safety, I am concentrating on warning them and would like them to subject themselves to a learning session where we will have the opportunity to inform them on road safety and what is happening on the roadways,” Persaud noted.

He explained that the campaign is as a result of the increase in accidents for the past three months.

“Even though we had fatal accidents, many persons were also injured and those were pedal cyclists, and this is a good opportunity to talk to pedal cyclists as they are vulnerable.”

Meanwhile, Region Six Road Safety Council Chairman Mustapha Ali stressed the importance of educating children on road safety at an early age. He also took the opportunity to thank the Guyana Police Force, especially B Division for the initiative, noting that more sessions of the kind are needed to help educate the public on the proper use of the roadways.

Police burn huge ganja fields at Haurauni

As members of the Police Narcotics Branch continue their drug eradication exercises throughout the country, more than 17,000 cannabis plants were destroyed at Haurauni, Soesdyke/Linden Highway on Friday last.

In addition to the marijuana plants, which range from one foot to eight feet in height, 25 nurseries containing approximately 9000 seedlings were destroyed, along with seven camps.

Assistant Director thanked the charitable organisation for their continued support, noting that this was not the first time the institution has benefited from donations made by Food For The Poor.

She assured the officials that the beds will be of great assistance to the medical facility. Of recent, there have been numerous complaints that beds are limited at the facility, resulting in double occupancy. In some cases, patients were left to sleep on the ground or in chairs.

The size of the marijuana field was estimated at 15 acres. At the time of the raid, no one was arrested.

Earlier in the year, a total of 10 acres of marijuana was destroyed at Yarrowkabra, Linden-Soesdyke Highway, resulting in two men being arrested and charged.

The two fields contained approximately 100,000 cannabis sativa plants, ranging in height from three feet to 10 feet.

Along with the illegal plants, several nurseries, a large quantity of seedlings,

and three camps were destroyed. No weapons were found.

Earlier this year, in April, Police ranks conducted a drug eradication exercise, destroying a field of cannabis sativa on a half-acre plot of land at Old England, Upper Demerara River.

Approximately 5000 marijuana plants, ranging from one foot to four feet were discovered. An abandoned camp was also destroyed, along with the illegal plants but no arrest was made.

Then in June of this year,

Police also conducted a drug eradication operation at Ann’s Grove Backdam, East Coast Demerara. A half-acre field of some 60 marijuana plants, ranging in height from one foot to six feet were found and destroyed. Again, no one was arrested.

The Police Narcotics Branch is continuing to put a dent in the drug trade with the help of other drug enforcement units. Thus far in the year, several persons have been charged for the possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

The Guyana Medical Relief team with the President and First Lady

A section of the gathering at the meeting

Food For The Poor Chief Executive Kent Vincent shakes hands with Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation Assistant Director Noshella Lalckecharan after receiving the beds. Other hospital officials look on

The Police Narcotics Branch destroyed more than 17,000 cannabis plants at Haurauni, Soesdyke/Linden Highway on Friday last

New mining guide launched

BY SVETLANA MARSHALL

Guyana Mining Toolkit was re-launched by the Canadian High Commission on Wednesday, approximately two years after it was originally launched.

Before a wide-cross spectrum of stakeholders, the first copy of the upgraded information toolkit was handed over to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud by the Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Nicole Giles.

The toolkit for Guyana is divided into four sections: mineral exploration, mine development, mine operation and mine closure; with each sector having five subsectors.

These include overview, acts and regulations, environmental and social impacts, community employment and economic opportunities. The handbook paints a vivid picture of Guyana’s mining sector, inclusive of the laws and regulations governing the industry.

Minutes before she handed over the booklet, the Canadian High Commissioner disclosed that this edition of the Mining Information Toolkit has been upgraded to reflect new laws and amendments in Guyana’s extractive sector.

“Both the original toolkit and the new version have been driven by the shared desired to promote a responsible and sustainable development of Guyana’s extractive sector for the benefit of all Guyanese,” the Canadian

High Commissioner said.

Dr Giles said the Government of Canada is very proud to partner with the Government of Guyana. She explained that Canada’s partnership with the Guyana goes beyond the Natural Resources and the Environment Ministry, as it extends to the Amerindian Affairs Ministry, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), mining communities and companies.

According to her, these entities have all contributed to the creation and upgrade of the Mining Information Toolkit.

Canada has persistently pursued excellence in the extractive sector; however, misinformation surrounding the mines had affected the sector. In an effort to clear the air of all misconception, Dr Giles explained that Natural Resources Canada in collaboration with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, the Mining Association of Canada and the Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association have launched the Aboriginal Mining Toolkit in 2007.

Useful model

Since then, it has been adapted in other countries, notably Peru, Mali, Colombia and Ghana to name a few.

The Natural Resources and Environment Minister applauded Canada for its continuous investment in Guyana’s extractive sector. According

to Minister Persaud, the information toolkit will serve a number of purposes. He explained that it will allow Guyanese and others to have a greater understanding of the mining industry, allowing them to become participants within the sector.

“There are close to a dozen pieces of legislation which directly and indirectly impact mining and it is sometimes burdensome for an ordinary miner to fully grasp and appreciate those frameworks,” Persaud said while explaining that the kit would simplify the laws and regulations governing the sector.

Additionally, he said the

Mining Information Toolkit would allow for better compliance and enforcement. He explained that once stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities, they will contribute to an arrangement where there is better compliance and enforcement.

Meanwhile, Guyana Mining Toolkit Consultant Ajay Baksh said the handbook is a learning tool for those who want to be edified and edify others, even for critics. Though it has simplified versions of the laws and regulations governing the extractive sector, Baksh warned that it should not be used as a replacement.

In explaining the reason for the upgraded version of the toolkit, the Consultant said the mining sector has always been and will continue to be dynamic; hence, changes are inevitable. Describing it as a living document, he said it would require upgrading, in an effort to maintain importance and relevance.

This second edition includes additional regulations relating to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Protection Areas Act. The Mining Information Toolkit is available digitally on the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry’s website; however, it will be distributed to mining communities across Guyana. (svetlanam@ guyanatimesgy.com)

More than $400,000 in prizes for Mobile Money winners

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T), through its Mobile Money arm will be rewarding the winners of the Big Rewards Promotion with over $400,000 in prizes.

The promotion, which was launched at the launching of Mobile Money shopping service “Shop N Go”, was held between August 9 and September 13.

The winners are Romel Marks, who won a laptop; Celina Alexander, a weekend for two at the Baganara Resort; Lloyd McKenzie, a $25,000 shopping voucher; Samuel Klien, a $25,000 shopping voucher; Tyron Camacho, a $25,000 shopping voucher; Mary SunichWarton, a $25,000 shopping voucher; Michael Murray, a MMG hamper; Elizabeth Sunich, a MMG hamper; Shawndel Williams, a MMG hamper; Shelly Thomas, a MMG hamper; and Alque Stanley, a MMG hamper. According to a release, the presentation will take place on Friday at GT&T’s Mobile Money Office on 50 Croal Street, Georgetown. The presentation will commence at 10:30h and last for a maximum of 30 minutes.

For the promotion, registered Mobile Money customers got a chance to win every time they shopped $1000 or more at any of the MMG merchants countrywide. Firstly, every shopper got $100 Free C Point instantly, everytime they made a purchase of over $1000 during the promotional period.

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Nicole Giles handing over the Mining Information Toolkit to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud

Henry Kissinger ‘considered Cuba air strikes’ in 1976

US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger drew up plans to “smash Cuba” with air strikes nearly 40 years ago, Government papers obtained by researchers show.

He was angered by Cuba’s 1976 military intervention in Angola and was considering retaliation if Cuban forces were deployed elsewhere in Africa. The information comes from documents declassified at the request of the National Security Archive.

They show that Kissinger was eager for the US to stand up to Cuba. The documents from the Gerald R Ford Presidential Library show that US officials devised plans to attack ports and military installations in Cuba in addition to measures ordered by Kissinger to deploy Marine battalions based at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay to “clobber” the Cubans.

The Government documents are published in Back Channel to Cuba, a new book by American University Professor William M LeoGrande and the Director of the National Security Archive’s Cuba Documentation

Project, Peter Kornbluh.

Kornbluh told the New York Times that Kissinger was angered by what he felt was the decision by then Cuban President Fidel Castro to pursue his own foreign policy agenda in Africa

rather than normalise relations with the United States.

Kissinger, Secretary of State from 1973-77, initially supported underground efforts to improve relations with Cuba.

Haitian President promises elections as soon as possible

Haitian President Michel Martelly, has promised to hold as soon as possible free, fair and transparent elections to renew the political office holders as required by the system of Government adopted by the Caribbean country.

Martelly announced that free and credible elections will be held in the country in the shortest time possible, without giving an exact date, which is to be determined by the Electoral Council (CEP), after approval of an amended electoral law, which is still blocked by a group of recalcitrant Opposition senators.

“Haiti will organise, as soon as possible, free, fair, and transparent for the renewal of democratic and constitutional institutions,” said Martelly on Friday during the 69th General Assembly of the United Nations.

Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe (L), with President Michel Martelly

“This is a must. Democratic rules require that, and I will stand by republican principles,” said Martelly.

The Haitian leader claimed he has taken all necessary measures to encourage stakeholders to integrate the electoral process, while announcing a new round of talks in the hope of

reaching a consensus about the next election.

“In my capacity of head of state, guarantor of the stability of the institutions, I have made every effort to find a consensus with all parties and institutions involved in the organisation of the legislative and municipal elections,” said Martelly. (Excerpt from Caribbean News Now)

Chikungunya outbreak forces

Jamaica court to postpone cases

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn, says the outbreak of Chikungunya has led to the postponement of court cases due to absence of several jurors with symptoms of the disease.

She said this has also resulted in calls from judges for increased fogging of court buildings.

“What we have sought to have certain areas of the office sprayed and in the morn-

ing, close the office and in the morning hopefully we are able to prevent having any mosquitoes around,” she said, noting also that staff members have also been affected by the mosquito borne virus.

Chikunguyna is spread by the aedes aegypti mosquito and with the telltale signs of the illness, including joint pain so severe it can be hard to walk.”

“In terms of my staff, I’m aware of three lawyers who

have come down with it and we have had to do some rearranging of our roster –it’s a question now of taking the necessary precautions,” Llewellyn said.

Meanwhile, the main Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has issued a preliminary response to the call for the two main political parties to mobilise their ground machinery in the fight against the virus. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)

Suriname challenges double standards of world powers

In his address to the 69th United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Suriname’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Lackin, called for restructuring and democratisation of the United Nations.

The multilateral organisation should move away from “restrictive veto powers towards inclusive legal institutions that can effectively apply and monitor the adherence to the provisions of the United Nations Charter,” the Suriname official argued.

This, according to Lackin, is the only way forward to achieve peace and sustainable development, even for the smallest members of the international community. He further challenged the double standards of the world powers in their approach to certain issues.

“Small and vulnerable

states like Suriname and its sister nations in the Caribbean, are almost bedazzled by the inconsistent and downright opportunistic arguments used by the powers that be,” Lackin said. Suriname compared the arguments used to invade Grenada against the arguments used to justify military involvement in the Ukraine. “What a similarity!” the Surinamese official noted.

He further called into question the standards and arguments which the world powers have raised to justify their positions regarding a referendum in the case of the Malvinas and the referendum held in Crimea, the reasoning behind the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state and the stand against the alleged annexation of Crimea. (Excerpt from Caribbean News Now)

Bolivia’s Morales on course for re-election in first round

President Evo Morales is cruising to an outright first-round victory in Bolivia’s October 12 presidential election, with his nearest rival trailing by 46 percentage points, a new opinion poll showed on Wednesday.

Morales is projected to win 59 per cent of the vote in the first round, unchanged from polls in July and August, against 13 per cent for Samuel Doria Medina, the Ipsos poll showed. Medina, a cement tycoon, was polling 17 per cent

in August.

Morales, a former coca farmer who became Bolivia’s first indigenous leader in 2006, promises to expand social reforms in the Andean nation, historically one of Latin America’s most unstable but which has enjoyed relative prosperity and calm under his presidency.

Critics of Morales accuse the leftist politician of defying the Constitution adopted in 2009, which includes a limit of two consecutive presidential

terms. Last year the Supreme Court decreed the 54-yearold’s 2006-09 period in office should not be counted as a first term as it preceded the adoption of the Constitution. Opponents branded the decision unacceptable.

To win outright in the first round, Morales needs to secure 50 per cent of all valid votes plus one, or win 40 per cent of the vote with a margin of at least 10 percentage points over his nearest rival. (Excerpt from Reuters)

League: No TT Muslims with ISIS

The Trinidad Muslim League (TML) says it does not know of any local muslims fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), as it distances itself from the international terror group. TML public relations officer Faisal Mohammed, in a telephone interview, made the statement as he responded to reports alleging that some 50 Trinis were fighting with the terror group.

Mohammed said, “There are no Trinidadians that I

know of fighting with Isis. We (TML) are not affiliated with that group in any way. We do not support them and do not know of any Trini Muslim Isis fighters. The league fully supports Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s cosponsoring the UN (United Nations) resolution on foreign terrorist fighters.”

TML President General, Dr Nasser Mustapha, in a media release issued by Mohammed, said the league “strongly condemns extremism, fanaticism

and intolerance.” He said, “We (TML) condemn all acts of aggression by individuals and groups against innocent people worldwide, under the guise of Islam.” Mustapha, in the release, said TML supported “any action to eradicate such activities and restore peace to the world. People must consciously turn to God, to increase spirituality and higher ethical and moral principles. In so doing, God’s blessings will descend upon all humanity.”

(Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

House approves crime expungement bill

The House of Representatives on Monday approved amendments to the Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act, reducing the period for people convicted of misdemeanours to have their conviction expunged from the criminal records.

Closing the debate, National Security Minister Peter Bunting, who piloted the Bill in the House, pointed out that it will reduce the rehabilitation period prescribed

in the main Act of 1988, and provide for the automatic expungement of minor ganja-related offences.

Bunting said discussions have already started with the Justice Minister to have included in the regulations any application for a Police certificate to be deemed as an application for expungement, to reduce the administrative bureaucracy.

He also pointed out that the amendments will also allow for the expungement of

convictions involving teenagers, 16 and under, who have “consensual” sexual intercourse.

He said that a new Bill is being drafted to allow citizens to possess small quantities of ganja and for religious groups to use the drug.

Bunting said that there was no doubt that the vast majority of Jamaicans who will benefit from the new provisions are those who were convicted for ganja-related offences. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Kissinger (left) has been described as being ‘apoplectic’ about Cuba’s role in Africa in discussions with Ford

Haitian

Ebola crisis: Texas children ‘monitored for symptoms’

Schoolchildren have come into contact with the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola on US soil, the Governor of Texas has said.

At a news conference at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Rick Perry said the children were being monitored “at home” for symptoms.

The patient is thought to have contracted the virus in Liberia before coming to the US nearly two weeks ago. He is in a serious condition,

a spokeswoman for the hospital said.

“Today we learned that some school-age children had been identified as having had contact with the patient and are now being monitored at home for any signs of the disease,” Perry said.

“Parents are extremely concerned about that development. These children have been identified and they are being monitored.”

Perry emphasised the disease could not be transmitted before a patient showed

signs of the disease, and he said Texas had the medical infrastructure to prevent an outbreak.

“The public should have every confidence that the highly trained professional will succeed in this very important mission,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Liberia, a Government spokesman said the country had put in place “stringent screening” at the airport, where the man showed no symptoms or fever as he departed the country. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Around the world

UN: Vaccine mistake killed Syrian children

The UN has admitted 15 Syrian children died after an NGO partner mistakenly gave them the wrong drug during a measles vaccination programme.

Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN Secretary General, said on Wednesday that a muscle relaxant was given to the children and babies mid-September in rebel-held parts of North-West Syria.

“What happened with the vaccines was a real tragedy, but it was basic human error,’’ Dujarric said.

A report by the World Health Organisation last month said the relaxant was kept in the same refrigerator as a substance used to dilute the measles vaccine. It said the exact person or group responsible for the laboratory was not known.

A doctor who witnessed the mistake, Abdullah Ajaj, told the AP news agency that those affected showed signs of “severe allergic shock”, with many suffocating and suffering severe swelling.

Sujarric the incident had nothing to do with the quality of UN aid going into Syria.

Syria’s Ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja’afari, last month called the deaths a crime against humanity and demanded the organisation investigate those responsible..

After the children’s deaths, the Western-backed Opposition based in Turkey said it had suspended the second round of measles vaccinations. The campaign was meant to target 60,000 children.

Erdogan vows to take on ISIL fighters

Turkey’s President has promised to fight ISIL and “other terrorist organisations”, in his clearest remarks yet that Turkish forces could join a US-led coalition battling the group in Iraq and Syria.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech on Wednesday comes a day before Parliament votes on motions that may grant the Government authority to do send forces into both neighbouring coun-

Netanyahu sounds warning on Iran in talks with Obama

US President Barack Obama and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu sought common ground on their respective concerns at talks on Wednesday, with Netanyahu warning of the dangers of a nuclear Iran and Obama calling for progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace.

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed each other politely but firmly on Wednesday to address areas of tension in their relationship, with the US President calling for an end to Palestinian civilian deaths and the Israeli leader warning of the consequences of leaving Iran with nuclear capabilities.

with Hamas, which killed more than 2100 Palestinians – the vast majority of them civilians – and more than 70 Israelis.

The civilian deaths in Gaza deeply angered US officials, prompting more biting public condemnations of Israel’s actions than are typical from the Obama Administration.

tries.

“We will fight effectively against both [ISIL] and all other terrorist organisations within the region,” said Erdogan as he opened Parliament’s autumn session. “This will always be our priority.”

Turkey is not a part of the US-led coalition, but has sent tanks to border areas threatened by ISIL advances towards Kobane, a Kurdish-majority Syrian

border town known and Ain al-Arab in Arabic.

Erdogan’s AK party has a strong majority in Parliament, increasing the chances of the motions being approved. Ankara has not yet indicated what form its assistance could take although Erdogan has repeatedly called for a buffer zone on the Turkish border inside Syria, backed by a nofly zone, to ensure security. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

US Secret Service Director resigns

Wednesday’s meeting marks the first time Obama and Netanyahu have met since Israel’s summer war

As Obama and Netanyahu opened their meeting in the Oval Office, Israeli officials announced plans to move forward with a controversial new housing development in east Jerusalem. Neither leader mentioned the project as they spoke to reporters before beginning their private discussions.

Sitting alongside Netanyahu Wednesday, Obama said leaders must “find ways to change the status quo so that both Israel citizens are safe in their own homes, and schoolchildren in their schools, from the possibility of rocket fire but also that we don’t have the tragedy of Palestinian children being killed as well.”

(Excerpt from France24)

China issues warning over Hong Kong ‘illegal’ protests

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has issued a stern warning against any “illegal” protests in Hong Kong.

Visiting Washington, Wang also warned that the matter was an “internal affair” for China. His US counterpart, John Kerry, urged Hong Kong to exercise restraint in dealing with the protests.

Homeland Security

The head of the US Secret Service, tasked with guarding US President Barack Obama, has resigned following several high-profile security lapses.

“I salute her 30 years of distinguished service to the Secret Service and the Nation.” Obama also expressed his appreciation to Pierson for her long history of public service, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday.

Earlier, student demonstrators angry at China’s vetting of candidates for 2017 elections vowed to step up protests if Chief Executive CY Leung did not quit. They said that protesters would start occupying Government buildings if Leung did not resign by today.

Overnight, protesters massed outside Leung’s office in a standoff with some 200 Police. Wang, the most senior Chinese official to speak openly on the matter, said: “Hong Kong affairs are China’s internal affairs. All countries should respect China’s sovereignty. For any country, for any society, no one will allow those illegal acts that violate public

order.” However, he added: “We believe that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s Government has the capability to properly handle the current situation in accordance with the law.”

Kerry said the US supported universal suffrage in Hong Kong, adding: “We have high hopes that the Hong Kong authorities will exercise restraint and respect for the protesters’ right to express their views peacefully.”

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Julia Pierson offered her resignation to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday. A day earlier, she faced angry questions in Congress about a major breach of White House security.

News of another incident involving an armed man allowed in a lift with Obama compounded calls for her to go. “Today Julia Pierson, the Director of the United States Secret Service, offered her resignation, and I accepted it,” Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson wrote in a statement.

Pierson offered her resignation because “she believed it was in the best interests of the agency to which she has dedicated her career”, Earnest added.

Joseph Clancy, in charge of the presidential protective division of the agency, will take over. Highranking members of the US Congress had been calling for Pierson’s resignation in the wake of her testimony before a House oversight committee on Tuesday. (Excerpt from BBC News)

The authorities are searching for people the patient could have infected, as ABC’s Cecilia Vega reports

Julia Pierson submitted her resignation to the Secretary of the Department of

President Barack Obama (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed each other politely but firmly on Wednesday to address areas of tension in their relationship

thursDAY, october 2, 2014 | guYAnAtimesgY.com

Chikungunya victims should be quarantined – CMO

As the number of persons infected with the vector-borne virus Chikungunya continues to rapidly increase in Guyana, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud says persons with the disease should be quarantined.

The Chief Medical Officer, during a recent exclusive interview with the Guyana Times said that after persons would have been treated and the symptoms go away within a few days, they are usually back in public life when this should not be.

He explained what while the symptoms go away, it takes all of seven days for the Chikungunya virus to leave the body’s immune system or for the body to properly develop an antibody against the mosquitospread virus

“We have overdone ourselves, sometimes to the detriment of the transmission, providing the high levels

of symptomatic treatment sometimes have a danger. A lot of people in the early stages get the treatment; it knocks out the symptoms and people go about their business, but they’re still infectious,” said Dr Persaud.

He reinforced the earlier point that once persons are diagnosed, medical professionals should advise their patients to stay isolated where they can recover safely. He noted that treatment is not the solution to the problem, but rather looking at methods to curb the spread was.

More personal responsibility

“So sometimes I think we do ourselves an injustice by providing such powerful treatment... Persons who are infected with Chikungunya, whether it’s confirmed or suspected should stay at home…just quarantine yourself there, you help yourself and you help others.”

Further, Dr Persaud related that the Chikungunya virus is very difficult to control, contending that “no amount of environmental fogging” can stop the Aedes aegypti Mosquito. He opined that persons should be more personally responsible for the water sources in their surroundings and take active measures to ensure that they do not have mosquito breeding sites in their homes.

“Part of the solution to the problem is to reduce being bitten, but we’ve done a lot of work in controlling the vector. Aedes mosquitoes breed predominantly in and around our homes, that’s where we need to address the problem,” said Dr Persaud during the interview.

He highlighted too that the Director of Vector Control will be working to re-launch the inspection card initiative, where inspectors from the Health

Ministry will come to the home to check for breeding sites. The inspectors will also be providing helpful tips on how persons can prevent the breeding of mosquitoes in their homes.

“it is a joint action that is needed, action by all,” re-

marked Dr Persaud.

More than 5000 persons have been reported to have contracted the Chikungunya virus, although only 105 cases have been confirmed, the Chief Medical Officer told the Guyana Times on Tuesday.

He said there are 5230 suspected cases of Chikungunya in the country.

The Chief Medical Officer told Guyana Times, however that from the 5230 suspected cases of Chikungunya, there were only 105 tested and confirmed. The 105 cases were confirmed from the 261 samples sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad and Tobago for testing. This indicated that more than half of the samples sent to the agency returned with negative results.

This begs the question of how many of the 5230 cases are in actuality positive Chikungunya cases.

“Chikungunya is wellestablished now… we expected that it would be this widespread at this point in time…definitely with people’s movement,” remarked Dr Persaud during the interview with Guyana Times.

Caricom TVET strategy launched in Guyana

The Education Ministry on Tuesday hosted a symposium to officially launch the Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) strategy in Guyana. It targeted the main stakeholders within the education sector in order to sensitise them on the project.

TVET was launched in Trinidad and Tobago by countries within Caricom on September 22. It is a ratified agreement among the members of Caricom to overhaul the education curriculum within their states. It was developed

after much consultation among the stakeholders within the member states.

It was approved by Caricom’s Council for Human and Social Development during its 24th meeting. The strategy was then endorsed at the

Council’s 26th meeting, on May 14 and 15 this year.

Thus, with the launch having occurred, moves are now being made to implement this initiative within the member states, to strengthen the delivery of the TVET training.

According to UNESCO

and International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2002), “TVET is an educational process involving the study of technical and related sciences and the acquisition of practical skills and general education, attitudes, understanding and knowledge relating to occu-

pation in various sectors of economic life.”

The TVET symposium placed particular emphasis on workforce development; however, the strategy also includes focus on economic competitiveness.

Robert Craig, Executive Director of the HEART Trust National Training Agency of Jamaica (HEART Trust/NTA), advocated the tag line for the strategy, “skills and credentials are the new global currency”.

Means to an end

Craig showed the ratified document that the Caricom Member States signed to make the TVET strategy possible to the stakeholders, emphasising the point that education is going in a new direction in the Caribbean and that it is a good one, “a means to an end”.

He expressed that this indicates that Caricom is serious and joining the list of “serious countries” that take education as the economic investment that enables their economies to grow. He gave China’s educational system where the students are taught from three to five years old, eight hours a day –the school system thus influencing their “values and behaviour”, as an example.

Craig did not mince words as he spoke on the choices of parents and even teaching professionals when it comes to children and education. He declared that there is no such thing as children not being “academically inclined”, as

there are some who may be more inclined towards computers, or vehicles- using both their hands and brains rather than simply their brains only. However, that does not mean their “head too tuff fuh tek book.”

This, the Executive Director of HEART Trust/ NTA remarked, is the disaffirmation of our children. He told the participants of the symposium that Caribbean youths are “the brightest little pickney” and that it is not right to tell the children they cannot do anything, remarking that low self-esteem does nothing for a brilliant child.

Chief Education Officer Olato Sam reflected the sentiments of Craig, as he talked of the attitude of some in the teaching profession regarding technical training.

The Chief Education Officer explained to the stakeholders present that the strategy will give more

opportunities to students and professionals on the whole. He informed them that the growth in the level of certification through this will “allow them (graduates) mobility”, socially and literally. Thus, he challenged the stakeholders to be part of this initiative for “the value that this holds for the development of Guyana”, encouraging traditional teachers to throw such negative attitudes towards technical training out and get on board.

Sam emphasised the need for everyone to get on board with this strategy, from the “highest level” to the lowest structures. The launch of the TVET is supported by the Caricom Education for Employment Programme (C-EFE), launched in March 2012, and delivered in partnership with the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies (CANTA) and the Canadian Government.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud

Robert Craig, Executive Director of the HEART Trust National Training Agency of Jamaica (HEART Trust/NTA) as he showed stakeholders the ratified document signed by Caricom member states for the TVET strategy

The logo of the TVET strategy

Chief Education Officer Olato Sam, as he stresses the importance of the TVET strategy

Boosting shared prosperity key to tackling inequality – World Bank

World Bank Group

President Jim Yong Kim said boosting shared prosperity for the lowest 40% of income earners in developing countries will improve the lives of all members of society, not only a fortunate few.

“Our goal of boosting shared prosperity will be achieved by raising incomes, creating jobs, educating children and providing all with access to food, water and health care,” said Kim in a speech given in advance of the IMF-World Bank Group Annual Meetings to students and faculty at Howard University on Wednesday. “By doing so, we will grow our wealth and nurture our humanity.”

The president stressed the need to help low-income countries grow their economies. In the last four years alone, high growth rates in China and India have meant that 233 million people no longer live in poverty. But poorest people in these coun-

Prevention has said that in a worst-case scenario, 1.4 million people could become infected with Ebola. “We must do all we can to prevent thousands more needless deaths and an economic catastrophe. … Our ability to boost shared prosperity in West Africa — and potentially the entire African continent — may be quickly disappearing,” Kim said. “Unless we stop the infection’s spread now, there will be little prosperity to share, to say nothing of the number of people who will be unable to share in what remains.”

Boosting shared prosperity and tackling inequality requires two key steps on the World Bank Group’s part, said Kim. The first is improving the understanding of how economic growth at the national level impacts development at the household level. This requires better and more precise data from low-income countries.

Secondly, the Bank Group should continue to

tries must share in the gains of that growth, he said. Kim cited a recent Oxfam International report that found the world’s richest 85 people have as much combined wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion.

“Shared prosperity is part of the Bank Group’s headline goals simply because it is required to end poverty,” Kim said. “With so many Africans, as well as Asians and Latin Americans, living in extreme poverty, this state of affairs is a stain on our collective conscience.”

The president talked about how the Ebola epidemic in West Africa underlines the importance of addressing inequality. “This pandemic shows the deadly cost of unequal access to basic services and the consequences of our failure to fix this problem,” Kim said.

The Bank Group has transferred US$105 million in emergency funding to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to fight Ebola — more money to date than any other international organization, the president said. Overall, the Bank Group has committed US$400 million to support treatment and containment.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

FAO urges Europe to support nutrition and sustainable farming

European governments must help combat hunger and malnutrition on a global level, as failure to do so will only boost migration flows and stoke conflicts, FAO DirectorGeneral José Graziano da Silva has said.

“Food insecurity and conflict go hand in hand” he said, noting that extreme climatic events, troubles in Africa and the Near East and now the Ebola outbreak in West Africa tend to spill over national borders and into other regions in a globalized world, often through

forced migration.

“Illegal border crossings are an issue of concern in Europe and other parts of the world,” Graziano da Silva said at the informal summit of European Union agriculture ministers in Milan.

“It is our common responsibility to help build alternatives. Sustainable agricultural and rural development in the countries of origin needs to be one of them,”’ he added. He urged EU ministers to consider malnutrition a public issue requiring concerted action.

“Hunger is the most deplorable face of malnutrition, but it is not its only face,’’ he said, noting that five percent of global economic activity is lost annually and that more than 2 billion people, suffer from undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies or hidden hunger, which can manifest themselves as obesity. He said he counted on constructive engagement from EU ministers at the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) that FAO and the World Health Organization will host in Rome from Nov. 19 through 21. Agriculture is a critical part of efforts to improve malnutrition, he said. ICN2 and Expo Milan 2015 “have been and will continue to be mutually supportive,” he said, referring to the upcoming world’s fair in Italy, which is focused on food issues and at which the United Nations will present its zero hunger vision. ICN2 will promote Expo themes to a wide global audience, while Expo will broadcast ICN2 messages, he said.

Shadow banking is boon, bane for financial system

Shadow banking is both a boon and a bane for countries, and to reap its benefits, policymakers should minimize the risks it poses to the overall financial system.

evaluate the impact of its projects on low-income earners. He gave the example of Bangladesh, where the Bank Group has helped to build and fix 3,000 kilometers of road. In just six years, he said, the average household income in those areas grew by 74% as roads connected communities to markets.

Areas that did not have access to these upgrades saw a 23% decline in average household income.

Kim said four strategies are integral to boosting shared prosperity: building human capital; constructing well-designed and implemented social safety nets; offering incentives for the private sector to create good jobs and implementing fiscally and environmentally sustainable policies to pursue those ends. In closing, Kim cited the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who he called “one of my heroes.”

King called poverty “a monstrous octopus” that “spread its nagging, prehensile tentacles into hamlets and villages all over our world.” “If a man doesn’t have a job or an income,” the great civil rights leader said, “he has neither life, nor liberty, nor the possibility of happiness. He merely exists.”

Shadow banks act similarly to regular banks by taking money from investors and lending it to borrowers, but are not governed by the same rules or supervised. Shadow banks can include financial institutions such as money market mutual funds, hedge funds, finance companies, and broker/dealers, among others. The IMF’s latest Global Financial Stability Report analyzes the growth in shadow banking in recent years in both advanced and emerging market economies and the risks involved.

According to the report, shadow banking amounts to between 15 and 25 trillion dollars in the United States, between 13.5 and 22.5 trillion in the euro area, and between 2.5 and 6 trillion in Japan—depending on the measure— and around 7 trillion in emerging markets. In emerging markets, its growth is outpacing that of the traditional banking system.

“We found that the same factors often seem to drive the growth of shadow banking across countries,” says Gaston Gelos, chief of the Global Financial Analysis Division at the IMF. “Shadow banking tends to take off when strict banking regulations are in place, which

leads to circumvention of regulations. It also grows when real interest rates and yield spreads are low and investors are searching for higher returns, and when there is a large institutional demand for ‘safe assets,’ for example from insurance companies and pension funds.”

Risks, benefits

As the global financial crisis has shown, there are also risks associated with shadow banking due to their reliance on short-term funding, which can lead to forced asset sales and downward price spirals when investors want their money back at short notice. In the United States, shadow banking accounts for at least a third of total systemic risk, (measured as extreme losses to the financial system that occur with a very low probability), similar to that of banks. In the euro area and the United Kingdom, their contribution to systemic risk is much smaller relative to the risks arising from their banking system.

This largely reflects the fact that the latter are still more bank-based financial systems. In advanced economies, activities traditionally considered less risky, such as non-money market investment funds, have been growing the fastest since 2009; from 35 to 70 percent of GDP in the United States, and from 35 to 65 percent in the euro area.

However, especially in

the euro area, these funds are now holding a higher proportion of less-liquid assets, such as commercial loans, compared to five years ago. The IMF observed similar trends in the United States. This can potentially cause problems if the claims given to investors are very liquid; if many investors want to sell at the same time, funds may not be in a position to meet these redemptions since they would not be able to sell assets quickly. This may result in runs and fire sales, as in the global financial crisis.

Among emerging market economies, the large size (between 35 and 50 percent of GDP), and fast growth (over 20 percent per year), of shadow banking in China stands out and warrants close monitoring. Recently, authorities have taken various steps to combat the excessive growth of shadow banking.

How to manage the boon Shadow banking can be beneficial. It broadens access to credit, especially in emerging market economies, where traditional banking networks often face capacity or regulatory constraints, such as restrictions on lending or on interest rates. In advanced markets, various types of funds have been stepping in to provide longterm credit to the private sector as banks have been lending less. Shadow banks also can improve the efficiency of the financial system by deep-

ening market liquidity and risk sharing. The IMF’s report calls for countries to monitor shadow banking as part of their policies designed to keep the overall financial system safe. The IMF said the degree of shadow banking oversight and regulation should depend on how much it contributes to systemic risk, in line with recommendations by the Financial Stability Board—which brings together national authorities responsible for financial stability.

This macro-prudential framework would ensure that shifts in shadow banking to areas where regulation and policy frameworks are weaker would not go undetected. Macro-prudential and micro-prudential supervisors need to work jointly to achieve this.

To assess risks properly, both supervisory authorities and statistical agencies need to provide much more detailed data on shadow banking. International regulatory cooperation is also crucial. Risks are more likely to increase when regulatory initiatives are implemented by only a few countries, or when they are poorly coordinated. Regulatory tightening in one country, for example, might lead to migration of activities to others with laxer rules. Governments have begun to put in place rules to address the risks through the work of the Financial Stability Board.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim with with Barron H. Harvey, dean of the Howard University School of Business

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva (fourth from right) participated in the informal meeting of European Union agriculture ministers in Milan

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calvin and hobbes

GFCA launches international softball tournament

By TreisTon Joseph

The Guyana Floodlights Cricket Association (GFCA) will bowl off the fourth edition of the Guyana Softball Cup on October 31 at various venues across Guyana.

At the launching of the of the tournament on Wednesday at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Players Pavilion, it was revealed that the top winning prize will be $800,000 GYD’s while the second place finishers will receive a total of $200,000.

Twenty four (24) teams will vie for the top prized with seven teams coming from New York, three from Florida and two from Canada.

Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony, on hand for the launching was impressed with the growth of the event.

“All my wishes for your tournament have exceeded our expectation… Cricket as a whole is very important to Guyana and is regarded as

our national game.

“Softball Cricket is the way you were introduced to the game so Cricket is engrained in us… you have filled a much needed niche in taking an unorganized style of cricket and making

it organized and that should be commended,” Anthony stated.

President of the GFCA Ramchand Ragbeer was highlighted that the tournament has become a flagship event of the association.

“I can assure that this year will be bigger and better, several teams from the USA and Canada will be here and we at the GFCA pledge that we will take softball cricket to the highest level in cricket,” Ragbeer lamented. The tournament that started in 2011 has grown and will see Trophy Stall aiming to defend their open title while New York Better Hope will look to retain the Master’s title.

Thirty six preliminary games are expected to be played along with four semifinals and two finals. There will also be a couple of women’s exhibition games on the final day which is scheduled for November 2.

North Georgetown starts road to Nationals

the Inter School champi-

Leary.

A number of the talented young athletes seemed in ripping form none more glaring than Yesenia Andrews who sped away from the under-12 field in the girl’s under-12 category.

Tyreese Glasgow also

created a major upset in the boy’s under-12 100 metres by defeating favourite Sherwin Sampson who has been a staple in the team from the under eight category.

However, with the raw untapped talent on dis-

play, district leader Mariska Williams shared her thoughts on the day’s activity.

“Well we have seen some talent but we were not blown away we had a few upsets but it was good day for the primary schools,” Williams told Guyana Times Sport. In addition, Williams highlighted that everything has been falling into for her zone while noting that their teacher’s category seems a bit weaker than usual.

However, Williams was not shy on the district’s ability to retain the title, “We have no doubt that we can, we never go into the event with any doubts and believe that we will retain the title,” Williams stressed.

The event will continue today with cycling action and next week with more track and field as the secondary schools will take the track from Tuesday.

Members of the head table at the launching on Wednesday

ith the School National Championships about two month away, defending champions North Georgetown/District 11 has begun the process of identifying their top athletes with

Part of the large turnout at the Inter Zones Primary School event

Yesenia Andrews all by herself in the girls under-12 100 metres

Hurricanes v Knight Riders, 1st semi-final, CLT20, Hyderabad...

Hurricanes to face KKR spin barrage

There is only one way the first Champions League T20 semi-final will be decided. Hobart Hurricanes, the only nonIPL franchise in the semifinals, will be facing probably the toughest T20 attack in these conditions. The Kolkata Knight Riders spin army has spared no side this tournament. Perth Scorchers and Dolphins, their two non-subcontinental opponents, were restricted to 151, one batting first and the other batting second. Lahore Lions from Pakistan were also not allowed to go beyond 151. Even the powerful Chennai Super Kings batting line-up managed only 157.

Sunil Narine. Kuldeep Yadav. Piyush Chawla. Yusuf Pathan. Mystery, chinaman, legspin, offspin. Had Shakib Al Hasan been

available, they would have had left-arm orthodox cov-

ered too. They just keep coming at you one after the

other. The four have collectively picked up 23 wick-

ets in four matches, which is almost six wickets every game. Add to that a collective economy-rate of 6.20, and you have lost the bulk of your line-up with very few runs on the board.

Scorchers coach Justin Langer has compared facing spin in India to eating chilli to make his point about how daunting and unfamiliar a challenge Australian batsmen face in these conditions. Hurricanes have posted big wins over Cape Cobras, Northern Knights and Barbados Tridents, but none of those attacks posed the threat that 16 overs of spin will.

The semi-finals are in Hyderabad, where the Knight Riders have been based from the start of the tournament. There is the obvious advantage of having played all their group

matches on the same ground. Further, Narine has said that the size of the outfield, which is comfortably larger than at most Indian grounds, has helped him. Batsmen will be more hesitant to take on the boundary-riders, and will find it harder to get away with mishits if they do. What will give Hurricanes hope is Knight Riders' batting form this tournament. They have struggled all three times chasing, which is their preferred mode, 11 of their 13 successive wins coming batting second. They managed to stutter against Lions even after a century opening partnership. The game not being over till the last ball is bowled is not a cliché when it comes to Knight Riders. It is an opportunity for the opposition. (Cricinfo)

Welbeck hat-trick leads Arsenal to win

Danny Welbeck

scored his first professional hat-trick as 10-man Arsenal swept aside Galatasaray in the Champions League.

The England striker, excellent throughout, stabbed in a first-half opener before side-footing in a second.

Alexis Sanchez then curled home before Welbeck clipped in his third.

Burak Yilmaz scored a penalty after Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off for a foul, but it was to be nothing more than a consolation.

The win was Arsenal's first in this year's Champions League and means they have three points in Group D. It was also the perfect way for manager Arsene Wenger to mark 18 years to the day since he was ap-

pointed Arsenal boss, and the Frenchman certainly deserves credit for naming an attack-minded side.

With Welbeck playing in his favoured central role and the former Manchester United striker ably supported by the pace and creativity of Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alex OxladeChamberlain, the Gunners simply had too much for a Galatasaray side who have now failed to win in 10 visits to English sides.

Despite having lost all three of their previous away games in the Champions League, Galatasaray boss Cesare Prandelli started with a three-man defence, and it quickly became clear they were far too exposed at the back.

Just as they had in the 1-1 draw against Tottenham on Saturday,

Arsenal dominated possession but the key difference in this game was they posed a greater threat going forward.

They pulled apart the Galatasaray defence for the opener as Sanchez raced on to Kieran Gibbs's pass down the left, cut inside and slid a clever ball for Welbeck, who got around Felipe Melo before poking a shot through the legs of Fernando Muslera.

Galatasaray rarely ventured forward as they tried to contain the Arsenal front four, and their nervousness perhaps contributed to a poor defensive error that allowed Arsenal to score a second.

Defender Aurelien Chedjou inexplicably headed straight to Welbeck midway inside the Galatasaray half and the striker showed

good strength and composure to shrug off Melo before coolly side-footing beyond Muslera.

That goal prompted flares to be lit in the away end, with some finding their way onto one corner of the pitch and causing a brief stoppage in play as they were put out.

But once the action resumed, so did Arsenal's dominance and Sanchez effectively put the game beyond Galatasaray when he ran through the defence to chase Ozil's ball before curling home from 15 yards.

The half-time whistle provided some welcome respite for Galatasaray, and Prandelli tried to stem the tide by introducing midfielder Hamit Altintop for the second half and reverting to a four-man defence.

Before the change could have the desired im-

pact, though, Arsenal increased their lead further as Welbeck, now brimming with confidence after his first-half double, grabbed his third of the game, timing his run for OxladeChamberlain's pass to perfection before lifting the ball over Muslera. It was no less than Welbeck and Arsenal deserved after a clinical attacking display that will certainly give Wenger confidence that his side can progress from the group stage for the 17th successive season.

Szczesny took some of the shine off the victory when he was sent off on the hour, bringing down Yılmaz and the striker picked himself up to send substitute keeper David Ospina the wrong way from the spot, but by then the damage was done. (BBC Sport)

Spearmon accepts ban

American sprinter

Wallace Spearmon has accepted a threemonth ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for a banned substance.

The 200m specialist, 29, returned a positive test for methylprednisolone after a meeting in Edmonton in July. USADA accepted his explanation that he was taking the medicine in "a therapeutic dose".

But it said he failed to apply for a therapeutic use exemption beforehand.

His three-month ban was backdated to start on 27 August.

The substance is pro-

hibited in competition and classified as a specified substance, meaning its presence can come with a reduced sanction.

Sunil Narine

Spearmon, who is the

seventh fastest man over 200m in history with a best of 19.65 seconds, won gold in the 4x100m relay in Osaka in 2007 and silver in the 200m in 2005. (BBC Sport)

Wallace Spearmon

Danny Welbeck strikes one in the back of the net

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Djokovic extends unbeaten run

Four-time champion Novak Djokovic extended his unbeaten run at the China Open with victory over Canada's Vasek Pospisil in round three.

Djokovic, 27, took his record in Beijing to 21-0 as he won 6-3 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Serb goes on to face fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov or Pablo Andujar.

In the women's event, third seed Petra Kvitova beat Shuai Peng 6-4 6-2, while fourth seed Maria Sharapova saw off Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 7-6 (73).

Djokovic's wife Jelena is due to give birth to the couple's first child in the next month, but he is still targeting the year-end number one ranking for the third time in the last four years.

"It's definitely always the highest priority out there with winning Grand Slams," he said.

"That gives me plenty of motivation. It would mean, of course, a lot to me.

That's why I'm out here in Beijing and (next week in) Shanghai, competing and trying to get that year-end number one."

Kvitova will play former number one Venus Williams for the sixth time on Wednesday, with the Wimbledon champion leading their head-to head 4-1including a close contest at the All England Club this summer.

"Every match I have played with Venus was a really great fight until the

end," said the Czech.

"It's the third round in the tournament. It's very early to meet each other again, same as Wimbledon."

On a day that saw rain rule out much of the schedule on the outside courts, Australian Sam Stosur upset sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 7-6 (11-9). Wozniacki had won 25 of her last 31 matches, but the Dane missed five set points and double-faulted on match point - her third of the tie-break. (BBC Sport)

McIlroy named PGA Tour’s player of the year

Northern Irish world number one Rory McIlroy was named on Wednesday as the PGA Tour's Player of the Year for a second time after a stellar 2014 campaign highlighted by two major victories.

The 25-year-old, who first landed the coveted honour in 2012, won consecutive majors this season at the British Open and PGA Championship, sandwiched around his victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

McIlroy won out over Billy Horschel, Martin Kaymer, Jimmy Walker and Bubba Watson in a vote of his peers.

He also earned the Arnold Palmer Award as

the Tour's leading official money winner ($8,280,096) and claimed the Byron Nelson Award for adjusted scoring average (68.83).

American Chesson Hadley, winner of the Puerto Rico Open, was selected Rookie of the Year.

McIlroy displayed remarkable consistency, finishing no worse than 25th in any of his 17 tournament appearances and placed outside the top 10 only five times.

He said that 2014 was a more consistent season than when he previously won the award in 2012 and thanked his peers for voting him number one.

"It's a great honour and a great honour to win twice in the space of three

years, and hopefully I can win it for many more years to come," McIlroy told reporters, speaking by telephone from the 18th tee at St. Andrews, where he was preparing for this week's European Tour event.

"If I compare 2012 to 2014, I'd say that this year's play was much more consistent.

"Every time I teed it up I felt like I had a good chance to win, and that's what I feel like I need going forward, consistency in my game and being up there each and every week."

The Northern Irishman did not have a discernible weakness in his game, ranking 16th in total driving, sixth in greens in regulation and 12th in putting.

He also had two runnerup finishes to go with his three victories and finished third in the FedEx Cup standings.

After his brilliant 2012 season, McIlroy had a minor slump in 2013 as equipment changes and off-course issues seemingly took a toll, but he is confident he will have no such problems in 2015 as he cuts his schedule slightly.

"I think just from a maturity standpoint and from being in this position for a good bit over the past couple years, I'm probably better equipped to handle it now than I might have been when I first got to number one back in the middle of 2012," he said. (Reuters)

Novak Djokovic

Rory McIlroy

Nauth & Sons Motor Spares onboard with ECCC 50-Over competition

Nauth & Sons Motor

Spares is officially onboard with the East Coast Cricket Committee first ever 50Over competition which got underway on the on Sunday, 21st September 2014, and is expected to span six weeks.

After nothing significant was done for cricket on the East Coast Demerara by the East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) for the longest while, a group of able, hard working and committed persons, formed the East Coast Cricket Committee to help rebuild cricket in this area. The 50-Over Competition is its first undertaking in that direction.

The competition is being

contested by 12 teams which are placed into two zones. The winner of the competition will be rewarded with $200,000 and the runnerup will take away $100,000. Apart from the man-of-thematch trophy for each game, the MVP, runner-up team and winning team will receive trophies.

Last weekend, Fairfield Sports Club defeated Golden Achievers Cricket Club by 33 runs at the Fairfield ground. Batting first, Fairfield posted 237/9 from 42 overs. Richard Chaturia top scored with 57 and got support from Ramnarine Chaturia (52) and Nigel Bishu (37). Bowling for Golden Achievers, Jermain

Jonas and Martima King took two wickets each. In reply, Golden Achievers were bowled out for 204 in 37.2 overs. Wesley Henry played well for 84. D. Samaroo took 3/36 and Ramnarine Chaturia 2/18.

At the Enmore Community centre ground, Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club trashed Mahaica Sports Club by 183 runs. Enmore posted a huge 277/8 of 43 overs. Christopher Surat made 62, Yuvraj Dyal 43 and Bheemraj Ramkelawan 39. S. Singh took 3/39 and N. Sawh 2/19.

Mahaica never got going and was bowled out for a meager 94 in 23 overs.

Darshan was the only batsman with a decent score (31). Bowling for Mahaica, Nandram Ganesh had a good showing with figures of 6/25. Chaitram Ramlall was also among the wickets with 2/32.

At Ogle ground, Bravodos got the better of Ogle by seven wickets. Ogle batted first and managed 153 all out in 32.2 overs. Khemmy Dindyal made 43. Alex Culley took 3/24 and Earl Gilkes 2/34. Bravodoa reached 154/3 in 26 overs. Nigel Estrriado (57) and Anthony Ifill (52) led the way.

The competition will continue this weekend. All matches start at 10:00h.

GRFU shortlists national teams

The Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) has selected their male national team for the upcoming NACRA sevens competition set for Mexico from December third.

The players were selected based on their performances at the Banks DIH sevens as well as the 10’s rugby tournament and came from the following clubs; Yamaha Caribs, UG Wolves, Guyana Defence Force and

the Pepsi Hornets.

The players are set to start training from next week and are expected to depart on November 27 for the event. Barrington Browne will be conducting strength and conditioning training with the players.

The following names will make up the male squad: Ryan Gonsalves, Rockford Cummings,Akeem Fraser, Andrew Jarvis, Oneil Charles, Carl Lewis, Kevon David, Grantley Williams,

Theodore Henry, Claude Alexander, Blaise Bailey, Felon Thompson, Jason Tyrell, Chris Singh, Leon Greaves, KeshaMars, Mark Sobers, Albert La Rose, Rondell Mc Arthur, Lancelot Adonis, Ryan Dey, Jamal Angus, Osei Mc Kenzie, Michael Anderson, Edward Broomes, Phibian Andrew Joseph, Delon Fordyce, Trey Selman, Avery Corbin, Dwayne Schroder, CyonKitt, Joseph Rahaman, Patrick King, Rodwell Hutson,

Terrance Daniels, Patrick Bristol, Seon Phillips and Jermain Jacobs.

The GRFU has also invited the following overseas based players to be a part of the process of making the squad; Kevin Mc Kenzie, Ronald Mayers, Peabo Hamilton, Albert La Rose, Richard Staglon, Cladius Butts, Vallon Adams, Rupert Harvey Giles, Dominic Lespierre and Isiejah Allen.

Linden to come alive with stag Beer/cell smart Futsal tourney

New Era Entertainment will be hosting the Stag Beer/Cell Smart sponsored Futsal Tournament set to kick off from November 1at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court in Linden. The first place winner will cart off $100,000 while second will take away $75,000. The most Valuable Player (MVP)

and the most goal scorer will be receiving incentives as well.

Co-Director of New Era

Entertainment Aubrey Major Jr stressed that teams needed to register early, “We have teams like Hard Knocks, Russians, Silver Bullets and Retrieve Unknowns, but presently, not everyone is registered so we’re asking the teams

who would’ve collected forms to please have them filled out and returned to us as soon as possible.”

However, Major Jr highlighted that more information on the tournament will be revealed at the launching which is set for October 16 but revealed that the final of the tournament will be held on November 22.

Karate Federation cancels Caribbean Cup 3

With major budget problems and the focus on training new officials, the Trinidad and Tobago Karate Federation ( TTKF) is cancelling the 3rd Caribbean Cup Karate Championships ( CC3) .

St Vincent will host the CC3 in 2015.The TTKF will use the rest of the yearto further develop and expand it's coaching and

official's program.Next year will be busy as they intend to field athletes to three major international competition.

TTKF has the most graduates from the American Sport Education Program (ASEP) in the region. TTKF Referee Chairman - Lex Springer is also on the World United Karate Organization (WUKO) Referee Commission.

Cricket Australia announces women's squad

The Cricket Australia (CA) Women's National Selection Panel (WNSP) yesterday announced a 12-player squad that will play the West Indies in two Women's T20 matches in Canberra next month.

The West Indies will arrive in Australia on 17 October and the matches will serve as tour matches ahead of their Commonwealth Bank International Women's Series against the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars, which starts on 2 November.

Speaking about the squad WNSP Chair Julie Savage said: "The tour matches will provide an excellent opportunity for the next tier of T20 talent in the country to test themselves against one of the most dynamic teams in women's cricket.

"Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars players Ellyse Perry and Jess Cameron have been included in the squad to provide them with further match practice following interrupted preparation due to their respective injuries. While the matches will also provide further elite competition for Delissa Kimmince and Megan Schutt."

Cricket Australia XI

Ellyse Perry (C) NSW

Jess Cameron (VC) VIC

Jemma Barsby QLD

Nicola Carey NSW

Rhiannon Dick ACT

Grace Harris QLD

Emma Inglis VIC

Delissa Kimmince QLD

Beth Mooney QLD

Angela Reakes

NSW

Megan Schutt SA

Kara Sutherland

NSW

Cricket Australia XI v West Indies 2pm, Tuesday 21 October, Stirling Oval, Canberra 10am, Wednesday 22 October, Manuka Oval, Canberra

West indies arrive in india

Sir Richie Richardson, Team Manager of the West Indies team, spoke to journalists at an open media session on Wednesday after the Windies arrived for their upcoming series of five One-Day Internationals, three Tests and a T20 International against India.

The former West Indies captain said the team was looking forward to the series - which

starts with the first OneDay International next week. He added that the One-Dayers will be used as part of the team's preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand early next year. West Indies had a full training session on Tuesday at the Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium and will have another training session on Wednesday afternoon at the same venue.

Lusignan’s top squad

Aubrey Major Jr

Sukhram, Deo, Mohamad and Webster emerge champions...

Sponsor of the Tournament, Managing Director of Trophy Stall, Mr Ramesh Sunich, sent his regrets about being unavoidably absent from the day’s activity since his desire had been to be present with his family. However, past Club President – with an outstanding record of excellent presidency, Mr Hilbert Shields, - himself a winner of many trophies at the Golf Club, ably represented Mr Sunich. Conveying Mr Sunich’s

pleasure at sponsoring the Tournament, past president Shields explained that, “before 15 years ago, trophies were hard to come by for the sport, and had to be imported. When Mr Sunich opened

plines in Guyana.) Club Captain, ‘Chen’ Deo was very appreciative of the condition of the Golf Course and of the performance of the golfers. He noticed that there were some slight winds, but the golfers gave very good

up the Trophy Stall he immediately agreed to support the Golf Club and contributed many trophies or gave regular discounts on trophies to encourage Golf in Guyana. Now he has moved to the place where for some 5 years he has also become a sponsor of Golf Tournaments”(And to Mr Sunich’s credit, he has been known to do the same for many other sport disci-

performance as indicated by the closeness of the scores of the winners.

Of special note was golfer Pur Persaud’s 3rd place in his category. Pur has been returning a consistently good net score since - though playing for only one year, - he won his first game with a net 68 on 6th September. He indicated then that he liked the winning feeland hopes to continue winning!

He returned a net 71 to place 2ndon the 7th, and returned a net 68 again, to place 3rd, last Saturday.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no Tournament at the LGC this weekend as some 18 club members travel to Surinam for the Surinam Open Golf Tournament on 4th and 5th October.

Following pictures: Winners by categories. Prize distributors are Club Secretary, Ms Denise Best, past president, Mr Hilbert Shields, and club member,

Mr William Walker. For those learning the game, here is a quick review on Handicaps and Flights.

A handicap is the number of points the player gets as an advantage, and is subtracted from the players gross or total to determine his or her net score, which is the value used to evaluate how winners are placed. For example, consider two players of handicap 10 and 20. If they both score a gross of 80

strokes, then the 10 handicap player is given a net of 70 strokes, while the 20 handicap player is given a net of 60 strokes. Consider two players one of handicap 5 and the other of handicap 25. If they both score a gross of 90, then the 5 handicapper is given a net of 85, while the 25 handicapper is given a net of 65! But generally, the lower the player’s handicap the more skilful the player is, so that the straight handicap play is

considered a disadvantage to better players. It is for this reason that the players are grouped in Flights. By Flight play, male golfers are grouped in three categories by their handicaps. Handicaps 1 to 9 are in one Flight, handicaps 10 to 18 another Flight, and handicaps 19 to 28 the third Flight. Playing by Flights increases the competitiveness of the game and the demands on the players to perform at a higher standard. Grouping handicaps in similar categories allows for a more reasonable competition between golfers of differing abilities and places more work on the golfers to excel in their categories. National open competitions in the Caribbean and South America are played by Flights. Depending on the number of ladies in the game the female Flights are arranged slightly differently. At the LGC at the moment, only about 6 females practice the game, and only four compete regularly. So the ladies have a special group.

Ladies Flight – 1st: Shanella Webster

2nd: Joaan Deo

0-9 Flight – 1st: Rishi Sukhram

0-9 Flight – 2nd: Avinash Persaud

0-9 Flight – 3rd: Imran Khan

Sukhram, Deo, Mohamad and Webster emerge champions of Trophy Stall Golf Tourney

Veteran golfer Rishi

Sukhram, just returned from the previous weekend’s threeday Barbados Open Golf Tournament where he placed fourth in his 0-9 Flight, was all smiles as he related that his win in the same flight category at the Trophy Stall Golf Tournament last Saturday was “Easy!” Rishi was winning for the third successive tournament he played at Lusignan this month as on the double header 6th and 7th September tournaments he returned the same net of 68, playing then off a 10 handicap. Rishi felt that, “the different condition of the greens in the Barbados Course contributed to a few more strokes than I should have had, but the experience was a rewarding one, and I played a good game. Rain prevented the first day’s play so that Tournament was over two days instead of three.“

Congrats to the Executive of the Club are in order!

President David Mohamad,

On the Ladies side phenomenal Shanella Webster, who placed first in her category in the Suriname Open last year, and also second in the Ladies Flight in the Guyana Open last year, and who has had several wins since then, has continued her winning streak. She was delighted at another win and gave “thanks to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and to my coach, His Holiness, Dr Philbert London, who has us up at 4:00 a.m. in order to be at practice for 5:30 until about 9:30 at least 2 days in the week!”

who set a record net 60 earlier this year and has been in the first 5 in many recent competitions, Vice President Dr Philbert London, who has also been winning, and Club Captain Chatterpaul Deo, all received prizes for excellent play last Saturday.

The President and Vice were first and second in their category, while the Captain won the Nearest to The Pin prize. The President also won the Best Net trophy.

Playing in four Flights, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places were won by the follow-

ing players respectively:0–9 Flight - Rishi Sukhram 8/70, Avinash Persaud 3/73, and Imran Khan 7/74 ; 10–18 Flight – Bhowlaram Deo 16/71, Sam Harry 11/74 and Kishan Bacachus 15/76; 1928 Flight - Club President, David Mohamad 20/68, Vice President Dr Philbert London 25/68 and consistent rookie Pur Persaud 28/68; Ladies Flight – phenomenal Shanella Webster 23/69 and consistent Joaan Deo 20/77. Other trophies were awarded for Nearest to The Pin and Best Net.

turn to page 23

ECCCC defeat Mahaica SC by 183 runs North Georgetown starts road to Nationals

Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club

(ECCCC) defeated Mahaica in their first match of the East Coast Association round robin competition played at Enmore Community Center on Sunday last.

ECCCC won the toss and took first strike. Led by Christopher Surat's 62, ECCCC scored 277 for 8 in 43 overs.

Other notable scorers were Yuvraj Dyal 43 and Bheemraj Ramkelawan 39. S.Singh took 3 wickets for 39 runs for Mahaica SC. Mahaica SC was bowled

out in 24 overs for 94. For ECCCC, Nandram Ganesh took 6 wickets for 25 and Chaitram Ramlall took 2 for 32, resulting in ECCCC winning by 183 runs. Meanwhile, ECCCC under 15 team defeated Unity U-15 by 7 wickets over the weekend. Unity CC batted first and scored 109 all out in 26 overs.

H.Persaud and A.Mahase took two wickets each for ECCCC.

ECCCC replied with 111 for 3 wickets in 16 overs.

C.Balgobin top scored with 26 not out.

See page 19

In picture, standing left to right: C Deo, R Sukhram, S Harry, P Persaud, A Persaud, B Deo, I Khan, Dr P London, K Bacchus. Seated: J Deo, D. Mohamad and S Webster

Tyreese Glasgow (yellow jersey) outfoxes Sherwin Sampon (all red) on the line