President Donald Ramotar and Opposition Leader David Granger were out among their countrymen as Guyana celebrated Easter Monday. Here they take time out to pose with enthusiastic
(Story and other photos on centre)
BRIDGE OPENINGS
The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:
Tuesday, April 7, 2015 – 05:00h-06:30h and Wednesday, April 8, 2015 – 05:00h-06:30h
The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:
Tuesday, April 7, 2015 – 05:45h-07:15h and Wednesday, April 8, 2015 – 06:10h-07:40h
FERRY SCHEDULE
Ferries will be departing the Parika and Supenaam stellings on:
Tuesday, April 7 – 05:00h, 09:00h and 17:00h
Wednesday, April 8 – 05:00h, 09:00h and 17:00h
WEATHER TODAY
Thundery showers can be expected in the morning hours with light rain showers in the afternoon. Partly cloudy conditions can b expected in the evening over coastal regions and near inland locations. Temperatures are expected to range between 24 degrees and 28 degrees Celsius.
Winds: East North-easterly between 5.36 metres and 6.25 metres per second.
High Tide: 06:01h and 18:26h reaching maximum heights of 2.75 metres and 2.66 metres respectively.
Low Tide: 11:59h reaching minimum heights of 0.45 metre.
Today is Nomination Day
– parties to present Candidates List with grand fanfare
With the May 11 General and Regional Elections just about a month away, Nominations Day will be held today and all the political parties desirous of contesting the elections have indicated their readiness and preparedness for the event.
The event will be held, as usual, at the City Hall, where parties will be entering from the Avenue of the Republic entrance.
At approximately 13:30h today, the parties will be presenting their List of Candidates. This event is considered the most important one before Elections Day.
In preparations for Nominations Day, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has held several meetings with the various political parties to discuss and inform them of the procedures and arrangements for this day.
On City Hall’s end, acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba had engaged Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud on having adequate security in place for the event.
Guyana Times on Monday, contacted some of the political parties, which indicated their preparedness for Nominations Day.
Executive Member of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Dr Rupert Roopnarine related that everything is in place and final checks were being made before the APNU/AFC (Alliance For Change) Coalition present their List.
He noted that the leaders of the Coalition will be accompanied by hundreds of supporters as they march from
the Square of the Revolution to City Hall. He noted that plans were in the making to have a meeting at the Parade Ground afterwards but at the time he was speaking to this newspaper, he was not sure whether it will happen.
Asked whether the APNU/AFC Coalition is satisfied with the arrangements that were made to facilitate Nominations Day, he noted that apart for minor changes from the previous Nominations Day everything seems to be “fine”.
During the last Nominations proceedings back in 2011, the PNC/Rled APNU supporters had stormed the gates of City Hall, throwing down barricades in the process while disobeying instructions from the police to conduct themselves in an orderly manner.
It is hoped that similar behavioural patters would not occur this time again even as the new coalition group is appealing to its supporters to come out in their numbers.
Meanwhile, the top officials of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will also be leading hundreds of supporters from the party’s Freedom House headquarters on Robb Street, Georgetown, to City Hall.
General Secretary of the party, Clement Rohee, stated that the party is well prepared for the Nominations Day events. He noted that the party has made all the arrangements and their List is ready to be submitted.
When asked if the party is satisfied with the arrangements made by GECOM and the City Hall, Rohee point out “we have no reasons to com-
plain about anything so far”.
On the other hand, this newspaper also spoke with two of the smaller parties. The United Republican Party (URP)’s leader, Vishnu Bandhu, outlined that the party was at the time ironing out some final details on their List of Candidates before submitting it. He added that the party is generally satisfied with the way in which the arrangements were made ahead of today’s event.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Healing the Nation Theocracy Party (HTNTP) Alfred Park also indicated his party’s readiness for the event, noting that they plan to be at the City Hall early since the process will be done via a first come, first serve basis. Park also praised GECOM for all the work it is doing and has done thus far in preparations for the May
parties, and according to Dr Surujbally, the political leaders were satisfied with the preparations made thus far by the Commission.
The parties were educated thoroughly on the laws despite their previous knowledge. “They all know how things will happen and what they have to do,” Dr Surujbally said.
Today, political parties will know whether they are eligible to contest the upcoming polls. On this day, the parties through their respective Representative and Deputy Representative will present their Lists of Candidates. According to a GECOM advisory, the Representative or the Deputy in submitting the list to the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) must ensure that it is submitted in the prescribed form, noting too that a Statutory Declaration will be
11 Elections.
Immediately after Nominations Day, the Code of Conduct for political parties to be endorsement will be available. On Nominations Day the parties through their respective Representative and Deputy Representative will present their List of Candidates.
GECOM all set
GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally told the Guyana Times that all systems are in place for the much-anticipated event which will be facilitated at City Hall in Georgetown.
A meeting was recently held with all the political
required for each candidate and for the President named in the National Top-List. GECOM says no one on the List could be on more than one Geographical Constituencies’ List. The Representative must also ensure that the necessary corrections are made and submitted to the CEO no later than the 29th day before Election Day.
If a List of Candidates is in any way defective, the party will be required to make an application in writing to the CEO for the allocation of a symbol no later than the 32nd day before Election Day. This symbol must be approved by the Elections Commission.
APNU supporters on Nomination Day 2011
PPP/C supporters on Nomination Day 2011
Editor: Nigel Williams
Tel: 225-5128, 231-0397, 226-9921, 226-2102, 223-7230 or 223-7231. Fax: 225-5134
After today’s massing of the forces on Nomination Day at City Hall - hopefully without Opposition’ supporters not vaulting barriers - we ponder over the continued Americanisation of our politics.
There is now this insistence for “debates” between the major candidates. This phenomenon became a fixture on the American hustings after JFK drubbed Richard Nixon in debates and went on to capture the presidency in 1961.
Essentially, it adopts the “beauty pageant” premises: the candidates are paraded before prospective voters via TV into their living rooms and judged on their telegenicity: smiles, nods, winks, well rehearsed sound bites and audience reaction.
Our tradition, based on the more substantive British style (we notice that they are also being subverted) has been for our candidates to get in front of real-life voters in meetings across the country and deliver their messages. These messages would have been extracted from their manifestos and customised for the specific audience both in terms of idiom and content.
But in this run up to the elections, the insistence on the debate format is not the only shift towards superficiality. In this “two horse” race, the Opposition which has entered into a coalition (the PNC-led APNU/AFC), has not even produced a Manifesto, yet they have been the most strident in demanding “debates”.
The incumbent PPP/C has at least offered excerpts from their Manifesto to the public. What will be the basis of offerings from the Opposition in a debate? All that they have agreed to has been how they will divvy up the spoils of office.
The record of political debates in Guyana up to the present shows that it is just another opportunity for the Opposition to deepen societal divisions.
At the last elections, after several false starts, the four major candidates agreed to participate in a debate organised by the University of Guyana (UG). One would assume that the presidential candidate of the PPP/C, who had expressed reservations about debates superseding village meetings, assented because of the presumed ambience of a university.
After all, what is a university? One authority had declared: “It is a place where inquiry is pushed forward, and discoveries verified and perfected, and rashness rendered innocuous, and error exposed, by the collision of mind with mind, and knowledge with knowledge.”
Well that presumption was unceremoniously thrown out of the window on when the “debate” finally came off. It was not a debate of ideas but more of a mob howling for blood as in the days of the Romans gladiators in the Coliseum.
Rashness was certainly not rendered innocuous: if anything it was intensified into vulgarity and gross disrespect of both the occasion and the institution by one of parties –APNU and its partisans.
APNU entered the auditorium with over 100 screaming supporters all decked out in their trademark green. The only image it evoked was of a boxer entering a ring with his entourage pumping up the audience for the coming bloodbath.
These were not students seeking to discover the programmes and plans of candidates. They were there simply to give vent to their biases and prejudices: a collision of ideas with ignorance.
The point of a university is not that a student should not have views but that he/she should be willing to subject them to countervailing ones with an open mind. Only in such a process, will learning advance. What Guyana witnessed was noting more that the baying of closed and narrow minds.
In this go around, the insistence on “debate” remains unchallenged. But President Ramotar, learning the bitter lesson from his UG foray has insisted that his campaign team be involved to create a more level playing field.
One set of debates organised by state owned NCN was blanked by the Opposition Coalition while another, to be arranged by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) is still on the cards. UG has not been mentioned.
Come on Moses, did the PNC rig it?
He could well be speaking of Moses Nagamootoo who some feel is the biggest re-ratter in Guyanese history. Nagamootoo claims to be someone that is still searching for himself. He searched and didn’t find it in the PPP/C under Cheddi Jagan.
He kept searching and told us a few years ago that Bharrat Jagdeo was a great President. Then he looked and said that ‘they begged me and begged me but I will never leave the PPP/C and become a “neemakaram”.
In Queens, New York, he looked again. This time it was in David Granger’s eyes and he saw the Promised Land. He knew he could trust Granger and the PNC. This is the same PNC that Nagamootoo fought against for most of his political life.
He was the person that provided proof from 1968 to 1985 that the PNC rigged the elections but now he has changed his tune. According to Nagamootoo PNC rigging
was not real, it was imagined.
He said in Queens, “in the 1970s there were many allegations of fraudulent elections that Cheddi wrote about and I wrote about”. Really?
Moses can re-rat on history as much as he pleases but Dr Jagan has never alleged that the PNC rigged the elections. Cheddi has always provided proof. If Nagamootoo wants hard evidence then it’s available for him to download.
One man on hearing Nagamootoo’s speech said, “hH has become Granger’s poodle.” This may help to explain Granger’s broad grin at the Queens gathering. He just had to sit back and let Nagamootoo do the talking, and he did not disappoint.
Nagamootoo told us o about those alleged rigged elections and said that if we keep thinking about them we will be enslaved to the past. Well, he should try
telling Blacks in America to forget about slavery or the Jews to forget the Holocaust or native Indians to ignore Wounded Knee.
Rigged elections under the PNC disenfranchised an entire generation of Guyanese and cannot be wished away. When Granger was in Queens in 2014 he was asked to apologize for rigged elections under the PNC.
He said there was no such thing and wanted to see the evidence. Ironically, all he had to do was to ask Nagamootoo who would have provided the evidence in chapter and verse!
We are told that Nagamootoo will be a Prime Minister with expanded powers. But the expanded powers are good only on paper. It is not written in the Constitution of Guyana and there is no guarantee that they will be honoured despite the Accord.
No wonder Nagamootoo
kept saying that nothing is set in stone and that it is based on trust. But it has happened before and it can happen again. Burnham kicked D’Aguiar to the curb when the PNC cabal exerted pressure. There is nothing to say that Granger won’t do the same with Nagamootoo at the appropriate time. As one would expect Nagamootoo had to refer to Dr Jagan. “I followed Dr Jagan all my adult life, all my life.”
If that is the case then has he betrayed the ideals of Cheddi? As many of us know, Cheddi was not in the habit of jumping ship. When Cheddi was confined to the Opposition, many jumped but he knew that history was on his side.
You may not have liked his politics, but Cheddi was a “what you see is what you get politician”. He was the real deal!
Why should a factual statement at a rally be treated as racism?
Dear Editor, Freddie Kissoon openly states that he is ashamed of his ethnicity, while Moses Nagamootoo admitted that he is not Indian, but Guyanese. Both are statements of fact.
During the PNC regime, Indians were massacred at Wismar, bicycle gangs terrorized Indian villages, supporters of the PNC WRSM used palm tree branches to sweep Indian women on the streets, whole Indian villages were relocated through ethnic cleansing, Indian businesses were looted and burnt, while women were
sexually molested and raped during the very PNC protest.
More recently, Indians were robbed and women groped at Agricola, while two AFC top brass members, one who denied his Indianship, were burning tires.
The above are also statements of fact supported by credible witnesses.
Yet when former President Bharat Jagdeo factually states that he has evidence that Africans were beating drums, while urging the removal of Indians from power, our hybrid friend considers that as ideological
racism.
Why should a factual statement at a PPP/C rally be treated as racism when in a court of law it is acceptable to use the “N” word to substantiate a fact that someone made a racist statement?
And, in order to justify their stupidity, people like Freddie Kissoon and the three stooges, want East Indians to believe that PPP/C supporters infiltrated PNC protests to create mayhem; but took objection to the PPP/C assertion that the murder of Courtney CrumEwing was orchestrated by
the PNC to justify their attacks against PPP/C. Freddie Kissoon should peruse and digest a letter in the Guyana Times by Sultan Mohamed and learn how to analyze issues objectively but, I guess his usual rant will be, who is Sultan Mohamed?
In the meanwhile, Indians should take note of what occurred in the past before casting their votes and prepare themselves for an onslaught, as usual, when the APNU/AFC lose the next election.
D Singh
Former President Bharrat Jagdeo joined the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) in spreading Easter cheer during a visit to Charity, Essequibo Coast on Monday
Bharrat’s boon to the people of Black Bush Polder
Dear Editor
The PPP/C’s Black Bush Polder project continues to be a boon for the people of the Corentyne and Guyana as a whole.
A few months ago I went on an excursion to the polders via the Adventure entrance. My first surprise was to discover that most of the residents remaining in the Polders have moved from the back streets closer to the public road because of the constant rains and migration of the young generation to the urban centers.
The other surprise was that most of the other residents, older citizens, have moved back to their village of birth.
This was troubling to me because I was a frequent visitor to the polders, having family, and class mates from the polders. I tracked down some of my family members as well as friends to find out the reason for the exodus.
I was pleasantly surprised when I was informed that the rice farmers had found a win, win situation. The large rice producers offered to rent the lands from the farmers, thus giving them monthly cheques for
their 25- acre parcels.
The farmers, some of them women, but most of who are of retirement age, were more than happy for the opportunity to rent the lands. They were also happy to sell their machinery as well. In addition to renting their lands some of the farmers were offered employment by the entrepreneurial rice producers.
The more efficient use of the land by the expert producers has led to an increase in rice production and decrease in prices to local consumers.
With a wide variety of jobs, such as construction and GuySuCo, available to the citizenry, the farmers who left the polders were immediately absorbed into the work force.
The more populated areas with their more convenient facilities, such as stores and hospitals have led to a better quality of life as well.
Renting the land provided the farmers with a better deal than what occurred to the Midwestern farmers of the USA who were forced to sell their lands to giant corporations because of low prices for grains and at a time when land prices were
Come on Moses...
Nagamootoo commented about the Government protesting against the Opposition as if this were some sort of novelty. In fact, this is quite common and he would know that Dr Jagan was shouted down many times by the PNC when that party was in the Government.
In fact, when Janet Jagan attempted to speak at the University of Guyana in 1974 there were placards and her microphone wires were cut and the PNC prevented her from speaking. Nagamootoo was a member of the PPP at that time.
When poet Martin Carter opposed the PNC with his placard outside Parliament they tried to run him over and he had to be rescued by onlookers. The PNC protested against Dr Walter Rodney and in fact broke up many WPA meetings.
Nagamootoo then is doing a poor job at rewriting Guyanese history. He said that the PPP/C “is walking with Cheddi Jagan as their El Cid. They are going to battle with a dead General.” Well, the General may be dead, but his ashes can rise and bring victory to his army!
Nagamootoo further stated that the AFC realized that it would lose its identity when it joined up with APNU, but here again the rhetoric and action do not match. The AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan said in 2011 that there was no way the AFC would join up with the PNC/APNU.
In 2014, Ramjattan said that if there were a coalition then it would have to be led by the AFC. As we now know this has not happened.
Nagamootoo was put up as the Presidential Candidate in the coalition and this too was rejected by the PNC dominated APNU.
As a face-saving gesture, Ramjattan said that if the AFC did not form the Alliance it would have meant their demise. This begs the question: is the AFC concerned with the welfare of Guyanese or more with its own survival?
But there are other issues to consider. Granger said that he is not Forbes Burnham, he is his own man. If that is the case why is it that Granger has steadfastly refused to apologize for rigged elections in Guyana?
most depressed.
The ex-farmers have mentioned over and over to me their thanks to Bharrat and the PPP/C for the bonanza the polders have delivered to them. The rent from the land is the major source of income for some of them.
Only Bharrat could have envisioned a project like the polders that would become an ATM (401K) after it was launched. No other project in the history of the land can boast continuous prosperity from the day it was opened to the current and projected to be prosperous into the indefinite future.
This project wrote the book on human environmental sustainable development. Three generations have profited from Bharrat’s dream and many more will do so as well.
Let me be fair to the PNC and list their accomplishments in the Corentyne.
Firstly, Forbes fabricated two toll gates and employed approximately 30 people accompanied by armed personnel to seized food items and harass Indians. The PNC’s second accomplishment was to fabricate and installed several arches that are still
only a few days before this fiasco.
James McAllister is a former PNC Member of Parliament. He concluded that the elections for Granger as party leader were flawed. He said, “It is clear that the process was not fair.. for them to arrogantly maintain it was fair and flawless would suggest to some that they are people who, once given power, would hold onto it at all cost.”
there.
Moses (Nagga) can hang around on the arches so that we can take “selfies”. Does Moses and the PNC/APNUAFC have plans to reactivate the toll gates?
The AFC toll gate record in Parliament preventing the extending of the Cheddi Jagan Airport, the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project and the Specialty Hospital demonstrates their hate for progress.
Anything with ‘P’ in front of it reminds them of the PPP/C and they want to avoided it at all cost. This kind of anemic politics by PNC/APNU-AFC must be dealt with at the polls on May 11.
The farmers’ question to the PNC/APNU-AFC, is if they have ever developed any project of this kind? Do they have any such project in mind that can compare to the Polder project?
Can Guyanese Grand Pa Moses tell the young (Indian) generation his vision, besides wanting to become a bride of the PNC/APNU?
Let Bharrat's (the Father of the Nation) boon guide you to the ATM.
Ganesh Persaud
clares his or her support for another list”.
NY Guyanese observe Hanuman Jayanti
Dear Editor, Guyanese American Hindus observed the appearance or birth of Lord Hanuman with special prayers last Saturday.
Hanuman is the “hairy, monkey-like warrior” who is presented in the Ramayana as the most devoted and loyal servant of Lord Rama whose appearance in the world was celebrated the previous Saturday.
He is also known as the messenger of Lord Rama and no prayer is complete without offerings to Hanuman. All of the temples in the New York metro area were packed with devotees paying obeisance to Hanuman-ji.
Hanuman Jayanti, as the auspicious day is called, is usually observed on the full moon in the month of chaitmas in the Hindu calendar which coincides with April in the western calendar.
Hanuman was a great intellectual. Hanuman knew the holy scriptures, shastras and vedas, and was well versed in Sanskrit. He had yogi powers; his ability to lift the mountain and fly with it (with ayurvedic medicine to rescue Lutchman who was wounded in battle) symbolize his strength and meditation powers.
Indo-Caribbean Hindus usually perform poojas for Hanuman on Tuesdays and Saturdays. But Hanuman Jayanti can be any day and Hanuman propitiated. Worshippers usually make offerings of flowers and red malas, fruits, bail leaves, other paraphernalia, and prasadam consisting of rote (a sweet fried roti) and “mohanbhoog” and perform oblations at the lotus feet of Hanuman. After service, Hindus fly a red flag in front of their homes; red is the symbolic color of Hanuman. These flags can be commonly seen in sections of New York or Florida where Caribbean Hindus are settled.
When the PNC rigged the elections, Granger was head of GDF and the ballot boxes were taken to the GDF compound for counting and rigging. Granger then cannot keep asking for evidence when he had it before his eyes. Is it true that Granger would like to offer an apology but that the higher-ups in the PNC are against it?
There are those who claim that rigged elections are a thing of the past and that the young people of Guyana are not interested in the Burnhamite tactics of the 1970s. These young people would do well to cast their minds to 2014 when the PNC held its internal elections.
Granger ran for party leader against Aubrey Norton and there was more proof of rigging in the PNC. Norton withdrew, confusion reigned, a security man fired a shot and chaotic scenes followed.
Incidentally, Granger was in New York promising transparency and accountability
Nagamootoo should listen to these words of wisdom. But Nagamootoo had his trump card and he revealed it in Queens. He looked at Granger and said, “If things don’t go well David, that you and I have to file legal proceedings for a divorce I am taking my property with me, 12 seats and when you end up in a minority I go over to the other side and you getting a No-Confidence Motion all over again.”
This is a heck of a way to run a country! But it also shows that Nagamootoo is lacking in political principles. He is prepared to run to the highest bidder to look after his own interest. In other words Nagamootoo first, Guyana can wait.
There is also the question of the Constitution. Nagamootoo cannot legally take 12 seats since these seats they do not belong to him.
According to Article 156 of the Constitution of Guyana a member of the National Assembly elected on a list “shall be disqualified from being a member of the Assembly if he or she, in the prescribed manner, declares that he or she will not support the list from which his or her name was extracted, or declares that he or she abstains from supporting that list, or de-
This means that Nagamootoo would not be able to take 12 seats and leave since they would be owned by APNU.
Granger knows this and he was smiling broadly as Nagamootoo played his hand. Every man has his price and from what we saw Nagamootoo will tie his bundle with those who sing the sweetest tune.
Dr Dhanpaul Narine (First published in the West Indian) From page 4
Hanuman was a great devotee of the lord. His actions, thoughts and words are completely enveloped in Lord Rama. It is believed that Lord Shiva wanted to serve Lord Rama and took the appearance of Hanuman so that he can worship Rama.
Hanuman is one of the most revered deities among Indo-Caribbean Hindus. And they frequently hold kathas or religious discourses on the Hanuman Chalisa or the Ramayana. “The message one gets from the Hanuman Chalisa is that of a devotee’s glorification of God,” says Pt Gossai because Hanuman glorified his lord (Rama).
On Hanuman Jyanti, devotees normally offered jal or dhar at sunrise and then visit the mandirs for special service in the evening and offer jal again the following morning. At all of the mandirs, minds prostrated to the feet of Lord Hanuman and the various reincarnations of the one supreme Lord. Special mantras, bhajans and praises to Hanuman were read by the priests. And bhajans were sung by the kirtan groups. Joy, bliss and peace pervaded the atmosphere and generated a feeling of togetherness among the worshippers. A stream of devotees made offerings and performed aartee on the murthis.
While worshippers may have felt fulfilled and blessed that they prayed and made generous offerings to the lord, they were advised not think of God as a once in a year event. Indeed, the pandits at the various temples advise that people should emulate the life of Hanuman in performing good deeds.
Hanuman did selfless service to the lord and to humanity and did not look back for reward.
Vishnu Bisram
Page Foundation
Should children play with toy guns? The great debate
By Rachel GRumman BendeR
Ageneration ago, it wouldn’t be unusual to see children running around their neighbourhood wielding toy guns as they played cowboys or cops and robbers. But as school shootings have become frighteningly commonplace and with gun control being such a controversial issue in American, playing with toy guns doesn’t seem that innocent anymore.
Many schools in America have even implemented zero tolerance policies on guns, and in some cases, have suspended children for pointing their fingers in the shape of a gun and pretending to shoot another student.
Some parents feel that playing with toy guns sends the wrong message, making light of a deadly weapon – or worse, that toy guns increase aggression in children. Others see playing with toy weapons as a natural, age-old way for children to explore important themes in life, including good vs. evil, to develop a sense of morality, and feel empowered by pretending to be a hero.
The research
Most parents don’t encourage their children to play with toy guns. According to study of 830 parents published in the journal Paediatrics, nearly 70 per cent believe that it’s never okay for a child to play with toy guns, and 66 per cent forbid them in their home. That may stem from the concern that playing with toy guns leads to aggressive or violent behaviour. But unlike with
violent video games, there’s little research that links toy guns to violence later on in life.
That said playing with a toy gun could have painful and even deadly consequences. There have been several incidences that involved tween and teens being shot and killed by Police Officers who mistakenly thought the boys were holding real, rather than toy, weapons. Since 1989, federal law in the US requires that toy guns, though not BB guns, have a blaze orange tip on the end to alert Police Officers that the gun is fake, but the orange tips can break off. Also, in the heat of the moment, Police Officers may not be able to make the split-second distinction between a real and a fake gun.
Toy guns also come with a risk of injury. According to the latest figures from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, hospital emergency rooms saw 20,000 injuries from air and paintball guns in 2008 – a 20 per cent increase from toy gun injuries in 2006. About 60 per cent of ER visits for air and paintball gun injuries were by children ages 17 and younger. More than 25 per cent were for children ages 10 to 14.
What the experts say “It’s easy to see violence and aggression in society and in the media, and then your sweet, innocent child is saying ‘bang bang’ and ‘I killed you,’ and you get overwhelmed with fear about whether he could grow up to be violent,” Katie Morse,
a Psychotherapist in private practice in Seattle, tells ParentMap.com. “As a parent, those are normal, natural responses.”
But experts note that what may be worrisome to a parent is simply play to a child. “Many young children (under age five) don’t even under stand what shoot ing someone re ally means,” Joshua Weiner, a Virginia-based psychiatrist who specialises in children and adolescents, tells PBS. “The shoot ing is more about power, fantasy and imagination – not killing and death.”
What’s more, the link between toy guns and violence is shaky. “Everyone has an informal causation theory that playing with guns leads to the use of guns in adulthood,” Michael Thompson, PhD, Child Psychologist and author of It’s a Boy! Your Son’s Development From Birth to Age 18, tells WebMD. “[But] there’s no scientific evidence suggesting that playing war games in childhood leads to real-life aggression.”
Francisco office. “I’d tell them that they need to shoot: They need to shoot each other, they need to shoot their parents, they need to shoot me,” Terr tells The Washington Post. “It’s one of the best tools they have for dealing with their aggressions, and taking that away from them only compli-
band spent his childhood around guns and hunters. Therefore, he has taught our children to hold even a toy gun with respect – in other words, pointed at the ground when not aiming.” – Jane Reilly Mount
peo
ple who want to get rid of toy guns are concerned about.”
Adds Helen Boehm, a Psychologist and the author of The Right Toys: ”I don’t like toy guns, she tells The New York Times. ”But ultimately children don’t learn values from toy guns and GI Joe. It’s parents and other role models who have the most important influence on a child’s behaviour.”
In fact, some experts see weapon play as having the opposite effect – as a healthy outlet for channelling aggression safely. Lenore Terr, a child Psychiatrist who specialises in childhood trauma, keeps toy guns in her San
What the parents say
“We let our children play with toy guns, but we have a strict rule of not pointing or aiming at the face. My hus-
“I have young boys who will eventually want to role play as law enforcement and soldiers. Play guns are inevitability, so I would use their introduction as an opportunity to educate my sons about gun safety and the dangers of handling the real version if they ever come across them.”
– Debbie O’Malley
“With two very active and imaginative boys –who like to pretend they are Police Officers or leaders of the Star Wars universe – toy guns have found their way into our home. I believe that if a parent pays close attention to children – how they interact with the toy guns when alone and with friends, what they watch on TV – then the parent will know whether or not toy guns are a good idea.” –Jennifer B.
The bottom line
It’s up to parents to decide whether they’re comfortable letting their children have toy guns. If you allow them in your home, make sure the gun clearly looks like a toy with bright colours and a blaze orange cap, and let children know that it’s not okay to point the gun at someone’s face, especially if that someone isn’t playing along with them. (Yahoo! News)
Children and temper tantrums
Most children’ sleep requirements fall within a predictable range of hours based on their age, but each child is a unique individual with distinct sleep needs.
Help them label emotions. Help children get in the habit of saying what they’re feeling and why – for example, “I’m mad because I have to clean my room while my friends are playing.” Using words doesn’t get a child out of doing a chore, but having the discussion can calm the situation. You’re having a conversation instead of an argument. Praise your child for talking about it instead of slamming the door, for instance.
See that children get a lot of physical activity Active play can really help children who have big tempers. Encourage outside play and sports your child likes. Karate, wrestling, and running can be especially good for children who are trying to get their tempers under control. But any activity that gets the heart pumping can help burn off energy and stress.
Encourage children to take control. Compare a temper to a puppy that hasn’t yet learned to behave and that’s running around all over the place getting into things. Puppies might not mean to be bad — but they need to be trained so that they can learn that there’s no eating shoes, no jumping on people or certain furniture, etc. The point is that your child’s temper — like a puppy — needs to be trained to learn when it’s OK to play, how to use all that extra energy, and how to follow rules.
Recognise successes Many times these go unnoticed so be sure to comment on how well your child handled a difficult situation when you see positive behaviours.
Try to be flexible Parenting can be a tiring experience, but try not to be too rigid. Hearing a constant chorus of “no” can be disheartening for children. Sometimes, of course, “no” is absolutely the only answer – “no, you can’t ride your bike without your helmet!” But other times, you might let the children win one. For instance, if your child wants to keep the cricket game going a little longer, maybe give it 15 more minutes.
Try to identify “at-risk” situations and be proactive. For example, if your child has difficulty with transitions, give warnings ahead of time. Similarly, if your children have trouble turning off the television when asked, be clear how long they can watch TV or play video games and then set a five-minute warning timer. Be sure to enforce the agreement.
As anyone who’s been really angry knows, following sensible advice can be tough when emotions run high. Give your children responsibility for getting under control, but be there to remind them how to do it. (childrenhealth.org)
Murder suspect likely to appear in court today
Twenty-three-year-old Kevin Ramsaywack, formerly of Berbice, is expected to make his first court appearance today at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court after confessing that he had murdered Samantha Benjamin-Mc Ewan.
The caretaker admitted that he beheaded the woman at the Annandale Seawall, East Coast Demerara, before dumping her body overboard. The dismembered body of the woman was found about two weeks ago without hands, limbs and head.
Days after the discovery, family members stumbled upon a blood trail in the Buxton house the wom-
an once occupied with the suspect who was the caretaker for the property when she was out of the country. The businessman operated a stall in the Vendor’s Arcade, Water Street, Georgetown.
Days prior to her death, the woman reportedly planned to purchase a motor car and might have hinted at that to Ramsaywak who plotted to rob the businesswoman with two teenagers. It was during the robbery attempt, the woman met her cruel death.
She reportedly put up a fight, and the three men, two of whom are still on the run, crushed her head with a piece of wood. After realising that she was dead, they attempted to cover up the crime by disposing of the body.
Two of the men reportedly cut off the woman’s arms and legs, placed the body parts in black bags and into a barrel. They then pushed the barrel to the seawall where they cut off the woman’s head believing that when the body is found, it will be unidentifiable.
This was not the case since hours after the corpse was discovered, the head washed ashore. It took family members days to finally realise that the body found on the seawall was that of Benjamin-Mc Ewan.
After they went to the house to enquire about the woman’s whereabouts, they found a bunch of keys belonging to the woman on the floor in her room. Then, there were spots of blood on a barrel and more so there were blood stains on a wheelbarrow and on the ground under her home.
The suspect at that time told them he did not see the woman for a few days. Family members became suspicious and contacted the Police on Tuesday last and the man was taken into custody. He confessed to the heinous crime 24 hours later. Police have since launched a manhunt for the two teenagers, but to no avail so far.
Painter critical following stabbing incident
Apainter is battling for his life at the Georgetown Public Hospital after he was stabbed at least three times during an argument along the Montrose Public Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
Carl Seenauth, 30, of Lot 8 Railway Line, ECD, is said to be in stable but serious condition. He was reportedly stabbed to the back.
According to information received, the now injured man had an argument with another man, but after onlookers intervened, Seenauth retreated and attempted to walk away, but was attacked and stabbed. The suspect reportedly has a similar matter pending in the court which occurred in 2014.
The injured man was picked up and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was admitted.
Residents inconvenienced by destruction of Eastville Bridge
Residents of Eastville Housing Scheme at Annandale, East Coast Demerara (ECD) are complaining bitterly about the challenges they now face due to the destruction of the main bridge that linked the Scheme to neighbouring communities.
Last Wednesday, the bridge collapsed under the weight of a loaded 20-tonne sand truck as it attempted to cross the structure.
Residents have put together a makeshift bridge for pedestrians; however, those with vehicles are facing many challenges. Until the bridge is reconstructed, residents have to park their vehicles along
the Annandale Railway Embankment, much to their dissatisfaction on account of security concerns.
According to one resident, the affected area is extremely dark at nights owing to the lack of streets; hence, their vehicles are at risk of being targeted by thieves. “Anybody can break in and then what’s going to happen to us?”
A mother of three also voiced her concern about the long walk into the scheme, since vehicles cannot traverse the area. “It’s taking up a lot of time and people don’t have time to waste these days; then with the parking, everybody parking on the road and everybody trying to
park closest to the bridge, so you not finding a close parking place either,” she said.
Meanwhile, H Nauth and Sons Civil Engineering Contractors, the firm responsible for the truck that was crossing the bridge when it collapsed, has taken up the responsibility to rebuild the structure.
However, reports indicate that the bridge may not be completed as soon as residents hope, as the company may take some time before it acquires the materials needed to reconstruct the bridge. Initially, the wooden bridge was reportedly not very sturdy and logically could not have accommodated the heavy truck.
When she arrived at the medial institution, she saw her son lying on a bed in the Accident and Emergency Unit and blood was oozing from the back of his head.
She explained that upon enquiring, she was told that the suspect, “Jango” and her son had an argument during which he stabbed him.
She reported that after the incident, her son was left on the roadway for quite some time before a female whom she identified as “Rhonda” took him to the hospital. She praised “Rhonda” for her assistance.
She explained that two years ago, her son and the suspect’s father had a scuffle. During the confrontation, the man picked up a bottle and slashed Seenauth to his face.
She said that the matter was reported, but noth-
At the home of the injured man, his mother, Ismay Seenauth, told the Guyana Times that she was at home, about 01:15h, when she received a phone call informing her that her son had been stabbed and had been taken to the hospital.
ing came out of it. “The father said that he got money and can buy off the Police,” the woman alleged.
“After the stabbing, the Police went to the house to look for he and didn’t find he…,” she said, further claiming the suspect was friends with a Police officer.
The woman is calling for justice for her son, but believes that the possibilities of such might be dim given her financial status.
A sister of the injured man told the Guyana Times that some family members were drinking on the East Coast, but after spending some time with these relatives, her brother dropped his wife and herself at home before heading back.
Shortly after, she received the call about the stabbing incident. She added that her brother was conscious when he arrived at the hospital.
Police have since launched an investigation into the matter.
Construction work under way at the Eastville Housing Scheme
Murder suspect: Kevin Ramsaywack
Dead: Samantha Benjamin-Mc Ewan
Harold Lutchman is PNCRled APNU/AFC List Rep
... was PNCR Rep on Disciplined Forces Commission
By Devina Samaroo
Renowned Professor Harold Lutchman has been selected by the People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition as its List Representative to present the group’s candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) today.
Lutchman, speaking with the Guyana Times on Monday, said that he was confident in his abilities to execute the duties allotted to him and will be holding the fort while ensuring that all of the agreements made in the controversial Cummingsburg Accord were honoured.
Notwithstanding the enormity of the power bestowed upon him, Lutchman did not seem overwhelmed by his responsibilities.
The Professor indicated that his responsibilities are “no big deal”, especially considering his experience and background in related fields.
“I’ve dealt with more complex situations,” he said.
The anticipation surrounding the announcement of the alliance’s Representative of the List is a consequence of the additional responsibilities that will be entrusted to him – to ensure the commitments
under the Cummingsburg Accord are fulfilled.
Confident
As such, Lutchman will be responsible of ensuring the conduct of both APNU and AFC is in accordance with the agreement, particularly, to ensure the AFC is guaranteed 12 parliamentary seats whether win or lose.
Lutchman will also be responsible for ensuring the List is submitted in the prescribed form, accompanied by a Statutory Declaration for each candidate and for the President named in that National Top-List. He must also make sure the necessary corrections
are made and submitted to the Chief Elections Officer no later than 29 days before Election Day if the List is in any way defective.
According to Lutchman, he was trained as a mediator with much experience in mediating cases in the Supreme Court of Justice in Guyana.
In 2003, Irish Human Rights activist Maggie Bierne resigned from the Disciplined Forces Commission that was mandated to enquire into the conditions of the Disciplined Forces especially as it related to ethnic proportionality in its composition. Rogers Corbin, then leader of the ONCR nominated Dr Harold Lutchman to replace her and he served until the Commission presented its report to Parliament in 2004.
Lutchman also has a degree in Economics with a minor in Government, now Political Science from the University of the West Indies (UWI). He then received a scholarship to undertake his Masters in the same discipline. He was the first student on an exchange programme between the University of the West Indies and the University of Manchester and gained a PhD in Political Science.
The academic then worked at the University of Guyana until 1986 when he left as
a professor to take up employment in the United States Virgin Islands at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI).
After lecturing at the UVI for some time, Lutchman returned to Guyana after the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) won the elections in 1992 to work at the University of Guyana as the Vice Chancellor.
Lutchman also gained his accreditation in law in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, but he never practised, focusing instead on research and academic life.
It is with this prestigious background that the Professor expressed confidence in his new role.
According to Lutchman, he is willing to serve in any capacity that he can and is very much honoured that the coalition approached him for the position.
Meanwhile, should for any legitimate reason Lutchman cannot perform his duties, the Deputy Representative of the List shall take up the aforementioned responsibilities.
However, up to press time, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a constituent group of the APNU+AFC coalition confirmed that a decision has not yet been made about who that person will be.
Brazilian businessman shot dead during Arau Landing robbery
One day after the discovery of two guns and matching ammunition at a mining camp at Arau Landing in the Wenamu River, Essequibo, it was revealed that a Brazilian businessman was earlier shot dead during a robbery in the same area.
The dead businessman has been identified as Antonio De Sena, 58, a grocer who had been operating his business
for the past five years.
According to information reaching the Guyana Times, about 20:00h on Saturday evening, a lone gunman entered De Sena’s business place, held him at gunpoint and demanded that he hand over the cash and gold.
The Brazilian national reportedly put up a fight, and the gunman discharged a round, hitting him to his chest.
The perpetrator then went
to a box containing money which he removed and made good his escape.
Persons in the area upon hearing the sound of the bullet ran to the shop where they saw the businessman lying in a pool of blood.
He was already dead. Police have since launched an investigation into the matter.
Only on Sunday, the Police discovered an unlicensed Smith and Wesson .45 semi-
automatic pistol and an unlicensed Smith and Wesson .38 revolver along with three matching rounds during a raid on a mining camp in the area.
The four men arrested are expected to be charged soon.
One day earlier, Romel Mendonca, 32, of Arau Landing, was shot to the neck during an argument with another man at the Landing. No one has been arrested for the matter.
Eyew tness
Apples...
...and military oranges
One ex-military fella Floyd Levi sought to dismiss Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Roger Luncheon’s concerns about Brigadier Granger flooding the Opposition ranks with military personnel, most of whom served under him. Says that in the US and Britain, there have been scads of ex-military personnel in politics.
We won’t waste time on pointing out that only a handful of those individuals were career military personnel. What we’ll expand on is that Levi’s either was very poorly trained as an officer to offer this mediocre “analysis” or else he’s being very disingenuous.
He knows that the most salient difference between the military of Britain, the US’s and Guyana’s - when it comes to the era of Granger and most of those now in politics with him - is that the former were imbued with the unshakeable principle that the military should not be involved in politics.
In direct opposition to that philosophy of a militarycivilian dichotomy, Burnham rejected the notion of “British professionalism” in his military. He was going to create an army that swore loyalty to him and do whatever it took to keep him in power.
In Scarlet Beret Vol 1 # 1 of 1971 (p 54), “Extracts from LFS Burnham’s address to officers and new recruits GDF, October 26, 1970,” Burnham declared the new ethos of the army:
“I do not share with the British the concept that the Army is separate and distinct from everything else and loyal to the Government of the day. As Prime Minister, I expect you to be loyal to this Government. If there is any other Government, it is a matter for you to decide about that, but as far as I am concerned I don’t want any abstract loyalty.
“I have now arranged with the Chief of Staff that, in future, all recruits, apart from their military training, will also have to attend a course of lectures on the philosophy and ideology of the Government and the Co-operative Republic.”
The officer corps, Government bureaucrats and party officials were jointly indoctrinated by the Social, Political, and Economic Council (SPEC) of Elvin McDavid from Office of the President. David Granger was the military representative in SPEC.
So when David Granger boasts about the soldiers behaving “splendidly” when Lt Henry killed the ballot box martyrs because of “the sound political education that the officers and soldiers received during 1971 and 1972”, it was he who’d educated them to shoot civilians.
Is this is the involvement of the army in civilian affairs that Levi wants us to revisit??
...and women oranges
A PNC female supporter under the pen-name Minnette Bacchus - who’s been a very staunch defender of the PNC and then APNU - weighed in to plead a case for Vanessa Kissoon from Linden to be on the APNU/AFC list today.
She pointed out in great detail, the accomplishments of Kissoon at the local and national level. But she missed out the sole qualification necessary to be at Granger’s side - or even in his trail: the quality of self effacement amounting to self abasement. Being a brown-noser would be the clincher.
Bacchus and Kissoon would’ve seen Africo Selman’s assessment of Granger and his team of army types who’ve taken over the PNC. It’s their way or the highway - and for women it’s all of that in spades.
Hasn’t Bacchus wondered why Nigel Hughes became the “Invisible Man”?? And Hughes is no Ellison! Granger’s minions don’t want him to overshadow their old commander. For women - to use Selman’s words - they’re to be kept “barefoot and pregnant”.
If Kissoon’s on the list today, know that like Volda Lawrence, she’s accepted “her place”.
...and apples
The PNC-led APNU/AFC coalition has picked Dr Harold Lutchman as their List Representative. Robert Corbin had also picked Lutchman to replace Maggie Burns and joined David Granger on the Disciplined Forces Commission in 2003.
Homecoming?
Dr Harold Lutchman
tuesday, april 7, 2015 |
WPA's Roopnaraine exhorts "revolution" for PNC-led
...35 years after claiming PNC killed Rodney
Leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and Member of Parliament, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine has called on the residents of the Essequibo Coast to lead a revolt against the current Government by exercising their democratic right to vote in favour of the recently-formed People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity-Alliance For Change (APNU-AFC) coalition.
Roopnarine was one of the leaders in the WPA who had supported the call of Dr Walter Rodney for a “revo-
lution” against the PNC in late 1979. He and Rodney were jailed for a while after they were charged with burning down Congress Place, the HQ of the PNC. According to the WPA and Roopnarine for thirty years they claimed the PNC assassinated Dr Rodney on June 13 1980.
However in the 31st year of Rodney’s assassination, with a Commission of Inquiry into Rodney’s death in the air, in 2011, Roopnarine took the WPA into a coalition arrangement with the PNCR to form the APNU with him as its Prime Ministerial candidate.
Pomeroon boat collision...
Dubbing May 11 as “Revolution Day” for the country, Roopnaraine told the colossal crowd at Damon’s Square, Anna Regina on Saturday evening that this was the day for them to use their votes to revolt and to rebel against the ‘slum government’ which was sucking the life out of the country.
“You must join the revolt on May 11, but we aren’t using any bullets in this revolt. We are calling for a revolt against larceny in the high places. We want a revolt against corruption. We must revolt against the impoverish-
ment of many for the enrichment of the few. It is the revolt we need on May 11. We must revolt against violence against our daughters, our sisters, our wives and even our grandmothers… Join us to heal the nation. That is why we are calling for a great revolt. Let us set aside personal ambition, let us set aside hatred,” the WPA leader said.
In 2011, after he had coalesced with the PNC he announced to the surprise of his colleagues in the WPA, including Eusi Kwayana, who just observed his 90th birthday, that Rodney was collect-
Search intensifies for missing miner
By IndrawattIe natram
The Benjamin family of Coffee Grove Village in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) has intensified its search of the Lower Pomeroon River for missing miner 22-year-old Kelton Benjamin.
It is feared that Benjamin may have drowned after two boats collided in the vicinity of Charity on Sunday around 19:30h.
Following the incident, the family decided to hire a private diver to retrieve Benjamin’s body. Searches thus far reportedly proved futile.
Thirty-six-year-old Owen Gonsalves, of Grant Experience, Lower Pomeroon, the captain of the boat that collided with Benjamin’s boat, is presently in Police custody assisting with the investigation.
also assisting with the investigation.
According to Gonsalves, he was venturing to Charity on his boat, which was powered by a 200-horsepower engine, with six passengers when he was hit by Frazer’s boat. He said that no one in his boat was hurt, but Frazer’s boat engine came off.
He related that after the collision he went over and rendered assistance to Frazer’s passengers. Gonsalves added that the passengers from the other boat began to panic and scream after they learnt the young miner was missing.
Gonsalves said at that point he immediately made a report to the Charity Police Station. Gonsalves has been a boat captain for one year.
Meanwhile, one of the survivors and Benjamin’s sister, Keralisa, confirmed pandemonium broke out after the inci-
Bharry Frazer, who was the captain of the other boat, sustained minor injuries to his left foot. He was taken to the Charity Oscar Joseph Hospital where he was treated and later sent home. He is
dent occurred.
“We were all in the boat, when another boat hit us, the impact resulted into my brother pitching out, he was plunged into the river and began to go down. It was dark,
no lights, we were going to a church concert,” the sister related.
Keralisa said all that she recalled was the other boat rushing into their boat.
The passengers were rescued about one hour after the
entire ordeal began. Although the Police were informed about the incident, they could not help, because the station has no “police boat” and they usually depended on private individuals.
ing guns to stage a “rebellion” against the PNC government of Forbes Burnham. This offered David Granger, then the Force Commander of the GDF to declare that the Disciplined Forces were justified in taking action against Rodney. Gregory Smith, the man accused of assassinating Rodney was a sergeant in the GDF.
According to the Roopnarine who was replaced as the Prime Ministerial Candidate by Moses Nagamootoo, who had promised to deliver “11% Indian
votes” to APNU, the PPP has reduced the country to conditions that are unimaginably depraved and it is on May 11 that the opportunity will be provided for the revolt against “depravity” and “abomination” so that a new and better Guyana can be built. “May 11 must be revolution day.
According to the Member of Parliament, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has reduced the country to conditions that are unimaginably depraved and it is on May 11 that the opportunity will be provided for the revolt against “depravity” and “abomination” so that a new and better Guyana can be built. “May 11 must be Revolution Day”. He admitted that while it will take “hard work, intelligence and all of our energy” to rebuild the country, should the coalition win the elections, it was determined to put its “shoulders to the wheel and work for as long as is necessary, into the night to ensure that we bring about the Guyana which our parents and grandparents dreamed about for us and which we must build for our children”.
Dr Rupert Roopnaraine
One of the boats involved in the collision without its engine
Captain Owen Gonsalves Missing: Kelton Benjamin
Granger classless when compared to Harper – Selman
By Svetlana MarShall
Presidential Candidate of the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), David Granger is in no class with the Prime Ministerial Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Elisabeth Harper.
This is according to former APNU Member Africo Selman, who has now thrown her support behind the PPP/C. Selman is among persons who have come out in full support of Harper following a vicious attack on her character by APNU+AFC Prime Ministerial Candidate Moses Nagamootoo.
“Elisabeth Harper is a woman of great integrity who would have
served this country with much pride as the Director General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry,” Selman said in response to Nagamootoo, who sought to belittle Harper for being a victim of domestic abuse in her earlier years.
Selma said Granger’s failure to rebuke Nagamootoo publicly sent a clear message that he was in full support of the sentiments expressed by the AFC Executive.
“His silence supports my view that David Granger has always been an antiwomen, anti-youth, anti-development leader.”
According to the aggrieved politician, prior to 2011 Granger was not popular in the political arena, noting that it was after being handpicked by the former leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Robert Corbin, that he became popular. However, she opined that Granger’s popularity has been built on deceit.
“His track record as a politician is quite poor. In fact, he is one of the worst leaders we have ever had,” Selman further opined.
In addition to Selman, Human Services and Social Security Minister Jenifer Webster and Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy have publicly defended the character and work of Harper.
Webster said Nagamootoo was disrespectful in his attempt to score cheap political points off of the highly-regarded diplomat. She noted that the comments Nagamootoo made regarding Harper being a domestic violence survivor and taking such a stance were “uncouth and unwarranted”.
“The recent attack on the PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candidate, Mrs Elisabeth Harper by the Prime
Ministerial Candidate of the APNU/AFC coalition, Moses Nagamootoo where he said at a recent rally in Berbice: ‘this Harper lady wants to be Prime Minister because she was a victim of domestic violence’ is unwarranted. Mr Nagamootoo was facetious in an effort to
score political points,” she told media operatives during a recent press conference.
Well-respected Dr Ramsammy asserted that Harper was a woman who has held the respect of many for the past years and as such, has the Party’s full support in her bid as the PPP/C’s Prime Ministerial Candidate.
Harper, 57, who hails from Kitty, Greater Georgetown, has worked in the Foreign Service for decades. If the incumbent party secures re-election, she will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who has held that position since 1992 when the PPP/C was voted into office for the first time in 28 years.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in French from the University of Guyana as well as the title of the Best Graduating Student (19811986) as well as a Certificate in Diplomatic Studies from
the University of Oxford, England.
The PM candidate, who was awarded the Golden Achievement Award, began her career at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1976 as a Registry Clerk, and worked her way up to Director General at the Ministry.
She had previously served as Director of the Department of the Americas
and Asia at the Ministry from 1996 to 2001, as a Consular Officer at the Guyana High Commission in London 1991-1995, and Head of the Frontier Division 1990-1991.
She has been a member of Guyana’s delegation to various meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom); the Latin American Economic System; the Association of Caribbean States (ACS); the United Nations (UN); the Commonwealth; and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR); among others.
Harper has served in several other positions as Ambassador to Caricom (2003 to present); Nonresident High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago (2003-present); Nonresident High Commissioner to Barbados (2004-present); Non-resident High Commissioner to Grenada (2006-present); and Nonresident High Commissioner to St Kitts and Nevis.
Rape should not be a taboo subject – NGO urges
Given that Guyana is very much still a conservative society, rape still remains a taboo subject.
This was recently pointed out by local NonGovernmental Organisation (NGO), The Caribbean Voice (TCV), which urged that the issue and incidents of rape be discussed more openly.
International studies reveal that almost half of rape victims blame themselves for the incident, instead of blaming their rapists.
This is particularly true when the rape happens between friends or spouses and because of this, the prevalence of the under-reporting of this crime comes as no surprise.
While TCV acknowledged that rape incidents are vastly underreported on a global scale, it noted that the situation is much worse in Guyana given the taboo.
“In Guyana, rape is still considered taboo, too shameful to be made publicly known,” the NGO stated in a press release.
This sad reality, the TCV notes, needs to be changed.
According to the NGO, certain families try to cover up the horrific occurrence for they believe it is a disgrace to be closely related to someone who went through such an experience.
The TCV highlighted that it was doing much “behind the scenes” work by reaching out to families and engaging in casual discussions about rape and related situations with the aim of educating them on what to do in those circumstances.
Nonetheless, the NGO noted that it could not do it alone, and called on all the relevant bodies to reach out to families with the bigger
aim of ending the taboo on rape discussions.
Disturbing trends
Amid all of this, the TCV said more disturbing trends have emerged.
“The rape/murder of the elderly is one such trend. Another is the rape, resulting in serious injuries, to small children less than 10 years old and as young as a few months old. A third trend is the rape of teenagers, many of whom end up pregnant, forever changing their lives and often times putting an end to dreams and aspirations. In most cases, sex may have been consensual but the reality is that sex with anyone under 16 is statutory rape,” the TCV pointed out.
On that note, the NGO mentioned the issue of the law.
“While there is legislation pertaining to rape, with the Sexual Offences Act being completed in 2012, the conviction rate is abysmally low…,” the statement read.
The TCV recognised that this was as a result of a number of reasons, including the “lack of rape kits at hospitals, flimsy evidence, an inefficient jury system, shoddy prosecution of such cases, reluctance of victims to give testimony, and discontinuance of cases owning to unwillingness of victims to pursue.”
Additionally, the NGO related that in some cases, the victims are “bought off”, with the Police often fostering a deal for a commission.
“Sometimes families are also bought off after being intimidated, especially if the rapist is politically connected or comes from a family with status and influence,” the TCV stated.
It noted that there have been at least eight reported cases of elderly women found murdered subsequent to being raped.
In fact, the NGO noted that sexual violence crimes against women in Guyana are escalating.
Referring to reports in the local newspapers, the TCV pointed out that, from January to September 2014, Police statistics indicate that there were more than 140 cases of rape reported, while from January to July 2013, there were 179 reported cases.
Meanwhile, the TCV revealed that a 2007 report by the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) analysed sexual crimes between 2000 and 2004 and found that 92 per cent of all victims were females, 43 per cent were in the 12-15 age group, and 26 per cent were in the 1-12 age group. It also found that Amerindian girls between 12 and 16 years old were the most vulnerable group nationally.
In fact, the 2007 GHRA report found that more than two thirds of sexual assault crimes occurred in the homes of the victims while three out of four perpetrators were known to victims and one in every five perpetrators were related to their victims.
In light of these realities, the TCV recognised that there is little protection against rapists for communities across Guyana.
In attempting to change this reality, the TCV, in collaboration with the Save Abee Foundation, is promoting an online petition aimed at the Government of Guyana for the establishment of a registry of sex offenders in Guyana.
PPP/C Prime Minister Candidate Elisabeth Harper
APNU+AFC Presidential Candidate David Granger
Former APNU Member Africo Selman
Guyanese celebrate
In the capital city, Georgetown and across the country, the sky was transformed into a kaleidoscope of colours with kites which danced to the tune of the wind, bringing to an end the festive season of Easter.
The holiday, which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is usually celebrated in Guyana with religious services, kite-flying and picnicking at various parks and beaches.
In Georgetown, the Everest Cricket Club Ground, the National Park, the Education Ministry Ground, the Botanical Gardens and the seawall were packed with families. Kites of all sizes, colours and shapes filled the air as children and adults raised them high.
From the rising of the sun, vendors were seen building their tents in anticipation of a great business day. But it was not long before they were followed by those who simply wanted to fly their kites.
At the Education Ministry Ground, the Guyana Times caught up with several persons who indicated that they were not just flying their kites, but celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hence, they said it was important to keep the tradition alive, noting that Easter was a season of togetherness.
At the National Park, the excitement of the holiday was more evident, as the sky above it was filled with an assortment of kites. Children were also engaged in a number of sports such as football and cricket. A number of overseas-based Guyanese expressed their joy in visiting Guyana
during the festive season.
“I’m here on vacation and I’m just enjoying the holiday with friends and family,” Stella Couchman said.
Additionally, scores of tourists were there enjoying themselves. Erika St John, a visitor for the second time, expressed her admiration for the cultural aspect. “It’s my second time in the country, but my first Easter. I’m trying to send the kite up, so it’s a learning experience,” she said.
Vishnu Persaud, who was also at the National Park, told this publication that it is traditional for him to celebrate the festive season of Easter with his family and friends.
Unity
“Easter is about unity and just as how we have unity now, I hope it is the same on May 11 and even after the elections. I strongly believe that despite who wins, peace should prevail because we ought to live by our motto: ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’,” Persaud said.
One magnificent kite that caught the eyes of many at the Everest Ground was one signifying the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). Nicholas (only name given) noted that it took him three days to build the 13-foot kite. He explained that every year he increases the size of the kite.
Meanwhile, at the Botanical Gardens, hundreds turned out with their friends and families to celebrate the religious festival. In the sky, hundreds of kites were seen dancing in the wind
while the heard echoing Gardens gaged in of food and
flying their enough myself just ful and Cathalina Meanwhile, Region Two also transformed their kites Families fields, seawalls festive season, The including Anna Regina, seen clad At Charity, persons tomary than usual Easter shopping. The Purple ing themselves Soca music. for Easter ent.
A sweetheart is introduced to kite flying very early in life
This little man appears to be shy as he receives his Spider-Man kite from Opposition Leader David Granger
A family who just arrived for a fun day in the National Park
A maelstrom of activity at the National Park
The Botanical Gardens was filled with kite-flyers and picnickers on Easter Monday
These children seem to be getting ready to fly
Education Minister Priya Manickchand having a chat with two youngsters about kite flying safety
Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali with young people on the Essequibo Coast
7, 2015 |
celebrate Easter in style
enjoyStella there enfor the the culcountry, kite up, National traditional Easter how we May 11 believe prevail bePeople, the eyes signify(PPP/C). it took He exsize of Gardens, hunfamilies the sky, the wind
while the voices of the ecstatic children were heard echoing in the air. The grounds of the Gardens were filled with families who were engaged in loud chatter while feasting on a variety of food and drinks prepared specially for the day.
“Just watching all these beautiful children flying their kites and just being children is good enough for me. I came here and I’m enjoying myself just going with the flow. I ate my bellyful and I’m having a wonderful time,” a smiling Cathalina King told the Guyana Times.
Meanwhile, in the Cinderella County of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), the sky was also transformed as thousands of persons raised their kites at different locations.
Families converged at various beaches, playfields, seawalls and open spaces to celebrate the festive season, flying their kites and picnicking.
The Guyana Times visited several villages, including Charity, Golden Fleece, Abrams Zuil, Anna Regina, and Suddie where persons were seen clad in colourful outfits flying their kites.
At Charity, the market area was packed with persons walking and shopping for kites. The customary Monday market at Charity was busier than usual with persons doing their last-minute Easter shopping.
The clubs at Charity, namely Xenon and Purple Heart, were packed with persons enjoying themselves dancing to various Chutney and Soca music. Every year these clubs are hot spots for Easter activities and this year was no different.
At Anna Regina, many persons erected barbecue stalls capitalising on the season. Sellers were seen as early as 09:00h erecting makeshift tents, while families began arriving at the seawall around 13:00h.
Kites of all colours, sizes and shapes dotted the air at Golden Fleece seawall as both adults and children joined in the celebration. Children were competing with each other to see who would have raised their kites the highest.
Others visited the beach and socialised with their friends.
Over in Berbice, residents went to various parks, grounds and beaches to celebrate Easter, flying kites and picnicking. The number one spot in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) was the Number 63 Beach where thousands of Guyanese and visitors from overseas converged. Despite the rise of the tide before 16:00h, it was still a picnic atmosphere with persons willing to share with friends and strangers.
Also on the Corentyne, thousands converged at the Rose Hall Beach where many flew kites or frolicked in the water. In New Amsterdam, there were no beaches, sand or sea but the fun, music and picnics were the same. The savannah at Fort Ordinance in East Canje was a similar sight.
Some persons also erected stalls and cashed in on the sale of barbecue and other food items while others danced to the music coming from big music boxes. In Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), persons flocked the Belladrum and Dundy beaches, as well as the Number Five Village Ball Field.
At 13 feet, this high flyer proudly shows support for the PPP/C
Kite flying at Golden Fleece beach, Essequibo Coast
National Park
It was a day of sun, frolicking and simple relaxation as Guyanese camped out at the National Park
Essequibo Coast
The Number 63 Beach was an excellent place for kite flying
BV fire leaves 2 homeless, counting losses
By Gomatie GanGadin
While many were celebrating, a mother and her son were making alternative living arrangements after their Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara home was destroyed by an early morn-
ing fire on Easter Monday. According to reports received by the Guyana Times, smoke was observed emanating from the twostorey building located at Section 6B Republic Drive, Beterverwagting around 12:30h on Monday.
Bernadette Hinds, owner of the house, related that she had left home less than five minutes prior to the fire to visit a friend when she received a call informing her of the blaze.
“I left the house like five minutes before and by the time I reach by my girlfriend to tell her that I’m supposed to be getting some stuff for her, somebody come and call me and said ‘Come quick! Come quick! Your house is on fire!’ and by time I got here, public-spirited citizens and my neighbours had already broken the lock and were putting the fire out,” she noted.
Meanwhile, Kwame Fortune, a neighbour who quickly responded to the fire and assisted in keeping it under control until the Fire Service responded, related what he saw.
“Well, I was in the house doing some work and I hear someone come in and say ‘”fire” and when I look over, I saw the fire. I have a reservoir of water which I store for these purposes basically and I just run the hose over to the house and tried to concentrate on getting the fire out,” Fortune said.
It is believed that the fire was caused by a faulty electrical outlet in the house leading to the refrigerator.
While the woman is counting her losses, she remains thankful that much damage was not done.
“I can always start again. Thank God for life... that’s the most important thing.”
Armed bandits rob Sleepin Hotel on Church St
The staff and guests at the Sleepin Hotel on Church Street, Georgetown, were left traumatised on Easter Monday after bandits carried out a brazen daylight robbery at the business place. The incident occurred around 12:15h.
According to information received, two bandits; one of whom was armed with a handgun, stormed the hotel, robbing the receptionist of over $450,000 in cash. The men pulled up in a silvergrey motor car and entered the hotel posing as customers. There was reportedly another perpetrator who was awaiting the motor car. Guyana Times was made to understand that the armed man pulled out a revolver as he and another en-
NDCs not distributing Clean-Up Campaign bins
– Whittaker says they have a week to do so
Several residents are complaining about the lack of bins in their communities although garbage receptacles were distributed to all Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in the country.
According to the residents, some NDCs are slowly distributing the bins, although they would have received them several months ago.
Twenty-five bins were given to each NDC last year after the Local Government Ministry launched its Clean-Up Campaign last July, involving communities throughout the country.
With the hope of keeping the environment clean, the Ministry thought it best to distribute the bins to the NDCs so they would have been placed at strategic locations.
Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker, when contacted, confirmed that his Ministry has been receiving complaints about the slothfulness of the NDCs in distributing the bins.
He said that the issue was being ad-
dressed by his Ministry, noting that all NDCs were given notice that the bins must be distributed within a week. He explained that 75 bins were given to each municipality, while 25 were given to each NDC. He said that the local bodies were advised to have the
bins placed in public spaces.
The Clean-Up Campaign is said to be in its final stage. The campaign has been a great incentive for Guyanese all across the country who were edified on the importance of proper garbage disposal.
tered the receptionist’s area through the door, which is usually left open. The men took all the cash from the register and a quantity of phone cards before escaping. The perpetrators threatened to kill the staff members if they tried to raise an alarm. Luckily, none of three staff in the lobby at the time were harmed during the ordeal.
Owner of the hotel Clifton Bacchus related that after he was informed about the robbery by the receptionist, he immediately went down to the business place. “I left everything I was doing and within a minute I was here.
I see everybody crying, obviously they were distressed and then she (receptionist) tell me that they gone with all the money she had in the draw,” Bacchus related.
According to the owner, he enquired about the safety of his staff after which he alerted the Police. He praised the Guyana Police Force for their timely response, noting that two patrol ranks on a motor bike arrived at the hotel about a minute after the telephone
report was made at the Brickdam Police Station.
CCTV surveillance footage of the robbery was obtained and handed over to the authorities. However, the businessman pointed out that one of the bandits can be is recognizable, as such he is imploring persons who know the perpetrators to alert the Police. “Anybody who knows these guys and see the surveillance footage will be able to recognise these guys. You really can’t get a clear view of their faces but the way they look and dressed, persons who know them can recognise them,” he outlined.
Bacchus was grateful that even though the hotel is fully booked, none of the guests were in the lobby at the time. He noted that most of them were out engaging in Easter activities.
Meanwhile, the receptionist was too traumatised to talk to this newspaper in detail, saying that she cannot even remember how the incident happened as she was still trying to “catch” herself.
Guyana Times was told that there were no security guards at the hotel at the time of the robbery. This publication was also shown the footage, which captures the men pulling up in the car and calming entering the hotel. They walked up to the counter before making their way behind the counter where two of the staff were.
In the footage, one of the men had a gun pointed at the receptionist while the other quickly emptied the cash drawer before calmingly walking out the building. This publication was made to understand also that this is the third time the hotel was robbed. The last time, the perpetrator was caught and sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Cummings Lodge man executed at South Ruimveldt
Aman was on Monday morning found with at least three bullet wounds to his head at Busta Bridge, South Ruimveldt.
The man is suspected to be a victim of an executionstyle killing. He was identified as Quincy Bowman, 31, of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara.
The discovery was made about 05:30h by passersby.
Police in a release stated that the man was clad in a pair of three-quarter white pants, burgundy hood top
and a pair of white and blue Nike sneakers.
According to sources, the man might not be a resident of the area and might have been dumped there. Investigators have since ruled out robbery as a motive, since the deceased’s mobile phone and other personal items were intact, including his wallet with money.
The body was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Mortuary awaiting a post-mortem.
The bandits in the process of robbing the Sleepin Hotel on Church Street
The charred interior of the BV house after the fire
Some of the bins that were distributed to the NDCs
Kenya bombs Somalia al-Shabab bases after Garissa attack
Kenyan fighter jets have bombed positions of militant Islamist group al-Shabab in neighbouring Somalia, a military spokesman has told the BBC.
The warplanes had targeted two camps in the Gedo region, used by alShabab to cross into Kenya, the spokesman added. This is Kenya’s first response to the al-Shabab assault which left 148 people dead at Garissa University last week.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had vowed to respond to the attack “in the severest way possible”. Kenyan army spokesman David Obonyo told the BBC that the military had responded to “threats” by launching the air strikes on Sunday night in the remote region.
Two camps had been destroyed, he said, adding: “The bombings are part of the continued process and engagement against alShabab, which will go on.”
But an eyewitness, speaking to BBC Somali, said the attack had wounded three civilians, and destroyed livestock and wells in an area without an alShabab presence.
The attack on Garissa University, about 150km (90 miles) from the Somali border, was the deadliest by al-Shabab in Kenya. The alQaeda affiliate says it is at war with Kenya, and wants it to withdraw troops sent to Somalia in 2011 to help the weak government in Mogadishu fight the militants. (Excerpt from BBC News)
Lufthansa says not obligated to report crash pilot’s medical record
Lufthansa said on Monday it was not required to inform German aviation authorities about Andreas Lubitz’s former depression because he qualified as a pilot before stricter reporting rules went into effect in 2013.
Lubitz, a co-pilot at Lufthansa’s budget division Germanwings, is believed to have deliberately crashed a plane into the French Alps and killed 150 people.
The question of what Lufthansa knew about any psychiatric problems may be a factor in its liabili-
ty in the crash. Germany’s Allianz estimates that insurers will end up paying US$300 million in claims and costs related to the crash.
Lubitz broke off pilot training for several months in 2009. When he resumed his training, he told the Lufthansa pilot instructors by email he had overcome a period of severe depression. He was first certified to fly commercial planes in 2012.
Under European regulations, pilots with psychiatric conditions should be referred to the licensing au-
thority by aeromedical examiners, who may then decide to restrict the pilot’s licence.
The Luftfahrtbundesamt (LBA), the relevant German authority, on Sunday said it had “no information at all” before the crash about Lubitz’s depression. Lufthansa said that a provision in the new regulation, introduced in Germany in April 2013, safeguarded certain pre-existing fit-tofly certificates and medical certificates issued by specialised aviation doctors.
(Excerpt from Reuters)
Mexico oil rig fire: Pemex searches for
missing men
Mexico’s state-run energy firm Pemex says it is still searching for three workers who went missing after a fire at an offshore oil platform. Four people were killed in Wednesday’s fire, the cause of which is unknown.
More than 300 workers had to be evacuated from the rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
Daily production in the area fell from 650,000 barrels to 430,000 barrels, a company official said, losing Pemex close to US$10 million (£6.7 million) a day.
Pemex’s director of exploration and production said it was difficult to restore production because of the large number of pipelines which had been affected.
The fire broke out at the Abkatun A-Permanente complex in the Campeche Sound.
One survivor described how workers had “jumped
into the sea out of desperation and panic”. It took eight firefighting boats to quell the blaze.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said there would be a thorough investigation into what had caused the fire.
Pemex said that while the accident had caused some oil to run off into the
Around the World
Cuba says Obama’s steps to ease embargo ‘insufficient’
Cuba’s Trade Minister said Monday that US President Barack Obama’s moves to ease the five-decade embargo on the communist island are “incomplete and insufficient.”
With Obama heading toward a potentially historic meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro this week, Trade and Foreign Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca criticised the US leader’s limited steps toward easing the crippling trade and financial embargo the United States has maintained on Cuba since 1962.
After the old Cold War
foes announced a historic rapprochement on December 17, 2014 Obama loosened several components of the embargo, allowing more travel from the United States to Cuba, raising the limit on cash remittances to the island and easing restrictions on certain kinds of trade, among other measures.
“The measures Obama ordered are incomplete and insufficient, and do not change the essence of this unilateral measure taken by the US Government against Cuba,” Malmierca told state newspaper Granma.
He said the measures
were a “step in the right direction” but did not go far enough toward ending the embargo.
Obama “has vast prerogatives – far beyond the measures approved last January – that he could use to make substantive steps toward normalizing bilateral relations,” he said. He called on Washington to allow Havana to use dollars for international transactions and clear the way for Cuban exports to the United States beyond the small quantities of rum and cigars that Obama allowed travellers to bring back from the island. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)
China paraxylene chemical plant hit by explosion
An explosion has ripped through a chemical plant in south-eastern China’s Fujian province, sparking a major fire. The blast occurred on Monday evening at the plant in Zhangzhou. State news agency Xinhua reported one injury.
The plant produces paraxylene (PX), a flammable chemical used in polyester and plastics manufacturing. The location of PX plants in China has sparked protests from residents, including violent demonstrations last year in Guangdong province.
Many residents fear pollution from the plants is hazardous to health.
The South China Morning Post reported that this was the second blast at the plant in two years.
The plant in Zhangzhou is operated by Dragon Aromatics, one of the largest independent PX producers in China. It has not yet commented. China Central
Television (CCTV) carried footage of the fire, with flames shooting into the air, but provided few details.
Xinhua said the blast occurred at about 19:00 local time (11:00 GMT) in a pumping station. The Zhangzhou fire department said about 430 fire-fighters were at the scene.
The Post quoted one resident who lives across the
harbour from the plant, about 10km (six miles) away, who said his flat shook with the explosion.
Lin Chen told the paper: “I heard a loud bang at home. Everyone in my county saw it. The plant was burning. We can still see it. But I don’t smell anything weird now. I think it’s because we’re upwind.” (Excerpt from BBC News)
1 transgender gang-raped, two killed in North-West Pakistan – Police
Asea, a “considerable oil spill” had been averted.
In 1979, a blowout at a Pemex well in the Campeche Sound led to one of the worst oil spills in history. It took Pemex more than nine months to stop the leak, during which time the oil travelled as far as the Texas shoreline. (BBC News)
rmed men in NorthWest Pakistan abducted and gangraped a transgender person on Monday after killing two others in a predawn incident, Police said. The incident took place in the Yar Hussain neighbourhood of Swabi district, where a group of transgenders was returning home after performing a music and dance show at a wedding party. Sajjad Khan, District Police Chief of Swabi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the men were waiting for them in a field and tried to abduct all of them
but they refused.
“The attackers opened fire after the refusal.
One transgender and one drummer died on the spot while another was wounded,” Khan said. The armed men then abducted one transgender who was released hours later, Khan said.
“The victim told Police that he was set free after being gang-raped by four persons,” the Police Officer added. Police later raided separate locations and arrested six suspects, charging them with murder and gang-rape, Khan said.
A second Police Official in the area confirmed the incident and told AFP the six detainees often attended the shows by the transgender group.
“These men were fond of transgenders and used to regularly attend their music and dance shows,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
In conservative Muslim Pakistan, where sexual relations outside marriage are taboo and homosexuality is illegal, transgender dancers and musicians often perform at weddings and birth celebrations
(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)
Al-Shabab says it is at war with Kenya
More than 300 workers had to be evacuated from the Abkatun A-Permanente rig
The location of PX plants has sparked protests in China
tuesday, april 7, 2015| guyanatimesgy.com
Elisabeth Harper lauds progress under PPP/C
Despite the continuous blame attributed to the People’s Progressive Party /Civic (PPP/C) Administration for the hindered progress within the country, the Party’s Prime Ministerial Candidate Elisabeth Harper composedly responded to those negative statements thrown by certain sections of society.
Harper was at the time being interviewed on a popular talk show programme “Hard Talk”, which was aired on Sunday.
She noted that over the last two decades, the PPP/C Administration has made significant strides in developing Guyana.
On that note, she indicated her bewilderment at those who say otherwise when there were clear indications of progress within the nation.
“You can look around and you can see the housing sector in particular is tangible evidence of progress in the housing industry … We’ve seen improvements in the health and educational fields, and the infrastructural development has also been improved over the last few years, so I would say these are some of the most
tangible evidence of progress,” Harper pointed out.
In addition, Harper underscored the progress made with regard to the development of youths who are now able to own their homes. She also noted that Guyana succeeded in overriding the economic crises that recently struck the world and greatly affected many of Guyana’s neighbours – another clear indication of progress.
These developments, Harper said, contributed to her decision to accept the position of the Prime Ministerial Candidate.
“I could see the progress being made in the country over the last two decades. I was in a position to see how the policies were being formulated that could bring that progress and, therefore, I felt that the opportunity that this could present to me could allow me to be a part of that policy formation and allow me to contribute my service to that progress,” Harper disclosed.
Challenges
In acknowledging the criticisms thrown at the Government, Harper agreed that some may be genuine in
nature. She explained that the PPP/C was not insensitive to the fact that there still existed many challenges in the systems.
“I would want to look at it differently, because you would have to understand that whatever you set out to
do, you might attempt to do it, you might get to a certain level, everything that you do, you always say at the end of the day that “you know, I can do this better,” she related, suggesting that everyone learns
of better practices and methods along the way.
Consequently, she disclosed that the PPP/C has recognised these hindrances in progress and, therefore, outlined in its manifesto, strategies to further strengthen existing policies and to develop new policies that will surely contribute to Guyana’s progress.
Some of those include fixing the challenges in the health sector. Harper recognised that many have to wait for extended periods of time at the country’s primary healthcare provider, the Georgetown Public Hospital, before being attended to. Additionally, the level of care needs improving and the issue of maternal deaths needs more attention in order to see more reduction. Harper disclosed that moves are afoot to address those concerns, pointing out the recent investment made into the expansion of the maternal wing of the hospital. She also said that the Health Ministry was looking at its systems and was in the process of training nurses to improve the health care provided at facilities countrywide.
In relation to the living
conditions and infrastructural development, Harper said the Government recognised that more needed to be done to ensure facilities were in place to go with the housing development, including the installation of street lights and the construction of better roads.
Moving on to the issue of security and the alarmingly high rates of crime in Guyana, Harper acknowledged that the system was weak in that persons in danger can rarely get through to the 911 emergency number.
Nonetheless, she pointed out that the newly-launched 15-point crime plan was a step in the right direction in strengthening the country’s battle against crime.
While she said the Government had a critical role to play in this fight, she noted too that the entire society should develop zero tolerance for crime.
Far from reality
In responding to the comments regarding her “professional and cultured” reputation given her becoming involved with the PPP/C, Harper indicated that they were far from reality.
In fact, the People’s National Congress Reformled A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change coalition Leader David Granger has said: “We do not feel that Ambassador Harper’s appointment is sufficient to correct the damage that has been done by the PPP/C to this country. If that is what they were hoping, the PPP/C has a very bad image for transparency and accountability and lack of democracy and I think by associating herself with the PPP/C, it will do her reputation no good and I do not know what the PPP/C expects to gain from it.” In direct response to that, Harper said that she understood and accepted that everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
“They have the right to express their own view. He is in his grounds to share his views… my focus really is to speak to the electorate,” she said.
“The position I have accepted is one that I find to be an honourable one. It is one that would allow me to serve the peoples of Guyana in a higher capacity…,” she contended.
Politics is not about personality, it’s about ideas – Minister Edghill
Minister within the Ministry of Finance Juan Edghill sounded a timely reminder that politics is not about personality but rather a contest of ideas, what is the vision for Guyana and of course, the team best suited for the implementation of that vision.
Speaking on a recent Political Scope programme on the National Communications Network, he detailed that “We, the PPP/C, have to be able to elevate the political discourse, and I must say from the very beginning that the PPP/C has been the pace-setter, elevating our campaign to deal with issues.” He reminded that President Donald Ramotar and Prime Ministerial Candidate Elisabeth Harper, at Kitty, spoke to issues, contents of the manifesto, and the contract that the PPP/C is prepared to make with the people of Guyana, once it is reelected to office, come May 11.
The Minister recalled that Ambassador Harper highlighted all the things she will personally push for, as part of her agenda. As regards President Donald Ramotar, the Minister recapped how the leader took the time to articulate his vision for Guyana, and also how we will continue the modernisation of Guyana.
This kind of commitment from the duo led to a challenge from Minister Juan Edghill. His dare to the Opposition was unflinching, stating that he wants all the political parties, particularly the AFC+APNU (Alliance for Change+A Partnership for National Unity Coalition), to have a contest of ideas and “let’s stay away from what we have been seeing, as I am particularly disgusted by the level of bitterness.”
For the Minister, this is the rhetoric that is coming from the platforms of the Opposition speakers, “especially the unwanted, unjustified and vulgar attacks against Former
President Bharrat Jagdeo.”
Edghill declared that even though this is the political season, it does not mean that “you should throw stones at others”.
PPP/C’s line of action-substance
Minister Edghill pointed to the fact that in terms of salvaging sugar, President Donald Ramotar has already indicated that “we will put an additional $20 billion and what it will be used for and how we will take sugar further.”
Where rice is concerned, the Minister indicated that the PPP/C will be working to ensure price stabilisation and that rice farmers be assured of the price they will get for their paddy.
“So, when we talk about saving rice, it is not just a line that we are using, we are outlining the strategy. When we talk about security, President Ramotar has outlined to the entire nation, his ‘15 points’ to improve security in the country. When we talk about improving education, we have already articulated our vision and strategic plans on the things we are doing and what will be done,” Minister Edghill stated.
Minister Edghill also addressed the issue of employment, declaring that creating jobs for young people is not about “a pipe dream and an ice-cream promise.” He explained that the PPP/C has shown that it is growing the information, communication, and technology sectors, as “we have just commissioned Qualfon (because) an enabling environment was created by the PPP/C Administration, growing it from Beterverwagting to Goedverwagting, and now to a massive campus, that will attract 6000 jobs, in a five-year period at Providence.” He added that the enabling environment has seen Teleperformance coming to Guyana, with the possibility of another 1500 jobs and “so when
we talk about creating jobs for young people, we are showing the young people the sectors that we will create those jobs, and the accompanying opportunities that exist.”
Minister Edghill expanded his job argument, noting that tourism, with Guyana’s brand of eco-tourism, will be advanced, as “we are setting the tone to ensure that tourism becomes a new and emerging sector, and the Marriott will be opened shortly, the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, we are doing that, and we are articulating that. So, we are not just telling young people we will give you jobs.”
Irresponsible
The Minister brought up the subject of university graduates and job offers, as the APNU+AFC coalition promised, that in the first hundred days of a new Government, all university graduates will get jobs. According to him, this is a highly irresponsible and reckless statement to be made on a campaign trail.
The Minister said that the APNU/AFC is not seeking to support job creation, as through the mechanisms that the Government has been initiating in the Tenth Parliament, “they, the Opposition, voted to block all these things that would have created jobs.”
Instead, opined the Minister, “What are they proposing to do in the first hundred days should they be in government, is to ‘fire’ people so they could be replaced with the university graduates.” because in 100 days, he asked “where will you get the jobs?”
He reiterated that “it is a pipe dream to be promising young people jobs in the first 100 days of your new administration supposedly if they think they will win.”
The Minister recapped that every attempt to create real jobs for young people, in the last three years, the Opposition
blocked it. He singled out that the Amaila Hydro Electric Power project was not only good for Guyana, because it will provide reliable, renewable and cheap energy, but also of what it will do across board. He showed that with the Amaila, there is a serious take off in three sectors: expanded manufacturing because the cost of energy will be cheaper; ago processing, so the things we are seeing wasting on the roads by our markets, our fruits and vegetables could be processed;, package and canned preserved because electricity will be cheaper; and of course, the move toward industrialising.
He extended his list of betterment for Guyana by mentioning the PPP/C’s intention to move ahead with oil and gas, pointing out that President Ramotar took time to emphasise that apart from the new and emerging sectors that we are focusing on, “we will continue to work and consolidate on the traditional sectors-rice, sugar, bauxite, gold.”
PPP/C’s focus
Minister Edghill explained that while some people in Guyana are saying that there is no need to talk to the Guyanese people about the 28 years of the PNC, “of course a lot of them are saying so, because they want to cover and hide the misgivings and the failures and the shameful past of the PNC.” He reminded all that “the PNC, they don’t want you to talk about that, but at the 10th Parliament, the last three years, we are having in election in May 2015, as against November, December or January 2016 or 2017, since elections would have been constitutionally due then.”
The Minister reminded Guyanese that “they have to make a choice between a government that has brought to them, to their doorstep, to the reach of their arms and hands, development, prosperity, and the possibility of a bright future,
living in a modern Guyana, a Guyana that is safe for them and their children.”
On the other side, he explained, “there is the Opposition, that has been reckless, irrational, irresponsible, vindictive… over the last three years, and Opposition, they have robbed Guyana from real growth and development and progress.”
Minister Edghill stated that he had challenged the Opposition in Region 10, asking that they come and explain what they would have done with the votes they got there. It should be noted that the opposition had 80 per cent of the votes in Region 10 in 2011, and in this setting, the Minister wanted to be shown “one thing that they would have used that ‘majority of one’ in the Parliament to do, to benefit the people of Region 10.” Instead, he recalled how APNU and AFC blocked everything.
On the PPP/C’s side, the Minister articulated that in Region 10, “we have built new schools; upgraded the Upper Demerara Hospital; built a new teacher’s quarters at 58 Miles, Mabura; put in a US$12.2 million Water Treatment plant facility in Linden – all of that in a community where 80 per cent of the persons voted against the Government and (yet) while we are seeking to do that, the Opposition is busy blocking, preventing, cutting.”
The Minister detailed that when the Opposition had the real opportunity for the development of young people, they combined and denied them benefits by “cutting the budgeted $450 million for the students loan, to help young people to get a quality, tertiary education, you used young people as collateral damage by cutting $450 million from the budget, and when the Finance Minister started restoring the money, so that young people could get the loans to go and study, you moved a motion of no-confidence to bring the Government down.”
No character Minister Edghill touched on the topic of ‘character’ within the framework of politics. He enlightened that “you cannot bring down hydroelectricity, and now, when you are trying to look at your numbers, to see if you will get elected, you are saying “oh we will probably build electricity.” This same line of thinking was in the Minister’s words when he exposed what APNU and AFC are trying to do with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuco).
He showed that because GuySuco is going through a dark period now, and the Government is seeking to provide support, the coalition is saying that is “putting money in a black hole.”
He also recalled the debates in Parliament, over the last three years when “they were talking about closing it down, but (that) the sugar workers also heard President Ramotar, Minister Leslie Ramsammy and Dr Ashni Singh expound on all the efforts that the PPP/C is doing to save sugar, and our commitment to the sugar industry.”
The Minister added that when the bauxite industry was going through difficulties, “we put in at least US$5 million a year to save it, until it got on its foot, and it is now expanding, we just had a significant injection, an opening of a new mine US$23 million spent on that new mine on the Berbice River, so bauxite is back on its feet, with a foreign industry like BOSAI.”
Logically, explained the Minister, “Sugar needs to be fixed, and sugar workers have seen the sincerity, they have observed the actions of the Government and they have listened to the rhetoric and the attacks that were made on the Government, while seeking to save sugar.”
Elisabeth Harper
Moses should say he is a proud Indian, not deny his ethnicity
Dear Editor, Much brouhaha has been made about a statement attributed to Prime Ministerial candidate Moses V Nagamootoo that he was “not an Indian” during a speech he made on the campaign trail in Queens, New York ever since the information was brought to our attention in a letter written by Dr Baytoram Ramharack.
While the PPP/C sought to capitalize on the statement, others, like Christopher Ram, David Hinds and Freddie Kissoon have asserted that it is somehow unpatriotic for a person to claim to be an “Indian” in our multiethnic society.
Ram, Hinds and Kissoon are guilty of conflating the issue of nationality (citizenship) with that of ethnic identity, and of wanting Moses to adopt a politically correct position, to wit, being “Guyanese”.
This is understandable, given their political conviction and passionately anti-government posture. Perhaps Moses can clarify the issue with a response. Some facts have gone unnoticed in the rush to defend Moses.
One, it appears that Moses, now part of a “multiracial coalition”, by making such a statement, was appeasing his fellow African Guyanese. Listening to the speech on the internet, it is clear to me that Moses went to great lengths in his NY presentation to make it a point that he was not an “Indian tribalist” because he shared so much in common with David Granger and African Guyanese.
Instead, Moses should have made it clear that his presence within the coalition was designed to allay the fears of Indians. He was certainly clear about the fact that the APNU will deliver 40% of the vote.
In other words, he left himself open to criticism from the PPP: he is a turncoat who is dividing the votes on behalf of Granger and APNU. A rational Indian voter will ask, what is the basis for this statement if his argument now is that he will deliver “11% of the Indians” into the APNU camp.
Second, what makes Moses’ statements even more suspect is the fact that he dismissed what he termed as attacks against the PNC
for “alleged rigged elections”. This is quite a stunning declaration, given his past experience.
In describing an event that transpired during the 1985 elections, Dr Odeen Ishmael, quoting from international observers to show how the “election was crooked as barbed wire” wrote that “PNC gun-wielding thugs unleashed a violent attack on British journalist Anthony Jenkins and Dr Jagan at Haslington, East Coast Demerara”.
Dr Jagan, Moses Nagamootoo and a bodyguard had gone there “to investigate why a polling agent had been ejected from the polling place and why a PPP/C supporter had been refused the right to vote”.
Instead, as Dr Ismael noted “a group of armed men then rushed into the building, attacked Dr Jagan, and pushed him down the stairs. The British journalist who was standing on the roadside was then set upon and severely beaten by the thugs.”
Maybe Moses has forgotten this event? He now evokes as a moral equivalent “PPP/C refusal to hold local elections” with “alleged PNC
rigged elections”. This position poses a dilemma for the AFC leader, namely that he is more interested in a marriage of convenience that will guarantee him a seat in power.
Third, his “I am not an Indian”statement creates a paradox, and a contradiction when measured against his previous political positions in our bifurcated state where ethnicity has so clearly defined who we are as a people.
Ethnicity (often confused with race) refers to identity with a group of people who share common cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth. The cultural traits displayed by an ethnic group are derived from particular historical experiences, practices and connections with other groups.
One should not confuse the symbols of nationhood, nationality or citizenship with our rich cultural heritage, a heritage which the AFC in a recent statement noted “our diversity is our greatest strength.”
We can deny or suppress our identity but we cannot choose to change it in the same way we can choose to speak a different language or
Party members should have a say in selection of candidates
Dear Editor,
The parties/alliances have announced their Presidential and Prime Ministerial candidates (running mates). But none of the candidates of the parties/alliances have had the blessings and approval of their members, followers and supporters.
In fact, the parties/alliances did not even bother to consult with their supporters or members on whether they like or dislike the candidates or seek the public’s views on whether they endorse the selection of the nominees.
On this note, the Opposition parties are a bunch of hypocrites because they said they would be different from the ruling party. Yet their practices are no different. No wonder voters say they would stick with the devil they know rather than the devil they can’t trust.
Several months ago, the PNC announced that David Granger would be the Presidential candidate of the APNU with Rupert Roopnarine as Prime Ministerial candidate. Party members were not consulted.
Around the same time, AFC announced that Moses Nagamootoo would be the Presidential candidate with Nigel Hughes as Prime Ministerial candidate. Party members were not consulted.
Shortly thereafter, the PPP/C announced that Donald Ramotar would be its Presidential candidate without committing a name as Prime Ministerial candidate. The URP announced Vishnu Bandhu would be its Presidential candidate; no PM candidate was announced.
Mark Benschop an-
nounced he would be his Independent Party’s candidate; no PM’s candidate was announced. The other minor parties behaved no differently announcing candidates without consulting with their supporters.
No democratic processes (conventions, primaries, caucuses, opinion polls, etc) were followed in the selection of candidates in any of the parties. There were just appointments and announcements. The parties behaved as though the voters were nobody and don’t need to get involved in the nitty gritty of selecting the candidates (nominees). So much for party democracy!
In mid-February, APNU and AFC agreed to merge with Granger as Presidential candidate and Nagamootoo as running mate. The members of the parties and their supporters were not consulted on whether they approve of the merger.
In fact, most of the members and supporters opposed the merger. But the two parties went ahead with their deal anyway – to hell with the views of members and voters. Then the PPP/C announced Elisabeth Harper would be Ramotar’s running mate. That party’s members and supporters were also not consulted on who should be the running mate or whether Harper is a good choice. They subsequently gave their approval.
How do these parties expect voters to have confidence in their candidates if the voters are not consulted on selection before the parties make their announcement? What kind of party democracy is be-
ing practiced?
In true democracies, potential candidates go through a rigorous process to determine suitability and electability for office. If a candidate is not electable, he or she is not approved for an election; unpopular candidates get the message and make way for stronger candidates who can help their party.
In the US, for example, Presidential contenders go through a primary election process in which party members get to choose delegates who meet at a convention to choose the nominee.
Other western democracies also follow a similar process. In Guyana, there is no weeding out or elimination process.
A few individuals get together and decide who will be the candidate – a corrupt Tammany Hall undemocratic process that was used in the US until it was challenged by voters in court that foisted electoral democracy in the selection of candidates (nominees) for all offices by members of a party.
I suspect the announcement of parliamentary candidates on April 7 by the parties will follow the same process as the selection of the nominees for President and PM the minor parties may be more democratic in the selection than the major parties – at least they go around recruiting candidates to be on the list whereas the major parties are cutting deals among insiders on who should be on the list while the activists get the signatures to get the nominees (parliamentary candidates) qualified to be on the list.
Guyanese politicians of all
practice a different religion.
In the political sphere, ethnicity can act as a positive centripetal force (as in the case of English as a unifying language in Nigeria) or as a centrifugal force (as in the case of ethnic conflict leading to the balkanization of the former Yugoslavia).
In our bifurcated state, where primordial sentiments are often invoked, it is difficult to avoid this issue. Moses has added to the confusion for some by insisting that while the APNU will bring a guaranteed “40 per cent”(Africans) he can deliver the “11 per cent” Indians to assure the APNU/AFC a victory at the polls.
Is Moses not now invoking his “Indianness” or the “ethnic identity” by which the 11 per cent perceives him?
Finally, Moses has further added to the confusion. In a presentation Moses made in June 16, 1997 in NY commemorating the Enmore Martyrs at the Guyana Consulate he clearly identified himself as an Indian, being one of the “unlettered people, barefooted workers”, much like the Enmore martyrs (Pooran, Surujballi, Rambarran, Harry and Lallagaghee).
three main parties (represented in parliament) like to condemn America as a bastion of imperialism. Yet the imperialist country gives its citizens more say and is far more democratic than Guyana in choosing candidates for office.
Ironically, Guyanese American citizens get to choose nominees for office. But their brethren in socialist cooperative republic Guyana have no such right when Guyanese should have had greater say than Americans in how candidates are selected.
None of the Guyanese parties has announced measures to change the process in how nominees or parliamentary candidates would be selected in the future should they win the election. If they truly care about their supporters and if they believe in democratic principles, then they should commit to some kind of a primary process in which the party’s members or supporters determine who will be the party’s standard bearer (s) in future election.
The announcement (list) of parliamentary candidates will have a great effect in which party wins the next election. If the parties remain stuck in the past with discredited personalities, they will pay dearly at the polls.
Whichever of the two parties/alliance has a good, solid line up of fresh faces and young blood, with individuals of intellect, integrity and probity, that party/alliance is likely to prevail on May 11.
People told me they want to see new faces and they want to bid adieu to the old timers.
Vishnu Bisram
But in the same year as Dr Jagan’s compliment to Rodney, the Marxist leader had also written:
“It is short-sighted to see the ‘Caribbean man’ only as a ‘Black man’, and Caribbean culture as African culture. Apart from the different countries of their origin, both our Black slave and Indian indenture ancestors watered the sugar cane with their blood. Through their struggles and sacrifices, they have made valuable contributions to our historical and social development.”
In his writings, Moses clearly demonstrated knowledge of the following: discrimination of Blacks by Europeans in Guyana, Rastafari movement, Pan African Movement, Dr. Walter Rodney, Kwame Nkrumah, WEB Dubois, Paul Robeson and the Black Power movement in the Caribbean.
Moses should also know that his new friends in APNU have long gone past that complex - the complex of denying one’s ethnicityespecially David Granger, who, as a historian, has written analytically and proudly about the African experience in Guyana.
As far back as 1988, on the 150th Anniversary of Indian Immigration, Cheddi Jagan - in collaboration with Nagamootoo (“The AfroGuyanese Experience”), complimented Dr. Walter Rodney for being a “Pan African”.
Moses should say he is a proud Indian, not deny his ethnicity or hide it in his nationality in his quest for political office. The irony is that he does not see the irony in his statement.
Vishnu Mahabir
Forward to the past: APNU/AFC vision
Dear Editor,
Dreams die hard for the Grangers of this world and so it is for the retired Brigadier. Granger swore of his membership of the PNC during his military career when competing with Carl Greenidge for the leadership of the PNC.
Somehow he felt the membership in the PNC was not incompatible with his oath as an officer of the GDF. I guess it would be too hard now to ask the General Secretary of the PNC to confirm whether indeed Granger had been a member of the PNC while in the military.
That might be too uncomfortable with the Dr Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry breathing down his neck.
Like Burnham, his planned Government would have the commanding heights of the economy and the Private Sector will know its place. He plans to nationalise the privately owned and run Berbice River Bridge Company. Like Burnham, he has led APNU to embrace the Burnhamite political credo “all or none: control or destroy”. He has used APNU in the entire 10th Parliament to delay, frustrate and prevent the development of Guyana. He was prepared to destroy Guyana’s gains if he could not get his way. Burnham held on to his policies and doomed Guyana. He died in office. It is a great pity that Granger’s dreams of Burnham policies did not die then too.
So today Guyana is faced with an aged Burnhamite follower planning to plunge Guyana into the past, a past of failed policies, savage repression and loss of hope for the future.
But the Burnhamite policies he now advocates point to his intellectual mentor. Like many Latin American political organisations, the APNU has increasingly become openly Military run. Its leaders are formally retired military officers and their military minds are forever at work. Like Burnham, he, Granger, craves power, but he has never acknowledged nor repented for his active support and participation in Burnhamite PNC Government excesses, and as he conducts his political campaign, Guyanese can see why his dream is to reintroduce these policies. His dream is to succeed where Burnham failed. Like Burnham, he embraces the military. He would discipline Guyana starting with the youths and their return to National Service.
Dr Roger Luncheon Head, Presidential Secretariat
ARIES (March 21April 19)
TAURUS (April 20May 20)
GEMINI (May 21June 20)
CANCER
Overspending will cause problems with your budget and the people you live with. Think twice before you spend. You work too hard to fritter away your wages on unnecessary or frivolous items.
Someone from your past is thinking about you. A new acquaintance will be attracted by your charisma, beliefs and potential. Don’t be surprised if someone makes you a lucrative offer.
Your ability to multitask will be appreciated when you offer help to your peers. These same individuals will be in your corner when you require assistance or backup.
LEO (July 23Aug. 22)
VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)
Love is on the rise. Strive to improve your self-confidence. Attending a social event will lead to an unusual discussion that could change your future. Don’t be gullible.
It’s important to do your share of household duties. Family members will criticize you if you do not live up to your end of a bargain.
Joining community activities is a great way to make new friends. Sign up for something that appeals to you. Participating in sporting, cultural or networking events will help you improve your position.
LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)
You are overdue for a change. Home improvements will be rewarding. You will gain satisfaction from doing the work yourself.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)
Widen your social circle. The more situations you experience, the more likely you are to meet people with similar ideas and interests. Love is in the air, and romance will improve your personal life.
CAPRICORN (June 21July 22)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)
You will have to be diligent if you want to find out what is going on behind the scenes. Don’t rely on secondhand information. Do the research yourself.
(Jan. 20Feb. 19) (Dec. 22Jan. 19)
A friend or relative will be looking for assistance, but don’t fall prey to a sob story. Unless you know the facts, you should not offer monetary support.
AQUARIUS
PISCES
(Feb. 20March 20)
If someone you depend on is unhappy, consider what you can do to help. Lending a hand or being empathetic will lead to a closer relationship and create a new ally.
Your daily routine will feel stale and boring. If your mind is craving some unusual stimuli, visit a museum or art gallery, or take a day trip to an unusual destination.
Peanuts
Calvin and Hobbes
dilbert arCHie
CARIFTA Games: Hyde takes 400m hurdles
Jaheel Hyde lived up to expectations with an easy win in the Under-20 boys’ 400m hurdles at the 44th CARIFTA Games at the Kim Collins Stadium in Basseterre, St Kitts on Sunday.
The IAAF World junior champion took control early and jogged to the line after the final barrier to win in 50.96 seconds, followed home by teammate Marvin Williams, who clocked 51.11 seconds for his second 400m hurdles silver medal at the Games.
Barbados’ Stephen Griffiths took the bronze in 51.77 seconds.
Jauavney James took silver in the Under-18 boys’ 400m hurdles in 53.18 seconds, chasing Bajan Rivaldo Leacock, who won in 51.34 seconds, with hometown hero Aljani Bridgewater of St Kitts/Nevis third in 53.44 seconds.
Despite running a meet record 59.5s seconds, Junell Bromfield’s gold medal in the Under-18 400m hurdles, due to lack of sufficient entries the medal will not be in the official tally as only three athletes competed.
Shanique Walker also of Jamaica was second in 1:02.40 seconds and Cheziah Phillips of Trinidad was third in 1:07.98 seconds.
Andrenette Knight led home a Jamaican 1-2 in the Under 20 finals, winning in 1:00.52 seconds, with Shannon Kalawan taking silver in 1:01.01 seconds and Jonel Lacey of the British Virgin Islands third in 1:01.26 seconds.(Digicel Sportsmax)
Floyd Mayweather
“couldn’t care less” about Manny Pacquiao camp
Floyd Mayweather is not concerned about Manny Pacquiao’s training or the trash talking from his rival’s camp, according to the American’s promoter.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, claims his man is not paying attention to promoter Bob Arum's criticism of his physical condition.
Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has also been vocal, calling Mayweather's father Floyd Sr "a terrible cornerman", but Ellerbe says his unbeaten fighter will do his talking in the ring on May 2.
“It doesn’t matter what Bob says, Freddie Roach says, Floyd can dictate what will happen in the fight and can silence all of their talk," Ellerbe told Sky Sports.
“We couldn’t care less what goes on in their camp and how Manny is training.
"Manny Pacquiao is facing the biggest challenge he has ever faced. Manny has never seen anything like a Floyd Mayweather. Manny personally knows what he’s up against, Bob and Freddie can talk all they want to.”
Ellerbe added the American has stepped up his training camp with the
quality of sparring partners.
“He has some very good young sparring partners who are really pushing him," he said.
“That has been the difference in the preparation, he’s going to very prepared for May 2 to put on a great show for his UK fans."
Holding sees hard times for Windies
– Michael Holding has written off West Indies' hopes in the Test series against England as cricket in the Caribbean enters one of its most critical stages off the field
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is likely to discover in the coming months whether the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will pursue a £28million compensation claim for their abandoned tour last October.
With reports the BCCI is also weighing up whether to pull out of their scheduled tour of the Caribbean next year the WICB - which last month announced a £1million loss for the previous 12 months - faces the prospect of two major financial blows that could result in bankruptcy.
The predicament is a culmination of a dysfunctional relationship between the board and players, who initiated the embarrassing India tour walk-out following a protracted payment dispute also involving the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA).
The fall-out has now not only left the WICB waiting nervously under the BCCI's legal high ground, but also without most of their star names for the three Tests against England.
Eight potential first-choice players will instead play on the other side of the world - in the cash-rich Indian Premier League - which effectively represents the divide in West Indies cricket.
"Cricket in the Caribbean is in desperate trouble," Holding told Press Association Sport.
"The board are muddling from one fiasco to another and now we have the Indian fiasco hanging over their heads. It's not surprising that the players have no respect for their employers and as a result they are showing them no commitment.
"Against England, with so many players out of the team, they do not have a ghost of a chance. That's the honest truth."
West Indies have always been hardest hit by IPL absentees - due to a clash with their domestic season - but Holding believes the WICB must be held accountable for failing to promote hope the tide might be turned.
Most recently all-rounder Dwayne Bravo retired from Tests after he was removed as ODI skipper, and omitted from the World Cup squad, after he was in charge during events in India last autumn.
Holding believes the 31-year-old was "victimised" despite claims from chairman of selectors, and revered former skipper, Clive Lloyd the board had no axe to grind with Bravo, who will instead
play for the Chennai Super Kings this month.
"What makes things worse is when the president and the chairman of selectors comes out and tries to tell the public they have selected a team purely on merit," Holding said.
"They either take people
The Jamaican nonetheless retains the faith of his peers, he beat Garner 8-4 in a vote, and has overseen the newly-expanded Professional Cricket League, while the appointment of Phil Simmons as coach last month has been met with near-universal approval after his success during eight years in charge of Ireland.
Closer links have also been forged with WIPA - the legal cost of their previous disagreements has cost WICB almost £3.4million - but it is distance with the players that remains the gravest concern.
Repairing that bond was one of the key objective when WICB implemented a fiveyear plan in 2011, but which has clearly failed to deliver on that objective.
The fear in the Caribbean is that divide is creating a generation of cricketers who view playing for West Indies as a stepping stone to a lucra-
for fools or they are fools. One of the two.
"They have lost all credibility. I don't know why they all just don't step down.
"They obviously won't because they have their own private agendas but they have lost all credibility with the people."
Holding's hope for change at the top appears unlikely in the short term after WICB president Dave Cameron was last month re-elected for a second term, until 2017, after staving off a challenge from 58-Test paceman Joel Garner.
Cameron has his detractors following his handling of the India tour pull-out while during the World Cup he retweeted a fan's claim that Chris Gayle should be given a "retirement package". Gayle made a double-century in his next game.
tive Twenty20 deals.
"The young cricketers are happy to play for the West Indies because they know they will not make a name for themselves without playing for the West Indies," Holding said.
"As soon as they make a name for themselves, and some Twenty20 franchise comes along, they are gone.
"The West Indies needs a structure to promote young players to get to first-class cricket before worrying about how much they should pay them. They must get to that stage being better cricketers rather than better paid cricketers.
"At the moment the administrators are looking at it from the top rather than the bottom. Until that changes West Indian cricket faces a long wait to change." (Eurosport)
Jaheel Hyde
Michael Holding
The predicament is a culmination of a dysfunctional relationship between the board and players
Floyd Mayweather
Cook, Trott, Stokes give England perfect opening day
Short of winning the lottery and discovering a renewable energy source, it has hard to think of a way in which the first competitive day of this tour of the Caribbean could have gone any better for England. Having brushed aside the St Kitts Invitational XI for just 59 in the first session of the match, they then witnessed their new opening pair bat for more than 50 overs in posting 158 for the first wicket.
It was not a pretty, quick or even particularly entertaining stand. Indeed, some might even describe it as dull. But bearing in mind the identity of England's opening batsmen and the testing months they have endured of late, it was wonderfully, reassuringly dull and a sign that, perhaps, a corner has been turned.
First the caveats. This is a shockingly weak St Kitts side containing several men without first-class experience and one 16-year-old. Compared to the challenges that await England later this year - particularly Australia - it was like preparing to wrestle a lion by petting a kitten.
If England want to test themselves a little more in the second warm-up game, starting on Wednesday, they may have to negotiate the inclusion of their unused squad players within the opposition.
But England will still have benefited from the experience. Not only was Jonathan Trott able to settle back into the side with a calm innings that bore no traces of the struggles he has endured, but Alastair Cook batted with increasing fluency, Ben Stokes bowled with admirable control and England's fielding was faultless.
Their catching, in particular, was excellent. The best of several sharp chances taken in the slips was claimed by James Tredwell, diving low to his right, but Cook and
Gary Ballance also clung on to catches that less confident, less content teams often fail to hold.
There were some lessons here, too. We learned that Ian Bell has been appointed vice-captain for the tour - a modest change of approach as Cook has previously suggested that appointing someone to the position could discourage other senior players from taking responsibility - and we learned the likely make-up of the first seven in the Test batting line-up, at least.
It is now unthinkable that, barring injury,
to see the ball fall into space and then, on 92, St Kitts claimed a catch in the belief that a cut shot had bounced off the silly-point fielder's boot and on to cover. Cook, and more importantly the umpires, were unconvinced.
In between, he demonstrated a slightly more open stance, left the ball with far more certainty about the location of his off stump and, having reached his half-century from 95 balls, skipped down the pitch and planted a six over long-on in an innings that hinted at a more calm mind and more reliable technique than has been in evi-
Trott will not return to the England side for the Antigua Test and that Stokes will not return to fill the role of allrounder. With Chris Jordan, who also bowled nicely, preferred to Mark Wood or Liam Plunkett, both of whom are fit, it would appear that the final place in the Test side may come down to a tussle between Adil Rashid and Tredwell.
Cook experienced only two nervous moments in reaching an unbeaten 95 by stumps. On 17, he top-edged a pull off Jeremiah Louis only
SCOREBOARD
dence of late.
Overs) 59
Trott, meanwhile, was unhurried and solid. While never at his most fluent, this was an innings that will have settled some lingering nerves and, having reached his 50 from 113 balls, he demonstrated a couple of nice sweeps, pulls and one vintage drive through extra-cover to provide a reminder of his abilities.
For both men greater challenges lie ahead. But it was a partnership that demonstrated a great appetite for crease occupation and suggested their powers of concentration, at least, have been boosted by an extended break from the fray.
Bournemouth rally to move on top
Bournemouth came from two goals down to move top of the Sky Bet Championship with a thrilling 4-2 win over Birmingham at Dean Court.
Strikes from Steve Cook, Callum Wilson, Charlie Daniels and a Yann Kermorgant penalty helped Bournemouth equal their club record of 104 goals in a single season.
Birmingham, who had captain Paul Robinson sent off late on, had looked to be heading for a surprise win when Clayton Donaldson and David Cotterill struck in three first-half minutes.
Bournemouth made a nervy start but Wilson passed up a glorious chance to give them the lead in the 14th minute, firing into the side-netting after latching on to Ryan Fraser's low cross.
And Donaldson showed Wilson how to finish in the 19th minute, racing in between the centre-back pairing of Cook and Tommy Elphick before calmly lift-
ing the ball over the onrushing Artur Boruc and into the net.
Cotterill doubled the Blues' lead only three minutes later with another superbly-taken goal.
The Welsh international left full-back Daniels on his backside with a mesmerising jinking run before driving a low right foot shot across Boruc and into the far corner.
Donaldson should have made it 3-0 12 minutes before half-time, seizing on Cook's tame back header only for Elphick to scramble back and clear the ex-Brentford man's shot off the line.
Cook gave Bournemouth a lifeline in the 39th minute by bundling the ball home from close range after visiting goalkeeper Darren Randolph had flapped at Matt Ritchie's corner.
And the Cherries drew level on the stroke of halftime when Harry Arter split the Birmingham defence with a delightful through ball for Wilson to round
Randolph and tap into an empty net.
Kermorgant completed the comeback from the spot three minutes after the interval following Robinson's clumsy foul on Wilson.
And home captain Elphick came within inches of extending the lead with a 58th minute header against the crossbar.
Randolph also saved smartly with his legs to deny Wilson after Bournemouth's top-scorer had been played through by Kermorgant.
Daniels then added his name to the scoresheet 16 minutes from time with a fiercely-struck half volley from the edge of the area which cannoned in off the frame of the goal.
Birmingham's misery was compounded in the 79th minute as Robinson was shown a straight red card by referee Andy Woolmer for scything down Wilson.
Arter was denied a fifth Bournemouth goal when his blistering 20-yard strike clattered the bar. (Sky Sports)
Schedule for Pakistan’s Bangladesh tour confirmed
The schedule for Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh has been confirmed with the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur set to host the limited-overs leg, starting with the first ODI on April 17.
The three-match ODI series will be followed by the only T20I on April 24, after which the teams will play two Tests.
J Trott c Ross Powell b Steve Liburd 72 G Ballance not out 9
Total: for 1 wicket (61 Overs) 181
Extras: (0wd 2nb 1lb 2b 0p) 5 Fall of Wicket: 1-158. St Kitts Nevis 1st Innings Bowling: Q Boatswain 10-235-0, Sheno Berridge 4-2-8-0, J Louis 12-3-31-0, S Peters 3-04-0, J Taylor 11-3-34-0, Elvin Berridge 7-1-28-0, S Liburd 9-1-26-1, S Jeffer 5-1-12-0.
James Anderson beat the bat often in his spell with the new ball and produced a beauty that defeated Sherwin Peters' footless grope and took the top of off stump, while Stuart Broad's modest first spell was followed by a slightly improved second one that gained two wickets with short balls. (Cricinfo) St
Fall of Wickets: 1-18, 2-27, 3-28, 4-32, 5-36, 6-43, 7-53, 8-55, 9-55, 10-59. England 1st Innings Bowling: J Anderson 5-2-8-1, S Broad 7-3-16-2, B Stokes 6-4-10-3, C Jordan 5-0-19-2, A Rashid 3-2-5-1, J Tredwell 0.3-0-1-1. England 1st Innings A Cook not out 95
Stokes was the pick of the bowlers in the morning session. Maintaining a tight line to right and left-hand batsmen, he bowled with increasing pace and gained a surprising amount of swing in claiming three wickets in five deliveries at one stage.
The first Test begins in Khulna on April 28, while Mirpur will host the second and final Test, which begins on May 6.
According to the tour itinerary released by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Pakistan will arrive in Dhaka on April 13 and will play a practice game in Fatullah on April 15 before the ODI series gets underway. The opposition for the practice match is yet to be announced.
After the Pakistan government gave a green signal for the team to tour Bangladesh, there had been
exchanges of schedules between the two boards. The PCB is understood to have waited on a domestic fixture before confirming the team’s arrival date in Bangladesh. Originally set for January, according to the previous FTP, the tour was deferred till April under the new touring plans drawn up by the different boards in 2014.
The tour hit a further snag when the PCB de-
manded 50% of the tour revenue from the BCB as well as stipulating exchanges of Under-19 and A teams between the two countries back in January. The BCB called these demands “unrealistic” and after an impasse, the two sides came to an agreement in March. The two boards came to an agreement after the BCB decided to pay the PCB $325,000 as compensation. (Cricinfo)
Charlie Daniels celebrates after scoring Bournemouth’s fourth goal
Alistair Cook cuts under the watch of wicketkeeper Jaison Peters, as he played fluently for his unbeaten 95
Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh begins with the first ODI in Mirpur on April 17
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Raw young talent should give West Indies hope
England spent their first day in the West Indies on Friday in their luxury accommodation in St Kitts, an island of 35 square miles in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, populated by 45,000 easy-going inhabitants. There is no more relaxing venue to be found anywhere, ideal perhaps for temporarily blanking the persistent distraction of Kevin Pietersen, if a little too laidback a place in which to properly get ready for three backto-back Tests in the space of three weeks.
Captain Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Jimmy Anderson would remember it as the location where they started their 2009 tour with matches against a St Kitts Invitational XI and West Indies A. They moved on to Jamaica for the first Test a few days later, where Jerome Taylor’s pace sent them spiraling to 51 all out and defeat by an innings and 23.
ing Tests and ODIs in South Africa. As Lloyd followed the team throughnits difficult campaigns in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, his colleagues who followed proceedings back home had to balance performances against standards in choosing a training squad of 20. They are presently in Antigua in new coach Phil Simmons’ first assignment.
Four of the 20, all from Barbados, are yet to play Tests. Seamer Carlos Brathwaite is 26, fast bowler Miguel Cummins 24, wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich 23, and batting stylist Shai Hope 21.
The other 16 all have Test experience; new ODI captain Jason Holder and strokemaker Jermaine Blackwood are both 23, and Kraigg Brathwaite, the dogged opener, 22.
Their prospects are for lengthy careers as
Jonny Bairstow, Adam Lyth, Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes were there for 12 days at the start of England Lions’ tour of seven first-class matches four years ago.
This time, England are restricted to a couple of twoday matches against St Kitts & Nevis, a team without first-class status. Cook and his men can anticipate an effortless workout. They then make the short hop of 65 miles to Antigua for the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, starting Monday, April 13. They could find that their ground work would have been better served by tougher opposition first-up.
At a time when chief selector Clive Lloyd speaks of building a West Indies team for the future, a four-day match would also have allowed some of the emerging players exposure to a somewhat higher level than the domestic Caribbean Professional League.
In its inaugural season, the CPL was weakened by the absence of several leading men, who were at the World Cup or in the preced-
Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels and Sulieman Benn near the end of theirs, and as Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy and Sunil Narine concentrate on global T20 tournaments.
A few wait in the wings for the turn they might have had in a combined team against England in St Kitts. There is no hint when that might be, as nothing has yet been scheduled for the A team.
None of the young contenders is as intriguing as Rahkeem Cornwall, the 22-year-old Leeward Islander from Antigua. He is a massive unit, cricket’s most identifiable man mountain since the similarly immense Bermudan Dwayne Leverock, a popular star of the 2007 World Cup. Like Leverock, Cornwall is the butt of inevitable jibes; like Leverock he is not to be discounted because of his size.
Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Richie Richardson, Ridley Jacobs, Curtly Ambrose, the Benjamins Winston and Kenny, all Antiguans, made the
Leewards as powerful as any team in regional cricket through the seventies and eighties. As with West Indies, they suddenly and inexplicably plummeted to the bottom of the pile. They ended the 2014-15 CPL season with their first victories in four seasons, over Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago Cornwall was prominent in both - seven Jamaican wickets with his deceptive offspin, delivered after a casual shuffle to delivery, and an explosive unbeaten 101 off 84 balls with 11 fours and six sixes chasing 241 against Trinidad & Tobago. He entered at 100 for 5 and two hours later it was over. His partner, Steve Liburd, scored 44 in the partnership. Earlier in the season, Cornwall returned his best figures, 7 for 96, against Guyana His overall numbers from
son was the damage to ankle and knee from a car crash that eliminated another exciting young hope, 19-yearold Nicolas Pooran, after the third match. The slim Trinidad and Tobago lefthand batsman and keeper revealed his precocious ability and attitude with 143, with 14 fours and six sixes, out of a total of 208 against Australia in the quarter-final of the Under-19 World Cup in Dubai in February 2014. He had little cricket since; this was to have been his time. There are others who encourage optimism that coach Simmons will have genuinely gifted material with which to work as he gets into the role in which he thrived with Ireland.
Benn’s absence in South Africa and at the World Cup opened up a position for 22-year-old left-arm spin-
Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican took two eight-fors
seven matches - a batting average of 27.46 along with 29 wickets at 26.93 - placed him among the season’s leading allrounders. Ridley Jacobs, the Leewards’ coach, described Cornwall as “very talented, up there with any of the players of his age and limited experience”. But he recognised the obvious problem he has with his weight.
“We can give him all the help he needs but, in the end, it’s up to him to deal with that,” Jacobs said.
The setback of the sea-
ner Jomel Warrican for Barbados. He ended the season with 49 first-class wickets at 14.97 each, among them two returns of eight wickets in an innings. Lloyd is impressed with Jamaican fast bowler Marquino Mindley, 20. While Shivnarine is near the end of 20 illustrious years propping up the West Indies middle order, another left-handed Chanderpaul, 18-year-old son Tagenarine, showed his worth at the 2014 U-19 World Cup. (Cricinfo)
The Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) has named a 23-man squad to face Trinidad and Tobago in the North America Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) 15’s Championship on April 11 in the twin-island republic.
Guyana are the defending champions of the NACRA 15’s tournament and once victorious against Trinidad and Tobago will be crowned as the Southern Champions before going on to face the winners of the northern zone for the title.
Guyana has been hard at training for the event and held their final practice session on Saturday before their departure for the game on Thursday.
The squad includes: Rondell McArtur, Jason Tyrell, Rockford Cummings, Dwayne Schroeder, Vallon Adams, Richard Staglon, Jamal Angus, Jermaine Prowell, Ryan Gonsalves, Peabo Hamilton, Theodore Henry, Kevin McKenzie, Claudius Butts, Avery Corbin and Ronald Mayers.
The reserve players are: Jacques Archibald, Kevon David, Delroy Gordon, Troy Arjoon, Blaise Bailey,
el
Grant-Stuart, and Abiola Blair.
GCB 3-day U-19 cricket starts tomorrow
The three-day version of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Under-19 Inter-County Cricket Competition bowls off today with two matches from 10:00h.
In the opening round, a Select Under-17 squad will oppose Berbice at the Wales Community Centre Ground, while Demerara will play Essequibo at the Everest Cricket Club Ground.
Round two will start on Sunday, April 12, with Demerara facing Berbice at the Georgetown Cricket Club Ground and Essequibo playing a Select Under-17 squad at the Demerara Cricket Club Ground.
The third and final round is scheduled for April 16, with Demerara opposing the Select Under-17 team at the Everest Cricket Club Ground and Essequibo facing Berbice at the Enmore Community Centre Ground.
Meanwhile, the oneday tournament bowls off on April 20.
Essequibo will oppose the Select Under-17 squad at Wales while
Demerara play Berbice at the Enterprise Ground.
Round two is billed for April 21 with the Select Under-17 squad playing Demerara at the Police Ground and Berbice taking on Essequibo at Everest.
The final round will be played on April 23 when Essequibo faces Demerara at Enmore and Berbice go up against the Select Under-17 squad at Police.
The two leading teams will clash in the finals on April 25 at the Everest Cricket Club Ground.
Players eligible to participate in both tournaments must be born on or after September 1, 1996.
The competition is being used as a yardstick by the junior selectors to pick the Guyana team for the West Indies Cricket Board’s Regional Under-19 competition scheduled for later this year. The local competition, which began in 1976, has produced all but two of Guyana’s Test players. Clyde Butts and Neil McGarrell are the only two Guyanese players to play Test cricket without having participated in the Guyana and Trinidad Mutual Fire and Life Insurance Company (GTM) sponsored competition.
Andy Murray will look for answers to Novak Djokovic ‘hoodoo’
Andy Murray says he is going to analyse why he has struggled against Novak Djokovic following his latest loss to the Serb in the Miami Open final.
World number one Djokovic has an 18-8 record against the 27-year-old Scot, and has won the last seven meetings, including the Australian Open final.
"There have been some tough matches - ones where my game has been there, but not [for] long enough to get a win," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I need to look at why that is."
Murray was beaten 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-0 in hot and humid conditions as Djokovic collected his fifth Miami title.
The Scot added: "At the Australian Open it was mental, but today it was physical. In the third set I had nothing in my legs."
Murray also lost to the 27-year-old in the Indian Wells final two weeks ago, but said his performance on Sunday was an improvement.
"This match was completely different regarding
the level I played," he added.
"I felt I pushed Novak a lot more than a couple of weeks ago. I haven't managed to quite get a win yet.
I'm sure people will make up their own minds why that is."
Asked whether the consecutive losses to Djokovic weighed on his mind, Murray said: "Last year I wasn't where I wanted to be, so it's this year's three losses which are the ones I need to look at.
"Novak went through a
period when he never won against [world number five] Rafael Nadal in a final, but then won six or seven times in row.
"World number two] Roger Federer went through a period of not having won against Rafa on clay."
Murray, who will get married to Kim Sears in Dunblane on Saturday, has returned to third in the world rankings after reaching the semi-finals in Miami and final in Indian Wells. (BBC Sport)
Theodore Henry Lancelot Adonis, Leon Greaves and Randy James. The officials set to trav-
are: Robin Roberts, Kenneth
Neil McGarrell Clyde Butts
Andy Muarry
Guyana Cup Fever a huge success
Organisers of the annual Guyana Cup Fever have hailed the one-day event as a huge success.
The one-day horse race meet was held on Sunday at the Port Mourant Turf Club (PMTC), Corentyne, Berbice, with over $10 mil-
Release De Beast, Bridle Stone Corner, Camprador, Princess Alisha.
D3 Maiden & Four Years Open – Spit Fire, Goodwill Boy, Captain Crook, Unsettled.
3-Year-Old West Indies Bred – Keep On Swinging, Settling Star, It’s
Keep on Swing won the Three-year-old event
lion in cash and trophies, and saw thousands swarming the venue.
More than 90 horses competed in seven races, with CP Got Even winning the feature event for A1 and Lower horses. Jack in My Style, Diplomatic Cat, and Curfew Tower rounded off the top finishers in the 1800 metres event.
Results for the six other races are as follows:
J2 and Lower – Secret Escape, Affinity, Red Jet, De Gump.
G3 and Lower –
My Choice, Chelsea.
3-Year-Old Bred and I and Lower – Royal Cash, Cat Massiah, Mary Anne, Lady Secret.
G1 and Lower –Appealing Harvest, Sent From Above, Camprador, Cassie.
The top stable award went to the Jumbo Jet Stable, with trainer Carlton Pluck of the same entity being adjudged the champion trainer. Trinidad and Tobago Jockey Prayven Badrie was the champion jockey on show.
caRiF ta games: Jamaica sweep 4x100s
Jamaica’s 4x100m relays team were in imperious form on Sunday as they closed the third and penultimate day of the 44th CARIFTA Games at the Kim Collins Stadium in Basseterre, St Kitts with a clean sweep of all four gold medals.
The four gold medals boosted the island tally to 47 (22 gold, 14 silver, and 11 bronze) by far the most, followed by Bahamas on 19 (5 gold, 7 silver, and 7 bronze); Trinidad and Tobago, 12 (4 gold, 3 silver 5 bronze); Barbados, 10 (4 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze); St Kitts and Nevis, 5 (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze); and Grenada, 4 (1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze).
The under-20 boys team scampered to victory in 40.39
seconds, just edging a latecharging Bahamas,40.41 seconds. Trinidad and Tobago were third in 40.55 seconds.
The under-18 boys had an easier win, running a record 40.52 seconds to beat Trinidad and Tobago, 41.43 seconds, and Bahamas, 41.77 seconds.
The under-20 girls team had little difficulty winning, cantering home in 45.20 seconds with the Bahamas in second place in 45.59. Trinidad and Tobago were again third in 47.64 seconds.
The under-18 girls won by almost 50 metres, clocking 45.33 seconds with Trinidad taking silver in 47.10 seconds and Guadeloupe third in 47.41 seconds. (Digicel Sportsmax)
Assistant organiser Campton Sancho presents the winning trophy to representatives of Royal Cash, out of which CP Got Even races
Slingerz FC crowned champs of Kashif and Shanghai tournament
By TreisTon Joseph
In front of a moder-
ate crowd, Slingerz FC celebrated their 2-nil win over Alpha United when the 25th edition of the Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament concluded on Sunday evening at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
Slingerz came out the more positive of the two
teams and quickly asserted themselves as the aggressors of the game with a few early chances that were either kept out or narrowly missed the goal, while Alpha struggled to string their passes together.
However, the first half ended in a stalemate with the two teams locked at nil all.
The second half had much more fireworks as
Devon Millington showcased his footwork before letting loose a shot that rocked the right hand corner of the net to send the crowd into a frenzy in the 56th minute.
Alpha in a last-ditch effort to equalise sent all 11 men forward for a corner in the final minutes of the game.
However, the missed opportunity only resulted in a
counter attack by Slingerz as Alpha’s custodian was unable to reach back to his post which allowed Millington to take aim at an empty goal to register Slingerz’s game sealer in the 90th (+4) minute.
Slingerz FC are now $2,000,000 richer after the win on Sunday.
Meanwhile in the thirdplace playoff, Pele FC defeated Riddim Squad 2-1. Pele scored early
through Konata Manning in the 18th minute before Beshawn Sandiford equalised for Riddim Squad in the 42nd minute to end the half 1-1.
Both teams searched for the winner until the 88th minute when Manning struck again to win the game for Pele.
The presentation of prizes will take place on a date yet to be announced by the organisers.
Sookram emerges champion in Sanjay’s Jewellery Golf tourney
eteran Deosarran
V“Double-Wrist” Sookram emerged as the clear winner in last Sunday’s Sanjay’s Jewellery Golf Tournament played at the Lusignan Golf Course, East Coast Demerara. Sookram finished with Best Net, as well as Best Gross, 6/64.
Another veteran, Kalyan Tiwari, finished second (19/65) while Ravi Persaud took third position with (25/66). Nearest to The Pin was won by B Harry.
At the end of the Tournament, Sanjay’s Jewellery Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanjay
Persaud expressed his continued willingness to support golfing in Guyana.
Club President David Mohamad expressed the Lusignan Golf Club’s gratitude for the excellent support of Sanjay’s Jewellery.
Sanjay’s Jewellery offers a wide array of jewellery in 12, 14, 18 and 22 karat gold as well as a variety of watches, colognes and perfumes for men, women and children. For those who prefer custom-made jewellery, they can simply place an order with their design and Sanjay’s will make it for them in 24 hours.
Lusignan Golf Club President David Mohamad (left); winner Deosarran Sookram (centre); and Sanjay’s Jewellery CEO Sanjay Persaud (right) take time for a photo after the tournament
An outstretched Ronson Williams watches as the ball troubles the net
Slingerz FC celebrate their debut win in the tournament
