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Minister Harmon P16 meets new UN Resident Representative to Guyana Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyana-times.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 2964

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Guyanese should temper job creation expectations – ExxonMobil Page 3

Gunmen rob Republic Park pensioners Page 7

Guyana-bound Jamaican busted with ganja Page 12

PRICE

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE: Regent Street crash

Policeman slapped with causing death P10 charge

Govt to assist Guyanese law students with HWLS fees P3

Haitians P8 fined for illegal entry Forensic lab to eventually P12 do DNA, gun residue tests

Over 70 students from areas across Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) graduated from the Leonora Technical and Vocational Skill Training Centre on Tuesday. Annette Sumbir was named Best Graduating Student, as well as Best Performing Metal Work Engineering student (Dexter Ceres photo)

Use “idle” bank accounts’ monies to pay public servants – GPSU Page 7

Guyana could soon exit FATF, CFATF process – AG

National Veterans’ Commission to commence hearings P13 today

Page 2

Policeman injured on P16 duty receives reconstructive surgery

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NEWS

wednesDAY, august 31, 2016 | guyana-times.com

Guyana could soon exit FATF, CFATF process – AG G uyana would soon be able to exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) after officials from FATF carry out an onsite visit here.

Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, on Tuesday assured that Guyana is poised to be released from the grips of the financial watchdogs since it has already met the core recommendations set out by those bodies.

Speaking to journalists at his office, the Attorney General further added that, had the country not been referred under the previous People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government, it could have exited a long time now.

“Having met the core recommendations for CFATF, we would have been able to exit, but the fact that Guyana had been referred under the previous Government to

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams

the FATF process, after being subjected to three public statements and still not having corrected or implemented the recommendations. So it’s obvious we cannot exit CFATF until we exit FATF and that is why we are here because we have satisfied all those recommendations in CFATF and that is why we were able to have them do

the onsite visit,” he told journalists.

That onsite visit to Guyana by FATF’s five-member team will be conducted on September 14 and 15.

Williams continued, “With the onsite visit, FATF will be looking to see if the reforms contained in the agreed action plan between Guyana and FATF, if those

reforms have been introduced, implemented and sustained, and if there is political commitment to sustain it.”

The AG said that once the team is satisfied, then Government, at the next October meeting, will move a motion for them to exit the process. The team will also meet with the Attorney General and compliance team, the Finance Minister, the Director of Public Prosecutions, supervisory authorities and reporting entities, including banks and remittance services.

Williams said Guyana has prepared for this visit by having its Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance team conducting meetings with key agencies, including the Financial Action Unit (FIU), The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and the Bank of Guyana (BoG) to sensitise

them on their AML/CFT obligations.

“There is no delay; Guyana has done something that is unprecedented in the FATF world and that is within a year in Government, we are poised to exit both FATF and CFATF… this is third round. In the fourth round, you will not only have to comply, but show effective compliance. The fourth round has already started because we have already been exposed to the whole issue of de-risking and the National Assessment that has started to identify risks in Guyana”, he said as he explained the process.

Meanwhile, Williams will be attending two CFATF ministerial meetings in Miami, Florida, between September 6 and 9. The special ministerial meeting has on its agenda for discussion, an overview of the core work of CFATF, activities of its steering group and the stra-

tegic plan.

The eight Council of Ministers will be held on September 8. The items on that agenda include de-risking/loss of correspondent banking relationships, transparency and beneficial ownership and fourth round mutual evaluation.

At the CFATF plenary meeting and working groups’ agenda held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in June, CFATF had stated that Guyana had significantly improved its overall level of compliance and had addressed the core key recommendations.

While Guyana is said to have satisfied the criteria application to exit the follow up process, it is still in the FATF/ ICRG process which needs to be completed first. As such, it was recommended that Guyana continue enhanced follow-up and be required to report on continuing implementation to the next plenary in November.

Suspect in Port Kaituma shopkeeper’s murder likely for court today

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Dead: Ramsammy Narine

he prime suspect in the murder of the Port Kaituma, North West District (NWD) shopkeeper is likely to appear before the courts today.

The deceased, Ramsammy Narine, 55, of Lot 27 Best Road, West Coast Demerara (WCD), operated a grocery and gas shop at Four Miles, Port Kaituma.

According to Police reports, the suspect and his friends were imbibing at Narine’s shop in the wee hours of Sunday when they were asked to leave as he was closing the shop, but they refused. An argument subsequently ensued and the suspect left, only to return with an arrow which he used to fatally stab the shop owner to his neck.

A post-mortem conducted on Narine on Tuesday revealed that he died as a result of shock and haemorrhage due to a stab wound.

The men had escaped

after committing the act; however, Police ranks in F Division (Interior Locations) arrested the main suspect on Monday.

F Division Commander Ravindradatt Budhram told Guyana Times on Tuesday that the suspect had been transported to Georgetown and a file was prepared and sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that day for advice.

He noted that by today, the file should be returned to investigators for charges to be laid.

Meanwhile, acting Crime Chief Hugh Jessemy told this newspaper that investigators were working on information received to locate the second suspect.

A relative of the deceased related to this newspaper that around 04:00h on Sunday, Narine was about to close his shop when two men, who appeared to be drunk, approached him to buy more alcohol.

“They went to buy high wine, but he told them that he already closed the shop,” the relative stated.

She added that Narine had already closed the gates as well, but the two men kept on insisting that he sell them. An argument then erupted among the men during which one of the “drunkers” picked up a bucket of gasoline and threw it on Narine, the relative stated.

She continued that the other person was armed with an arrow and used it to stab him in his neck. The injured man was picked up and rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 | GUYANA-TIMES.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, August 31 – 14:30h-16:00h and Thursday, September 1 – 14:30h-16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, August 31 – 16:05h-17:35h and Thursday, September 1 – 16:40h-18:10h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times - 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily

WEATHER TODAY Light rain showers with sunny intervals can be expected throughout the morning, while heavy rain showers with sunny skies can be expected in the mid to late afternoon hours. Clear skies can be expected in the evening, with temperatures ranging between 25 degrees and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: South-easterly to East North-easterly between 1.34 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 03:39h and 16:02h reaching maximum heights of 2.57 metres and 2.55 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 09:37h and 21:53h reaching minimum heights of 0.63 metre and 0.64 metre respectively.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2016

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Guyanese should temper job creation expectations – ExxonMobil

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xxonMobil – the international conglomerate currently engaged in the exploration of oil in Guyana, is looking to ensure that local content accounts for as much as 95 per cent of its operation.

This was the assurance given on Tuesday when Country Manager Jeff Simons met with members of the media at the Cara Lodge to provide an update on the ExxonMobil operations.

According to Simons, there are currently 300 Guyanese in the employ of ExxonMobil and depending on how its operations proceed, this number could be increased.

Simons was also quick to caution that the operation of the rig is not labour intensive. He did seek to point out that wherever ExxonMobil has its operations, it seeks to ensure that local content is protected and maintained at a level between 75 per cent and 95 per cent. Simons told members of the media that while many of the technical people employed by ExxonMobil are foreigners, the company is looking to train more Guyanese.

There are currently no Guyanese employed on

the drilling rig, according to Simon. The majority of the Guyanese employed by Exxon have been subcontracted.

According to Simons, ExxonMobil currently has 148 contracts with Guyanese providing a range of services, including security and transportation –accounting for the bulk of the 300 locals employed.

The use of local con-

that the company is encouraged by the data it would have accumulated thus far from its previous wells.

The Liza-3 well, according to Simons, will be sunk further North from its other two wells in deeper waters at some 400 feet.

He reported too that the oil that has been recovered thus far is of a high quality and while nothing has been finalised as yet, the oil will

tent in the ExxonMobil operations its “pretty high,” according to Simons, who went on to say that the company is still in the beginning phase of its operations and actual oil production at 100,000 barrels per day is not expected until 2020.

He announced too that the company is gearing to sink another exploration well in a matter of weeks and

be likely sold to Petrotrin in Trinidad and Tobago.

The company will be employing the services of a super tanker to transport the oil.

Simons said based on the data recovered thus far, ExxonMobil is confident that there is an extremely large reservoir of oil in addition to natural gas.

He suggested howev-

er that unlike the case in Trinidad and Tobago, the quantities of gas mixed in the oil does not warrant commercialising the operations. The gas, according to Simons, will at this stage be used to run the operations of the rig and that which it does not need will be returned to the reservoir.

This practice, he said would, ensure maximum production of oil from the well.

Tuesday’s engagement represented another of its outreaches with stakeholders and it was pointed out too that all of the data obtained by ExxonMobil is being shared with the Guyana Government and other bodies including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and Conservation International.

He also used the opportunity to report on a Production Sharing Agreement inked with Government which guarantees the recouping of its investments and to also secure a revenue stream for the Guyana Government on day one of production.

According to Simmons, from day one of commercial operations, Guyana will be receiving close to half of the revenues from profit.

Govt to assist Guyanese law students with HWLS fees

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overnment has pledged some $17.5 million to cover 25 per cent of the total tuition fees for Guyanese students entering the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Parliament recently approved the payment by Government for academic years 2016-2018.

The sum to be paid for the law students is $17.9 million or US$85,000 per-annum.

Parliament’s approval has come, even as the University of Guyana (UG) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) remain in consultation over the automatic entry of the 25 Guyanese Bachelor of Law (LLB) graduates.

Last year, the 25 students were denied automatic entry to HWLS by the Council of Legal Education (CLE), which cited overcrowding of the fa-

cility. Following this, the calls for the establishment of a local law school took on new urgency.

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams blamed the previous Administration for cancelling the subsidy contributions to HWLS and CLE, but said when the matter was first discussed in Cabinet, there was no funding for that exercise.

In fact, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall had said that the contribution each territory made was used to subsidise the tuition fees which students were required to pay. He said the practice was halted by Guyana 15 years ago and never affected the admission of Guyanese students into the Law School.

All that meant was that Guyanese students no longer benefited from a subsidised

tuition fee and have been paying the full tuition fee since.

Nandlall had said further that the previous Administration was able to facilitate a 10-year agreement towards the automatic entry of local law students to the HWLS following negotiations with that body, but noted that they exited office in 2015, before the agreement could be signed.

“In the end, not only did we succeed in retaining the quota of 25 for Guyanese national graduates, but were able to secure an additional 10 places for non-Guyanese national graduates of the said law programme… I explained to him (Williams) that the hard work is finished and that all he needs to do is to ensure that the agreement, which was being drafted by UG and UWI, is signed and taken to the CLE

for their signature because it is a tripartite agreement,” Nandlall further stated.

“That’s the issue. Why after one year, the negotiated agreement has not been signed?” Nandlall queried.

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wednesday, august 31, 2016

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Editorial

Walter Roth Museum: Preservation vs Relocation

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n an age characterised by globalisation, modernisation and digitisation, it is quite easy for some facets of our culture and traditions to become lost. In an attempt to safeguard our treasure troves, we, the people, entrust their safe keeping to age-old repositories – museums and expect that our officials will be in the vanguard of that protection. We have witnessed globally, time and time again, attempts to snuff out, stifle and even kill aspects of history and culture. This is evident now more than ever when technologies threaten to destroy the existence of traditional cultures.

The recent announcement by the Ministry of the Presidency of a proposed relocation of the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology, without public consultations, had brought the threat of cultural annihilation closer to home. This repository holds in safe keeping artefacts dating back 7200 years; this is a veritable warehouse of history and knowledge! It is also purported to be the oldest such museum in the English-speaking Caribbean.

The museum is a fountain of knowledge. In addition to the traditional museum tour for visitors, there is a wealth of brochures, pamphlets, and even post cards available.

It even houses a library which comprises scholarly works focused on the indigenous people of the Caribbean.

These resources are heartily utilised by local and foreign researchers alike.

It was only after many concerned Guyanese voiced opposition to this proposed relocation – most notably, the co-founder of the Museum, Jennifer Wishart, who underscored the irrevocable damage that can be done if this ill-advised plan was executed that the decision was reconsidered. She had pointed to the fact that we simply do not possess “the expertise required” for the removal of such delicate and very ancient artefacts. Why then would any Government, organisation or institution proceed with such an action when the risks are so high? To lose even a fraction of that stored history would be a national tragedy.

More so, to proceed with the announced relocation plans in light of the risks, because it suits someone’s fancy or is a better use of space is unconscionable.

Most noteworthy as the situation unfolded last week, and the issue took centre stage, the Amerindian leaders themselves at the National Tosahos Conference took a strong stand and voiced their reservations and concerns regarding the matter. This prompted Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine last Wednesday to give assurance that no decisions would be made to move the historical museum until consultations were held with museum staff and stakeholders, including the leaders of the 212 indigenous villages.

This announcement was obviously met with resounding applause from the indigenous leaders.

Consultation should have been done from the inception.

Elsewhere in the world, museums are positioned to serve as one of the cornerstones of any national effort to preserve anthropological records; however, it is clear from this Administration’s announcements and subsequent actions that much more needs to be done to strengthen synergies as we strive to preserve and protect our indigenous history and culture which are vital to the indigenous sense of identity.

Understanding ancient lifestyles undoubtedly empowers communities of today, we, therefore, need to focus on protection and preservation rather than relocation, and we urge our officials to consider the priceless artefacts and the historical value of all that is at stake.

A farmer checks hot peppers laid out on a road to dry under the sun before selling them to factories producing pepper products in Kilis province, Turkey August 29, 2016 (Reuters/Umit Bektas)

The Govt deal, the PM and the AFC

Dear Editor, I am compelled to write this second letter to the print media since the Government took office in May 2015. I am much frustrated and concerned as to the way things are going under the Government and especially in the AFC, which I am a member of, based in Berbice.

Over the past several weeks we have heard, seen and read in the print and digital media the jiggery story of the corrupt bond deal made by the Minister of Health. The Minister now seems to get full support of the cabinet and the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government for having this secret deal inked.

To my surprise, the President cannot fire the Minister, all because he was and recently re-elected as one of the VC for the PNCR, so they cannot fire the man because he holds a top PNC position.

But to my surprise the AFC is quiet on this matter.

Why? The Prime Minister (PM) told us during the campaign trail that he will be given the responsibly for

domestic affairs in Guyana.

It seems as if this matter is not of domestic affairs but international.

The PM should have recommended that the Minister be fired for being involved in a corrupted\ shady deal. Moreover, the Minister accepted that it is a corrupted deal and that he misled the entire nation.

But the PM sits on a cabinet sub-committee to investigate the matter and came out defending the corrupt deal, although the Minister of Health accepted that the deal is a shady and corrupted one, he takes full responsibility.

What is the AFC’s position on this matter? I truly think that after the PM came out and defended the deal, he told the AFC to shut up and allow the matter to be sweep under the carpet. So the silence of the AFC speaks for itself.

The AFC is going slowly, but the top brass of the party wants us as members and also its supporters to believe that the party is strong.

That’s a lie; the party is heading down the drain.

The PM, who fooled us to believe that he is in charge of the domestic af-

fairs, is doing nothing to enhance Guyana domestically.

I hope the rest of the leaders, especially the founders that are alive (Khemraj and Trotman) in the AFC will try as hard to ensure that those who remain in the AFC are being safeguarded from this domestic leader.

If the PM is in charge of such in our land, then here are a few questions for him and the AFC: Why is it that after the resignation of Dr Ramayya, he (PM), or the Government and AFC never talked of the issue publicly? Why is it that the APNU/ AFC regional councillors are not supporting the region 6 REO? Why is it that the APNU/AFC joined the PPP to move a no confidence motion against the REO? Why is it that APNU/AFC neglected Berbice after 2015 elections? Why is it that the AFC is silent on important matters in Government?

Why is it that Dr Norton wasn’t fired? Why is it that youths are neglected under this Government? Why is it that the PM has no say as to who must be fired when found corrupt? Why is it that APNU members are taking advantage on the AFC in both regions 5 and

6? Why is it that there is no re-shuffling to the regional tender board in both regions? Why is it that only a few people are getting the contracts regionally? Why is it that one contractor in Region Six is getting almost all the work? Why is it that one APNU councillor is controlling the entire Region Five affairs? There are a lot more questions but those will be asked later, as I now plan to become a frequent letter writer.

The AFC is slowly exiting the political scene and the APNU has to be serious about 2020. In Berbice, Region Five and Six, the AFC is losing its grounds.

Everyday people are talking of the neglect by the AFC leaders.

My advice to the APNU is to hold strong to those that the AFC are pelting away, because I can assure you all, come 2020 the AFC will bring less votes to the coalition. The APNU needs to rethink 2020 because the PM and the AFC seems to be going down the drain.

Start the reform now...

2020 is near.

Sincerely, James Fraser

GWI apologises to Sophia residents Dear Editor, The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), the Nation’s supplier of Water and Sanitation Services, wishes to note that the issue of water supply in ‘E’ Field Sophia, Georgetown, is as a result of a conflict in the timing of water distribution and residents’ availability.

GWI has found that some residents are unable to receive water from the trucks

sent to their area because they are not at home during the time the water is being delivered.

To date, four trucks filled with 450gal black tanks of water are sent to ‘D’ and ‘E’ Fields, Sophia, between 08:00h and 17:30h, with 16 trips being made daily.

The utility has, however, noted the difficulty for the working population and has taken steps to cater to their

needs.

GWI will therefore be increasing the number of trucks sent into Sophia and adjusting its distribution schedule so as to facilitate those who are not at home during the day.

Additionally, the ongoing project in which transmission mains are being installed from North Ruimveldt to ‘D’ and ‘E’ Fields, Sophia, is 80 percent complete. This proj-

ect will help to alleviate poor water supply to residents.

GWI apologises to our customers for any inconvenience caused and wishes to thank your publication for consistently highlighting the issues which affect our customers.

Sincerely, Leana Bradshaw Public Relations Officer

news

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wednesday, august 31, 2016 | guyana-times.com

La Union accident

Enmore bandits-Police shootout

Nabbed gunman cooperating with Police Driver’s licence suspended T

he suspect arrested following Monday’s high-speed chase on the East Coast of Demerara is cooperating with Police investigators to pinpoint the whereabouts of his three accomplices.

Deputy Head of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Hugh Jessemy told Guyana Times on Tuesday that the suspect has been cooperating with the Police and the Force was on the hunt for the three other bandits.

According to reports, around 15:45h on Monday, four masked men, all armed with firearms, confronted the owner of R Ramlogan General Store located at Logwood, Enmore, ECD, and demanded cash and jewellery.

The men subsequently

carted off a quantity of valuables, inclusive of a licensed handgun with 15 rounds of ammunition after assaulting the businessman. They then made good their escape from the premises, hijacked a pink Toyota Raum bearing registration number PNN 334 and proceeded in the vicinity of Bare Root further up the Coast.

However, they were observed by the ranks of two Police patrols acting in a suspicious manner and upon realising that they had attracted the attention of law enforcement, the men opened fire on the patrols.

In retaliation, the Police discharged several rounds in the direction of the vehicle, one of which shattered the back windscreen of the vehicle. This forced the perpetrators to abandon the mo-

…was under the influence

T

The car used by the men to commit the robbery

tor car and flee towards the backlands of Bare Root. They were pursued by the Police and one suspect was arrested with an unlicensed pistol and 12 rounds of matching ammunition.

A number of live rounds and spent shells were also found in the stolen motor car which was impounded by Police.

Guyana Times understands that this was not the first time the store was robbed by armed men. A resident told this publication that only a few months ago, gunmen stormed the establishment and carted off an undisclosed sum of money and other items. The search for the three other bandits continues.

hirty-two-yearold Devon Glenn of Onderneeming Sandpit, in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), was banned from driving any vehicle on the public roads for one month. Glenn was involved in a vehicular accident on August 29, at the La Union Public Road.

Glenn, who was slapped with two charges, made his first appearance before Magistrate Sunil Scarce on Tuesday at the Anna Regina Magistrate's Court.

The first charge stated that on August 29, 2016, he drove motorcar, PVV 2064 under the influence of alcohol.

The second charge stat-

ed that on the same day, he drove the same motorcar in a manner dangerous to the public.

His Attorney Latchmin Dindyal requested reasonable bail for his client. Magistrate Scarce announced that Glenn’s licence will be suspended for one month.

For the dangerous driving charge, the defendant was granted $30,000 bail. He is expected to return to court on September 18.

The five occupants of the motor car sustained injuries as a result of the accident and were admitted to the Suddie Public Hospital but later discharged.

Allegations against Public Health Ministry shocking The new Guyana Police Force… is it?

Dear Editor, In an earlier letter I wrote in the media of my "choke and rob" ordeal at the hands of some thugs in the Georgetown area. During that traumatic experience I lost my Guyana passport, with which I normally conduct business when I am in Guyana. Now, on my visit this summer to my homeland, I sought to get a new passport as a replacement of the stolen one. That new passport requires me getting a report from the Police department, and this is when my troubles began.

I visited the Brickdam Location where the initial report was made to get a statement for the immigration department. My first visit to the Police began in the second week of July, when I was told that I have to get another report written up on the theft.

That statement took half a day for write up (no exaggeration). In fact, at the end of the write up when I was asked to read the details, it was so riddled with errors that I stated to the officer that "it would take another half of a day to rectify, if the English in that text should be taken into consideration."

Anyway, I signed the badly worded statement and was told to return one week later.

I visited Brickdam five consecutive weeks thereafter and could not uplift that report. I left Guyana on August 28 and still cannot get a report to process a Guyana passport. Is this the new and improved, professional -whatever the terms Crime Chief Blanhum speaks about? Well, come to think of it, if that report should go to court I shudder to think what would be my fate if the accused person

has a firebrand lawyer?

With a report of that level of "intelligence" I believe that I, the victim, might very well become the convicted one for making scandalous statements against the accused. And this is my main problem with these wayward political statements made by the Crime Chief; would anyone take those words seriously when you have a Police Force who cannot effectively communicate -written or verbal- in the official language of this country? What if?

We are far away from a force that can barely be considered "improved”. The Police need training, no question about that, serious training as to how to communicate, far more to write a true and fool proof report.

And I hasten to add that I am willing to offer my services when I retire here from my teaching job in St Lucia.

But I also hasten to add, I would like to do so free from "political interference".

This is the main problem that is hurting the Police Force in Guyana, the heavy political domination coming from central government. I am absolutely sure Blanhum was cognizant of the fact that he was talking trash when he made that statement. But politically correct he was in the eyes of the PNC led Coalition, which is a party that "owns and controls" the predominantly Black Police Force.

So we cannot overemphasise the point that the Police Force in Guyana needs proper training for us to get anywhere near using the word “professionalism" or before it can be inculcated into their vocabulary.

Yours sincerely, Neil Adams

Dear Editor, The recent revelation that the Public Health Ministry was involved in questionable transactions and reporting as it relates to the procurement of a storage bond has sent shock waves to many who voted for change. This followed other similar exposures like the abuse of the contingency funds, alleged mismanagement and failure to report on the Durban Park project, the fiasco involving the specialty hospital project and many since the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) came to government.

It was pleasing to see President Granger appointing a cabinet subcommittee to investigate and report on the Public Health Ministry’s bond storage fiasco. Similarly, the public was astonished at the level of corruption and mismanagement of what can be considered

public funds by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) local office.

By this I mean funds that have been earned from the Guyana Norway partnership agreement , some of which are being managed by IDB, hence, it is considered Guyana’s public funds and not IDB funds.

Numerous calls have been made for the IDB office to provide the names of staff and the procurement process involved in the hiring and paying of these staff at the office of the Climate Change, post May 2015, with the said funds managed by the IDB. To date the IDB has remained silent on the matter which adds suspicion that there is massive mismanagement and corruption on the use of these funds by the IDB local office.

Many have voiced their concerned on this matter including former President and Leader of the Opposition,

Dr Bharrat Jagdeo. It must be noted that it was under Jagdeo’s Presidency that the agreement was signed with Norway and the funds received.

To now have it misused and mismanaged by the IDB is simply unacceptable.

Parliament, through the Public Accounts Committee, should investigate this matter and bring it before the Head of the IDB local office.

To report and answer on the glaring misuse and mismanagement of Guyana’s funds.

The IDB local office has been involved in numerous other questionable transactions that the public has called for an explanation of, but the office chose to remain silent thereby leaving only

the conclusion that there are massive irregularities, misuse, mismanagement and corruption at the IDB local office. These persons are involved in the awarding of multi-million dollar contracts to firms to conduct forensic audits via hand picking a few individuals and also delaying and seeking to alter the GPL/IDB/EU project, much to the dissatisfaction and objection of numerous contractors who bid for the project.

I beg Parliament to investigate the IDB local office and have its head appear before the committee to answer to these corruption issues.

Yours sincerely, Carl Lucas

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Foundation

U GEPAN President Anna Correia distributes three bags of stationery to this family

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he Guyana Empowered Peoples Action Network (GEPAN) in an attempt to support education and assist parents in Red Village, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), distributed stationery to primary school children within the community.

After having worked in the community earlier this year in partnership with the Suddie Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the organisation with the help of generous members was able to gather enough funds to assist at least two dozen children below the age

of 10 originating from modest homes.

The community of Red Village is an impoverished one located in the vicinity of Suddie. Unemployment and financial difficulties are a determining factor in the high rate of school dropouts identified in the village.

Single parenting is common in Red Village, especially among women, most of whom face tremendous challenges in providing for their families.

GEPAN hopes to increase donations to support education in poor communities, in the future.

nfortunately, here we are again, at the beginning of yet another school year. I use the word “unfortunately”, because many, like myself, have grown accustomed to the laid back lifestyle of the holidays, and are well, not exactly looking forward to school’s imminent return.

Thousands will be starting primary school, high school, and even university – but in my experience, first days are all the same. The sense of newness can be daunting, where is everything, what’s acceptable to do, and how should we Ashley Anthony conduct ourselves? For a very anxious student, it might be advisable for them to talk to a slightly older student, just to get the feel of things, in addition to going to orientation.

For those well settled already, things shouldn’t be too difficult. In fact, you might be looking forward to the year.

Maybe you’ve got the perfect school solution all figured out already; or maybe you’re just going with the flow.

Either way, I don’t believe advice hurts.

Productivity, (and I’m about to be really cliché here), starts with setting goals. It doesn’t mean you have to write them down and frame them on your wall, but just keep them in mind. They don’t have to be academically geared, or even spectacular, they just need to be what you want to achieve. If it’s to run a race at sports, to get at least 80 per cent, or to just make some new friends, then that’s what you set your mind to do.

People sometimes ask me what’s the ‘secret’ to good grades. I don’t have a secret. Personally, hours and hours of studying don’t work. My best tip is trying to understand the concepts, once that’s done then everything else runs smoothly.

If there’s something that has to be memorised, learn it early and revise it every once in a while. Exam preparations barking up your tree? Get the syllabi, and ensure you know everything it asks for.

Teachers can be good, but they’re not always perfect, and it’s easy to overlook something. Sure, the whole syllabus can’t come on a single exam, but it is highly possible that questions can come on “the one thing” you didn’t study. Don’t let yourself become too obsessed though, remember to take breaks, and to have a little fun.

Otherwise, go forth and figure out what works best for you. If that’s reading a little every night, study notes, bright coloured flashcards – or even something slightly unorthodox like pacing while studying, try it all! Look up study tips, and use as well as share the ones you find most useful.

Spread out your responsibilities and work in such a way that you have enough time for yourself, time to practice extra-curricular activities, and time to sleep.

Don’t forget to keep yourself well fed either.

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wednesday, august 31, 2016 | guyana-times.com

Use “idle” bank accounts' monies to pay public servants – GPSU Mother, relative 14-year-old busted with cocaine in suitcase handles

T

he Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) believes that the large sums of money that have been identified lying idle in various bank accounts and available for Government use should be utilised to pay public servants a liveable wage.

The Union has also said that it was not unmindful of the immediate implications of implementing a living wage and was prepared to support a multi-year approach to achieve this goal, suggesting a three-year period.

Moreover, the GPSU blasted successive Governments’ resort to employing persons on contract.

“We believe that successive Governments recognised the impossibility of attracting quality labour and skills by their continuing use of high-value contract employees,” the Union said in a release on Tuesday.

According to the GPSU, this has led to a situation where the Public Service, at least in relation to wages, salaries and allowances, can reasonably be accused of practising discrimination if not outright ‘apartheid’. The Union has since demanded that this practice be halted, saying “it would be insensitive, uncaring and anti-working class to do otherwise”.

The missive released by the GPSU further outlined, “We believe that, to use the words of Prof Clive Thomas, ‘the democratic dividend must immediately begin to reflect in a just wage for those who toil’.

“We further believe that once the compensation pay for those at the bottom of the scale is taken care of consequential increases and adjustments will satisfy the need for those at the top,” the GPSU added.

The Union, in its propos-

GPSU President Patrick Yarde

al to Government, has also called for a flat increase of $7500 per month, which should be added to the salary at December 31, 2015 of each person employed in the Public Service, as well as to the amount payable at the minimum and maximum of each band.

The GPSU suggested too that next year a 25 per cent increase be given across the board and in 2018, a 20 per cent increase be paid across the board.

To this end, the GPSU asserted its commitment to an objective organisational restructuring in the Public Service, accompanied by a job evaluation exercise of relevant positions; the need to provide for rewarding additional and special responsibilities; and the reduction of overlap, more consistency and logic in the number and spread among bands and their de-bunching where necessary.

“In this regard, it is the GPSU’s position that the findings and recommendations of all previous and current reports of committees, arbitration tribunals and the Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service of

Guyana should form an adequate basis for the determination and completion of this exercise within the three-year period of the above proposal,” the release stated.

According to the GPSU, no fulltime worker whether in the Public or Private Sector should be forced by their employer to have to go hungry, without reasonable shelter, basic clothing and adequate leisure.

“One of the duties of the employer is to ensure that the worker’s self- esteem and dignity are always preserved and protected…Wages which dooms the worker to poverty deprives the employer of a motivated worker and correspondingly the quality and service

which the public expects and deserves. Poverty robs the worker and his/her family of their self-esteem, right to dignity and a decent life,” the Union highlighted.

The GPSU said too that its argument in the struggle for a living wage for decades was that it helped to protect the workers at the lowest level of the socio-economic structure.

According to the GPSU, “Our economy has for too long been constructed/regulated/structured on a paradigm of low wage…This explains why Guyanese continue to migrate in large numbers and why the paradox of job vacancies and high unemployment persist simultaneously.”

Gunmen rob Republic Park pensioners

A

n elderly East Bank Demerara (EBD) couple are now traumatised after five masked men stormed into their home on Tuesday afternoon.

Guyana Times understands that Bharrat Jaggot and his wife, Parbattie, were at their Lot 241 Republic Park, EBD home when five armed bandits entered the house. The men held the couple at gunpoint and de-

manded cash and jewellery.

The couple reportedly told the bandits that they did not have money at home and handed over a few pieces of jewellery. Dissatisfied, the men also took the couple’s two cellular phones and a laptop computer before making good their escape.

The matter was reported and Police are working along with the couple to find the five perpetrators.

refused bail

T

he mother and another relative of the 14-year-old who was busted with cocaine concealed in the handles of his suitcase were refused bail at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts when they appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly on separate charges of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking.

The child’s mother, Cora Towler and and the other relative, Ian Griffith pleaded not guilty to the charges that stated that on Friday, August 26, 2016 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, they were in possession of 1.4 kilogram of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Defence Attorneys Peter Hugh, who represented Ian Griffith, and Paul Fung-AFat, who represented Cora Towler, both contended that the cocaine was found on a third party and not on their clients, hence, further investigations should be carried out.

Hugh made an application for reasonable bail on behalf of Griffith which was denied by Magistrate Daly.

Fung-A-Fat explained to the Court that his client was 41 years old and had four children. He pointed out that she was self-employed

as a shop owner and was a naturalised American. The Attorney pleaded for reasonable bail which was denied.

He clearly explained that his client only packed her son’s suitcase and did not dismantle it, pointing to the fact that the cocaine was discovered in the handles of the suitcase.

Police Prosecutor Shellon Jupiter contended that Towler admitted in a caution statement that she placed the drugs in her son’s suitcase, along with Griffith who helped her pack. Upon this revelation by the Police, Griffith was later charged.

The defendants will make their next court appearance on September 12, 2016. The 14-year-old was held following the discovery of the 1.4 kilograms of cocaine concealed in the handles of his suitcase while he was waiting to board a flight destined for New York at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri on Friday afternoon.

It was reported that the teen was travelling alone, returning home after spending the August vacation in Guyana.

Upon the discovery of the cocaine, four persons, including the teen’s parents, were arrested.

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wednesDAY, august 31, 2016 | guyana-times.com

Charity cook remanded on 2 counts of break and enter and larceny – bail refused, sentence deferred

F

orty-year-old Alister Bess, of 167 Charity Public Road, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), was on Tuesday remanded to prison on two counts of breaking and entering and larceny.

Appearing before Magistrate Sunil Scarce, the defendant faced four break and enter and larceny charges; with Bess pleaded not guilty to two of the charges.

For the guilty charges, bail was refused until statements are filed.

It is alleged that between August 22 and 23, at 167 Charity Public Road, the defendant broke and entered the dwelling place of Telma Bess, and stole a flat screen TV valued $65,000, and one gas bottle valued $10,000.

After the Administration of Justice Act was applied for the matter to be tried in the Magistrate’s Court, Bess pleaded not guilty.

Police also alleged that between August 15 and 16, at Charity water front, Bess broke and entered the stall of Mahendra Sasenarine.

During that incident, the accused allegedly stole a Sony laptop computer valued $120,000, an external hard drive and a Husky took kit.

The total cost of the stolen articles was $215,000. He pleaded guilty to this charge.

According to the facts presented, Sasenarine secured his stall and went home. At around 08:00h, the Virtual Complaint went to his stall where he discovered the padlock broken. The Police were

then informed and Bess was arrested. The computer was recovered at a West Bury farmer’s home.

Between August 26 and 27, the Police also alleged that the defendant broke into the stall of Romesh Doodnauth and stole 100 sunglasses valued $300,000.

He also stole two boxes of bulbs and 24 umbrellas. The value of the stolen items was placed at $480,000. Bess pleaded not guilty to this charge.

The Police further alleged that on August 26 and 28, at Charity back street, Bess broke into the dwelling place of Torenda Evans. Several ladies dresses, a blanket, lunch bags and umbrellas were stolen. The total cost of the stolen items amount-

ed to $46,500. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.

After the charges were read, the defendant told the court that he is a drug addict and that he was sorry.

He said too that he is going through domestic issues. The court also heard that most of the stolen articles were recovered and returned. The defendant spent 18 months in prison in the past for a larceny charge.

The defendant is expected to return to court on September 19, to face the charges levelled against him in the case of theft against Romesh Doodnauth. While he is to remain in custody, a request was made for the presentation of a probation report.

Haitians fined for illegal entry Essequibo

F

our Haitians appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on charges of illegal entry.

Fitzco Julian, Amnerfer Chriskey, Jim Richmore and Desmond Kendy, all pleaded guilty to the charge which

stated that on Friday, August 26, 2016 at Springlands, Corentyne, they entered Guyana by sea and disembarked without the consent of an immigration officer.

A French translator was present in the court and assisted with the communication between the Magistrate

and the French-speaking defendants.

They were each fined $30,000, with an alternative of six months’ imprisonment if they fail to pay the fine. They will be deported after paying the fine or serving their sentences, which whether is applicable.

trio granted bail for robbery with violence

D

ensel Castello, Joel Christopher and Khalid Macnikil of Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) were on Tuesday granted $100,000 bail each for the charge of robbery with violence. The trio made their first appearance before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Anna Regina Magistrate's Court.

Police allege that on August 28, 2016, at Charity Back Street, they robbed Wayne Narine of a gold chain valued $250,000. It is also alleged that during and after the robbery, the trio used violence against the Virtual Complainant (VC).

Representing Castello and Macnikil was Attorney Onassis Granville. She told the court that both of her clients were 22 years of age.

She also said that the stolen chain was not found on either of the defendants and therefore proclaimed their innocence, as she pleaded for a reasonable bail.

Meanwhile, an unrepresented Christopher told the court he was 18 years old and resided at Henrietta Village. He also told the court that he works in the interior.

Police Prosecutor Haimraj Ramsewack did not object to bail and it was granted in the sum of $100,000 for each defendant. They are expected to return to court on September 26.

As a condition to their bail, the trio is expected to report to the Charity Police Station every Monday.

Failing to do so can very well lead to a revocation of bail.

Eyew tness Foundering ships…

I

…in the government

n his parting charge to the PNC Congress, the newly reaffirmed Leader, President David Granger, engaged in a bit of wordplay. What was needed at this juncture of the party's history, he said, were four "SHIPS" - Statesmanship, Stewardship, Leadership and Fellowship (SS LeadFell?). So who says historians are all deadly dull?

But Pressie was spot on about what it takes to run a country. So has the government in general and the PNC in particular been sailing the four "ships" - the SS LeadFell - since they took office last year?

We can do worse than begin with their stewardship of the nation's welfare. While we all know man doesn't live by bread ALONE, it's kinda impossible to live WITHOUT it.

So, decent jobs to generate income to purchase even the bare necessities of life rank pretty high on the "welfare" list of most folks.

And by this measure, the government's stewardship hasn't been quite up to scratch, has it? Even its fervent supporters in the Public Service are chomping at the bits that their "significant" salary increase hasn't arrived yet.

Last year’s 5 percent and this year's 10 percent just doesn't cut it when your salary is, say, $60,000 monthly.

That’s what? $6000 for a month or $200 per day?

Especially when one compares it to the 50 percent salary increase the Cabinet awarded itself with a Minister now raking in $870,000 monthly, plus a car, driver, housing allowance, etc.. etc.

Statesmanship? Is this what the PNC calls rewarding a Cabinet Minister - who lied to Parliament - and cost the country $450M - by electing him to the Vice Chairmanship of the party? Is it statesmanship when the PM says the warehouse was a "spare" in case the other one burnt down? Or because traffic's too heavy on the East Bank it’s better to have a warehouse in Albouystown?

Leadership? Well, your Eyewitness has a soft spot for Pressie, as his readers would know by now. But even his Missus would concede the ship of state needs a firmer hand at the wheel right now. From those on the outside looking it, it sure looks like the motto of the government is "every man for himself and the devil takes the hindmost"! If he's to lead from the front, Pressie needs to throw some dead wood overboard.

Fellowship? Garnering only 5000 votes more than the PPP at the last elections - even with the help of the AFC - the PNC folks need to get off their high horses and reach across the aisle. That'll be the only "fellowship" that can help Guyana at this time.

Anything else would be a fellowship of the damned.

...in the coalition

Lotsa folks whistle in the dark, to ward off jumbies - or at least to keep their spirits up by pretending they're not alone in the world. When you're desperate, you'll do some weird things! Like leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan insisting the government's doing a "wonderful job"! So exactly how does Ramjattan define "wonderful"?

Your Eyewitness would settle for the "good life" the coalition promised during the campaign. Is Ramjattan saying we're living the "good life"?

If he is, then you can be sure he's talking about himself. As a Vice President, the fella rakes in $11,135,064 per annum. Not bad, eh? Almost $1M monthly! And, of course, plus all the fringe benefits that aren't so "fringe" when you put a monetary value to it. Like the duty free car that'll be sold at a PROFIT of $22M in three years!

Just like other five that passed through his hands!!

It's the good life all right!

...of ambition

At the previous PNC leadership election, Mr Granger faced some stiff competition - including that from old hand Carl Greenidge. Carl claimed he was "cheated not defeated"! Lindeners also claimed their votes hadn't been counted. This time, not a squeak. Was Greenidge even at the Congress?

The wonders incumbency and patronage can do for a party!!

Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

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wednesday, august 31, 2016 | guyana-times.com

Essequibo sibling stabbing

FITUG jabs Govt on unfulfilled campaign promises

Sister slapped with manslaughter charge T ... released on $400,000 bail

Stephney Lawrie

Deceased: Maxton Lawrie

uck was on the side of 24-year-old Stephney Lawrie, known as “Stacy”, of Lot 2 Better Success, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), when she was granted bail for allegedly killing her brother during an argument. She made her first appearance before Magistrate Sunil Scarce on Tuesday, at the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court.

Dressed in a blue top and blue jeans, the accused appeared saddened while standing in the dock. She was not required to plea to the indictable charge of manslaughter.

The Police allege that on August 25, at Lot 2 Better Success, Stephney Lawrie unlawfully killed her brother, Maxton Orlando Lawrie.

During the bail application, her Attorney Latchmin Dindyal, told the court that the accused is a single mother of a five-year-old and is not a flight risk. He told the court that his client never had any brushes with the law.

He also informed the court that Stephney Lawrie was hospitalised for the injuries she received during the ordeal, and that she is presently receiving treatment at the Suddie Public Hospital. There were visible black and blue marks on the accused right arm.

Prosecutor Haimraj Ramsewack had no objections to bail, but requested for conditions to be attached if bail was granted.

In responding, Magistrate Sunil Scarce reminded that the allegation against Lawrie

was a serious one. He however granted bail in the sum of $400,000, taking into consideration the nature of the incident.

Additionally, Lawrie is required to surrender her passport and report to the Sergeant at the Charity Police Station every Wednesday and Saturday.

Relatives and friends of the Lawrie family were present in court. The accused is expected to return to court in September.

The entire Better Success village was thrown into deep mourning after the news of the incident surfaced. Prior to the accused’s appearance in court, she had confessed to Police to stabbing her brother in self defence.

It is alleged that on August 24, 2016, the deceased went home under the influence of alcohol and started an argument with family members.

During the argument, he cuffed his father to his right eye and then proceeded to his sister’s room armed with a knife. When the defendant opened the door, her brother started to verbally abuse her. He then tried to harm her with the knife, and it was at this point that she reportedly stabbed him. He succumbed while on his way to the Suddie Public Hospital.

The autopsy conducted by Government Pathologist, Dr Bridgemohan revealed that the victim died as a result of shock and haemorrhage due to the stab wound.

L

he Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) has taken a jab at the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration for unfulfilled promises, saying its 14 months in office have done little for the electorate.

FITUG stressed that it was aware that “not all election campaign promises can be fulfilled soon after a new government assumes office”. However, it noted that months after the national and regional elections, the Government has not merely failed to honour the “nicesounding promises they made, many of which are reflected in their Manifesto, but actually reneged on issues impacting on the cost of living and wages of workers”.

“The 2016 National Budget, one of the two presented to Parliament by the coalition Administration is

incredulous. It envisaged increases for about 140 taxes; some hiked as much as 1200 per cent. The increased taxes nullify the modest wage raise given to workers. Pensioners have had their water and electricity subsidies withdrawn. Public servants and the nation’s teachers have waited and wilted as one of the ubiquitous ‘Commissions’ reflected upon what was already obvious. Delaying tactics, in the guise of merit increases and differentiated salary adjustments are having deleterious effects on the nation’s working servants who witnessed substantial up-front salary increases for a select few,” FITUG lamented in a release to the press on Tuesday. It went on to say that “sugar workers’ morale is at an all-time low. Besides the tragedy of retrenchment and redundancy at Wales, the new GuySuCo’s ‘plans’ and ‘strategies’ for ‘turnarounds’ and diversification

are closely guarded secrets, it seems. Dialogue between sugar workers and their Unions with the Corporation is hardly taking place. Sugar workers have been bluntly refused any wage increases since 2015.”

Turning to City Hall, FITUG said the municipality is busy seeking to impose container taxes and parking meter fees, which will surely be to the detriment of the consumers who, undoubtedly, will be made to bear the burden of the passed-on fees and taxes.

“FITUG wonders how the pursuit of such a course will bring about President Granger’s ‘good life for all’.

FITUG wishes to remind the coalition that freedom and lofty values can never triumph when pockets are empty and stomachs are hungry. This growing reality shows that the ‘Good Life’ remains a slogan and is possibly just a campaign delusion,” the release added.

Sisters Village robbery suspect released

O

ne of the main suspects in the two armed robberies committed on a Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara (WBD) business in less than one month has been released from custody, as Police are seeking advice on charging other suspects.

This was revealed to Guyana Times on Tuesday.

Reports gathered by this publication reveal that the suspect had worked at the business place for some time and reportedly kept a key to the female proprietor’s house

in his possession.

Guyana Times understands that the suspect was released from Police custody after the 72-hour legal detention period expired.

A source has revealed that Police are seeking advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on charging several other persons in relation to the crimes.

According to reports, on Friday last around 03:00h, armed, masked intruders invaded the businesswoman’s premises and held up her and her family. Guyana

Times was told that the gunmen forced the family to hand over $80,000 in cash and a quantity of prepaid mobile phone cards, in addition to other valuables.

The first robbery on the establishment occurred on August 3 when two armed gunmen, who pretended to be customers, stormed the business place and forced several persons to lie face down while they relieved them of their belongings. On that same day, a delivery truck in the nearby village of Good Intent was also robbed.

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wednesday, august 31, 2016 | guyana-times.com

Regent Street crash

Policeman slapped with causing death charge T he off-duty Policeman who crashed his minibus on Regent Street, Georgetown, last Saturday, injuring several persons and causing the death of another, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday, charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Timothy Horatio, 26, of Three Stone, Georgetown, appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.He pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on August 27, 2016, at Regent Street, Georgetown, he drove motor vehicle BTT 7994 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Dillon Linton, 21, of Campbellville, Georgetown.

Attorney Darren Wade

The badly damaged bus

who represented Horatio, made a bail application and explained to the court that the defendant is remorseful

for his actions and is deeply troubled as the deceased was his best friend.

The prosecution ex-

plained that currently, there are still three other persons hospitalised; one of whom is in a critical condition.

The defendant was remanded to prison and will make his next appearance in court on September 9.

Reports are that on the day in question, Horatio was “drag racing” with the ill-fated minibus and in an attempt to overtake another minibus, collided with a motorcycle, causing his vehicle to topple several times before crashing into a utility pole. Several persons were injured and Linton died the following day.

Several beer bottles were seen at the crash site and according to some persons; both the driver and conductor were seen consuming alcohol earlier in the day.

Taxi driver/drama instructor granted $300,000 bail

A

63-year-old parttime taxi driver and drama instructor was granted $300,000 bail after he appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly on Tuesday, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Godfrey Henry pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on April 28, 2016, at Homestretch Avenue, he drove motor car HC 419 in a dangerous manner to the public, which resulted in the death of Fitzroy Bradford.

Police Prosecutor Shellon Jupiter had no objections to bail; however, she asked the Magistrate to grant the defendant substantial bail. She further recommended that Henry make weekly visits to a police station.

Jupiter reminded that the defendant was previously charged for failing to render assistance to the victim after the accident.

Defence Attorney Savannah Barnwell made an application for bail on

the grounds that her client had six children and was the sole provider for his household.

He will make his next court appearance on September 7, 2016.

It was earlier reported that an unidentified man met his demise on Thursday night following an accident along Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown. The accident reportedly occurred about 21:35h.

Investigations revealed that the victim was report-

edly crossing the road when he was struck by a speeding car. He sustained injuries and subsequently succumbed.

The driver of the car fled the scene, but based on information provided to Police by an eyewitness, the suspect was detained a short while after and assisted with investigations.

The body of the deceased was taken to the Lyken Funeral Home to await identification and a postmortem.

Huge voice

S

atiricus was grinning from ear to ear. He and his buddy, Cappo, were sidling into the Back Street Bar for their daily fortification, before they went home after work.

"Cappo, you are looking at a very happy man!"

Satiricus said, as they took their customary seats at a back table.

"Me see da," Cappo said, "Yuh get wan raise, or wha'?"

"Better than a raise, old buddy… better than a raise," Satiricus replied, as he signalled the waitress for two cold ones. "Some good news from the Leader!"

"De Leadah? Which Leadah? De Foundah Leadah?" asked Cappo slyly. "Me hear Pressie bin talk ‘bout Burnt Ham’!"

"Everything is skin teeth with you, Cappo," replied Satiricus testily. "You know I'm talking about my leader, Rum Jhaat of my party – the KFC." "Me see Rum Jhaat ah de Pee-an-See Kangress… 'e face bin look prappa sa-wa!" said Cappo. "Me na know 'e woulda talk ah de Kangress. Like 'e jine dem, or wha'?"

"No Cappo. He didn't join the Pee-an-See, and that's what I wanted to tell you," Satiricus said in a patient tone.

"Rum Jhaat said the KFC has a ‘huge voice in coalition’!"

"Suh wha' de KFC get fram de Pee-an-See wid dem ‘yuge vice’?" Cappo wanted to know. "Naga Man start fuh chair Cabinet now?"

"Look Cappo, why you want to bring up that? That's water under the bridge. Let's talk about NOW!" said Satiricus with glee. "Look how Naga Man get to be on the team to judge North-Ton on the emergency warehouse!

That is POWER boy!"

"Wha' suh big ‘bout da?" said Cappo in a puzzled voice.

"Budday!" exclaimed Satiricus exuberantly. "You didn't see how North-Ton was voted in to the top ranks of the Pee-an-See? And a KFC top leader Naga Man was allowed to judge him!! That's real power!!"

"But how come dem mek Trottie Man de chair fuh de Committee and nah Naga Man?" Said Cappo with a twinkle in his eye.

"I didn't think of that," said Satiricus quietly.

wednesDAY, august 31, 2016

guyana-times.com

11

News

Division Major repairs for DCommander Supenaam Stelling proceeds on leave

T

he replacement of defective timber piles and badly damaged beams and steel plates are among major repairs to be undertaken on the Supenaam Stelling in light of extensive damage caused by the collision of the MV Sabanto ferry.

Transport and Harbours Department General Manager Marcelene Merchant, in an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), explained that the link span steel access bridge and steel pontoon incurred significant structural damage. Eight major structural steel beams and other steel members of the link span bridge have been damaged beyond repair.

Merchant further explained that there were 10 defective timber pile clusters that were to be cut off at the lowest tide. New timber piles, which would make up the new clusters, would then be re-driven and strapped.

Eight badly damaged beams are to be removed and replaced with new ones to begin to repair the damage to the link span bridge.

Defective vertical and diagonal steel ties and braces are to be removed and replaced,

while the link span bridge will be realigned into position.

Damaged steel plates from the collision will be replaced, and structural framing of the pontoon will be reinforced and the structure itself realigned.

Major repairs and modification works will be undertaken in vital areas of the primary and secondary link span support that are damaged, Merchant highlighted.

In July 2016, MV Sabanto ran into the Supenaam Stelling whilst trying to moor.

When the team visited the location to assess the damage to the facility, it was discovered that the vessel did not sustain major structural damage.

The vessel collided with the cluster piles which cushioned the impact, but unfortunately all the momentum was transferred to the pontoon and link span bridge causing severe damage, Merchant explained.

A portion of the concrete decking of the Stelling has also been critically damaged due to the heavy impact. The catwalk to the stelling has also been damaged and is to be reconstructed and reinstalled. Overall, the repairs will cost $20 million.

− Leslie James assumes post

Soon to be off on ‘much deserved’ leave: D Division Commander Stephen Mansell

A

ssistant Police Commissioner Leslie James will serve as Acting Commander of D Division (West Demerara), effective September 1, as the current divisional leader, Commander Stephen Mansell will be off duty for some time to come.

This was recently revealed by Acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine, who explained that James would take up the role since Commander

Assistant Commissioner Leslie James will assume the acting post on Thursday

Mansell would be proceeding on his “much deserved” annual vacation leave.

Ramnarine encouraged the public to work with James in the absence of the substantive Commander.

He did not reveal when Mansell will return to assume his duties as head of D Division. This division encompasses West Demerara and East Bank Essequibo which are found in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara).

12 News

wednesDay, august 31, 2016 | guyana-times.com

Guyana-bound Jamaican Keeping it real busted with ganja

A

man has been taken into custody for breaches of the Dangerous Drug Act, after 12 pounds of ganja was found in his luggage at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston, on Sunday.

According to the Jamaica Observer, the man has been identified as Sean Matthews of Arnold Road in Kingston.

Reports from the Narcotics Police are that Matthews was about to board a flight for Guyana

when he was interviewed by lawmen, his luggage searched, and the illicit drug found.

The Police say the drug has an estimated street value of J$66,000 million.

Matthews is scheduled to appear before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on September 2, where he will answer to charges of possession of ganja, dealing in ganja, taking preparatory steps to export ganja, and conspiracy to export ganja.

Norman Manley Int’l Airport

Forensic lab to eventually do DNA, gun residue tests

T

he Public Security Ministry is building the capacity of the forensic laboratory so that in the long run the facility can provide internationally recognised DNA and gun residue testing.

This training programme is being developed through the Ministry’s Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP). In a recent interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), CSSP Project Manager Clement Henry said the process for the procurement of high-end equipment for the lab has begun.

“We have been engaging in discussions with the bank, with forensic experts in looking at the possibility of acquiring rapid testing DNA and gun testing residue devices,” Henry explained.

Improving the Guyana Police Force’s Forensic Laboratory’s effectiveness

towards preventing and conducting criminal investigations is the second component of the CSSP. This component is being funded at a cost of US$5.5 million through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Apart from the procurement of equipment for the laboratory, the CSSP will facilitate local and overseas training, and training materials for lab staff and the GPF, in terms of crime investigation and evidence collection. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the GPF and the CSSP for liaison officers.

“We have been working on terms of reference and would have had no objection from the bank for terms of reference for a proficiency testing body for the laboratory,” Henry told GINA. Further, this body will regularly evaluate the accuracy of tests done at the lab and look at the calibra-

tion of the equipment among other things. “At the end of this project, we hope to move the lab to ensure that they receive ISO, international standard accreditation,” Henry pointed out.

Meanwhile, the CSSP has begun advertising for the procurement of equipment for an integrated information system. “The integrated crime information system, which is an information technology-based system, helps in the garnering of information on crime and violence across the country, and this information is collected at different Police Stations and then located in a central database,” Henry explained.

Police and the Public Security Ministry’s Crime Observatory will analyse the information to identify trends in crime and violence and develop evidencebased prevention strategies.

“So what we’re doing now is to ensure that we expand

this integrated crime information system, which was developed under the first phase of CSSP,” Henry added.

The CSSP is a five-year programme, and the international accreditation of the laboratory is expected to be achieved within the programme’s lifespan.

“In the end, what the proficiency body offers is public assurance that the results of the lab are sound and the outputs are robust,” Henry added. (GINA)

Farmer on bail for receiving stolen laptop

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48-year-old farmer was on Tuesday placed on bail when he appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce for receiving a stolen laptop.

Wellington George of West Bury Village, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), is being accused of receiving a laptop on August 24, 2016 from Alister Bess, knowing same to be stolen.

The defendant initially pleaded guilty with explanation, telling the court that Bess came to his home requesting to borrow money to take his wife to the doctor.

George said that he felt “sorry” for the man and loaned him $15,000 as such, Bess in return, handed over a laptop to George.

The 48-year-old farmer begged the court for leniency. He also told the court that he had no knowledge the laptop was stolen. After listening to George, the Magistrate granted bail in the sum of $30,000.

The farmer is expected to return to court on September 19.

African Reparations and the Indian Security Dilemma: Will Indians be compensated for land claimed by Africans?

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ecause of the divided nature of our society, we had described the existence of a “security dilemma” as an element of Guyanese politics that had to be addressed before social cohesion and national unity could take place. The African-Indian racial division that guided our politics since independence will continue to dog us. It will have a direct impact on how the nation Dr Baytoram Ramharack develops economically and politically. More specifically, we used this term to describe where we are in our quest for nation-building and to suggest that as long as the perception is that one ethnic group dominates political power, the excluded group will continue to find ways to delegitimise the Government, rather than cooperatively working for the public good.

Africans felt this way before the May 2015 election, while Indians believe the situation has reversed itself with an African Government more concerned about addressing their own security. Judging by the perspectives of both groups, as well as the recent quarrel over Jagdeo’s comments in New York regarding discrimination against Indians, this problem is not going to go away anytime soon.

To address the security dilemma, we proposed a number of institutional and structural changes. These changes would engineer a multiethnic society characterised by meaningful social cohesion, a recognition that we are a diverse group of peoples, with a shared destiny, and working towards nation-building.

In more concrete terms, we have argued that structural changes can be fostered by a revised Constitution, and suggested that institutions like the Disciplined Forces and the civil service must reflect the composition of Guyana’s multi-ethnic population. In addition, an ethnic impact statement should accompany major policy prescriptions of the Government of the day so that an honest assessment of the impact of such policies can be undertaken so as to demonstrate non-biasness on the part of the Government. To be sure, the increasing visibility of Amerindians in the political domain will add another dimension to this debate.

It is already established that the issue of African reparations should be supported by all Guyanese because it is a just cause. However, my contention is that caution must be taken in the manner in which Africans pursue their demands in a racially sensitive society.

So far, the reparations issue has not really been extended to the level of a national dialogue, but there have been “tongue and cheek” statements that serve to lay blame on Indians as collaborators in the Europeans’ grand scheme to deny the human rights of Africans and deprive them of land settlements. Part of the problem is that those who have championed the reparations cause have proclaimed that Indians were collaborators with the Europeans, but they have not been very forthcoming with their assessment as to how Indians facilitated this role, except to point to historical events that were totally consistent with European hegemony. Eric Phillips has left us in suspense when in a recent letter he hinted this much, but then told us that he will continue this discussion later.

A clearer view of how Africans perceive the role of Indians is more visibly stated by Cedric Grant in the foreword of a book written by Carl Greenidge (now Second Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs) titled “Empowering a Peasantry in a Caribbean Context: The Case of Land Settlement Schemes in Guyana, 1865-1985”. Grant noted that “…in emphasising permanence of abode to indentured labour, land settlement schemes completed the destruction of the African bargaining power which indentureship had precipitated” and “…the land settlement schemes fortified the colonial administration in its policy of withholding financial and infrastructural support from the villages which were sugar estates that the liberated Africans pooled their savings to purchase and communally own”. “Instead of providing assistance to these villages, the colonial administration taxed them punitively to ensure their failure and the consequential return of the Africans to the sugar labour market.”

Grant continues to argue that “the undermining of the village movement, coupled with the establishment of the land settlement schemes for Indians under the aegis of the colonial administration continued to tip the scales against Africans...”.

Greenidge accepted that squatting by indentured labourers “had begun to penetrate the African villages” and “...squatting usually constituted the first phase in the transfer of African lands to Indians” and that “Indians began purchasing the land, in addition to squatting, as the more orthodox form of appropriation of African lands”.

While this type of argument ignores the fact that Indians were merely pawns in a European construct, and their actions were attributed to the indentureship experience, logical questions arise from this argument such as: How are those lands to be identified and how will they be transferred to Africans? And, will the Indians who now developed those lands after years of hard work and development be justly compensated at market value? Would the State or Government play a role in facilitating this process to ensure that Indians (and Amerindians?) are relocated, and compensated?

Perhaps I am reading too much into the claims for African reparations. But correcting a historical injustice done to one group of people should not create an injustice to another.

(Send comments to BRamharack60@gmail.com)

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 | GUYANA-TIMES.COM

National Veterans’ Commission to commence hearings today

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he Commission of Inquiry that was tasked by President David Granger with examining the conditions and circumstances facing veterans of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana People’s Militia and the Guyana National Service (GNS) is set to commence formal interviews today.

This Commission is scheduled to conclude in October. This was announced by Chairman of the Commission, retired Colonel Desmond Roberts on Tuesday at a press conference at the Department of Public Service in Waterloo Street, Georgetown. The first set of persons lined up to be interviewed are the present heads of services as well as former chiefs of staff of the GDF, including Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Gary Best and Retired Major Generals Norman McLean and Michael Atherley.

“We don’t want to see our veterans on the streets. It happened in several countries where veterans are among majority of the homeless. We do not want to see that in Guyana. We want to provide housing, entrepreneurial opportunities and good jobs if they need it, because they leave at 40 years old, they are still young people,” Colonel Roberts said.

Additionally, the Commission will be examining ways to improve the Veterans’ Home and other issues, including the benefits provided to the families of those who are deceased and displaced records of veterans’ contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).

The Commission’s Secretary, Colonel Denzil Carmichael informed that so far, 34 summons have been sent out by the Commission to the Joint Services, the Private Sector and the pri-

vate banking institutions.

This was followed by a twoweek sensitisation programme to assist persons in preparing written submissions.

He added that the Commission would be visiting Regions One, Two, Five and Six, and the main military bases (Seweyo, Stevenson and Ayanganna) to interact with and get the views of current officers.

The Commission will also be working closely with the Guyana Veterans Legion and the Regional Offices to reach out to as many veterans as possible, including those in the hinterland.

The Commission will also be hearing from Guyanese veterans living overseas.

The Commission, in a release, stated that some veterans “have been adversely affected by a life of privation, exposure to unhealthy conditions and extended periods of away from home

GUYDA donates laptop to Annandale student

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he Secretary of the United States-based Guyana United Youth Development Association (GUYDA), Beryl James, on Tuesday presented a laptop computer to a 15-year-old student of Annandale Secondary School. The beneficiary, Abena Andrews, explained that she had approached the members of GUYDA during Guyana’s 50th Anniversary celebrations in New York, at the end of June, and explained to them that she was in dire need of a computer to continue with her education.

“I took the opportunity to request a laptop computer, as I became aware that they (GUYDA) would usually assist in these areas, and I was promised a laptop by my father, but he passed and my mother wasn’t financially stable enough,” Andrews said. GUYDA was founded in 2002 and has since made many donations to students

15-year-old Abena Andrews receiving the laptop from Secretary of Guyana United Youth Development Association (GUYDA), Beryl James

in Guyana through the sponsoring of education at tertiary facilities and assisting in the continuation of students’ education through the provision of adequate equipment.

“We presented computers, projectors and screens to Guyana Special Needs;

we recently sent 20 kids to Essequibo technical institutes, we paid their tuition, and we recently gave partial scholarship to a young lady who starts college next month. And there are many others,” James told Guyana Times.

and career development opportunities. Their sacrifice and service to their country should not be ignored”.

Last year, at a Remembrance Day reception, President Granger announced the convening of a National Veterans’ Commission to look into the living conditions of veterans and make recommendations for improvements. On that occasion, he also announced the return of a fixed annual State subvention for the Guyana Veterans’ Legion.

The Head of State is firmly of the view that young military officers must know that they can look forward to a comfortable and dignified retirement.

Chairman of the Commission, Colonel (Ret’d) Desmond Roberts and Secretary to the Commission, Colonel Denzil Carmichael during the press conference at the Department of Public Service

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guyana-times.com

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016

Regional

Mexico Federal Police Chief fired Prosecution closes over Michoacan ranch killings case against Rousseff M

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sleight of hand employed by many elected officials in Brazil.

In her testimony on Monday, Rousseff denied any wrongdoing and said the impeachment process was aimed at reversing the social gains achieved under 13 years of leftist rule and protecting the interests of the monied elites in Latin America’s largest economy.

If she is convicted, as expected, her conservative former Vice President, Michel Temer, will be President un-

til the end of Rousseff’s term in 2018.

In an emotional speech, she compared the trial to her persecution under Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship, when she was tortured by security services as a member of a leftist urban guerrilla group.

However, lawyer Janaina Paschoal, the author of the impeachment request against Rousseff, told the Senate in her closing arguments that her trial was not merely about “accounting issues” but about the damage done to Brazil by her Government.

“You might say that this is beyond the scope of the trial, but this is the reality and you as Senators cannot vote ignoring our reality,” Paschoal said. “The world needs to know that we are not just voting about accounting issues.”

A final vote in the trial, which paralysed Brazilian politics for the last nine months, is expected this morning. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Dams holding mining waste, known as “tailings”, commonly have walls made of a mixture of sand-like particles and clay-like silt.

The report said that a change in the Fundao dam’s design between 2011 and 2012 led to less efficient water drainage, and ultimately to the dam’s collapse in November 2015.

Sand in the dam walls became saturated, and abruptly started to behave more like a liquid, in a process known as “liquefaction”.

“There was a funda-

mental change in the design concept whereby more widespread saturation was allowed and accepted,” the report said, adding “this increase in the extent of saturation introduced the potential for sand liquefaction.”

There was increased weight on the tailings as the height of the dam was raised to more than 100 metres.

This weight pushed claylike silt in one part of the dam outwards “like toothpaste from a tube”, ultimately causing the dam to collapse. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff

razilian President Dilma Rousseff’s accusers told her trial in the Senate on Tuesday she should be judged not only on charges of breaking budget rules, but also for a sweeping corruption scandal and a deep recession that erupted on her watch.

Rousseff, who was suspended from office in May pending the trial, is accused of using money from State banks to bolster spending during her re-election campaign in 2014, a budgetary

Samarco dam failure in Brazil caused by design flaws

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he deadly collapse of a dam at the Samarco mine in Brazil was due to design flaws, according to a report.

The Fundao dam-burst disaster caused a huge mudslide which killed 19 people and polluted a river.

The technical report, commissioned by Samarco’s joint owners BHP Billiton and Vale, did not assign blame for the disaster.

A separate Police investigation has accused iron miner Samarco of wilful misconduct, which the firm denies.

Clerical error may have caused T&T mom to lose custody

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clerical court error may have caused a 34-year-old mother of seven to lose custody of two of her children.

Laventille resident Natasha De Silva is now seeking any legal aid she can get to assist her in regaining supervision of her children.

The single mother has always taken care of brothers – Nathaniel and Tyrese, aged four and five – and was fighting for full custodial rights at the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Family Court.

But when she missed her last court date, due to an error she claims was made by a court official, Magistrate Ejenny Espinet ruled in favour of the boys’ father, Declan Ashton.

She had ended her relationship with Ashton over three years ago and has been going through the custody battle two years now. Her last court appearance was on

Natasha De Silva with her son, Nehemiah, at their home at Prizgar Lands, Laventille, on Monday

June 7 when the matter was adjourned to August 23.

But one week before the court date, De Silva said she received a call from the court, a number she is familiar with having dealt with numerous matters at the institution, where an official said the matter was postponed to October 27 for 10:45h.

It wasn’t until the day after August 23, when the boys’ fa-

ther came with Police Officers to her home at Prizgar Lands, Laventille, and took her sons from her care did she realise something was wrong.

“I have restraining order against this man. It is a constant battle with this man.

It’s hurting me day and night and the Magistrate gave custody of my children to this man,” De Silva said. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

exico’s Federal Police Chief, Enrique Galindo, has been sacked following allegations Police killed at least 22 suspected members of a drugs cartel.

The killings are thought to have taken place last year on a ranch in the western state of Michoacan last year.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said he had dismissed Galindo to allow for a transparent investigation.

Earlier this month Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission accused Police of tampering with evidence.

One Police Officer and 42 suspects were killed in the

raid on a ranch in Tanhuato in May last year.

Officers said they had returned fire in self-defence, but the high death toll aroused suspicions.

The human rights commission report accused Police of planting guns on some suspects and moving bodies to bolster the official version that all the deaths occurred during a gun battle.Galindo and National Security Commissioner Renato Sales have denied anyone was summarily killed and insisted officers used necessary force against highly armed criminals.

Police used a Black Hawk helicopter during the opera-

tion, reportedly firing some 4000 rounds into the ranch, known as the Rancho del Sol, during the initial assault.

The helicopter itself was hit by gunfire, investigators found.

In its report (in Spanish; warning: contains graphic images), the CNDH asserts that: five suspects were killed in the helicopter attack; 22 were arbitrarily killed; 15 died in unclear circumstances two bodies were burnt by Police two suspects were tortured in custody Police moved bodies and weapons to cover up arbitrary killings. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Zika Vaccine trial begins in Puerto Rico

If results are promising, the developers plan to meet with regulators next year to map out the most efficient path forward to developing the vaccine

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United States-based drug company announced Monday that it has started a clinical trial of an experimental Zika vaccine in Puerto Rico, where the Zika Virus outbreak has been declared a public health emergency. Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc is testing its DNA-based vaccine on 160 adults in the US

Caribbean territory.

“If the results are promising, we plan to meet with regulators in 2017 to map out the most efficient path forward to develop our Zika vaccine and help mitigate this widespread Zika outbreak that has expanded into the continental United States,” Inovio’s President and CEO, Dr J Joseph Kim

said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US estimates Zika will infect more than a quarter of the Puerto Rican population by year end.

“The rapid progression of the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico provides an immediate and unique opportunity to assess a preventive vaccine in a real world setting. This is Inovio’s second human Zika vaccine study. The placebo-controlled trial will test for safety, immune responses and initial evidence of efficacy,” Kim said.

Inovio is developing its Zika vaccine, GLS-5700, with GeneOne Life Science, Inc and academic collaborators from the US and Canada who are also working to advance Inovio’s Ebola and MERS vaccines through clinical development. (Excerpt

from Caribbean360)

Canada issues travel advisories on 9 Caricom countries for Zika

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he Canadian Government on Monday updated its travel advisory for nine Caribbean Community (Caricom) nations, among a list of countries across the world.

And it’s the Zika Virus that’s responsible.

The Government has urged its citizens travelling to the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, to “exercise a high degree of caution”.

It suggests that pregnant

women and those planning a pregnancy should avoid travel to those countries.

“If travel cannot be avoided or postponed strict mosquito bite prevention measures should be followed due to the association between Zika Virus infection and increased risk of serious health effects on their developing foetus,” the travel advisory states.

Zika is caused by a virus which is primarily spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. It can also be transmitted from an infected pregnant woman to her de-

veloping foetus. In addition, Zika Virus can be sexually transmitted, and the virus can persist for an extended period of time in the semen of infected males.

Symptoms of Zika virus can include fever, headache, conjunctivitis and skin rash, along with joint and muscle pain. The illness is typically mild and lasts only a few days and the majority of those infected do not have symptoms. There is no vaccine or medication that protects against Zika Virus infection although trials are underway. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)

International Airport (GAIA) over the last weekend.

The state-owned CBC radio reported Tuesday that when the Foreign Minister was contacted she “refused to comment on the matter”.

The State-owned entity reported that it understood

that “matter” involving the Jamaican national “will be investigated”. Sonya King told the Jamaica Observer newspaper on Sunday that she was subjected to a horrific ordeal late last Saturday night when she and her son, Kaleb Joseph, sought entry Barbados.(CMC)

Barbados mum on J’can allegations of inhumane treatment at airport

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arbados Foreign Affairs Minister Maxine McLean has refused to comment on allegations made by a Jamaican national that she and her 14-month-old baby had been subjected to a “horrific ordeal” when she arrived at the Grantley Adams

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016

guyana-times.com

15

Around the World

UN dramatically revises Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan death toll from Yemen conflict hit by suspected suicide car bomb

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he United Nations has significantly revised the estimated death toll from Yemen’s 18-month civil war to up to 10,000 people – a huge increase on the previous estimate of more than 6000.

Speaking from the capital Sanaa on Tuesday, Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator, said the new figure was based on official information from medical facilities in Yemen.

The number could rise further, McGoldrick said, as some areas had no medical facilities, and people were often buried without any official record being made.

“We know the numbers are much higher but we can’t tell you by how much,” McGoldrick told reporters.

“The figures we have are probably incomplete because we take the numbers from functioning health services, and in some of these areas there are no functioning health services,” he added.

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Long-running negotiations have failed to end the conflict [EPA]

“People get killed or die and are actually buried before they are recorded, and we don’t have a way of recording that.”

Previous estimates cited by officials and aid groups for much of 2016 said the conflict had killed some 6500 people, half of them civilians.

Long-running negotiations have failed to end the conflict between government forces, backed by an Arab co-

alition, and Houthi rebels, who are supported by Iran.

Yemen descended into chaos after the 2012 removal of long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose forces are now fighting alongside Houthis.

A Saudi-led Arab military coalition started air strikes against Houthis in support of the Government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in March 2015. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

suspected suicide car bomber rammed the gates of the Chinese Embassy in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on Tuesday, wounding at least three other people, officials said.

Officials from both countries described the assault as a terrorist act, and Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev ordered the Government to take extra counter-terrorism measures in the capital and regions, his office said in statement.

China condemned the attack and urged Kyrgyz authorities to “quickly investi-

gate and determine the real situation behind the incident.

“China is deeply shocked by this and strongly condemns this violent and extreme act,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

The Ministry later said China would “resolutely strike against all forms of terrorism” and protect the safety of its people and Government organisations overseas.

A Kyrgyz Interior Ministry spokesman said

the car exploded inside the compound. Police cordoned off the Embassy and adjacent area, and the GKNB state security service were investigating the bombing that occurred at about 10:00 a.m. (0400 GMT).

Three Embassy staff suffered minor injuries and had been taken to hospital, but no organisation claimed responsibility, Hua said.

China’s State news agency Xinhua reported that five people were wounded: two security guards and three Kyrgyz nationals. (Excerpt from

Reuters)

Italy holds state funeral for quake victims as search continues

Car bomb outside Somali President’s Palace kills at least 10

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t least 10 people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Tuesday when a car bomb claimed by al Shabaab exploded outside the Presidential Palace and also damaged two nearby hotels, an official said.

Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir told State radio that a meeting of security officials was under way inside one of the hotels, the SYL, at the time of blast and that one Minister and some State radio journalists were injured in the attack.

The hotel is frequented

by Government officials and Police said it believed the facility was the likely target.

The SYL and another hospitality facility, both located near the Presidential Palace, were partially destroyed by the blast, Major Mohamed Ali, a police officer, told Reuters.

“The blast killed 10 (people) including soldiers and civilians and 30 others were

Hundreds of mourners sheltered in a marquee or under umbrellas at the service for 28 victims, including two children, in the outskirts of the town of Amatrice

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Security forces stand guard on a destroyed building following a car bomb claimed by al Shabaab Islamist militants outside the President’s Palace in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, August 30, 2016

wounded,” Ali said.

Gunfire could be heard after the blast and a huge cloud of smoke rose above the palace, outside which were the remnants of the car and splattered blood, according to a Reuters witness. Al Shabaab’s Radio Andaluz said the Islamist group was behind the attack and their military operations spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu

Musab, said the attack had killed 15 soldiers and “injured many others including a lawmaker”. Seeking to impose its own harsh form of Islam, al Shabaab, wants to topple the Western-backed Government in Mogadishu and also push out the 22,000-strong African Union mandated AMISOM peace keeping force backing it.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

taly held a state funeral in pouring rain on Tuesday for some of the victims of an earthquake which levelled mountain communities last week, killing at least 292 people.

Hundreds of mourners sheltered in a marquee or under umbrellas at the service for 28 victims, including two children, in the outskirts of the town of Amatrice.

An effigy of the crucified Christ hung above a makeshift altar. Behind it lay a crumpled building, one of dozens devastated in the town by the August 24 quake. The scene

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The details of Adnani’s death remain unclear.

Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington DC, said there was no immediate comment or confirmation from US officials of his death.

Believed to have been born in Syria, Adnani “was often seen on video urging followers to carry out attacks abroad”, our correspondent said.

Killer of French police couple ‘acted on ISIL message’. Adnani has been the voice of ISIL, also known

as ISIS, over the past few years, and has released numerous, lengthy audio files online in which he urged followers to carry out attacks.

Earlier this year, he called for massive attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He has also called for attacks in Western countries.

ISIL controls large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, and is fighting Syrian troops, US-backed fighters and other rebel groups in northern Syria, as well as in Iraq. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

dered a change of plan in the face of the local anger.

He attended the crowded service.

“The earthquake doesn’t kill; what kills is the works of men,” Bishop Domenico Pompili said during his homily, referring to inadequate construction techniques that may have been to blame for deadly building collapses during the quake.

“To desert these places would be to kill them a second time,” he added. After the funeral, Renzi said the town would be rebuilt “piece by piece”. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Merkel admits mistakes made in Germany, EU with refugee crisis

ISIL spokesman killed in Aleppo G

he spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group, Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, has been killed in Syrian province of Aleppo, according to an ISIL-linked website.

Amaq, the ISIL-affiliated media, said on Tuesday Adnani was killed while monitoring military operations in Aleppo.

Adnani, described as ISIL’s second most senior leader, was one of the group’s longest-serving figures.

was framed by tree-covered mountains.

Builders worked through the night to prepare the funeral site, which was moved at the last minute. Furious locals had warned they would boycott the event when they found out that authorities planned to hold it in the city of Rieti, more than 60 kilometres (40 miles) away.

The bodies had been stored in Rieti and officials said it would be easier to hold a mass funeral there rather than in the devastated Amatrice, but Prime Minister Matteo Renzi or-

ermany and other European Union countries turned a blind eye to the refugee crisis building on its external borders for too long, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a German newspaper interview to be published today.

Merkel, who has faced criticism in Germany for launching her policies of welcoming refugees a year ago, also told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that Germany and the EU will need patience and endurance in dealing with migration of people to Europe.

“There are political issues that one can see coming, but don’t really register with people at that certain moment – and in Germany we ignored both the problem for too long and blocked out the need to find a pan-European solution,” she said.

Merkel made the comments in an unusually selfcritical analysis that appeared to be timed to the one-year anniversary on Wednesday of her nowfamous statement “wir schaffen das”, or “we can do this”, when asked about the rising tide of refugees.

Her conservative party is

expected to take a beating in two regional elections next month in part due to her refugee policies.

She said Germany, which has taken in most of the more than one million refugees from the Middle East and Asia who arrived in the EU in the past year, had let Spain and other EU border countries deal with the refugees on their own.

“Back then, we also rejected a proportional distribution of the refugees,” she said.

The three-term Chancellor said refugees would be a long-term issue.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

16 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 | GUYANA-TIMES.COM

Minister Harmon meets new UN Resident Representative

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inister of State, Joseph Harmon on Tuesday met with the new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Mikiko Tanaka, at his office at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Tanaka replaces former United Nations Resident Representative Khadija Musa, whose tour of duty ended last month.

During the meeting, mutual areas of interest, including Guyana’s green agenda and climate change, the country’s ongoing territorial controversy with neighbouring Venezuela and Guyana’s push for a juridical settlement, Government’s infrastructural development plans, crime and security, and education, among others, were discussed.

Minister Harmon told the new representative that the Government appreciated the strong and active relationship that has existed

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Nagamootoo insults IndoGuyanese again, questioning their competence

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Minister of State, Joseph Harmon engaging the new UNDP Resident Representative in Guyana, Mikiko Tanaka

between the UN Guyana offices and the country over the past years.

“We do look forward to your continued cooperation during your stay here in Guyana. We have an open door policy here at the Ministry and we trust that you would have an excellent tour of duty,” Minister

Harmon said.

Tanaka said that the hospitality which has been extended to her in Guyana was commendable and she was most confident that her stay here would be fruitful.

“I am very happy to have this opportunity to serve Guyana. Of course, I have a lot of learning to do, but I

hope to use my experience from other countries that I have worked in to serve,” she said. She further noted that she was pleased with President David Granger’s push for the development of a green economy and would lend whatever support was necessary to assist in that process.

Policeman injured on duty receives reconstructive surgery

s s i s t a n t Commissioner of Operations (ACO), Christopher Griffith, accompanied by Staff Officer of Administrations, Maxine Graham and Welfare Officer, Deputy

Ramsammy’s Ruminations

Superintendent Lorraine Saul, on Tuesday paid a visit to recovering Police Officer Victor Faucet who was shot to his head while on duty.

Faucet, who was shot in June of last year at a Police

outpost in Wisroc, Linden, has since been a patient at various hospitals but is presently at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital.

He underwent several successful surgeries to have the bullet, which

A recovering Victor Faucet

was lodged in his head, removed. Those surgeries were performed by Dr Edris Dookie.

However, as a result of this, Faucet had to have reconstructive surgery performed on his skull; this was successfully completed last Saturday.

The visit by the members of the Police Force was facilitated after this surgery. Since the shooting, the Police Force has been lending its full support to Faucet to facilitate a speedy recovery. Speaking to Guyana Times after the visit, Faucet said that he was currently recovering and was in a good position.

He admitted that the entire ordeal has been a painful one.

Faucet expressed his gratitude for the support from the Guyana Police Force, noting that the visit was “appreciated”.

The brave man said when he was fully recovered, he expected to resume his duties at the GPF.

resident David Granger appointed a PRIME MINISTER whose main duty is to be bumptious and bloviate enough to distract people, making it easier for the leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC) to achieve his dream of continuing the work of his idol and hero, Forbes Burnham.

The goal is a new period of dictatorship, a new period of Dr Leslie Ramsammy PARTY PARAMOUNTCY. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo is surely earning his keep; we have never seen bloviating at this high level of expertise in our history. The puerile nonsense he most recently espouses not only insults Indo-Guyanese again, but it is questioning the intelligence of all Guyanese.

This week he pronounced that the reason for ethnic imbalance on State Boards is that the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) appoints members based on competence, implying that there are not enough competent IndoGuyanese or Indigenous Guyanese that can serve on State Boards.

I dare Nagamootoo and his President or anyone else in APNU/ AFC to dispute that there are people of all ethnicities that are competent and qualified to sit on any State Board. In a population where, by far, the largest ethnic group are the Indo-Guyanese, Nagamootoo wants us to believe that there are just not enough competent Indo-Guyanese to be appointed on State Boards, hence the ethnic imbalance that exists.

This is not just arrogance and puerile nonsense; it is utter derision of the largest ethnic group in Guyana. There are enough competent and qualified persons of all ethnic groups in Guyana to serve on State Boards and for the State Boards to reflect the Guyanese population. As long as competence is the criterion, the Boards will reflect the nation.

But the blunt truth is that APNU/AFC’s only qualification for candidates to sit on State Boards is political affiliation.

Nagamootoo opened his mouth and the story jumped out.

I dare him go to Whim, Bath Settlement, Albion, Essequibo and other places and tell them that the reason for ethnic imbalance in the State Boards or in the public service is because APNU/AFC chose people on the basis of competence. I dare him to stand in Parliament and pronounce that competence was the deciding factor that resulted in ethnic imbalance.

Nagamootoo has to every day prove to Granger that he is heart and soul a part of Granger’s PNC. Fidelity to principle will not stand in his way for self-advancement.

It is the reason Nagamootoo took Bharat Jagdeo to task when Jagdeo accused APNU/AFC of discriminating against IndoGuyanese and the indigenous people. The fact is that of the hundreds of public servants who have lost their jobs since APNU/ AFC took over government in May 2015, more than 99 percent are Indo-Guyanese.

The fact is also that almost 2,000 Amerindians were laid off from their jobs as Community Development Officers. Unable to dispute this fact, Nagamootoo resorted to calling Jagdeo the “Collie Bully”, insulting the Leader of the Opposition and insulting all Indo-Guyanese.

In order to prove to Granger and the PNC that he is one of them, Nagamootoo, in New York before the 2015 elections, denied he was an Indo-Guyanese. He insisted that he is a Guyanese, even as people like Granger and others at the same meeting refused to similarly deny their African origins and insist they too are simply Guyanese.

The truth is, then and now, they are saying that Guyana has no place for Indo-Guyanese. Their position is that Indo-Guyanese must reject their East Indian identification if they want to fit into the fabric of a Guyanese society.

African Guyanese do not have the same obligation, nor should they. Nagamootoo, as the designated bloviator for APNU/AFC, was and remains the chief proponent of this heinous proposition.

I firmly support the proposition that Guyanese can be Guyanese and equal citizens, without disavowing and while simultaneously celebrating their ethnicities and culture. Granger should be a proud Afro-Guyanese, just as Nagamootoo should be a proud Indo-Guyanese.

The sad reality is that we now live in a fiefdom and the new emperors lord over us as they please.

Recall during the 2016 budget debate, Raphael Trotman emphatically declared that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic needs to reconcile with the fact that the “kingdom” is now in the hands of APNU/AFC. This is how they see Government.

There is no place for anyone who will not prostrate themselves and be a loyal sycophant, rewriting history and denying citizens their equal space in our country. Dismissing ethnic imbalance on State Boards as a consequence of placing only qualified and competent people insults all the ethnic groups that are not represented or that are under-represented.

(Send comments to doc_ram@hotmail.com)

17

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 | GUYANA-TIMES.COM

Use of LED lights economical – GEA CEO D

uring a twoday National Energy Efficiency Workshop, Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) Chief Executive Officer Mahender Sharma charged persons to utilise LightEmitting Diode (LED) lights as they were more economical.

According to the CEO, the LED lights are approximately 60 to 80 per cent more efficient, are available in different sizes and colours, and their lifespan is much longer than regular bulbs.

Sharma said too that energy efficient air conditioning systems are 50 per cent more efficient, start more quickly, are quieter, reduce voltage and most importantly, are economical.

He, therefore, encouraged participants of the workshop to make financial arrangements to obtain and install indoor and

outdoor LED lights, along with energy efficient air conditioners and equipment to reduce energy costs.

Sharma assured that the GEA would be available to provide technical advice and support at all times.

Also speaking at the workshop, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson urged consumers to make smart choices in their utilisation of energy, noting that this could save them money.

He posited that businesses could progress in terms of finance and productivity if they decided to make use of energy efficient systems.

Patterson further explained that energy efficiency would decrease the necessity for investment in energy infrastructure, cut energy bills, improve health and consumer welfare, and increase competi-

Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Mahender Sharma

tiveness.

Additionally, the Minister asserted that the current Administration was dedicated to the endorsement of energy efficiency, energy conservation and the development and utilisation of alterna-

Pujarie Basdeo Mangal passes − hailed as selfless leader

P

ujarie Basdeo Mangal was as a highly respected Hindu priest, and was considered as a father to hundreds, including non-Hindus. The Madrassi priest will be laid to rest today.

On August 23, the priest, who founded four Kali Mandirs around the world, took his last breath.

One of the founding members and first Vice President of the Guyana Maha Kali, Madrassi Pujarie Basdeo made a commitment to become a devotee at the age of nine.

He had fallen ill as a boy, after complaining of stomach pains, but doctors were unable to diagnose the ailment. His mother, having full faith in Amma, took him to Albion Mariamman temple where he was cured.

Basdeo, who was under the age of 14 at the time, decided to give thanks by becoming one of two Karagam boys, a decision that required five years of commitment.

At the conclusion of his five years of dutiful worship and servitude to the Mother, he became inspired by his birth mother and the elders within Amma’s Temple. Pujarie Mangal made a life-changing decision at a very tender age and decided to

Pujarie Basdeo Mangal

pledge his life and service to humanity. He then undertook rigorous training under Pujarie Jamsie Naidu.

At the age of 15, Pujarie Mangal became Mother’s marlu (the main Pujari that accepts Amma’s vibrations to take care of devotees). Between the ages of 20 and 21, Basdeo Mangal was married to Rajdeo Mangal, and they lived at Fyrish Road with his mother.

Initially, he worked as a cane cutter and then migrated with his family (his wife and five children) to Trinidad.

On his return to Guyana, Basdeo became a fisherman in an effort to maintain his family. While in Trinidad, Pujarie Mangal carried on

Mariamman traditions to Hindus and on his return to Guyana, he was challenged to bring fresh life to the dormant Blairmont Kali Temple.

There he showed his brilliance as a priest.

Blairmont Kali Temple became a flourishing and dynamic community of devotees which was renowned for healing visitors.

In 1998, he opened the first registered Shri Maha Kali organisation in New York State. He then established Shri Maha Devi Mandirs in Florida, Canada, England and Trinidad.

While practicing his priesthood at his native Fyrish Village, Corentyne, persons from all walks of life visited his home daily seeking cures for many ailments.

He gave selfless service as a priest and was highly recommended as a great healer who used prayer and herbs to heal the sick.

While he leaves to mourn a wife and five children, Pujarie Basdeo will be missed, not only in Berbice but by everyone who was graced by him.

The funeral procession will leave his home at Fyrish Long Dam and proceed to the cemetery from 15:00h. (Andrew Carmichael)

Linden trio in court for assault

A

Linden trio brought before the Linden Magistrates Court on Tuesday on accusations unlawfully assault was granted bail by Magistrate Clive Nurse. The accused, Dawn Lambert, Cedric Lashley and Stephan Stoll

all received bail in the sum of $10,000 each. It is alleged that 56 year-old Lambert and 69-year- old Lashley both of 106 Victory Valley Wismar unlawfully assaulted Stoll on Monday August 21 at Victory Valley. Meanwhile, Stoll,

20 of 18 Lower Kara Kara, Mackenzie, Linden was also charged with assaulting Lambert on the same date. All parties pleaded not guilty and were placed on $10,000 bail each. They are scheduled to reappear in court on September 28.

tive sources of energy. As part of the second phase of the Latin American and Caribbean Energy Efficiency Programme, Government intended to place focus on achieving sustainable energy savings, as well as prioritising investment needs in the energy sector. He explained that for this to be a success, persons needed to merge and systemise activities to be undertaken by several institutions, adding that a minor change in behaviour was also vital to improve energy efficiency. Recently, the GEA carried out exercises, including the setting up of LED solar powered lights, the delivery of energy efficient stoves, the replacement of inefficient street lighting, and ongoing public aware-

ness and education programmes.

Additionally, legislation has been amended to remove Value Added Tax (VAT) on imported compact LED lamps, to motivate energy efficient behaviours.

The participants of the workshop, hosted by the GEA, were encouraged to join the Government and the Energy Agency in their pursuit of a green economy, which is highly dependent on energy efficiency.

18

guyana-times.com

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016

ARCHIE

Be logical. It’s in your best interest to negotiate and to (March 21- present what you have to ofApril 19) fer without the help of others.

Be your own person and do things for yourself.

ARIES

Money matters will cause

DILBERT

TAURUS uncertainty. Go over your ex(April 20- penses in order to find a way to May 20) cut corners. A business trip will lead to information that will encourage profitable changes to your lifestyle.

You’ll face criticism.

GEMINI Approach whatever you want (May 21to do silently.

Once you have June 20) worked out all the kinks, you will find it much easier to deal with nonbelievers.

Changes at home will add CANCER to your comfort and encourage (June 21- you to entertain more. If you July 22) express your thoughts, you’ll gather the support needed to reach your objectives.

PEANUTS

Bring about changes that LEO will inspire you or make your (July 23life more comfortable. Put Aug. 22) greater emphasis on personal growth and updating your appearance. Pamper yourself and focus on rejuvenation.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

WORD GAME

SUDOKU

You must be realistic when VIRGO dealing with changes you (Aug. 23Sept. 22) want to make to your personal life or domestic environment.

Practical action over indulgent or expensive alterations is favored.

Take a unique approach LIBRA when dealing with peers or su(Sept. 23periors in order to capture atOct. 23) tention. Don’t let the actions of others influence you. Stick to your principles. New beginnings are apparent.

Positive changes at home SCORPIO will encourage you to social(Oct. 24- ize and host functions. Your Nov. 22) openness will surprise some, and will result in positive interactions. Ask for what you want.

Jealousy and anger will SAGITTARIUS surface if you get into a com(Nov. 23petitive situation, or reconDec. 21) nect with someone from your past. Avoid such encounters and focus on personal change, not besting someone else.

A requested donation or CAPRICORN handout is best declined. You (Dec. 22- should invest in your ideas Jan. 19) and in boosting your standard of living. Charity begins at home.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE Don’t let anyone badAQUARIUS ger you into thinking you (Jan. 20aren’t doing enough or that Feb. 19) you should take on responsibilities that don’t belong to you. Offer help, but set some ground rules as well.

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” is not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. To contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe, write to Word Game, Kathleen Saxe, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

PISCES Don’t let someone else’s (Feb. 20- uncertainty cloud your vision March 20) or slow you down. Look at the big picture and use your imagination to come up with workable solutions. Don’t reveal personal information.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016

19

England seal series after record 444-3

E

ngland have produced some astonishing batting feats in oneday cricket over the last 18 months, but they surpassed even themselves at Trent Bridge as they plundered the highest total in ODI history to wrap up the series against Pakistan in overwhelming style.

On his home groundAlex Hales surged to England’s highest ODI innings, finally knocking Robin Smith’s unbeaten 167 against

11 in ODIs. Yet while it was another one-sided encounter in this series England’s batting had been a sight to behold. Their landmarks, personal and collective, have been regular since the start of last summer.

Having passed Smith’s record in the 37th over, Hales was well on track for England’s first ODI double - and even a dip at Rohit Sharma’s record 264 - but he was lbw next ball for 171 off 122 deliveries to end a sec-

then Buttler was bowled by another from Wahab late on.

Wahab finished with none for 110, the second-most expensive ODI figures behind Mick Lewis from the famous Johannesburg ODI in 2006.

Hales came into the match under some pressure after a difficult few weeks which included his outburst at the umpires during the Oval Test, as well as two low scores at the start of this series. In the build-up to this game he also spoke to the

Alex Hales slammed England’s highest ODI innings 177 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in the Third One Day International

Australia in 1993 off the top spot, while Jos Buttler hit England’s fastest fifty off 22 balls as they tallied a monstrous 444 for 3 to overtake Sri Lanka’s 443 for 9 against Netherlands in 2006.

Needing to score six off the final over to set a new high total seemed a formality, but Buttler and Eoin Morgan struggled to lay a bat on Hasan Ali until Buttler connected with a smite through the covers off the last ball to give put England top of the pile.

Pakistan, unsurprisingly, did not get close, bowled out for 275 although Mohammad Amir joined in the batting fun with his own 22-ball fifty, the highest score by a No.

ond-wicket stand of 248 with Joe Root. That, though, was far from the end of the mayhem.

Buttler, who holds the record for England’s fastest hundred, off 46 balls in Dubai last year, went to his fifty with four sixes in five balls off Shoaib Malik - for a period, his own record was in danger - while Morgan chipped in with a mere 24ball effort as 240 runs came off the last 20 overs.

Pakistan were atrocious.

Misfields abounded, chances went down - Hales was dropped on 114, Morgan on 14 - and Wahab Riaz twice took wickets off no-balls, when Hales was caught at deep square-leg on 72 and

Nottingham Post about the difficulty of coming to a decision over whether to tour Bangladesh, amid the fear of giving up his Test place.

This innings does not mean questions about his longer-form game have been answered, but it does remove any slight doubt as to whether it would have a detrimental impact on his white-ball success. The bowling was often friendly, the fielding even more so, but it was a magnificent display: he reached 51 off 55 balls and his hundred from 83; the last 120 runs coming from 67 deliveries.

Hales’ innings will have a little footnote to it when, on 72, he was given a life after pulling Wahab to deep

square leg only for the TV umpire to call a no-ball under the current trial system. Then, on 114, Azhar Ali could not cling on to a drive at cover off Yasir Shah.

He was particularly severe on Wahab - just to compound his error - taking 44 off the 26 balls the left-armer bowled at him and he also plundered 19 off Azhar when the captain gave himself an exploratory over.

Earlier this summer, against Sri Lanka at The Oval, Jason Roy fell within sight of Smith’s record but, after Pakistan had reviewed an optimistic lbw shout, Hales clubbed his 22nd four over midwicket. A ball later and it was over, a yorker from Hasan which would have taken leg stump.

Root fell moments later, having purred to 85 off 86 balls, when he edged Mohammad Nawaz after joining Geoff Boycott, Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, Jonathan Trott and Hales with five consecutive fifties. Root arrived in the sixth over, when Roy was early on a pull, lobbing a catch to the keeper, and barely broke sweat while Hales broke Pakistan’s spirits.

As in Dubai, when he came in during the 36th over, Buttler was shunted up the order when Root departed at the end of the 38th. And, as in Dubai, he gave himself a few sighters - 1 off 7 balls before cutting loose when he put Nawaz into the stands off consecutive deliveries.

That was just a taste of the treatment Malik would receive when Buttler deposited him for four sixes of varying distance in five deliveries. Such has been the frequency of Buttler’s astonishing one-day displays that they should not really surprise, but it is impossible not to marvel at the 360-degree ability of his batsmanship.

Plundering the offspin of Malik is one thing; the pow-

er he can generate when flat-batting near-yorkers for four is something else. His 22-ball fifty eclipsed Paul Collingwood’s 24-ball effort against New Zealand at Napier in 2008.

Morgan, having regained his touch in the first two matches, helped himself as well, having been given a hand when Yasir continued Pakistan’s woeful fielding display by dropping a sitter a backward point: five of Morgan’s next seven deliveries went either over or into the boundary.

Where Morgan and Buttler left off, Sharjeel Khan continued at the start of Pakistan’s chase as he sped to a 26-ball fifty. Latching on to anything short, he pulled with some style - taking four boundaries in a row off Mark Wood - before picking out deep square-leg to give Chris Woakes the third of his opening spell.

Ben Stokes, who had not been able to enjoy himself

with the bat, was given his first bowl of the series after overcoming the calf injury he sustained in the Test series.

A leading edge from Babar Azam gave him a wicket.

Liam Plunkett again pushed up the speedgun, finding Malik’s outside edge, and it was just a case of how long the lower order could prolong things into the evening.

Amir provided some final entertainment for those who stayed to the end, bringing up his fifty with three consecutive sixes off Adil Rashid. He and Yasir added 76 in seven overs for the last wicket as it briefly became a little messy from England until Amir top edged a return catch to give Woakes his fourth. England have never been through a season unbeaten in limitedovers cricket since the game changed to white balls in this country and have only one previous whitewash in a series of at least five matches.

Both of those are now very much on the cards. (ESPN Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD England innings JJ Roy c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Hasan Ali 15 AD Hales lbw b Hasan Ali 171 JE Root c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Mohammad Nawaz 85 JC Buttler† not out 90 57 EJG Morgan* not out Extras (b 6, lb 8, 3-wd, 9-nb) 26 Total (3 wickets; 50 overs) 444 Did not bat: BA Stokes, MM Ali, CR Woakes, AU Rashid, LE Plunkett, MA Wood Fall of wickets 1-33 (Roy, 5.2 ov), 2-281 (Hales, 36.6 ov), 3-283 (Root, 37.6 ov) Bowling: Mohammad Amir 100-72-0(wd-1), Hasan Ali 10-074-2 (nb-3) Wahab Riaz 10-0110-0 (nb-2, wd-2) Mohammad Nawaz (3) 10-0-62-1,Yasir Shah 6-0-48-0, Azhar Ali 1-020-0, Shoaib Malik 3-0-44-0 Pakistan innings 8 Sami Aslam c Ali b Woakes Sharjeel Khan c Stokes b Woak es 58 Azhar Ali* c Rashid b Woakes 13

Babar Azam c Morgan b Stokes 9 Sarfraz Ahmed† c Root b Rashid 38 Shoaib Malik c †Buttler b Plunkett 1 Mohammad Nawaz (3) c 34 Morgan b Rashid Hasan Ali b Ali 4 Wahab Riaz lbw b Wood 14 26 Yasir Shah not out Mohammad Amir c & b Woak es 58 Extras (b 4, lb 2, 5-wd, 1-nb) 12 Total (all out; 42.4 overs) 275 Fall of wickets 1-21 (Sami Aslam, 3.4 ov), 2-50 (Azhar Ali, 7.3 ov), 3-83 (Sharjeel Khan, 9.6 ov), 4-106 (Babar Azam, 15.1 ov), 5-108 (Shoaib Malik, 16.2 ov), 6-155 (Sarfraz Ahmed, 24.2 ov), 7-164 (Hasan Ali, 27.2 ov), 8-180 (Mohammad Nawaz, 30.5 ov), 9-199 (Wahab Riaz, 35.2 ov), 10275 (Mohammad Amir, 42.4 ov) MA Wood 10-0-75-1(2wd), CR Woakes 5.4 -1-41-4 (1-wd), LE Plunkett 6-0-301 (1w), BA Stokes 4-0-14-1 (1-wd), MM Ali 7-0-36-1 (1nb), AU Rashid 10-0-73-2

Rooney to quit internationals in 2018

W

ayne Rooney will end his England career after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the striker said on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old made his announcement at a news conference ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Slovakia on Sunday when will set a new record for an England outfield player, ahead of David Beckham, by winning his 116th cap.

"Come Russia I feel that will be the time for me to

say goodbye to international football, my mind is made up, said Rooney, who was reappointed England captain by new manager Sam Allardyce on Monday.

"Russia will be my last opportunity to do anything with England so I'm going to try to enjoy these two years and hopefully I can end my time with England on a high," he said.

England's record goalscorer with 53 goals, Rooney has been a stalwart for his

Wayne Rooney

country since bursting on to the international scene under Sven-Goran Eriksson

at Euro 2004. Four managers and 12 years later, however, Rooney accepts there has been a familiar tale of England under-achievement.

"We have to (move on from previous disappointments). You can't just forget it (Euro 2016) but it's a new era for us. A new manager.

I seem to say that after every tournament. We have to work out how we can go one step further in tournament play.

"I'm looking forward to this new regime. I'm excited by the players involved at the moment and, although there have been questions about my future, I said straight after the Euros that I wanted to still be involved," he added.

"When Sam got the job I made that clear to him and here we are. Sam is a relaxed guy. The camp has been good, we have only had one session, but we are all excited about what ideas he

can bring to us." Rooney said he was happy to play anywhere for England although Allaryce has said he will ask him to fill a No. 10 role as opposed to the midfield position where previous manager Roy Hodgson deployed him at Euro 2016.

"Obviously, it's the manager's decision," Rooney said.

"We haven't really spoken about it - we will in the next couple of days. I'm ready to play whether it's midfield, number 10 or striker." (Reuters)

20

GUYANA-TIMES.COM

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016

Verdasco makes rare 1st round exit

Bolt close to max human speed?

T

wotimes grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka dealt Fernando Verdasco a rare first-round loss at the U.S. Open, sweeping aside the Spaniard in straight sets on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Swiss dominated the left-handed Verdasco with his punishing groundstrokes and solid service game to claim a measure of revenge with a 7-6(4) 6-4 6-4 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Verdasco, ranked 46th, had won 12 of his 13 previous first-round matches at Flushing Meadows.

Wawrinka, winner of last year's French Open and the 2014 Australian Open, had trailed Verdasco 3-2 in headto-head action after falling to the Spaniard in straight sets in the first round this year at the Queen's Club run-up to Wimbledon.

"I'm really happy. I think it was a great match, especially for first round," Wawrinka told reporters.

"You never expect to play your best game and (be) full of confidence, but I think the level was quite high."

S Fernando Verdasco

Wawrinka hit seven winners off his one-hand backhand among his 30 total for the match, blasted in seven aces and turned away all four break points held by the Spaniard.

"Fernando is a tough player to play. He can be really aggressive. He do not give you so much rhythm, so it's not easy," the Swiss

said.

"I was really focused on myself. I was moving really well for first one. I'm getting some confidence from that match," added Warwinka, who said he had spent more than a week in New York preparing for the tournament.

"In general, I'm really confident with my prepara-

tion, with the way I'm playing in practice court, the way I'm moving."

Despite his close career record against Verdasco, Wawrinka has won both of their grand slam meetings.

"The last few years I have been way better tennis player in the court, especially on big events," he said.

(REUTERS)

cientists have speculated world’s fastest man Usain Bolt may have gone close to approaching the speed limit of what is currently possible for human beings.

The Jamaican, who recently completed the historic feat of winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the three consecutive Olympic Games, a tripletriple, holds the world record over all three distances.

Based on calculations

by Stanford biology professor Mark Denny, the peak of human speed is estimated to be around 10.55 m/s (23.6 mph), which trans-

lates to around a 9.48-second 100 time. Bolt’s world record time set at the 2009 World Championships in Beijing was 9.58 seconds, with a top average speed of 10.44 meters per second (23.4 miles per hour).

In claiming the gold medal the Rio Olympic Games this month Bolt’s was a little slower with his 9.81-second 100 time including a 10.19 m/s top speed, or 22.8 mph. Bolt’s record over 200m, also set in Berlin, is 19.19 seconds.

Denny’s research was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology back in 2008.

Steyn 5-for leads South Africa to 204-run win A

masterful display of swing bowling from Dale Steyn, who picked up his first fivewicket haul in international cricket since December 2014, helped South Africa bowl New Zealand out for 195 in their chase of 400 on the fourth day in Centurion.

Steyn and Vernon Philander, abetted by exaggerated variable bounce on a deteriorating SuperSport

Steyn landed the first ball of the fourth innings in the channel outside off stump - it was wide enough for Tom Latham not to play but the extra bounce caught him unawares, and the ball clattered into the stumps off Latham’s withdrawing bat. It was the third time in three innings on this tour that Steyn had dismissed Latham.

Five balls later, Martin

one to land on a similar length and scoot along the surface to Ross Taylor, trapping him in front. Could New Zealand’s situation get worse?

It did. Williamson, perhaps still suffering the after-effects of the blow to his left hand, wafted at a wide delivery from Philander. He had avoided playing that line throughout the first innings. The ball swung fur-

Dale Steyn’s 5 for 33 was his 26th five-wicket haul

Park surface, set up South Africa’s first Test series win since early 2015 by ripping through New Zealand’s top order in a devastating seven-over period before lunch.

Despite an impressive half-century from Henry Nicholls, New Zealand never really recovered from being 18 for 4 at lunch, and they were eventually bowled out half an hour from stumps.

Guptill got an unplayable outswinger: it pitched on off and swerved away to take the outside edge to Hashim Amla at first slip.

The variable bounce kept troubling New Zealand.

In the second over, Kane Williamson was rapped on the glove by an inswinger from Philander that reared at him from a good length.

In the next over, Steyn got

ther away and took his outside edge, and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock completed a stunning one-handed catch low to his right.

Nicholls offered New Zealand’s only real resistance with 76, his highest Test score. He was particularly effective square on either side of the wicket, picking off straight deliveries and punishing width outside

off. When the bowlers overpitched, he collected runs through vacant areas down the ground.

After weathering a tough period before lunch, he added 68 with Watling for the fifth wicket. With the ball moving both ways, Nicholls and Watling left well outside off, forcing the seamers towards the stumps. The quicks were continually rotated and batting became gradually easier as the middle session wore on.

Just when it looked like New Zealand would get through the session unscathed, the offspinner Dane Piedt got one to spin back viciously. Watling shuffled across, missed his flick, and was struck in front of off stump. Watling reviewed, but umpire’s call on impact meant South Africa had their only wicket of the session.

Kagiso Rabada, hitting the high 130-kph range as opposed to the 150 mark he regularly clocked in the first innings, struggled for fluency, rhythm and accuracy before tea. A number of wayward deliveries on either side of the wicket were easily avoided or dispatched to the boundary. However, he returned late in the day to pick up two-lower order wickets: he had Tim Southee bowled with a spearing yorker on off stump and beat Neil Wagner for pace to pin him in front of middle and leg.

Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell and Southee all got off to starts, but could

not stay long enough at the crease to help Nicholls to a maiden Test ton. At 195 for 9, Nicholls was quickly running out of partners and du Plessis recalled Steyn.

A top-edged pull off a short delivery, aimed at Nicholls’ ribs, was taken at fine leg to end New Zealand’s resistance.

In the morning, resuming from a score of 105 for 6, overnight batsmen Temba Bavuma and Vernon

Philander were patient early, leaving and blocking Trent Boult and Tim Southee, both of whom generated appreciable lateral movement like they had on the third evening. Philander looked untroubled until he left a good-length delivery from Southee that jagged back prodigiously to uproot the off stump. South Africa declared at 132 for 7, having added 27 in the first hour.

(ESPN Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD South Africa 1st Innings 481/8 Declared New Zealand 1st Innings 214 South Africa 2nd innings (105/6 overnight) SC Cook lbw b Boult 4 Q de Kock† c Williamson b 50 Bracewell HM Amla c Guptill b Southee 1 JP Duminy lbw b Southee 0 F du Plessis* c Taylor b Boult 6 T Bavuma not out 40 S van Zyl c †Watling b Wagner 5 VD Philander b Southee 14 DL Piedt not out 0 Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 6, nb 1) 12 Total (7 wickets dec; 47 ove rs) 132 Did not batK Rabada, DW Steyn Fall of wickets 1-31 (Cook, 3.2 ov), 2-32 (Amla, 4.2 ov), 3-32 (Duminy, 4.5 ov), 4-47 (du Plessis, 11.2 ov), 5-82 (de Kock, 19.1 ov), 6-98 (van Zyl, 28.5 ov), 7-129 (Philander, 43.3 ov) Bowling: TG Southee 16-6-463 (wd-1) TA Boult 14-344-2, DAJ Bracewell 7-2-19-1, N Wagner 10-1-18-1 (nb-1, w-1)

New Zealand 2nd innings (target: 400 runs) 0 TWM Latham b Steyn MJ Guptill c Amla b Steyn 0 KS Williamson* c †de Kock b Philander 5 0 LRPL Taylor lbw b Steyn HM Nicholls c Rabada b 76 Steyn BJ Watling† lbw b iedt 32 16 MJ Santner b Steyn DAJ Bracewell lbw b Philander 30 14 TG Southee b Rabada N Wagner lbw b Rabada 3 TA Boult not out 0 19 Extras (b 10, lb 7, 2-wd) Total (all out; 58.2 overs) 195 Fall of wickets 1-0 (Latham, 0.1 ov), 2-3 (Guptill, 0.6 ov), 3-5 (Taylor, 2.5 ov), 4-7 (Williamson, 3.1 ov), 5-75 (Watling, 29.4 ov), 6-118 (Santner, 42.6 ov), 7-164 (Bracewell, 50.5 ov), 8-187 (Southee, 55.3 ov), 9-195 (Wagner, 57.6 ov), 10195 (Nicholls, 58.2 ov) Bowling: DW Steyn 16.24-33-5, VD Philander 14-434-2 (1-wd), K Rabada 132-54-2 (1-wd), S van Zyl 3-1-5-0, DL Piedt 12-3-52-1

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unburst national badminton player Narayan Ramdhnai departed on Monday to commence his five year scholarship contract with Shuttlesport Badminton Academy located in Vancouver.

The national junior sportsman of the year, who recently returned from a successful Caribbean Championships, is utilizing the scholarship in an attempt to become Guyana’s first badminton player at an Olympics game. He will be training towards the 2020 Olympics and also working to complete his college and university education.

The opportunity was afforded to Ramdhani after he reached 53 ranked in the world. He was approached by five international Universities/ Clubs and he favored Shuttlesport, which had all the right conditions to take him to his goals in Badminton and his education. In September, Narayan will start school at the Douglas College based in Vancouver and start his training with Shuttlesport Badminton Academy.

This achievement did not come overnight as the player started at the age of four and attend his first international tournament at just six years old. He

Narayan Ramdhani

continued in an upwards direction, winning all his age group tournaments locally. He then moved on to be Guyana’s Junior and Senior Champion.

He continued to dominate in the Caribbean, Pan American and South America Tournaments and although still a junior player, he qualified and played the senior events at the CAC Games 2014 in Veracruz Mexico, the Pan Am Olympic Fesitval 2014 in Xalapa Mexico and the Pan Am Games 2015 in Toronto Canada.

Some of his Achievements include, Junior Sportsman of the Year (2015), National Under-19 and Open Champion, as well as triple gold Suriname Easter

International 2016 Message from Arif (al) Mawani – shuttlesport badminton academy performance director: The Shuttle sport Badminton Academy located in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada is pleased to announce that Narayan Ramdhani will be training at the Shuttlesport Academy beginning September 2016.

Performance Director Al Mawani is looking forward to having Narayan join the elite training group. “Narayan has high goals that he would like to achieve and joining the elite training group will hopefully allow him to do that” commented Mawani.

The Shuttlesport elite training group has produced several national champions as well as international champions in the past. It is anticipated that Narayan can follow in their footsteps.

“Narayan is a definite talent and with the right attitude and work ethic I can see him one day competing with the best” added coach Mawani.

Narayan is on the verge of creating history of becoming Guyana’s first badminton Olympian, it is a matter of self belief and discipline among other factors that could help him through his journey.

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rophy stall and the Guyana Dart Association have collaborated to host a dart competition on Friday September 2 at the Malteenoes Sports Club Pavilion starting at 19:30hrs.

Fierce competition is predicted as this tournament is open to all registered members of the GDA. and registration will commence at 19:00hrs.

The tournament will comprise Male and Female Singles and Luck of the Draw Doubles and prizes will be awarded to the top three performers in each category.

Some of Guyana’s top dart players namely, Sudesh Fitzgerald, Luis Merlano, Marvin Yaw, Lallchand Rambharose, Nicholas Seetaram, Adrian Damon, Terence Joseph, Mary Correia, Jaswantie Hiralall, Victorine Chandro and Melissa Smartt are expected to participate in the competition.

Devi Sunich making the donation to National Player / Caribbean Champ Luis Ramirez-Merlano

22

GUYANA-TIMES.COM

wednesday, august 31, 2016

Carebaco championships 2016 Aruba…

Guyana bags 14 accolades “I

t’s no secret that working hard seems to be the deciding factor between those with talent who fail, and others who put that talent to work and excel”. That is one of the most famous quotes affiliated with hard work.

And if that is too perplexed to comprehend then the following quotes should simplify the first quote; “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth and Marvin Phillips“The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!”.

The aforementioned quotes define why our badminton players excelled at the Caribbean Championships which recently concluded in Aruba; they worked extremely hard. The Guyanese players were outstanding in both the team and individual championships against Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Aruba.

National junior sportsman of the year Narayan Ramdhani, former junior sportswoman of the year Priyanna Ramdhani, Jonathan Mangra and

having more support and recognition for its players as they have proven to be the best over the last seven years medaling at almost all the tournaments they attend in the Caribbean, Pan American, South American and Inter-Guiana’s Games.

The following is the medals haul by the four outstanding Guyana players:

UNDER-19 INTERNATIONAL;

Narayan Ramdhani: 2-SILVERS/-BRONZE. Priyanna Ramdhani: 1-SiILVER/1-BRONZE. Jonathan Mangra: 1-SILVER

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: 5-SILVERS

The three gold medals that Priyanna Ramdhani won were added to her collection to take the tally to 160 medals and trophies

Ambika Ramraj formed a remarkable quartet that won Guyana 14 medals (two (2) gold, nine (9) silver and three (3) bronze).

It was very incredible by the Guyanese athletes since their team of four was the smallest contingent at the event. It is even more noteworthy because all of them won medals.

However, even though it

was a team competition and the Guyanese were on top it was Priyanna Ramdhani who was the most outstanding of the Guyanese as she won Guyana all of its gold. She won gold in the under-15 and under-19 girls singles before teaming up with a player from Dominica to win the mixed under-19 title. The 14 year old who was national junior

sportswoman of the year in 2011 also won several silver medals and a bronze as well.

In an invited comment via social media Manager/ Coach of the team Gokarn Ramdhani, said “dedication, hard work and discipline…. take for example Priyanna and Narayan train all year round, don’t take time off . Even during exams they train. You can clearly see it paid off.”

In addition he outlined what is on the agenda for

these players in the future; “Keep on training for the upcoming tournaments, build their world ranking points and keep badminton alive as Narayan our no. Player left yesterday for Vancouver for his 5 year scholarship and train for 2020.”

The next assignments for Guyanese badminton players are the South American Youth Games and the Commonwealth Games.

The Guyana Badminton body is looking forward to

Narayan Ramdhani, Jonathan Mangra, Priyanna Ramdhani, Ambika Ramraj and Coach

UNDER-15 and 19 REGIONAL;

Priyanna Ramdhani: 2-GOLD. Narayan Ramdhani: 1-BRONZE The Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) would like to thank Mohamed’s Enterprise, Republic Bank, NSC, BK International, Hand in Hand Insurance, Crown Mining, Gio Tech and Cosmopolitan Trading.

Serena coasts past Knockouts affected Makarova and into by lighting issue US Open 2nd round Lucozade Indoor Hockey League…

Action in the GHB/Lucozade Indoor Hockey tournament

W

hen the Guyana Hockey Board/ Lucozade Indoor Hockey Tournament continued on Tuesday evening, the first knockout match of the competition was forced to be abandoned at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.

The first knockout match to be played in the women’s category between Old Fort, who placed fourth on the league’s points table and Georgetown Cricket Club Spartans, third came to an abrupt end due to an unforeseen lighting issue.

The match was in its halfway stage when the lighting problem occurred.

Technical maintenance of the National Gymnasium was unable to restore power to the building and Guyana Power and Light was subsequently called in.

The Game was going in favour of Spartans as they secured a 2-nil lead over Old Fort heading into the second half.

It was Spartans leading goal scorer, with 11 goals to her name, Marzana Fiedtkou who opened up the Spartans’ account in the fifth minute of play while two minutes later it was Shebiki Baptiste who penetrated the Old Fort defense.

But Old Fort is not to be taken lightly and could very

well bounce back in the second half which is now slated for Thursday at 17:00h at the same venue.

The winner from this match will then move on to play Hikers who finished second on the table.

This was not the only game affected. The clash between GCC teams, Bounty and Vintage which is expected to be one of the most entertaining matches in the tournament will also be played on Thursday.

With Kevin Spencer, who has 24 goals to his name, Bounty is a formidable match while Dwayne Scott will not make it an easy job for Vintage to be defeated.

Serena Williams beat Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets to stay on course for her 24th major in New York

L

ooking to close in on Margaret Court’s alltime record of 24 majors, Serena Williams was mostly untroubled against Ekaterina Makarova.

Serena Williams and her quest for a 23rd grandslam title got off to a winning start at the US Open, the world number one seeing off Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets.

Looking to close in on Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 major crowns, Williams was mostly untroubled as she defeated Makarova 6-3 6-3 in the first round in New York on

Tuesday.

Williams - eliminated in the semi-finals of last year’s tournament at Flushing Meadows - had only ever lost once in the first round of a grand slam in 64 tries and that record never really looked in doubt against the Russian.

It was a fairly easy start to the first set, with the match on serve until the sixth game, Makarova the first player to blink, her forced forehand error handing Williams the break and the American veteran then held to love for a 5-2 lead at Arthur

Ashe Stadium.

Some nerves appeared in Williams’ game as she attempted to serve out the set, sending a routine volley into the net, but backto-back aces extinguished the threat of Makarova.

It was more of the same in the second set, though Williams wasted less time, breaking serve to love in the fifth game for a 3-2 advantage.

And it was a lead Williams never relinquished as she powered into the second round, where countrywoman Vania King awaits. (Sportsmax)

guyana-times.com

wednesday, august 31, 2016

23

Providence square being re-laid

G

uyana’s only international cricket venue, the Guyana National Stadium located at Providence, East Bank Demerara is currently undergoing a face lift.

Presently, the six pitches located on the square of the cricket field have all been dug up and fresh pitches are expected to be laid over te next two weeks.

Since the inaugural game, back in March 2007 when the stadium featured a World Cup match between Sri Lanka and South Africa, the pitch was the topic of much criticism for being too slow and low.

When Guyana Times Sport visited the Stadium, workers were seen laying

dirt on the square. Head curator, Wazim Habib explained the progress made on the pitch and the vision the management has for the ground.

“We started about three weeks ago by digging up the square. We found it had a lot of sand, about five to six inches.” Habib said.

Habib added that the works should be completed in the next two weeks since the hardest part of the work has already been done.

He explained that a bed of crushed stone has been added to make it firmer and the main focus now is to get the earth back in the hole and set it to a level after which grass will be replanted over the pitch.

Renovation works being done on the Providence square

The overall outcome is to have a pitch that mirrors

Workers repainting the Red Stand

Guyana cannot develop by playing itself ― Graham

Guyana Under-15 basketball team along with Coach Lugard Mohan (second from right and Manager Alex Graham (extreme right)

A

lex Graham, Manager of the Guyana under-15 team that recently participated in the 2016 FIBA Centrobasket Under-15 Championship in Puerto Rico, says Guyana cannot develop by playing against itself.

That sentiment came in the wake of Guyana’s lackluster performance at its most recent international outing where the team lost all of their games. According to the manager the team cannot develop by playing itself, there must be exposure to know what level the team stands at.

Guyana was in group B at the under-15 tournament and had to compete with Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic and

Panama. They lost all of their games to finish in the cellar position in the group.

Dominican Republic and Panama were the two teams to exit group B. Dominican Republic made it to the finals but lost to host Puerto Rico while Mexico came in third.

Judging from the other teams’ performance, Graham said Guyana has some distance to cover to be on par with their opponents.

Nevertheless he is grateful that the youngsters got the exposure to participate so they themselves could return and work on their individual game.

When questioned about the approach to better the team’s performance for the future, Graham was quick to

point in the direction of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) and the government, who he believes should discuss ideas to come up with a solution.

Despite their poor display Guyana’s Jermaine King finished as one of the tournament top three players and top rebounder with an average of 11 rebounds per game. But even King’s lone incredible feat was not enough to save Guyana from losing all their matches.

Prior to the championship there were trials to make the team and from those trials 12 players were selected and encamped. During that camp they worked on several aspects of their game.

the practice pitches which provide a better bounce and slower deterioration rate when compared to its previous state.

Habib went on to say that while Guyana has the slow pitch, the outfield is one of the fastest drying fields in the world and if the works done on the pitch are to exceed expectations Guyana has the potential to be one of the most sought after grounds in the Caribbean.

Additionally, the works is expected to produce a consistent bounce and carry much to the likeness of both batsmen and bolwers.

Assistant Manager of the National Stadium, Mahinder Ghansham explained that this is not the only work that is being done at the stadium.

Ghansham went into detail stating that the stadium is also undergoing a repainting job to the exterior of the stands since this will not only add to the beauty of the buildings but make it easier for persons to identify their rightful stand based on the fact all of the exterior walls were white.

Similarly, some additional minor repairs are being done such as grill work and refurbishing of a number of seats. The project is expected to be complete in time to fa-

cilitate Guyana’s hosting of West Indies Cricket Board’s

cumstances surrounding the abandonment of the fourth and final test between West Indies and India after only one day’s rain and the other five days being called off.

As a result India had lost the opportunity to move into the number one ranking spot, if they could have secured a victory, subsequently leading to Pakistan progressing to the number one spot.

The pitches at Providence are renowned for its spin friendly conditions that usually lead to a low scoring affair.

The Providence stadium has a capacity of 15,000, making it one of the largest in the region.

It also is the home ground for the Guyana Amazon

Assistant Manager of the National Stadium Mahinder Ghansham

regional first class season which bowls of in November.

The first match to be hosted in the new season is expected to be on November 11.

This renovation comes at a time when the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board as well as the Queen’s Park Oval Cricket Board had launched an investigation into the cir-

Warriors team in the Caribbean Premier League.

Only Sri Lanka has managed to break the 400-run mark at the world recognized ground all the way back in 2008. It is no surprise that the likes of Sunil Narine and Saeed Ajmal, both off spinners and former number one bowlers have impressive figures at Providence.

Badree remains top T20 ranked bowler W

est Indies spinner Samuel Badree remains the world’s top ranked Twenty20 bowler following the release of the latest ICC Twenty20 International (T20I) rankings.

Badree tops the bowlers list with 743 points just ahead of South Africa’s Imran Tahir. India’s Jaspit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shahid Afridi rounds out the top five, with another West Indian spinner Sunil Narine the only other regional presence in the top 10, weighing in at 7th spot with 668 points.

Left hander Chris Gayle continues to be the region’s best ranked batsman at 9th, with Marlon Samuels and Johnson Charles at 22nd and 23rd. Lendl Simmons is the next highest ranked batsman at 34th with Dwayne Bravo next at 40th.

Young Trinidadian bats-

Samuel Badree

Evin Lewis

man Evin Lewis was one of the biggest movers in the batting tables. Lewis’ 49ball 100 in his first T20 helped him move up 288

slots to reach 51st. India captain Virat Kohli remains the top ranked batsman in the world, topping the list with 820 points. (Sportsmax)

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016

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

Providence square being re-laid Pg 23

All six pitches at the Providence Stadium are currently being re-laid

Carebaco Championships 2016 Aruba…

Pg 22

Guyana bags 14 accolades Guyanese players show off their medals: from left to right, Narayan Ramdhani, Jonathan Mangra, Ambika Ramraj and Priyanna Ramdhani

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