Guyana Times Daily

saturDaY, september 6, 2014 | guYanatimesgY.com

Guyana to unveil action plan to counter Ebola

... rigorous surveillance of ports included

Amid warnings about the possible spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the Caribbean, the Guyana Government on Thursday announced that it will soon unveil an action plan that includes heightened surveillance at ports of entry and beefed up training for hospital staff to deal with the disease.

The Ebola virus has been rampant in West Africa. As of 31 August 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that there have been 3685 (probable, confirmed and suspected) cases and 1841 deaths in countries such as Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

The Ebola virus is an infectious disease that spread between humans from person to person. Infection is transmitted by direct or indirect contact with the blood, body fluids, or secretions (stool, urine, saliva, semen) of infected people, but only when they show symptoms. Ebola cannot be transmitted by air.

The disease usually has a high mortality rate, but in the current Ebola outbreak the rate ranges between 55 per cent and 60 per cent. Ebola first appeared in 1976 in a village near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire).

Outbreaks

Since its detection, several Ebola outbreaks have occurred in different parts of Africa. In the Americas, the emergence of the Ebola virus has never been documented and there have not been any imported cases associated with the current outbreak to date.

Meanwhile, according to a Government Information Agency (GINA) release, Guyana is moving towards establishing an action plan to deal with the virus and a wide cross-section of stake-

holders from various organisations met on Thursday to establish the measures to be undertaken in order to put the plan into operation.

Participants were drawn from the Health Ministry, various hospitals, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Civil Defence Commission, Foreign Trade and International Cooperation Ministry, Guyana Revenue Authority, Veterinary Public Health

lows similar moves to address Chikungunya and SARs.

Minister Ramsaran pointed out that even before Thursday’s meeting, work had been ongoing regarding students in Guyana who came from Africa. However, he noted that checks on them have proved them safe.

“I am happy that you have joined us in this multistakeholder approach, and I hope that you will create for

Regulations, and pointed to the need to identify the symptoms.

Meanwhile, PAHO/WHO Epidemiologist, Dr Mariano Bonet, giving an overview of the Ebola virus, pointed out that it was not new but was approximately 40 years old. He lamented the fact that there was still no vaccine or treatment for it.

Noting that the response is weak, he stated that the spread of the disease is

able to link travellers to their susceptibility to the disease through their line of travel. The PAHO/WHO Representative underscored that the process which would be put in place would be adaptable to other situations.

Regarding the draft plan, five areas of focus were addressed. The first deals with coordination and control, which will see the activation of the National Health

Department, Agriculture Ministry, and the Civil Aviation Department among others.

Health Minister, Dr Bheri Ramsaran expressed appreciation at the number of agencies which had representatives at the meeting. He noted that they would be helping the Health Ministry to focus on the public health approach to the disease.

The Minister pointed out that Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud had been having discussions with smaller groups which were supported by the Pan American Health Organisation/ World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO).

The movement to address Ebola, he noted, fol-

us a barrier against the disease penetrating (Guyana), and if we do have cases, we will quickly identify and isolate them, and the good work that you will do today, will allow us to triumph quickly,” the Minister stated.

The Health Minister observed that a lot of work has been done in relation to identifying isolation areas. He noted that there is the intellectual capacity and the infrastructure along with the political will to address the issue.

For his part, the CMO gave an overview of the disease which he said was 90 per cent fatal. He said that the issue was to spearhead the plans and programmes which are mainly couched under International Health

growing in West Africa. With an incubation period of 20 days, it is a rapid infection which can kill in about two days. Dr Bonet pointed out that the United Nations has allocated US$500 million to stop the virus in West Africa in nine months.

Dr William Adu-Krow, Representative of PAHO/ WHO in Guyana, urged that all should be on the alert. He also insisted that rapid detection is necessary to capture the symptoms of the disease.

Dr Adu-Krow added that risk reduction was just as important through the involvement of Customs, Immigration, Police and Travel Agents.

He stressed that the Travel Agents would be

Emergency Committee, which will hold regular meetings. This Committee will develop and approve the action plan and work on the constitution of the national rapid response team.

It will also establish communication systems and develop targeted communication materials. This material will include an airport advisory in the form of a poster, traveller’s information in pamphlet form, public information, and health-care provider information. The Committee will also be responsible for the implementation of WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR) plan, including a Situation Room.

The second aspect will be surveillance of Point Of

Entry (POE). The POEs will concentrate on the Cheddi Jagan International and Ogle Airports; the Lethem and Moleson Creek crossings and the various sea ports such as Georgetown, New Amsterdam, Bartica, and Charity.

The POEs will also seek to have personnel ensure that all arrival procedures are in place. This will include aircraft and ship sanitation, general flight declarations, including the health sections and the training of flight attendants.

The POE personnel will also ensure the examination of flight manifests to identify any possible traveller from infected areas and maintain a register of such travellers.

Preparedness

The third area is clinical preparedness. This will ensure that personnel follow the standard precautionary guidelines and implement the infection control plan. They will also meet with hospitals to identify isolation units and train health workers on infection control. Workers will also be trained in clinical management of Ebola.

The fourth area regards laboratory work and will ensure testing to ensure that all differential diagnosis diagnostic testing takes place with feedback transferred to physicians.

There will also be moves to identify a reference laboratory and establish protocol while establishing guidelines for EVD.

The fifth area deals with epidemiology, public health and prevention. This will strengthen the surveillance for febrile illness accompanied by analysis and reports, which includes a case definition. Personnel will also define the target audience and conduct briefings for all health workers.

Stakeholders at the meeting on Thursday

Back-to-back drug busts

... raised dealers’ ire against Lusignan girl – Police

Lawmen’s seizures of two large caches of drugs might have raised the ire of drug dealers against a Lusignan Cosmetologist whom Police said was executed on suspicion that she had leaked information to anti-drug agents.

The lawmen have linked the murder of Ashmini Harriram, 18, of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, to two major cocaine busts connected to some of the suspects in custody. The first bust had occurred in February 2013 where some $1.5 billion in cocaine was found in lumber at Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara. Then on July 8 this year, a large quantity of marijuana was intercepted at Diamond worth $216 million.

Police believe both of these busts were connected with the suspects in the execution of the teenager. A Police source close to the investigations told Guyana Times that the bust in Diamond saw over a tonne of compressed mar-

ijuana and more than four kilograms of cocaine being seized by the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU).

The marijuana, according to information, was discovered in a Canter truck in a yard in the Diamond New Housing Scheme. It is believed that the drugs were transported from Parika, East Bank Essequibo and moments after arriving at Diamond, ranks of the drug enforcement unit turned up, thus leading persons to believe that the vehicle was trailed.

A search of the premises unearthed the drugs in the house. One man was sub-

sequently charged, but two days later Harriram was executed.

Up to press time, four men remained in custody for the murder. Two of the men who reportedly confessed to the murder were expected to be charged on Friday, but, up to press time, advice was still being sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Police are continuing their investigations in the hope of finding additional evidence that could pin a relative to her murder. Guyana Times was told the relative operates a fishing business.

Alleged “hit man”

The source confirmed that the alleged “hit man” admitted that he was paid GY$2.5 million to complete the job. He also admitted that he was in constant contact with a relative of the dead teen who provided information about the young woman’s whereabouts. The alleged “hit man” also told Police the identity of the person who drove him to ex-

ecute his plan and who paid him the money.

Investigators believe that the mastermind of the crime felt that the teenager was close enough to the drug dealers to be aware of all their movements and thus alerted law enforcement officers.

Khemwattie Somwaru, the mother of the dead teen, was at the Vigilance Police Station all day on Friday with her daughter whose husband was implicated in the murder. She reportedly told investigators that her son-in- law was a very quiet individual who worked his way up in life. The woman said when her son-in-law was arrested, she was left in shock, but added that she will not vouch for him, since “I know he, but don’t know he mind”.

When Guyana Times visited the home on Friday, a young man claimed that he did not know anything about the developments and preferred for the head of the household to comment.

Missing army weapons must be found – President Ramotar insists

President Donald Ramotar said that Opposition Leader David Granger has a responsibility to ensure that the guns that were handed over to the Ministry of National Development by the Guyana Defence

“Part of the problem with gunrelated crimes is the amount of illegal weapons in the streets of our country” –President Ramotar

Force (GDF) in the 1970s are returned to the Armed Forces.

The President was at the time speaking to the issue of gun-related crimes in Guyana dur -

ing a special interview on Friday with the National Communications Network (NCN), the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

“Part of the problem with gun-related crimes is the amount of illegal weapons in the streets of our country,” the Head of State maintained.

He said that while some of these weapons were smuggled into the country, a large number of weapons that have found their way into the hands of criminal elements are from the stock that were issued to the People’s National Congress (PNC). This was one of the startling revelations made at the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the death of Guyanese historian, Dr Walter Rodney, allegedly at the behest of the then ruling party.

As Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces, the President said that while the efforts of the Police will remain unwavering to tackle the issue of gun-related crimes head on, the missing Army weapons must be found and those who may have been involved in this matter owe it to the country to ensure their retrieval.

“We know that some of them found their way into the hands of criminal elements a few years ago, in Mahaica/Mahaicony when the Police had a confrontation with criminals,” the

President said. The fifth session of public hearings at the CoI revealed that 237 weapons were issued to Wilfred Skeete of the Ministry of National Development and R Corbin, between 1976 and 1979, by the GDF.

To date, only 82 of these weapons were returned to

the Army, the other 155 are still at large. Once weapons are recovered, they are destroyed by special equipment acquired by authorities. Meanwhile, President Ramotar also spoke about the enhanced level of investigations and detective work being carried out by the Joint Services. He said that while this was still not at the level where it should be, the improvement was a welcome development.

Mention was also made of the incorporation of science and technology to improve the effectiveness of crime fighting. In this regard, he expressed the hope that the Government’s investment in a forensic laboratory will see more crimes being solved, more criminals being put behind bars and as much as possible, the prevention of some of these crimes.

Dead: Ashmini Harriram

President Donald Ramotar

Opposition Leader David Granger

Editor: Nigel Williams

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

Mailing address: 238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown

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

Editorial

A people moving forward

In an effort to give recognition to Amerindian culture and highlight their contributions to national development over the years, when the PPP/C Government took the reins of power in 1992, it made a decision to set aside September every year as Amerindian Heritage Month.

A number of activities are planned dedicated towards showcasing the Amerindian way of life, such as their dance, food, music, dress, languages, etc. Special focus is also placed on the various challenges Amerindians face and how they could be overcome. Quite fittingly, this year’s celebrations are being observed under the theme: “Traditional embodiment for Amerindian development”.

There have been many arguments put forward in relation to the level of progress in Amerindian communities. Now that the Government is likely to face a no confidence vote in October and early elections may be called, the debates among political parties and other commentators in relation to how far Guyana has come in terms of its developmental objectives will be heating up. Issues impacting Amerindian development will take centre stage. Every political party will try their utmost to capture the Amerindian votes and will campaign feverishly to do so.

While some may deliberately want to put a spin on the facts regarding the level of progress made in Amerindian communities for political purposes, an objective examination of the facts will show that Guyana’s indigenous peoples are living a higher quality of life now more than ever before. In our view, Amerindians today are a people moving forward proudly.

With the many projects and programmes competing for limited resources at the national level, it would be fair to say that the PPP/C Administration has achieved much in terms Amerindian development. The Government can justifiably now argue that Amerindians do enjoy an equal part of the national pie. The records show that over the past decade or so, spending on social services in Amerindian communities has increased tremendously; whether it is in the area of education, health care, infrastructural development etc.

The excellent results due to these interventions tell a compelling story. For example, access to education has improved significantly with the construction of schools equipped with dormitories. The Government has also introduced the school feeding and uniform programmes which have contributed to increased attendance rates among pupils. And the Hinterland Scholarship Programme and technical vocational training have provided Amerindian students with the avenue for educational empowerment at all levels.

There were also several programmes implemented in indigenous communities geared towards spurring economic growth and creating employment opportunities for citizens. Some of these programmes which targeted women and youth provided the necessary assistance for them to start up their own businesses.

There were key legislative interventions geared towards ensuring that Amerindian rights are safeguarded. The protection of indigenous people’s rights and welfare has been given primacy with the legal framework captured in the Amerindian Act of 2006. In addition, the week-long National Toshaos Council (NTC) meeting provides an opportunity for village leaders to interact directly with the President, Government ministers and other officials.

These engagements have proven to be very useful, both to the Government and ordinary citizens as they provide an avenue to get first-hand feedback as to the needs of Guyana’s indigenous peoples and how best the Government could assist in meeting those needs.

We acknowledge that there are still many problems being faced by Amerindians on a daily basis. For example, there is still a high rate of poverty and unemployment in hinterland communities, there is need for better infrastructure, more hospitals so that Amerindians do not have to travel to Georgetown to seek emergency medical treatment, the land titling project needs to be completed and so on.

These challenges are not insurmountable, but they require a genuine effort by all stakeholders, including politicians, NGOs representing Amerindian communities and citizens themselves, working together in a bipartisan manner to raise the quality of life, of not only Amerindians, but every Guyanese.

Culture life

Pageants in Guyana

Dear Editor,

The evolution of pageantry in Guyana has been one to behold as the varying kinds have been a spectacle of much amusement, with some instances of grace and poise. It started as an avenue to celebrate the beauty of women, give women a voice on issues affecting them, and present women and girls as empowered individuals and not persons confined only to the home.

Some viewed the theatre of bikini-clad women parading on stage with great excitement, but for others, it was a bold demonstration of what some people would do to get some fleeting recognition, with no tangible rewards. From the face of it, pageants appear to defeat the thrust of empowering women, as for years, women have been complaining of being sexually stereotyped by men and have been clamouring ad nauseam for it to stop.

What most pageants do is showcase women in a segment where they are scantily dressed, thereby playing into the arena for the sexual stereotyping and objectifying. The ar-

gument for this part of the competition is that women must be brave and confident of the way they look. This in effect is an out-ofhand dismissal of Muslim and conservative Hindu and Christian women, who by the mores and norms of their religion, dress quite the opposite on any public occasion.

What the argument implies is that only women who parade on stage almost naked are brave, and the exercise is a great confidence booster. It is quite understandable why women who are grounded in morality, in the eyes of some pageant proponents, are the folks of a bygone era who still exist today.

But what is the reality. What have Guyanese women gained from pageants, counting out the graceful Shakira Baksh and to some extend Miss Guyana India Worldwide Alana Seebaran, who did Guyana proud by winning the prestigious title? The answer is quite an easy one – the prizes which include motorcycles, China wares, cosmetic hampers and small monetary awards do not make it and the pos-

sibility of them winning hefty modelling contracts is remote.

Perhaps, this is the price for pretending, as the contestants in their bid to impress the audience and the judges, through their sponsors, invest significantly in cosmetics to do the trick. Aside from the heavy face painting, some focus the attention of acquisition of fake hair, which is often varied in colour to create that image to wow the audience beguile the judges.

And the reactions that follow are sometimes harsh and derogatory, but still, the event is one that empowers women and showcases their varied talents. One wonders on what basis can these people be Ambassadors of this county as they are often branded as being.

And the show seems not to be short on variations. Only recently, the nation was regaled of the Mr Guyana International Pageant; ironically, all the contestants are locals. According to the organiser, the concept of the pageant came about due to the decline in the morale of men,

as a result of their involvement in sexual assaults, armed robberies and domestic violence, among other social ills.

It remains anyone’s guess how a pageant, and not education, will correct some misguided minds and what has become of debates and the role of religious institutions in addressing these problems.

Equally bewildering is the statement by the organiser who deemed the 11 male contestants who will be decked out in briefs on stage “True sons of the soil”. This stamp of approval is reminiscent of the lyrics of the famous calypso song “Lover’s Licence”, which goes thus:

“A lovers licence, should be just like a driver’s licence, you get a learner’s permit, and then you practice the things to do, and on the night of the exam, you’ arm in arm with your woman, and if she tell you honey you’ great, then you get the marriage certificate.”

Sincerely, Name and address provided

This young lass joyfully clutches her bow and arrows at the Amerindian Village at the Sophia Exhibition Site on Friday

Greenidge’s attack on judiciary is contemptuous

Dear Editor, I read with great interest the unfortunate and contemptuous statement made by Carl Greenidge, a senior member of APNU and the response made by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, and wish to add my quota to the rather interesting dialogue.

I think the former Finance Minister was way off target and may be in contempt, or bordering on contempt, outside the face of the court for the brash, unwarranted, wrongful and unjustified attack on the country’s judiciary when he said that “it leaves us with a judiciary keen to intervene at the behest of the Executive and handing out decisions that are damaging and inconsistent with the Constitution and its roots”.

He also alleges that President Ramotar “appoints” judges alone. What rubbish.

Greenidge is not an Attorney and has limited legal skills and should have consulted with lawyers in his party before making such damaging statements. I think that the Leader of APNU, David Granger should ask him to withdraw his unwarranted and embarrassing statement.

How can he make such a statement; that the Government is eroding the independence of the Judiciary – which in actuality is far from the truth – when a party in which he was a senior Minister was bigger than the Government.

The Government was an arm of the PNC and the party flag was being flown at the High Court building. I remember this very well, while I was a reporter of the GBC when my friend and late colleague Wordsworth Mc Andrew blurted out that he could not work for the PNC and as a result quit and left for

the United States, where he died a few years ago.

Greenidge should be experienced enough to know that that there is an appeal process, and if accused persons or litigants are not satisfied with decisions meted out by first instant judges, they could move to the Guyana Court of Appeal and finally the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Guyana is the first country in the Region which abolished appeals to the London-based Privy Council.

I am happy to read that the learned Attorney General will look into the damaging statement to ascertain whether or not appropriate sanctions can be imposed to protect the judiciary from similar scurrilous attacks so that judges can administer justice without fear or pressure.

Sincerely, Oscar

Ramjeet

“Take the beam out of thine own eyes”

Dear Editor,

The age old English proverb stating that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones is ever so true. A quote from the Holy Scriptures speaks directly to this fact: “take the beam out of thine own eyes before you attempt to take the mote out of mine”.

These are quotes Glenn Lall should have in his daily notes before attempting to malign the Government.

But this is sadly lacking from a man who knows too well the artful devices of lies and deception. This is who Glenn Lall really is.

Let's see what we can make of him. For starters, this man who was the seller of bora and a few leather shoes had an amazing transformation of fortunes in becoming a wealthy owner of a prominent newspaper.

This overnight change is indeed staggering to say the least, certainly, that sudden rise in fortunes is cause for suspicion and should I add, investigation. But, like everything else, the PPP/C Government turned a blind eye to this man's activities and never paid any close attention to him, well of course until now, when he has become a major thorn in their flesh.

What is interesting to know is that long before Glenn Lall came into prominence, he is known to have been caught up in highly suspicious activities. Long before that quantum leap that propelled him into the so; called entrepreneurial world there was a huge dose of suspicion and a dark cloud hanging over his movements and associations. How come this man got so wealthy in such a short time? How did he make that giant leap having gotten a sudden rise from seemingly “humble beginnings.” Interesting!

Then, there was the shooting death of five of his pressmen when known criminal associates came to avenge corrupt dealings. The gunmen barged in at his place of business in broad daylight shouting “where is Lall we want Lall.”

Those five pressmen met their untimely demise due to the fact that the gunmen wanted no eyewitnesses alive. Come to think of it, whatever, became of that matter? I can't believe that five of pressmen were mowed down so brutally and a newspaper that is known for it's “clean” reporting could not get to the bottom of it? Interesting!

It is alleged that the

Kumar is not a member of Guyana Chronicle, Mirror boards

Dear Editor, Please allow me space in your paper to reply to someone who is now being erroneously promoted as a sports journalist.

It is because of my genuine respect for Neil Kumar, a gentleman who I grew up with and have known for more than 40 years that I must reply to what was written in Kaieteur Sport under the headline, “Sport View by Freddie Kissoon”.

Let me, from the inception, say that we have been reading all Kumar’s articles way back in the 1970s when his articles were under a column, “Sports by Neil”.

Sport view last weekend was a revelation. Kumar captured the full scenario, explained the playing rules/ conditions and interpreted

the rules and regulations in a most profound manner.

Kumar is not a member of the Board of Directors of either the Guyana Chronicle nor the Mirror Newspaper.

It is universally accepted that everybody before entering a public swimming pool must have a bath. So I cannot see why he would have objections to showering before entering the pool.

Kissoon made reference to life guards. Kumar was instrumental in bringing a professional lifeguard from Canada to Guyana. Let it be known that last year for the first time six Guyanese were certified as international life-guards while a few others were certified at a lower level.

Let me make it clear that the Sports Hall was nev-

er used as an abattoir. This goat issue was raised in Parliament and it was crystal clear that at no time any goat was slaughtered at the Sports Hall.

In addition, it is inexcusably offensive when this little troll of a man made reference to Kumar’s son.

The Minister has always displayed great passion and integrity in his quest to help make a better Guyana for all Guyanese.

Put an end to these unjustifiably spiteful attacks against good people.I am making a direct appeal to the miniscule remnants of your (Kisson's) humanity and journalistic integrity.

Yours truly, Bashur Khan and friends

APNU seeking to divert public attention from past

Dear Editor

In checking the PLE to ensure a clean and transparent Voters List, the PPP/C is highly amused by statements emanating from APNU in which they accused the party of behaving like a “cornered rat”.

deeper matters surrounding the gunmen and Lall himself were settled amicably so that the newspaper owner can now rest comfortably at nights.

So acquiring vehicles in a big remigrant scam comes as no surprise to anyone because, like I highlighted above, he is into this sort of business for quite a long time now only refining his approach as time went by.

Lall has been a problem –a runaway train if you please – for a pretty long time and the PPP/C knows this all too well. Why they did not muzzle him is anybody's guess. They might want to respond by saying that the party believes in giving everyone a fair chance or as President Jagdeo rightly asserted at the launch of one of Lall's business ventures, the party applauds anyone who is ambitious and welcomes their investment. He would have deliberately forgotten about the many question marks surrounding the character in question.

To a keen, scrutinising public no news about Glen Lall is a surprise. There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to this man.

Sincerely

Neil Adams

If anybody is behaving like a “cornered rat” it is David Granger who, it was revealed by the Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Dr Walter Rodney, was the Commander of the Army when the high pow-

ered weapons, which later coincidentally or deliberately found their way into the hands of criminals in 2005. .

It is Granger who, for all practical purposes, is a “cornered rat” for the atrocities inflicted on the Guyanese people by his party which resulted in the deaths of several Guyanese who dared to stand up in defence of their democratic rights including the two ballot box martyrs on the Corentyne.

The PPP/C is of the view that Granger and his APNU are desperately seeking to divert public attention from its dreadful and embarrassing past by resorting to empty rhetoric and baseless criticism against the PPP/C.

The PPP/C will continue to check the List diligently to ensure it's clean and transparent so that every eligible Guyanese can exercise their franchise.

Submitted by PPP/C Freedom House

5 ways to handle disrespectful behaviour from children or teens

(Continued from Friday)

How to teach children self-discipline

about it.”

BY SANDRA WHITEHEAD

– responding to talking back, swearing, defiance and other rude behaviours

BY AMY MORIN

All children behave disrespectfully at one time or another. The way you respond to your child’s disrespect will be a factor in how often the behaviour will be repeated.

Start by establishing household rules that specifically address the issue of respect. Make it clear that you expect everyone to treat each other with respectful words and behaviours. Tell children ahead of time what the negative consequences will be for breaking the rules.

Disrespectful behaviour can range from mild to severe. Mild behaviours may include things like eye rolling or saying, “Whatever Mom!” when reprimanded. More serious disrespectful behaviours include things such as calling a parent names or even physical aggression.

When disrespectful behaviour isn’t addressed, it can get worse over time. If young children get away

with ignoring a parent’s requests or calling people names, it’s likely to get a lot worse when they become teens.

There are sev eral options par ents have when responding to disrespectful behaviour. No matter which one you choose, it’s important to remain calm and role model appropriate be haviour.

Ignore mild misbehaviour

Sometimes it makes sense to ig nore mild misbe haviour. If your child mumbles under his breath when you tell him to turn off his vid eo game, you might choose to ignore it as long as he is compliant with shutting his game off.

gle by choosing your battles wisely. Place the emphasis on the positive behaviour by pointing out respectful behaviour. Praise children for behaving respectfully by saying things like, “Thanks for getting ready for dinner with such a good attitude.” When everyone is calm, have a conversation with your child about disrespectful behaviour. For example, point out, “When I told you to clean your room today you rolled your eyes at me. That’s disrespectful behaviour.” Explain to children that there are often natural consequences for disrespectful behaviour such as “Children might not want to play with you when you behave disrespectfully.”

Other mild misbehaviour that can be ignored includes an eye roll or sighing when told to do something. Drawing attention to these minor behaviours can sometimes increase the behaviour and lead to more behaviour problems.

Avoid a power strug-

From discipline to self-discipline

As troubling as today’s culture may be, teaching children self-control and self-discipline has always been part of a parent’s job. Parenting today may be more challenging, but it “does not mean we need to throw up our hands,” Brooks says.

“One of a parent’s most important roles is to be a disciplinarian,” he says, pointing out that the word discipline comes from the word disciple. “It implies a teaching relationship. What we want to do is parent in ways that promote the development of self-discipline.”

How do you do this?

Start by setting and maintaining consistent limits. Young children need parents to set boundaries, says Genett. “Children need to know that parents will do what it takes to keep them safe. These limits help them develop a healthy personality. As they grow up, they integrate these limits into their own self-discipline.

Grandma’s rule of discipline Grandma’s rule can be a great way to turn around disrespectful behaviour fast. Offer children need a reminder about their disrespectful behaviour and make it clear they’ll gain more by behaving in a respectful manner. (About.com)

As children get older, involve them in developing their own rules and consequences, Brooks advises. This also allows parents to teach children that rules are not arbitrary; there are reasons for them.

Pay attention to how you parent. Parenting styles make a difference in teaching self-discipline, says Fay. He describes three typ-

Hover over their children, and when the children make a bad decision, they swoop in and solve the problem. Their children grow up believing they need someone to rescue them.

ical parenting approaches, but notes that only one of them does the job:

“If parents don’t set limits, children become unruly, and take physical and psychological risks,” she says. “These children are unhappy and often have psychological problems. They know something is wrong, but they don’t know what to do

Drill Sergeant parents –Constantly tell children what decisions to make and what their values should be. They bark out orders and expect their children to follow them. Their children grow up needing someone to tell them what to do, says Fay.

Helicopter parents –

Consultant parents –Boss and rescue as little as possible. They share their thoughts, but they don’t tell children what to do. They don’t take on a child’s problem as their own. Their strategy is to give their children the opportunity to make choices when the consequences are small and then let the children deal with the consequences of their decisions. Ultimately, this helps a child develop selfdiscipline.

The power of consultant parents is that they allow children to live their lives in a safe, learning environment. When a child experiences success, it is his or her own.

“A lot of people have been raised to believe that good parents make sure their children are always good,” says Fay. “The result is that they micromanage their child’s life and their child doesn’t learn anything.” In today’s competitive, fast-moving world, children and teens can make big mistakes that have serious, even lifelong, consequences. That’s why self-discipline and self-control are so important, and it’s why parents need to help guide their children to find and listen to that still, small voice inside – the one that reflects values, knowing what’s right and wrong, patience and sound reasoning.

“The price tag for mistakes goes up every day,” Fay says. “It’s good for children to make lots of mistakes when the consequences are small.” (parenthood.com)

Guyanese law student refused entry into TT

… over lack of admission letter to Hugh Wooding

Local law students received emails from the Council of Legal Education (CLE) on September 1, confirming their admittance or non-admittance to the law school; however, a subsequent correspondence indicated that successful students would be contacted at a later date and “in some instances, erroneous information was communicated”

By Jomo Paul

AUniversity of Guyana (UG) Law Student found herself in hot water on Thursday when Trinidad and Tobago immigration officials denied her entry into the sister Caricom country on the grounds that she lacked the requisite documentation.

The student would have departed Guyana on a oneway ticket to neighbouring Trinidad where she would have attended the Hugh Wooding Law School. However, she lacked the proper documentation, that is, the admission letter to the law school. It was noted too that she travelled on a one-way ticket, which prompted immigration officials to deny her entry.

List of students

In addition, immigration officials at Piarco International Airport were not in possession of a list of students who were expected to arrive from Guyana to attend the local law school. This list was supposed to be prepared and provided to the officials by local university administrators but was reportedly never sent.

Guyana Times spoke to the young lady, who asked for anonymity, and she said that she travelled to the country on the premise of entering the law school. She explained that she travelled on a one-way ticket, because she was certain of her admission.

The young lady went on to explain that she had acquired the requisite Grade Point Average (GPA).

With that in mind, she travelled in advance in an effort to be properly prepared for the upcoming

school year. The law school is scheduled to be opened on September 15 and student registration commences on September 10.

The law student also explained that she felt somewhat shafted by the immigration officials, since she had offered to amend her declaration and purchase a return ticket on the spot, but was denied this opportunity.

It was explained that based on the recent Shanique Myrie Decision handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the officials had no tangible grounds to deny the Guyanese law student entry into the country.

The ruling set precedence that no Caricom national should be denied entry to another Caricom country at the port as long as the person is not a threat or a possible expense to the public purse.

When questioned on whether she would be pursuing legal action, the young woman explained that it was something she was mulling, but she was more than likely to decide against it. She said she would rather keep the matter private and a lawsuit would make the issue public.

UG students concerned Meanwhile, students at the University of Guyana Law Faculty on hearing of their colleague’s misfortune became worried.

One student told Guyana Times that they were not yet in receipt of final grades for the semester ending May 2014.

The young man pointed out that while some persons are sure of their acceptance to Hugh Wooding and their name being on the list of the 25 students guaranteed

“Value added is the way to go” – Minister

Robert Persaud

acceptance, there are still some concerns that need to be addressed immediately.

Students were told by the Examination Division at UG that the outstanding grades, which are not on their academic profiles are still in Barbados, where they are usually ‘second-marked’.

The young man pointed out that unless these grades are submitted, students have no sure way of knowing whether they are on the list of 25 students.

One parent who spoke to Guyana Times in a brief interview opined that the list was being tampered with. “They are fiddling with it, I feel they are trying to put persons who aren’t supposed to be on the list there.”

The man opined that despite what the list says when it is completed and presented, he will be ensuring that his daughter completes her law courses at Hugh Wooding.

Confirmation

It was also explained that law students from UG and Nations University had received emails from the Council of Legal Education (CLE) on September 1, either confirming their admittance or non-admittance to the Trinidad-based law school.

However, shortly after they received those emails, another correspondence came which indicated that the successful students would be contacted at a later date and “in some instances, erroneous information was communicated”.

This has added to the confusion and tension at the faculty, and students are calling on the university officials to see that the issue is resolved forthwith.

By Jomo Paul

Under pressure to hold accountable some of the major foreign companies to their contractual obligations, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud on Friday plugged the need for investment in value added timber products, stressing that Guyana needs to move away from the conventional practice of exporting raw timber.

Speaking at an investment seminar at the Guyana Forestry Complex in Kingston, Georgetown, Minister Persaud pointed out that if Guyana continues its current trend of exporting unprocessed timber, the local industry will be more vulnerable to the effects of the international market.

Chinese Timber Company Baishanlin has been accused of breaching its contractual obligations after failing to set up a wood processing company several years after it had been granted permission to ex-

port timber from this country.

Persaud explained that while it was no secret that Guyana exports a lot of unprocessed produce, this has to change and not only in the forestry sector, but also in the mining sector.

Economic sense

He said: “To make the economy resilient and in a position to withstand price chops that commodities face, value added is the way to go...it makes economic sense that we pursue value added in all areas… that in a way

has made us very vulnerable – commodity prices shift, they plunge and sometimes they hike, more often or not we see levels of unpredicted movement…that’s the reality.”

It was noted that every primary commodity that is exported by Guyana puts the country at risk in a “structural way, in a macroeconomic way” and exposes the economy to the effects of foreign markets which could have otherwise been avoided.

While noting that value added production is something that is being actively pursued by the Government, the Minister underscored that attention should not only be placed on marketing and branding, but also on the development of a reputable product that will be able to compete on the world market.

“The emphasis on development of the product was particularly with an eye on value added, ‘cause it was not only just about marketing or resources, but also we wanted much more dedicated attention to be placed on the development and in this instance, the development of forest products along the line of value added,” said Minister Persaud.

This young lady was inspecting this timber artwork

This is one example of a value-added product on display at the Guyana Forestry Commission

saturDaY, september 6, 2014 | guYanatimesgY.com

“Junkie” charged for murder of Mahaica farmer

Dhanpaul Singh of Helena Number Two, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, also called “Tailor Man” was on Friday arraigned at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court for the murder of farmer Ravi Balkissoon.

He was not required to plead to the indictable charge, which stated that on September 2, at Helena Number Two, he murdered Balkissoon. He was subsequently remanded to prison by Magistrate Zamilla Ally and will make his next court appearance on September 26 at the Mahaica Magistrate’s Court.

Singh reportedly confessed to chopping the 52-year-old farmer of Lot 107 Helena Number Two to his neck. The man succumbed to his injuries a few minutes later. Investigators thought that it was a premeditated murder, since, earlier in the day, the farmer warned the suspect to leave his premises. Singh reportedly left but staked out the man’s farm. Balkissoon later reportedly left for lunch and it was while he was on his way back to the farm, he was attacked and killed. Moments

before the chopping incident, the suspect was also chased from another farm.

The dead man’s eldest son, Hemchand Balkissoon, recalled that his father had gone home for lunch and left shortly after midday to return to the backdam. He was carrying a “motor blower” and a pump on his bicy-

cle when the “junkie” confronted him. Guyana Times understands that the man’s youngest son and a friend of his father witnessed the gruesome murder.

In a release, Police stated that Balkissoon was involved in an argument with another man on Middle Walk Dam during which he was chopped to his neck. The Police further stated that the man was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The murder suspect was arrested and taken into Police custody to assist with the investigation.

A post-mortem examination performed on Balkissoon’s body gave his cause of death as shock and haemorrhage due to incised wound to neck. He left to mourn his wife, two sons, and siblings.

Trio remanded for alleged robbery with aggravation

Twenty-eight-yearold mechanic Adrian Bishop, 27-year-old goldsmith Devon Forde, and 23-year-old labourer Junior Nurse all appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Magistrate Judy Latchman to face a charge of robbery with aggravation.

The allegation read that on Sunday, August 31, they robbed Ramanand Jagdeo of one gold chain valued $180,000, three gold rings valued $30,000, one vacuum cleaner and compressor valued $15,000, one cel-

lular phone worth $12,000, a quantity of goods and $317,000 in cash, a total value of $1.754 million.

It is also alleged that they stole one Toyota Spacio motor car, PPP 4395, valued $3.7 million, belonging to Linda Bonita.

The three unrepresented defendants denied the charges laid against them. According to Bishop, he, along with the other accused, was placed on an identification parade but none of them were identified by Jagdeo. Bishop, who spoke for the trio and told the court that he

has an assault matter pending, but Forde and Nurse have no pending matters or priors, accused Police ranks of beating them. He and Nurse then showed the court the injuries allegedly caused by the beating. The men also accused the Police of chasing away their relatives who brought food for them.

Police Prosecutor Michael Grant objected to bail on the grounds of the nature, seriousness and prevalence of the offence. He added that the defendants may be flight risks and may not return for trial if bail was granted.

A Police Officer who was present in the court told the Magistrate that the three men were not identified on the parade; but there is video footage of them committing the crime. He then proceeded to show the Magistrate, Forde’s and Nurse’s confession statements which the men denied giving.

The Magistrate subsequently placed each of the defendants on $100,000 bail. They are to make their second appearance on September 15 when they will stand before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

Teenager charged with robbery under arms

A19-year-old East Coast Demerara (ECD) resident was on Friday remanded on a charge of robbery under arms by Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The charge alleged that on January 9, at Independence Boulevard, Albouystown, Georgetown, Andrew Ridley of Lot 48 Atlantic Ville Housing Scheme, ECD, in the company with two other persons, armed with a gun, robbed

Wayne St Jules. Among the items taken were two gold rings valued $160,000, two Motorola cellphones valued $10,000, one wallet worth $1000 and $20,500 in cash, a total value of $191,500.

According to details of the case, St Jules was working in the Albouystown area when the defendant and his accomplices approached him. The defendant placed the gun to St Jules’s head and demanded the articles. Fearful for his life,

St Jules removed the articles and handed them over. The bandits then made good their escape.

Bail was refused after objections were raised due to the nature, gravity and prevalence of the offence along with the fact that a weapon was used to carry out the crime.

Ridley was remanded to prison until September 15 when he will return to court to face Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

Suspected trunkers stole $1.3M in items – court told

Thirty-seven-year-old David Lynch and 41-year-old Kingsley Wickham appeared on separate counts of auto theft and damage to property at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Magistrate Judy Latchman on Friday.

It was alleged that on August 30 at Georgetown, the defendants unlawfully and maliciously damaged one rear rightside quarter-inch car glass panel valued $100,000, movable property of Gulcuran

Persaud. The second charge read that on the aforementioned date and location, the defendants stole from motor car PNN 7596, which belongs to Clive Prince, the following items: US$2500 equivalent to GY$500,000, an Apple laptop valued $500,000, an Apple iPod valued $100,000, one charger worth $1000, four remote controls valued $60,000, one back-up drive valued $40,000, a sil-

ver Movado watch worth $100,000 and a haversack priced at $20,000, a total value of $1.3 million.

The unrepresented defendants denied both of the charges respectively.

No facts were given on the matter; however, bail was objected to given the offence’s nature, gravity and prevalence as well as the quantum of the articles.

The defendants were both remanded to prison until September 23.

Duo in court for assault, threatening language

mentioned date and location.

Two men who were allegedly engaged in an altercation were on Friday released on $30,000 bail each by Magistrate Judy Latchman. Thirty-one-year-old Jason Chetsly of Herstelling Public Road, East Bank Demerara and 44-year-old Collin Williams of Lot 5 Goed Fortuin Public Road, West Bank Demerara, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer a charge of unlawful assault and threatening language respectively.

It is alleged that on September 2 at Stabroek Market Stelling Car Park, Chetsly unlawfully assaulted Williams. The unrepresented defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge laid against him. Williams, on the other hand, was charged for allegedly using threatening language towards Chetsly on the afore-

Williams, who was represented by Attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The lawyer told the court that his client suffers from a phobia and requested reasonable bail.

Police Prosecutor Michael Grant had no objections to bail.

The men will make their second appearance on September 22.

Eyew tness

Forked tongue...

...Ramjattan

When your Eyewitness wrote his piece yesterday, he had no idea the newspaper would’ve been asking Ramjattan who he’ll support as the AFC’s Presidential candidate in the snap elections he’s hell bent on precipitating. But the newspaper did and Ramjattan duly answered: he’s supporting his old buddy and fellow Berbician Nagamootoo!!! Now you could’ve knocked the Eyewitness over with a feather! He actually exclaimed, “What the so- and-so going on?”

Hold it! Hold it! Hold it! So what IS going on here?? What happened to that agreement – signed in blood by Trotman and Ramjattan when they decamped from the PNC and PPP that the presidential candidacy would be rotated between the African and Indian leaders. Are we missing something??? Wasn’t Ramjattan the AFC-manwho-would-be-President in the last elections??? Isn’t he “Indian”????

Now don’t start with the Eyewitness that he’s bringing “race” into this elections thing. It’s the AFC – in the persons of the two selfsame gentlemen (we use the word rather slackly, we know) – who created the “formula” that “solved” the race problem in Guyana. And the alternation of the Presidential Candidate was meant to prove conclusively that each race shall have an equal shot at the top spot.

What Ramjattan is doing by endorsing his fellow Indian Guyanese, Nagamootoo, is sending a signal to his party’s supporters that his word means absolutely nothing. Now a heck of a lot of people already knew that – but we’re talking about those poor slobs who’ve taken the wanker at his word.

But more dangerously for the political climate in Guyana is that Ramjattan was the one to define himself as “Indian” in the leadership of the AFC. He’s now fulfilling the stereotype of the Indian that’s been pushed by those wishing to keep Guyana divided: that “Indians cannot be trusted”.

But finally and most dangerously, within the climate of folks like David Hinds and Nigel Hughes pushing the line that African Guyanese are “marginalised”, Ramjattan hands them a smoking gun – at least within the AFC – that it’s true. OK...Nigel Hughes might be damaged goods – the “Case of the Secret Company Secretary” and all that – but Raphael Trotman has thrown his hat into the ring. Surely, Ramjattan can’t hold it against the chap that he toed the PNC/APNU line in the Parliament?

Heck!! Ramjattan and the entire AFC crew even wore green while in Parliament!!!

...from PNC leader

Talking about the upcoming snap elections and his accusations against the PPP, David Granger waxed eloquent as to how “no corrupt” official would be accepted in the PNC. Really? He coulda fooled this Eyewitness!! It’s said that when a person points a finger at others, three of his fingers are pointed right back at himself. And this is so true with Granger when it comes to corruption.

From whence will he be able to summon the moral moorings to accuse – much less judge – any other person in the PNC of “corruption”? Does he really believe that his rigging of the PNC leadership elections will be forgotten??? The thing is, the rigging of the leadership elections would’ve included a whole host of folks at all levels of the party. David Granger hasn’t been a party man long enough – like, say, Corbin, for him to (“wink”, “wink”) get away with such blatant disrespect of party stalwarts like Norton and the entire Linden party machinery.

Granger has brought to the surface the worst fears of most respectable Guyanese: an authoritarian personality who will do whatever it takes to get power.

..on the working class

Hydar Ally of the PPP complimented the Pope on his positive stance on helping the poor. Fella wrote that if the PPP’s so concerned about the “working class”, why don’t its leaders move out of their “mansions”. So we guess the fella will now demand the Pope vacate the Vatican??

Dead: Ravi Balkissoon

GPL clips businessman’s power

... in “Name and Shame” campaign

By Svetlana MarShall

The first victim of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) “Name and Shame” Campaign was an Ice factory owner in Annandale, East Coast Demerara (ECD) when the campaign commenced with a major bust on Friday.

With commercial and operational losses crippling the power company, the campaign has been designed to expose commercial entities and individuals who have been engaged in the diversion of electricity (electricity theft).

Equipped with media operatives and two ranks of the Vigilance Police Station, GPL Operations Manager Dominic Sundar and his team conducted a raid on the ice factory located at Lot 129 Courbane Park, Annandale. According to GPL, the proprietor, Mohan Rajendra, with the help of an expert in the field, created a bypass to prevent the meter from recording the accurate amount of electricity consumed at the premises.

Although Rajendra has a bill amounting to a whopping $3.6 million, the power

custody by the ranks on the charge of Diversion of Electricity, the ice factory owner questioned how a registered GPL customer could be charged for electricity theft.

“This is a paid service, but GPL keeps harassing

company contends that this amount could jump to more than $7 million when “back billing” is done.

But Rajendra denied the allegations against him. Before he was taken into

me,” he told reporters as he whipped out his GPL bills.

When asked by Guyana Times if he was in arrears, Rajendra responded in the affirmative. He explained that in April his service was

terminated but subsequently reconnected after the clearing of all arrears. But by August, the Courbane Park resident had landed himself back in arrears.

With supporting documents which included a contract signed between himself and the power company, the ice factory owner explained that during the signing of the contract, he paid $1.5 million of a grand total of $4.683 million owed. The contract, which was signed on August 15, 2014, stipulated that the remaining amount would have to be paid over a period of fourteen (14) months with the sum of $225,994 expected to be paid every month by the 15th day.

In a bill dated September 4, it was indicated that in the previous bill, Rajendra had a debt of $3.8 million, but paid $720,000 leaving him with a balance of $3.1 million; however, when the current charges were added, the bill went to $3.6 million.

Supporting evidence

But through his lengthy explanation, GPL maintained its position with a supporting explanation. As he was being placed into the police van, the ECD resident maintained his innocence, saying that he was unaware of who might have tampered with the electrical cables leading to the meter on the pole. Rajendra has been operating the factory for more than 15 years and has had several encounters with GPL over inference with the electrical connections.

The Operations Manager maintained that the electrical system was tampered with. He explained that between the transformers and

On Thursday, an inspection was conducted before the raid was executed by GPL.

GPL officials and technical personnel were accompanied by the Government Electrical Inspectorate’s Steven Williams. Williams confirmed that GPL was being short-changed due to an illegal intervention.

According to GPL, this is just the first of the many crackdowns that will be ex-

the meter on the pole, a bypass (jumper) was created to slow down the rate at which electricity consumption is recorded by the meter. “This is illegal,” Sundar said, as he pointed to the section where the bypass was created.

Questioned why GPL has decided to take such drastic action against Rajendra, Sundar explained that a report submitted to him indicated that meter readers were unable to get the correct reading, hence the business’s electrical comsumpution was mostly estimated.

ecuted under the “Name and Shame Campaign”.

Collectively, the communities of Tucville Well, Sophia Well, South Ruimveldt Park east of Penny Lane, Festival

City, North Ruimveldt, South Ruimveldt Gardens, Roxanne Gardens, Guyhoc Park and Ebenezer Drive accounted for a loss of 60 per cent, the highest recorded during that period. (svetlanam@guyanatimesgy.com)

Earlier in the year, GPL said it was experiencing a 31 per cent loss in electricity, with electricity theft being a major concern. Between Coldingen to Bygeval on the East Coast of Demerara, there was a 37.1 per cent loss in electricity, while from Sophia to Coldingen, there was a 43.9 per cent loss. In Sophia, A to E Field, a 42.2 per cent loss in electricity was recorded at the end of March 31, 2013.

A GPL field officer removing some of the wires that were tampered with on the electrical pole

GPL Operations Manager Dominic Sundar showing the accused, Mohan Rajendra, where the bypass was created

The proprietor of the ice factory, Mohan Rajendra, showing Guyana Times the contract with GPL

APNU worried over ‘the dead’ on PLE

By Alexis Rodney

While admitting that no list could be perfect, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said it has some concerns about the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE), especially as it relates to the names of dead persons on it.

Pointing out discrepancies on the record, APNU’s Chief Whip, Amna Ally, who is also the coalition’s Chief Scrutineer, said the issue revolving around the names of dead persons on the list may be reason for concern.

It was at APNU’s weekly press conference at its Hadfield Street Office on Thursday that executive members, including Shadow Local Government Minister Ronald Bulkan and Shadow Home Affairs Minister and Elections Campaign Officer Winston Felix discussed issues relating to GECOM and the allegedly trumped-up allegations by the People’s

Progressive Party (PPP) against the electoral body.

Citing Arthur Chung as an example, Ally said that the party finds that many persons do not report the deaths of their loved ones. She explained the issue surrounding this problem is embedded in the fact that a person’s name cannot be taken off the list unless a death certificate is

produced. “That is why the PPP is pointing to that, but we can understand why….. That can be classified as an error of the PLE.”

Ally disclosed that the General Register Office’s last submission to GECOM was in April. “These things contribute to the errors of the PLE,” the APNU Chief Scrutineer said.

She stated that although the party has seen these errors, there is nothing within the law that it can do. She noted that GECOM will have to do all that it possibly can at the administrative level to clean up those discrepancies.

“Not found” list

Ally reported too that the coalition was also concerned about the inaccuracy of the “not found” list. A number of persons, she explained, are affected especially in areas considered to be strongholds of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)/ APNU. “So APNU is very

much concerned about the inaccurate submissions of its [GECOM’s] field staff.”

GECOM had earlier indicated that no other political party, apart from the PPP/C, had raised concerns about the PLE. Chairman of the electoral body, Dr Steve Surujbally at a press conference on Thursday, responded to the accusations by the ruling PPP/C that the PLE is highly padded. Since the announcement by the Elections Commission of the beginning of the third cycle of registration early last month, the PPP had raised serious objections about the exercise, claiming that it did not cater for every Guyanese of voting age.

Overreacting

Meanwhile, the main Opposition party chided PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee for what it said was his inventing of problems on the preliminary voters list. The coalition said that there were several places where a large number of objections to names on the list have been lodged but many of those people objected to are still alive.

“During the entire period of the claims and objections period, Mr Clement Rohee, General Secretary of the PPP, has been lamenting the process of claims and objections. One of the spurious claims is that the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) is padded; he has called for a “transparent” list,” APNU said.

According to APNU, it holds no brief for GECOM, but claimed that “Rohee is inventing issues to support his allegations”. “It must be noted that all aspects of the registration exercise are done in keeping with the law and set rules. For example, in the case of the deceased, all reported deaths

Rum Jhaat finally seh

it is so

Every year “Link Show”, dem fellas and ladies who actin does sing a song, urgin people when dem see wrong tings to stand up and seh it is so. Well, some body see some ting wrong de other day wid some papers at GRA and dem seh it was so.

Mouth open and right away de story jump out. As soon de paper man hear that, he jump out de country. When a reporter call, he jump up from he seat and seh he roamin. By de time he decide to mek a excuse, de whole Guyana know bout he crookishness.

But crookishness ain’t any ting new to he, and is de same crookishness whah he accusin people of. Well, mouth open again and story jump out again, this time in de KFC. One of dem lawyers at de court, who does see Rum Jhaat every day, seh is not really a question of mouth open and story jump out. Is more that Rum Jhaat couldn’ta keep it in any longer.

De story is that Rum Jhaat finally get a man. People had suspect that he had want a man a long time now. But he had never really come out an seh so. Dem fellas from de P-P-Pee-See had see it a long time ago. So dem was always on de lookout.

But was when Rum Jhaat finally try a ting to get a man in de P-P-Pee-See that dem fellas in de party know fuh sure. And that was when he get kick out right away. But then de man who he was tryin to get leff de party soon after, but nobody had know at de time.

Is now that de KFC battle fuh de leadership start up, Rum Jhaat realise that he gon lose he man if he don’t stand up and seh it is so. So although Rum Jhaat couldn’ta stand up, he still decide to seh it is so. That is, Moses is he man. Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! And a reporter seh is not just fuh de elections.

to GECOM are duly deleted from the list. Can Mr Rohee say whether, as the Minister in charge of the General Register’s Office (GRO), that list is updated and has been submitted to GECOM? It is unfortunate also that Mr Rohee’s allegation of a padded list with dead persons is inaccurate. It illustrates the inefficiency of the PPP’s General Secretary and his field staff whom he claims submitted the field information.”

APNU said a cursory look at a few regions “give us a revealing example of this issue. Region Number Three – Plantain Walk Office 225 objections were submitted. Worthy of note is that out of that amount, 212 alone are from Den Amstel, but, more than that, many of those are people who are alive and well and certainly existing. This repeats itself in all other regions. In Region Number Five – Mr Rohee reported that 454 persons are on the list who should not be there.

His Party’s submission to GECOM for objections is 367 with a focus to take off residents of Hopetown from the list. Many of these persons are prominent people – Teachers, Clerks, Mechanics, etc. Clearly, we believe that Mr Clement Rohee and his party are fearful of facing the upcoming polls. Hence, his intentions are clear: to blame GECOM; to employ delaying tactics for the holding of elections and to prepare the wicket to cry ‘foul’ when they lose the elections.”

APNU asserted that it wants a clean and transparent list of electors. “We do not subscribe to the disenfranchisement of any elector regardless of his or her ethnicity. Let it be known also that APNU too has its field staff who are doing their fieldwork. We urge GECOM to do its best and produce a transparent list of electors so that all concerned can be happy.”

APNU’s Chief Whip and Chief Scrutineer, Amna Ally

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee

Contract signed to upgrade seven markets

The Local Government Ministry on Friday signed several contracts to have markets across the country rehabilitated under the India /Brazil/ South Africa (IBSA)-funded Solid Waste Management Improvement Project.

Part of the project entails the rehabilitation of markets and market tarmacs in the various municipalities. The contracts were signed in the boardroom of the Local Government Ministry, Fort Street Kingston, between Minister Norman Whittaker and the contractors for works to be done on seven markets.

The selected markets are Anna Regina, Rose Hall, New Amsterdam, Corriverton, those in Linden, those in Lethem and Rosignol. Additionally, there will be the construction of a new market tarmac and sanitary block at Annandale, along with the fencing of the Diamond market tarmac.

The Ministry is also look-

ing to procure some 30 garbage collection bins, and the contract has been signed and awarded to the Jagmohan Hardware Supplies and Construction to the tune of $2.4 million.

The funding for the project is being released through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is also overseeing the implementation of the project. UNDP Deputy Resident in Guyana, Chisa MIkami, expressed her satisfaction to see the project on track. “I am very pleased to see today and learn that the work plan is very on track,” she stated.

Countrywide clean-up

In his brief remarks, the Minister noted that with the countrywide clean-up project taking full action, there are other aspects of the project such as market rehabilitation exercises. The Minister explained that markets are prime contributors of waste.

“So wherever we can im-

“Value added is...

The Natural Resources Minister pointed out too that there are incentives in place for loggers looking to venture into the value added area, but those incentives are not being taken advantage of. He said he was uncertain if it was a case of the loggers being uninformed, but if that was the case, the seminar provides an excellent opportunity for them to enlighten themselves.

He pointed out that the incentives are part of a comprehensive and attractive regime in terms of supporting value-added production in the forestry sector.

It was noted that there were only 40 applications made for duty-free conces-

sions in the forestry sector this year.

Persaud also touched on the importance of reducing energy costs, noting that 60 per cent of operational costs are usually spent on energy. This in turn adds to the price of the product making it expensive and hence somewhat unattractive on the international market.

“We can talk from here to Mount Roraima about the area of value added, but unless we address the issue of energy costs, we will be having a good talk… unless as a nation, we grapple with that reality of energy, value added will just be a good conversation, an aspiration… until and unless we deal with

prove the conditions under which people vend and provide facilities to take care of the solid waste, we would have been taking a positive step in terms of managing solid waste,” he said.

Whittaker went on to warn the contractors that much was expected from them regarding the quality of works to be done. “Much is expected from them in terms of the timely implementation of those aspects of the project for which they have responsibility and equally important, in terms of the quality of the finished product that they deliver. There is great expectation on the part of the public in terms of what is achieved,” he said.

According to the Minister, these works are mostly infrastructural to improve the condition of the facilities. He added that this was to reduce the prevalence of roadside vending, which produces a lot of waste.

The Solid Waste Management Improvement Project is a US$1.5 mil-

From page 7

the issue of energy in a significant way. We need to deal with energy,” Minister Persaud said.

In May, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) President, Dr Warren Smith, said the Region must unlock the opportunities for competitiveness and growth through the capitalisation of renewable energy, contending that for far too long, Caribbean countries have been affected by the high cost of electricity.

According to an enterprise survey conducted by the World Bank in 2010, at least 30 per cent of Caribbean firms identified electricity costs as a major constraint to doing business.

GECOM hires International Technical Assessor

In view of the possibility of imminent General and Regional Elections, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has moved to acquire the services of a Joint International Technical Assessor (JITA).

GECOM’s Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally made this disclosure during a press conference at the Cara Lodge Hotel on Thursday. JITA refers to an experienced individual who engages in the management of elections.

lion programme to which IBSA contributed US$1 million and the Government of Guyana injected US$475,000. In July last, the IBSA Trust Fund injected over $50 million into the rehabilitation of markets across Guyana. This IBSA Project seeks to address issues relating to solid waste management in Guyana through three strategies. The first strategy is procuring appropriate management machinery and equipment for collection, transportation and disposal of waste to landfill sites.

The second has to do with the expansion and rehabilitation of markets and market tarmacs with the aim of curbing illegal vending, while the third strategy is raising public awareness on solid waste management.

Additionally, the project allows for the procurement of garbage disposals, compactor trucks, mini excavators and garbage bins.

“In the past, JITAs have always been identified and funded by the International Development Partners (IDP),” Dr Surujbally explained, noting that this time around the situation was no different.

“GECOM has already engaged the International Development Partners with the view to benefit from the services of a JITA,” he further disclosed. According to him, the scope of work, list of duties, and the terms of reference have already been submitted.

In addition to this, GECOM is in the process of acquiring an Information Technology (IT) Manager. The ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary, Clement Rohee, has constantly questioned why the IT Manager post has not been filled.

On Thursday, Dr Surujbally confirmed that the vacancy still exists, but said it was no secret. He said GECOM has repeatedly advertised the post locally and internationally

for suitable candidates to apply, but to no avail.

“The Commission was not satisfied that the applicants who expressed interest in the job would have been able to fulfil the requirements of the position. The Commission is currently in the process of sourcing someone, even temporarily, to fill the position very likely with the help of the International Development Partners (IDPs),” the Chairman explained.

Despite criticism, Dr Surujbally maintains that GECOM has gained international recognition due to its outstanding electoral systems. Soon, he said, GECOM would apply for ISO certification.

The PPP/C has repeatedly bashed the Commission over its ‘apparent’ refusal to utilise the service of a JITA or fill the vacant post. However, all of the allegations peddled by the ruling party were shot down by GECOM.

GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally

Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Representative Chisa Mikami, and other officials along with the contractors

Stakeholders enlightened on Guyana’s branding, marketing strategy

The Tourism, Industry and Commerce

Ministry on Thursday held a stakeholders validation workshop to engage stakeholders on Guyana’s branding and marketing strategy at the Regency Hotel, Hadfield Street, Georgetown.

Guyana’s products are unique and often times those that are marketed do not do justice to the brand, hence the implementation of a marketing and branding strategy. The workshop saw stakeholders being enlightened on the proposed branding of Guyana, and its tourism marketing and digital marketing strategies.

During brief remarks, acting Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali stressed Government’s commitment to the sector; hence he said the drive for the competitiveness strategy to be altered to include the consultancy of raising Guyana’s competitiveness in various sectors.

Viable sector Minister Ali said that both the private and public sectors have the responsibility to ensure a viable sector is created. “… we cannot continue to fight over the issue and who has the responsibility… we have a joint responsibility to ensure that the marketing strategy and the branding image of Guyana is created, that will make this sector more viable and profitable for anyone who invests in it,” Minister Ali noted.

While branding and marketing is important in creating a competitive environment, there is need for an incentive regime that matches the marketing and branding strategy that is being developed for Guyana. Minister

Ali reiterated that there is a need for an incentive regime to match the product that is being developed.

Guyana’s tourism has a lot of hinterland features, and rough terrain, and Minister Ali highlighted that there is need to create incentives for persons to purchase the right vehicles to transport potential tourists. There is also need to develop a culture to match the branding and marketing strategy, which involves developing an educational programme in the school system, certification, standards and registration.

“The educational and cultural aspect of our brand is important… how do we change the culture of our people to reflect the brand that we offer… it is very important that culturally we present this brand in the way we live… we have to ensure that the brand portrays our lifestyles,” Minister Ali further noted. Understanding the importance of the tourism sector and the economic opportunities it creates,

Government implemented several initiatives which will see this sector growing significantly. The Hospitality Institute, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion and the four-lane expansion project, and the construction of new roadways and airstrips in the hinterland are just a few of those initiatives.

President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association, (THAG) Shaun McGrath noted that good branding gives one’s customers the push to choose one's business over their competitors. In a developing country such as Guyana, he said branding is very important to the economic development of the nation. McGrath said that tourism offers great opportunities for Guyana; therefore there is a need for a revitalisation of branding and marketing.

Meanwhile, International Consultant, ACORN Tourism, Alison Burgh gave a presentation of Market Research findings and Guyana’s Tourism Brand.

US ends funding for Caribbean HIV/AIDS programme

The University of the West Indies (UWI) says it has been advised by the United States that it has ceased funding for a regional HIV/AIDS training programme.

The UWI said that Washington had advised of the shift from September 1 as a result of a global policy shift. It said due to the change, the funding for the UWI-based Caribbean HIV/ AIDS Regional Training Programme (CHART) and other funded health training partnerships, have been discontinued.

In a letter sent to the UWI, the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), which manages

US funding for HIV/AIDS globally, said “all PEPFAR (US President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief) programmes are being realigned to meet the 50 per cent care and treatment earmark mandated in authorising US legislation. “The shift in programme focus will not include funding (of) training activities or human resources for health activities that have been the focus of the Caribbean HIV/ AIDS Regional Training (CHART) Network’s scope of work. Likewise, the shift in programme focus will also affect the current Infectious Disease Residency partnership.”

The US Government said

Govt channels $228M into upgrade of community grounds

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Thursday distributed grants amounting to some $228 million to representatives of the 10 regional administrations for the upgrading of the Community Grounds Enhancement Project (CGEP).

Regional Executive Officers of the 10 administrative regions across Guyana on Thursday converged in the boardroom of the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry, to receive the grants which will aid in the further development of Community Grounds in their respective regions.

Permanent Secretary of the Culture Ministry, Alfred King explained that the event represents $224 million from the Ministry’s capital budget for 2014.

He said the project which is worth a total $300 million still has another phase. “We’re hoping that with the help of the regional administrations, we would be able to disburse the funds in a very efficient way, and better monitor the Community Grounds that we will be focusing on for this year”.

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said the programme which was launched several years

ago has yielded much success and has attracted the full support of Government. He said because of the positive response, another $200 million have been added to the project which started off with a tranche of $100 million.

Dr Anthony explained that the remaining $72 million will be expended for similar projects in some hinterland regions that failed to respond to calls by the Ministry. “We would like to see more interior locations sending in their application”. According to him, another window of opportunity has been left ajar for these communities to come on board. Each Community

Centre ground has been awarded one million dollars for its rehabilitation.

The Ministry has committed to the rehabilitation of 25 grounds in Regions One, five in Region Two, 22 in Region Three, 18 in Region Four, 28 in Region Five, 44 in Region Six, three in Region Seven, eight in Region Eight, six in Region Nine and nine in Region 10. He said the Ministry will also be working directly with 15 grounds across the country. Dr Anthony added that the Ministry expects the numbers to rise by the next tranche and is therefore anticipating submissions from communities along the hinterland regions.

“In some regions we did extraordinarily well, in others, it was a little disappointing because some of those communities did not receive their monies and those monies went back into the treasury. We don’t want that to happen this year,” he said. Anthony said the Ministry is seeking to work with each Regional Executive Officer to meet directly with the persons who will be benefiting from the grants. The objective of such meetings, he explained, is to hear from residents, particular methods that could be used to improve the service offered.

New US Embassy Public Affairs Officer to focus on education

The newly posted United States Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer Robert Adelson, will be focusing his attention on fostering education opportunities in Guyana.

During a welcoming reception, Adelson said that his three weeks here thus far have been overwhelming with the generosity and welcome he received. He recalled when he found out that he was going to be posted in Guyana about a year ago, he began compiling a list of ideas and goals that he aspired to achieve during his tenure here.

that diplomatic notification of this policy re-alignment has already occurred. HRSA said there will be a transition period, which began globally on September 1 and which will be completed by December 31 this year.

UWI Vice Chancellor, Professor E Nigel Harris, has expressed his regret at the decision made and on the early implementation timeframe. He said such a decision will have adverse implications for staff employed under the UWI CHART Programme, and meetings had been held with the affected staff members regarding this development and to discuss its implications. (CMC)

Adelson, who has a background in teaching, noted that he recognised that there was a theme among his ideas; most of them were connected to education. “Education is so very important, it means a lot to me. When I talk about education, I don’t necessarily mean education in the classroom, that’s also more imperative. What I mean by education is educating young people on life skills, leadership, management, business and how to love a healthy lifestyle. It could be educating the public on American culture; be it art, music or sports,” the new Public Affairs Officer pointed out.

He continued, referring

to the exchange programme the Embassy facilitates that allows young Guyanese the opportunity to travel to the US where they share their experience and educate Americans on their lifestyle here.

Adelson added that he will also be focusing on educating himself during his three-year tenure in Guyana. The Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer expressed his eagerness to learn more about Guyana and its cultural heritage.

The reception was attended by members of the Diplomatic Corps, members of political fraternity among others. Natural Resources and Environment Minister

Robert Persaud was also in attendance. Prior to his posting in Guyana, Adelson serves as the Assistant Cultural Attaché at the US Embassy in London. Before that he was the Visa Officer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico where he served a twoyear tour. Adelson holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from the Florida State University and a Master’s Degree in Education from Pace University in New York, NY. He worked as a public school teacher in the Bronx, New York through the Teach for America programme. Adelson joined the State Department in 2009.

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony

Acting Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali speaking to participants

US Embassy’s new Public Affairs Officer Robert Adelson

Private plane crash near Jamaica kills New York property tycoon, wife

Asingle engine private plane owned by Rochester, New York real estate developer Larry Glazer, has crashed north of Jamaica.

The Socata TBM-700 took off from Rochester, New York, around 08:30h eastern time and was supposed to land in Naples, Florida, shortly after 14:00h eastern time.

The US television network to CBS News is reporting that “Major Basil Jarrett of the Jamaican Defence Force confirmed that the plane went down Friday about 14 miles North-east of Port Antonio. Jarrett says the military has sent two helicopters to the site as well as search and rescue teams and a fixed wing aircraft to investigate”.

A NORAD spokesperson told the Associated Press those on board the plane fell unconscious due to hypoxia.

Meanwhile, The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) up to late Friday afternoon were continuing to search for possible survivors of the plane crash off the Port Antonio

coast earlier in the afternoon. Its search and rescue team also included an offshore patrol vessel, an inshore patrol vessel, and several rescue swimmers.

An oil slick has been spotted in the wreckage field, the JDF said. Commander of the JDF Coast Guard, Antoinette Wemyss Gorman, addressing a press

conference at Up Park Camp in Kingston Friday evening said that the surface search and rescue effort will continue as long as light conditions permit.

She added that the vessels will remain in the area and search will resume at first light tomorrow. Reports are that only three people were aboard the aircraft.

(Excerpt from Caribbean360 and Jamaica Observer)

WHO: TT men killing themselves

AWorld Health Organisation (WHO) report done in 2012 has revealed that more men than women are killing themselves in Trinidad and Tobago. The report which finds that one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds globally, notes there were 192 suicides in this country during that year. By way of comparison, the murder toll in 2012 was 388.

The WHO report, released ahead of next Wednesday’s commemoration of World Suicide

Judge

Prevention Day, states 146 males were reported to have committed suicide in 2012, while 46 females were reported.

The percentage change in age-standardised suicide rates over the period 2000 to 2012 was an increase of 36.4 per cent for males, with a decrease of two per cent for females. Overall, WHO said there was an increase of 3.8 per cent. The rate of suicide per 100,000 people was 13, with the rate for men at 20.4 and at 6.2 for women.

A breakdown by age

groups indicated the bulk of suicides was for males between the ages of 50 to 69 years (43.4 per 100,000). This was followed by males above 70 years (32.7 per 100,000); males 30 to 49 years (31.1 per 100,000); males 15 to 29 (10.9 per 100,000) and males five to 14 years (one per 100,000).

The report, described as the first of its kind, found that globally there are about 800,000 suicides annually. For every death, there are many more people who try to kill themselves. (Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

questions Haiti Police Chief on failure to arrest former Haitian leader

Haiti’s Police Chief, Godson Orelus, appeared on Thursday before Judge Lamarre Bélizaire, who is conducting an inquiry into acts of corruption blamed on former Haitian President JeanBertrand Aristide, to explain why the Police have not yet arrested Aristide and several other individuals who are the subjects of arrest warrants.

Orelus was accompanied by his lawyer and several other members of the Police high command when he entered the office of the inves-

tigating judge on Thursday morning.

Orelus did not reveal any detail about the hearing and judicial authorities also refused to comment publically on the questioning of the Police Chief by Judge Lamarre Belizaire.

“I answered positively to the invitation of the judge because I have great respect for the institutions of the country,” Orelus told reporters as he stepped out of the judicial palace on Thursday.

“We honoured the invitation to answer the questions about things that the judge

wanted to know about,” said Orélus who confirmed the Police were in possession of several arrest warrants, without offering any further detail.

However, a high functionary at the judicial palace told HCNN earlier this week that judge Bélizaire invited Orelus in order to obtain an explanation as to why Police officers have so far failed to arrest and bring before him Aristide, who is known to be at his private residence at the Tabarre district, on the outskirts of the capital Portau-Prince. (Excerpt from Caribbean News Now)

Banned Chinese telecoms giant expresses interest in Antigua-Barbuda

One of the world’s largest telecommunications company, Huawei of China, which has been banned from doing business with US companies as a result of spyware discovered in some of its devices, has expressed an interest in doing business in Antigua and Barbuda.

During an official visit to China, Prime Minister Gaston Browne met with members of the management team of the multi-billion dollar telecoms compa-

ny and discussed avenues of cooperation in Antigua and Barbuda.

Browne informed the Huawei executives that his Government is determined to create an environment in Antigua and Barbuda that is conducive to profit generation and ease of doing business. He noted that the country’s tax structure will be restructured to favour investments.

The prime minister also outlined that Antigua and Barbuda is poised to become

the economic powerhouse under his administration and it will be the gateway for conglomerates such as Huawei to enter Latin American and Caribbean markets.

During the meeting, Huawei announced that it will be putting together a team to visit Antigua and Barbuda by mid-September to explore the possible collaboration with APUA PCS and the establishment of mobile, internet and cable television services. (Excerpt from Caribbean News Now)

Sir Hilary to be UWI’s next Vice Chancellor

Sir Hilary Beckles will be the Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies from May 1, 2015. He will replace Professor E Nigel Harris who will demit office in April.

This was announced late Friday evening following an extraordinary meeting of the University Council. Chair of the Search Committee Dr Marshall Hall said the advertisement for the post attracted in excess of 50 applicants from all over the world and the committee eventually came up with an initial shortlist of seven which was eventually whittled down to three candidates who were invited to be interviewed.

As a result of the interview and subsequent discus-

sions, the Committee arrived at a consensus on Sir

as the preferred

is well known regionally and extra-regionally

and as Principal of the Cave Hill Campus, is currently the longest serving campus principal. (Nation News)

Two Cuban migrants dead, eight missing at sea, survivors say

Two Cuban migrants died and as many as eight more are missing after a three-week odyssey at sea, according to relatives of 15 badly sunburned and dehydrated survivors of a boat rescued by the Mexican Navy this week.

The Cubans, who face possible deportation back to Cuba, are receiving treatment at an immigration facility in the city of Merida, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

The rustic, homemade

boat carrying 25 people left Manzanillo in eastern Cuba on August 7, Jose Caballero, the husband of one of the survivors, told Reuters on Friday in a telephone interview from Austin, Texas.

Caballero, who left Cuba by a similar route last December, said his wife, Mailin Perez, told him by phone from Mexico that the boat’s motor broke down after two days and the passengers rigged a makeshift sail.

Believing they were close

to the northwest coast of Cuba seven or eight passengers decided to swim for shore holding onto rubber inner tubes. “No one has heard anything of them since,” said Caballero. The boat drifted for more than two weeks, without food and only rain water to drink, before it was spotted by fishermen and intercepted by a navy vessel about 150 miles (240 km) North-east of Puerto Progreso in Yucatan, the Mexican Navy said on Monday. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Former El Salvador President wanted for corruption given house arrest

AJudge ordered former El Salvador President Francisco Flores to be held under house arrest after he turned himself in on Friday to await trial on corruption charges.

Flores, who was President of the Central American country from 1999 to 2004, had been on the run since January and has been accused of misappropriating $15 million donated by Taiwan for earthquake relief efforts in 2001.

Earlier on Friday, Flores handed himself into Judge Levis Orellana accompanied by his lawyers. A few hours later Orellana ordered Flores to be held under house arrest, said judiciary spokesman Ulises Marinero.

“I presented myself voluntarily and in respect of the law. I don’t think I’ll be able to make any other comments right now,” Flores said, flanked by police as he left the courtroom before heading to

his home in an upscale part of San Salvador. Dozens of people had gathered outside the courtroom to protest the former president’s alleged corruption, calling for his imprisonment.

Prosecuting attorney Bertha de Leon told reporters the prosecution would appeal the judge’s decision, arguing that Flores should be imprisoned after being on the run for months. (Excerpt form Reuters)

New York real estate developer Larry Glazer was said to be piloting the plane

Hilary

candidate. Sir Hilary

Sir Hilary Beckles

Around the

India and Australia seal civil nuclear deal for uranium trade

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott sealed a civil nuclear deal to sell uranium to India on Friday and also offered to increase supplies of conventional fuel to help it overcome chronic shortages.

“We signed a nuclear cooperation agreement because Australia trusts India to do the right thing in this area, as it has been doing in other areas,” Abbott told reporters after he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a safeguards pact to sell uranium for peaceful power generation.

“That is why we are happy to trust India with our uranium in months, years and decades.” The nuclear deal is a further step toward India achieving international acceptability for its nuclear programme despite not ratifying the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and follows similar agreements with the United States and France.

It will also help end lingering mistrust between the former British colonies, who share just A$15 billion in annual trade, a fraction of Australia’s roughly A$150 billion trade with China.

Talks towards the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement began about two years ago after Australia lifted a long-standing ban on selling uranium to energy-starved India.

“Australia can play the role of a long-term reliable supplier of uranium to India,” a brief description of the pact issued by the Indian Foreign Ministry said. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Sierra Leone to impose Ebola curfew

Sierra Leone has announced that it will impose a four-day, countrywide “lockdown” in an escalation of efforts to halt the spread of Ebola across the West African nation. Citizens will not be allowed to leave their homes between September 18 and September 21 in a bid to prevent the disease from spreading further and to allow health workers to identify cases in the early stages of the illness, a presidential advisor on the country’s Ebola task force said on Friday.

Ibrahim Ben Kargbo told the Reuters news agency that the aggressive approach was necessary “to deal with the spread of Ebola once and for all”.

Sierra Leone has recorded 491 of the total of 2097 deaths blamed on Ebola in West Africa since March, UN figures showed. The move comes as in-

The government said the curfew will prevent the disease from spreading

ternational health experts met in Geneva, Switzerland, for the second day of urgent talks to fasttrack the use of experimental Ebola drugs. With no fully tested treatments for Ebola available, the World Health Organisation has endorsed potential cures, such as Zmapp, to be rushed out.

The drug has been given to about 10 health workers who contracted the virus, including Americans and Europeans, three of whom recovered.

The two-day closed-door meeting of about 200 health experts in Geneva is discussing eight potential therapies, as well as two experimental vaccines. (Al Jazeera)

One in 10 girls sexually abused worldwide: UN

Around 120 million girls around the world, close to one in 10, have been raped or sexually assaulted by the time they turn 20, a new UN report has found.

In a global study of violence against children, the child welfare agency UNICEF reveals that one fifth of all murder victims are children and adolescents under age 20.

Homicide is the leading cause of death among boys

and young men aged 10 to 19 in Latin American countries including Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Brazil. UNICEF says the study entitled “Hidden in Plain Sight” is the largest-ever study of violence against children, drawing on data from 190 countries.

“These are uncomfortable facts – no government or parent will want to see them,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony

Lake.

“But unless we confront the reality each infuriating statistic represents – the life of a child whose right to a safe, protected childhood has been violated – we will never change the mind-set that violence against children is normal and permissible. It is neither.”

Other abuses include bullying, which regularly affected more than one in three schoolchildren aged 13 to 15 worldwide. (Excerpt from MSN)

US confirms death of al Shabaab leader Godane in Somalia strike

The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that Ahmed Abdi Godane, a leader of the al Shabaab Islamist group, was killed in a US airstrike in Somalia this week, calling it a “major symbolic and operational loss” for the al Qaedaaffiliated militants.

“We have confirmed that Ahmed Godane, the cofounder of al Shabaab, has been killed,” Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon’s Press Secretary, said in a statement.

Since taking charge of al Shabaab in 2008, Godane had restyled the group as a global player in the al Qaeda network, carrying out bombings and suicide attacks in Somalia and elsewhere in the region, including the September 21, 2013, attack

on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 67 people.

Godane publicly claimed responsibility for the Westgate attack, saying it was revenge for Kenyan and Western involvement in Somalia and noting its proximity to the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. His death leaves a gap in al Shabaab’s leadership and was seen as posing the biggest challenge to the group’s unity since it emerged as a fighting force eight years ago.

Abdi Ayante, director of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, said Godane’s death would be “a game changer in many ways for al Shabaab.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

Isis: Obama announces “core coalition” to confront terrorist threat

Barrack Obama hailed the formation of a “core coalition” of 10 countries – led by the United States and including the UK, France and Australia – who were aiming to destroy what he described as the savage and nihilistic Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and Iraq.

Speaking at the closing of the NATO summit in Wales, the US President said the grouping, which also included Germany and Canada, “stood ready to confront this terrorist threat with military, intelligence, law enforcement as well as diplomatic efforts”.

But the core coalition only included one Muslim nation, Turkey. The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, will now travel to the Middle East to build support for a military confrontation

with Isis, an organisation that Obama said “killed innocents and enslaved women”.

Intent on learning the lessons of the 2003 Iraq invasion, led by George W Bush in conjunction with Tony

Blair, Obama added that it was absolutely critical that “we have Arab states – and specifically Sunni majority states – prepared to join the fight”.

David Cameron, speaking at the close of the NATO summit, also gave his clearest commitment to British military involvement saying a “military commitment was required, but the Government was not at the stage of making decisions on air strikes”.

In his own post-summit press conference, the UK Prime Minister said what was needed was a combination of “intelligent politics, diplomatic pressure, longterm engagement in a comprehensive plan, as well as the potential for military, or other aggressive action”.

(Excerpt from The Guardian)

Breivik attempts to start

“fascist”

party from prison

Anders Behring Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011, says he wants to establish a “fascist” party from prison, claiming this could prevent a repeat of his massacre.

In a 34-page letter, received Friday by AFP, the right wing extremist issued an “ultimatum” to the Norwegian Justice Ministry, demanding the removal of what he described as barriers to the creation of the “Norwegian Fascist Party” (NFP) and the “Nordic League” (NL).

On July 22, 2011, Breivik, now aged 35, killed 77 people, claiming that he

was fighting against multiculturalism and a “Muslim invasion”.

He began by detonating a bomb near government buildings in Oslo, killing eight people, and later opened fire on a Labour Party youth camp on the island of Utoeya, taking 69 lives, most of them teenagers.

Breivik claimed to have “converted” to democracy since being sentenced to prison in August 2012 and said he wanted to establish a political party to promote his ideology by non-violent means. He added that he had been inspired by the elec-

toral success of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party in Greece. “As a former militant, my heart weeps for the barbarism that I perpetrated on July 22,” he wrote from prison where he is serving a 21-year sentence, which may be extended.

“As a former militant, the most important thing in my life is to work towards preventing something like this from ever happening again. The whole intention of the NFP and the NL is that this does not happen again,” he wrote, signing the letter “Anders Behring Breivik, party secretary and parliamentary candidate for the NFP and the NL”. (Excerpt from MSN)

Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi (R) wave towards the media during Abbott’s ceremonial reception at the forecourt of India’s presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi September 5

US President Barack Obama

Ramotar says talk of banning log exports is idle chatter

President Donald Ramotar has shrugged off calls by the Alliance For Change (AFC) to place a ban on the exportation of logs, saying this was not feasible without cheap energy.

Ramotar was responding to a promise made by the Alliance For Change that if it gets into power, it would band log exports. The Party Chairman, Nigel Hughes, is alleged to have made the promise, while engaging residents of Region Nine, including those of Lethem, Baitoon, Maruranau, and Shulinab in meetings.

President Donald, however, said that for the party to talk about banning logs when the country is without cheap energy is idle talk, as without this critical variable, a ban on export would put pressure on “the poor people in the country”.

“I would love to do that (ban log export), but we can only do that if we have cheap energy and so can add value to the wood that we have and make more finished products for export,” the President explained.

In responding to recent

statements that Guyana is destroying its forest, the President told Barticians on August 30, “Our extraction is way below the allowable extraction for a sustainable forest… if we do not export them, what will we do?... we do not have the cheap energy to do the value added that is so necessary for exports and to earn us more money.”

The country has consistently reflected a low deforestation rate of less than 0.1 per cent and has reported a verified low rate of illegality. The National Monitoring Reporting and Verification

system (MRVS) has been independently verified every year for the past three years by a third party international auditor, following international guidance for such audits, and all results made public.

The AFC, already in preelection mode in case of an early election, is seeking to ride the recent attacks on operations of Baishanlin –the largest logging company in Guyana. Among these are the unproven allegations that the company has been shipping out a large number of the country’s timber, a move that is not in accordance with the logging agreement. The attacks on the company followed similar unwarranted attacks on Chinese investments in the country.

President Ramotar, noting these attacks, pointed out that China is the second largest economy in the world today, and is a major source of investments. Moreover, the President noted that Baishanlin has not broken any of the country’s laws. “They have not been doing any of the things that people say,” he said.

OAS-convened tourism confab concludes in Barbados

The XXII InterAmerican Congress of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Tourism, convened by the Organization of American States (OAS), concluded Thursday in Barbados with the adoption of the “Declaration of Bridgetown on Tourism Competitiveness: An Essential Component of Sustainability.” In the document, member states recognize current challenges facing the sector and identify priority areas of focus to advance regional cooperation.

The Declaration underscores that “tourism competitiveness is an important component of sustainability and remains an issue in the Americas, which warrants a hemispheric response through the development of common strategies where possible.” It also instructs the OAS General Secretariat, through its Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR) and with the support of the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI), to develop a “medium-term strategy” to enhance tourism cooperation and competitiveness in the Americas.

At the meeting, Peru offered to host the next InterAmerican Congress of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Tourism in 2015 while Guyana reaffirmed its commitment to host the XXIV InterAmerican Congress of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Tourism in

2016.

The closing ceremony featured Richard Sealy, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and International Transport of Barbados, who expressed appreciation for the support provided by the General Secretariat in organizing the XXII Congress and said that he looked forward to participating in upcoming congresses.

In her closing remarks, Sherry Tross, Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the OAS, highlighted that tourism competitiveness and sustainability require “real PublicPrivate Partnerships, PublicPublic partnerships, as well as intra- and inter-regional cooperation to optimize resources, capacity, areas of action and reach.” “Indeed, this last may well be fundamental for establishing the kind of connectivity that so many have pointed out as being necessary for the region’s competitiveness going forward,” she added.

During the two-day meeting in Barbados, authorities strategically focused the high-level dialogue on critical areas for tourism competitiveness, which were also reflected in the final Declaration. Sustainability, infrastructure, innovation and quality, tourism security, and promotion were all discussed. Furthermore, member states requested that these areas be considered in the strategy, with actions on travel facilitation, development of indexes and related statistics, supporting

Over $10M in prizes up for grabs in Stag Beer promotion

ANSA McAL under its Stag Beer brand has launched a new promotion called “Command Centre” which will see customers winning over $10 million in prizes.

The promotion was launched in the boardroom of ANSA McAL’s Head office, Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on Friday. The promotion is the biggest under the Stag Beer brand and will see a lucky consumer winning a fully loaded, Toyota Tacoma estimated at $5.2 million; pool tables; recliner chairs; coolers and flat screen televisions. The promotion will commence almost immediately and will conclude with the grand drawing in midNovember. There will however be several forth-nightly drawings where customers can win a flat scene television and five coolers.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism sector, and developing products and standards.

In his remarks in plenary, Ambassador Neil Parsan, Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago and Chair of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), addressed tourism in the context of the OAS development pillar of development, emphasizing the new mandates emanated from the meeting. During his presentation, Ambassador Parsan stressed the need to give more political visibility to the ministerial meetings, noting also that “multi-sectoral and inter-sectoral dialogue and consultation are increasingly important to achieve an inclusive agenda, through joint ministerial meetings, for example tourism and culture”.

At the meeting, the Sustainable Destinations Alliance for the Americas (SDAA) announced its first seven destination partners in the Caribbean and Central American region, which will receive support to enhance the long-term viability of their tourism sectors: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Honduras, Jamaica, and Nicaragua.

The SDAA, launched earlier this year, is the largestscale effort to date through which public and private entities have united to focus on destination sustainability in the Americas and is a central tourism-related initiative for the OAS/SEDI.

At the launch, Marketing Director of the company, Troy Cadogan said that the promotion is more or less the company giving back to its customers who have supported the entity over the

years. He said that over the years, the brand has had several promotions as part of it social responsibility to their loyal customers. The previous promotion which was community-based saw a brand new tractor being donated to the Linden Mayor and City Council. They also refurbished the Community Centre ground. Apart from that, Cadogan added that four persons were sent to Brazil to be a part of the football craze and from feedback received, they had a fabulous time.

Competition requirements

Brand Coordinator John Maikoo explained that all customers need to do to enter the competition is submit three Stag Beer crowns in an envelope with their name, address and telephone number in any of the redeemable boxes at the 65 locations nationwide.

He said that they at ANSA McAL are upbeat about the promotion and encouraged their customers to keep drinking Stag Beer. He also reiterated that

apart from the press promotions, there will also be road shows, whereby customers will have the opportunity to see and inspect the vehicle. He also stated that the vehicle is fully loaded with chrome rims, stereo system and other amenities. In addition, he stated that the promotion gears to give men the opportunity to set up their command centre, right in their homes.

“Just imagine wining a television, a pool table, cooler with beer, recliner chairs… then you can invite guests for a manly drink… more so, if you win the Tacoma, more the merrier… You can then drive your guest to the lime”, Maikoo said.

Meanwhile, the media can also be a part of the promotion and will have a chance to win a 50-inch television and a cooler filled with Stag Beer. All they need to do is to submit the crowns with their names, addresses and telephone numbers in a special box at the head office, Beterverwagting, ECD.

Bicycle theft accused on self-bail

Thirty-four-year-old Troy DeSantos of Albouystown, Georgetown, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Magistrate Judy Latchman on Friday morning to face a charge of fraudulent conversion.

The charge alleged that on September 1 at Bourda Market, DeSantos, being entrusted with a bicycle valued $32,000 by Angela Lopez, fraudulently converted it to his own use.

The unrepresented defendant entered a not-guilty plea, stating that he did have pos-

session of the bike, but someone collected it from him. He said he did not steal the bike or converted it to his own use. He then admitted to the court that he was once charged for breaking and entering.

The Virtual Complainant told the court that indeed DeSantos was left in charge of the bicycle, but a man identified as “Buck Nigel” had collected the bike from him.

Magistrate Latchman subsequently released DeSantos on his own recognisance. He will return to court on September 15.

Brand Coordinator John Maikoo, Marketing Director Troy Cadogan and Public Relations Officer Darshanie Yusuf

Toshao Edwards (extreme Left) and Troy Resources Community Relations Manager Angelene Poole ( extreme right) with some of the recipients of backpacks

roy Resources Guyana Inc handed over 28 backpacks and associated school supplies to the secondary school children of Kaburi village (72 Miles)

recently. The donation was made following a request by the Toshao to Troy Resources for assistance to the children of his village who attend secondary school.

President Donald Ramotar

GDF, US Special Forces conduct joint training

Ranks of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Special Forces and their counterparts in the United States recently completed a month-long training exercise.

The Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) took place in and around Camp Stephenson and contained three phases, the GDF said in a release. The first phase, taught by the US Special Forces soldiers, consisted of short and long range marksmanship, swimming, and classroom training.

The classroom training covered tactical combat casualty care, radio operability, patrolling techniques, and leadership skills. Thirtyfour Guyanese soldiers rapidly advanced through Phase one, which culminat-

GDF and US Special Forces and their respective commanders pose for a photograph after their training

ed with a Combat Water Survival Test.

Phase two built on the skills learned in Phase one, but was taught at a faster pace. Phase three culmi-

nated with a 72-hour rigorous exercise with individual and team events that tested the newly acquired skill set by the Guyanese soldiers. The soldiers practised their

marksmanship, radio procedures, combat life-saving medical skills, and swimming. Additionally, they performed a physical training test, swimming test, and

Police ranks undergoing training in Community Chaplaincy

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force on Thursday commenced a Level One, Community Service Chaplaincy training programme that seeks to give first time juvenile offenders a second chance at rehabilitation.

The training is being facilitated by Dr Jake Popejoy of the International Association of Community Service Chaplains. In giving an overview of what the sessions will entail, Dr Popejoy stated that it is important to note that in most cases, what one does not know about a person is more important that what is known.

He told the ranks that only then they could effectively give the kind of service that is needed to juveniles. He also underscored the importance of being trustworthy, credible and at the same time holding high ethical standards. He added that being able to identify how stress affects a person is also critical, hence stress management will also be addressed during the threeday session.

Dr Popejoy also implored the ranks to make the best of the training, and not to abuse the privileges that would be given to them by their superiors.

Acting Police Commissioner Seelall

Persaud in his address, in noting the timeliness of the training, said it was being held at a time when the world is experiencing a lot of conflict and a significant portion is related to ethnic conflicts this has caused some major security problems. “This gathering is very unique. We have members of the three major religions and Police… and we wish to recognise the efforts of the religious leaders for how responsible they were in exercising their function, so today we don’t experience the conflict we see around the world”.

The Commissioner added that this training reflects the Guyana Police Force’s current approach to crime and disorder as it pivots on the

premise that while law enforcement services can go a long way in dealing with the issue of crime, crime is a social problem and has to be treated socially. Persaud also underscored the importance of working with the community and religious groups.

Establishing vital partnerships

In addition, Reverend Kwame Gilbert who played a very integral role in making the Cops and Faith Community Network a reality said “a very critical component in building any society is the establishment of vital partnerships and not just with social players but the link that can be established through social institutions.”

He pointed out that in the absence of vital links among institutions, there will always have disequilibrium; hence what the Government has been doing at all levels is trying to find links between institutions, “and today we are witnessing a working of that approach to build linkages.”

He noted that over the past years, it was found that there was a need for alternative approaches in dealing with matters of juvenile justice. “While at the level

of the Executive there are steps being taken in juvenile justice reform, at the lower levels it became necessary to look at ways, in the absence of a juvenile justice reform programme and we started looking for interventions for juvenile justice.”

The objectives of the Cops and Faith Community Network include the creation of a mechanism for community problem solving which by extension may lead to community building and improving Police community relations. The religious leaders will provide mediatory functions to young persons who for the first time, come into conflict with the law for minor offences. The religious leaders can avail themselves as mentors for young people. The programme was inaugurated as a pilot project in the ten communities, which were involved in the Community Action Component of the Citizen Security Programme. These are Sophia, Agricola/Mc Doom, Plaisance, Buxton/ Friendship, Annadale/ Lusignan, Angoy’s Avenue, Overwinning/Glasgow/ Edinburg, Port Mourant, Rose Hall and Kilkoy/ Chesney/Fryish in Region Four and Six.

instruction and familiarisation on a broad range of survival skills.

obstacle course.

After the culmination exercise, the US Special Forces soldiers attended a training course at the Colonel Robert Mitchell Jungle and Amphibious Training School (CRMJATS). Under the guidance of the Guyana Defence Force 3-1 Special Forces, the US soldiers received 72 hours of expert

Brigadier Mark Phillips, Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force was on hand to observe the culmination exercise and presided over the graduation ceremony. Both the US and GDF teams agreed that the event was a resounding success. Lieutenant Commander Bob Novotny, the United States’ Senior Defense Official in Guyana, remarked “this was outstanding training and an excellent partner-to-partner exercise for the United States and Guyana Defence Force soldiers. These teams were able to provide each other [with] world class training in their areas of expertise and in doing so created life-long relationships. Our Embassy’s Security Cooperation Office looks forward to bringing more JCETs to Guyana in the years to come.”

Caribbean businesses participate in IDB Trade Expo

Hundreds of representatives of Latin American and Caribbean construction, engineering and logistics firms gathered on September 3 for the “Trade Americas & ConnectAmericas Expo: Building the Americas,” to explore opportunities for new business as the public and private sectors throughout the region ramp up their infrastructure investment.

With countries spending around 2.5 per cent of their GDP on infrastructure, there is a potential pipeline of US$1.5 trillion in projects expected over the next decade, and that has attracted the interest of investors and international developers.

The Miami event, organised by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Latin Trade Group, featured presentations by regional experts on planned investment in energy, transportation, logistics, and urban infrastructure.

“The private sector is stepping up in a big way to finance and build vital infrastructure throughout the Americas, in cooperation with the region’s governments,” said Bernardo Guillamon, Manager of the IDB’s Office of Outreach and Partnerships. “It’s essential for companies to have the latest information on projects, partners and suppliers.”

At the conference, the IDB introduced a new online Infrastructure Community where businesses can connect with potential clients, suppliers and investors around the world; obtain training to help them join international supply chains; and identify the best

sources of financing. The Infrastructure Community is part of ConnectAmericas. com, an innovative social media business platform launched in March by the IDB.

The site, which is free of charge for registered members, aims to benefit smalland medium-size companies (SMEs) that are well qualified to be suppliers or service providers but are not on the radar of big international infrastructure developers and investors. This includes such companies as construction material suppliers, machinery maintenance and repair, transportation, security services, and even software design and engineering firms. Many of them lack certain skills and certifications that international developers and investors may require.

“Everyone is doing business and networking online these days, and infrastructure companies are no exception. ConnectAmericas’ new Infrastructure Community is a great vehicle that will facilitate solutions for them and help boost business opportunities for all the players involved,” said Fabrizio Opertti, Chief of the IDB’s Trade and Investment Unit.

The ConnectAmericas Infrastructure Community will publish information about infrastructure tenders in the region, and attach to each tender a list of local partners and providers. For each of these local companies, the platform will provide contact information, a detailed description of the goods and services it offers, and ratings and reviews from previous clients.

A section of the participants who will be a part of the three-day Community Service Chaplaincy Training session for Police ranks

Dr Jake Popejoy of the International Association of Community Service Chaplains

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Cricket for Unity T20 on tonight

Anumber of prominent businessmen, politicians, former West Indies and national cricketers, administrators, disciplined service members, singers and radio personalities will hone their skills at cricket tonight when the much anticipated T20 match dubbed ‘Cricket for Unity’ is contested at Demerara Cricket Club, Queenstown.

Ardent fans can expect lots of excitement when the action gets cracking from19:00h with Roraima Strikers looking to turn back the challenge of

Kaieteur Thunders.

The main aim of the game, which is being organised by Dexter ‘Bushman’ Garnett, is to promote harmony among members of society. The DCC pitch is expected to favour the batsmen with some assistance for the slower bowlers.

Prior to the match, members of both teams went through rigorous practice sessions and are eager to display their skills.

Roraima Strikers includes former West Indies cricketers Travis Dowlin and Colin Stuart, Lennox Cush, Secretary of the Guyana

Cricket Board Anand Sanasie, Attorney James Bond and entertainer Kirk “Chow Pow” Jardine.

Kaieteur Thunders comprise former West Indies selector Clyde Butts, Ravindra Seeram, Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan and former West Indies fast bowler Reon King. Both teams are well balanced and admission to the venue is $500. There will also be a well stocked bar.

Roraima Strikers squad is Neil Barry, Lloyd Harper, Travis Dowlin, Jomo

Primo, Gordon Moseley, Clifton Hicken, Orin Forde, Anthony Rigby, Aaron Fraser, Jermaine Neblette, Kirk “Chow Pow” Jardine, James Bond, Lennox Cush, Colin Stuart, Alfred King and Anand Sanasie.

Kaieteur Thunders will come from Raphael Trotman, Asif Khan, Khemraj Ramjattan, Carey Griffith, Ravindranauth Seeram, Sheik Mohamed, Clyde Butts, Tony Najab, Reon King, Esaun Crandon, David Harper, Alfred Mentore, Steve Ninvalle, Lakeram Mike Singh and Ramesh Sunich.

Serena Williams into US Open final with win over Makarova

By Piers NewBery

Serena Williams thrashed Russia's Ekaterina Makarova to remain on course for a hat-trick of US Open titles.

The world number one powered to a 6-1 6-3 victory in exactly an hour as she closes in on a sixth victory in New York, and a third in succession.

Williams, seeking to win her 18th Grand Slam title, will play Danish 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday's final.

"I'm so happy – you have no idea what it means to me," said the American. "I didn't know I would be here today."

Her victory was in marked contrast to that of Wozniacki, who was leading a much closer contest in the first semi-final when China's P eng Shuai retired in the heat.

Williams had no such problems and, after failing to make it past the fourth

round of a Grand Slam this year before arriving in New York, she has looked a class apart at Flushing Meadows. She spent just five and a half hours reaching the semi-finals without dropping a set and needed only 26 minutes to take the first against Makarova.

The Russian, 26, was playing in her first Grand Slam semi-final and carried

the confidence boost of having knocked the Williams sisters out of the doubles, alongside Elena Vesnina, earlier this week.

But with Williams in rampant form, it counted for about as much as her 2012 Australian Open win over the American.

A brilliant forehand earned Williams the first break points in game four

and after Makarova went long on the second, the match slipped away from the Russian very quickly.

Four errors handed over a break at the start of the second set, and when the American out-volleyed the doubles expert on her way to moving 4-0 in front, it was clear that nothing was going to derail Williams, even though Makarova managed to hold twice for 5-2.

There were signs of tension when she failed to serve out the match from 30-0, and coach Patrick Mouratoglou appeared nervous in the stands, but, despite closing the gap to 5-3, Makarova could not keep the pressure on.

Facing her 10th break point of the match after 60 minutes she sent a backhand into the tramlines, and a thrilled Williams celebrated moving to within one win of an 18th Grand Slam title. (BBCSport.com)

Herstelling Raiders battle for top spot

The inaugural Cult sponsored East Bank Football Association (EBFA) Under-17 league is set to come to an exhilarating climax today at the Grove Playfield between the two best teams, Grove Hi Tech and party stoppers, Herstelling Raiders.

Grove, the only team not to have lost a game to date following round-robin play and their semi-final against Kuru Kururu Warriors, will be aiming to take the championship trophy, but standing in their way is Herstelling, who erased a two-goal deficit to tie the game against Agricola Red Triangle before going on to win via penalty kicks.

Inspirational Captain and leading forward Seon Alfred will lead Herstelling’s quest for an upset win along with their custodian, National Under-17 player, Quazim Yusuf. Grove is an experienced unit and will fan -

cy their chances of coming out victors.

They boast the likes of the tournament’s leading marksman, National Under-17 forward Joel Dick, Captain Mervin Squires, Kirk Cummings, Nichols Matthews and Threvon Pluck among others.

Preceding the final would be the third place game from 12:00h between losing semi-finalists, Agricola Red Triangle and Kuru Kururu Warriors. Both teams have improved with every game and while not contesting the final, would still be aiming to finish the tournament on a high. Representatives of the sponsors, Continental Group of Companies, agents for Cult Energy Drink are expected to be on hand to witness the proceedings. The presentation of prizes will follow the final.

Roraima Strikers and Kaieteur Thunders clash at DCC

Raphael Trotman

Kirk Jardine Clyde Butts Travis Dowlin

Seon Alfred

Serena Williams

West Indies v Bangladesh, 1st Test, St. Vincent, 1st day…

Brathwaite century puts West Indies...

When the opener hung back on his backfoot, the bowlers didn’t bowl full enough, and Al-Amin didn’t make him play enough, bowling a one-day line wide outside off stump.

Brathwaite reached his century off 219 balls, having struck eight boundaries at that point. To reach the three-figure mark, Mahmudullah offered him a full-toss which he slapped past cover for a boundary. This was reward for his patience. He was further rewarded on 113 when Mushfiqur him off Shuvagata Hom when he got one to go with the aroundthe-wicket angle and kiss his outside edge.

But some credit is due to the Bangladesh bowlers, especially the two newcomers.

Taijul, the left-arm spinner, and Shuvagata, the offspinning allrounder, became the 72nd and 73rd Test players for the country, and they had an eventful first day.

The pair bowled the majority of the overs, picking up all three wickets. They looked lost at first, but soon they discovered the rewards of bowling proactively. They stuck to trusted lines, and slowly began to bowl like they would in domestic cricket.

Gayle’s wicket was Bangladesh’s first success of the match. Having made 61 before lunch, he added just three runs off 21 balls after the break, with the two newcomers muffling his strokeplay. Both attacked his off stump, either spinning in or leaving him slightly. Eventually he missed a sweep off Shuvagata, but

from back page

umpire Marais Erasmus denied the loud appeal.

Mushfiqur took an extra second to call for the review, but it looked straight and the replays confirmed it had pitched in line, struck Gayle’s front pad in front of the stumps and was going on to hit middle stump.

Gayle had played very well in the first session, reaching his fifty off 62 balls. He threaded the offside field quite well, taking every chance to pick up runs as his opening partner remained circumspect. He struck most of his boundaries in front of the wicket, and got to his 37th fifty with a six over wide mid-on off Taijul. He survived two

chances in the first session: a run-out appeal that had him just reach the bowlers’ end to complete a second run. Just after reaching 50, Gayle was dropped by Rubel Hossain off his own bowling.

After Shuvagata dismissed Gayle, it was Taijul’s turn to take his first Test wicket. Kirk Edwards, batting at No 3 and under a bit of pressure after two low scores in the ODI series, attacked from the onset. He quickly got to 10 with a four and a straight six, but Taijul continued to toss the ball up, and took his leading edge in the 43rd over as he looked to work the ball against the turn. Mominul Haque took a sharp catch at silly mid-off,

making it 133 for 2.

Brathwaite and Bravo added 128 for the third wicket, with very few deliveries threatening them. There was one from Rubel that reared at Brathwaite but he looked unbeatable outside the off stump. With the inexperienced attack fading in the final session, he got plenty of bad balls to get to his second Test century. Taijul started bowling short and Shuvagata gave away three full-tosses in his 19th over.

Mushfiqur would have wanted Rubel to bowl better too, with his preferred older ball. But apart from dropping Gayle and the odd good spell, his efforts never looked like they would get him a wicket. Bangladesh would have also liked Mahmudullah to bowl a lot better, but he went at over six an over and Mushfiqur could only get five overs out of his senior off-spinner. (Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

West Indies 1st innings

C Gayle lbw b Shuvagata Hom 64

K Brathwaite not out 123

K Edwards c Mominul Haque b Taijul Islam 10

DM Bravo c Mahmudullah b Taijul Islam 62

S Chanderpaul not out 1

Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-1) 4

Total (for 3 wickets; 87 overs) 264

Fall of wickets: 1-116 (Gayle), 2-133 (Edwards), 3-261 (Bravo)

Bowling: Al-Amin Hossain 14-7-300, Rubel Hossain 16-0-55-0 (nb-1), Mahmudullah 5-0-31-0, Shuvagata Hom 27-4-76-1, Taijul Islam 25-669-2

SL play down Shehzad-Dilshan incident

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sri Lanka Cricket are unconcerned about religion-focused comments Ahmed Shehzad had supposedly made to Dilshan following the third ODI, although the PCB has issued Shehzad an official reprimand.

Footage of the teams exiting the field after Sri Lanka’s series win supposedly shows Shehzad talking to Dilshan on a matter of religion. Dilshan’s reply is inaudible, but Shehzad again allegedly delivers another similar comment before the two part ways and head toward their dressing rooms.

Dilshan said he thought little of the exchange at the time, and will not consider lodging a complaint. “I don’t remember even what

I said to him,” Dilshan said. “I have no issues at all. I was just quite happy with the win at the time.” SLC is similarly unfazed, team manager Michael de Zoysa said, and will consider the matter closed. The PCB were made aware of the exchange after a journalist brought it to their notice, when the footage went viral in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. When the board summoned Shehzad for an explanation on Wednesday, he had said he came to know of Dilshan’s religious background during the match, and simply sought a light-hearted discussion. Shehzad said the video only showed part of their exchange, and that he had not wished to offend Dilshan.

Nevertheless, the PCB had set up an inquiry un-

Tillakaratne Dilshan: “I have no issues at all. I was just quite happy with the win at the time.”

der director of international cricket Zakir Khan. “Shehzad has breached the central contract in which it is clearly written that you will not get involved in any religious spat with others, so there can be disciplinary action against him,”

Gatlin powers to men’s 100m title at Diamond League

Olympic gold medallist Justin Gatlin recorded the fastest time in the world this year to claim the men’s 100m Diamond League title in Brussels.

The 32-year-old sped away from a strong field that included fellow American Tyson Gay and Jamaican Asafa Powell to win in a time of 9.77 seconds.

That saw him usurp compatriot Michael Rodgers, who came second in the race in 9.93secs, at the top of the standings.

American Allyson Felix won the women’s 200m race to take the overall title.

The 28-year-old, who won gold in the event at London 2012, led Blessing Okagbare by two points coming into Friday’s meeting but produced a 2014 world-leading run of 22.02 to beat her Nigerian rival, who finished the race in a disappointing sixth.

Dafne Schippers, who won the sprint double at the European Championships in Zurich in August, was third in Friday’s race and also took third place in the overall standings.

The story of the night was Gatlin, though.

Not content with blowing the field away in the men’s 100m, the controversial American, who has previously served a fouryear ban for doping, came back an hour later to produce another dominant performance in the 200m, winning in a superb time of 19.71.

PCB chief Shaharyar Khan said. Born to a Muslim father and a Buddhist mother, Dilshan had had the birth-name of Tuwan Mohammad Dilshan, but has since changed his name. (Cricinfo)

In a gripping men’s high jump contest, Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko both attempted a new world-record height of 2.46m as the battle between the two for the Diamond went right down to the wire.

Both narrowly failed

but 23-year-old Barshim took the Diamond title as his height of 2.43m - the second highest of all time - gave him the win on the night and overall victory.

Male pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie and women’s shot putter Valerie Adams created history, having already secured the Diamond Race title for their respective events. The Frenchman won with 5.93m on Friday and is the only athlete to win five Diamond Race trophies, having won the event each year since its inauguration in 2010, while New Zealander Adams threw a winning 20.59m to become the only athlete to win all seven Diamond League fixtures in any discipline.

Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer underlined her dominance in this Diamond League season by winning the women’s 400m hurdles in a time of 54.12 to take her to the 30-point mark. Britain’s Eilidh Child was third to give her second in the overall standings.

Britain’s European and Commonwealth silver medallist Lynsey Sharp was joint second in the women’s 800m, running the same time as the already crowned Diamond champion, Eunice Jepkoech Sum of Kenya. It means Sharp finishes third in the overall standings behind winner Sum and American Brenda Martinez, who won Friday’s race in 1:58.84. There was also a worldclass performance in the men’s steeplechase, where Jairus Birech of Kenya, already guaranteed the Diamond title, did not ease up and became only the 11th man in history to go under eight minutes with victory in a time of 7 minutes, 58.41 seconds to end the season with a massive 28 points. (BBC Sport)

Darren Bravo helped himself to a half-century on the opening day

Justin Gatlin recorded the fastest time of 2014 at the Diamond League

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One house with 5 bedrooms, (2 large, 1 small, 1 master and 1 guest), Laundry room with half bath, kitchen with island, living room, dining area, gym, storage/freezer room, generator room with exhaust, two storage rooms, one small front office, 3 car-parking area. House is sold with a running document center with all equipment and supplies. Property (2900+sq) is located on a corner lot close to the public road. Contact Hans/Andrew: 6455596/638-8599

GARDEN earth and builder`s waste. Our service also includes bobcat rental, excavating, clearing and leaving. Call: 616-0617, 663-3285

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For specialised repairs and servicing to all types of BMW vehicles, Lexus, Mercedes, Sedan etc. Diagnostic testing available. All job backed by three months warranty. Call 6869995 for more information and location. Mobile emergency service available.

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One furnished house at Lamaha Gardens suitable for office and residence in immaculate condition US$2,500, 2 modern apartments -3 bedrooms each at Campbellville

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New automatic time system set to be used before month’s end

With the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) acquiring a new automatic time system and photo finish equipment, the FAT system as it is more regularly known might be in use before the month of September comes to a close.

The President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Aubrey Hutson, has confirmed that the new timing system will

likely be used at the National Senior Championship scheduled for this month.

However, the date of the meet will be confirmed by Monday as the AAG boss is waiting on confirmation from Courts on when they will hold their 10k event also set for this month.

“We want to use it at National Seniors and that will be the weekend before the Courts 10k, we had the 10k pegged for the 21st but

I’m hearing Courts wants the 28th but when I confirm that, the weekend before we will host National Seniors which might just be the 21st,” Huston related.

The use of such a system will be the first of its kind, since Guyana was never in possession of such a system.

Meanwhile, the National Senior Championships is tentatively set for the Police Sports Club Ground, Eve Leary. (Treiston Joseph)

Hamilton suffers problem as Rosberg is top in Italy

Nico Rosberg was fastest in second practice at the Italian Grand Prix as team-mate Lewis Hamilton took second despite reliability problems.

Hamilton, who was quickest by more than half a second in first practice, missed an hour of the 90-minute session with an electrical problem.

The lost time is a blow to Hamilton, who is 29 points behind his Mercedes teammate in the championship.

But he still set a time just 0.061secs behind Rosberg.

That was an impressive performance in the context of his lost preparation time and the fact that he was slightly delayed by a slower car on his fastest lap.

Hamilton’s problems came amid continuing fallout from the clash between the two Mercedes drivers at the last race.

On the eve of practice, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff warned his drivers to behave or risk being sacked.

Wolff told BBC Sport on Thursday: “If we are not able to manage the two of them following the Mercedes-Benz spirit then we need to admit that.

“[We would have to] take decisions and take the consequences of having a different line-up, probably.”

His ultimatum comes in the aftermath of the drivers’ collision at the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago. A failed overtaking move by Rosberg led to the two colliding, effectively ending Hamilton’s race while

Rosberg went on to finish second and open a 29-point championship lead.

Mercedes have taken disciplinary action against Rosberg, who has taken responsibility for the incident and apologised.

Hamilton has arrived in Monza in a positive, almost buoyant, mood, determined to close the gap to Rosberg after falling more than a win’s worth of points behind for the third time this season.

Hamilton had looked imperious on track in the first session, comfortably clear of his rivals, but he spent the second session, when the teams do both qualifying and race preparation, watching from the garage.

The team could not fire the car up at the start of the session and finally got him out on track with half an hour to go.

But he may take some encouragement from his pace despite his problems, and the fact that Rosberg’s fastest time on the quicker ‘medium’ tyre was still 0.1secs slower than Hamilton’s best on the slower ‘hard’ in the morning.

“I felt really good after the practice session this morning and we have definitely got a competitive car this weekend,” said Hamilton.

Rosberg was only 0.106 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in third, with the second Ferrari of Fernando Alonso in fourth a couple of tenths further back after making a mistake braking for the first chicane on his best lap.

“It seems that we are quick on one lap but on the long run the others were very fast,” said Rosberg. “I didn’t feel 100% confident in the car, so I have a lot of work to do tonight with the boys.”

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was fifth, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.

Monza’s famous old autodrome just outside Milan is F1’s oldest venue, and a strong favourite with all participants for its unique demands, character and atmosphere.

However, it is unlikely to be as packed with the boisterous Italian Ferrari fans – known as the tifosi –as normal, with organisers reporting that ticket sales are down.

This is the consequence of a difficult year for Ferrari, who are having their least competitive season for 20 years.

The Williams cars are expected to be Mercedes’ closest challengers this weekend, underlined by Bottas’s pace despite the fact that Williams tend to run their cars heavier on fuel on Fridays as they focus on the race, and then become more competitive on Saturday and Sunday. On the race-simulation runs late in the session, when the teams run on heavy fuel to try out the car in the specification in which they will start the race, Williams appeared to be a match for Mercedes, with Red Bull and Ferrari closely matched a little behind them. (BBC

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Lewis Hamilton has dominated second practice this season but his lost hour at Monza was a setback as he looks to catch up to championship leader Rosberg

GBL hosting after-school baseball programme

The Guyana Baseball League (GBL) is pleased to announce the start of its after-school baseball programme.

Beginning next Monday at the Queen’s College playground and hosted from 15:00h to sunset on Mondays to Fridays, the programme is open to children ages five and older. Registration can be done

EBFA/Stag

at the ground and parents can select practice days for their children.

The after-school programme will be headed by Coach Harold Castillo of Cuba and supported by a cadre of local coaches. The programme seeks to build on the GBL summer camp, which was well attended, but severely hampered by inclement weather.

“At this point in our development we must share knowledge of academic benefits available to both boys and girls through our baseball and softball programmes; numerous tertiary scholarships are available in North America and we strongly urge parents and students to talk to us about future plans where we may be of assistance,”

Beer Division One League…

the GBL said in a statement.

All participants will be invited to join teams and participate in age bracketed Pony Competitions in the final week of November. As with all GBL activities participants are asked to bring a reusable water bottle and parents are encouraged to participate in games with their children.

Soesdyke/Agricola, Mocha/Timehri clash Sunday at Grove

When the Stag Beer sponsored East Bank Football Association (EBFA) Division One League continues Sunday at the Grove Playfield, the feature game between the second and third placed teams on the points table, Soesdyke Falcons and Agricola Red Triangle, will have an added incentive at stake.

The winner of this rubber would not only strengthen their position for a top place on the EBFA League, but will earn the right to represent the association in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) National League Playoffs.

Grove Hi Tech remains in the top draft of the local game having finished sixth overall in the last competition which gives another team the opportunity of joining them in the GFF competition. There is all to play for between these two sides that will leave no stones unturned to topple each other. Agricola will look to the second highest leading goal scorer Gordon Grant to lead their quest for another win over the Soesdyke boys having won their first round clash 5-0 when Grant netted a hat-trick. He would be supported by Lumumba Hinds,

Winston Rawlins, Kacy John, Travis Welch, Linden Pickett and Sheldon Gurrick.

Soesdyke will however, not be intimidated by the first round loss and have been training hard to reverse that result. Taking on the responsibility of charting the way for a win will be Roger Dey, Dwayne Dillon, Orin Tasher, Kelsie Benson, Colin Holder, Colin McLean, Ulatto Smith and Javier Greene.

Sunday’s opening game at 13:30h brings together Timehri Panthers and Mocha Champs.

Lowden, Razick go head-to-head today

The rematch between Over-35

Berbician champion Godfrey Lowden and emerging rival Albert Razick of the US Embassy will take place today at the National Racquet Centre located opposite the Guyana Technical Institute (GTI) on Wolford Avenue Georgetown. Action will serve off at 15:00h. During May, a lack of lighting facilities forced the players to prematurely end on even grounds in

what was destined to be a great exhibition match. Lowden won the first set 7-5, with Razick taking the second set, also at 7-5. Given the quality of tennis played in the previous match, spectators are invited free of cost where they can expect a great standard of tennis with gripping points, excellent tactics and nail-biting excitement. The experienced Dr Steve Surujbally will once again be the chair umpire.

Albion, Rose Hall clash in Telenec

U-17 final

this weekend

With good weather prevailing in Berbice recently, the long awaited final of the 2013 Tenelec Under-17 cricket competition seems certain to be played this weekend at Port Mourant with old rivals Albion and Rose Hall Town Bakewell vying for championship honours. Defending champions Rose Hall Town, having reached the final by virtue of defeating Achievers in the quarterfinal by an innings, will be spearheaded by national Under-17 middleorder batsman Brandon Prasad, Jason Anderson,

who slammed a century in the semi-final, Joshua Gobin, Azam Khan and Veremootoo Senwasane. Albion, having defeated Edinburgh in their semi-final by six wickets, will be led by Guyana’s Under-17 cricketers Adrian Sukhwa and Ritesh Umrao, while Stephen Kamaludin and Matthew Hardyal have represented Guyana at the Under-15 level. The umpires nominated for this final are Imran Moakhan and Moses Ramphal with Jaipersaud Hardeo as the standby. The match will commence at 10:00h on both day.

The GBL is looking to expand the pool of players

From left: Albert Razick, Umpire, Dr Steve Surujbally and Godfrey Lowden

Travis Welch (left) and Gordon Grant

Roger Dey (left) and Orin Tasher

Root’s ton sets up hosts’ win in fifth ODI

Joe Root hit a superb 113 as England beat India by 41 runs in the fifth one-day international at Headingley.

Three heavy defeats meant England had already lost the series, with one match washed out, but Root’s highest ODI score laid the foundations for victory.

He shared crucial partnerships with Alastair Cook (46) and Jos Buttler (49) as England posted 2947.

Ben Stokes, who hit 33 off 23 balls, then took three wickets as India were bowled out well short on 253.

Some lusty late blows from Ravindra Jadeja (87 off 68 balls) narrowed the margin of defeat, but the tourists paid the price for losing wickets at crucial times.

They lacked a player to hold their middle order together and anchor their run-chase, a role Root performed expertly for England.

The 23-year-old Yorkshireman’s masterful knock on his home ground eclipsed his previous 50over best of 107, scored against West Indies in Antigua in March.

Coming in with England tottering at 39-2, he helped steady the innings with skipper Cook, then slow-

ly laid the platform with Buttler, before exploding into life during the batting powerplay.

After beginning his innings in characteristic manner - mixing stout defence with steady accumulation - he teamed up with Buttler to help plunder 55 runs in the five-over powerplay.

He brought up the second century of his ODI career with a six over mid-wicket - one of three maximums - as he seized the initiative for the hosts who went from 151-4 in the 35th over to 206-4 only 30 balls later.

Earlier, he had read the situation perfectly when Alex Hales and Moeen Ali, the latter promoted to number three, perished playing attacking shots over midwicket and third man respectively.

And when Cook, who twice edged between slip and gully on his way to 46 from 64 balls, and Eoin Morgan (14) were quickly dismissed to leave the score on 117-4 he recognised the need to counter-attack.

Buttler will feel aggrieved to have been run out for a brisk 49 when going for a single having lost sight of the ball, but some impressive late hitting from Stokes propelled England, who had been inserted by India, to their highest score

SCOREBOARD

Kohli c Cook b Anderson 13 Rayudu c Cook b Stokes 53 Raina c Buttler b Moeen 18

Dhoni c Stokes b Finn 29

Jadeja b Finn 87

Ashwin c Finn b Stokes 16

B Kumar run out (Finn) 1

Stokes not out 33

Woakes b Shami 9

Tredwell not out 8 Extras (5-w, 1-b, 3-lb) 9 Total (for 7 wickets; 50 overs) 294

Bowling: B Kumar 8-0-45-1, Yadav 6-0-46-1, Shami 10-052-2, Ashwin 10-2-49-1, Raina 7-0-32-1, Jadeja 9-0-66-0

Fall of wickets: 23 (Hales), 39 (Moeen), 91 (Cook), 117 (Morgan), 225 (Buttler), 249 (Root), 265 (Woakes)

India innings

Rahane c Morgan b Anderson 0

Dhawan b Moeen 31

Shami c Hales b Stokes 0 Yadav not out 0

Extras (5-w) 5

Total (for 10 wickets; 48.4 overs) 253

Bowling: Anderson 10-0-39-2, Woakes 10-1-61-0, Moeen 8-034-2, Finn 8.4-1-37-2, Tredwell 5-0-35-0, Stokes 7-0-47-3

Fall of wickets: 0 (Rahane), 25 (Kohli), 49 (Dhawan), 91 (Raina), 132 (Rayudu), 173 (Dhoni), 203 (Ashwin), 208 (B Kumar), 209 (Shami), 253 (Jadeja)

of the series.

Inda’s reply got off to the worst possible start when Edgbaston centurion Ajinkya Rahane slapped the fourth ball to Morgan at point to give James Anderson his first wicket of the series.

The Lancashire paceman added his second soon

after when he induced an outside edge from Virat Kohli and Cook took a smart catch at slip.

When the belligerent Shikhar Dhawan was bowled by Moeen Ali for 31, India found themselves 49-3 and in danger of subsiding to a heavy defeat.

The two new batsmen, Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina, were both dropped in the space of one

Steven Finn over by Chris Woakes and Cook respectively, but wickets continued to tumble at a steady rate despite Rayudu registering his fourth ODI half century.

Stokes removed Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami, while Finn chipped in with two important wickets.

The tall Middlesex paceman had India skipper

Mahendra Dhoni caught at cover point by Stokes, before finishing off the innings when Jadeja played on having registered his best ODI score.

The two teams meet again in Sunday’s Twenty20 international at Edgbaston, for which England will be without Tim Bresnan who has been ruled out with a shoulder injury. (BBC Sport)

Ravindra Jadeja hit nine fours and two sixes in his quickfire 87 at the end of the India innings

Joe Root’s 113 was his highest ODI score

West Indies v Bangladesh, 1st Test, St Vincent, 1st day…

Brathwaite century puts West Indies in command

Caribbean Cup Qualifiers… Golden Jaguars lose 0-2 to St Lucia

Guyana’s senior national men’s team, the Golden Jaguars, suffered a 0-2 loss at the hands of St Lucia in Group Six action of the Caribbean Cup Qualifiers at Warner Park, St Kitts, on Friday evening.

The loss followed a nil-all draw against Dominica in their first game on Wednesday evening at the same venue.

St Lucia were indebted to goals from Burton Emmanuel, who netted the first goal in the 13th minutes, before Jamal Joseph doubled the advantage in the 84th minute.

The result could have been so much different had Delroy Fraser converted his two opportunities, missing two close chances at scoring in the 27th and 80th minutes, according to reports emanating from St Kitts.

The Golden Jaguars will look to make amends in their final game of the round on Sunday when they take on hosts St Kitts from 20:30h at Warner Park.

The squad is Oswald Cornette and Dorville Stewart (Goalkeepers), Steffon Ramsay, Walter Moore, Quincy Adams, Adrian Adonis, Joshua Brown and Trevon Lythcotte (Defenders), Eusi Phillips, Jahall Greaves, Eon Alleyne, Mark Jhalu and Jamaal Harvey (Midfielders), Delwin Fraser, Delroy Fraser, Shaquille Agard, Clarence Huggins and William Europe (Forwards).

The management team comprises Manager Carlos Bernard, Head Coach Denzil Thompson, Physical Trainer Germin Craig, Assistant Coach Dwain Babb and Physiotherapist Lacretia Abiola Blair.

Kraigg Brathwaite’s quintessential Test innings, an unbeaten 123, directed West Indies towards early control of the first Test against Bangladesh at Arnos Vale. A third rain break at exactly 17:00h ended the first day’s play with West Indies 264 for three. It was Brathwaite’s second century, coming in the space of three Tests having scored his last one against New Zealand at Port-of-Spain in June. He hasn’t played much cricket since that series, so he must have retained rigorous focus.

West Indies lost a late wicket when Bravo got out for 62 off 126 balls, getting a bit too impish for his own good. He struck Taijul Islam for two consecutive fours over midoff towards the fag end of the day, but he tried to repeat the shot even after the bowler changed angle and went around the wicket and hit him straight to the fielder, Mahmudullah.

But that was one of precious few bright moments for Bangladesh on a day when they picked only three specialist bowlers and put West Indies in to bat in what looked like and later proved to be excellent batting conditions. It was enough encouragement for Brathwaite, who hardly dithered from his known and trusted method.

Brathwaite let Chris Gayle to do all the scoring at first, before reaching his fifty at the start of the second session. West Indies lost two wickets quickly but he remained unfazed, again letting his partner get the boundaries as he went after only the deliveries that were too wide or too full or both. Hardly anything troubled Brathwaite, except for a few missed flashes and the odd ball from Rubel Hossain that jumped on him.

The late cut was a productive shot for Kraigg Brathwaite during his unbeaten innings of 123

Delroy Fraser Serena