Guyana Times International April 27 2018

2018 Digicel /CPL Youth Series

INTERNATIONAL THE BEACON OF TRUTH

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Bishoo surprises Berbice youths

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You can also read Guyana Times daily edition online at www.guyanatimesgy.com WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018

ISSUE NO. 394

AG silent on allegations that Govt knows how CCJ will rule Sovereignty of the People case

See story on page 3

… “loose talk” could undermine ruling- Jagdeo

Local Administrative professionals attending the the 23rd annual Administrative Professionals Workshop, held at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, were encouraged to advance their training and education and to make themselves relevant and indispensable in the 21st Century. The event was organised by Zoywins Consultancy and Training, a company based in New York and owned by Guyanese, Mavis Benn, in observance of Administrative Professionals Day 2018, which was held under the theme “Become a valued Administrative Professional”.

US based philanthropist pumps $80M into stateof-the-art research centre at UG Page 10

US Sanctions on Rusal

Gov’t task force to tackle Bauxite workers’ concerns Page 23

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Sovereignty of the People case

AG silent on allegations that Govt knows how CCJ will rule … “loose talk” could undermine ruling- Jagdeo

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ttorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams on Wednesday refused to deny allegations made by his Cabinet colleagues which have created public discomfort, after they suggested that the Government of Guyana had inside knowledge of how the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) would rule in the Sovereignty of the People case which it heard earlier this year.

Williams, who is in Miami, when contacted by Guyana Times to respond categorically to the statements made by his colleagues by denying them, bluntly refused even though such a response could have potentially put to rest the concerns that were raised in certain quarters of society about the impact the statements made by the Ministers could have on the credibility of the ruling by the CCJ. He reaffirmed that he was “confident of the case because

how I did the case”.

He urged this newspaper to “go to the CCJ website and listen to the arguments” before declining to deny the public utterances of Vice President and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, who is also the Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC) party, and the utterances of several other Government officials.

Ramjattan had also reportedly told several People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) parliamentarians that he knew how the CCJ would rule in the matter.

“I am not addressing that issue. I’ve always been a confident man,” Williams stated during the interview.

Williams was also reported by the Government’s Department of Public Information as defending the CCJ against alleged attacks from the PPP which he described as “deplorable” even though the PPP has stayed

away from making any definitive statements about the case.

Just last week, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo reluctantly said that the credibility of the CCJ ruling could be undermined by loose talk when he was hounded by the media for a comment on the allegations that have been surfacing in Guyana and further afield following the statements made by Minister Ramjattan and others and reported in the media.

At a recent political meeting held in Berbice, Ramjattan alleged that the CCJ would rule against the third term case. The Minister told his party supporters that Jagdeo would never be allowed the opportunity to run for another term in office as President.

Similar statements were made by a number of other senior Government Ministers.

“I don’t know whether it’s loose talk or they do have inside information as they say, but either way this could affect

the credibility of the court,” Jagdeo had stated.

Meanwhile, it was widely reported in the media that the judicial assistant to the current CCJ President, Sir Dennis Byron is the grandson of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and former advisor to the President, retired Justice James Patterson.

Asked whether he is concerned about this, Jagdeo responded in the affirmative.

He said, “It does bother me for the same reasons I gave about Ramjattan and Basil Williams who claim they know how the court will rule on this matter.

It goes back to the credibility of the court.”

Pressed a bit further to state whether he would be willing to run for President if the CCJ upheld the ruling of the two lower courts, Jagdeo said, “Having to go to cocktail receptions and accrediting Ambassadors and having courtesy calls and a whole range

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

of those things that goes with the presidency like cutting ribbons and so, don’t attract me. I don’t have any desire to be part of them. What I have great desire to do, is to ensure that people’s lives, their welfare change…You figure out for yourself what I just said,” he told the media.

Jagdeo went on to state that his current and most important function is General Secretary of the PPP. His main continued on page 7

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EDITORIAL

The Clash of Civilisations?

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quarter of a century ago, Harvard’s Samuel Huntington unfurled his “Clash of Civilisations” thesis which seemingly became the working model for western, especially US, foreign policy strategists. In the wake of the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and the end of the Cold War, the timing was maybe more than just fortuitous. After all he was also part of the US think tank that had conjured up the “modernisation” thesis after WWII that became the western blueprint to win the hearts and minds of the Third World in the Cold War that had just been declared.

It would seem that Huntington has proven to be a prophet.

As the book’s blurb explained, Huntington predicts not only how clashes between civilisations are the greatest threat to world peace but also how an international order based on civilisations is the best safeguard against war. More specifically, as ideological distinctions among nations during the Cold War have been replaced by cultural differences, world politics has been reconfigured. Across the globe, new conflicts – and new cooperation – have replaced the old order of the Cold War era.

It might very well be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Huntington postulated “how the population explosion in Muslim countries and the economic rise of East Asia are changing global politics.

These developments challenge Western dominance, promote opposition to supposedly “universal” Western ideals, and intensify inter-civilisation conflict over such issues as nuclear proliferation, immigration, human rights, and democracy. The Muslim population surge has led to many small wars throughout Eurasia, and the rise of China could lead to a global war of civilizations.

Huntington offers a strategy for the West to preserve its unique culture and emphasises the need for people everywhere to learn to coexist in a complex, multipolar, multi-civilisational world.” It is argued by Huntington that the Western movement for Universalism will only lead to confrontation with non-western cultures. Western Universalism is advocacy of western values including democracy, freedom of speech, and human rights in an attempt to universalise them throughout the world.

One reason that this promulgation of “universalistic” values may be destabilising is that while some who preach such “universalism” may be benign, others may not be of like mind. The latter movements, such as the “religious freedom” disguise propagation of fundamental Christianity through proselytising people of other religions and cultures can alienate them from their native cultures. They can also teach them to berate their native cultures although many may not have even comprehended the new values. There is resistance in the world against alienating people from their native cultures and weakening integrity of the races.

The main issue with Huntington’s thesis, however, is his conflating of Christianity with modernity. It goes against the history of church and development of modernism in Europe.

Modern advances in sciences and scientific and even industrial development as well as every modern intellectual thought came by resisting the influence of Christianity. Science and Church stand opposite to one another in modernisation. It must be accepted that almost every culture/religion can modernise without having to westernise. It is from this perspective, for instance, we must view the changes that are sweeping the Islamic world. The resurgence of the Islamicists as not definitionally “non-modern”.

Finally, there can be universalism not of the kind advocated by the fanatics. The West pushed its form of universalism as the basis of human rights protection through non-State organisations. It is possible to conceive of Universalism based on Scientific Humanism and accepting the best of all cultures on a rational basis. This is what Mahatma Gandhi meant when he called himself a Hindu, a Muslim and also a Christian, not that there is such a cult that integrates a composite of all three.

What made man “Human” are the innate instincts of kindness, tolerance, mutual love and sense of fairness inherent in all human beings, prior to the birth of all of “religions”.

Children by the River- The people of Moraikobai embrace a new and unique culture, which is a combination of a few modern elements and some relics of the original Arawak way of life. In the village you can find an almost equal distribution of traditional and modern things of our time. Photo by Girendra Persaud

Violence Against Women, a national crisis being neglected

Below is an opinion piece done by former Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

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t appears to have been missed by our government, but Domestic Violence Against Women (Intimate Partners Violence) has long passed a national crisis in Guyana. It is with deep concern that I make an appeal to President Granger and his APNU+AFC Cabinet.

Guyana is presently in the midst of a serious crisis of domestic violence and this national crisis demands the attention and attending action of the President and his Cabinet.

The physical, sexual and mental abuse of women in Guyana continues to escalate unabated.

The frequency of the murders of women by their spouses (Intimate Partners), close associates and by other individuals has increased to unprecedented and frightening levels. What is worse is that the cruelty of these murders has also reached unfathomable levels.

It is incumbent of the President to declare a national emergency in confronting this obnoxious phenomenon. It is necessary for President Granger to demand that the relevant ministers present a national action plan now. In fact, the President must scold the relevant ministers for neglecting the issue and allowing it to escalate to beyond a national crisis.

The truth is that the increasing frequency of killings of women appears to have not gained the attention of the President and his Cabinet. The President has been totally absent in addressing the crisis that women and our country faces. The Prime Minister is preoccupied in proving his relevance in this government. The Minister of Public Security has been AWOL, missing in action, on this issue.

Other relevant ministers, like the Ministers of Social Protection and Public Health, Amna Ally and Volda Lawrence, appear too busy with other matters. None of the Ministers with direct responsibilities and none of the Cabinet Ministers have shown any empathy or concern. It is as if the increasing violence against women in Guyana is invisible to President Granger and his

APNU+AFC Cabinet.

While the President and his Cabinet appear to have a very demanding appetite for media attention, they have totally abrogated their responsibility to ensuring the rights of women and children are respected, promoted and defended.

Just this week, two women were killed by their spouses in Guyana. It appears that this has become an everyday event. In fact, violence against women is increasingly and daily occupying the pages of our newspapers and filling the minutes on TV and radio newscasts. Social media now is filled with the daily occurrences of violence – physical, sexual, mental – in Guyana. To be sure, this is a global crisis and not limited to Guyana. But in Guyana, it seems as though the authorities are still unmoved and not paying the kind of serious attention that a national crisis demands. The invisibility of domestic violence to the government and the authorities in general, even as it has reached levels far beyond a national crisis, is startling, troubling and a national scandal.

But it is not invisible to the Guyanese people. I commend the Leader of the Opposition for demonstrating by his expression of concern that domestic violence demands an urgent national response. In this regards I commend Priya Manichand, the former Minister of Social Services and the former Minister of Education, in Guyana for using her Facebook Post to highlight the growing crisis. I commend the media, across the political divide, for ensuring that they frontally highlight the cruelty and the neglect of domestic violence and the increasingly cruel and violence murders of women and girls in Guyana. I commend the thousands of Guyanese sisters, in particular and Guyanese brothers, who have taken to Facebook and social media to highlight the growing crisis and to urge action.

The WHO and PAHO, UNICEF, UNFPA have been making sterling efforts globally and nationally to highlight violence against women (VAW) and the impact on society.

In fact, for more than a decade, the WHO has been warning that VAW has become a global crisis that demands urgent global and

national responses. In 2008, as President of the WHO, I declared that VAW is a public health crisis and actions to combat VAW must become a priority agenda item on national and global development programs.

Domestic violence against women and girls remain one of the most systematic and widespread violation of the Rights of Women globally. This is very much evident in Guyana today. To be sure, this is not a new problem globally and it is certainly not a new problem for Guyana. In highlighting this issue, therefore, I am not in any way trying to place the blame on President Granger and his APNU+AFC Government. It would be unfair of me and of anyone to do so. When I was a Cabinet Members, domestic violence was a major national problem that we were forced to confront.

Priya Manickchand, as the then Minister of Social Services, made it a national priority social issue to address. Throughout the period of the PPP tenure in Government, we were robust in keeping the issue on the national agenda.

While not casting blame on the government for the escalation of domestic violence in our country, I am accusing the present government of being neglectful and not addressing the problem in any urgent and comprehensive manner. There is need for the government to say something and to do something. Their silence show that they are tone-deaf and insensitive to the problems women and girls face and that is an albatross around the neck of our country.

Globally 35% of women are subjected to daily violence and abuse in a domestic setting. It is estimated that in Guyana, the figures are now surpassing 50%. The time for silence is long past. The Government must act now. Domestic Violence Against Women is not merely another problem that affects Guyana’s development, it is a national crisis at this moment. The Government of Guyana is AWOL and abrogating its responsibility. In lieu of its silence on this matter, I am asking the Women and Gender Equality Commission to declare VAW in Guyana as qualified to be a national crisis.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Opposition to boycott parliamentary visit to CJIA expansion project …says will not be part of charade

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he Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has refused to participate in a parliamentary tour of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project, saying that it will not be part of any charade put up by the coalition Government to show any semblance of transparency.

This comes on the heels of an invitation, under the signature of the Clerk of the National Assembly, being directed by the Speaker at the behest of the Public Infrastructure Minister, to a tour of the CJIA expansion project site, scheduled for today.

According to the correspondence, the purpose of this tour is to provide all Members of Parliament (MPs) with relative information so that a more informed discourse on the project may occur in the future.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, the Opposition’s Parliamentary Spokesperson on Public Infrastructure, Juan Edghill, asserted that the Party would not participate in any charade, of any kind and at any time, to lend any semblance of legitimacy and to provide any appearance of transparency to this unaccountable Administration.

“We remind all Guyanese of the hostile diatribe [against]

and near sabotage of this project by the then Opposition AFC [Alliance For Change] and APNU [A Partnership for National Unity] jointly. This was supposed to have been, according to their interpretation, a corrupt underhand deal by the then Jagdeo Administration,” Edghill asserted.

He went on to point out that the CJIA expansion project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, was part of a number of transformative projects, which included the Marriott Hotel, that were initiated under the PPP regime to bring in a new sector, mainly the eco-aspect of tourism.

“Guyana was being poised to become a hub for air traffic to facilitate regional and international traffic, with one of the main effects being lower airfares and lower freight, which would have resulted in a ‘big boom’ for the export of non-traditional projects, not forgetting the Specialty Hospital with a view to provide for medical tourism. The development of the synthetic track and other world-class facilities to encourage sports tourism,” Edghill noted.

According to the Opposition’s Parliamentary Spokesperson on Public Infrastructure, the contract for the airport expansion that was entered into un-

der the PPP/C Administration was a fixed price design and build contract, which clearly detailed and defined the works that were to be done. This, he added, included: the expansion and lengthening of the runway; the new size of the tarmac; the number of boarding gates – that is eight according to the document, and the square footage of the building. Edghill maintained that it was clearly understood that all the risks, including the geo-technical risk, were to be borne by the contractor in this arrangement.

“We are aware that significant alterations and changes have been made to the design. It is our intention, and we will at the appropriate time, call for a performance audit of this project, to ensure that the Guyanese people got value for their money and what was paid for was delivered. The Minister of Public Infrastructure, on numerous occasions in the National Assembly, failed to answer questions or deliver information promised in regards to this project. His usual style of much rhetoric is now common place with very little to show,” he asserted.

Nevertheless, Edghill said he believed this move to hold a parliamentary tour of the country’s main airport facility was a deliberately orchestrated one,

A Cabinet tour of the CJIA expansion works back in January

aimed at seeking additional funds from the nation’s purse.

“I suspect the reason that we have had the entire Cabinet visit this PPP/C project (back in January) and now an invitation to the entire Parliament, is that the environment is being prepared for supplementary request and approval for more monies for this fixed price project,” he posited, while adding that the Opposition would address this at the appropriate time in the National Assembly.

Furthermore, the Opposition’s Parliamentary Spokesperson outlined that in its three years in office, the coalition Administration did not

have a single project of a developmental nature to show.

As such, Edghill questioned whether this move for a parliamentary tour was now an act of desperation for some media coverage to show that things were happening.

Moreover, he went on to wonder whether the “now embattled Minister, who is facing private criminal charges for Misconduct in Public Office,” through the Speaker, may soon invite the entire Parliament to visit two other PPP/C projects – the East Coast Highway expansion and the West Coast Demerara Road expansion and upgrade projects.

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Guyana on Discontinuation of charges downward against Ministers a violation economic of constitutional rights trajectory Dear Editor, The PNC-led Coalition, through its Finance Minister, has finally admitted that the economy is in declension.

In fact, he used a euphemistic term to describe it, saying: “The economy did not perform as well as…had (been) predicted. Truly euphemistic terms used to explain away a dire, doomed situation.

But even this was not of his own undertaking; he only came out to admit his gross falsification of the growth figures after he was backed into a corner by stern agitation from the Opposition Leader. This has been the duplicitous nature of the Finance Ministry and this Government on a whole. They have left this nation paralysed with fear and uncertainty. The deceptive mode in which Government has grooved itself into since it took office is appalling.

Everything the Finance Minister has projected as growth and development has plummeted. All the income-generating sectors have seen massive decline, you name it and we can safely attach “failed” on its final report card.

In forestry, mining, rice, construction and sugar, these have seen a dramatic downturn.

Strangely enough, all the massive layoffs and closure of sugar factories, a major stop to the bleeding of the economy, have been of little help where economic recovery is concerned. It was our belief that this sector would have at least seen a break-even position, but this is not to be, the economy continues to slide.

Like the proverbial whipping boy, the sugar industry (according to Jordan) continues to hemorrhage the national treasury…very interesting propaganda!

Another income-generating machine has been the heavy-handed tax measures implemented by this Government. Everything that could be taxed was taxed; from the international export traders to the humble donkey cart operator, all are netted

in by Jordan’s huge tax network. Yet, amidst all of this income, the country limps along in hopeless failure. Why? A quick glance at the performance of the economy would reveal that our last known successful growth year was 2013, when we recorded 5.2% growth. The following year, 2014, we recorded 3.3%; in 2015, we recorded 3.2%; in 2016, we recorded 3.3%; and for 2017, we are getting news of a 2.1% growth rate and falling fast.

Please note that, from the last year of growth, the economy was in the hands of the PNC-led Opposition.

With their one-seat majority, they tied the hands of the Ramotar Administration, even voting down his budget, thus putting his administration in a position of being considered a “failed state,” where nothing could have been done by way of spending or use of the national treasury. Guyana’s economy was prime property up for grabs, and plunder the incoming administration did with gusto!

When the coalition took over the economy, they had the total use of all monies left in the treasury. They inherited a growing economy as well as a healthy treasury.

There should be no excuses coming from their lips now as regards the means to fund development, theirs was a fortune inheritance. That is evidenced from the fact that they raised their salaries and emoluments by 50%. Where did that money come from? It did not gratuitously fall from heaven, that fat pay rise came from a treasury brimful of funds left by the outgoing PPP/C Administration.

This clean bill of health that the treasury was afforded came from prudent management by the astute technocrat Dr Ashni Singh.

From the raping of the treasury to the naked aggression in the streets, all are telltale results of a doomed country.

Respectfully submitted, Neil Adams

Dear Editor, The discontinuing of charges brought against the Ministers of this Government is a grave violation of our constitutional rights as citizens of this country. The total disregard for the charges is telling this nation that nothing, absolutely nothing this Government does can at least be questioned in a forum of fairness.

It further represents an assault on our freedoms as a people through our representative, to agitate on a platform that necessitates fair debates or arguments, we have no redress. It means that the excesses of this Government know no boundaries.

The sum total of it all is that we have no voice.

Now, the legal system in our country is very much under seige, held in a stranglehold by the People’s National Congressled Government. Why can’t the

Director of Public Prosecutions substantiate charges against these Ministers, why? The Constitution makes ample provision for it. But I think the DPP is under tremendous pressure to keep her job, as well as being extremely fearful of a Government under whom she serves.

What Mrs Hack is harping on is that she should not bring charges against a sitting Minister, or one carrying out his duties in a current Administration. In essence, she is saying that a “Minister of Government” cannot be tried in a court of law. Well, she is ever so wrong, a Minister of Government can be tried in a court of law as it is with those cases brought against former Government Ministers. Let them show me where the law states that charges can only be instituted against “former Government Ministers” and not Government Ministers per

se. Then, if that were the case, Guyana’s laws are indeed bias and discriminatory where only former Government Ministers can be charged.

What the Constitution does make provision for is the Head of State, who cannot be tried in a court of law when he is dispensing his duties as President, whether in or out of office. Those courtesies do not extend to the Ministers of Government, therefore private individuals or Opposition can go after those Government Ministers who have vio-lated the law.

Guyana is in a full-fledged dictatorship, where the Constitution is bent to serve only one set of individuals. As the lyrics of the good old song states “Heaven help us all.”

Respectfully, Neil Adams

GECOM needs to clean up its act Dear Editor, Finally, it seems that the machinations to postpone the Local Government and General Elections are set in motion.

It must be recalled that after Dr Jagan wrote to US President George Bush in December 1989, pleading with him to support free and fair elections in Guyana, it actually took until October 5th 1992 before such an election can be held, nearly three years after.

There was a drastic need to completely sanitize the voting system, since the entire voting machinery had become so geared in favour of rigging by the PNC. It is an undeniable fact that all the elections from 1968 — 1973, 1980, and 1985 — were massively rigged. The 1978 referendum was also massively rigged. Therefore, the entire voting system had to be revamped: from the Chairman of GECOM, to the Chief Elections Officer, to the voters’ lists, to the counting of votes at the places of poll, and so many other administrative and logistical issues had to be attended to before a free and fair election could be held.

Indeed, with strong support from the US Government, the Carter Center, the Electoral Assistance Bureau, the UNDP Development Agency, and of course a constitutionally elected GECOM Chairman and a host of local and regional bodies, a free and fair election held in October, 1992 rectified the ‘grave injustice’ that was meted to not only Dr Jagan, but the Guyanese people.

Now, after just three years in Government, and numerous alleged corrupt transactions which have now caused ‘government corruption’ to be highlighted in the United States Drugs Report to be the main source of money laundering, the PNC knows too well that it will never retain power in a free

and fair election.

The economy is sinking, and the old PNC habits of spending recklessly and borrowing indiscriminately are back with a bang.

Therefore, with General Elections due in 2020 and LGE due December this year, the PNC needs to buy or borrow time to put its machinery in action, with the hope of using billions in oil dollars to finance it.

The PNC has so far been successful in unconstitutionally appointing the GECOM Chairman. It has cut the GECOM Budgetary allocation by $1 billion, even though the Opposition strenuously argued against this, and now Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield says that more than that sum is required for house-to-house registration. On top of that, it will take at least a year to be done. The PPP has refused to play the PNC’s game from the inception.

The PPP had pointed out in October 2017 that the late appointment of the GECOM Chairman will have dire consequences for the timely holding of elections.

The Opposition Chief Whip had reminded the Government that the GECOM Chairman plays several major roles, including signing the orders to begin the next cycle of continuous registration and acquire new identification cards, hold a next round of house-tohouse registration, to have preliminary and final voters lists or for Guyana to go to elections at the local, regional or national levels.

Now the purpose of this delaying tactic is clear.

It must be recalled that Mr Ramjattan at that time had stated, “I would not countenance, at this stage, any circumstance for the delay of elections; and I would want to say that I would ensure, as Chairman of my party, that is in this partnership with APNU (A

Partnership for National Unity) that we do have the elections in 2020.” So I do wonder if Mr Ramjattan still holds this view after APNU is now calling for houseto-house registration with the main purpose of postponing the elections.

In 1989 even, the late Desmond Hoyte had said that the errors in the voters list were “too many, too serious, and too pervasive”.

Yet, despite all the work done, in 1992 we had a situation where the list was still not perfect, the Elections were held, and no one questioned the veracity of the results. It took 2 years, and still there were minor flaws. In this case, there were numerous cycles of continuous registration being done all the time, and if there was a need for house-to-house registration, it should have been done by the timely appointment of the GECOM Chairman and the appropriate budgetary allocation. APNU did not see the need and cut the budget. Moreover, there is an acceptable limit of error, and a few instances of fake IDs should not be the reason for the postponement of the LGE and General Elections.

GECOM needs to clean up its act by ensuring that dishonest practices are weeded out.

The PPP has made it clear that it is willing to go to the polls with the voters list, as it is disallowing the PNC General Secretary’s call for house-to-house registration to sanitize the lists, and has exposed the intention of the PNC. The time to do that is long gone, and our elections should not be delayed. The LGE will confirm the abysmal failure of this Coalition Government, and they must not be allowed to hide this fact.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf RDC Councillor, Region 6

WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Owners of seized vessel to pay $36M in taxes for smuggled fuel- GRA

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shipping vessel which was discovered with over 200,000 gallons of suspected smuggled fuel during last week will have to pay some $36 million in taxes to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

This disclosure was made on Monday by Commissioner-General of the GRA Godfrey Statia who said that the vessel was not seized but the GRA has boarded the vessel until the taxes have been paid. Statia was referring to the vessel named ‘Jubilee’ which entered the Georgetown port on Friday but failed to disclose that it had fuel to customs officials, until checks were made.

At present, the GRA is examining records from the Maritime Administration and Demerara Harbour Bridge to determine the number of times the vessel had entered Guyana.

The Commissioner-

General said this will determine if there was some logistical issues or if the vessel was in fact smuggling fuel.

However, he said some inadequacies were discovered at the Customs Boathouse.

According to him, persons made attempts to falsify an entry after the boat was already boarded.

Information reaching this publication, suggests that a senior Government official and a local sports heavyweight have direct links to the vessel, which is owned by a company incorporated in Guyana under the Companies Act in 2016. This publication has been informed that these individuals have been shareholders of the company since 2017.

Statia said a similar seizure last year, saw the captain being fined $20 million to release the vessel.

AG silent on allegations... objective in that position is to prepare the Party for Government, while broadening the ethnic composition of the PPP, which is predominantly Amerindian and IndoGuyanese.

In 2014, private citizen Cedric Richardson had filed the challenge, arguing that Act 17 of 2001, which was passed by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly, unconstitutionally curtailed and restricted his sovereign and democratic right and freedom as a qualified elector to elect a former President as the Executive President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

Contending that the limit was unconstitutional and illegal, Richardson also wanted the court to determine whether a referendum should not have been held, instead of the twothirds majority in the National Assembly having the power to decide to limit the number of terms.

The other restrictions were: to also declare unqualified to run for the presidency citizens of Guyana not resident in Guyana on Nomination Day; citizens of Guyana resident in Guyana on Nomination Day but who have not been continuously resident in Guyana for seven years prior to that date; and citizens of

from page 3

Guyana by registration.

After several months in the court, former Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang ruled in favour of Richardson’s argument, saying that the term limit on presidents is unconstitutional without the approval of the people through a referendum.

However, the decision did not sit well with the Attorney General and former Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, both of whom were named respondents in the court action. They asked that the ruling be “wholly set aside”, but the Appeals Court also upheld the High Court’s decision as it felt that a decision on the term limit rested with the people via a referendum, and not the National Assembly.

It sought to impress the point that people should choose whom they “please to govern them,” and noted that this was essential to all other rights.

During the February 2017 decision, then Chief Justice (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who also sat on the panel, was the only one that had given a dissenting judgement.

The matter was then taken to the Trinidadbased CCJ, which heard the case on Monday, March 12. A decision could be made at some point during this year.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Charges against Lawrence, Norton

PPP to challenge DPP’s decision in High Court

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ollowing the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar AliHack’s, dismissal of charges against Government Ministers Volda Lawrence and George Norton, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Opposition has indicated its intension to challenge the decision in the High Court.

This was announced by former Attorney General and Opposition’s legal representative, Anil Nandlall.

“I am now actively considering challenging the DPP’s decision in court because her decision is reviewable by the High Court… I will do it, it’s just a matter of time,” he told this media group during a telephone interview on Tuesday.

“The DPP has exercised her discretion and

Former AG Anil Nandlall

her powers unlawfully and discriminatorily and therefore, her actions are illegal and unconstitutional,” Nandlall noted.

According to the former AG, while the DPP has the power to take over and discontinue all criminal charges filed, this “power and discre-

DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack

tion” is not absolute, and must be exercised reasonably and in accordance with established principles.

To this end, he pointed out that that the reasons advanced by the DPP cannot withstand objective legal scrutiny.

“The two legal rea-

Minister Volda Lawrence

sons given in the press statement are dubious at least. One that a report was not made to the Police station, the DPP was careful not to point which law requires for such a report to be made because there is no such law... Secondly, the DPP said she’s acting in good

Minister George Norton

governance; ‘good government’ is not part of the responsibility of the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions…,” he stated.

The former Attorney General further outlined that there seems to be a battle between authoritarianism and the rule of law unfolding, while noting that every time an authoritarian act is not challenged, then it is allowed to prevail over the rule of law.

“It is important that we do not allow unlawful decisions and abuse of power to go unaddressed… It is a pity that organisations and persons, who a few years ago were very vociferous on these very issues, have now become silent. History will judge their hypocrisy harshly,” Nandlall stated.

Hours after private criminal charges were filed against three more Government Ministers

by Nandlall on behalf of Opposition parliamentarian Juan Edghill, the DPP announced discontinuance of the case filed on April 19, 2018, against Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence and former Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton over the sole sourcing of over $600 million in drugs and other pharmaceuticals for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and the rental of a house in Sussex Street, Albouystown, Georgetown, to be utilised as a drug bond at a cost of $12 million monthly, respectively.

This move by the Opposition came on the heels of former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and former head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), being charged by the State on April 12, for “misconduct in public office: contrary to common law” as it pertains to the sale of three plots of State land.

Nevertheless, the DPP said in a statement on Monday that, “…These charges con-

cern a grave issue under the criminal law in relation to two serving Ministers. In the interest of good governance in the State of Guyana, such allegations ought first to have been reported to the Guyana Police Force for an investigation to be launched and the advice of the DPP sought.”

However, Nandlall had pointed out on Monday that, as far as he is aware, no one wrote requesting a review of the charges against Ministers Lawrence and Norton.

Moreover, he also recalled writing the DPP inviting a review of the charges filed against former Finance Minister and former head of NICIL that were brought on last week, and to date, he has not received a response.

Nevertheless, the PPP Opposition moved on Monday to file criminal charges against another three Government Ministers; this time in relation to the controversial D’Urban Park Project.

The private criminal charges were filed against Finance Minister Winston Jordan; Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson and Public Service Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, alleging a breach of the Procurement Act in relation to the expenditure of $906 million in public funds to a private company, Homestretch Development Inc, for the construction of the controversial D’Urban Park Project, which has been a contentious issue for some time now.

Jordan and Patterson have been jointly charged with misconduct and abuse of public trust for having allegedly authorised the payment, while Dr Roopnaraine, who was a Director of the company, has been charged with alleged misconduct and the abuse of public trust for having received in his capacity as Director the $906 million in public funds while serving as Minister.

NEWS 9

WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Proposed VAT on exports

GRA calls on PSC to prove businesses adversely affected W

hile declaring that he was speaking on behalf of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and not the Finance Ministry, GRA Commissioner General Godfrey Statia said amid concerns regarding Value Added Tax (VAT) on exports, companies would first have to provide empirical evidence to prove that was true.

He noted that if businesses could prove that they were affected, the GRA “will recommend to the Minister of Finance (Winston Jordan) changes to the Schedule and VAT Act to minimise such effect”.

He added that this was an ongoing exercise, and was the case for the fishing and forestry industries where after being presented with empirical evidence in 2017, changes were effected to the VAT Schedules, thereby allowing the affected items in the manufacturing process to be exempted.

“We are not a political organisation. If you need political advice, you should ask the Minister,” he said while addressing the issue on Monday at his Camp Street office. “All I am asking, is if you are saying that you would be adversely

affected, prove it to me, show me the facts.”

The Commissioner General was referring to statements made by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) on behalf of organisations such as the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA); the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Guyana Rice Exporters and Millers Association (GREMA).

Statia claimed that the GRA has been in constant discussion with stakeholders about this issue.

“We understand the reasons for moving items from exempt to zero rated and vice versa. In the initial phases when we made the changes in 2017, what we were trying to do was to minimise a request for refunds and, therefore, what we tried to do was to move exempt items, move zero-rated items to exempt.”

In response to representation made by correspondence of April 9, 2018, he said the Minister advised the GREMA that it should supply the GRA with the empirical data to support its claims of significant losses on costs owing to the change from

GRA Commissioner General Godfrey Statia

zero-rated to exempt status by the 2017 amendments to the VAT Act, so that remedial action could be taken.

This request was made in light of the previous initiatives taken to exempt the raw materials and other items used in this industry to reduce the burden of VAT. The items that are exempt include the supply of paddy, fertilisers, ploughs, import of raw materials and packaging materials, etc.

Additionally, the GRA boss said substantial waivers on duty and VAT on imported items

for the rice industry were provided. He said it should be noted that the VAT placed on electricity and water would rarely apply to GREMA members since they enjoy their own power generation and have their own water supply. The data on the losses, he reminded, is yet to be submitted to the GRA. Previously, the Government used zero-rated goods to lower the tax burden on low-income households by zero-rating essential goods.

For items with no value added or that were first in the value-added chain,

there is no difference to the consumer between exempting and zero-rating the items.

In order to ensure that local manufacturers of exempt products that were previously zero-rated whether for export or local supply were not unduly affected, many products exempted were the first in the chain, so they would not have attracted any value-added element, hence no significant input VAT to be reclaimed, eg, lumber and lumber products, poultry, and fish.

While Statia argued that the PSC was mixing

up the laws and may not have a full understanding of the VAT law, the Private Sector body said Monday that it strongly believed that the GRA was fusing two amendments, neither of which supported the interpretation and advice offered by the Authority to the Minister.

The PSC said the GRA was causing the Minister to reverse an undertaking given to the National Assembly in January 2018 that “none of these proposed amendments will negatively affect any individual or business”.

It was observed by the PSC that no changes were made to the zero-rated list in respect of exports, but the Minister and the GRA were advising that exports of goods and services listed in the exempt schedule were not zero-rated even if they were listed in the zero-rated schedule.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo was the first to state that serious consideration was being given to having the zero rating of exports for VAT purposes removed. A day later, Minister Jordan strongly denied that any changes have been made, or would be made, that would impact exporters in a negative way.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

May 8th deadline for public’s objections to Parking meters by-laws

T

he Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown has extended the stipulated 14day public scrutiny period for its amended parking meter by-laws by an additional 14 days, which expires on May 8, according to Town Clerk Royston King.

King made the disclosure at Monday’s statutory meeting of the Council.

The Town Clerk told the Councillors that they have received a number of written comments as it relates to the amended bylaws hence the suggestion to have the public scrutiny deadline extended.

Currently, the amended by-laws are posted at the Agricola Post Office, General Post Office, East Ruimveldt Market, Albouystown Market, Bourda Market, Stabroek Market, Festival City Clinic, the Mayor’s Office, the Offices of the Town Clerk and Chief Constable, the City Treasurer’s Department and the Dorothy Bailey Health Centre.

The current set of amended by-laws was approved at an Extraordinary Statutory Meeting on April 4. Since then an oversight committee was established to supervise the proper functioning of the controversial parking meter project. The committee has two

Councillors, Noelle ChowChee and Akeem Peter, along with two members of the contractor, Smart City Solutions and an independent member.

After the by-laws have undergone their round of public scrutiny, the written comments along with the by-laws will be forwarded to Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan for his approval and then be published in the official gazette.

The parking meter project was initially launched in January of 2017, but received high levels of rejection and criticism from the public. The lop-sided contract was contested by drivers and even Councillors of the municipality; this led to the suspension of the by-laws by Central Government.

Following a renegotia-

tion, Smart City Solutions and the M&CC reached a new agreement under the controversial parking meter project, which would now see persons paying $150 per hour and $800 for eight hours of parking in the city. Meanwhile, residents of the city would be issued with a restricted residential pass for free parking from 17:00h-19:00h Monday to Friday while parking would be free on Saturdays.

During the renegotiation, the subject of share profit and contractual obligations were discussed and it was agreed to have them remain the same – 20/80 M&CC-SCS for a period of 20 years. It was also disclosed that in the event of arbitration, the proceedings would be held in Miami despite the jurisdiction being Guyana.

US based philanthropist pumps $80M into state-of-theart research centre at UG

The University of Guyana’s Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith flanked

by Nardeo Singh and Jay Sobraj (left to right), with other executives.

T

he name Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Centre for Behavioral Studies and Research Centre will soon be emblazoned on a state-of-the-art facility at the University of Guyana Turkeyen campus.

The University of Guyana’s Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith and Jay Sobhraj, ink the US$400,000 Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Centre Jay Sobhraj, a Guyanese born United States based philanthropist, has pumped a significant grant of $80,000,000 to establish the state-of-the-art behavioural study, research and multi-purpose centre in place of the old canteen building.

The facility will house a bookstore, food court, model counselling centre, student gym and prayer rooms.

It will also have an extended Medex Station

and cater to various programmes including psychology, social work, criminology and psychiatry. The funding is being provided through the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Foundation.

Jay Sobhraj, one of the founders of the charitable organisation said his education was made possible through grants and he is grateful that he is now in a position to give back to his homeland. “We have to take care of our motherland,” Sobhraj declared.

An enthusiastic and deeply grateful Vice Chancellor Prof. Ivelaw Griffith said that discussions had been ongoing for a year.

“This is not only a signally important milestone along rebranding and rebuilding, but it testifies to our recognition of the essential purpose of our being to enhance the ability of our students to come in and get experience,” Prof.

Griffith, said.

“Philanthropy requires cultivation and

time,” the VC pointed out, as he expressed gratitude to the foundation for making such a significant contribution to UG developing and expanding its curriculum.

The University of Guyana’s Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith flanked

by Nardeo Singh and Jay Sobraj (left to right), with other executives.

The Centre will provide a location for the new psychology programme which the University will start in March 2018 and which is being funded by United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The new research facility will complement the mental health department which was established by the Ministry of Public Health. The department is currently training Mental Health Practitioners to work with mentally challenged persons. Over 100 such practitioners have been trained to date.

2 life sentences for Linden man who raped 8-year-old

A

trade unionist was jailed after he was found guilty on two counts of rape on Tuesday.

The jury returned with a guilty verdict, resulting in Justice JoAnn Barlow sentencing Michael Williams of Linden to serve life in prison for each count.

The man was emotionless while his sentence was read out to him. He is accused of raping an eight-year-old between December 2017 and January 1, 2018.

He will become eligible

for parole after serving

two decades in prison.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

45 Indigenous communities earmarked for titling, demarcation

T

he Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry has completed the investigations for 45 hinterland communities identified for land titling and demarcation. This was confirmed

by Coordinator of the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) project, Enrique Monize.

Sixty-eight communities were initially targeted, and 23 villages were investigated in the early stages of the project.

Monize also disclosed that the Ministry is now in the process of surveying these villages and completing those reports and discussing the way forward with the relevant agencies.

“This process is a very long one (and) we had some setbacks. We have 10 villages that are not giving consent for demarcation, and so we couldn’t move forward so we had to stop those 10 villages.

This set us back a bit further because we could have already completed some of those communities,” Monize explained.

In regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), where there is heavy mining, the process for land application and extension takes a longer period.

Coordinator of the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) project, Enrique Monize

Under the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), the Government of Guyana in 2013, signed a US$10.7 million agreement for the implementation of the Land Titling and Demarcation project. This project is being spearheaded by the United Nations Development Programme.

The ALT project seeks to enable Indigenous people to secure their lands and natural resources for sustainable social and economic development.

Titling and demarcation will strengthen land tenure security and the expansion of the asset base of Amerindians, enabling improved long-term planning for future development.

The Amerindian Land Titling project has been ongoing for four years.

Human rights in Guyana

US report says rights of suspects not always respected

A

US State Department report has raised questions about the rights authorities accord those in their custody, even as Guyana is moving towards reforming its security apparatus through the Citizen Security and Strengthening Programme (CSSP).

The report has raised questions on whether the rights of suspects are being trampled on According to the recently released 2017 Human Rights Report, there were cases wherein authorities did not respect the rights of persons it detained, such as the right to prompt access to an Attorney-atLaw. “An arrest requires a warrant issued by a court official, unless an officer who witnesses a crime believes there is good cause to suspect a crime or a breach of the peace has been or will be committed. The law requires that a person arrested cannot be held for more than 72 hours unless brought before a court to be charged,” the report states.

“Authorities general-

ly observed this requirement. Bail was generally available, except in cases of capital offences and narcotics trafficking.

Although the law provides criminal detainees prompt access to a lawyer of their choice and to family members, authorities occasionally did not fully respect these rights”, the report noted.

The report said the state provides legal counsel for those without the resources, but this is only in cases when such persons are charged with a capital offence.

It acknowledged the existence of the Legal Aid Clinic, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which it noted provides legal counsel at a reduced fee in certain circumstances, which the clinic itself determines.

“Police routinely re-

quired permission from the senior investigating officer, who was seldom on the premises, before permitting counsel access to a client.

Pre-trial Detention

Lengthy pre-trial detention remained a problem, due primarily to judicial inefficiency, staff shortages, and cumbersome legal procedures”, the report said.

“The average length of pre-trial detention was three years for those awaiting trial at a magistrate’s court or in the High Court. This was often beyond the maximum possible sentence for the crime for which they were charged.”

Reform

The security reform project which began in 2007 was scrapped in 2009 after the British Government had re-

quested to have oversight of the programme to ensure that there was ‘value for money’.

The former Government had disagreed with the manner in which the British Government had wanted the programme to be run, claiming that Britain had sought to intrude upon Guyana’s sovereignty.

However, the British Government said the Government of Guyana had submitted a different proposal, one which had focused on Police modernisation rather than a holistic approach to reform. The intention was to build a workable basis for improving national security while reducing crime in Guyana.

Government believes that, once implemented, Guyana’s security sector will be significantly strengthened, and hopefully, this would lend to reduction in the number of illicit activities that take place.

President David Granger has said, too, there is need for a stronger Police Force, one that is better equipped with all tools necessary to function adequately.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Dynamic Airways to commence Driver in Corentyne fatal accident on $1M bail passenger refunds in May

T

he Public Infrastructure Ministry, which has taken on the responsibility to compensate some 600 Dynamic Airways passengers who were forced to use alternative air transport last year, recently published a list of the names of persons who are expected to be reimbursed, beginning on May 2.

According to the published notice, “refunds will be issued Mondays to Thursdays from 09:00h to 15:00h and Fridays from 09:00h to 14:00h at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure’s Accounts Department, Fort Street, Kingston”.

The inconvenienced passengers are being asked to have in person their national identification card or passport along with proof of ticket purchase, whereby persons making claims on behalf of others are required to walk with an authorisation letter, with two signed witnesses, of the passenger whose name appears on the list, as well as his or her identification card or passport.

Important to note is that the Ministry has made a call for passengers of the airline to make their claims on the date their name has been assigned. The notice read, “Furthermore, to allow for smooth processing, the following passengers are asked to appear on the identified dates. Please note that if you do not appear on your identified date, there will be a fall-back period from May 14, 2018 to May 25, 2018.”

T

The embattled airline

More than $40 million will be repaid to the 600 passengers during the scheduled eight days.

Just last week, Guyana Times was told by the Head of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Captain Egbert Field that the organisation was in talks with the airline to iron out arrangements about how the passengers would be compensated.

When questioned about who would reimburse the monies that were owed to the Guyanese passengers since 2017, Field stated that the company would have to take on that responsibility.

Dynamic Airways abruptly ended its service in Guyana in October of 2017 owing to bankruptcy, leaving local travel agents in hot water, with them having to relate to passengers that their flights were cancelled and their monies were lost.

The onus of reimbursing passengers then fell on the Government and the decision

was made to utilise the company’s US$200,000 (G$40 million) bond to repay all the passengers.

However, the bond proved to be inadequate to repay the passengers.

The company moved out of its bankruptcy status in March of this year, stating that it would be providing charter flights until it has reconstructed its finances.

At that point, it will begin to provide services to its previous markets. The company has changed its legal name to Eastern Airlines.

Additionally, the airline is hoping to expand its fleet of planes from five to ten.

Meanwhile, it has been disclosed that the embattled airline has intentions of returning to the Guyanese market. In response to this, Field noted that the company would have to come with all the necessary documentation intact.

“I have not seen any application from them, neither have they approached the Authority directly.”

he man who was driving the car which crashed into a parked lorry, killing two persons on the Corentyne in Berbice last week, was this week placed on $1 million bail.

Navindra Premnauth, also known as Avinash, 25, of Lot 35 Grant 1802 Crabwood Creek, was placed on self-bail on one charge and $1 million bail on the second charge when he appeared before Whim Magistrate, Charlyn Artiga.

The Magistrate had initially suggested $2 million bail on the charges, but defence Attorney Mursaline Bacchus successfully advocated for the bail to be reduced to $1 million.

The charges Premnauth face allege that on April 16 he drove motorcar HC 2217 in a manner dangerous to the public, causing the death of Khemnie Chanchal and Soorajine Surjraj.

As a condition of bail, Premnauth has to report to the Skeldon Police Station fortnightly, and has had to lodge his passport.

Both matters have been transferred to the Number 51 Magistrate’s Court, and will continue

Driver: Navindra Premnauth

on May 23.

Reports are Surjraj, her mother and daughter were passengers in the car when the accident occurred.

The family was returning from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) when the accident occurred.

Reports are that the driver of HC 2217 might have fallen asleep behind the wheel, resulting in him losing control of the vehicle and driving it into lorry GMM 9207 which was parked on the eastern side parapet of the Number 58 Village Public Road, Corentyne.

The body of Surjraj was cremated at the Number 66 Crematorium on Sunday, while Chanchal’s was cremated on Monday.

Former Guyoil Manager sets record straight

– contradicts Finance Minister’s assertion on lost market share

D

espite a recent statement from Finance Minister Winston Jordan that the Guyana Oil Company (Guyoil) lost market share in 2017 owing to its performance, a former high-ranking official at the State agency is actually debunking this assertion.

Eric Whaul, who worked at Guyoil as its Sales and Marketing Manager until his services came to a sudden end earlier this month, would have worked at the State entity throughout the 2017 fiscal year.

Questioning the data being fed to Jordan, Whaul revealed to Guyana Times that the entity sold 23,000 more barrels of fuel in 2017 when compared to its sales in 2016. Whaul officially took over the portfolio of Sales and Marketing Manager in May 2016.

“Guyoil did not lose market share in 2017,” he stated. “In 2017, Guyoil Aviation Services Inc sold 34,500 barrels aviation fuel above its 2017 budget and more than what it sold in 2016.” He added, “In 2017, Guyoil sold 145,000 litres lubricant more than what it sold in 2016.”

“In 2017, Guyoil surpassed its budgeted after-tax profit. Guyoil revised its after-tax profit upwards in 2017 to $1.89 billion and we achieved $1.85 billion. Guyoil was 4700 bar-

Guyoil Chairman Mark Bender

rels ahead of its 2018 Budget at the end of February 2018.”

While he acknowledged that Guyoil fell short on its budgeted volumes in 2017, Whaul pointed out that the entity exceeded its original budgeted after-tax profit.

However, the marketing specialist noted that the business climate has not been a productive one.

“It is no secret that companies were complaining all year about the decrease in business and in September 2017, the numbers showed that reported fuel imports were down by over four per cent. In fact, in that same printed article, growth

Former Sales and Marketing Manager Eric Whaul

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

rate for 2017 was reported at 2.1 per cent against projected growth of 3.9 per cent.”

er… having both worked at TCL Guyana Incorporated.

“When I joined TCL Guyana Inc in 2011, he was the person in charge and the company was operating at a loss,” Whaul related. “Through the implementation of prudent marketing strategies, it started making profit from late 2011, which increased yearly until 2016 after the implementation of certain strategies against my advice.

“The resulting strained relations were responsible for my eventual departure in 2016 to join the team at Guyoil and I must confess that there was

Departure

There have been open questions as to the circumstances that precipitated Whaul’s sudden departure from Guyoil.

These questions would gain traction when one considers the entity’s performance in 2017 – as one of the few State entities to exceed the previous year’s performance.

But could the answers lie in changes at the board level? According to Whaul, he and the new Chairman, Mark Bender, have history togeth-

no love lost. I thought it was necessary that I clear the air on this matter by highlighting these facts as I move on,” Whaul concluded.

During a recent press conference, the Finance Minister had zeroed in on Guyoil.

Jordan related that its performance left more to be desired.

However, he added that the entity was expected to get a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) soon. Guyoil has been without a substantive CEO since Badrie Persaud, who was fired from the post in 2016 on the heels of a Nigel Hinds Financial Services’ conducted forensic audit.

“Guyoil kept within the realm of what they said they were doing, but they lost some market share. The performance was up to standard, but it could have been better. But they did transfer a billion plus in dividends to us.”

“They have a new Chairman there, Mr Mark Bender and they should get a new CEO there shortly,” Jordan related.

“They’re making some other personnel changes and hopefully, they’ll become a bit more aggressive, stem the fall in the market share and hopefully, improve it.”

But Jordan had noted that building on 2016; he had expected the company to do better than it actually did.

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No tax amnesty for Billions owed by GSL – GRA

O

ne month after Guyana Stores Limited (GSL) lost its legal battle against the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), regarding the payment of Corporation Tax, it is still to make any payments but worse than that, the company will not benefit from the ongoing tax amnesty for delinquent taxpayers.

This was made clear

earlier this week by GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia during a press conference. Statia reminded that in addition to being required to pay $3.8 billion to the GRA, the company also has a legal obligation to pay all its outstanding tax returns over eight years.

“There will be no amnesty for this particular taxpayer… I keep saying

all the time, you come to equity, you have to come with clean hands and if you have pushed us around all these years, you cannot expect that we are going to give you the olive branch,” the GRA boss asserted.

Statia explained that the company was first given the chance to submit all his outstanding tax returns, and also provide

the GRA with a settlement proposal as to how they want to go about payments. While it is not in the interest of the GRA to close any business, he said GSL has a responsibility to pay up.

While the company is required to pay $3.8 billion in taxes, Statia said “a sizeable amount of that will be penalty and interest and unless he tells us how he is prepared to liquidate the outstanding principle taxes, because it is more than that anyhow.

When you add the outstanding tax return he has not been filing and paying over the years, so it might be a lot more than that.”

The least payment the GRA is prepared to accept initially is just over $300 million in the initial phase. While the media questioned the GRA to state what the entire principle is, the Commissioner General said because of rules of confidentiality, he said he would not be able to divulge that information.

The company had requested 30 days to file those returns which have expired. The company has since begged for another extension, which was granted by the GRA allowing for a final deadline on Monday, April 30, 2018, which also marks the deadline for the filing

of all tax returns across the country.

During early March, GSL lost its appeal in a matter involving the payment of Corporation Tax to GRA, which it had taken before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to determine whether a two per cent minimum Corporation Tax was unconstitutional and amounted to the taking away of private property.

The CCJ dismissed the GSL appeal and awarded cost to the GRA as respondents. The matter arose in 2012 when the GSL refused to pay more than $3 billion in Corporation Tax after a notice of demand was sent to the company. The GSL had moved to the local courts, but both the High Court and the Court of Appeal had ruled against GSL, and ordered that it pay the $3,807,346,397 in Corporation Taxes.

The GSL then moved to the CCJ. However, the CCJ ruled that the two per cent Corporation Tax was not a forced loan, but the tax was constitutional.

The CCJ stated that the Income Tax Act provides a specialised procedure for challenging assessments, and the GSL should have used that procedure.

The CCJ also held that the two per cent minimum Corporation Tax was not

a loan, because the State does not repay the taxpayer, nor does the taxpayer have any right to repayment or redemption, which were crucial elements of any loan.

Under section 10A of the Income Tax Act, the taxpayer simply gets a credit if, and when, the stated conditions are met, and the taxpayer may then apply that credit in reduction of a tax liability, but the taxpayer is never entitled to repayment.

The court also held in its summary that the provisions of the Corporation Tax Act were clear and unambiguous, so that Parliament must be taken to have considered the implication of taxing turnover as distinct from taxing profit, and felt satisfied there was no need to exclude loss years or safeguard the taxpaying company’s capital.

The GRA was represented by Attorneys Ronald Burch-Smith and Mark Waldron. Guyana Stores Limited is owned primarily by Tony Yassin and Glenn Lall, publisher of the Kaieteur News.

Meanwhile, Guyana Stores Limited still owes the Government hundreds of millions of dollars for the purchased of the building on Water Street, Georgetown.

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Regional procurement breaches linked to corruption, nepotism- PPP MP O

p p o s i t i o n Member of Parliament, Juan Edghill has decried the constant breaches in the Procurement Act of Guyana, which he argued was as a result of corruption and nepotism although he admitted that these kinds of breaches were not peculiar to Guyana as they occurred in other parts of the world.

Edghill further argued that while Central Government was guilty of some of the most egregious breaches, several regional administrations throughout the country were also culpable, especially those where a majority of the officials were closely associated with the coalition Government.

He said the ulterior motive was to have hundreds of contracts to the value of billions of dollars handed to cronies and campaign financiers.

“It is clear that regional and other subordinate officials are following the example of the top bosses,” he stated.

In making reference to serious breaches in the Procurement Act in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara)

that were discovered by the Auditor General’s Office, Edghill said this was just one region where the issue existed.

According to the Act, an award of a contract should be made to the lowest responsive evaluated bid. The former Junior Finance Minister explained that in the procurement process, the evaluation committee evaluated all the bids and ensured that they satisfied all the requirements before awarding the contract.

The Auditor General had pointed out that an examination of the evaluation reports for a sample has revealed that in 22 instances, contracts were not awarded to the lowest or most competitive bidders, despite the evaluation committee recommending the lowest evaluated bidder in each instance.

In addition, no reasons were given in the Tender Board minutes as to why the recommendations of that committee were not followed.

Edghill said the report also pointed to one example, which involved the fixing of a structure at Pouderoyen. Twentyfour bids were submitted

Opposition MP Juan Edghill

and the award went to the ninth bidder.

The Opposition MP, who sits on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at Parliament, said these issues were now coming to light during their regular weekly sittings and this was just one prime example. He noted that the PAC continued to find many breaches of the Procurement Act at other regions also.

Training conferences have been held with the Regional Executive Officers (REOs) through the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of the Presidency and

Communities Ministry.

The Communities Ministry, which has direct responsibility for the REOs, has repeatedly emphasised to these regional officials the importance of staying within the boundaries of the law and the Public Procurement Act. Last month, PAC Chairman Irfaan Ali slammed Region Two REO Rupert Hopkinson for being aware of breaches of the law, but going ahead with the projects out of the belief that they were in the best interest of the Region. Ali proposed to the Finance Secretary

that disciplinary measures be pursued against him.

Hopkinson is under fire for using savings from Current Expenditures in order to execute capital projects in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

Such actions must have the approval of Finance Minister Winston Jordan.

The projects included the construction of a bus shed at Dartmouth, construction of the Anna Regina Health Centre, construction of a fence at Unity Park Phase One, construction of a fence at Unity Park Phase Two, construction of a sitting area at Cotton Field, and construction of a landing at Liberty, Pomeroon.

And only one week ago, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) officials were asked to leave the chambers after they failed to answer PAC questions regarding issues raised in the Auditor General’s Report. At the last PAC sitting, chaired by MP Pauline Sukhai, Region Nine REO Kerwin Warde was questioned on the Region’s procurement of drugs through interdepartmental warrants (IDWs). Warde

could not even provide definitive details on the reconciliation from the Materials Management Unit (MMU) of the Public Health Ministry, as recommended by the Auditor General in 2016.

In response, Warde indicated that he could not answer that question.

At this point, Sukhai upbraided the REO, noting that on appearing before the Committee, he had a duty to come prepared to answer whatever questions were put to him. Describing Warde’s statement as unacceptable, Sukhai asked him to confer with his support staff to get the information.

The Audit Office had recommended that the Regional Administration put systems in place to reconcile supplies received by the respective health facilities with the drugs’ lists initially submitted. It had also advised that the Region obtain the cost of the drugs and medical supplies from the Ministry, so as to reconcile the value of the drugs and medical supplies received with that of the sum warranted to the Ministry.

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As the country’s economy sinks deeper into decline, risk profile elevated – Jagdeo A midst concerns that Guyana is still experiencing difficulties when it comes to foreign money transactions, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo said that this situation could worsen as many international banks would not want to do business with Guyana for several new reasons.

While de-risking has been one of the major challenges, Jagdeo said that Guyana’s financial risk profile would be further elevated because of two recent occurrences locally. One has to do with the United States Government in its drug report for 2018 now identifying Government corruption as a primary source of money laundering and two, the borrowing policy of the new Administration.

“That was not there in 2017. They inserted the word Government corruption. Before that it was drug trafficking and money laundering.

That pushed up our risk profile in the international banking environment and, therefore, if it was bad, it gets worse,” Jagdeo said, referring to the US report.

The Opposition Leader continued,

“Countries look at sustainable management from an economic perspective, both at a micro level and in the banking institutions at the macro level. Because if you have macro problems, it could lead to balance of payment difficulties, exchange rates moving that will put their money and correspondent banking relationship at a risk.”

The former President wasted no chance to criticise the Government, therefore, for its plans to borrow US$900 million from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).

Jagdeo said based on the admission of the Finance Minister Winston Jordan that US$100 million has been borrowed to date since the coalition took office, when that amount is added to the US$900 million, it adds up to US$1 billion and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) borrowing of US$150 million totals US$1.15 billion.

“Those three elements alone will be more than the entire stock of external outstanding debt of Guyana in 2015 when we left office. So they would have in three to four short years bor-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

rowed as much as we left the 23 years in office,” Jagdeo asserted.

But Jordan has claimed that between 1964 and 1992, the People’s National Congress (PNC) Government borrowed less than the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

Jordan said that approximately US$2 billion was borrowed in the 28 years under the PNC, while in the 23 years of PPP/C rule, US$2.6 billion was borrowed. But in fact-checking this information, Jagdeo, a trained economist, said

if the PNC left US$2 billion and added US$2.6 billion of PPP/C borrowing that would be US$4.6 billion, but in reality it was US$1.1 billion.

He said, “What it meant is in spite of the fact that we borrowed $2.6 billion, we paid off US$3.5 billion in debt in our period…I am putting this simply because, of course, some of this is interest and principal payments so it’s a bit more complex than. But I’m just aggregating numbers so you can have a clear picture.”

De-risking

Responding to com-

ments made about the de-risking situation faced by Guyana and other countries in the Region, Jagdeo noted that large institutions have been giving up correspondent relationships with many banks in small countries, out of fear that they may be sanctioned or they may have to face this penalty.

He explained that in some instances, the rewards were not great enough and Guyana has been actively fighting this at the regional level.

He explained the main reason for doing this is because this policy could take the country back into the ‘financial stone age’ and create more issues for locals.

The Opposition Leader explained that financial intermediation and a healthy financial system were critical to the well-being of any economy. But given Minister Jordan’s recent statements, he feels that the Minister and by extension, the Government does not see de-risking as a priority. “So, Jordan is not so concerned and deeply involved,” Jagdeo said in response to Jordan’s limited knowledge about which of the local banks

were being affected by the correspondent banks in the Region and further afield.

He argued, “The Minister should know this. First of all, he doesn’t know what’s going on with our banks and then the only impact that he could recognise is because he had to put through for himself and it cost him plenty.

Rather than being concerned that this could affect every citizen of this country.”

Jordan said Guyana has requested the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fight de-risking, consistent with the Financial Stability Board’s fourpoint plan.

The Finance Minister said that this plan includes a further examination of the issue, clarification of regulatory expectations, capacity-building jurisdictions where respondent banks are affected, and the strengthening of tools for correspondent banks to perform due diligence checks.

He said that implementing this plan would require cooperation with both international banks and regulators.

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Cash dogs to boost Anti-money laundering fight

… specialist dogs being sourced from the US, Canada- UK Advisor

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Cash sniffer dogs are a crucial component of the anti-money laundering fight

he Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) had previously been cited for not implementing a number of recommendations made by a special security advisor brought from the United Kingdom.

Among those recommendations, was the institution of cash sniffer dogs at ports of entry.

Providing an update on the progress SOCU has made since his return early this year, UK-based advisor Sam Sittlington revealed that these specialist dogs are being sourced from the United States and Canada… though they will have to be trained and acclimatised locally.

“Regarding the cash dogs, this is in process,” Sittlington explained.

“And I’ve spoken to them, and they have a good arrangement for bringing dogs here to be utilised at the airports. That’s very important. Things are just taking their time, but I’m gradually

seeing improvements.”

Sittlington acknowledged that while dogs here could be used, they are not trained specifically to sniff out cash.

He cautioned that, because of the need to train these cash dogs, it would take time to get the programme up and running.

“There are dogs being trained in Canada and the US. They have to be brought here and be trained specifically on certain cash, and that takes about three to five months. They have to be introduced to their trainers, and the process of working together has to take place before they can actually be utilised,” Sittlington explained.

Interagency cooperation

Coordination between different agencies in the anti-money laundering fight is a sore point, especially with the release of a recent United States report that has turned the spotlight on inter-agency fractions. continued on page 21

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Consultancy Company selected for multimilliondollar hospitals upgrade

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Health Minister Volda Lawrence

he Government has already selected a consultancy company to oversee the multimillion-dollar upgrade of three primary healthcare facilities here, which is being funded by the Indian Government.

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence told Guyana Times that having identified a consultancy firm from a shortlisted pool that was sent, they are now waiting to hear from the Indian Government.

“We have already done all of that, the shortlisting, and sent it… So presently we are at the stage where we are awaiting the Indian Government’s response in terms of the consultant. It is in the domain of the High Commissioner now,” Minister Lawrence posited.

Last month, Indian High Commissioner Venkatachalam Mahalingam told reporters the company selected by the Guyana Government will undertake the Detail Project Report (DPR) as well as the Project Management Consultancy (PMC).

Back in July last year, Finance Minister Winston Jordan signed the US$17.5 million line of credit (LOC) with the Export/Import (EXIM)

Bank of India to refurbish existing facilities and construct new buildings at the Suddie Public Hospital in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), the West Demerara Regional Hospital in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and the Bartica District Hospital in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). The LOC will also be used to procure medical equipment to furnish the new and renovated facilities.

Since the Indian Government is funding the project, it is required that the contracts be awarded to companies from that country.

At the signing, Minister Lawrence had indicated that primary healthcare is the most important level of healthcare.

Therefore, she added, it is incumbent on the Ministry to ensure that services including prevention, promotion, rehabilitation and palliative care are delivered.

The Government wanted to use funds set aside for the controversial Specialty Hospital project for the modernisation of the three primary healthcare institutions.

However, the Indian Government had committed to provide a separate loan to make-over

Cash dogs to boost...

The US International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), volume two of March 2018, declared there was a lack of strong interagency cooperation among AML and drug-fighting agencies, adding that these departments did not have adequate human resources and the necessary training for complete effectiveness.

It was outlined that Guyana should continue to provide training to “increase awareness and understanding of AML laws within the Judiciary and agencies. The major agencies involved in anti-drug and money laundering efforts, such as the Guyana Police Force (GPF); the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA); the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU); the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), and the Financial

the three hospitals in exchange for the Specialty Hospital project to continue. But the Specialty Hospital project was never pursued by the Government.

With an US$18 million LOC from the Indian Exim bank, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration was hoping to create a thriving health tourism industry locally with the construction of a Specialty Hospital.

However, the project quickly found itself in a series of controversy causing the then Government to end a contract with the India-based contractor Surendra Engineering in 2014, citing instances of alleged fraud and delays.

The Donald Ramotarled regime subsequently filed a lawsuit against the firm for failing to honour its obligations.

Guyana is yet to recover close to $1 billion from that company.

While in Opposition, both the A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change had strongly opposed the Specialty Hospital project and upon its assumption to office in 2015, the coalition had decided to scrap the project, which had already expended some US$4.2 million on certain preliminary works.

However, after some convincing by the Indian Government, the coalition Administration hesitantly proceeded with the project, handing it over to another India-based contractor Fedders Lloyd to complete using the remaining US$13.8 million. But a few months later, that company was blacklisted by the World Bank until 2020, forcing the project to a standstill once again.

from page 20

Intelligence Unit (FIU), were observed as not being effective enough, owing to “inadequate human resources, insufficient training, and a lack of strong interagency cooperation”.

That report had also listed Guyana among many other countries as “major money laundering jurisdictions in 2017”. But according to Sittlington, inter-agency cooperation is an ongoing process.

“We have regular inter-agency meetings. That’s an ongoing process.

Everyone knows the protocols, everyone knows the importance of collaboration; and that is happening. I can say categorically it is happening, and it’s improving,” the specialist advisor said.

Region 3 businesses in spotlight at Agriculture Fair Customised cookies and other delights

by Delight Treats at the Region Three fair

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he Leonora Track and Field Centre was set abuzz last Saturday as patrons from near and far came out to support the Regional Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition (RACE) fair, an initiative that was organised by the Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) administration in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Exhibition featured approximately 60 booths showcasing a wide variety of both public and Private Sector entities from the region, which showcased their products and services.

This ranged from locally manufactured Guyanese foodstuff, handcrafted items and agricultural and commercial equipment.

However, great emphasis was also placed on the local food enterprises which featured new businesses such as the famous ‘doubles’ stand, bottled coconut water, herb sauces, plantain chips and decorative takes on cakes for all occasions; and the craft sector that shone with creative outputs of copper jewellery, floral arrangements, hand-painted fabrications and woodworking.

Various sectors attached to the Agriculture Ministry also established their respective booths which comprised mainly of plants and animals that were the central attraction for children of all ages. Persons were also briefed on the work done in animal rearing.

Many of these small-scale manufacturers related that this is a great way of promoting their business so as to expand their distribution scope while competing with the more prominent businesses that Guyanese are more au fait with.

One such business is Delight Treats, an innovative catering service which specialises in customised party treats such as cupcakes, cakes and cookies.

Owner of the trade, Otimaly Black, highlighted that this initiative will benefit her in a tremendous way since new customers are established.

“One of the problems that I’ve had

is that a lot of people over here (Region Three) don’t know that I do cookies so when I heard about it, I just jumped in right away so that I can get more exposure. People can also be able to see the things that I do,” Black explained.

Jets, a popular enterprise which specialises in juices, honey and concentrates, related that their sales will also be boosted since many patrons of the fair were interested in the products that they feature.

“We have a lot of products, a popular one being the mauby concentrate but we’ve moved towards honey and fruit juices which have become popular,” the exhibitor stated.

One of the organisers who shared his remarks noted that despite the heavy downpours throughout the day, persons came out in their large numbers to partake in the events and gained an opportunity to increase their knowledge on the products which their region produces.

“We’ve been wanting to do this for quite some time now and the response has been great, not only from the exhibitors but from the public. Hopefully, this will not be the last and there will be more to come where people can get to showcase their products,” he stated. The event concluded in the evening with a cultural programme, which was attended by Minister of State Joseph Harmon, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin, Social Protection Minister Amna Ally, as well as the exhibitors and spectators.

Meanwhile, a similar fair was hosted in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) over the weekend.

The two-day expo is being hosted by the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce (ECC) under the theme “Essequibo means business” and saw over 80 booths also occupied by predominantly local businesses, exhibiting products and services.

This is the region’s way of promoting what it have to offer in the agricultural and commercial sectors, while providing a stage for producers to exhibit their unique creations and skills.

D’Edward Village to benefit from new $141M Sea Sluice

A

$141.6M contract has been awarded to the Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited for the construction of four door sea sluice for the Mahaica-Mahaicony Abary Agriculture Development Authority (MMA/ADA).

To be constructed at the D’ Edward Village, West Bank Berbice, in Region five,4 the works will be supervised by E&A Consultants Incorporated which

was awarded some $16M to do so.

The contracts were officially singed

by Courtney Benn and Ansha Ally of E&A Consultants in the MMA/ ADA Boardroom on April 20. General Manager of MMA/ADA Aubrey Charles signed on behalf of the authority in the presence of committee members.The project is expected to be completed within eighteen months.

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PPP files complaint with SARA

- wants inquiries into lands given to PNC, party loyalists

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he Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has moved to formally file complaints with the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) for investigations to be launched into, among other issues, cases of land handouts to the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and key stalwarts in the Party.

This move comes on the heels of SARA Director, Professor Clive Thomas, telling reporters last Friday that the Agency only investigates matters reported or referred to it by other criminal agencies or Government departments, while noting that civilians too can make reports of stolen State resources.

As such, the Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira in a letter addressed to Professor Thomas on Saturday, made complaints on three matters, which she said falls squarely in his remit.

The letter, which was also released to the media, detailed firstly the acquisition of a house and land in Bel Air Gardens, by the former Finance Minister of the PNC Government and now Second Vice President and Foreign Affairs Minister of the APNU/AFC coalition, Carl Greenidge. According to the Opposition Chief Whip, the property, which was then State owned, was acquired below market value at the time and with no recourse to any procurement process.

Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira

Teixeira also asked for a probe into the Burnham family’s request for land, five acres of which was issued by the PPP/C Government at no cost to former Vice President and First Lady Viola Burnham and widow of President Forbes Burnham in D’Urban Backlands, Georgetown.

Finally, the Opposition Chief Whip calls for SARA to look into the acquisition of a huge tract of land to the PNC for their party headquarters, Congress Place, in Sophia, at no cost. She pointed out that sections of the land have been sold over the years at market value and for profit, with the most recent sale taking place after the 2015 General and Regional Elections.

“All of these cases are easily investigated as all the records are publicly available. And re-

member, the SARA Act provided for retroactivity, probably one of the first statutes that did so,” Teixeira said the in the letter.

She further went on to also formally lay her complaints on another series of cases regarding corruption, abuse in public office and violation of the Constitution, Procurement Act, and financial laws that were mentioned in a previous correspondence to the SARA Director, calling on him to also investigate them.

According to the Opposition Chief Whip, the most egregious of those cases relate to the sale of the country’s national patrimony in oil and natural gas well below what is observed internationally and “relatively favourable to investors by international standards,” as stated in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report prepared for Guyanese officials.

She also named the US$18 million signing bonus collected since 2016 and secretly stashed in a secret bank account at Central Bank instead of the Consolidated Fund as is constitutionally required.

During a “walk against corruption” held by SARA last week, as part of its “Corruption is Everybody’s Business” campaign, Transparency International Guyana Inc (TIGI) – the body of international transparency watchdog Transparency International

SARA Director, Professor Clive Thomas

– also called for the agency to look into the oil bonus.

Representatives from TIGI carried placards that read “SARA should recover signing bonus for Parliament – TIGI.” Meanwhile, the other cases include: the purchase of $620 million in drugs and pharmaceutical supplies in 2017, without going through the procurement process and paying over 100 per cent more than the market value; the renting of a house in Sussex Street as a drugs bond for $14 million per month, the contract of which a special Cabinet review team had found was flawed but nothing has been done to review it, while over $300 million in rent has been paid thus far; and the expending of over $2 billion in taxpayers’ dollars for the construction of the D’Urban Park

facilities for which no form of public procurement was undertaken and no credible records of the project has been produced to the Office of the Auditor General to date.

“Follow the trail Dr Thomas, you will find the answers and the accounts of those who benefited,” Teixeira told the SARA Director.

Moreover, the Opposition Chief Whip went on to question Professor Thomas about the complainant of allegations that $28-35 billion was lost each year in procurement fraud and another $306-313 billion per year being lost due to corruption under successive PPP/C Administrations.

“Strange to say, these are the same figures you used prior to the 2015 elections. Are you, sir, the complainant? And where is your evidence? If you declared such losses were real and then used your position in the SARU/SARA without evidence and mere mathematical speculation, then this is a case of reckless irresponsibility of enormous proportions,” Teixeira posited.

She further noted that such disinformation fed to the Guyanese electorate for several years leading up to the 2015 elections as well as friendly Governments and international organisations has been clearly exposed as a “concerted political campaign to get the PPP/C out of office”.

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US Sanctions on Rusal

Gov’t task force to tackle Bauxite workers’ concerns

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he coalition Government has established a task force to ensure workers of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) are not adversely affected by recent sanctions affecting parent company Russia Aluminum (Rusal).

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman on Wednesday visited Rusal (Guyana operations), located in Kwakwani, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) to deliver the assurances first-hand to workers. Rusal Guyana is a majority shareholder in BCGI and a subsidiary of Rusal.

“We are here to as-

sure you that we are not going to see your jobs just go aside. We are going to be fighting,” Minister Trotman told workers. He announced that a task force headed by Minister within the Natural Resources Ministry, Simona Broomes, will be leading this effort.

A proposal was made to Cabinet on Tuesday to establish the task force which would address the “crisis that could come” and address general company workers’ relations.

Last week, the United States Treasury Department announced sanctions against Rusal which would effectively

ban the company from conducting business in American currency.

The sanctions were to take effect in June but this week the Treasury Department announced it is pushing back the deadline to October 23, 2018, to give American companies time to wind down business with Rusal.

The task force is a cautionary measure and includes Finance Minister Winston Jordan, Members of Parliament Jermaine Figueira and Audwin Rutherford, General Secretary of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GBGWU) Lincoln Lewis, and the Department of

Rusal workers listening to officials

Minister Raphael Trotman addressing Rusal workers

Labour.

“Rusal, the company, the management and its workers have to find a way to work together to save this industry. The Government of Guyana has a duty to stand and work with you to save your jobs,” Minister Trotman said.

Minister Broomes also gave assurances to workers that the task force will work in their best interest. “Just know the reason for the task force is not to sit down and take information but to come up with solutions,” Minister Broomes said.

GBGWU’s General

Secretary, Lewis, echoed the Minister’s sentiments and called for collaboration between workers and the company to further the task force’s work. “It is for you to give the Government the mandate as to the way forward. The Government representatives … have made the point that the Government is not prepared to leave you in the wilderness but to stand with you,” he said.

Managing Director of BCGI, Valerii Vinokurov, explained that the mining operations had halted operations following the announcement of the

sanctions. Rusal Guyana will now resume work after being stalled for some 10 days. He added that contractor, Oldendorff Carriers, will also continue its work with the company.

Additionally, BCGI is working with the Bank of Guyana to open accounts in Euro currency to continue operations, “I want to assure you there is nothing to be afraid of. Rusal company is not going anywhere, we will continue to work and produce here in Guyana,” Vinokurov assured through a translator.

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Domestic violence in Guyana WBD man murders – US report lover, commits suicide widespread … Successful prosecution is limited

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Dead: Diane Hernandez

he West Bank Demerara (WBD) village of Good Intent was plunged into a state of shock Wednesday morning when it woke to news that a resident allegedly murdered his lover before attempting suicide by slitting his throat.

Dead is Diane Hernandez, a 48-yearold housewife of RechtDoor-Zee, WBD. She

Realising that something was amiss, the attendant contacted her relatives and instructed them to go to the house.

Upon arriving at Glasgow’s residence, the relatives had to break in to the locked house where they reportedly found the couple lying on a bed.

Hernandez’s body was on the bed, but her head was propped up with what appeared to be a

ries with him occasionally.

“We never had any problems…

I don’t know why he wan burn me house,” the woman related. According to Blackman, she was sleeping and unaware of what transpired until her granddaughter, Simone Farley, informed her.

However, the granddaughter, whose apartment was scorched, recalled smelling gasoline before seeing the fire.

According to the woman, a few ornaments were destroyed and a corner of her apartment was scorched. However, she managed to put out the fire before it caused any major damage.

She went on to point out to Guyana Times two bottles containing a suspected flammable substance which the suspect allegedly used to start the fire.

Farley further related to this newspaper that while she and Glasgow stopped speaking to each other about four months ago, she was clueless as to why he would want to destroy her house.

According to the

By Jarryl Bryan

D

omestic violence-related killings are being perpetrated locally with seeming impunity, and United Kingdom-based Senior Security Advisor to President Granger, Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Russel Combe, recognising the severity of the issue and the need to take action, told this publication in an interview that the scourge must be dealt with in a two-pronged way; one: build Police capacity to investigate and take necessary action; and two: institute social reform.

“Domestic violence, I realise, is an issue. It’s a scourge in every society, but it’s making sure the Police are equipped with the tools to do their jobs in terms of being able to investigate, detect, and solve any such crimes (that really matter),” Combe declared.

While domestic violence comes under security reform, Combe noted, preventative measures must be incorporated under social reform, because preventing domestic violence in the first place is the ideal situation.

“Ideally, of course, we would like such crimes not to take place, but that’s another sort of area, social reform as opposed to security reform. But I would say the Police have identified that they do need better facilities at Police stations to be able to take statements and do the first responders’ aspect of investigating such complaints.

“They are making an effort, and a number of Police stations have already been rehabilitated to provide such facilities, particularly under the IDBfunded Citizen Security Strengthening Programme,” he explained.

US report

Police detectives at the scene Wednesday morning

reportedly shared a visiting relationship with the suspect, Nigel Glasgow, 40, of Guyana Times understands that the duo arrived at Glasgow’s house late Tuesday night, but just about 02:30h on Wednesday morning, screams and shouts were heard emanating from the house.

According to information received from Police sources, the gruesome discovery was made by two relatives of the mother of Glasgow’s children, who is a pump attendant. This newspaper was told that the pump attendant reportedly received a phone call from the suspect, requesting that she took care of their children.

cable wrapped around her neck while her hands were bound. The alleged suspect, on the other hand, was lying alongside her, bleeding from his throat.

In the wee hours of the morning when screams had erupted, the man’s two dogs tarted to bark and in an attempt to silence them, the animals were allegedly killed by the suspect.

During this commotion, the neighbours were awakened and as such, Glasgow reportedly attempted to burn down their house. The elderly woman told this publication that she was never close to the alleged suspect and only shared pleasant-

neighbours, after killing the dogs and starting a fire at their house, Glasgow reportedly padlocked his front door from the outside and gained entry into his house through a window, which he then secured once on the inside.

The two persons who made the discovery had to break the window to get into the house. The Police were then summoned to the scene and sometime after they were seen removing the alleged suspect and rushing him to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

Glasgow, a former cane harvester, subsequently died.

In the United States’ State Department’s recently released 2017 Country Report on Guyana, there is recognition that while the law criminalises domestic violence and spousal rape, such abuses remain widespread, and successful prosecution is limited.

“The law criminalises rape of men or women, including spousal rape and domestic violence. The law provides stringent penalties for rape, with life imprisonment as the maximum penalty. Successful prosecution of cases of rape and domestic violence was infrequent,” the report detailed.

“Domestic violence and violence against women, including spousal abuse, was widespread. The law prohibits domestic violence and allows victims to seek prompt protection, occupation, or tenancy orders from a magistrate. Penalties for violation of protection orders include fines of up to $10,000 and 12 months’ imprisonment.”

The report cites allegations of Police accepti n g bribes from perp e trators, a n d notes cases of magistrates applying inadequate sentences after conviction.

In Guyana itself, the

Security Advisor Russel Combe

Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Social Services (PSCSS) had found, during a 2017 visit to Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), that there are shortfalls in how equipped authorities are to deal with domestic violence cases.

The committee was informed that ranks are not specifically trained to deal with domestic violence. However, officers are exposed to such cases during their initial training.

In its recommendations, the committee had said, “There should be continuous training for officers in areas of suicide (prevention), domestic violence, and road safety. Police officers should coordinate with the religious community to have a representative on the list of Cop and Faith.”

The scourge

Last Thursday, 23-year-old Deomattie “Kalvina” Persaud, a mother of two, was stabbed to death by her reputed husband, 43-year-old fisherman/farmer Bishwanie Maraj, who committed suicide after the incident by ingesting a poisonous substance.

On April 17, Cleveland Williams reportedly stabbed his child’s mother, Lashawna Boyce, twice in her back.

The incident allegedly occurred when the 46-year-old Williams confronted the woman while she was walking along D’Urban Street.

Armed with a knife, he began pushing Boyce about her body, and a scuffle ensued between the two. He allegedly wounded Boyce and left her in a nearby drain as he made good his escape.

Public-spirited persons rushed Boyce to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), where she was admitted a patient. Williams was subsequently remanded to prison.

Prior to the above incident, Guyana Defence Force Captain Orwain Sandy was remanded for shooting dead his lover, Reona Payne, on March 31, 2018 at Alexander Village, Georgetown.

Reports are that Sandy and Payne were in a motorcar proceeding along First Street, Alexander Village when an argument ensued after he reportedly accused her of being unfaithful. He reportedly stopped the car, and as the woman exited, shot her several times with his service revolver.

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World Copyright Day lecture

Launch of the Guyana Annual postponed due to plagiarism, other violations

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he launch of the Guyana Annual Magazine for 2018 has been postponed on account of plagiarism and other violations in respect to the content of its literary pieces.

This was revealed

by National Library Chairman Petamber

Persaud, during a conference held this week in celebration of World Book and Copyright Day. “The launch of the 2018 issue of the Guyana Annual Magazine was pushed back to way down in May due mainly to two factors – plagiarism and unacknowledged sourc-

es of information. These surfaced from two competitions: the oil and gas essay [competition] and the journalism competition. Plagiarism and unacknowledged sources also showed up in poetry and short story,” he stated.

Persaud further stat-

ed that there was the need for the Magazine, which has been in existence for more than a century, to be precise before it is revealed to the public.

“We, the custodians of that magazine, couldn’t go ahead and publish this Guyanese tradition,

which is over 100 years old, because of the harm it may do to the consumer of that product,” he indicated.

The Chairman also gave a brief insight into the importance of World Copyright Day and the significant role it played in appreciating reading and encouraging creativity in the minds of both readers and writers.

“The main aim of World Intellectual Property Day is to raise awareness in how patents, trademarks, copyright, etcetera, affect the daily lives and how it helps to promote creativity and innovation,” Persaud said.

Meanwhile, the lecture featured three presenters who gave their contributions so as to better understanding the term ‘copyright’.

However, the main focus was placed on plagiarism, a common practice by most students when obtaining information.

Head of the Readers’ Services Division at the University of Guyana (UG), Clyden Harris, during her remarks, highlighted the ways in which plagiarism could occur and stressed that writers must establish

originality and acknowledge their sources of information.

“You must make sure you do not create the misleading impression that the paraphrase wording or sequence of ideas are entirely your own,” she said to the audience.

“Question and evaluate the ideas of other authors. You also provide credibility for your work,” Harris added.

Additionally, Attorney-at-Law Teni Housty briefed the audience of primarily students on the determination which they should have within to produce original pieces, rather than to plagiarise works available on the Internet or by any author.

“There must be some sufficiency of application of skill and labour on your (the students’) part to produce a work that is recognised by copyright,” Housty stated.

Meanwhile, UG lecturer Mark Tumbridge, while recognising the ways in which information could be obtained, explained that the Internet was one of the main distractions in today’s world since it was seen as the source of most copyright violations.

WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Do fuh do…

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…on criminal charges

fter futzing around with two years of throwing shade at the PPP, after the highly publicised “audits” were conducted by one Goolsarran, the PNC-led Government charged ex-Finance Minister Ashni Singh and ex-head of NICIL, Winston Brassington, with “criminal misconduct in a public official”. Your Eyewitness already weighed in on the ridiculousness of instituting an archaic, COMMON LAW criminal charge.

So, have no fear, he isn’t going to regale you again, dear reader, with the arcane technical minutia of that loose and imprecise medieval charge — which has caused England to propose it be eliminated altogether for a statutory alternative.

‘Cause the PPP has come up with the identical charge against two sitting ministers of the PNC-led Government!! Payback’s a bitch!!

Basil Williams, the foot-and-mouth-prone Attorney General, immediately erupted about the “ridiculousness” of this move. He knows he’s been checkmated. While maybe not having the pedigree of, say, the maxims of equity, our local principle of “do fuh do na obeah” does seem to be apropos!! Williams has all but demanded the constitutionally independent DPP file a nolle prosecui — not to prosecute – in the PPP charges.

But that’s exactly what the PPP wants!! The DPP would have to state on what “substantial grounds” she’s halting that prosecution – impreciseness of the common law charge? Availability of statutory alternatives?? Whatever! — and those are the very reasons the PPP can use to demand the charges against THEIR two officials be also dropped!! Our local expression, “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander”, after all, is as English as you can get, and might very well be the basis of “Equity”, which puts a halt to the arbitrariness of the common law!!

But behind the gamesmanship of the PNC pandering to its gallery — in which it raised great expectations — is the serious matter of them once again putting pressure on the judicial system to do their dirty work. Back in the day, Burnham moved the Arnold Rampersaud case from Berbice to Georgetown for that reason. He was disappointed…and we believe once again he will be, from his residence at Seven Ponds.

While Williams thought he was clever to use the ambiguities and looseness of the common law charge to give the Judiciary wriggle room to convict the PPP’s ex-ministers, they’ve now been placed in a double bind if they don’t apply the same “rules” to the PNC ministers. And it matters not that the DPP might’ve interjected with a nolle prosecui – as Ramkarran SC predicted. Even Williams would know that this does not operate as an acquittal.

Lawrence and Norton can always be charged again by the PPP!! …on People’s Power Opposition Leader Jagdeo quite rightly raised the impropriety of Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan pronouncing conclusively that the CCJ WILL rule for his PNC-led Government on the “sovereignty of the people” case in front of the CCJ. Ramjattan, of course, could be whistling in the dark, because he’s scared sh*tless his nemesis Jagdeo might be running again!! That’s his and Nagamootoo’s worst nightmare.

He therefore deliberately obfuscates the issue in the case: that the “sovereignty of the people” is possibly infringed by the amendments restricting qualifications on running for the presidency. The term limit is only ONE such restriction. So Ramjattan can be excused for avoiding the “basic structure doctrine” our Supreme and Appellate Courts utilised to reach their decision.

But how can AG Williams actually claim “the doctrine does not apply to Guyana and any other CARICOM country that has a constitution that mirrors the Westminster model”? As your Eyewitness pointed out before, there are two such cases from Belize – Bowen (2009) and BCB (2011)!!

Have his octogenarian 5 Legal Advisers fallen asleep? …and the IMF’s advisory The Government-controlled Chronic bigged up the IMF’s new anti-corruption guidelines. Will they now highlight the same IMF’s criticism of the obscene terms of Trotman’s oil contract?

He who comes to equity must come with clean hands!

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or the past ten years the Sorsha Williams Foundation has been making great strides towards structuring a more comfortable life for Autistic children in Guyana.

Initially named the Greenheart Autistic School, the institution was founded by Karen Williams and her husband in order to provide a suitable learning environment for their daughter Sorsha. After moving locations, the decision was taken some three years ago to rename the private institution after its inspiration Sorsha.

Being the first institution of its kind in Guyana, the Sorsha Williams Foundation caters the specific needs of autistic children; not only teaching them mainstream ‘school work’ but also focusing on manners and general behavior. To gain entry into the school, students would need a referral letter form a relevant Doctor or Physician stating that they are showing signs of or have Autism.

Teaching methods

It is no secret that

autistic children would need a little more care than others, as such, the Foundation aims at making their teaching methods as relatable as possible for their students. All while ensuring that they are taught the same content as others. The foundation also ensures that their methods are flexible for both verbal and non-verbal students.

Upon entering the institution, students are given an evaluation in order to assess their knowledge and pace of learning. At that point, the teachers can then place them in the appropriate grouping or class.

Unlike the school system, where students are placed in a beginning grade and then promoted in accordance with their age; this institution groups students according to their level of learning, the groups are totally oblivious to the age of the students. As such, each student is given enough time to learn all that they can before they are promoted to another class.

The school utilises two basic teaching meth-

‘A series of teaching aids on the walls of the institution’

ods; PECS and TEACCH. The Picture Exchange Communication system (PECS), allows for students to learn visually. This system is used mainly for Autistic students who are not verbal.

“For those who can’t talk, we tell them point to butterfly, you have to call the animal or color or whatever it is and they will identify it once they know it,” Teacher Candy explained. She noted that this method has been extremely effective with the students at the school.

The TEACCH method is also aimed at visual learning and often involves the use of a television, computer or tablet. These devices are used because they also assist in capturing the attention of the students.

Although it may seem like teaching non-verbal students to read would be a challenge, teachers at the school have a special method of identifying whether or not their students can read. “For example I can put the word flower and I draw a picture of that flower. I then take away some of the letters from the word flower and I put it in front of them and say spell the word flower and they can look at the letters I have and insert it correctly.

That’s how we know a child can read,” Teacher Mandy explained.

“Even though they are all autistic they are all different,” one teacher noted. Hence, they are most time in the habit of creating specialized programs or way of teaching

‘Teachers Mandy, Candace and Vanessa pose for a photo with Sorsha Williams’

for individual students.

Curriculum

Despite having the need to teach in a special way, The Sorsha Williams Foundation seeks to redesign the National school Curriculum to suit their students and teaching methods.

General subjects such as Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Science are taught to the students.

More specifically, the teachers explained that it is important for their students to be taught areas such as colours of the flag, the President’s, Prime Minister’s, Minister of Education’s name, and community workers.

“Presently I’m working on new idea I got where I’m doing combination Maths, I’m doing multiplication with addition or multiplication with subtraction,” Teacher Mandy stated.

This new aspect of their teaching will bring the students so much closer to their counterparts in the National school system.

Teachers disclosed that formulating a curriculum is very tedious

as it would need to be captivating in order to suit the short attention span of their students.

Believe it or not, Swimming is a part of the school’s curriculum.

Many Autistic students often have sensory issues; the solution for this being water. The school takes a weekly trip to the Colgrain pool where students are allow to express themselves. Titling the exercise ‘Free expression’, Teacher Candace explained that the water is a great calmer for students, it allows the teachers to see their abilities and talents that they might have.

Patience

One fact that each teacher agreed upon was the need for patience when teaching or caring for Autistic children.

The educators highlighted that it is usual for Autistic students to ‘throw tantrums’, most of which you cannot see coming your way. “As a teacher we have to go beyond most educators and we need to be patient” they stated.

Another aspect of their job that all three teachers agreed upon,

was the sense of accomplishment that they experience when their students learn something new.

“Just one thing, it could be a word or a color, when they grasp something new it makes you feel very rewarded,” Teacher Vanessa shared.

Importance of having a School

The Guyana Times Sunday Magazine also took the opportunity to speak with Sorsha Williams’ father who had a little to share on the importance of having a school.

“The school structures them,” he stated “It’s important for us to know the behavior from the school and then we can apply the relevant techniques at home.”

Mr. Williams explained that most importantly whenever the children behave out of the norm at home or whenever they throw a tantrum, suggestions that the received from the school would help in how parents go about dealing with a problem.(Jemima Holmes) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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By Lakhram Bhagirat

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hoaib Khan is nine years old. He is tall and likes to smile a lot but most of all he loves his gadgets. He is a whiz when it comes to memorising passwords, patterns and lock codes, but, Shoaib likes to be alone.

He is a special kind; he does not conform to societal norms, not because he does not want to, but because he just cannot. You see the upbeat Shoaib has been diagnosed with moderate to severe autism for the past six years.

Shoaib’s father, Shameer Khan, says his son was born normal but remained that way until he was approaching his third birthday. He began displaying signs consistent with an autistic child but his parents had never heard of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) nor was any doctor within the public

Shoaib during a recent visit to the Zoo

“It takes patience,” says Shoaib’s father healthcare system able to properly diagnose him.

As time progressed, Shoaib stopped speaking to his parents and even ceased looking at them when they spoke to him. Eventually, the situation deteriorated to the extent where Shoaib started to vigorously bite himself whenever he got angry posing as a danger to himself. Concerned

WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

for her son’s safety, his other , Faith Khan, took Shoaib to a private hospital where he was formal- ly diagnosed with autism and referred to the Step by Step Foundation.

For the past six years, Shoaib has been a student at the Step by Step School and according to his father, he has seen tremendous improvements in his son’s condition.

“When he first come here to the school he wasn’t using the toilet and so.

He never used to watch you when he talk and he does cry and bite heself up but now he does control heself and I am glad this school is helping he,” Shameer said.

At the Step by Step School Shoaib is being taught basic life skills like how to tie his shoe, eat by himself and dress properly. He would not have acquired these skills had he been undiagnosed or hidden away by his parents in fears of being stigmatised. Nevertheless, his parents embraced his uniqueness and enrolled him into the Step by Step School, despite the common gossip from members of society.

The Khans have four other children apart from Shoaib and according to them, he has been the centre of their universe, as their youngest child. They praised their other children for being strong enough to support their brother and caring for him even when they were not around.

Presently, Faith resides in the United States with Shoaib’s other siblings and has been actively pushing for him to join her and his other siblings. Faith says it is hard for her to be away from her baby when he needs her, but she re-

mains confident in his father’s abilities to care for him while preparations are in the pipeline to have the two of them move to the US. It is quite rare for a father, especially of a child with high dependency as Shoaib, step up to the plate and take the responsibility to care for that child.

To fully understand the life altering implications of the diagnosis, the Times Sunday Magazine sat down with Shameer.

The first thing Shameer stressed was that it takes patience, and lots of it too, to live with and care for an autistic child . He however noted that as a parent, he simply could not abandon his responsibility to care for his son. During the initial stages of his diagnosis, Shoaib would throw tantrums and simple changes would upset him to the extent where he would bite himself until it bleeds.

Shameer further added that this behavioral pattern has improved tremendously to the point where Shoaib would accept changes in small doses. He said Shoaib during a reading lesson at the Step by Step School

Shameer and Shoaib

Shoaib is fun and now learning social skills.

“Before he never used to play with the other children them and so and even until now he don’t go outside off he own and play but if me or somebody else take he outside he will play. Somebody always have to be around he or he would get scared,” Shameer says.

He added that his son would not sleep without him being present and they would spend more of their free time with his tablet exploring the world of the internet or attempting to read a

book.

A lot of time is invested into molding him to be somewhat independent and that investment is paying off. Shameer urges parents to be aware and observe their children so that they can catch the signs of autism at an early stage and seek intervention. He also advised that they should be tolerant despite what society thinks because the only thing an autistic child need is unconditional love from the people who are supposed to love them. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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National oil spill response capacity strengthened ….stakeholders undergo training

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embers of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan Committee, first responders and department heads are among some 60 persons being exposed to training, to effectively and efficiently respond to both onshore and offshore oil spills.

The Incident Command Systems and Oil Spill Response three-day training workshop was held at the CDC’s Conference Room, Thomas Lands, and was a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Natural Resources, ExxonMobil and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC).

It seeks to improve the country’s national oil spill response capacity to ensure the well-organised development and deployment of systematic tools for command, control, and coordination of a multi-agency response to incidents.

The course will provide the means to coordinate the efforts of individual agencies in their common goal toward the stabilisation of an incident and the protection of lives, property, and the environment.

The training session is a stan-

dardised, on-scene, all-hazards approach to incident management and allows responders to adopt an integrated organisational structure to match the complexities and demands of the incident while respecting agency and jurisdictional authorities.

At the opening ceremony today, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon noted that issues, such as oil spills, are a major concern for the government, given its emphasis on the creation and maintenance of a safe, healthy and sustainable environment within the context of its thrust of developing a green state and economy.

“We, therefore, look forward to the production of our first oil and the subsequent exploitation of this valuable

Guyana, India sign agreement to rebuild Indian Arrival monument

resource, but we are equally, if not more concerned about the preservation of our environment, the integrity of our coastline and the safety of our marine resources. Therefore, even as we place a greater emphasis on safety and prevention and mitigation of oil spills and its related consequences, we have to pay greater attention to these things not occurring,” Minister Harmon underscored.

The State Minister who also has responsibility for Disaster Risk Management explained that the exercise is part of the government’s partnership with ExxonMobil to create an enabling environment for persons to benefit from various forms of training relevant to the oil and gas sector.

He said that the administration is cognisant of the interest and in some cases unease that the citizenry has about of the consequences of a possible oil spill,’ as well as the potential dangers associated with the production of oil and gas. Minster Harmon, therefore, urged the agencies involved in the training exercise to keep the public fully informed of these and future similar activities.

The session provides the working conditions that will see the coordination of efforts to ensure all responders are utilising standardised terminology, interoperable technologies, organisational structure, and management techniques. This allows any responder to have a common expectation and understanding of how agencies and de-

partments will organise when working together in response to an incident.

ExxonMobil’s Country Manager, Rod Henson said that the oil company was pleased to be a part of a training session that will help to strengthen Guyana’s national oil spill plan. “Those plans are evergreen, they always change and that’s normal and natural and we are happy to be a part of it and we are proud to help out this week,” Henson is quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying.

According to the Director-General (ag), Civil Defense Commission (CDC), Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, the skill sets and best practices attained during these sessions will increase the knowledge pool of the members of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan Committee as they further the strategy.

Craig also reiterated that the exercise will strengthen the response capacity and preparedness of all the agencies and ministries which have a role in maintaining the Plan.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of the Petroleum Department, Nicholas Chuck-A-Sang emphasised that the oil response is a national agenda that all government agencies must be exposed to.

The workshop is the first of two Incident Command Systems and Oil Spill Response courses scheduled for this week. The last event is slated for April 28 at Splashmin’s Resort.

Proposal for ban on plastic items for Cabinet – Harmon

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fter much controversy surrounding the construction of the Indian Arrival Monument at Palmyra, East Coast Berbice and the embarrassing collapse of the structure last year, the Governments of Guyana and India have signed an agreement to help rebuild this monument which will be dedicated to Indian arrival in Guyana.

A high-level ministerial team headed by Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman who was performing the functions of Foreign Affairs Minister, and inclusive of Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson and Social Cohesion Minister Dr George Norton, visited the site at Palmyra last Sunday.

Minister Trotman revealed that a cooperation agreement signed between the two Governments will soon see commencement of reconstruction of the historic monument. This is according to the Department of Public Information, which said that a team from the Indian High Commission had also visited the site.

For its embarrassing collapse, the Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) Administration has blamed secrecy in the way the coalition Government had undertaken construction of the Indian Arrival Monument. The base of the monument crumbled on April 26, 2017 in the wake of claims by some workers of their not being paid.

Prominent national artist Philbert Gajadhar, who along with Winslow Craig designed the Indian Arrival Monument at Palmyra, also blamed the contractors for the collapse. Gajadhar had said the design was not in keeping with what was originally agreed on during the initial phase of the project

The current state of the monument

design.

During the visit to Palmyra, Patterson said a soil test showed the 17-ton erection was too heavy to lay on the swampland, which formerly was used as a cane field. It was revealed also that Guyana has agreed to utilise Indian expertise in engineering, architecture and sculpting for the completion of the project.

Trotman said the matter would be discussed at Cabinet soon. He said all relevant documents have already been sent to India, and are being examined by experts there.

Minister Patterson said the results of the soil tests and other requirements have been provided to the Government of India.

While the overall costs associated with reconstruction of this monument are still to be finalised, the Government has said it is keen on having the monument completed soon, especially in light of previous issues experienced.

The Government has also said it hopes the monument could be completed in time for the first official visit to Guyana of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, before the end of this year.

The initial project, costing $97 million, included construction of a base for a three-ton monument depicting six persons (four adults and two children). The six-foot structure depicting six bronze figures of three men, two women and a child illustrates Indians in their everyday life.

The base collapsed on April 25, 2017 as workers were sand filling the structure. A number of Government agencies have since distanced themselves from the project.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon speaking at the Earth Day observance which was organised by the Department of Environment and hosted at the Baridi Benab at State House

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proposed plan that could result in a ban on the use of plastic items will be presented to Cabinet for its consideration; a move that is supported by the Department of Environment.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon made the disclosure while addressing the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Environment’s Earth Day celebrations at State House.

“We would have introduced to Cabinet a memorandum prepared by the Department of the Environment, which Cabinet will consider seriously. It’s a very solid piece of document, a very solid memorandum,” Harmon is quoted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) as saying.

Minister Harmon, who also has responsibility for the environment, said he has already asked the Department of Environment to have the technical officers be present at that Cabinet session to properly explain the measures proposed.

The Department’s Head, Ndibi Schwiers said the document was a simple draft that was seeking to reduce on a short-term basis, the importation of single-use plastic items. It is hoped that by 2020 there will be a complete ban on the product.

Earth Day 2018 is being celebrated under the theme “end plastic pollution”. Data from the day’s proceeding

showed that nearly two million singleuse plastic bags are distributed worldwide every minute. One million plastic bottles are bought every minute around the world. That number is expected to top a trillion by the end of 2021.

One million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals are killed every year by the ingestion of plastics in the ocean.

As part of the Government’s commitment to care for the earth and preserve its eco-systems, Minister Harmon said several measures have been implemented to curtail the use of plastic receptacles in Guyana.

In January of last year, the Administration had tabled and passed an amendment to the Customs Act, which stipulated that importers of plastic containers pay an environmental levy to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The levy was not a revenue collection initiative, but a measure to encourage the recycling and reduction of the use of plastics.

Speaking also at the event, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin said the use of plastic bags must be addressed with urgency.

“Guyana has a big problem with single-use plastic items and these needs to be addressed with urgency if Guyana is to become the green State that we all look forward to.”

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Autism Speaks: Leading the worldwide Autism fight

By Lakhram Bhagirat

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mericans Bob and Suzanne Wright founded Autism Speaks in February 2005 after one of their grandchildren was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disease (ASD), since then the Organization has gone on to raise global awareness and placed the spotlight on an often misdiagnosed illness.

The mission of Autism Speaks is to promote solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the lifespan, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families through advocacy and support.

They are also dedicated to increasing the understanding and acceptance of people with autism spectrum disorder and advancing research into causes and better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions.

The organization was initially started with a US$25 million donation from Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus which saw the Autism Coalition for Research and Education (ACRE), the National Alliance for Autism Research

(NAAR) and Cure Autism Now (CAN) merging to advance the work of Autism Speaks.

Since its establishment, the organization has been able to successfully increase global awareness of autism while providing a better understanding of the extensiveness of ASD while advocating for increased research and access to care and support.

Through direct funding and collaboration, Autism Speaks is dedicated to advancing research to find the causes and develop better treatments for ASD and its related conditions. In order to accomplish that goal, the Organization has sent a 10-year goal plan where they intend to develop a better understanding of the causes and typology of ASD; put systems in place to ensure that children with ASD are diagnosed before they are 2 years old; make access to services and resources readily available after diagnosis; work with families to develop transitional plans for children with ASD so that they can become independent adults; and making sure they have

access to lifetime services and interventions.

According to the Organization, they can only achieve those goals through work in the communities and by partnerships with other organizations and governments. They are also cognizant of the fact that in order for them to realize their goals they will have to grow and build capacity while investing in people, infrastructure and the process to make them the best non-profit organization.

More than 75 percent of every dollar Autism Speaks spends funds programs and services in science, family services, advocacy, and increasing understanding and acceptance. The majority of this funding goes toward science, followed by family services, awareness and advocacy efforts.

Because of the importance of its work Autism Speaks have spearheaded World Autism Day celebrated on April 2, which was sanctioned by the United Nations and is observed globally. Additionally, in 2008 the Wrights found themselves among Time Magazine 100 “Heroes

and Pioneers” for their commitment to ASD advocacy.

Initially, the body had been advocating for a cure for ASD but years of scientific research indicates that there is no single cure since autism is a spectrum disorder with many subtypes that affect people very different ways.

Autism Speaks says it is important to understand that every case of ASD is unique and many victims have extraordinary abilities particularly in academics, music and visual skills. Children with autism tend to wander a lot hence putting them at high risk for injuries and other issues but to address this Autism Speaks have been able to develop special toolkits that provide information for people across the entire autism spectrum and their families throughout each stage of life. Additionally, they have an Autism Response Team available real time support to families and connect them with local resources centres.

Autism Speaks supports everyone affected by autism and recognizes the diverse viewpoints within the community.

“By fostering acceptance and understanding of autism, our goal is for all people on spectrum, no matter how they selfidentify, to be appreciated for who they are and for the contributions they can make to society.

That said, many aspects of autism can be significantly debilitating, and that is why efforts to im-

prove and deliver scientific breakthroughs are so important, with the goal of enabling those on the autism spectrum to

claimed that vaccinations are inextricably linked to the cause of ASD and for years, the debate has gone on and

Autism Speaks Co-Founders- Autism Speaks Co-Founders Bob and Suzanne Wright

be the best they can be – with autism.”

Not only do they talk the talk but they also walk the walk by hiring and having volunteers who have been diagnosed with ASD. Presently two people with ASD serve on the organization’s national Board of Directors while a number of others are employed at various tiers within the body.

The persons with ASD are instrumental to the work of the organization since they are at the forefront of raising global understanding and acceptance of people suffering from the disease.

Initially, many have

is still going on. But, according to Autism Speaks each family’s autism diagnosis is unique and would sometimes correspond with the timing of the child’s vaccination. However, over two decades of extensive research to explicitly determine whether there is a link between childhood vaccinations and autism have proven that there are no links.

Additionally, Autism Speaks said they are opposed to aversion therapy and do not support or endorse organizations that engage in its use as a form of treatment for autism.

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ome of the greatest and most memorable songs of the Caribbean were heard at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center on Saturday April 14, 2018, when the legendary award wining musicians the "Mighty Sparrow", "Calypso Rose" and Dave Martins, founder of the

known for his witty and insightful songs, entertained the audience with his nostalgic stories and songs like ‘Not A Blade of Grass’ and ‘Cricket in the Jungle’.

The proof of the universal appeal of these legends was the packed and diverse audience at the beautiful Jamaica

Tradewinds, performed in the ‘Back to Basics’ concert for the first and only time together to a sold out crowd. The musical legends were accompanied by the infamous Angels Caribbean Band. The band is comprised of a stellar group of musicians that includes Phillip Nicols, Larry Marsden Ram Ramkellawan, Vikash Misir and Shailesh Shankar,Amar Vin Bisram , VJ Bisram, featuring the voice of the Angels Geeta Bisram and frontline singers Dexter Mohamed and Ranjeev Ramdeen. With iconic careers spanning more than half a century, the evening began with the unrivaled Calpyso King of the world the "Mighty Sparrow" who captured the audience with his magnetic stage presence and hits such as ‘Congo Man’ and ‘Saltfish’.

The world famous Soca Queen "Calypso Rose" shared with the audience the heart and soul of her music, with songs like ‘I an African’ and ‘Fire In Me Wire’ and Guyanese icon Dave Martins,

Performing Arts Center.

The staff at the venue were extremely helpful, and took great care to ensure that the experience was special to all who attended. From the first song to the last, the energy of the legendary artistes permeated into the audience.

Singing hit after hit, the audience danced and sang along making it one of the most memorable concerts of a lifetime. A well-deserved show for the legendary icons' biggest and devoted fans. The concert in all its greatness was well

worth the wait.

This event was produced by Vinod Bisram from the Angels Caribbean Entertainment Group Of Companies Inc.

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Dodging the race question

By Ravi Dev

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n his column “Cheddi Jagan on the WI Federation: CLR James on Cheddi Jagan” (SN4-2518), former long-term PPP executive Ralph Ramkarran wrote: “Divided societies like Guyana suffer from a phenomenon whereby historic events which, when they occurred, gave rise to allegations of ethnic bias, never seem to go away. The West Indies Federation, which lasted from 1958 to 1962, is one

such. It is an historic event which is hardly relevant to contemporary Guyana today. Yet the debate on Jagan’a attitude to the Federation rages, as if the event occurred yesterday, and not more than 50 years ago.”

Mr Ramkarran should harken to Faulkner’s aphorism: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” And, in fact, Ramkarran answered his own implicit question as

the continuing salience of Jagan’s Federation stance: “It is contextualized to the current ethnic controversies, one of which is to seek to continually paint Jagan as a racist, or at least to allege that he was motivated by ethnic considerations.”

The point is about why Jagan insisted his rationale for rejecting Federation had no “ethnic considerations”.

Ramkarran quoted

Jagan from 1986, wherein he regurgitated the answer he gave in the fifties and in his book “The West on Trial” (1966): that Guyana would join the WI Federation only if it was first approved by a referendum. But Jagan misses the point made

by CLR James in the same 1958 speech from which Ramkarran lifted James’s praise of Cheddi: “Dr Jagan is no petty racialist, not at all…[I]n regard to his aims for British Guiana, and for the West Indies as a whole, they are those of an enlightened, modern person.”

But Jagan himself explained in 1986 why the “Referendum before Federation” stance was taken: “The PPP went into the 1953 general elections…in favour of a West Indies Federation, with the proviso that a referendum would be taken before entry. This formula was adopted to take the controversial issue of Federation out of the elections because the PPP leadership was being attacked by racialists from two sides: the East Indian Association stating that I was selling out to the African L. F. S. Burnham and the Indians would be swamped in a predominantly African Federation: the League of Coloured People stating that Burnham was selling

out to ‘coolie’ Cheddi Jagan…”

But by 1958, Burnham had embraced his African support base, Carter of the LCP and the Federation, yet Jagan refused to state clearly why he still demanded a referendum, when he wasn’t “selling out” to Burnham any longer. James pointed out: “The question of the plebiscite or the question of Federation is not an abstract question or a political question which can be left hanging in the air too long. Racial rivalry is involved…In the last analysis, the people have to decide everything in a democracy. But no one ever holds an election in which everybody walks around and tells the people, “Well, choose some people.” They offer the people definite choices.”

James had clearly laid out the ethnic concerns of both African and Indian Guyanese: “We heard that the East Indians in British Guiana were opposed to Federation and these were the reasons given. They had a numerical majority over the other races, they hoped to establish an Indian domination of the colony; Federation would bring thousands of Africans (or people of African descent) from the smaller islands to British Guiana….

They would place the

Indians in British Guiana in an inferior position…

We heard also that the African population of British Guiana was now eager for Federation, particularly for the reason that it would bring this reinforcement from the smaller islands, once more establish African numerical superiority, and so check the East Indians.”

Jagan’s equivocation about stating clearly his position vis-à-vis the concerns of his Indian supporters — because it had an “ethnic” rather than a “class” nexus on the issue of the Federation — is a trope for his stance on other issues. This was unlike the case with the PNC and their African supporters’ concerns.

Jagan ignored CLR James’s classic formulation on the politics of race and class: “The race question is subsidiary to the class question in politics, and to think of imperialism in terms of race is disastrous.

But to neglect the racial factor as merely incidental is an error only less grave than to make it fundamental.”

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Guyana improves ranking on World Press Freedom Index …Press Association points to existing hurdles

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uyana has been elevated five places on the Reporters With Borders (RSF) 2018 World Press Freedom Index, which the Guyana Press Association (GPA) said comes amidst “significant hurdles” yet to be overcome.

From among 180 countries, Index of Press Freedom ranking worldwide puts Guyana at 55 compared to 60 in 2017.

The country was given zero under the category of “abuse score”; and 26.25 for “underlying situation score”.

Guyana’s position has placed it below its neighbour Suriname which was in spot 21, but above its other two bordering neighbours, Brazil and Venezuela, which were placed in the 102 and 143 positions, respectively.

The GPA on Wednesday said it welcomes this improved ranking but with some reservations.

According to the Association, while this may seem somewhat of an achievement, there are still significant hurdles to be crossed before Guyanese can feel that an improved ranking really matters.

These include the removal of existing criminal defamation laws in line with globally accepted standards; the deletion of offending sections in the Cybercrime Bill that could result in further entrenchment of criminal defamation; the amendment to the Broadcasting Act to remove direct intervention in the programming schedule of radio and television stations, except in cases of emergencies; political interference in the State-owned and privately-owned media by Government and the Opposition.

In fact, the GPA went on to highlight the removal of the two outspoken columnists from the State-owned Guyana

Chronicle; a situation, which it said, appears not to have bothered the coalition Government and its professed commitment to press freedom and freedom of expression.

To this end, the Association is calling for remedial actions to be taken by the relevant authorities to further enhance Guyana’s ranking on the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index in 2019.

Meanwhile, the RSF said on Guyana’s profile in the World Press Freedom Index that while the country’s Constitution guarantees free speech and the right to information, officials often use its defamation laws – which provide for fines and up to two years in jail – to silence Opposition journalists.

“The members of the media regulatory authority are appointed directly by the President. This restricts the freedom of certain media outlets, which are denied licences. Recent attempts to improve regulation of the broadcast industry involved no consultation with any broadcasters. Journalists are still subjected to harassment that takes the form of prosecutions, suspensions, and intimidation. A draft Cybercrime Bill could penalise whistleblowers and media for publishing information collected ‘illegally’,” the RSF highlighted.

Back in August, the RSF had issued a statement urging President David Granger not to assent to the Broadcasting Bill that was adopted by Guyana’s National Assembly, and called for consultations with broadcasters in order to take into account their recommendations. The current bill, which was adopted without such consultation, raises multiple press freedom concerns.

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Earth Day 2018

he observation of Earth Day on Saturday , April 22nd marked 48 years since the day’s genesis. Earth Day owes its origin to Senator Gaylord Nelson, who sought to make the business of the environmental health of the earth a political one.

At the time, it was still legal for factories to pollute the air and water, and there was no environmental protection agency. Through the actions of some twenty million Americans on April 22nd 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was born the following December; and the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts were subsequently passed.

Last year, when I wrote of Earth Day, I wrote of it in the context of the law and the political turbulence in the United States.

Following the election of President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly denied climate change and had proposed cutting funds for major environmental agencies, environmental activism has been at a peak on Earth Day. And whilst I still believe that “the function of science is

to improve humanity, but if it is not enabled to do so through law and policy, then it cannot”, Earth Day provides us with much more than just a reason to examine environmental law and policy.

It serves as a form of comparative benchmark.

How were things different a year ago? What had changed positively?

And what has changed negatively?

It serves as a means of tracking our progress, and it triggers reflection on, and reassessment of, our actions.

One of the things that I want to focus on is our impact on species. In 2017, the last male northern white rhino, Sudan, passed away from age-related illnesses. The species teeters on the brink of extinction, with the lone two northern white rhinos being direct descendants of Sudan. His death came as a serious blow to conservation efforts, and it was an all-too-painful reminder of the extinction of the West African rhinoceros in 2011. Whilst there are many other subspecies of rhinos in existence, the fact that the

one is extinct and another stares extinction in the face is a serious reminder of the dangers of human action on the environment.

Following his death, one National Geographic writer said, “Today we are witnessing the extinction of species that survived for millions of years, but could not survive mankind.” The remaining rhino subspecies remain endangered largely due to poaching.

In December of 2017, the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the beaverpond marstonia, a tiny freshwater snail found in Georgia, to be extinct.

The snail is supposed to have gone extinct due to exploitation of water resources through both overuse for agriculture and through pollution. Joining this depressing list are the Christmas Island pinstrelle, a bat off of the coast of Australia, and three reptiles (the chained gecko, the blue-tailed skink, and the whiptail skink) also from Australia.

However, on the brighter side, some species have rebounded.

For example, the Blackeyed leaf frog, whose population grew from

WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Learning from…

critically endangered to of least concern, was dubbed by Jennifer Luedtke, an amphibian specialist at Global Wildlife Conservation, as: “hope in a small, green and black package.”

In addition to rebounding species, there was also a wealth of discovery of new species.

According to Michelle Star of Science Alert, if you are familiar with natural science, new species are found relatively frequently.

But on November 23, 2017, she wrote that there had been a ‘rarity’; over thirty newly discovered species in one area: the Kaieteur National Park and Potaro River. A press release by the Global Wildlife Conservation revealed that among these newly discovered species, there were six species of fish, three plants, fifteen aquatic beetles, and five odonates (carnivorous insects like dragonflies). The press release also gave Guyana the shining title of “one of the world’s most important countries for biodiversity conservation”. It explained that, “Guyana has the second highest percentage (of) forest cover on Earth, high levels of biological diversity, and species that are found nowhere else.” Guyana even made several news outlets for the stunning discovery of a cobalt blue tarantula. The colour blue is of particular interest to scientists, as it does not occur very frequently in nature, and often times when it does, instead of it being caused by an actual blue pigment, it is caused by the microscopic arrangement of cells and the way those cells scatter and reflect light.

While all of this is impressive, I personally do not feel as though the discovery of new species makes much impact, if we do not care for them appropriately.

According to the Global Wildlife Conservation, (about Guyana), “Over the past decade, WWF Guianas has been working with stakeholders at all levels to address the growing pressures on the environment.”

I can only hope that these pressures do not win and ultimately harm our incredibly diverse environment. For a few days, Guyana had the world in awe with one spider.

Imagine how much else is left undiscovered, and what we risk destroying in the name of development.

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…the corrupt Brits he British High Commissioner was right up front with Clive Thomas in one of the silliest stunts in decades by a governmental entity: its corruption walk. After Thomas revealed his agency’s mandate is to go after State assets both locally and abroad, but he’d decided to start with the overseas cases, it made the march even sillier.

Which foreign jurisdiction will even notice?

But the British have been up front not only on the march but also on the investigative end – albeit for SOCU, having lent them the Irish ex-Cop Sittlington. So, are we to assume they’ve sewn up the loose ends with the foreign banks where pilfered loot from Guyana has been supposedly secreted? This we’d like to see…cause they’ve certainly haven’t done squat about tightening up those banks with their own funds.

Take HSBC…the biggest bank in Britain. Back in 2012, it was fined a record US$1.9 billion for processing cash for Mexican drug lords and terrorists. Now if the FINE is US$1.9 billion, but can you imagine how much was processed?? No you can’t!! That’ll be hundreds of billions…and we just can’t get our Lilliputian minds around such sums. (Maybe this was why Trotman only asked for US$15 million??!) And imagine at the time HSBC was run by a former Minister of the British Government – and a minister of the Anglican Church to boot!!

Now don’t think the HSBC incident is an isolated one. The banks and commercial houses of the City of London launder fully 24 per cent of all the off-shore havens across the world!! And it’s no wonder HSBC didn’t even blink after their US$1.9 billion fine….they’ve just been fingered in the money trail of the Gupta’s corrupt practices in South Africa that brought down Zuma.

Dear reader…by now you’re probably scratching your head and asking how come Britain isn’t higher up on that list from TI about being the most corruption jurisdiction on the planet. The simple answer is its countries like Britain that make the rules about what practices are corrupt and what is not. And who should be prosecuted for corruption and who should not. Did you think anyone from HSBC went to jail?? Think again.

And think of the folks at the big British banks that rigged the globally-used LIBOR interest rates and cost the system some US$88 billion. Nobody was even charged!! The point of it all is that jurisdictions like us are made the SCAPEGOATS for carrying away the sins of the big financial sinners like Britain. And that’s why the British HC is so visible. His country is doing soooo much to stop corruption! Here!!

Our misdemeanour-like violations go on TI’s roster but their felonious ones don’t even get mentioned!! …the man Clive Thomas is a strange man. Here’s a fella who had so pontificated 50 years ago – when he was in the ivory tower of academia – about sugar that he named his black power group “Ratoon”.

And yet he closed down the sugar industry in three years. Even the sugar cane gets at least five ratoons!! But then old people say “moutar different from guitar!!”

He also played a lot of “moutar” about how banks of the capitalist North had us in a “dependency” headlock that was literally strangling away our lifeblood. And the only answer for our survival was to cut all links to the North and create new ones among us starving guts in the “South”. And here he is being advised by “the man” on how to work with those same northern banks to stop local nickel-and-dime corruption while they still get away with the rape of the third world!!

For what shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?

FEATURE 47

WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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n Guyana, when the common person hears the term autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) then they are almost immediately puzzled as to what the disease really is or whom it affects. This is so because, as a Guyanese society, we are hesitant to broach the conversation on a commonly misdiagnosed or undiagnosed disorder that affects so many people around us.

The fact remains that the Public Health Ministry, and by extension Government, is doing a poor job at educating the populace about ASD and the only time the conversation begins about the disorder is in April for World Autism Month and it dies on April 30.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are intricate neurological disorders often categorized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours and general communication abilities.

However, persons suffering from ASD are more than likely to be on the higher academic scales but suffer tremendously as it relates to their social skills and those on the opposite end of the

ing from ASD. Due to the lack of skilled doctors/pediatricians in Guyana, ASD in quite often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all.

The WHO says individuals with ASD often present other co-occurring conditions, including epilepsy, depression, anx-

address the individual needs of their child. But in Guyana accessing services primarily for ASD victims is one that is not readily available since government institutions offer very limited services and the NGOs are limited in what they can do since most of them de-

programmes for parents and other caregivers. The most effective is Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), which teaches young people, with autism, the life skills they need and how to tap into their true potential.

Additionally, depending on their needs chil-

iety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The level of intellectual functioning in individuals with ASDs is extremely variable, extending from profound impairment to superior levels. Nevertheless, there are some telltale signs that can lead to early detection of ASD in children since they start appearing as early as six months old.

Advocates urge parents to observe their child’s behavioral patterns and looks for signs such as lack of eye contact, social isolation, delayed language development, struggles identifying social cues, constant repetition of same words or phrases, unusual reactions to taste, sound or smells and gets intensely upset by minor changes to their routine or surroundings.

Experts have related that the aforementioned signs should be taken seriously and immediate intervention should be pursued.

Once identified, then it is advised that families seek the relevant information and have services offered to help them

pend on funding from donors and in most cases those funding and grants are often minimal.

dren who have autism receive a range of therapies which included behavior therapy, speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, social skills training and sometimes feeding therapy.

However, the training and therapy is not limited to the children rather it incorporates the parents or caregivers since they are the ones who have to understand the person with ASD. In the Guyana context, more needs to be done to raise awareness on something that is so common but yet least understood.

Remember that autist people can do anything a “normal” person could and in most cases, they can do it better. Take an example from singer Susan Boyle; Naturalist, Geologist, Biologist, Charles Darwin; Mathematician and Scientist, Albert Einstein; Mathematician, Astronomer, Physicist Sir Isaac Newton and Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri among a whole host of others. (Lakhram Bhagirat) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Step by Step tutors working with children with ASD

academic field cannot access education since they cannot speak or even concentrate.

While the causes of the disease have not been isolated, it is widely believed that it stems from a series of genetic and environmental influences. Contrary to the popular myth, there are conclusive data that proves ASD is not remotely related to measles, mumps and rubella vaccines during the early childhood rather the data went as far to determine that vaccinations, as a whole, does not increase the risk of ASD.

Autism, according to the World Health Organization, affects 1 in every 160 children worldwide but sadly for Guyana there are no comparative statistics since autism is only highlighted during the month of April or whenever a Non-Governmental Organization hosts a programme that seeks to bring about awareness.

Statistics

However, using the WHO figure of 1:160 and comparing it to the approximate 773,000 residents in Guyana it would equate to approximately 4,800 persons suffer-

Care

Nevertheless, to access information and services to care for an autistic person one can visit the Step By Step Foundation, the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre or the Sorsha Williams Foundation since those entities are equipped to offer advice and specialized care.

Additionally, one thing the organizations promote is acceptance of autistic persons since there is the stigma attached to persons who not considered “normal” in the traditional sense.

More than necessary, persons with ASD often have to endure the abuse at home from siblings who are tired of them getting all the attention and that is coupled with the deprivation of health, education and social opportunities.

Persons suffering from ASD are heavily dependent on their primary care provider. There are a range or care options and skills training

48 Bollywood

WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Veere Di Wedding actor Sonam Kapoor on marriage:

Everybody will know everything in good time

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dding fuel to Sonam Kapoor’s marriage rumours, actor Kareena Kapoor, at the trailer launch of Veere Di Wedding, said it is her Veere Di Wedding costar Sonam who immediately comes to her mind when she hears the word – wedding. At the same event, a volley of questions was thrown at Sonam about her wedding but the actor refused to divulge any details.

There have been multiple reports since last

month that Sonam is set to tie the knot with beau Anand Ahuja in May. The actor, however, has chosen not to react to the rumours.

As Sonam Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania unveiled the trailer of their upcoming film Veere Di Wedding, the one thing that, perhaps, was on everyone’s mind was the speculation about Sonam’s marriage.

As a journalist asked each one of them what was their immediate

thought when they hear the word – ‘wedding’, Kareena laughed and said, “I have an answer to this but I can’t say.”

After a pause of few seconds, she said, “Sonam!”.

Everyone present at the event including Sonam erupted into laughter.

Thereon, a volley of questions was thrown at Sonam Kapoor about the rumours. She successfully dodged them first, but later asked the media to be patient.

“We are talking about Veere Di Wedding here. I don’t want to say much.

I have decided to stick to the film.”

“Everybody will know everything in good time.

This is not the right time. I have always had a good relationship with the media so whatever happens, I will share in good time. Thank you so much for keeping your patience,” added Sonam.

(Indian Express)

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arod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, actor Anupam Kher, and veteran playback singer Asha Bhosle were among the prominent personalities who were conferred the ‘Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan Awards’ on the occasion of his 76th death anniversary.

Bhosle was conferred the award for life achievements, while Anupam was acknowledged by a Special Award honouring his contributions to cinema and theatre, at a glittering function presided over by Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari in the Shanmukhananda Hall late on Tuesday.

Dhananjay Datar was awarded for social entrepreneurship, the Vagvilasini Award went to poet Yogesh Gaur for literature, Shriram Gogate Award to Rajiv Khandekar for journalism, Mohan Wagh Award to ‘Ananya’ as the Best Drama of the Year, the Asha Bhosle Award for social work to Mery Behlihimji of the Central Society of Education for the Deaf.

“I feel blessed and humbled receiving this award. For musicians of India, especially for me, this is the greatest and most prestigious honour of my life.

The legendary Master Deenanath Mangeshkar gave the revered Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle (Mangeshkar), Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Khadilkar (Mangeshkar) and Pandit Hridayanath Mangeshkar to the music world,” Amjad Ali Khan said on the occasion.

Bhosle said: “This award is really special for me as it is in my father’s name. But more than that, I feel honoured as it has been conferred upon many stalwarts over the years. I feel blessed.”

The pre-eminent Mangeshkar family has been honouring Master Deenanath Mangeshkar’s death anniversary for the past 75 years, and it became public in 1988 with the awards ceremonies.

“In memory of our father, whose monumental contributions as a singer, musician and stage artiste have inspired people of Maharashtra and India, the Mangeshkar family organises the annual awards ceremony to honour legends from different fields,” said Hridayanath Mangeshkar.

The awards night, organised jointly with Hridayesh Arts, included a classical programme with a Kathak performance by exponent Birju Maharaj and Saswati Sen, thumris rendered by Ajoy Chakraborty and Anindo Chatterjee on the tabla, in the presence of a large number of celebrities from the entertainment world and the extended members of the Mangeshkar family. (Indian Express)

Arjun Reddy’s Hindi remake: Shahid Kapoor Deepika Padukone on equal pay: You should get what you think you deserve to step into Vijay Deverakonda shoes ollywood actor Deepika Padukone,

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e had earlier reported that one of the best Telugu releases of 2017, Arjun Reddy is being remade in Hindi. Now, after many rumours around the name of the actor playing the protagonist, it is being said that the makers have zeroed in on Padmavat actor Shahid Kapoor for the role.

According to a Mumbai Mirror report, Shahid has agreed to step into the shoes of Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda for the emotional drama.

A source was quoted as saying, “The film is scheduled to go on the floors in July and the team is looking for an actress opposite Shahid at the moment. While the locations are yet to be finalised, the plan is to shoot in India as well as abroad.” In the original film, Shalini Pandey played the female lead opposite Vijay.

Directed and written by Sandeep Vanga,

Arjun Reddy won critical acclaim and was a commercial hit. The contemporary Devdas-esque film grossed Rs 50 crore in India and struck a chord with Telugu cinema-goers with its raw appeal. It is a story of a medical surgeon suffering from anger management issues who goes on a self-destructive path after his girlfriend marries someone else.

The film was applauded

by Baahubali director SS Rajamouli as well.

After watching Arjun Reddy, Rajamouli tweeted, “Just saw Arjun Reddy.

Though love stories are not my cup of tea, can’t but appreciate the film.

Top notch performance

by Vijay Devarakonda.

He just lived it. Not just him, Shalini, the friends, everyone were so good and natural. Very good background score and fine photography. Very well writren dialogues.

Full credit to the Director Sandeep Vanga, who handled his cast and crew like a pro.”

The Hindi adaptation will be helmed by Arjun Reddy director Sandeep Vanga, who is making his Hindi directorial debut with the film. The film is also being remade in Tamil with Chiyaan Vikram’s son Dhruv as the lead. (Indian Express)

who recently made it to the coveted 2018 TIME 100 list, attended the 2018 TIME 100 gala on Tuesday.

At the gala, Deepika talked about the issue of equal pay and her clinical depression.

On being asked how she developed the confidence of asking for better pay as a woman. she told TIME, “You can feel a sense of — am I stepping over the line, do I deserve it? But if you believe you deserve it, then you do. For years, we’ve been made to feel we should be OK with settling for less, with sometimes a promise of getting something more later on. But I think you should get what you think you deserve. It’s OK to fight for it, and it’s OK to feel uncomfortable initially, because that’s just the way we’ve been made to feel for so long.”

Revealing about her clinical depression in her speech at the event, she started by saying, “February 15th, 2014, I remember waking up that morning with a strange pittish feeling in my stomach. I had no idea what I was feeling. Life all of a sudden just felt meaningless and there were days when I just wanted to give up. And a couple of weeks later I was diagnosed with clinical depression.

Four years on I stand here in front of all of you with a slightly better understanding, I think, of life and my feelings and the person that I am.”

Continuing her speech, Deepika said, “I think all of you will agree with me when I say that we’re going through some pretty challenging times all around the world. And so I want to raise a toast to every man and every woman and every child around the world that is faced with some sort of challenge every single day, but you do it with a smile, and I want to say that your power and your strength and your courage encourages me to go on every single day. And for the some of us I think who do think of giving up once in a while, I want you to know that we’re all in this together, and most importantly that there is hope, because in the words of Stephen Fry, “We’ll be sunny one day.” Thank you.” (Indian Express)

Kangana Ranaut to make her debut at Cannes red carpet

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angana Ranaut will be making her debut on the red carpet of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival this year. The Queen star will attend the fest in association with liquor brand Grey Goose as part of its global celebration of cinematic craft — Vive Le Cinema. “It is overwhelming to witness the recognition and appreciation for Indian cinema at international platforms like Cannes,” Kangana said in a statement to IANS. “Grey Goose has created a unique platform of celebration to toast the game-

changing films at Cannes this year and I’m thrilled to partner with this global icon of luxury in the country of its origin,” she added.

Anshuman Goenka, Marketing Head of Bacardi India, feels Kangana “embodies the cinematic expression of Grey Goose through her passion for the field and ability to fly beyond the realm of commercial cinema”.

The 71st Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 8-19.

This year, acclaimed Indian actress-

filmmaker Nandita Das’ directorial Manto, a biographical on controversial Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto, has made its way to the Un Certain Regard segment of the fest. Nakkash, featuring Inaamulhaq, will also be part of the film gala. Tillotama Shome-starrer Sir will be screened at sidebar Cannes Critics’ Week.

Meanwhile, Kangana is busy with her next film, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, based on the life of Rani Laxmi Bai. The film marks debut of television actor Ankita Lokhande.

The film has been written and directed by Vijayendra Prasad, who has earlier written blockbuster films like Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. He had earlier mentioned that the war sequences will be the highlight of the film.

Kangana also has Ekta Kapoor’s Mental Hai Kya, which gets her back on-screen with National Award winner Rajkummar Rao. The quirky thriller will be directed by National Award-winning Telugu filmmaker Prakash Kovelamudi.

(Indian Express)

WEEK ENDING APRIL 29, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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aris Hilton “literally regrets” saying before the 2016 election that women who accused then-candidate Donald Trump of sexual misconduct were merely after fame and attention Addressing a crowd Saturday at the beauty industry event Beautycon Festival NYC, the beauty and fashion mogul, high-priced DJ and hotel heiress was asked about those remarks by moderator Phillip Picardi.

“I applaud every woman for coming out because of the things that are happening right now,” Hilton said in the one-on-one chat on stage. “It is so important with this entire #MeToo movement and all of the women coming forward and coming together and ending this. It’s just been happening for so long.”

Picardi also asked about headlines a couple of years ago that declared her

a “ditzy blonde” no more, “Were you ever a ditzy blonde, Paris Hilton?”

To which she responded, “I wouldn’t get this far in life being a dumb blonde.”

That rep, Hilton said, played out on The Simple Life, one of television’s first reality shows, along with the infamous sex tape that helped put her on the celebrity map.

“They told me to play a character and kind of play that ditzy blonde but it was never really me,” she said of the Fox and E! series that ran for four years, beginning in 2003. “I was just being entertaining. …

That’s just how the world got introduced to me. Yeah, I’m the exact opposite.”

These days, Hilton has some new bling, an engagement rock from actor Chris Zylka, who played Flash Thompson in the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man. She said they met eight years ago and began dating two years ago. He popped the question on their Christmas ski vacation in Aspen, Colorado.

“We are on a mountain skiing and he literally just surprised me with this ring and it was one of the most romantic moments of my life,” Hilton said.

The wedding will be this year, followed — hopefully — by the arrival of “a little Paris” next year, she said, “or her name will be London.” At 36, Hilton added: “I’ve always wanted to be a mom.”

True love, she said, is a great fit “I’ve never felt happier. I’ve never felt like I’m in a better place,” she said.

“I finally feel like an adult. I’m loving life.” (Indian Express)

Avengers Infinity War

Hollywood 49

Jason Momoa, James Wan leave for Aquaman press tour

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he cast and crew of DC film Aquaman have left for the press tour. Jason Momoa will reprise the role of amphibian superhero Aquaman from Justice League and will be joined by Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as the villain (or one of the villains) Orm Marius or Ocean Master. Aquaman, being the only DC film releasing in 2018, is awaited by many. Critics are wondering whether it can redeem DC Extended Universe.

They say it might make or break DC film universe. Most have high hopes considering the Jason Momoa and Amber Heard film is being directed by James Wan, a man with proven blockbuster credentials having helmed The Conjuring and Furious 7.

Justice League was supposed to be DC’s big team-up movie akin to Marvel’s The Avengers. But due to limited character development – only Batman, Superman, and Superman

had appeared in a full-fledged form.

The film also suffered from extensive reshoots, due to which the budget reportedly shot up to 350 million dollars, making it one of the most expensive films of all time. The reason for reshoots was the firing of Zack Snyder whose cut the executive at Warner Bros did not deem fit for release. Joss Whedon, who was already writing the script, was given additional duties of the director and he finished the film. ason Momoa, who is also known for playing the role of horselord Khal Drogo, posted a video on Instagram of him trying to scare James Wan while the latter is boarding what looks like a private jet plane, presumably leaving for the promotion of the film. Of course, Wan was not scared, having dealt with monsters ever since he directed the original Saw. But he did make a show of being startled. Aquaman releases on December 21, 2018. (Indian Express)

Robert Downey Jr addressed addiction battles at the film’s premiere

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ron Man star Robert Downey Jr. says he lived through “30 years of depravity and despair” before his comeback.

Addressing the audience at the screening of his forthcoming film Avengers Infinity War here on Monday, the actor, 53, referenced his battle with addiction in an emotional speech, reports people. com.

“I want to talk about the past, present, and future,” Downey said onstage, alongside his Avengers co-stars, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Chadwick Boseman.

“The past for me was 30 years of dependency, depravity, and despair… otherwise known as ‘an actor prepares!

The present is this moment of glory for all of us. And the future… That is always uncertain,” he said following a round of cheers.

“But looking at these friends behind me – it seems like things might brighten up after all.” Downey Jr. also paid tribute to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who is behind the company’s 19 blockbusters, including Iron Man. Long before Iron Man came out in

2008, the Oscar-nominated actor made headlines in the late 1990s and early 2000s for being arrested and jailed multiple times over drug-related charges.

In 1996, he was stopped by police after driving naked down Sunset Boulevard, and was found in possession of cocaine, heroin and a gun. Later in 2000, Downey Jr was again arrested and charged with a felony drug posses-

sion. In 2015, he topped Forbes’ highest-paid actors list, with earnings that year of over $80 million.

Meanwhile, the actor is waiting for the release of his next Avengers Infinity War, which opens this Friday.

His co-stars from the film are all praise for the actor. While Mark Ruffalo termed Downey Jr. as “Godfather” of MCU, Chris Evans who plays Captain America said, “Robert has really been incredibly thoughtful in his care of the other actors, me especially. In the beginning of this franchise, I was really nervous, but he extended his kindness and warmth and helped pick me up in a lot of ways and gave me confidence and direction and support.” (Indian Express)

T

he Rock has his third Rockette.

Dwayne Johnson took to Instagram earlier this week to show off his chest full of tattoos and his new baby girl in a hospital skin-to-skin contact moment.

“Blessed and proud to bring another strong girl into this world,” he wrote. “Tiana Gia Johnson came into this world like a force of nature and Mama @laurenhashianofficial labored

and delivered like a true rockstar.”

It’s the second child and second girl with Hashian. The two are also parents to 2-year-old Jasmine. The actor also has a 16-year-old daughter with former wife Dany Garcia named Simone.

“I was raised and surrounded by strong, loving women all my life, but after participating in baby Tia’s delivery, it’s hard to express the new level of love, respect and admi-

ration I have for @laurenhashianofficial and all mamas and women out there,” Johnson wrote.

On seeing the picture, actor Priyanka Chopra congratulated her Baywatch co-star saying, “So beautiful! Congrats to you and @laurenhashianofficial !”

He urged all dads to participate in the births of their children, offering support during labor and delivery. And he made a promise to his new baby that, “you have my word, I’ll love, protect, guide and make ya laugh for the rest of my life. Your crazy dad has many responsibilities and wears many hats in this big ol’ world, but being your dad will always be the one I’m most proud to wear.”

On the work front, the actor’s latest offering Rampage has been doing exceptionally well at the theatres ever since its release. With a neckto-neck competition from Emily Blunt’s A Quiet Place, Rampage has so far collected 21 million dollars and stands second at the US box office for now. (Indian Express)

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Windies open World Cup campaign against Pakistan W

indies will play their first match of the ICC World Cup 2019 on May 31 against Pakistan in England, in the return of the 1992 format which essentially means all

ten teams play each other and the top four progressing to the knockout phase.

After facing the Asian giants, they move to play Australia on June 6; four days later they come against South Africa, then host England on June 14. They then play Bangladesh and New Zealand on June 17 and 22. On June 27, they face India and their final two matches will be on July 1 and July 4 against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, two years after clashing in the Champions Trophy final, India and Pakistan will meet at Old Trafford in the marquee contest of the 2019 World Cup. England will meet

South Africa to unveil the most prestigious event in cricket at The Oval on May 30. The tournament will be played at 11 venues across England and Wales with Lord’s hosting its fifth World Cup final on

The big Chris Gayle wants to play at the 2019 World Cup

July 14.

Even though the World Cup will be played during the first half of the English summer, the ICC has insured the knockout matches - both semi-finals and the final - by having reserve days for the three games. Old Trafford will host the first semi-final

(No. 1 v No. 4) on July 9 with the action shifting to Edgbaston two days later for the other semi between the second and thirdplaced teams on the league table.

The eleven venu e s

that will host the tournament are Lord’s, the Oval, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Headingley, Old Trafford, T a u n t o n , Bristol, Chesterl e - S t re e t , Southampton and Cardiff.

Defending champions Australia will play qualifiers Afghanistan in Bristol on June 2 under lights. That match is one of seven day-night contests scheduled for the tournament, including the June 29 clash between 2015 finalists Australia and New Zealand at Lord’s. In all, the tournament comprises 48 matches to be played across 46 days.

The India-Pakistan contest, at the same venue that hosted their Super Six clash in the 1999 edition of the tournament, is expected to once again attract record eyeballs, as was the case during both their meetings during last year’s

Jason Holder will have another monumental task on his shoulders

Champions Trophy.

By the time India play their first match of the tournament against South Africa on June 5, in Southampton - some of the other teams will already have played two matches. This is the result of a request from the BCCI, who wanted India’s first match pushed back to

comp l y with the Lodha Committee’s recommendation that there needed to be a 15-day window between the IPL and India’s participation in any international series or tournament. Next year’s IPL is scheduled to take place between March 29 and May 19. According to the first draft of the schedule, India were supposed to play in the first few days of the tournament, but the ICC accepted the BCCI’s request and

pushed back the date of their first match.

The return to the 1992 format, and the schedule, were ap-

proved by the ICC’ chief executives committee (CEC) during the ICC’s quarterly meetings on Monday and Tuesday.

The ICC Board, which meets on Thursday, is yet to ratify the CEC’s decisions.

Along with hosts England, seven other countries - Australia, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka - secured a direct entry to the World Cup last September. In March, Afghanistan and Windies booked the final two slots after finishing as the top two teams in the World Cup Qualifier.

“King of the Strip 2” drag-racing meet

US Driver clinches win for Team Mohamed

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The Nissan GT-R and the railcar were locked in a battle that has doubtlessly been etched on the memory of its spectators

merican Terence Cox was the man behind the wheel of Team Mohamed’s winning Nissan GT-R at “King of the Strip 2” drag-racing meet staged at the South Dakota Circuit last weekend.

Cox was part of an intense battle of speed with Trinidadian Andy Bissessar and his rail-car, which was edged at the finish line in a time of 7.527s compared to the rail-car’s 7.637s.

“It was a close one, but I just barely got it. Maybe it was all in the reaction time,” the American expressed.

However, the GT-R had a reaction time of 0.192 of a second compared to the rail’s 0.101s.

The Nissan GT-R and the rail-car were locked in a battle that has doubtless been etched on the memory of its spectators “The drag meet is awesome. I cannot believe all the people that come out here, all the fans. I really enjoy the people walking by. Guyana is a country where they all come together and we have great race out here”, Cox stated when questioned on his impression of the event.

With just a change in transmission two days before race-day, Cox highlighted, the car is low maintenance and

can run even faster, a possible 7.40s on the quarter-mile.

Bissessar, who came to the meet with great hype, given the track record of his car – 7.29 seconds on home soil – expressed dissatisfaction with the track: “The track in Trinidad is wellprepared, and this track is not prepared at all! These cars need proper track preparation to run well! To run on this type of surface is really tough to get any good times,” he declared.

“We ran close to the GT and finished! That’s a four-wheel drive car (GT-R), which makes it easier to hook up on bad tracks”, he added.

Prior to the event being staged, Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) President, Ramez Mohamed, revealed that work was ongoing assiduously to improve the condition of the track.

Questioned whether on a better surface he would take down the GT-R, Bissessar responded, “Yes! He would be at a disadvantage on a good track, whereas I am at a disadvantage on a bad track”.

And regarding making a return, Bissessar said, “There definitely needs to be a well prepared track; and if it is well prepared, then we can come back”.

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National Table Tennis Varona-Thomas , Guyana’s best female Championships return Chess player A Maria Varona-Thomas

W

hen the curtains came down on a busy chess weekend, FIDE Master (WFM) Maria Varona-Thomas found herself being crowned best female Chess player in the nation.

Guyana’s Female National Chess Championships were hosted by the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

They were the first competition of this kind to be held in Guyana. With a total of seven participants, the competition was organised not only to crown a champion, but to identify a five-member team to represent Guyana at the World Chess Championships.

Despite the small number of participants, the competition saw an exhibition of riveting chess action by the females. Known for her creative and aggressive style of play, (WFM) VaronaThomas played undefeated, obtaining

5.5 points from her maximum 6 games.

Having learnt to play under the highly recognized Cuban Chess Programmes, Varona-Thomas was the favourite for the tournament.

In a shocking twist, 16-year-old Nellisha Johnson beat her more qualified opponents to emerge as the secondplaced candidate. Of their six games, Johnson and Candidate Master (CM) Sheriffa Ali gained four points each, but Johnson was awarded the second position because she had upset Ali on Saturday.

Having threatened her sister’s dominance by handing her a defeat in the second round, 15-year-old Waveney Johnson copped the fourth spot with 3.5 points. Prestigious lawyer, Chess Arbiter and FIDE Development Instructor, Ms. Yolander Persaud, took 5th position with 3 points from her 6 games.

Guyana’s Sport Tourism on the Rise – Director General, Tourism

S

Donald Sinclair

port tourism is becoming rampant in Guyana, and this is being credited to a number of seeking the participation of international athletes in local sporting events.

The disclosure was made by Director General of the Tourism Ministry, Donald Sinclair, who said both entities work hand in hand for the benefit of each other.

At a press conference, Sinclair explained that sport tourism contributes significantly to the entire industry by creating a boost in the hospitality sector as well.

“You need a certain volume of persons coming in, either to play, as spectators, or as officials. That is an important factor in sport tourism,” he explained.

He said the Tourism Ministry has

noticed this trend, and has sought to capitalize on it by inviting sport organizers to a workshop, where they were able to strategize and create a calendar of sporting events that would attract tourists to the country.

Citing the Caribbean Premiere League as one of the most prolific events of this kind, Sinclair stated, “Cricket is always an important sport tourism event. Those events are like magnets.”

He is urging other sporting fraternities to get on board.

One major benefit of sport tourism, Sinclair explained, is that it creates a platform for local athletes to improve their skills by learning from others.

“It is not only tourism helping hotels and taxi drivers. Yes, it does that, but the sport itself is helped in that the level of the game is improved,” he stated. He then expounded, “It exposes our players and athletes to international competition, and that helps (them) to up the level of (their) game.”

Aside from improving the skills of local athletes, Sinclair explained, sport tourism is of massive importance to the industry. “It also improves the level of organization, like airport protocols, security, and off-programme events that are needed to make the destination different,” Sinclair noted.

Sinclair is encouraging more of Guyana’s sporting organizations to pursue internationally recognized tournaments and competitions, so as to boost the sector and their respective sport.

fter a one-year absence in 2017, the Guyana National Junior and Senior Table Tennis Championships will return this year with an increased focus on structuring the sport.

This flagship event, which will kick start the work of the newly elected executive committee, includes three categories, namely: the Senior leg, scheduled for 20th to 23rd May 2018; Junior leg, scheduled for June 2nd to 4th, 2018; and the National Veterans and Doubles championships, slated for September 2018.

The competition will

also focus on a number of areas that need attention in the GTTA. Foremost, the association is seeking to establish a benchmark to which players must aspire in effort to improve the competitiveness of the sport domestically.

Additionally, implementation of a ranking system and marketability of players are on the cards.

However, the most important step that the association is looking to make is the crowning and naming of national champions in the respective categories.

The junior players

performances in domestic and international competitions, the tournament will pit defending champion Christopher Franklin, remerging 2010 champion Nigel Bryan, the talented and fast

i m proving Shemar Chelsea Edghill in action B r i t t o n , Joel Alleyne, will be conEdinho Lewis, testing in the boys’ 18 Elishaba Johnson, Kyle yrs and under singles; Edghill, Orin Hickerson girls 18 yrs and under Jonathan Sankar, singles; boys’ 15 yrs and Miguel Wong, Jamal under singles; girls’ 15 Duff and the ageless yrs and under singles; Colin France, among othboys’ 13 yrs. and under er contenders, against each other to see who The ever-improving will be Guyana’s naShemar Britton tional men’s champion. This, the GTTA feels, would truly provide some exciting action.

On the distaff side, Chelsea Edghill, who is currently playing on the US intercollegiate circuit, will be pitted against former women’s champion Trenace Lowe, coming off her great performances at the singles; girls’ 13 yrs and CAC games trials. The under singles; boys’ 11 ever improving Natalie yrs and under singles; Cummings, former girls’ 11 yrs and under Caribbean junior chamsingles; boys’ 9 yrs and pion Jody Blake, Delcia under singles; girls 9 yrs Cummings, Neveah and under singles; girls’ Clarkston, Priscillia 9 yrs. and under singles, G r e a v e s , S e l e n a s novices girls singles, Jackman and Ambrose novices boys singles cat- Thomas all provide a egories. roster for some competiThe seniors, howev- tive table tennis. er, will compete for the The GTTA is anticimen’s singles, women’s pating a riveting compesingles, B Class open tition, with players looksingles, 21-and-under ing to create and settle male singles, 21-and-un- rivalries. Any Guyanese der female singles, ‘C’ player who is eligible Class Open singles. according to the ITTF With several of the Handbook 2017-2018 is players coming off great welcome to participate.

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– talented player plotting course to professional circuit Tenacity has been one of her greatest attributes (The Xercise photo)

By Akeem Greene

E

ighteen-year-old table tennis player Priscilla Greaves got a rude but gainful awakening to senior international competition when she competed in the recent Commonwealth Games in Australia.

In an interview with

Guyana Times Sport at her home on Wednesday, the young prodigy revealed competing at the 21st edition of the Games held on the Gold Coast allowed her to fully grasp the true reality of being in the ‘lion’s den’.

“Playing in the Caribbean, I always felt

you could do good, you could have a solid space, but now when you go out in the bigger world of tennis, it is like wow, it’s even hard to make it out of your group.”

She added, “Now you have to train harder and keeping training and try to train abroad, because Guyana does not have the training we need to get to get to a further level; that is why I try to go abroad to improve myself.”

Greaves was a part of the winning end of the indifferent showing by the national racketwielders; in partnering with another budding star, Shemar Britton, she moved out of the round of 64 of the mixed doubles as they defeated Vanuatu 3-0, but stumbled in the next round to Singapore.

For the former Marian Academy student, who is currently studying for the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) at Nations University, hard work extends to both on and

off the field as she ensures there is life after what she hopes to be a prolonged professional career.

“Academics are very important. In case, you get an injury you can always turn to academics.

It is really hard to balance the two, but you have to put a lot of work in both studies and table tennis,” she noted.

She has swept most of the accolades as a junior, now it’s time to replicate the same success in the senior field

Golden inspiration

Olympian Troy Doris’s leap to a momentous gold for Guyana in the triple jump sent shock waves of congratulatory messages to the United States-based athlete, including Greaves’.

“I really wanted him to win. I was there at the stadium, but I was watching and cheering him on. To see one Guyanese do it by going past all the odds and get a gold, it means that every other Guyanese can do it; once they work hard enough, they will be able to do the same,” she posited.

Her work has just begun as she plots a course into the college realm and a professional career. But for those illus-

trious goals to occur, it would mean Greaves has to be given the necessary exposure on a consistent basis.

Last July, she went to China for a training stint, but only could stay for three weeks owing to financial constraints.

Greaves, who is appreciative of sponsors such as Hand-in-Hand, which played a substantial role

in her trip to Asia, firmly believes with more support for exposure to highlevel training, she can become a force to reckon with worldwide.

Supporting the young star, who is bursting with overwhelming talent, could mean investing in stardom on the world stage for the former Caribbean bronze medallist.

2018 Digicel /CPL Youth Series

Bishoo surprises Berbice youths as phase one begins

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igicel Youth Cricket Series Ambassador Devendra Bishoo surprised the students of Berbice High School by kicking off phase one of the series. More than 300 schools across the country will be vying for a chance to win a weekend coaching session with the best the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has to offer, the communication giants stated in a release to the media on Monday.

“As of April 16, the public will have a chance to vote for the school they want to see benefit from specialized training through t h e Digicel Youth Cricket Series”, the Digicel release has detailed.

Now in its second year, the programme has been expanded to include/allow more children to participate in the high school training. One registered high school in Guyana will be announced as the winner of the Digicel Youth Cricket Series coaching session, which will be organised by Digicel and CPL in June/ July. The general public will also be allowed to vote for the school which they deem to be most deserving of the coaching session. To vote, persons can use this link www.digicelguyana.com/ cplyouthseries Over four hundred (400) students

across the region will participate in this year’s programme, a significant increase from last year’s num-

Devendra Bishoo

bers.

“It was a pleasure to be part of this excitement today, and I am happy to be part of it, thanks to Digicel and CPL”, said Bishoo.

The 2018 Digicel CPL Youth Series will take place in the six competing countries: Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Lucia, and will provide more children the opportunity to hone their cricket skills and learn from the best talents in the game.

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