Sunday Times

As chair of the new Commonwealth Expert Group on Climate Finance, former president Bharrat Jagdeo was at Marlborough House, headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat, in London last week for discussions. In photo above, Jagdeo (right) is pictured with Prince Charles (left, front), Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma (centre, front) and some members of the expert group

There was a steady flow in and out of the fourth International Building Expo at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara on Saturday, as patrons turned out in full numbers to view the products and services on offer, as well as to have some fun (Carl Croker photo)

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Sunday, July 7 from 14:30h to 16:00h.

The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Sunday, July 7 from 16:20h to 17:50h.

WEATHER TODAY

Countrywide: Heavy rain showers are expected during the day, with clear skies in the evening over coastal regions and near inland locations. Temperatures are expected to range between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East north-easterly to east southeasterly at 3.12 to2.23 metres per second.

High Tide: 03:39h and 16:06h reaching maximum heights of 2.49 metres and 2.40 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 09:41h and 21:52h reaching minimum heights of 0.72 metre and 0.80 metre respectively.

Thousands throng building expo

Thousands thronged the International Building Expo on Saturday evening to gain insight into the housing and construction sector and to capitalise on the special incentives on offer by various companies at the event.

Representatives of several companies who spoke with Guyana Times on Saturday expressed delight with the response from the public thus fa r.

The annual event got underway on Friday evening with persons flocking the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara. Clyde Wilson, a representative from Windsor Estates, a new company from Florida, which is currently setting up a housing development scheme aback Republic Park, is participating at the expo for the very first time.

He said the response from the public has been tremendous, adding that a lot of persons have been inquiring about its scheme. “We just have to wait now and see if that interest will translate into people actually purchasing our property and coming and live here ultimately.”

Harris Paints Retail Services Manager Nicole Griffith said participating in the expo has enabled the company to raise awareness of its products.

“We want people to be

able to know about our quality product and where they can find our quality product... you’re investing for a lifetime so we want you to be able to spend your money wisely.”

Griffith noted that the response for Harris Paints has been good, and is calling on persons to come out and take advantage of the discounts offered.

“Any queries that you may have, whether it’s the estimate for the house, how many gallons of paint you may need, what kind of finishes you should use, what kind of colours you should use for a boy’s or girl’s room, anything you want to know, just come down.” The company is offering two sets of discounts: a 10 per cent discount store wide to anyone who left their names at their booth while there is a massive 35 per cent discount on the regular retail price for any bucket of trowel text.

Renauth Cox, a representative from Marjon Trading, which is showcasing decor stone, roofing system, underscored that the response from the public thus far has been very encouraging.

“A lot of people are very interested just because of the fact it is a really nice material to be on their homes and very attractive, then you have the added benefit of it coming with the 50 year warranty, plus it’s not going to rust or mold.” She said since the company participated in the expo last year, it experienced a spike in sales, and is hoping this year business will get even brighter. Meanwhile, patrons who are now homeowners thanked Housing Minister Irfaan Ali for helping them to make their dream a reality through the massive housing development initiatives. This year’s expo is being held under the theme, “Consolidating partnership for sustainable development”.

Housing Minister Irfaan Ali with staffers of Demerara Bank

These lovely ladies display a product at the building expo

Sunday Times Editor: Tajeram Mohabir

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

Mailing address:

238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown

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

Editorial

Promotion in schools

After a two-year experiment with what was evidently its own version of the U.S. “no child left behind” policy, the Ministry of Education has scrapped it, at least for secondary schools. In the U.S., the innovation was intended to ensure that all schools established standards in basic skills and that students be assessed against these standards. The federal government used the carrot of its funding power to insist on annual testing, annual academic progress, report cards and minimum teacher qualification.

The focus was on improving the schools to ensure that each child received a solid education – this was the essence of “not being left behind”. Each school now had to produce an annual Adequate Yearly Report (AYR) to show that it was making progress in comparison to the previous year. If not, steps were taken to improve the school with increasing levels of interventions – all being the responsibility of the school and its teachers. For instance, if a school lagged in its second AYR it had to produce a two-year improvement plan for the weak subjects. Further lags resulted in schools being forced to offer free tutoring, then taking corrective actions such as massive replacement of staff and finally even closing the school down.

In Guyana, while officials denied they had introduced the U.S. programme here, the “assessments” that undergird the U.S.’s “no child left behind” policy was introduced around the same time (a decade ago) in our primary schools. Simultaneously it was announced that all secondary schools were to be raised to the same level in resources and manpower to eliminate the invidious distinctions between “premier” and “other” schools.

However, absolutely no remedial actions were taken from the results of the assessments. There were some attempts to have teachers work extra hours with students, including during the school holidays, who had performed badly at the regular end-of-year tests. The commitment to equalise the secondary schools also appear to have been quietly abandoned.

Yet a few years ago the “automatic promotion policy” was introduced in all schools as if they were making progress along the lines demanded by the U.S. programme. But Guyanese schools, neither primary nor secondary, were never assessed as to their overall performance with the result that the failures of the educational system were all laid at the feet of students. But the minister of education has now said the intervention programmes never worked because students and teachers were uncooperative. The policy has now been abandoned without a replacement introduced.

This will not do. Billions of dollars are being pumped into the education system and we cannot afford to have this cavalier attitude towards the failure of a decade-old programme. If we revert to the same old failed teaching methodology and practice we will definitely produce the same mediocre results, ad infinitum. Teachers and school administrations must be made to improve performances after annual school results.

As far as the secondary schools, what the minister has outlined as “innovations” are pretty much what prevails. Ultimately, students are not permitted to write Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects in which they perform poorly. Students are also screened into various streams by fourth form. What is new is that students must now meet minimum standards in English Language and mathematics before they are promoted. But does this mean that the pilot intervention programme in fifth forms to boost performances at the CSEC in those subjects will now be extended to lower forms and in all schools in the fifth forms? Not to do so would once again place the blame on students for their “failures” while the schoolteachers and the school administration escape without even a rap on their knuckles.

In our considered opinion the Ministry of Education must look at the needs of our students in a holistic manner and place more responsibility for better performances on teachers and school administrations.

U.S. military cadets on the Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency (CULP) programme pose here with officials of the Guyana Defence Force. While in Guyana, the cadets will engage the local community through humanitarian programmes and service projects

Guyana’s success in mining

Dear Editor, Guyana has scored well in sustainable mining and it is very noteworthy to grasp the reality here. It is that Guyana fared well even though the country has the largest extractive sector in relation to production and people when compared with Suriname and French Guiana. It really feels good to me that Guyana is on record as having the least impact, among the three countries, on forest degradation and potential for pollution. Guyana has come a far way indeed.

What is important is that the evaluation came from a team of technical experts from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). This

is a very august body and is the world’s largest independent conservation organisation, with over five million supporters worldwide working in more than 100 countries and supporting around 1300 conservation and environmental projects. So this commendation must not be taken lightly, but at the same time, it also must not make stakeholders too comfortable and complacent.

Currently, government has started to work in the areas of regulation and innovation, in terms of introducing new technology to ensure that all activities related to the traditional extractive industries are accomplished in a sustainable manner. Such thinking is

not exclusive to the mining sector, but spills over to agriculture as well, where there is an ongoing re-examining of the types of techniques used in cultivation, in keeping with its green growth trajectory.

Now, as far as I am seeing it, Guyana is going through a foundational and stabilisation phase. There is a lot in the offing when this platform is solid, but it is important to be patient and consistent.

In the words of the subject minister, once Guyana can deal with the issue of clean, reliable and cheap power, it would then be able to become a contributor to the manufacturing and production of green goods and

services. This will no doubt result in significant economic benefits.

Much work is also going on through the Office of the Climate Change and other entities responsible for the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Guyana has to find ways to re-invent this strategy and ensure that it is consistent with global realities and responsive to national needs. It is a tricky balance –the old adage is that one cannot have his cake and eat it. However, that is really what sustainable mining is and what is also the challenge facing the country.

Yours respectfully, Kenneth Joseph

First aid training should be mandatory for certain categories of workers

Dear Editor, It crossed my mind that this rapidly evolving Guyana can get away from us if we are not careful and if we do not take proactive steps to regulate our growth and progress. Think firefighting alone, and in the past, we never had fire as a major issue. For the first 25 years of my life, I only knew of two fires. Now fires are so frequent, it is almost normal. So I was intrigued when I read that some 75 members of Guyana Fire Service (GFS) completed first aid training recently. On the one hand I am very pleased. I have seen, just once, someone admin-

ister emergency first aid to another person and it never left my mind how valuable the training is. While the medical personal are trained in first aid, be-

cause of their work, it is a good idea for all of us to be trained in first aid so that we can help someone else if we need to in their time of need.

So why not make this kind of training mandatory where firemen and police officers are concerned? The same should hold for coast guards and tourism workers. Here, it was a case where the GFS trained 75 of its selected members who went through the paces of first aid training to help in cases of fire and road accidents. First aid is valuable to those that receive it and to those that administer it. It is a very valuable skill to have and one that certain kinds of workers must have.

Yours faithfully, Colleen Shepherd

You

HIV testing should be mandated

Dear Editor, The Annual Scotiabank Regional HIV Testing Week was held recently through its Bright Future Programme, and I am glad that this HIV campaign and awareness emphasis is not diminishing.

I think that HIV tests must be mandated at regular intervals and for about as many people as possible. HIV/AIDS is still a very serious health issue. Urgent measures should always be undertaken to arrest any bad situation long before it gets out of hand.

I refer readers to a study in Dominica conducted by the U.S. National Institute of Health that tried to un-

tangle the complex relationship among tourism environments, alcohol consumption, and HIV risk.

The research highlighted that the tourism industry in general promotes alcohol consumption, including binge drinking, among both tourists and locals who live and work in tourist environments.

Businesses realise that sex draws clients to consumption locations, even if those locations aren’t officially prostitution sites. Tourists want to meet locals who are potentially available for sexual interactions. This synergy between the sex economy and the alcohol economy is a

factor in the spread of HIV.

your

School graduations are being commercialised Africanised bees at Supenaam

Dear Editor,

In many ways, this whole school graduation thing has gone out of hand, and now that the cost factor is ever rising, it is good that the Education Ministry made a controlling pronouncement on it. The cut off fee of $3000 was made public at a press briefing held by the minister of education and I believe it will be a big relief for many parents and guardians.

In the past, the catch word at school was “promoted” or “passed” to go to another class. Graduation was an elevated term that was reserved for college and university students.

The occasion now for

schools seems to be have become quite a gala event as well.

From a semantic point of view, I can see why a school graduation is concomitant with a load of paraphernalia and plenty of money spending. I suggest we exercise caution, which is what the Education Ministry is also advocating.

I am not sure if we really need any fanfare for the taking of pictures, issuing of a few certificates, and sharing of some snacks. I guess the school graduation is all about posterity, but it seems as if it is being turned into to a social show piece.

This is also what is happening to some children’s

I advocate therefore that Guyana be committed to allowing HIV-prevention measures to be implemented in tourist environments. In Dominica, some policymakers mentioned the fragility of the tourism industry and the need to safeguard it by downplaying the threat of HIV.

So far our tourism sector is doing well, gathering momentum all the time. All we need to do is to make sure that all the good work we have done thus far does not come to nothing.

Yours respectfully, Janice Hinds

birthday parties. I have been the victim of noise nuisances at many babies’ birthday parties in my neighbourhood. I always ask if these occasions are for the babies or for the parents to announce their monetary prowess. The music always loud and the alcohol is always excessive.

I urge those who are feeling squeezed for these graduation exercises to make it known to the ministry. It is time to stop this commercialisation of school exercises. I ask that officers within the ministry make a concerted effort to put an end to all of them.

Yours sincerely,

Karen Campbell

Dear Editor, I wish to bring to your attention that an Africanised honey bee hive is in the old health centre at Supenaam. These Africanised bees will viciously attack people who are travelling to Georgetown by speedboats, and often the attacks result in serious injury and death.

In fact, Africanised bees have been known to respond viciously to mundane occurrences, including noises or even vibrations from vehicles, equipment and pedestrians at this area.

In June this year, a speedboat captain became the first person to die, trying to save his passengers from these Africanised honey bee stings. He was stung more than 40 times, while trying to remove his boat from the stelling, crashing it into another boat.

The support service in this area at the Ministry of Agriculture has all disappeared over the past decade on the Essequibo Coast. So residents are now left at risk.

In an effort to avoid more vicious attacks and death the residents are calling on the relevant authority to get rid of these killer bees before it’s too late.

Although such attacks are alarming at this old dilapidated building, nothing has been done to clear the giant hive – one will hardly believe how bad these bees are, as they can get up under your clothes where no other insect can go and kill you.

Yours faithfully, Mohamed Khan

Preparing to deal with special needs children

Dear Editor,

Guyana is looking ahead and making plans to further help children with special needs and I personally applaud the facilitators and participants for making good on the recent two-day workshop for parents, teachers and welfare officers of Region 10.

We should all see the people and not their disabilities. A disability is a disadvantage that persons with impairments have, but it becomes a humbug only when society fails to take account of its responsibility. Disabilities do not reduce people in terms of their worth and value as human beings.

When it comes to children with disabilities, they generally have specific triggers such as words, images and sounds, and these can signal danger or disruption to their

feelings of safety and security.

Even with people without disabilities, a wrong word, say a racial slur, can create loads of problems. So we have to make a concerted effort to expunge negativities from our minds. I can give a few simple ones here – retarded, mad, stupid and dumb. Never ever refer to children in these terms is my mandate here.

Adults should provide assurance, support and attention as much as possible. If adults are not careful, vulnerable children may descend in their behaviour to a point where they completely lose control. We all know that prevention is far better than cure.

We need to know very quickly the number of children with special education needs and what areas

these needs fall into. We also should think about having relevant programmes and courses at the University of Guyana (UG) and the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). Having a pool of qualified personnel is vital. There is the idea too of targeting various teachers at schools across the country, who will be trained and equipped with the requisite techniques. Good I say to this, but how about going even further?

I stretch it even further and ask for some kind of deliberate dissemination of information to the general public. The more we know the better off can we help these children. After all, we would not be quarantining them as such.

Yours truly, Rajcoomar Persaud

can send

letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, 238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Page Foundation

Anu Dev

We’re done. High school days are officially over. There’s no turning back the clock. Trust me – I tried. Even though I still fit perfectly into my third form tunic, I was still stuck in 2013 instead of being teleported back to 2009.

I’ve had the best seven years of my life at Queen’s College. It’s just been two days since my last day ever at Queen’s and already the past seven years are being bathed in that warm, nostalgic glow. I always assumed that I’d have to be at least 70 before I started to fondly reminisce about math classes.

So far, the thing that’s hitting me the hardest about this whole ‘being done with school’ thing is that ever so often I would see something interesting or hear a funny joke and I would think, “I have GOT to tell __________ or ____________ about ________ when I see them next week.” And then I realise that there’s no next

The end of an era

“True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.” –KurtVonnegut

week, no more seeing those exact same people every weekday. At the end of the summer we’ll be off to university, some of us will be flung to various corners of the world, separated. When I was in first form it seemed like I had forever

traditional for the graduating class to do a musical item as a group. So in the week or so before graduation, we had another chance to pull together as a group to select a song, to plan rehearsals, and basically to do the things we’ve always

at QC. Seven years seemed like ages. Time seemed infinite.

But we graduated the Friday before last, and it’s

been doing at QC.

With so many of our clubs, with our student-run activities, programmes and shows, we’re pretty famil-

iar with the whole concept of organising ourselves to do a cultural item.

So with the leadership and organisational skills we’ve learnt from our years at Queen’s along with all of the textbook knowledge, I’m sure we’re ready to take on the next stage of our lives.

We formed special bonds – beyond the ‘old school tie’ – bonds that I am sure will last our lifetimes. And now we’ll soon be the adults that you see in the bank or at a bookstore. We’ll look at the tie of any QC student that we see and try to identify their House and attempt to strike up a conversation about what Queen’s used to be like in our days.

We’ll most likely still keep up with what’s going on at Queen’s on some level, even if it’s just to celebrate Queen’s doing well at CSEC or CAPE.

We have collected our certificates, we have signed our uniforms, and we have sung our school song for the final time. It is now time for the next chapter of the rest of our lives.

Fideles Ubique Utiles.

Making childfocused parenting time decisions

Separate parenting time and child support

Parents can help their children by not withholding child support or parenting time. Children generally fare best when they have the emotional and financial support and ongoing involvement of both parents. A parent does not have a right to withhold parenting time or child support because of the other parent’s failure to comply with court-ordered parenting time or support.

In other words:

• The custodial parent cannot withhold parenting time if the noncustodial parent fails to provide child support.

• The noncustodial parent cannot withhold child support if the custodial parent fails to allow parenting time.

Rather than withholding parenting time or support, there are more productive, effective and, if need be, legal ways for parents to resolve support and parenting time issues. Parents experiencing conflict over parenting time or child support may wish to consult a mediator, attorney, parenting time expeditor, or county child support office.

Respect parent-child relationships

Parents can help their children by respecting and supporting each child’s relationship with the other parent. Unless agreed upon by both parents, parents should not plan activities for children that conflict with the other parent’s scheduled time with the children. The time a parent is scheduled to spend with the children belongs to that parent and the children. The oth-

(CONTINUED

er parent should not interfere with this time. Parents can also help their children by adjusting the schedule to permit their children to participate in reasonable extracurricular activities.

Facilitate transition from one parent to the other Parents can help their children transition from one home to the other by understanding their children’s anxieties and by assuring them that both parents will continue to love them and to be involved in their lives. Children commonly experience separation anxiety. This does not necessarily mean that the child has a poor relationship with either parent. For the child, it may be just like the divorce or separation is happening all over again. Children under age five generally do not understand the concept of time, such as hours, days, or weekends. Parents of young children can help them understand when the child will spend time with each parent by creating a calendar with different colours for each parent.

Support contact with grandparents and other extended family

Parents can help their children maintain important family ties by arranging for the children to visit their father’s family when they are with their father, and by arranging for the children to visit their mother’s family when they are with their mother. Children who have had loving relationships with their grandparents and other extended family members need to maintain those ties, otherwise they may experience a sense of loss. (www. mncourts.gov)

Court vindicates chief-of-staff's action against soldiers

Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang has vindicated the actions of Chief-of-Staff, Commodore Gary Best in relation to three recent matters which were brought before him.

The acting chief justice discharged writs which were filed by four officers who challenged the chiefof-staff’s non-payment of their year-end bonus. The officers had filed a writ of Certiorari, which stated that the withholding of bonus by Best was unlawful and unreasonable, and a writ of Mandamus, directing him to pay the bonus.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in a release said Justice Chang discharged both writs and ruled that they did not have a reasonable expectation of receiving the bonus since the officers were aware of disciplinary infractions. The acting chief justice also ruled that Best was acting on behalf of the president when he withheld the bonus. As such, the officers’ actions against the chief-of-staff were misconceived because it was an action of prerogative writ against the president, which is not allowed in law.

In the matter of an officer who filed a writ of prohibition seeking right to counsel at a summary of evidence proceedings against him, the acting chief justice has ruled that the summary of evidence proceeding is merely an investigative and not an adjudicative proceeding and, as such, the officer has no right to counsel.

In the matter of relinquishment of the appointments of three officers who had sued for their year-end bonus, Justice Chang discharged that matter in favour of the chief-of-staff, ruling that the action should have

been brought against the entire defence board and not only the chief-of -staff.

The GDF had said the defence board issued the instruction “given the serious nature of the matters, its implications (and) the avoidance of any conflict of interest which may arise” and that the decision to relieve the four officers had been taken without prejudice to leave entitlements and pecuniary benefits, until the determination of their matters.

The chief-of-staff was represented by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall and Deputy Solicitor General Pritima Kissoon.

Corporal punishment in suspension mode – education minister

Education Minister Priya Manickchand has reminded that her ministry’s position on corporal punishment has “not changed”, noting that the practise is still allowed in schools.

However, she stated that it should be regulated by a written policy which the Education Ministry has released. At the moment, she said corporal punishment is in a suspension mode, noting that the National Assembly is currently looking at the issue.

“Corporal punishment in schools is at a tripartite level, all the parliamentary parties in Parliament are sitting around the table to decide what’s best for Guyana as we go forward.” Members of the public and organisations are also invited to take their views and comments to the various parties to let them know how they people feel about this issue.

Manickchand noted that the Education Ministry will be guided on what Parliament decides on the issue, adding that it is awaiting the outcome. “In

the meantime, we encourage and insist teachers and headteachers are compliant with the policy we have, which is, you don’t beat for children to learn, and you don’t beat while you teach them.”

Meanwhile, when questioned on how important the inputs of teachers are to determine if corporal punishment should be practised as a form of discipline, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam said teachers’ thoughts, ideas and opinions have always been factored in to many of the Education Ministry’s decisions.

“I think people need to appreciate that we can’t just look at this on one level; in fact, my position has always been that this is a national issue,” he underscored.

Sam said corporal punishment has implications on how the country treats its children generally, its attitude about punishment and behaviour and how others would view Guyanese. The chief education officer stated too that persons must understand that parents’ views must be considered as it regards the implementation of corporal punishment. “Their feelings from our consultations were varied,” he disclosed. He echoed similar sentiments as the education minister, adding that there is the Parliament, international funding organisations, parents and students who have to be collectively considered when such decisions are made. “So it’s not just a matter of us as the ministry in isolation agreeing to do x or y.”

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

Chief-of-Staff, Commodore Gary Best

Females continue to outperform males at NGSA – chief education officer

Chief Education Officer Olato Sam said that an analysis of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) has clearly suggested that females continue to outperform males in all the subject areas and in all the regions.

Sam highlighted that the performance in math has improved over previous years while performance in English and science continues to fluctuate with declines in those two areas being evident. Meanwhile, there is consistent performance across the board and over a number of years in social studies.

“Although improvements have been noted in many regions, coastal regions continue to outperform the hinterland regions, and generally speaking when we look at this more detailed analysis, it is clear that we all (education stakeholders) need to redouble our efforts to ensure that there is improved performance in all subject areas, but more specifically, in those

key areas of English and science that continue to fluctuate over the years,” he said.

Sam recognised that the ministry has done quite a lot with regards to the broader literacy instruction programme and the results seen in math are directly related to the introduction of the Interaction Radio Instruction (IRI) programme. “We are still looking to see a similar trend in relation to English Language,” he added.

The chief education officer also noted that science is an

important subject and with the introduction of some new strategies such as the use of micro-science kits and better training for teachers at the primary level, performance in this subject will improve.

“Our concern with regards to regional performance has always been that we see the hinterland regions being able to close the gap between themselves and the coastal regions… we are encouraged by what we have seen in Region Nine, where we have had the largest number of trained teachers for all the hinterland regions… it speaks to what we know to be sound educational policy and there is a correlation between the number of trained teachers and student performance,” Sam acknowledged.

With regard to the performance of private schools against public schools, he noted that trends indicate that they are performing on par; however, the ministry will endeavour to conduct a more detailed analysis in that regard.

Cabinet greenlights contracts for agriculture, education, other sectors

Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon on Friday said Cabinet has given its no-objection to some $1744.17 million in contracts for the security, housing and water, agriculture and education sectors.

Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet briefing, Dr Luncheon disclosed that some $419.45 million has been approved for the supply of ration to the Guyana Defence Force and $29.72 million for the design, development and electronic document management system for the Guyana Police Force.

In the housing and water sector, $252 million has been approved for the upgrade of roads in Westminster, Onderneeming and Recht door Zee, West Bank Demerara and $69.9 million for the upgrade of service connectors in Berbice, Region Six.

In the agriculture sector, some $20.55 million have been approved for the supply, delivery and installation and the testing of equipment for the Ebini Breeding and Research Station, Upper Berbice River, Region 10; $409.5 million for supply of civil works in the Canal Polders and supplementary drainage work, phase three; $237.13 million for the construction of a pump station at Patentia, West Bank Demerara (lot one), $70.4 million for cleaning of culverts and fabrication and installation of controlled gates (lot two), $82.33 million for cleaning of culverts and fabrication and installation of controlled gates (lot three), and $104.6 million for the rehabilitation of the canals.

Some 48.4 million has been allocated for the procurement of exercise books for national distribution.

Eyew tness

Visionary thinking...

...in housing

The building boom on the coast is fulfilling a lot of dreams. For a society that began with most of its people forced to live in hovels – the yards” and “bound quarters” – owning your own home is more than having a “shelter”. It’s the opportunity to live with a modicum of dignity in your own “castle”. But for too long that had been just a hope and a wish.

Back in 1972 the then government – with the best of intentions we’re sure – launched a five year “feed, house and clothe” the nation project. But for a host of reasons, which will not detain us today, housing for the “small man” became an even more distant dream. The poor fella had to worry about starvation and nakedness.

But no matter what its detractors may say, they cannot deny that the present People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has made a remarkable turnaround in the housing sector. Starting from the regularisation of squatting area ghettoes, the allocation of cheap lots with drainage, water and electricity followed – in that order. After all, even God took seven days to create a home for mankind!

But in the last couple of years, the government has ratcheted up its aspirations and performance in housing to unbelievable levels, considering from whence it began. It plunged into partnerships with developers to offer cheap but comfortable houses – first for the lower income earners, then middle incomers, and finally, earlier this year – “young professionals”. To facilitate all this activity, banks were offered incentives by the government – in tandem with international financial institutions – to give mortgages at historic low rates.

One interesting innovation that earned accolades is the annual housing expo that became internationalised this year. In addition, to allowing developers and hardware suppliers to showcase their wares, it helped to educate house buyers as to what was available and possible. But this year, was special for another reason: the proposal for a housing area in our “hilly sand and clay belt” – Silica City.

For years, we’ve been warned that our “below the sea level” coast is threatened by rising seas due to global warming. The solution didn’t need rocket science thinking: move to higher ground. The problem was: who would bell the cat, so to speak. Well, following the lead of a private developer at Madewini, the governmentsponsored Silica City on the Linden highway will lead the way to the higher ground.

Hats off to the government!

...in climate mitigation

But while the government is performing yeoman service to begin the process of moving our population out of the oncoming “harm’s way”, it must be recognised that it will it be a Herculean task for a struggling country to accomplish. Huge funding needs will have to be satisfied to make such a venture viable.

And we’re not just talking about the infrastructural needs for the settlement. We’re talking about the need to generate employment opportunities for those pioneers who will make the trek to Silica City. The settlements at Linden showed us that unless people have jobs, inland settlements will remain a chimera.

Fortunately for us there’s hope. The United Nations (UN) already has established a climate mitigation scheme that we should be able to tap into. There should be a comprehensive plan drafted for Silica City to make it into a self-sustaining community and this should be the basis of Guyana applying for funds from the UN facility.

Our own former President Bharrat Jagdeo offers another route to funding.

...by Commonwealth

He’s now head of a Commonwealth Expert Group on Climate Finance, which met last week to identify solutions for unlocking resources to enable small, poor and climate-vulnerable Commonwealth countries to combat climate change. He specifically mentioned the need “to identify financing at a scale that matches the problem” and to deploy such funds.

All Guyana should root for him to succeed in his enlightened advocacy.

Olato Sam

Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon

GT&T’s DSL services now available in middle East Bank

In light of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company’s (GT&T) quest to provide the highest quality telecommunications services in Guyana, the company on Friday announced that access to its DSL Internet services is available to customers residing in certain sections of middle East Bank Demerara.

GT&T Chief Financial Officer Justin Ned said customers at New Hope, Grove, Friendship, Craig, Samatha Point, and Caneville, East Bank Demerara can now benefit from highspeed Internet access.

Speaking at the BlackBerry office, Brickdam, Georgetown on Friday, Ned said the Internet has accounted for as much as 21 per cent of growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2006 to 2011 and 10 per cent from 2001 to 2006 in mature economies.

In addition, he added that the United Nations, in

its Millennium Development Goals, suggested that the Internet is critical in eradicating poverty.

In light of this, Ned highlighted that GT&T sees itself as an integral part of Guyana’s development and is committed to providing access to affordable Internet across the country.

“Our DSL highspeed Internet service continues to grow and is farther reaching than ever before. Areas that

are not yet serviced by DSL but by our vast, robust and reliable mobile network can also access the Internet using our PC LAN card technology,” he stated.

He reiterated that the telephone giant remains committed to provide each citizen of Guyana with affordably access to the world through the Internet, and is encouraging the public to visit the company’s offices and their Building Expo 2013 booth where they can obtain access to highspeed Internet at deep discounts.

In keeping with the theme of discounts, he added that the company will offer unlocked mobile phones that give costumers the freedom of choice at market beating prices – up to 70 per cent off regular retail prices.

As GT&T expands, he noted that the coming year shall prove to be an exciting period for all Guyanese as liberalisation and GT&T’s enhanced Internet, mobile and wire line services will

drive productivity to levels previously unseen in Guyana.

Recently, the telephone giant commissioned a 350 feet mobile cellular service at Aranaputa Valley, North Rupununi, as part of its effort to equip hinterland communities with Internet access.

The mobile service is working in a 900 megahertz spectrum which reaches wider and farther than the 1800 megahertz.

The Aranaputa cell site will serve Annai and its environs and also boost the rural radio booths in the area. The site was strategically erected to serve as a hub for North Rupununi in areas such as business, education and health, but more importantly, wider access to the National Communications Network.

The company also promised to further expand its reach and provide affordable access to the vital services it offers.

Ethnic argument

Satiricus is a Guyanese. So he was a bit worried about what direction the debate about whether Forbes Burnham should’ve gotten the Tambo Award was taking. Satiricus was no bright bulb, he conceded, but what was difficult about matching the requirements about what it took to get the Tambo Award with what Burnham did for South Africa. “But then what did he know?” he sighed.

Now the whole argument was over who was the better African – Burnham or Dr Walter Rodney? And here poor Satiricus was thinking that the whole point Burnham wanted to teach all Guyanese was we were all “One People and One Nation” with “One Destiny”. Not about whether we were Africans or Indians or whatever.

Satiricus had been impressed when Burnham took the money from the fund set aside to return Indians to India. Satiricus figured that all those who felt they were “Indians” would’ve gone back to India. Those who remained were Guyanese. So if Burnham took the money to build the National Culture Centre (NCC), why complain? Satiricus figured that all the shows held at the NCC were Guyanese – and he wondered why every now and then, they allowed an “Indian” show into a Guyanese culture centre.

Anyhow, Satiricus resented the point – which wasn’t even denied by anyone – that Burnham sent money to fight apartheid in South Africa not because it was unjust, but because the people being oppressed were Africans! What nonsense!! Burnham didn’t think like that...he was Guyanese to the bone. Now this Dr Rodney fellow was a horse of a different colour.

Imagine he could announce publicly that not only was he African – he was Pan-African!! He believed that Africans should get together as Africans! And of course, Burnham opposed this and so had to oppose Rodney. Satiricus figured that Burnham was nothing if not consistent. If all the Indians who remained in Guyana were Guyanese and not “Indians”, well then, what right Dr Rodney had to tell people they were “Africans”.

This was going against the deepest principle of Burnham. Look how Burnham had ordered all those ethnic cricket clubs to change their names. East Indian Cricket Club had to become “Everest”, Portuguese had to become Maltenoes and so on. Next thing Rodney might’ve done was to (horror of horrors!!) organise an "African Cricket Club”. You know where that was heading, don’t you?

Dividing up Guyana like how Dr Rodney’s mentor had suggested in the 1960s that’s where. Burnham just couldn’t allow this to go on. Satiricus didn’t understand how people couldn’t see this. And on the Tambo Award matter. Satiricus was sure that as a staunch Guyanese who detested these ethnic labels, Burnham would’ve refused the award if it was just because the South Africans felt he was “African”.

As a Guyanese he would’ve pointed out to them they already awarded the Tambo to a Guyanese – Dr Cheddi Jagan.

While Satiricus didn’t know much about many things, he knew that this was justice – maybe even poetic justice.

Dharmic group needs $12M to assist Berbice youths

Youths in Berbice and more particularly in the East Canje area are to benefit from improved facilities from the Golden Om Dharmics (GOD). The organisation has plans to broaden its scope so that a wider range of persons can benefit from its activities. The Reliancebased organisation recently included HIV/AIDS and drug abuse to an already packed list of activates on its agenda.

GOD is aiming to make a huge step which will include dancing, yoga, singing and cooking classes, among other things. To this end, the organisation has embarked on extending its headquarters, adding an upper flat to the building, to accommodate the various classes, an office, indoor games, a counseling room and library.

This project will cost some $12 million and also see the establishment a computer and document centre, a vegetarian café and a sargam shop. GOD is calling on the corporate community to support this worthy cause.

The organisation has been occupying the Reliance Vocational Educational and Dharmic Academy (VEDA) building and is the driving

force behind the activities there.

Founder of VEDA, Pandit Chardradat Persaud said the project will be executed in two phases, and will see its headquarters being transformed into a modern two-story building. According to Pandit Persaud, the lower flat of the building will be rehabilitated under phase two of the project.

“The lower flat will be transformed into a modern culture centre. Public support is critical as the project will transcend all boundaries and will be beneficial to all youths.” He noted that several fundraisers have been planned while donations can be deposited into GOD’s Republic Bank account, number 7456106.

Over the years, the nongovernmental organisation has been involved in several activities which include the hosting of the annual VEDA’s youth camp, an annual Father’s Day treat at the Dharm Shala, publishing of Golden Expressions – the organisation’s official magazine, blood donation drives and domestic violence, HIV/ AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse seminars/ lectures.

GT&T Chief Financial Officer Justin Ned

Ramotar urges political will to achieve regional food security

Guyana’s President, Donald Ramotar has issued a call for political, entrepreneurial, and popular will to achieve food security in the Caribbean region, noting that food security, as a primary policy objective for the region, must be embraced by all stakeholders.

The president emphasised the need for “a binding political undertaking by decision makers at the highest level, both regionally and within individual national jurisdictions that regional food security is an objective to be pursued with single minded zeal. In addition, the region’s private sector must also be recruited to the view that food security is good for regional business as an end in its own right, and for the other indirect economic advantages that it will bring to the regional economy more widely.”

Agricultural production

The head of state, speaking at a forum hosted by the University of the West Indies, and held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Trinidad Thursday evening urged that agricultural production and food security should not be allowed to remain the exclusive preserve of agricultural scientists and economists.

While in the country to participate in the 34th regular meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean, President Ramotar was invited to address the event on food security, a topic that is very important to Guyana.

“Ours has long been an economy with a significant agricultural component, indeed for many years our productive output was dominated by the agriculture sector. In addition, with the quasi- cabinet structure of Caricom, Guyana holds responsibility for agriculture and my predecessor was the architect of the initiative now known as the Jagdeo Initiative for accelerating development in the agriculture sector of the region,” President Ramotar stated.

He noted also that there are few areas that are ripe with opportunity for regional integration to be accelerated, and for the benefits of regional integration to be demonstrated in agriculture and food production.

Referring to the estimated regional food import bill of between US$3 billion and US$5 billion,

the president explained that this represents $3 billion worth of business opportunity for Caribbean producers. “Were the region able to meet this requirement through domestic production, this would represent billions of dollars of investment in our region, tens of thousands of jobs for Caribbean people, hundreds of growing and increasingly profitable Caribbean business enterprises, billions of dollars of avoided imports every year, therefore improving our external balances,” he explained.

Labour resources

Pointing out that Guyana has hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land waiting to be put under cultivation; President Ramotar observed that Guyana and many other Caricom countries have unutilised and under-utilised labour resources, especially if the story of youth unemployment in the region is to be believed.

He observed also that while Trinidad and Tobago and other sister Caricom states have the financial capital to make the large scale investments required; Trinidad and Tobago in particular has the affordable energy required to process and package the raw food products.

Recalling 2007 to 2008, when food prices spiked, partly as a result of the migration of crops from food production into fuel production, he reminded of the talks of a global food crisis. President Ramotar also reminded of regional emergency meetings, “Lofty commitments were made for new investment in agriculture and food production. And then… food prices came back down partially. And… everybody forgot the urgency of investing in

food security. None of the investments contemplated has since materialised, and the region is no closer to realising food security.”

He also urged for all appropriate steps to be taken to establish the physical infrastructure that would be facilitative of private sector investment in agricultural and food production in the region. This includes investment of public resources in infrastructure in food producing areas including farm to market roads and drainage and irrigation infrastructure in countries like Guyana, in affordable energy including from renewable sources for food processing

and packaging and downstream production.

President Ramotar also urged the promotion and facilitation of large scale private investment in agricultural enterprises as he cited the Rupununi Rice Project being invested in by the Kyffin Simpson group and agricultural investments by ANSA McAL group in Guyana. He also urged supportive services for small scale farmers including extension services, supportive services to access markets, technology and technological advice, including in more disease resistant crops and improving productivity.

President Donald Ramotar in discussion with Professor Clement Sankat of the University of the West Indies at a forum held at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Port of Spain. Also in photo are Finance

Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Public Works Minister Robeson Benn

Prime minister touts private-public sector partnership as the way forward

Acting President Samuel Hinds has expressed optimism that Guyana’s housing and construction sector will continue to expand drastically through private-public partnership.

Hinds said the housing and construction sector has been improving leaps and bounds, noting that Guyana has move from a stage of construction of simple wooden and concrete houses to the construction of steel frames and reinforced concrete buildings.

Speaking with Guyana Times at the opening of the fourth building expo held at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Coast Demerara, the prime minister credited the success of the event to the partnership approach of the government,

noting that this kind of corporation is vital to the country’s development.

According to Hinds, the housing and construction sector has been the leading sector in Guyana over the past three years, providing focused

transformation of the country’s landscape.

He noted that the sector can provide work for persons and stimulate demand throughout the country.

The prime minister urged Guyanese not to lose sight of

the path of progressing from stage to stage, which now sees special incentives from the banking sector to help low income earners.

Meanwhile, Housing Minister Irfaan Ali has promised that at the ending of the International Building Exposition, 1000 land titles would be distributed.

Persons were lined up in their numbers until late Friday last evening, filling out the necessary documents to receive their titles on the first day of the expo

As the Housing Ministry’s opened its gates to the expo on Friday evening, persons flocked the Guyana National Stadium to feast their eyes on the wide range of opportunities and offers that businesses were making available.

Access to financing

Potential homeowners would not only secure their house lots, but would have access to financing from the various banks to erect their dream homes.

The expo features participation from companies in Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, the U.S., Canada and Barbados. Minister Ali stressed that the ministry is expecting a very successful expo due to the level of enthusiasm and interest.

This fourth event, he said, has outdone its predecessors, and this is as a result of greater interest. For instance, the ministry has had to turn away a lot of large exhibitors because of time (they were late) and in terms of readiness and being on schedule.

This year’s expo focuses on building more local and foreign partnerships with the aim of diversifying the manufacturing base, while at the same time ensuring sustainable development.

Several arrested for Leeds Village robbery

The police on Saturday morning confirmed that at least five persons are in police custody following the robbery committed on a pensioner at Leeds, Number 50 Village, Corentyne, Berbice on Wednesday last.

The robbery was reportedly committed between 08:00h and 17:30h after the pensioner and his family left home to visit a relative.

According to information received, the robbers reportedly carted off with a quantity of gold jewellery valued $200,000; one pair of diamond earrings valued $58,000; one Samsung ST 88 digital camera valued $38,000; a quantity of cologne worth $50,000; G$250,000; US$1000; and Cdn$500.

The bandits also escaped with three Guyanese passports. It was reported that Downadan (only name given), 70, a pensioner secured his two-storey wooden and concrete home with the articles intact and accompanied his wife, daughter and son to visit relatives at Number 19 Village, Corentyne.

Upon his return, the pensioner reportedly saw a window on the lower flat of his property broken, and this prompted him to check his house, and in doing so, it was discovered that the articles were missing. The police were contacted and a probe was launched.

Police sources confirmed that the bandits gained entry into the premises through a window on the western side of the lower flat of the house and removed the articles which were secured in the third bedroom in the upper

flat. Investigations revealed that the men then exited the same way they gained access.

The pensioner told Guyana Times that on the day in question he, his wife Seetasha, along with his son Chanderpaul and daughter-in-law Shaneeza (only names given) went to visit his daughter who resides at Albion. The family spent the entire day at the daughter.

Downadan further explained that when they returned home around 17:30h, they did not see anything amiss, until his wife went to the upper flat of their twostorey wooden and concrete home and made the stunning discovery.

He explained that when his wife opened the bedroom door, she recognised that the room was ransacked and the wardrobe door was broken. He went on to say that a medium-sized steel chest that was used to store his wife’s valuables was missing. The man said that it is a very heavy chest which takes more than three adults to lift, thus explaining that it had to be more than three persons that invaded his home.

After the discovery, the police were summoned and a probe was launched. The family, who suffered heavily at the hands of the bandits, said they have no suspects in mind but later learnt via an anonymous caller that a neighbour might have been involved in the robbery.

The suspect was seen in the pensioner’s yard on the day of the robbery. This is the first time that the family has been robbed.

Ramotar urges political...

President Ramotar, however, pointed out that “all this will not resolve the dilemma faced in the region. The reality is that there remain significant impediments to the regional trade in agricultural and food products, and there are many other pre-requisites that need to be met.”

He pointed out the huge remaining gaps in regional transport infrastructure which means that even if food production in Guyana increases, “transportation costs make it more affordable for the purchaser in the northern Caribbean to source their food products from North or Central America, thereby undermining regional food security. Indeed, un-

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til the transport impediment is removed, regional trade in agricultural products will remain unfeasible.”

Furthermore, as a region, “we are still to succeed in establishing a unified system of sanitary and phytosanitary requirements which would be critical to facilitating trade in food products. Under no circumstances should our region still be grappling with unaligned sanitary and phytosanitary systems which impede intraregional trade and which can often be perceived to be used to protect inefficient domestic producers against more competitive extra-national regional producers. This matter must be resolved.”

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds checks out a bed at the building expo

Scenes from building expo 2013

Staff of Demerara Bank Limited attend to potential customers

Visitors observe some of the model houses on display at the building expo

The BK International Group of Companies booth

Products on display by National Hardware Limited

CDF injects US$7.3M into Guyana’s agriculture sector

Guyana and the Caricom Development Fund (CDF) on Saturday signed a country assistance programme agreement that will inject US$7.32 million into Guyana’s agriculture sector.

Guyana’s Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and CDF Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador Lorne McDonnough signed the agreement for a combination of a US$4.566 million concessionary loan and a US$2.66 million grant, at the Hilton Hotel, in Trinidad.

President Donald Ramotar, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett,

Transport Minister Robeson Benn and Foreign Affairs Ministry, Director General, Ambassador Elizabeth Harper, witnessed the signing.

Through the funding, more than 9000 farming households are to gain easier access to farmlands to improve and sustain agriculture production year-round.

In brief remarks, President Ramotar said the funding made possible through the CDF would go a long way towards improving the infrastructural development in the agriculture sector which, in turn, would stimulate and develop production particularly in three

regions of Guyana.

He pointed to Guyana’s capacity to feed the Caribbean and to contribute to the food security of the region.

President Ramotar, who is also the lead head of government for agriculture in the community’s quasi-cabinet, called for the de-stigmatisation of agriculture, and the modernisation of the sector to make it more attractive to young people.

He said he was confident that with modern technology and new techniques, the community could lift production, find markets, lure youths and lift the income of those involved in the sector.

BBCI honours Blairmont Primary’s top student

The Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) has donated a trophy to the best graduating student of the Blairmont Primary School when the school hosted its annual graduation exercises on Wednesday.

The BBCI in honouring a request by the school’s headteacher, made the donation on Tuesday.

The company in a release said it was privileged to have the opportunity to make the donation and will continue to donate and sponsor other events that would benefit the school.

“It should be noted that the BBCI has supported the Ministry of Education extensively over the years by donating trophies to a number of schools and technical institutions, waivering toll charges for school tour buses transiting the bridge and sponsored various school activities,” the release said.

The BBCI not only plays the role of collecting tolls and facilitating vehicles crossing the Berbice River Bridge and vessels transiting through the retractor span and under the high span, but also discharges

its corporate responsibilities and more importantly plays an integral part in the development of education, sports, national events and donations to charitable and noncharitable organisations in proximity of the bridge.

In the past, the company has sponsored many events that benefited communities on both the eastern and western sides of the bridge, and as far as Molsen Creek and New Amsterdam, as well as many other areas, including Georgetown, Linden and Parika.

During this year, the company has so far received 31 public relation requests and approved 24, which included sponsorships of Mashramani 2013 events, horse racing events, donations of trophies to various non-profit and educational institutions, facilitated tours of various schools and waivered toll charges for tour buses, sponsored cricket tournaments, made donations towards the Region Five Cricket tournament and religious organisations.

Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) Administrative Assistant Bibi Ali handing over the trophy to the best graduating student of the Blairmont Primary School

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh exchanges a handshake on the signing of the country assistance programme agreement on Saturday, in the presence of President Donald Ramotar

Bolivia third country to offer Snowden asylum

NSA leaker Edward Snowden has yet another place to go, if only he can get there.

Bolivian President Evo Morales says Snowden is welcome in his country. He said Saturday he is making the offer as a protest against the U.S. and European nations he accuses of temporarily blocking his flight home from a Moscow summit because they suspected it might have Snowden on board.

Morales follows Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragna in making the offer. He’d earlier said he was willing to consider asylum for Snowden, the same position taken by Ecuador, which is another of Bolivia’s leftist Latin American allies. Morales did not say if he has received a formal petition for asylum from Snowden.

The presidents of Nicaragua and Venezuela made their offers during

during separate speeches in their home countries on Friday, one day after leftist South American leaders gathered to denounce the rerouting of Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane over Europe amid reports that the American was aboard. Snowden, who is being sought by the United

Italian ‘top mafia boss’ caught in Colombia

Colombian police say they have caught the alleged boss of Italy’s Calabrian mafia, who they described as Europe’s most wanted drugs trafficker.

Roberto Pannunzi was detained in a shopping centre in the capital, Bogota, authorities said. He had been on the run since 2010, when he fled from a clinic in Rome, where he was receiving treatment as a prisoner. Italian prosecutors accuse Pannunzi of establishing the transatlantic cocaine trade between Italy and Colombia.

States, has asked for asylum in numerous countries, including Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Venezuela’s Maduro made the offer during a speech marking the anniversary of Venezuela’s independence. It was not immediately clear if there were any conditions to the offer. (Excerpt from France24)

Petrochemical train explodes in Quebec’s Lac-Megantic

Atrain carrying petrochemicals has exploded in a Canadian town, forcing the evacuation of up to 1000 people. The blast sent a fireball and black smoke into the air, destroying dozens of buildings in LacMegantic, some 155 miles (250 km) east of Montreal.

The train derailed early on Saturday; police who worked through the night said several people were missing, but no casualties had yet been confirmed. Firefighters from across the border in the U.S. are helping tackle the blaze.

The train had more than 70 cars filled with petroleum products, some of which exploded, setting fire to nearby homes and businesses. A one-kilometre exclusion zone has been set up around the derailed train amid fears of more pressurised contain -

ers exploding due to the fire.

It was too early to determine the cause of the blaze, Quebec police spokesman Sergeant Gregory Gomez del Prado told the BBC. “We do fear that there will be fatalities and from now we’re trying to locate the people that are still missing,” he told BBC World. “When you see the centre of your town almost destroyed, you’ll understand that we’re asking ourselves how we are going to get through this event,” an emotional Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche told a televised news briefing.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

“Pannunzi, known as the Pablo Escobar of Italy, was the most wanted man in the country,” the defence ministry said in a twitter post.

“When he was captured, Pannunzi identified himself with a fake Venezuelan identification card bearing the name Silvano Martino,” the ministry said.

Roberto Pannunzi was first detained in Colombia in 1994 and extradited to Italy but was released when his detention order expired. He was re-arrested in 2004 and later convicted.

But he staged an dramatic escape from a private hospital in Rome in 2010, where he was being treated for heart disease. (Excerpt from BBC News)

As alleged head of the ‘Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, he is suspected of helping to import up to two tonnes of cocaine into Europe per month. The Italian was detained on Friday with the help of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Colombian defence ministry said in a statement.

McCain urges U.S. to suspend Egypt military aid

U.S. Republican Senator John McCain has called on the U.S. government to suspend financial aid to the Egyptian army, following a military coup that overthrew the elected president Mohamed Morsi.

“We have to suspend aid to Egyptian military because the military has overturned the vote of the people,” McCain, who is also a member of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, said on Friday. “We cannot repeat the same mistakes that we made in other times of our history by supporting removal of freely elected governments.”

McCain said that

6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesia

A6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia on Saturday, days after a temblor left dozens dead in the nation. The quake struck off the island of Sumatra, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had earlier stated it was a 6.4-magnitude quake, but revised the number. No tsunami alert was issued, officials said.

Indonesia is still recovering from a 6.1-magnitude quake that killed 35 people and injured 275 others three days ago, the national disaster agency reported. In the last earthquake, the death and destruction were mainly in the province of Aceh on the island of Sumatra.

Indonesia is on the Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic

eruptions. In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude underwater earthquake off the coast of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in 14 countries. (Excerpt from Excerpt from CNN)

Washington should demand Egyptian army to set a timetable for elections and for making of a new constitution. “And then we should evaluate whether to continue with aid or not,” McCain said.

U.S. has been granting financial aid to Egypt since 1979, which is considered a critical U.S. national security priority. The country receives the second-highest amount of American financial assistance after Israel.

The U.S. provides US$1.5 billion a year to Egypt in military and economic assistance and around US$1.3 billion of this amount goes the the Egyptian army. (Al Jazeera)

Antiguan educator calls for change in vacation periods

Principal of the Princess Margaret Secondary School, Colin Greene is recommending an adjustment to vacation periods of the school year.

The principal is calling for the Easter vacation to be curtailed by a week and the summer vacation be extended by the said period. “Here in Antigua, the Ministry of Education manages that structure and I’ll give a couple of reasons why there should be an adjustment in the school vacation periods,” Greene said yesterday on OBSERVER AM.

“We have three sets of vacations: in the Christmas time, we have three weeks; in Easter we have two and in summer we have eight. What has happened over the years,

our association with external examination bodies has changed… what that has done for us is that many of the deadlines that have been set by institutions like CXC actually fall in the Easter vacation for many of our students and teachers.”

As a result, the principal said, teachers in the secondary schools are not able to take their Easter vacation, as they end up teaching throughout that break. An adjustment to the vacation period, Greene said, would keep children in school at the most critical time in their preparation for external examinations and allow teachers to rest during the summer period, as opposed to volunteering their time during their vacation. (Excerpt from Antigua Observer)

Jamaican gays evicted again! Removed from second home

Police were again called on Friday to evict homeless members of the gay community who had taken up residence in a vacant house on Dewsbury Avenue, two days after they were forcefully evicted by the police from an empty house at nearby Millsborough Avenue in Barbican.

Head of the St Andrew Central Police Division Senior Superintendent Fitz

Bailey told the Jamaica Observer that as soon as the police got word that some of the gay men had been seen on the premises, they moved to get them out. “We will not allow them to take up residence there. The police went to the house and some of them ran when they saw us. We are not going to allow it and we will be monitoring the premises to make sure they don’t try to re-enter,” Bailey said. The house

is located in a section of the community where a number of diplomats reside, a source said. When a Jamaica Observer news team went to the Dewsbury Avenue house one of the gay men was seen milling about the yard of the apparently vacant premises, while another man was seen entering a door with a parcel in his hand. There were chains and padlocks on the gates to both entrances. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Bolivia on Saturday joined its allies Venezuela and Nicaragua in offering to grant asylum to U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden

Sergeant Gregory Gomez Del Prado: “We do fear that there are going to be fatalities”

A quake strikes Indonesia Saturday just days after an earthquake in Aceh province. File photo of villagers after the July 2 temblor

Quamina Street fire leaves several homeless

Amid-afternoon fire on Quamina Street, Georgetown on Saturday has left at least 12 persons homeless, completely destroying two buildings while damaging another. The fire of unknown origin started about 15:00h.

The fire reportedly began on the upper flat of one of the buildings and quickly spread to the two other buildings, leaving the occupants no time to salvage any household items.

By the time the fire engines arrived at the scene, two of the buildings were completely gutted, but firefighters managed to save the third with the help of public-spirited citizens. There were a few hiccups as the firefighters attempted to source water.

The few minutes that were lost may have resulted in the third building being damaged significantly. More than half of the building was burnt.

At the scene, Vanessa Collymore, one of the occupants of the house in which the fire started explained that she was in her kitchen when she heard screams from a group of boys, calling for her seven-year-old grandson.

After the constant calling, she decided to look out and upon doing so; she saw the flames emanating from the upper flat of the wooden house.

In frustration, Collymore grabbed a bag and ran to safety, not realising that her grandson might have been asleep in the house. Her fears were erased when she looked up Quamina Street and saw her daughter and grandson running towards the burning building.

She explained that no one other than her was at home at the time the fire started. “I send meh daughter to the market to purchase mangoes so it was me alone in the house… there was no blackout, but somebody said they see a spark on the lamp post then smoke.”

Collymore also could not have estimated her loss while noting that all her earnings have gone up in flames.

Not too far away, an in-

home, Jacqueline Burch was also in tears and explained that she was resting and suddenly heard crashing sounds and screams.

This prompted her to look out of her window, only to be greeted by an intensity of heat coming from her sister’s property. She panicked and ran out of the house, leaving everything behind.

“I had a bag with all meh important documents and money, but I didn’t get to collect it… after the heat

received a call about 15:03h and two tenders and a tanker from the central fire station and another from the Alberttown fire station were immediately dispatched to the area.

Upon arrival, the official stated that two building were already heavily in flames, thus the firefighters concentrated on the nearby buildings with the hope of saving them.

There were also some difficulties in tapping a water source which slowed down the firefighters' con-

consolable granddaughter said that she was close by when she saw the fire, and ran towards the house; grabbed her baby and ran to safety just in time before the house was completely engulfed with flames.

Another relative on the scene looked frantically for his cousin whom he claimed went into the burning building to retrieve “something”. A few moments later, his cousin was seen running out of the yard with his dog, which looked terrified.

The owner of the other

was too much, I run towards the road,” she cried. “I nah have anything left… everything burn up.”

Fire officials told Guyana Times that they

certed effort to put out the blaze.

The Guyana Fire Service has launched an investigation into the fire.

Courts New Amsterdam branch burglarised

Bandits on Friday evening carted off four laptop computers and four tablets from Courts Guyana Incorporated at Main and St Ann’s street, New Amsterdam. The robbery is suspected to have been committed between Thursday evening and Friday morning.

According to information received, the stolen property valued close to $300,000. Police ranks believed that the store was broken into in the wee hours of Friday morning, but the discovery was made sometime

around 08:00h by Stanley McKenzie, the manager of the business place.

Police investigations so far revealed that McKenzie secured the building on Thursday evening, leaving the articles mentioned in the eastern side of the building.

On Friday morning about 08:00h, he reported for work and observed the lock to the southern door was broken and this prompted him and other staff to conduct a search. During the search, they discovered the articles mentioned above were missing. The police were summoned and dusted the place for fingerprints, but found none. They also took statements from the security guard and staff members. Investigations into the robbery are continuing.

Guyana Times understands that the building which is located on the public road is surrounded by several glass windows. There are also two wooden doors on the western and southern side of the building. They were secured by door locks.

The three buildings on fire at Quamina Street on Saturday (Treiston Joseph photos)

A distraught Vanessa Collymore speaking to the media

ACIC’s value pegged at $150M

The Anna Catherina Islamic Complex's (ACIC) current value has been pegged at $150 million, remaining one of the few such institutions with as much equipment and facilities.

According to the president general report, each project, fundraising events and programme sees an independent financial statement presented for each activity. Receipts are issued for all monies collected and anyone can request or inspect the financial statements and records of the complex.

This institution remains fully accountable to its membership, donors and the wider public for all monies and other donations made. In view of this, a monthly financial statement, highlighting all monies collected as well as every donation of kind made to the complex, is presented.

“Each programme and activity held at the complex, where there has been an income and expenditure, will see individual financial statement being done. The yearly financial statement and balance sheet continues to be presented to the membership and the wider community each year,” the report said.

The report said the past year has been very successful for the complex, as one where ACIC has been able to clearly define the position that over the 15 years of programmes and activities of national and international levels, it was the ACIC which was the backbone of organising and providing all the facilities as well as the work force for these programmes and activities.

“We continued our efforts in maintaining this institution as one of the main centres of Muslims’ activities and as the centre of Sunni Islam in this country. Continuing from previous years, the administration of this complex undertook several projects successfully, the mere success of which, points to the tremendous support myself and the administration of this complex continue to receive from our membership and persons further afield.”

This centre of Sunni Islam, continues to see growth in its membership, which now spans from the East Bank Essequibo to East Bank Demerara, including the West Demerara area. With over 150 homes presently associated directly with the complex and a lot more than this amount of homes counting the institution as part of their own.

“We continue to offer them the highest standard of programmes and facilities at this complex. In addition, many of our members who have migrated to other parts of the world, especially North America and other Caribbean countries, continue to lend their support to the development of this complex. In recognition of the vital role of this complex in the multi cultural, multi-religious Guyanese nation, this complex is also considered special to many persons, both Muslims and non-Muslims from far and wide,” the report said.

It noted that the administration in its appreciation to these persons had initiated an Honorary Membership programme to allow for them to be considered as a part of the complex. Persons who have received Honorary Membership to the complex during last year are: Vinod Bisram (USA), Geeta Bisram (USA), Attorney General Anil Nandlall, opposition Leader David Granger, Shireen Mohamed, Jamaludeen (Baba) and Shireen Mohamed (Leonora), Hadji/ Hafiz Sarafat Ally (Suriname), Hadji Mahmood Ghafoer (Suriname), Hafiz Abdur Rahim (Bangladesh), Ameer Ali (Canada), Hakeem Mohamed (Wakenaam), Maulana Zain al Akhtab Siddiqi (England), Shaikh Esa Henderson (England), Al Haj Imdad Housein (Canada), Hajin Bebi Nazmoon Housein (Canada), Roy Razak (Canada), Jamela Ali (Canada), Hajji/Imam Ahmad Hoosein (Trinidad and Tobago) and Mufti Mohammad Asrarul Haque (Trinidad and Tobago).

U.S.-based Guyanese launches jewellery line for women, children

Former television journalist and founder of Janagems, Annalisa Bahadur, has launched her own line of jewellery for women and children. Last weekend, Annalisa participated in GuyExpo New York, where she displayed her handy creations and interacted with the Guyanese community.

The jeweller’s work is strongly influenced by nature. Having been born and raised in a country rich with raw, beautiful nature, Annalisa is woven into a life

bursting with nature’s beauty, evident in her one-of-a-kind designs. Infused in each hand-crafted piece is the colours of the Caribbean, its tropical paradise, and its unique fusion of colourful culture.

“These are one of a kind pieces that are unique since no piece is duplicated,” explains Annalisa said, adding: “When you own a Janagems piece, you are guaranteed that it is as unique as you are.”

Annalisa’s creativity is a staple of her entire career, from co-hosting the Good Morning Guyana and parenting programmes, to writing media reports and anchoring at the National Communication Network as well as, the then, Viera Comminucations Television.

One of Annalisa Bahadur’s creations

Annalisa Bahadur

Anna Catherina Islamic Complex (ACIC)

(Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Complicated, theoretical involvements are your forte. You have the ability to visualise and grasp all the complex, pertinent facts, even if they appear fuzzy to others.

(Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Although financial trends are rather encouraging, you’re not likely to benefit from any venture that is too risky. If you’re smart, you’ll avoid taking chances.

(Feb. 20-March 20)

Even if most people greet you with pleasure, a few close relatives might not be so welcoming. Don’t get upset – consider the source.

(March 21-April 19)

Your possibilities for success improve when you do what needs doing without diverting too much energy to side issues. Give full attention to the job at hand.

(April 20May 20)

When commingling with friends, don’t demand that they do things your way, even if it truly is best. Give them some room.

(May 21June 20)

Although you’re in a good achievement cycle, you still might not get everything done. There’s a chance that you could slack off just enough to drop the ball.

By Bernice Bede Osol

(June 21July 22)

Go ahead and trust some of your hunches. Just don’t go overboard and take every thought you get as gospel. Don’t forget to use your brains as well.

(July 23Aug. 22)

One of your greatest possibilities for gain will stem from some kind of collective endeavour. Remember, there is strength in union.

(Aug. 23Sept. 22)

An impulsive decision could turn out to haunt you down the line. Take time to analyse all your options, so that future problems don’t erupt.

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Although it might take you extra time to get your act together, once you establish some plans and get going on them, you’ll be both industrious and productive.

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

You should be quite adept at matters that require a quick wit and sharp mental agility. These attributes are likely to be most effective in social involvements.

(Nov. 23Dec. 21)

You’re likely to fare much better acting alone when it comes to financial or commercial endeavours. If you must include associates, be sure you’re the one running the show.

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U.S.-based Guyanese launches jewellery line for women...

Miss Guyana World 2012, Arti Cameron is a frequent user of Janagems and has worn Annalisa’s creations on multiple occasions in Guyana and on her many international travels. “I am always honoured to have Arti wear my pieces,” said Annalisa. “They compliment each other with their unique vibrancy and character.”

Using precious stones, clay or other organic material, each of Annalisa’s pieces is carefully and intricately designed and created in her humble uptown Manhattan workshop overlooking parts of the city.

“Every person deserves a piece of jewellery that is unique to them. Everyone has a creative side that is often not explored, and so through my creations, I allow my clients to work with me to create jewellery specific to their personality and taste.”

Annalisa’s decision to participate in GuyExpo New York was her effort to share her love for jewellery design with her homeland in mind. She has been working with local businesses and is excited by the response so far. She is currently working on her male collection which she aims to unveil by Fall. Besides her knack for creativity, Annalisa has a spirit of charity. She has been a participant of many cancer and HIV/ AIDS walks and cancer telethons, both locally and abroad. Annalisa, through Janagems, recently teamed up with West Indians Serving Humanity (WISH) and is now a supporting partner. WISH aims to help underprivileged children and families around the world through charitable donations. A Facebook group, Guyanese Young Entrepreneurs, created to bring young entrepreneurs together to support each other, is the latest brainchild of Annalisa. The group has already attracted over seven hundred active members, in the space of two months! Annalisa’s artwork can be seen at her website at www.janagems.com as well as her Facebook page, search Janagems.

KEy cUTTiNg

Bolt clocks fastest 200 metres time for 2013

Usain Bolt recorded the fastest time of the year as he won the 200 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Paris.

The six-time Olympic gold medallist clocked 19.73 seconds to beat fellow Jamaican Warren Weir (19.92) and France’s Christophe Lemaitre (20.07).

Olympic champion Greg Rutherford pulled out of the long jump, little more than a month before the World Championships, after sustaining a hamstring injury.

The Briton later wrote on Twitter there was “plenty of time” to recover.

Rutherford initially said: “Looks like

bad news people. The old injury strikes. Hamstring pull.”

But the 26-year-old added: “Just realised Worlds is still five and a half weeks away. Plenty of time for this old hand.

“Flash back to 2009. I tore my hamstring three weeks before worlds in Berlin. First round of the qualification I broke the British record.”

Rutherford jumped 7.99 metres in round three before withdrawing from the event, which Jamaican Damar Forbes (8.11) won from Briton Chris Tomlinson (8.08).

Bolt, meanwhile, showed there was no reason to be concerned about his slow start to the season. This was the Jamaican’s second outing over his favoured distance this year after clocking 19.79 in Oslo on June 13.

“I’m happy with myself,” said the 26-yearold, the world record holder in both sprint events.

But he added: “I still need to work on a few mistakes.”

American Tyson Gay, Bolt’s main sprint rival, won the U.S. World Championships trials in 19.74 last month.

He was also victorious in the 100 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on Thursday in the second fastest time of the year. (BBC Sport)

Murray faces Djokovic in second Wimbledon final today

Andy Murray will have to beat world number one Novak Djokovic if he is to win his first Wimbledon title and end Britain’s 77-year-wait for a men’s champion today.

The top two seeds will meet on Centre Court at 14:00h BST, and Murray will hope to go one better than losing to Roger Federer in last year’s final.

“I think I’ll be probably in a better place mentally,” said the Scot.

“I would hope so just because I’ve been there before.”

He added: “I’ve won a Grand Slam – I would hope I would be a little bit calmer going into Sunday.”

All 15,000 tickets for Centre Court have already been sold, but spectators began queuing in the early hours of Saturday morning just to get inside the All England Club and grab a place in front of the big screen.

The television audience peaked at 13.2 million for Murray’s semi-final win – the highest BBC figures of 2013

but those heading out to watch the final can at least be fairly certain that rain will not be a factor, with the temperature forecast to push 30C during the match.

Murray, 26, practised for an hour at the nearby Aorangi Park courts on Saturday morning, running through drills with his coaching team of Ivan Lendl and Dani Vallverdu.

Today, he will join Fred Perry and Bunny Austin as the only British men to reach multiple Wimbledon finals since the knockout format was introduced in 1922 – but it is Perry’s 1936 victory he is

desperate to emulate.

The final will be the third in the last four Grand Slams involving Murray and Djokovic, with the Briton winning his first major title at last year’s U.S. Open and the Serb winning his sixth at the Australian Open in January.

Djokovic, a week younger than Murray, has an 11-7 record in previous matches between the pair, but was extended over nearly five hours in his semi-final win against Juan Martin Del Potro, while the Scot needed under three hours to beat Jerzy Janowicz.

“I favour Murray,” threetime champion John McEnroe told BBC Sport.

“I think that the physical aspect of Djokovic’s semi-final is going to have some impact. Novak is a truly, truly great player – both of these guys are – but I think the crowd is going to give Andy that extra 5-10 per cent.

“When you toss all that into the mix, it’s going to be a fantastic final, but at the end of the day I think Murray is ready. He’s ready to finally do it.”

Murray can take confi-

dence from a 17-match winning streak on grass that includes his only meeting with Djokovic on the surface, a straight-sets win in last year’s Olympic semi-final. However, he has won just one of his five previous Grand Slam finals compared to Djokovic’s six wins in 10 major finals, which include victory at Wimbledon two years ago.

“It’s the biggest final in tennis that you can be a part of, so I’m very honoured to be playing in that match again,” said Djokovic.

“You know, the 2011 experience and winning that trophy can maybe help me.” If any player can recover from the longest semi-final in Wimbledon history, it is the Serb, and he is not concerned about having most of the crowd against him.

“I know what to expect,” said Djokovic. “He’s a local hero. He has a big chance to win Wimbledon after a long time for this nation. People will be supporting him.

“I’m going to play against one of the biggest tennis players in the world in last five years. I’m ready for it.” (BBC Sport)

Jolted West Indies...

The grass looked inviting enough for both captains to have a bowl, but the decision to insert the opposition backfired on Bravo as his seamers failed to pick up early wickets. The opening partnership was allowed to develop and the West Indies’ death bowling was exposed by Virat Kohli.

The batting suffered a bigger meltdown than the bowling, and while the afternoon rain may have spiced up the pitch for the Indian seamers to exploit, the hosts were struggling to get the start they wanted even before rain struck. Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo fell to poor strokes and the loss of two early wickets piled the pressure on the middle order, which looked just as inept.

Perhaps the hosts lost the game in the mind after conceding 311. Perhaps batting first might not be a bad option if given the chance, going forward. Sri Lanka have two more games to play, are tied on points with India but have a superior net run rate. They peaked in all three departments in their previous game, losing just one wicket on their way to 348 and all their five bowlers contributed in bundling out India for less than 200. It remains to be

seen if they will change their batting order and give players like Lahiru Thirimanne more time in the middle.

In the spotlight

The over-rates in the last two games have been costing the captains and players, literally. On Tuesday, India overshot by 20 minutes leading to Kohli being fined and on Friday, West Indies were worse by one more minute. It was costlier for West Indies, with Bravo now suspended. Changing captains during a tournament could upset a side’s rhythm and West Indies especially can’t afford too many stop-gap arrangements, at a time when Bravo is establishing himself as a full-time ODI captain.

Sri Lanka’s new opening pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga was formed after Tillakaratne Dilshan’s pre-tournament pull-out due to injury and that combination could stay at least until Dilshan returns. The question is whether Sri Lanka will be tempted to persist with it in future series, after their 213-run stand against India. Jayawardene has had success as an opener, but he hasn’t been a regular at that position; Dilshan is most

from back page

comfortable at the top and Tharanga will be hard to ignore after his 174. With Kusal Perera earmarked for the future, Sri Lanka might find it hard to settle on one pair, once Dilshan returns. It’s a good headache to have.

Team news Lendl Simmons, the opening batsman, was called in to the squad on Saturday as a replacement for Bravo. West Indies could either play him or bring back Devon Smith. West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Devon Smith/Lendl Simmons, 6 Kieron Pollard (captain), 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Tino Best.

Sri Lanka may retain their winning combination Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Mahela Jayawardene, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Angelo Mathews (captain), 7 Lahiru Thirimanne, 8 Sachithra Senanayake, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Lasith Malinga. (Cricinfo)

Usain Bolt clocked 19.73 in the 200 metres

Who will win? Andy Murray (left) and Novak Djokovic square off in Wimbledon final today

Fitness Express sponsors guest lifter for GABBFF’s Seniors

Continuing its tradition of supporting Guyana’s development on the sports front, Fitness Express has once again flexed its muscles to ensure that fans and supporters of the Guyana Amateur Body Building and Fitness Federation (GABBFF) senior competition enjoy quality guest posing.

Being held under the theme, “Bodies of Steel”, the federation in partnership with Fitness Express has confirmed Barbados’ IFBB Pro, Andrew Jemmott, as the guest lifter for the evening of July 20. Owner/manager of Fitness Express, Jamie Mc Donald, recently presented to the GABBFF a cheque for an undisclosed amount to cover the expenses for Jemmott.

part,” McDonald remarked. GABBFF Organising Secretary Videsh Sookram, in accepting the cheque, conveyed the federation’s gratitude to McDonald and Fitness Express for their continued partnership with the local governing body.

“I can assure you that Mr Jemmott is excited to be in Guyana and to perform for the fans, he has promised an entertaining performance,” Sookram assured.

Froome in yellow after stage win

“We have been supporting since we opened for business a few short years ago and apart from fulfilling our cor-

Mc Donald said that his entity whilst not large is committed to giving back towards Guyana’s continued development and in this instance, supporting the GABBFF.

porate responsibility, Fitness Express is very pleased with the progress we have been seeing in the muscle sports which include powerlifting. It is our view that with consistent support of our athletes, Guyana can go places and we are committed to playing our

The categories to be contested at “Bodies of Steel” are juniors, Under-132, Under-143, Under-154, Under-164, Under-176, Over 176, Masters Over-40; Miss Fitness, Miss Physique and Men’s Fitness. Admission is $1000 and show time is 19:00h at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Pietersen, Swann in England Ashes

England have named a 13-man squad for the first Ashes Test, which starts at Trent Bridge on July 10.

Batsman Kevin Pietersen and spinner Graeme Swann have both been included having overcome recent injury concerns.

Opener Nick Compton’s omission is confirmed, with Joe Root set to open the batting with captain Alastair Cook.

Jimmy Anderson and

Stuart Broad are expected to lead the bowling attack, with Tim Bresnan, Steve Finn and Graham Onions also vying for a seamer’s spot.

“This is an incredibly exciting period of cricket coming up against Australia and we know we will need to play to our full potential throughout the entire Ashes series if we are to retain the Ashes,” said England selector Geoff Miller.

“We are satisfied with our preparations so far ahead

of the first Test, with both Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad recovering well from the injuries they picked up earlier this week.

“The squad will continue their hard work over the next few days and will be eagerly anticipating the start of the series on Wednesday at Trent Bridge.”

England hold the Ashes after winning the last series 3-1 down under in 2010-11 –their third victory in the past four series.

Bartoli beats Lisicki to win title

France’s Marion Bartoli won her first Grand Slam title with a dominant 6-1 6-4 victory over German 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki in the Wimbledon final.

Bartoli won the first set in 30 minutes as Lisicki failed to cope with the occasion of a first Grand Slam final.

The 23-year-old cut a fragile figure and was reduced to tears in the second set, helpless to prevent Bartoli from lifting the Venus Rosewater dish.

Bartoli ended with an ace, collapsing to the ground once victory was

hers.

When the stunned 15th seed rose to her feet, she celebrated by climbing to the players’ box to embrace family and friends.

Among those whom Bartoli hugged was her mentor and 2006 Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo, the last Frenchwoman to win at SW19, and her father and former coach Walter.

Bartoli had bossed her opponents throughout the tournament and another commanding victory over Lisicki means she is now only the sixth player in the Open era to win

a Wimbledon title without dropping a set.

“Honestly I cannot believe it,” said the world number 15, the 2007 runner-up and a Grand Slam winner at the 47th attempt.

“I really felt I was playing probably my best match of the championships. I was doing everything well. I was moving well, I was returning well. I really played a wonderful match.

“Even in my perfect dream I couldn’t have dreamed a perfect moment like that. That is beyond perfection.” (BBC Sport)

Csquad

England squad: Alastair Cook (Essex, captain), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Matt Prior (Sussex, wk), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), James Anderson (Lancashire), Graham Onions (Durham). (BBC Sport)

hris Froome produced a sensational ride to emphatically win stage eight of the Tour de France and take his first race leader’s yellow jersey.

The Briton sprinted away from his main rivals, including Alberto Contador, on the final climb to the summit finish at Ax 3 Domaines in the Pyrenees.

He beat Richie Porte by 51 seconds and leads his Team Sky team-mate by the same margin in the overall standings.

Contador lost one minute, 45 seconds to Froome and is seventh, 1’51” down.

“I couldn’t be happier,” said 28-year-old Froome.

“It has been a nervous

week leading up to now but my team has done a fantastic job and to repay my team-mates with a stage win and Richie coming second, I couldn’t have asked for more.”

South Africa’s Daryl Impey started the day in the yellow jersey but the Orica GreenEdge rider, who is more of a sprinter than a climber, knew he would be losing the race lead on Saturday’s first day in the mountains.

He suggested that Froome would be one of the riders to keep an eye on and the race favourite, who finished second behind Sir Bradley Wiggins last year, did not disappoint.

Chris Froome took the yellow jersey after copping stage eight

Fitness Express Owner/Manager, Jamie Mc Donald (left), hands over the cheque to GABBFF Organising Secretary, Videsh Sookram

McDonald retains national Scrabble title

By Avenash Ramzan

henomenal word

Pformer, Abigail McDonald, created history on Saturday by becoming the first person to win the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players’ (GASP) national scrabble title for a third consecutive time.

McDonald, who finished the 23-round, preliminary phase of the Courtssponsored National Scrabble Championship last Monday in pole position with 19 wins and a spread of 2951, faced off with Moen Gafoor, the runner-up of the preliminaries with 18 wins and a healthy spread of 3955, in the best-of-five playoff series on Saturday at the Bank of Guyana rooftop.

McDonald made a clean sweep of the first three games to book her flight to the Czech Republic where she will be Guyana’s representative at the World Scrabble Championship from December 3-8.

The reigning champion won by a spread of 375 to 349

in the first game, 466 to 396 in the second, and 391 to 390 in the third and final match.

“It almost surreal,” McDonald responded when this publication questioned her on winning the tournament for a third successive time.

She added, “If someone had told me six years ago that I would be the national scrabble champion three times in a row, I would not have believed. I’m extremely humbled and happy to achieve this. I put in a lot of

work in the lead-up to this tournament and I’m happy that my preparation paid off.”

“I won 3-0 yes, but the competition was still stiff. I didn’t expect to win so easily, but I must say that I had specific plans in terms of strategies and they worked.”

Gafoor said McDonald was simply the “better player on the day”, although he is a bit surprised that the series did not go past three games.

“Every time I created an opening to make my bingos and plays to take me ahead, she [McDonald] applied a lot of defence in her play; her defence strategy worked. She was just the better play on the day,” Gafoor said in the post-match interview.

In their head-to-head clash in the preliminaries of “nationals”, McDonald had also prevailed over Gafoor, winning by a spread of 91.

Saturday’s playoff brought the curtains down on the championship, which was sponsored exclusively by Courts (Guyana) Inc to the tune of $250,000. For the

Gonsalves lifts national junior lightweight title

victory, McDonald was presented with $50,000 and a trophy, while Gafoor had to settle for the runner-up prize of $30,000.

The other players in the top five: Fred Collins (18 games/2761 spread), Devraj Deonarine (17.5 games/1420 spread) and Leon Belony (17/3041) received $20,000, $10,000 and $5000 respectively. Deonarine was adjudged best newcomer.

The other leading performers from the preliminaries were James Krakowsky (15/1982), Robert Williams (15/1850), Anand Mohabir (13/981), Colin Chichester (13/973), Maurice Munro (13/771), Kampta Ramnarine (12/968) and Wayne Cave (12.5/1657).

At the presentation ceremony which followed at the conclusion of the playoff on Saturday, Courts Marketing Manager, Pernell Cummings, was on hand to present the prizes to the leading performers.

The championship was organised by GASP.

Dexter Gonsalves, the Trinidad and Tobago-based Guyanese, is the new national junior lightweight title holder, following a seventh round knockout of Revlon Lake, the Barbados-based Guyanese.

The duo was fighting the main attraction of the 28th edition of the Friday Night Fight ProAm boxing card at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Friday evening.

Also in winner’s row were debutants Romeo Norville and Laured Stewart, who both chalked up impressive unanimous points decision victories over Eversley Browne and Anson Greene respectively.

Leon Moore floored Errol Trotman, while Troy Lewis and Kelsie George fought to a draw on the professional segment.

Above, referee Eion Jardine places the national junior lightweight belt around Gonsalves at the end of the main bout.

Dwayne Bravo suspended for one match

Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies captain, has been suspended for one match after being fined a second time within 12 months for maintaining a slow over-rate. He will miss the crucial tri-series match against Sri Lanka today.

West Indies were ruled one over short of the target at the end of match against India in Port of Spain for which the match referee, Jeff Crowe, fined Bravo 20 per cent of his match fee and

his team members, 10 per cent of their match fees.

“The captains were informed of their respective positions relating to overrate breaches before the start of the series,” Crowe said. “On Friday, the umpires had kept Dwayne [Bravo] informed throughout the innings about the position regarding over-rates, and more so when his side fell behind.”

The charge was laid by on-field umpires Nigel Llong

and Peter Nero, as well as third umpire Nigel Duguid and fourth umpire Joel Wilson, with Bravo pleading guilty. It was the second such offence for Bravo after he was fined for a slow overrate during the Champions Trophy match against South Africa on June 14. Virat Kohli was also slapped with a similar fine after India’s match against Sri Lanka in Kingston. (Cricinfo)

WICB Regional Under-17 cricket… Parsotam leads Guyana to victory over Jamaica

Guyana severely dented any hopes of Jamaica retaining the West Indies Cricket Board Regional Under-17 title with a crushing 87run victory at Shaw Park in Trinidad.

In a low-scoring affair, no Guyanese batsman got past Keanu Harry’s 35, while no Jamaican got past 20. Jamaica won the toss and inserted the Guyanese.

The opening partnership put on 35 runs. This was followed by a 45-run partnership for the second wicket. Guyana looked solid up until losing their second wicket with the score on 89 runs.

In a matter of five overs, they were reeling at 108-5. They lost two further quick wickets with the scores on 124 and 130. However, Brandon Prasad (29) and

Harry (35) finished off the innings on a high to lift Guyana to 189-7 from their 50 overs. Between them both, seven fours and a six were struck.

At the top of the order, Parmesh Parsotam (23), Ronaldo Renee (26) and Shim Hetmyer (27) all had starts, but failed to convert it into anything significant. Spinner Abhijai Mansingh nabbed 3-22 to be Jamaica’s best bowler.

But 189 still looked an underpar score for the Jamaicans to chase. However, from a position of relative comfort at 42-1, the Jamaicans slipped to 59-5.

There was a 29-run partnership between Mansingh (16) and Rajon Nichlason (05), but when Mansingh went with the score on 88-7, another slide occurred that would see the Jamaicans slip

to 102 all out, and an 87-run defeat.

Mansingh and Ahmad were joint top-scorers with 16. Keemo Paul and Parsotam both took three wickets for Guyana, the latter being named Man of the Match.

Meanwhile, a superb knock of 96 runs from Trinidad and Tobago opener, Amir Jangoo, pulled TT from the brink of defeat against Barbados and steered the Regional Under-17 tournament into a tense last day of the competition today. Barbados and TT met on Saturday morning with the visitors leading the hosts by seven points. TT needed to cut that deficit with a win or Barbados would have virtually wrapped up the tournament with one game to go.

(www.windiescricket.com)

Second best: Moen Gafoor

Baird strikes gold at CAC senior championship

– James lands bronze medal at South American seniors

By Treiston Joseph

America-based Guyanese Kadecia

Baird has done Guyana proud once again, this time landing gold at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championship on Saturday morning in Mexico.

Baird, who copped Guyana’s first World Junior medal with silver last year, clocked 51.32s in the women’s 400 metres final to win the event. It was Guyana’s first gold medal at the prestigious championship.

The winning time has also given Baird the A standard qualifying time to represent Guyana at the World Championships slated for next month in Russia. The A Standard mark stands at 51.55s.

Meanwhile, another

Guyanese Stephan James landed a South American senior championship bronze in the men’s 400 metres final in Columbia on Friday evening.

Malta Supreme cycling rescheduled to July 13

– 50-mile race on today in West Demerara

The second annual Malta Supreme 11race programme has been rescheduled to July 13 at the inner circuit of the National Park.

The event, which is being organised by national cycling coach Hassan Mohamed, was originally scheduled for yesterday, but heavy rainfall in the city forced Mohamed and his team to abort the activity.

The races slated for the day will remain the same for the new date with rivalry in the 12-14 Boys and Girls (three laps), Veterans Under-50 (five laps), Over-50 (five laps) and Over-60 (five laps), Juveniles (10 laps), Mountain Bikes (five laps), BMX 6-9 (two laps), 9-12 (three laps), 12-14 (three laps) and Open (three laps) and the feature 35-lap School Boys and Invitational.

The experienced Robin Persaud is the defending champion of the feature race. He won last year’s event in a time of one hour, 20 minutes, 05.97 seconds (01h: 20m: 05.97s).

Alonzo Ambrose (Juveniles) and Virgil Jones (Veterans Under-50) also won their respective categories.

Meanwhile, the cyclists will be in action today on the West Demerara roadways for the fourth annual Seven Seas Multivitamins and Dr Chase Nerve Food 50-mile race.

The race will commence from the Wales Police Station at 08:00h; proceed to Bushy Park on the East Bank of Essequibo before returning to the Demerara Harbour Bridge for the finish.

The Veteran, Mountain Bike and female riders

will turn at the Uitvlugt Community Centre on the upwards journey and finish at the Harbour Bridge.

The first six finishers in the Open race will receive prizes, while the first three Juniors, Veterans, Mountain Bikers and females will also be rewarded. The top Veteran Over-60 participants will also collect a prize. Eight prime prizes will be at stake during the race.

The defending champion of the Open race is Geron Williams, who won the 2012 edition in a time of one hour, 53 minutes, 16.95 seconds (01h: 53m: 16.95s), while Talim Shaw (Veteran), Michael DeRoche (Mountain Bikes) and Naomi Singh (Females) won their respective categories last year.

A new champion will be crowned in the Open race, since Williams is currently campaigning overseas.

Representatives of the sponsor, including Products Specialists Karen Connell and Mahesh Itwaru, are expected to be on hand to assist in the presentation of prizes at the conclusion of the race.

Mohamed is also the chief organiser of today’s activity.

James, who already has a South American under-23 400 metres bronze medal, added to his collection when he clocked 46.47s to win the bronze medal for Guyana

at the senior edition of the event.

America-based Adam Harris, who participated in at the CAC championships, finished fifth in the men’s 100 metres final, while Winston George was unable to reach the final of the 400 metres event at CAC, clocking 46.97s in his semi-final. He missed out on the final by .10s.

Jeremy Bascom, who is based in America, finished fifth in the South American men 100 metres final with a time of 10.43s.

Meanwhile, Baird and Harris are slated to run the 200 metres at CAC, while James has already qualified for the 200 metres final with a time of 21.68s in his preliminary round. Leslain Baird is also slated to throw the javelin at the South American championship today.

Third round washed out

– Berbice and President’s XI to clash in final on Monday

The third and final round of this year’s Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/Guyana and Trinidad Mutual Fire and Life Insurance-sponsored (GTM) Inter-County Under-19 competition was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Saturday after incessant rain left both venues in an unplayable state.

The matches were scheduled to be played simultaneously at the Wales Community Centre ground where the President’s XI were down to face Demerara, and at the GCC ground, Bourda, where the Berbician youths were set to oppose their counterparts from Essequibo.

However, persistent showers for most of the day left the grounds waterlogged, causing officials to abandon play at both venues.

Meanwhile, the lads from the Ancient County of

Berbice, who lead the table with 11.5 points, will oppose the President’s XI in the final on Monday at a venue to be decided.

Berbice thrashed Demerara by 101 runs in round one on Wednesday and then whipped the President’s XI by nine wickets on Thursday. They collected eight points from the two wins, in addition to 2.5 bonus points and a point from Saturday’s abandoned game.

On the other hand, the President’s XI finished second on 6.5 points, comprising four points from the win against Essequibo on Wednesday, 1.5 bonus points and a point from Saturday’s abandoned game.

The competition is being used as a yardstick by the junior selectors to pick the Guyana squad for the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Regional Under-19 competition scheduled for later this year.

Hassan Mohamed

Kadecia Baird Stephan James

Jolted West Indies look to seal spot in final

West Indies’ horror of a match against India on Friday has not only been an eye opener for them, but has also opened up the tournament. India’s chanc es of qualifying for the final looked bleak after two con secutive defeats, but they trounced the hosts by a big enough margin to pick up a bonus point.

West Indies are still on top with nine points and a game to play, and a win against Sri Lanka on Sunday will guar antee their spot in the final. A defeat will still give them a chance at qualifying, but it could come down to a threeway net-run rate scenario if the teams are tied on nine points.

A win for Sri Lanka on Sunday will tighten the screws as it will at least put them on par with the hosts. It will also make things tougher for India, who are currently on five points with a game to play.

While West Indies are not yet in

danger of being knocked out, concerns remain. For starters, they will be without their captain Dwayne Bravo, who has been suspended for a slow over-rate. In all likelihood,

Gold for Chesney, Edwards and Shewdas on final day

The Golden Arrowhead had a commanding presence on the final day of 14th Pan American and seventh Caribbean Powerlifting Championship in Orlando, Florida. Guyana copped three gold medals, with Colin “Mr Clean” Chesney, John “Big John” Edwards and rising star Gumendra Shewdas be-

ing the top performers. At the Caribbean championship, Chesney of Linden totalled 802.5kg to edge out compatriot Edwards (790kg) in the 120kg Class. In the process of copping the gold, Chesney also rose to the throne of local heavyweight lifters.

Edwards bounced back at the Pan American seg-

ment of the event, copping gold from old nemesis Claudemiro Nasciemento of Brazil, who had to settle for silver.

Under-18 lifter Shewdas with a Wilkes score of 485.26 ran away with gold in the Sub-junior category of the Pan American championship, outperforming C Dougall (371) of Canada, A Gauldin (355) of the USA and J Lopez (349) of Costa Rica.

Based on results tallied up to press time, the Guyanese are the unofficial Caribbean team champions beating Puerto Rico into second and Trinidad and Tobago into third. For the Pan American segment, Guyana was reported to be locked in a three-way fight for the runner-up spot with the USA, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The official announcement was expected to be made a banquet last evening.

By Avenash Ramzan

McDonald, created history on Saturday by becoming the first person to win the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players’

Baird strikes gold at CAC senior championship

– James lands bronze medal at South American seniors

Kieron Pollard will take over for the second time in three matches. Nothing went right for West Indies on Friday. If looks could deceive, the pitch certainly did.

The West Indies would hope for an improved performance against Sri Lanka today

Kadecia Baird (centre in green) receives her gold medal after winning the women’s 400 metres at CAC

Boss of words! Three-time national scrabble champion Abigail McDonald (left) recieves her trophy and cash incentive from Courts Marketing Manager, Pernell Cummings

henomenal word former, Abigail

(GASP) national scrabble title for a third consecutive time.

Strongman! John “Big John” Edwards soaks in the moment on the podium after copping gold at the Pan American championship