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Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana Issue No. 1928 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Monday, October 21, 2013

Pressure mounts for passage of money laundering bill

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Dr Ramsammy says no fraud P7 at NDIA

See story on page17

OAS anti- P 8 corruption body reports on visit to Guyana APNU calls on P12 government to enhance primary healthcare delivery R Kelly P13 touches hearts of Guyanese fans

Republic Bank opens $185M branch in Lethem See story on page 10

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh cutting the ribbon to formally open the Republic Bank Lethem branch, while Republic Bank Managing Director John Alves; Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nigel Baptiste and other officials from the bank look on

Several GDF ranks under close arrest for missing AK-47 bullets

See story on page 7

Amnesty International condemns DR ruling on Haitians See story on page 7

Call for P17 better food systems to fight hunger and malnutrition Police P19 following new leads in missing neighbourhood police case

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monday, october 21, 2013 | guyanatimeSGY.com

News

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Monday, October 21 from 05:00h to 06:30h.

The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Monday, October 21 from 05:40h to 07:10h.

WEATHER TODAY

Countrywide: Thundery showers can be expected over the next 24-hour period over coastal and near inland locations. Temperatures are expected to range between 25 degrees and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East south-easterly at 2.5 to 2.77 metres per second.

High Tide: 05:25h and 17:38h reaching maximum heights of 2.65 metres and 2.73 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 11:14h and 23:37h reaching minimum heights of 0.60 metres and 0.47 metres respectively.

monday, october 21, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

“Grow More Food” campaign to focus on expanding export base T

he Agriculture Ministry is in consultation with the Caribbean Farmers Network (CaFAN) and the European Union (EU), with the primary objective of expanding Guyana’s export base.

Guyana is seeking to strike a deal to secure a market for the exportation of sweet potatoes, and the ministry is in the process of transforming the agriculture sector to meet the demands of the global market.

Kitchen gardens

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Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said when the “Grow More Food” campaign was launched in 2008 by former Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, major emphasis was placed on the promotion of kitchen gardens to cushion the impact of high food prices.

Now, some five years after, the country is analysing the prospects of increasing its export base.

However, this move, which is deemed “a step in the right direction”, comes with many challenges, Minister Ramsammy said during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times.

He explained that while Guyana has the ability to grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, large-scale farmers are not consistent in their production and in other cases, various types of food produced are not in demand regionally and internationally.

“Our culture is that we believe that we grow good

A black pepper vine, one of the non-traditional crops being grown, laden with fruit in Region One

food and other people should want to eat it, the truth is that the squash we grow in Guyana, only Guyanese like it, other people don’t want to eat our squash,” Minister Ramsammy said, as he illustrated the situation on the ground.

Consistent production

Through an ongoing education programme, the Agriculture Ministry is equipping farmers with the requisite knowledge and skills and even the materials needed to be consistent in their production.

“If we want to be a pepper exporter, we have to specialise in a particular kind of pepper, so people know they can get two container loads of pepper from Guyana every week or every month and it’s the same kind, so whatever the pepper sauce they are marketing has the

same consistency, the same colour, the same taste,” Minister Ramsammy said as he cited another example of the problems affecting the export industry.

In June, the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) announced its intention to financially support Guyana’s agricultural diversification and export drive to the tune of £1.3 million (approximately G$400 million).

Diversification programme

Guyana’s Agriculture Diversification Programme (GADP) is designed to increase exports of tilapia from 1000 kilograms (kgs) to 1200kg a week and nontraditional produce, such as sweet bell pepper, hot pepper and butternut squash from 1000kg to 1600kg weekly.

Additionally, the

Agriculture Ministry is working closely with the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) to produce the “Rain Forest Line of Agricultural Products”.

GSA is also in the process of compiling production guides to assist the local farming community, as it turns to non-traditional crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, scotch bonnet pepper, and butternut squash.

The “Grow More Food” campaign was launched on March 20, 2008 through the implementation of a five-step plan, which included the implementation of a US$21.9 million Agricultural Export Diversification Programme, the implementation of a US$6 million Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Development Programme, increased investment in drainage and irrigation by restoring drainage to areas abandoned by farmers and training farmers to manage the maintenance of rehabilitated structures at a cost of G$12 billion.

Rural farmers, agro investors, processors, exporters, and all those involved in the value chain have benefited from the investments made by the government over the past five years to boost food production and attain a lucrative means of earning a livelihood.

Guyana is the only country in the southern hemisphere that is a net exporter of food, and has achieved the United Nations first Millennium Development Goal of eradicating hunger.

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guyanatimesgy.com

monday, october 21, 2013

Views Editor: Nigel Williams Tel: 225-5128, 231-0397, 226-9921, 226-2102, 223-7230 or 223-7231. Fax: 225-5134 Mailing address: 238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, sales@guyanatimesgy.com

Editorial

Youth development

Education Minister Priya Manickchand poses with Region Five’s top National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) students over the weekend at a special ceremony to recognise students and educators of that region, at the Regional Democratic Council office in Fort Wellington (GINA photo)

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t is with great relish that we absorb the news that Guyana has been ranked 10th among 107 countries where youth well-being is concerned. This salubrious outlook was revealed in the first Commonwealth Youth Development Index (YDI) that was recently released.

This YDI was really designed to measure the development of youths between the ages of 15 and 24, based on a number of parameters: education, health and well-being, employment, and political and civic participation in Commonwealth countries.

Overall, Guyana was ranked 31 in the development index. In terms of the sub-categories: Guyana was at 21 (education), 18 (employment), and 27 (political participation). When we see that Australia, Canada and New Zealand topped the YDI, we cannot be upset at all, as Guyana’s ranking has placed it in the medium category of youth development, making the country one of the highest-ranked nations in the Caribbean region.

Let us first answer the question as to who really comprise the young. Statistically speaking, the world youth population, as defined by the United Nations (UN), is the age group between 15 and 24 years old. In terms of numbers, this means that we have an estimated billion plus, or 18 per cent of the world’s people. This simply means challenges for ruling administrations worldwide.

We also see that the UN has long recognised that the imagination, ideals, and energies of young men and women are vital for the continuing development of the societies in which they live. The call by the UN General Assembly for some time now has been for participation, development, and peace. This has never escaped the present ruling administration in Guyana, and in recent times, the emphasis has been on the important role young people play in national development.

This government is very cognisant of the country’s youths – they exhibit a number of features: having aspirations and wanting to participate fully in the lives of their societies; being the key agents for social change, economic development, and technological innovation; desiring to live under conditions that encourage their imagination, ideals, energy, and vision to flourish to the benefit of their societies; and seeking to be integrated into the existing society or to serve as a force to transform it.

Now has the government done enough to show that it truly deserves the high ranking? One example may very well suffice.

Guyana has many success stories, where hundreds of youths are being trained in various fields.

There is the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) that has been involved in the training of young people. The board was established more than 40 years ago under the Industrial Training Act, Chapter 39:04 to provide training opportunities for youths and to equip them with marketable skills and the December 2012 graduation ceremony stands out as evidence of how well Guyana is doing.

On the occasion, the BIT held a graduation ceremony at the New Amsterdam Town Hall for 187 persons, who successfully completed training in over 21 occupational areas under the aegis of the National Training Project for Youth Empowerment (NTPYE).

Then in May of this year, the consensus was that BIT, sometimes in tandem with various bodies, has been able to successfully provide vocational training and education to a large number of youths in every region of Guyana, equipping them with marketable skills in various occupations.

We have more evidence of looking after our youths. Many Guyanese youths have been sent overseas to study in various fields at the post-graduate, master’s and doctorate levels, thus improving the country’s human resources’ capacity. Then the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry, with the support of international agencies, is now looking to redraft a new youth policy that will help to further strengthen youth development.

Such work also functions preemptively, in that it saves the countries from possible youth crime explosions, as was the case in neighbouring Brazil, where there is no such emphasis as yet.

In the early part of this year, a series of horrific crimes attributed to minors touched off a debate there, about the age at which young offenders should be allowed to be charged as adults, with those demanding tougher sentences for youth convicts pitted against humanitarian groups and the federal government.

What Guyana has prevented so far is more than enough to be proud of. Our youths may not be driving fancy cars and spending big. They really do not need these. They need skills to make themselves self-sufficient.

Police must take the initiative Dear Editor, It is not surprising to read the remarks of relatives of the three men, who were shot by police, during a shootout. Coming from the side of the local lawmen, the two men they killed and the third one who was injured and later died in hospital, had set out to commit a robbery. Now the accusation is that the police just made up their stories.

If what these relatives and supposed eye-witnesses say is true, that is, that the police just came up, ar-

rested the three men, shot two dead, and seriously injured the third, then these officers are utterly foolish.

Also, they could have made their arrests, taken the men somewhere else and then killed them. How about these three men just being together coincidentally?

Consider also the collective track record of these three. They are all on robbery charges. This is a very disturbing background. I cannot find too many reasons for these chaps being on the road. These kinds of cas-

es must not be allowed too much leverage of time and bail. The police must investigate quickly, so that rulings can be done in a short space of time.

How about the white car that is now known by the police – will the driver/owner of this vehicle be investigated?

The fact that there were two guns and a wig, retrieved from the site of the shooting must also be taken as support for a planned crime. The weapons were very dangerous ones.

Definitely there will be all kinds of mixed emotions and spontaneous reactions.

The police are being criticised for being proactive, yet when they leave things to chance, we accuse them of being slothful or even collusive.

Recently, a lot of people complained about lateness of response. I vote strongly that they be proactive. The police have a whole nation to protect.

Sincerely, Winston King

Guyana should promote safe gold-mining practices Dear Editor, It is important to promote public awareness as it relates to the use of mercury and its effects on human beings and the environment. Mercury emissions can result directly from natural activities, such as volcanic eruptions and the erosion of rocks. Humans also use mercury for mining activities, coal fired power plants and for manufacturing and processing needs such as thermometers.

The consumption of mercury laden fish is also an indirect exposure to the sub-

stance which has been linked to cancer, birth defects and developmental anomalies. The government recently signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury – an international pact that aims to control mercury emissions. This was done during an international conference that was organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) held just recently in Minamata, Japan.

Due to the environmental and health risks of mercury, the government of Guyana was prompted to support the

implementation of this legally-binding global instrument on mercury. Guyana’s main aim is to assist in the control of mercury usage.

Mercury is a neurotoxin, which basically means that it has detrimental effects on the nervous system. It can damage the brain and lead to permanent physical and emotional disorders. Symptoms of mercury poisoning include social withdrawal, self-injurious behaviour, lack of eye contact, blank facial expression, repetitive behaviour and hypersensitivity to nois-

es and touching.

Medical science has proven over the years that mercury toxicity when caused directly or indirectly, can be quite devastating. Guyana should immediately readdress matters as it relates to mining techniques currently used. Strong educational campaigns and anti mercury measures should be implemented to create awareness and minimise the effects of mercury.

Sincerely, Kenrick Jodhan

Collaborative efforts for medical intervention at the GPHC Dear Editor, When it comes to specialised health treatment, many individuals often choose to understandably seek opportunities outside of the Guyana.

Recently there was an article in the press regarding the boosting of capacity at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). News has it that the institution will soon be bolstered with the deployment of better trained doctors and new equipment.

Unfortunately, Guyana does not have a specialty hospital that focuses directly on problems related to the heart, kidney and brain. Hopefully

this new venture can soon offer these additional facilities. Ideally, what is being put forward is that the necessary facilities and equipment are expected to be set up in Guyana. Specialists will then come here to offer patients the treatment that they so desire.

The greatest advantage of this offer is that GPHC will incur no additional cost to host the medical team. The doctors are expected to visit when necessary to perform their surgeries and be available to the patient during their period of recovery, and maybe even until they have

been discharged.

Collaboration is currently being done with a team from Memphis, Tennessee, USA and there is talk about other teams from Calgary, Canada also willing to offer their services. Aside from offering specialised treatment to patients, local doctors can also gain to benefit from this venture.

The specialised team of doctors is expected to offer guidance and training to the local doctors free of cost. In addition, local doctors will be able to garner knowledge and hands on experience while on the job.

It is important to note

that extensive medical care is costly. Though the hospital and insurance companies may cover a percentage of the cost, patients are still required to compensate accordingly. My hope is that there will come a time, when no one will fear any kind of medical situation simply because we have the facilities and doctors to diagnose and treat accordingly.

It is so heartrending to know that the opposition is still very much against the need for this Specialty Hospital.

Sincerely, Lochan Persaud

guyanatimesgy.com

monday, october 21, 2013

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

Alarm at Kaieteur News editorial

Dear Editor, I read, with much alarm, the editorial in the Sunday edition of the Kaieteur News dated, October 20 headlined “Kill them all?” I would like to think that it would be standard that a person writing an editorial would have researched the topic on which he chose to write and report accurately, with full unbiased, disclosure.

Firstly, I am not a commissioner at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). I resigned.

Secondly, I never held a position of the quasi head of the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic. After volunteer-

ing for one and a half years there, I was employed, on a part-time contract as a children’s legal aid lawyer. I served there for about four years until last year.

I still provide pro bono services for many persons who are underprivileged and have no access to the justice system, although I do not do it from the legal aid clinic.

Thirdly, and most importantly, this editorial deliberately chose to leave out the parts of the conversation where I expressly stated that I was against extrajudicial killings and that I do not condone all actions

of the police, that this was nothing but my view and that, in this instance, I believed the police’s version on the account of what transpired that night.

That editorial may call me “cold”, “insensitive”, “draconian”, or whatever it chooses to call me, as in relation to my opinion on persons who use force against the police and innocent citizens.

However, the editorial of a newspaper, in my view, ought to be balanced, well researched and of full disclosure, presenting all the facts known to it or that ought to be known to it, thereby leav-

ing its readers to form a view.

I urge the owner and publisher of the Kaieteur News to ponder whether the writer of the editorial can hereafter be trusted to present the truth of what transpired on any matter that he reports.

I wish to note with some alarm that there are many views very similar to mine on Facebook and in the public domain. I am concerned that this editorial addressed my views in isolation from other similar views.

With regards, Jaya Manickchand

His obsession continues

Dear Editor, This man has nothing to do. I think that he is blinded, biased, or just a blockhead. He writes for Kaieteur News, and his last few columns really tell a tale: “A week in the life of President Ramotar”; “No one in Lusignan and Guyana can be that silly”; “For Christ’s sake, President Ramotar, be statesmanlike!”; “President Jagdeo said it, now President Ramotar repeats it” and “President Ramotar sang an old, old, old song”.

I contend that this col-

umnist (so to speak) is obsessed with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/C) leaders. He has been going at former President Bharrat Jagdeo for quite a spell. Ironically, every time he vents his spleen, during and after Jagdeo’s tenure as president, the very man, the object of his odium, received major accolades and promotion.

I think this has medically affected this writer.

He needs a lot of help and is tethering on the brink of something quite lunatic and

destructive. He is now after the current president.

On the flip side, he has a catamite-like devotion for the Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Nigel Hughes, and as such, he could not utter a word of condemnation as regards his collusive role in the Lusignan Massacre trial.

He just could not risk being spurned.

One of the evidences of madness is just this. It should be noted too that insanity is not quite a medical diagnosis alone, but in many

jurisprudence, it is a legal term, yet encompassing a wide range of mental disorders, such as organic brain syndromes, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.

Based on his personal belief, gathered from his many constant pronouncements, this quasi analyst is psychologically afflicted, with at least some form of bipolar disorder. I would not be surprised if he soon calls himself God.

Yours truly, Corrine Wilkins

“Junkies” are being paid to commit crimes Dear Editor, I am following very closely a situation in Delhi, India where drug addicts in the city are allegedly being used by big-time gangsters to commit serious crimes and only paid enough to buy their daily quota of dope.

In the middle of last month, the police there gathered up drug addicts, caught in criminal acts, and sent them to rehabilitation centres.

The drive followed the recent arrest of the top 10 criminals in the city. One

of them disclosed that, for most of his crimes, he engaged drug addicts and alcoholics who are desperate for money. This is so for many of our crimes here, but we are too slow to click in.

We have to bring a frightening severity for gun related crimes and it must start right at the point of illegally possessing any kind of firearm.

Yours faithfully, Valmicky Bridgemohan

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monday, october 21, 2013

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Foundation Parenting For Success

Healing the child within the adult – ChildLinK’s vision is a Guyanese society where every child enjoys the right to a childhood in a safe and caring family, free from poverty, violence, and exploitation

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hildLinK, for several years, has been working with adults from various geographic locations and financial backgrounds on parenting skills.

During our interactions with parents in supporting them to become better parents, we have realised that many of the parents are still hurting from traumatic experiences that they have encountered as children.

For most parents, the thought of a child being abused is something so dreadful and so sickening, it’s enough to make their stomachs turn. For some parents who were abused as children, the shadow of that abuse always lingers with them, influencing many of the decisions they make as parents. Trauma is an experience that produces psychological injury or pain. Though it may have been caused during childhood, it can still have longlasting effects and be difficult to pinpoint. Childhood trauma at a very young age may leave the victim with limited or no recollection of the trauma itself. Yet the consequences of childhood trauma may linger well into adulthood. When these consequences are present in adulthood, it may affect the quality of the rela-

tionship between the adult and the child. Parents may be unaware of the fact that they are being abusive, simply because it was the way they were brought up and to them, it is the normal way to raise a child. Two common ways in which children

are frequently abused are physically and emotionally and abuse can be seen as normal child-raising techniques.

Physical abuse Parents who were physically abused themselves as children, or who were or are intimidated verbally and physically by adults around them, often resort to similar means when they discipline their own children. The use of force, especially violence toward other people,

is a behaviour often learned from parents and inflicted on children. And when life stresses – from poverty to illness to alcoholism – exist, they increase the risk of abuse. Some abused children live in families filled with domestic violence –

where spouses have physical battles.

Emotional abuse Many parents are emotionally abusive without being violent or sexually abusive. However, emotional abuse regularly accompanies physical and sexual abuse. Emotionally-abusive parents practise forms of child-rearing that are orientated towards fulfilling their own needs and goals, rather than those of their children.

Their parenting style may

be characterised by overt aggression towards their children, including shouting and intimidation, or they may manipulate their children using more subtle means, such as emotional blackmail. In exploring the background of these parents, it was discovered that they were often reared in such environments by their own parents or caregivers.

What to do: Identify the ways in which you are abusing your child or children – this will give you a clearer understanding of the situation.

There are many different types of abuse, for example, physical, emotional, sexual.

Explore the possible causes of the abuse – knowing what is causing you to inflict pain on your child or the children in your care will help you to better plan and recognise triggers to the behaviours.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help – what to do if you realise that you have not dealt with some of your childhood traumatic experiences and they are affecting the way you relate to the children in your life. If you feel that you are struggling to break the cycle of violence and abuse, please seek help from supportive agencies like the

Child Care and Protection Agency or ChildLinK. Parents who abuse their children are generally repeating the cycle of abuse, as they were often raised in this manner. You need to be made aware of the pain you are causing your children before you can attempt to put a stop to your abusive behaviour. If we do not make an effort to stop the cycle, it is going to continue from generation to generation. Parents, maybe you have been hurt by your parents through no fault of your own. The way you felt as a child when you were shouted at and beaten or even accused wrongfully, it is possible that your child is experiencing the same feelings. Make an effort to parent differently from the way you were parented and allow your child the opportunity to grow in a non-violent and non-abusive environment.

Remember they are learning from you and you need to teach them to live life positively.

Please contact us on telephone number 231-7174 or email us at programmes. childlink@networksgy.com for any support you may need on parenting and other challenges you are experiencing with your children.

Signs of abuse – part two

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arents and all concerned citizens need to look for these signs to detect whether a child is in trouble.

Neglect Neglect can be a difficult form of abuse to recognise, yet have some of the most lasting and damaging effects on children.

The physical signs of neglect may include: constant hunger, sometimes stealing food from other children; being constantly dirty or ‘smelly’; loss of weight, or being constantly underweight; or wearing inappropriate clothing for the conditions.

Changes in behaviour which can also indicate neglect may include: complaining of being tired all the time; not requesting medical assistance and/or failing to attend appointments; having few friends; mentioning being left alone or unsupervised.

Bullying Bullying is not always easy to recognise as it can take a number of forms. A child may encounter bullying attacks that are: physical: pushing, kicking, hitting, pinching and other forms of violence or threats; verbal: name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing; and emotional: tormenting, ridiculing, and humiliating.

Persistent bullying can result in: depression, low self-esteem, shyness, poor academic achievement, isolation, threatened or attempted suicide.

Signs that a child may be bullied can be: coming home with cuts and bruises, torn clothes, asking for stolen possessions to be replaced, losing lunch money, falling out with previously good friends, being moody and bad tempered, wanting to avoid leaving their home, aggression with younger brothers and sisters, doing less well at school, sleep problems, anxiety, and becoming quiet and withdrawn.

These definitions and indicators are not meant to be definitive, but only serve as a guide to assist you. It is important too, to remember that many children may exhibit some of these indicators at some time, and that the presence of one or more should not be taken as proof that abuse is occurring. There may well be other reasons for changes in behaviour such as a death or the birth of a new baby in the family or relationship problems between parents/carers. In assessing whether indicators are related to abuse or not, the authorities will always want to understand them in relation to the child’s development and context.

(Excerpt from nspcc.org.uk)

news

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monday, october 21, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

Dr Ramsammy says Amnesty International condemns DR ruling on Haitians no fraud at NDIA

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Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy

Junior Agriculture Minister Ali Baksh

NDIA CEO Lionel Wordsworth

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

from Starcomm using funds from the Community Drainage and Irrigation Programme (CDIP), Minister Ramsammy said the entity was merely replacing the furniture which it was utilising that belonged to the ministry.

He said the ministry currently houses several entities and semi-autonomous agencies, but does not charge rent or restrict them from utilising its resources and furniture. Dr Ramsammy reported that when he took office, he was operating out of a cubicle since there was no suitable office space available for him.

He said this could be confirmed by several members of Parliament on both the government and opposition sides of the House, but it became necessary for him to identify a location and replace the furniture which was in use by the NDIA so that he could hold meetings and other confidential briefs with staff.

“Because these agencies occupied our building, NDIA was asked to replenish the furniture,” he insisted.

sourced a Phoenix payroll application. The minister reminded that it was the Field Auditor Pablo Singh, who had approved the purchase by not objecting to it, or raising concern.

The payroll application was bought from Phoenix Software for $799,000 on January 19, 2012, at a reduced price after some negotiation between the NDIA and the company.

“Singh approved the payment for the new payroll software,” the minister protested as he again came to the defence of the NDIA.

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griculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said there is no fraud at the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), as he dismissed as false allegations levelled against the entity’s Chief Executive Officer Lionel Wordsworth and junior Agriculture Minister Ali Baksh.

Speaking with Guyana Times on Friday, Dr Ramsammy said Auditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma was tasked with doing a special audit of the entity following some allegations that surfaced about the misappropriation and misuse of funds. He said the AG’s report is not yet completed, but it is surprising that Kaietuer News would seek to repeat the allegations as opposed to following the established protocol in terms of awaiting the findings of the official audit.

Personal expenses

Dr Ramsammy said while it is true that two trucks were paid to transport some items from Food For The Poor to Minister Baksh’s residence in Campbellville, Georgetown, they were not for the minister. He stated the items were merely housed at Baksh’s home for a short while before they were donated and distributed to poor people residing at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara. Minister Ramsammy argued too that the ministry was asked to cover the transportation expenses and to lend assistance because it was a worthy cause.

“The ministry agreed to help and usually we would ask one of our agencies to assist, hence, the NDIA’s involvement. It was not taken to Minister Baksh’s home... it may have stopped there... but it has been delivered to the community and this expenditure has been verified,” he told this newspaper.

Asked to respond to the allegations that the NDIA head misappropriated funds when the body bought office furniture totalling $402,000

Farewell

Dr Ramsammy is refuting allegations that the NDIA also misused CDIP funds to host a farewell party for a particular staff member and instead argued that the money was used to cover expenses relating to a period of time over which the ministry was hosting a technical team from Colombia.

The agriculture minister said the ministry would host meetings that run through lunch and sometimes late into the evenings, and it was normal for it to cover such expenses for overseas delegations that were engaged in work meetings with their local counterparts.

“This happens all the time and at no time, am I aware that funds were misappropriated by the NDIA for any ulterior or personal use,” he argued.

He said there was no merit to the claim that Wordsworth caused a breach to occur when the NDIA

No basis

The agriculture minister also noted that there was no basis or truth in other allegations that the NDIA approved a $2 million request for payments to the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary/ Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA), Region Five, without any documented reason, appropriation or a request from the region.

Dr Ramsammy reported that the CDIP programme is managed by the MMA/ADA, while explaining that the NDIA has an arrangement to overlook the programme there.

“They usually send a request to cover their expenses for a particular period and we give them the money to pay their workers,” he argued. He did not delve into the specifics surrounding this transaction.

Minister Ramsammy said the audit being conducted by the auditor general will vindicate the NDIA, and all who were unjustly accused of wrong doing by Field Auditor Singh, who is no longer employed by the ministry.

Dr Ramsammy said the auditor leaked findings in his preliminary report and did not follow established protocols to have the issues raised in his report addressed.

Further, it was found that there was another brewing conflict of interest involving Singh, and the board met and recommended that his contract not be renewed.

he London-based human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has joined a chorus of condemnation and calls for the Dominican Republic to retract a Constitutional Court ruling that primarily strips Dominicans of Haitian descent of citizenship.

Amnesty International on Friday urged the Dominican Republic not to implement the court ruling “that could leave hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of foreign descent stateless”.

Under aspects of the ruling, individuals of foreign descent – the vast majority of Dominicans of Haitian origin – could be deprived of their nationality, forced to leave, and ordered to apply for citizenship from scratch, Amnesty International said.

“The full implementation of this ruling will have a devastating impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, whose identity documents would be cancelled and, therefore, would see many of their human rights – freedom of movement, education, work and access to healthcare – totally denied,” said Chiara Liguori, Amnesty International researcher on the Caribbean.

Last month, the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court ruled that Juliana Deguis, who was born in the Dominican Republic in 1984 to Haitian parents, had been wrongly registered as Dominican at her birth.

Stateless

Only last week, Caricom said it was deeply concerned by the September 23 ruling.

As a result of the ruling, which considers migrants entering The Dominican Republic since 1929 and their children born in the

country as “in transit” and requires them to obtain nationality, a large number of persons who are part of the very fabric of Dominican society would be stripped of Dominican citizenship.

It is estimated that some 210,000 Dominican-born people of Haitian descent who were legally considered Dominican and contributed, as citizens of The Dominican Republic, to the growth and development of their society, economy and politics, would be affected, rendering them stateless in violation of international human rights obligations, Caricom said in a statement.

“The Caribbean Community notes with regret that the decision goes against pronouncements of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (ICHR), which has repeatedly called on The Dominican Republic to adopt measures to guarantee the right to nationality in the country and to adapt its immigration laws and practices in accordance with the provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights.”

Implications

Caricom said it was particularly concerned about the humanitarian implications of the judgment.

“The implications of tens of thousands of persons being plunged into a constitutional, legal and administrative vacuum by the ruling are a source of deep distress to those affected and one of significant disquiet for our community. The Caribbean Community calls on The Dominican Republic to adopt measures to protect the human rights and interests of those made vulnerable by this ruling and its grievous effects.”

Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre-Richard Casimir

Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn RodriguesBirkett was also briefed at Takuba Lodge by Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre-Richard Casimir on the recent ruling.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry, after the meeting, registered its deep concern over the indiscriminate ruling. “This is a violation of the human and political rights of these citizens and the impact of the implementation of this ruling could be catastrophic.

“Guyana encourages The Dominican Republic to give serious consideration regarding the application of this ruling in view of the valued contribution made by these persons to the development of The Dominican Republic and more so in safeguarding their human rights,” the ministry said.

“The government of Guyana calls on the relevant authorities of The Dominican Republic to respect the right to nationality and international human rights principles. Guyana stands in solidarity with its sister Caricom member state of Haiti in support of its efforts to build international consensus against this inhumane ruling.”

Several GDF ranks under close arrest for missing AK-47 bullets

I

n light of the recent disappearance of ammunition at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) training camp at Tacama, Berbice River, a team comprising members of the G2 and the Military Investigation Department (MID) has travelled up to the area to conduct an investigation.

Some 463 rounds of 7.62x39 calibre ammunition that is particularly used in AK-47s have been reported missing from the camp, resulting in a number of persons being placed under close arrest. The ammunition was discovered missing on Thursday last.

Guyana Times understands that the G2 members are expected to interrogate the ranks with the intention

of gathering information with respect to the missing ammunition and more so determine when the ammunition went missing. Once they would have completed their investigations, a list will be made of suspects.

A senior rank of the force explained that while he cannot divulge any information with respect to the investigations, if anyone is found culpable, they will be dealt with condignly. When this newspaper contacted Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell on Sunday, he disclosed that the Guyana Police Force has not been called in as yet to assist with investigations, while noting that in such matters, it is dealt with at the army level, and then handed over to

the police.

Thirty AK-47s along with five pistols vanished from the GDF’s armoury in February 2006. This led to the detention of a warrant officer and five soldiers. The discovery was made after the then Chiefof-Staff, Commodore Gary Best ordered all guns and ammunition be thoroughly checked.

According to reports, upon investigation, it was discovered that the mesh of the storage bond fence had been cut open and the fence aback of the army’s medical centre at Camp Ayanganna had also been breached. A number of the missing AK47s were subsequently recovered, mostly from criminals.

8 news

MONday, october 21, 2013| guyanatimesGY.com

News editor admitted to Bar N

aomi Christie, the editor-in-chief of “News Watch”, which is aired on Little Rock Television Station, Berbice was admitted to the Guyana Bar on Friday.

In a packed courtroom at the Berbice High Court, Attorney General Anil Nandlall presented a petition to Justice Brassington Reynolds to have Christie accepted to the Bar. The 23-year-old Christie attended St Therese Primary before attending the New Amsterdam Multilateral Secondary from 2001 to 2008. She gained passes in 14 subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, and was among the top ten performers in the country at the 2006-2007 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

Nandlall, in presenting her credentials, said Christie entered into the law programme at the University of Guyana in 2008 and graduated in 2011.

“While there she participated in two mooting competitions at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Trinidad.

In 2010, she was award-

New lawyer Naomi Christie taking the oath

ed the Anne Blue Award for best performance in Part II of the law programme.

Upon completion of the programme, she was awarded a Bachelor’s of Law degree with distinction and presented with the Pro-Chancellor’s Award for best graduating student.”

Christie completed her legal studies at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad (2011-2013). The attorney general, who is also the legal affairs minister, said in her first year, Christie was awarded the Justice Jessi Haynes Memorial Prize

for best performance in the law of remedies. “She also participated in the HamelSmith Mooting Competition 2012. At the completion of her studies, she was awarded the Legal Education Certificate and placed on the honours roll.”

Justice Reynolds welcomed Christie, telling her that he was impressed and not to forget the standards that she was trained to uphold.

“The climb to the summit of your career has now begun. No position is right in law. It is your interpretation of the law…. Judges and magistrates are human, so you have to try to convince them…”

Upholding ideals

Christie, who made a vow to uphold the integrity of the legal profession and to adhere to its ethical standards, told the media during an interview that she was relieved to have completed her studies. “I am ready again to hit the highest point of the ladder.”

Currently, Christie is working at the attorney general’s office where she is hoping to gain experience before

branching out. “I am going to help everybody that is in need and I want to be a voice for persons who don’t have a voice and especially for the poor people.” She said she will press forward to make Guyana proud.

Christie, who is engaged only with civil matters at the attorney general’s office, said she sees herself as a criminal lawyer.

“I want to make a difference. As the AG said, the judiciary is crumbling, it needs a lot of work, it needs somebody to pick it up and dust it off, but I can’t do it by myself.

I am hoping to get the support of all the other attorneys, persons in the community, and we are going to make a difference. The support that I saw today was overwhelming, and if I can get the support of persons around me, I think I can make a difference worldwide.”

Christie said becoming a lawyer was never her ambition, but her mother wanted her to become a lawyer. She, however, has no regrets.

Naomi is the daughter of Rockcliff and Pearl Christie, the proprietors of Little Rock Television Station and Little Rock Suites.

OAS anti-corruption body reports on visit to Guyana

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he anti-corruption mechanism of the Organisation of American States (OAS) has reported on its recent visit here, as part of the analysis that the mechanism carries out in accordance with the methodology adopted by consensus among its member countries.

The Commission of the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) was made up of Haiti’s Unit for Combating Corruption (ULCC) Director General, Colonel Antoine Atouriste; ULCC Operations Director Joseph Jean Figaro; and ULCC Legal Department head Yvlore Pigeot; as well as the legal adviser to the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, Joan RamnarineFurlonge. They were supported by the OAS in the visit, through its Department of Legal Cooperation in its capacity as the technical secre-

tariat to the MESICIC. During the three days of work, the commission said in a release that it met with the top authorities and other representatives of the Audit Office, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Public Service Commission, the Judicial Service Commission, the Integrity Commission, the Office of the Commissioner on Information, and the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, among others, in order to obtain objective and complete information and reveal potential difficulties in the implementation of the Inter-American Convention. It also provided an opportunity to facilitate the obtaining of information related to best practices, and provided Guyana with the opportunity to benefit from or to request technical assistance.

The commission also had the opportunity to meet with organisations from civil soci-

ety and the private sector and professional associations, in order to address issues related to the challenges facing the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of acts of corruption in Guyana; civil society’s views on the role of oversight bodies in Guyana; conflicts of interest; systems for registering income, assets and liabilities; access to public information; and mechanisms to encourage participation of civil society in efforts to prevent corruption.

The results of this visit form part of the review process that is currently being carried out by the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC, which will conclude with the adoption of the Guyana country report by the committee at its next plenary meeting to be held in March 2014, at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC. The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between states, with the participation

of civil society organisations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal/institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the InterAmerican Convention against Corruption as well as the objective results achieved therein.

The incorporation of onsite visits as a stage and integral part of the MESICIC review process represents an innovative and pioneering initiative in the context of the OAS, especially for a peer review mechanism and the importance of the issues it addresses.

To date, the following countries have agreed to receive visits from MESICIC: Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Costa Rica, Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, Panama, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, The Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Canada.

Eyew tness Didn’t drop from sky ...low income here are some, like the editor of the MuckrakerKN Adam Harris, who’re making heavy going with the recent United Nations (UN) Report that indicated Guyana has the second lowest per capita income in the Caribbean. Only Haiti’s below us. With Harris’s advanced age, senility has to be creeping in, but surely he has to remember one of the most dramatic headlines from 1989: “McIntyre Report says Guyana’s just above Haiti”!

But then the headline wasn’t carried in the Guyana Chronicle and the New Nation of which he was editor – under the People’s National Congress (PNC) – at the time. It was in the Stabber News.

Up to then, while everyone knew things were bad, we really didn’t know how bad. Just 20 years before, we were right up there with the Caribbean islands – as far as income and standards of living. And here it was – we were told Guyana was almost at the level with what was the paradigmatic “basket case”.

From the “bread basket” of the region to the “basket case” of the region! It was a very traumatic time for all Guyanese and took some getting used to. Maybe Harris, with his PNC connections with the Knowledge Sharing Institute (KSI) that doled out “rations” didn’t feel it, but McIntyre confirmed to Guyanese that they weren’t crazy – it was the PNC that had to be loco to insist that their cooperative experiment hadn’t been the most disastrous infliction on our poor country. And that we weren’t starving.

Bauxite had been ruined, sugar had been laid low, gold was in the doldrums – and all of the new “industries” that were launched with great fanfare had failed ignominiously – bicycle factory, glass factory, leather factory and ceramic factory, among others. In the meantime, the Caribbean islands hadn’t been sitting still – oil in Trinidad, banana and tourism for the others had given them a great push upwards.

And as every economist worth his salt will tell you, once a country has gone through the downward spiral that Guyana was plunged into by the PNC, it’s not easy to get out of it.

It’s not just things like the stratospheric debt burden or the flattened rice industry. It’s the mentality that has developed in the people – apart from a substantial section developing a con-man mentality and workers walking away with whatever wasn’t nailed down.

More insidiously was the risk-averse mentality inculcated into the entrepreneurial class. Why take risks with your capital when it can all go down the drain through a governmental decree. This is the PNC legacy from which we haven’t been freed as yet. And yes, the UN report is about the role of risk and risk-taking in sustaining development.

T

...AFC’s implosion News out of Berbice is that another Alliance For Change (AFC) councillor, this time one Rohan Jageshwar, from Moses Nagamootoo’s and Dr Veerasammy Ramayya’s village of Whim, has resigned. All of this resigning and walking out from this party didn’t just “drop from tree”. They were there on the ground when the AFC tree was planted. What was Jageshwar’s problem?

Khemraj Ramjattan? And what was the New York group’s problem? Khemraj Ramjattan. And regional councillor Haseef Yusuf’s problem? You got it – the very same Khemraj Ramjattan.

You get the drift?

Every one of the departed faithful has attested to the lowdown character and behaviour of the man who would be the sole leader of the AFC. That’s all he’s concerned about – leadership. Never mind it’ll soon be leadership of an empty shell. He drove Raphael Trotman from the party and back into the arms of the PNC. Then at first, he said he didn’t know Nigel Hughes was hired by Sithe Global and then he backed off. But by then, Hughes has been neutered. Wait to see Ramjattan “wuk” on Nagamootoo!! ...Dr Rodney CoI Why aren’t we surprised that the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) aren’t going to support the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Dr Walter Rodney’s assassination – unless their insatiable demands are satisfied?!

9

monday, october 21+, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

10

guyanatimesgy.com

MONday, October 21, 2013

News

Republic Bank opens $185M branch in Lethem

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epublic Bank Limited on Saturday opened a branch in Lethem, with Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh saying that government has long recognised that a strong, wellmanaged, well-regulated, vibrant financial services sector is critical to the economic health of Guyana.

He said as such, the administration has sought to ensure the establishment of a strong legislative and regulatory framework. Dr Singh said the administration is happy that the sector has responded very positively.

The new branch located at Manari Road, Lethem is customer-friendly and spacious with a modern environment, which will provide all the basic banking services, including an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) facility.

“Today, we see a financial services sector that has proven that it is well-managed with sound, stable and

Mook Lall try to pope de weddin house

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh being guided on a tour of the Lethem branch, by Republic Bank Managing Director John Alves, Chairman Nigel Baptiste, and other officials

strong institutions, and it is no accident that at a time when the global and regional economy have been put to the most severe test in living memory, financial institutions operating in Guyana have withstood the regional and external developments, have remained strong, and have been an outstanding example,” the finance minister stated, according to a Government Information Agency (GINA) release.

million edifice commenced in November 2012, and it will be open for business from today with a staff complement of eight highly-skilled professionals.

Officials from the bank,

mitment as a partner in the economic and financial development of all corners of Guyana.

Lethem residents will have access to a wide range of financial products and ser-

Confidence in economy

He said Republic Bank was a regional leader in financial services across the Caribbean, and since its entry into the Guyana market, it has contributed in a very significant way to raising the standards in the country’s financial services sector, introducing new products, improving service, and improving access to services across the 10 administrative regions.

“The bank is a valued and respective member of the corporate community; it is an important member of the financial services sector, an important employer and provider of services,” Minister Singh posited.

He explained that the fact that the bank has been expanding in the manner in which it has in Guyana, speaks volumes about its confidence in the country’s economic future.

Construction of the $185

Republic Bank’s new branch at Manari Road, Lethem

as well as the minister, spoke of Guyana’s bright economic prospects, which the banking sector and other investors have recognised and are responding to favourably.

The financial services sector by itself can contribute significantly to the growth and development in the economy by improving access to financial services.

Republic Bank Managing Director John Alves said the decision to extend the bank’s services to the Region Nine community was guided by its strategic plan for continued expansion.

Bank chairman Nigel Baptiste spoke of the promise fulfilled and vision realised. He said the opening of the Lethem branch is a clear demonstration of the bank’s continuing com-

vices including: deposit and checking accounts, electronic banking, various forms of lending, and foreign exchange and money transfer facilities. “Our vision for expansion and accompanying strategies are strongly aligned with the trends shaping the local, regional, and global economies.

Among local developments are increased opportunities for homeownership and expanding small and medium businesses…,” Baptiste pointed out.

Republic Bank’s ties with Guyana date back to 1836; it was the first commercial bank to start business in the colony of British Guiana, the first indigenous commercial bank, and the first bank owned by the indigenous private sector.

W

hen people want some ting really bad dem does be willing to do any ting fuh it. Some people does even kill dem self when dem want some ting bad and dem can’t get it. Some people does kill other people who deh in dem way. Some people does pay a bribe. Some people does sell dem soul. Some people does sell dem body. Some people does sell out dem buddies and best friends.

And talkin bout sellin out – that is some ting de U.S. embassy call snitchin, just like how Snow Den snitch pun de U.S. guvament and let out all de spyin business whah de U.S. tryin to hide. But right hey in Guyana, WikiLeaks leak out de story bout de only big time snitcher whah Guyana got pun Saffon Street in GT de garbage town.

This is a snitcher whah name Mook Lall. But he is also a snatcher. He snatch back track money pun poor people and then snitch pun dem to de U.S. embassy. He snatch money pun plenty business people in Guyana and then he snitch pun dem same people to de U.S. embassy. Mook Lall even snitch pun he own press men. Mook Lall is a first-class snatcher and a low-class snitcher But he had want some ting real bad ovah de weekend.

De Mook hear bout a businessman wedding and he was beggin to get invite. By hook or by crook de Mook had want to get in de weddin house.

Well, de Mook is already a crook, so when he didn’t get invite, he print he own invitation and pass round by de weddin house. That is whah de Mook turn to these days. He beg people fuh carry he in. Everybody refuse he.

He wait six hours outside. He even cry when he hear dem speeches .

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie!

Well, de Mook had even buy a long grey suit, grey shoes, grey pants and grey bukta. He even mek he own parsad and carry back some for Adam .

Pensioners to begin receiving electricity subsidy – GPL

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he burden of paying electricity bills will be significantly reduced for 5610 pensioners with the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) announcing the disbursement of electricity subsidy.

All registered pensioners with active GPL accounts will benefit from a subsidy of $20,000 each. The subsidy will be applied to the accounts of pensioners who completed the GPL verification process during the period July 22 to August 13. However, electricity accounts for pensioners, who have completed the verification exercise after August 13, will be credited sub-

sequently. Pensioners in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Seven are the beneficiaries.

The amount will be credited to their account until it is utilised based on their use of electricity. GPL will use the list of names provided by the Human Services and Social Security Ministry and match it with its own database in order to compile a database of the persons to benefit from the subsidy.

In this year’s budget, $590 million was allocated for pensioners; this is in addition to the waiver of pensioners’ water bills to the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).

11 Feature

guyanatimesgy.com

Monday, october 21, 2013

Times Notebook

Guyana stands out as fiscally responsible R

ecently, the world was gripped with the story of the shutdown of the U.S. government. The U.S. government had no money to run normal services because the U.S. House of Assembly (Congress and Senate) could not pass a national budget.

We were all glued to the television to see what would happen, since if the U.S. government could not pay its debts by October 17, the country and the world would have been in a fiscal crisis. Businesses would have collapsed and other grievous things would have happened to hurt Americans and people around the world.

Times Notebook is relieved that the U.S. parliamentarians (congressmen and women and senators) had the good sense to work out a deal to keep government open until February 2014. It’s a temporary solution and respite. But the deal has bought time for America and has alerted the world to the dangers of huge economies like the U.S. being in crisis.

Budget impasse Yet, we must also understand what happened in America with the budget impasse, because there are lessons there for all nations.

In particular, Guyana is no stranger to parliamentary impasse and knows how these things could affect people, innocent people, as politicians play dangerous games. In Guyana, development is today stymied, because, just like in America, opposition politicians try to stop the government from doing things that could benefit the country.

In Guyana, such reckless behaviour today places in jeopardy programmes such as the development of hydroelectricity, the establishment of a specialty hospital, and the expansion and modernisation of the

international airport and the hotel industry, while Guyana’s failure to amend the anti-money laundering bill puts the whole private sector in jeopardy of failing.

In the U.S., the parliamentarians tried to stop Obamacare, a health insurance scheme that is trying to ensure that all Americans, rich or poor, get access to affordable health care and are covered by insurance. But the impasse was also caused by a debate over the debt ceiling.

Since 1962, the U.S.

Period

Before 1992 Today have been against the law.

President Barack Obama and his government needed the debt ceiling to be increased once more.

Financial irresponsibility The debt ceiling was just above US$10 trillion in 2010 and has since increased several times to US$16.7 trillion by the end of 2012. The Obama government was strangled by

Debt ratio as % of GDP

Approximately 750 per cent Approximately 50 per cent over 100 per cent its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The U.S. GDP is about US$16 trillion versus a debt of US$17.5 trillion.

The U.S. government borrows a stunning US$2.64 billion per day.

The GDP grows at about two per cent per year, but the debt is growing at about 10 per cent per year in the U.S. This is a model of fiscal governance

Guyana has moved from a low developing bankrupt country to a middle-income country with a manageable debt

debt ceiling has changed 77 times and it has changed 18 times in the last decade.

The debt ceiling is a cap on how much the government can borrow. Before this year, the debt cap in the U.S. was US$16.7 trillion. In other words, the U.S. government could borrow, but must not exceed US$16.7 trillion.

The problem was that the U.S. government needed to borrow more money that would have driven the U.S. debt above the debt ceiling. This would

this ceiling and wanted the Congress to increase it. That was the major impasse that shut down the government for several weeks until a temporary deal was formulated.

The temporary deal allows the government to borrow above the ceiling until February 2014. The deal was struck on October 17. Immediately, the U.S. announced that its debt has now reached almost US$17.5 trillion.

This means that the U.S. now has a debt of

that no country should try to imitate. It puts a country on a fiscal path to bankruptcy.

We, sometimes, are so determined to beat up on ourselves and are so polarised in our politics that we fail to recognise when we in Guyana do well. One success story for Guyana is that the government has done a remarkable job in controlling the national debt. When we examine what is happening with national debts around the world, Guyana has a re-

% national income to service debt

94 <10

markable story to tell.

This is a country that in 1992 owed US$2.1 billion as external debt at a time when the national GDP was only around US$280 million. This means that by 1992, Guyana’s debt was 750 per cent of the total GDP. Few countries have ever been in such a dire position as Guyana.

The country was bankrupt.

Thus the fiscal path towards bankruptcy that the U.S. today is travelling is a path that Guyana is very familiar with. It was a path that saw Guyana falling into the category of one of the two poorest nations in the hemisphere with Haiti.

Prudent fiscal management The crisis Guyana faced in 1992 and the period leading up to 1992 could best be understood when we realise that Guyana had to spend 94 per cent of its total national income each year to service the debt.

In those years, Guyana also needed 20 per cent of its total national income to pay salaries and wages for public servants. The servicing of the debt and payments to public servants together took away all of Guyana’s earnings and we needed to borrow some more to meet just these expenses.

Today, Guyana’s total external debt is only about 50 per cent of the GDP, and each year, we spend under 10 per cent of the total national earnings to service the debt. Look at it in table form: To appreciate what we have achieved, reflect on the fact that we have brought a country back from the brink of bankruptcy, accelerated its economic growth from a GDP

of less than US$300 million to more than US$3 billion per year, built up Guyana’s infrastructure, and improved the social services to the extent that Guyana’s children are consistently topping the region at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams and the life expectancy of our people has risen from about 60 to at least 70 today.

This is a truly remarkable story and we must not hesitate to tell it and be proud, no matter what our political affiliation might be.

Morass As the U.S. struggle to come to grips with a suffocating debt crisis, so too are many other countries, like the UK, Spain, France and Germany, like Barbados, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, and other countries where the debt ratios are reaching or have exceeded 100 per cent. Guyana was on that path before and the result was economic and social stagnation.

We in Guyana know only too well the stagnating impact and the morass that too much debt can cause. It has taken us a long time to reverse path and to walk a different road, a road to economic and social development that our people have never experienced before, a road that has seen Guyana moving from a low developing bankrupt country to a middle-income country with a manageable debt.

Times Notebook believes that it’s time we together celebrate the fact that Guyana has shown fiscal sense in dealing with the debt problem when other countries, far richer than Guyana, have no clue as to how to deal with it.

12 News

monday, october 21, 2013 | guyanatimeSGY.com

Family Court would ensure APNU calls on government speedy orders in children’s to enhance primary interest – CC&PA healthcare delivery

C

hild Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) Director Ann Greene said she is looking forward for the speedy orders that will follow the commencement of operations of the Guyana Family Court.

Greene believes that with a system solely dedicated to the family and other related social services, Guyana’s children will be able to benefit from the speedy delivery of orders that will see them being placed into care.

She made the comment during a telephone interview with Guyana Times on Saturday. Greene said with the fast delivery of orders in the Family Court, the work and services provided by the CC&PA would be boosted and family matters would also be resolved in a timely manner.

The delivery of orders at the court would allow for the granting of custody of children as well as them being placed into foster care in other instances. Greene said the CC&PA is geared towards providing social services for the family unit, and as such, the services of the court would be a plus for the execution of its duties.

The new body will also allow adults and children to seek redress and for family

CC&PA Director Ann Greene

law issues such as divorce, division of property, domestic disputes, adoption, guardianship and custody to be discussed in a specialised and legal manner.

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall had previously expressed optimism that having a specialised court to deal exclusively with family and child-related matters would relieve some amount of pressure on the justice system.

“With a specialised court, it would certainly bring speed to the resolutions of family-related disputes, which, unless they are resolved quickly, nor-

mally have devastating consequences on the lives of the persons involved, especially the children, which could cause social problems that pervade our society, including crime.”

Nandlall said the establishment of the court was decided upon following the recognition of the importance of having a speedy resolution of family-related cases.

Former Human Services and Social Security Minister Priya Manickchand had said the initiative of a Family Court was prompted by the awareness that the family unit is severely affected by societal demoralisation.

As such, in early 2009, Cabinet granted a two-fold approval to establish the court and erect a structure in the compound of the Supreme Court, where the entity is housed.

In the Ninth Parliament, the administration passed legislation to modernise the statutory landscape in Guyana with regards to children. These include the new Adoption Act, the Custody Act and the Guardianship Act. Meanwhile, the rules governing the operation of the court were finalised and passed in the National Assembly during the latter part of 2012.

CPG continues to play a major role in crimefighting

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ommunity policing groups (CPGs) continue to play a major role in crimefighting in their respective communities and have recently received training in various areas to be more effective in carrying out their mandate.

According to a release, during September, members participated in domestic violence training seminars conducted in the various divisions.

The National Community Policing Executive (NCPE) also participated in the Home Affairs Ministry’s launch of the Cops and Faith Community Network (CFCN); a pilot project intended to offer some degree of flexibility when dealing with youths who come into conflict with the law.

Statistics

All CPG members were expected to participate in a Trafficking in Person (TIP) seminar schedule for October 20 in Georgetown.

There are 264 registered groups with a membership of 4318. Police A Division to date has 31 registered groups, with 484 active members on the membership roll,

and three youth groups with a membership roll of 80 active members.

Police B Division has 81 active community policing groups, with a membership of 1161 and 529 active rural constables. There have been 190 vehicle patrols for September, 220 foot patrols, 370 bicycle patrols and 80 motorcycle patrols. There was also a joint mass patrol on September 27 between the members of the CPGs and members of the Guyana Police Force within this division.

Road blocks and raids

With respect to Police C Division, 65 CPG patrols were conducted for the month of September, 30 foot patrols, four bicycle patrols and a total of 79 being involved, including RCs and CPGs members. The division has 47 active community policing groups with 394 active RCs and 799 CPGs members.

In addition, there are a total of 31 community CPGs, with a total membership of 570 within the division.

There were 134 vehicle and 1054 foot patrols, resulting in 286 arrests and cases being made. There were also 68

road blocks and six raids conducted in September.

There are 15 community policing groups with a total membership of 272 in E Division. There were 40 foot patrols in September, and 160 arrests by rural constables.

Meanwhile, there are 12 active groups with a membership of 169 within the Number Two sub-division, and a membership of 386 in total.

There were 30 foot patrols, 12 motorcycle and ATV patrols, six vehicle patrols and 18 boat patrols in this sub-division in September.

The Bartica Community Policing Group worked along with the Bartica police, and was involved in a successful search and recovery mission of a 14-year-old male Amerindian who was lost in the Puruni Mining District for nine days.

Finally, the G Division comprises two sub-divisions in G1 Coast (Essequibo Coast) and G2 Islands (Essequibo Islands). G1 subdivision possesses 16 groups, with a membership of 231 while G2 sub-division has 12 groups, with a membership of 163.

A

Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has called on the government to enhance the primary healthcare system in Guyana, taking into account the billions of dollars pumped into the health sector over the years.

Addressing a news conference last week, Opposition Leader David Granger said women, children and the elderly are severely affected due to a mismanaged primary healthcare system.

However, he contended that the plethora of problems can be significantly reduced via a systematic approach towards the situation.

Maternal deaths and Guyana’s presumed inability to achieve the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (four and five) in 2015 were among issues listed.

“The administration’s clumsy treatment of its nurses and its attitude to their training is the second source of serious problems,” he contended, positing that officials from the Guyana

Opposition Leader David Granger

Nurses’ Association and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) continue to express alarm at the high failure rate of a recent batch of nurses at the Georgetown School of Nursing, Charles Roza Nursing School and the New Amsterdam Nursing School. In 2011, it was estimated that approximately 85 per cent of the nurses failed.

The functionality of regional hospitals and community health centres is also

contributing to the failures of the primary health care system, Granger contended.

The high cost of medical evacuation has been a consequence of dysfunctional community health centres.

Fixing this problem can prevent unwarranted deaths in far flung communities. “The ministry seems to be incapable of prevention, or responding promptly to the prevalence of preventable diseases. Data indicates that there were 144 deaths over a 12-year period from 2001 to 2012, owing to acute gastroenteritis, acute diarrheal diseases.”

He further pointed out that 61 per cent of all deaths were children five years and younger. “Every year brings more deaths, most recently in Region One.” According to Granger, the coalition’s position is not an attack on Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran, as he believes that with the millions being pumped into the health sector, more can be done to meet the needs of the Guyanese populace.

World Bank holds youth summit on Wednesday

T

he World Bank Group will host its first youth summit on Wednesday in its Washington, DC headquarters.

According to a release from the bank, the summit will provide an opportunity for youths (ages 18-35), development experts, and stakeholders to discuss the overarching theme of “Youth Entrepreneurship: Cultivating an Innovative Spirit to Alleviate Global Youth Unemployment”.

The event is championed by the Junior Professional Associates (JPA) programme in collaboration with other units of the World Bank Group.

In 2012, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim challenged the organisation’s youth to think of ways to foster growth in young professionals who understand the consequences of persistent poverty, and are able to create solutions to eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In response, the World Bank Group’s junior professionals asked young people around the world to participate in

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim

the Youth Summit 2013.

The summit will feature winners of the Development Cases, a competition which aims to provide youth with the opportunity to propose innovative solutions and sustainable products for real development issues that the World Bank Group and external partners are striving to solve.

The development cases each relate to one of the three sub-topics; youth unemployment and financial services, education and millennial communication.

The winners’ ideas and products will be discussed in workshops, in which development experts will give feedback to the winners.

Plenary addresses will focus on innovative ideas and solutions to current development challenges and to discuss the role of youths in development.

President Jim Yong Kim will give the event’s keynote address and will participate in a panel with Ahmad Alhendawi, the United Nations secretary general’s envoy on youth.

news

13

MONday, october 21, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

R Kelly touches hearts of Guyanese fans

G

uyanese were blown away on Sunday morning by the melodious and powerful voice of international R&B singing sensation, R Kelly, during his spectacular 90-minute performance at the Redemption Concert at the Guyana National Stadium.

In dim lights, he made his grand stage appearance about 01:45h, opening with “Your Body Is Calling Me” to the delight of thousands of fans who flocked the venue to witness one of the greatest concerts ever held here.

While the superstar dished out several of his hits, he stole the show with his pen-

BY BHISHAM MOHAMED

ing support and continued the song intermittently.

Decked in all black, the artiste sang with a lot of emotion as he reminisced from where he came; hence, the reason for him writing the song, “I Believe I Can Fly” and encouraging his fans to “believe it can happen”.

After performing that rendition, he was evidently in tears and so were some of his fans in the audience. As he took some time to compose himself, the fans started to chant “Kelly! Kelly!

Kelly!” Next, the lyrics of Kelly’s hit song, “Step In The Name of Love” boomed

International R&B singing sensation R Kelly performing at the Guyana National Stadium on Sunday morning

in Guyana, he did not know where the country was, and more so anything about it, but after spending two days, he realised how much Guyanese love him and more so, his music. During his 90-minute performance, he was extremely thankful to be in Guyana for the first time.

Apart from “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Step In The Name Of Love”, Kelly dished out a few others, including; “Bump and Grind”, “The World’s Greatest”, “When A Woman Loves”, “Fiesta”, “I Wish”, “Happy People”, “Real Talk” and “Slow Wine”.

Fans at the Redemption Concert

Cut short

Morgan’s vocals were accompanied by his brothers who also performed to the crowd’s satisfaction. Just as the reggae group was turning up the heat, they were cut short because of time as another group had to perform before Kelly came on stage at 01:30h.

As he announced that he had only 10 minutes to perform, the audience was not too

Kees and band

R Kelly serenading his fans

ultimate tune “I Believe I Can Fly” and the last, “Step In The Name Of Love”.

There was not one single person sitting in the arena as he performed the last two songs.

As he started to sing “I Believe I Can Fly”, the crowd sang along, forcing Kelly to stop and allowed the crowd to continue singing. He held his head in amusement as tears trickled down his cheeks. He then applauded his fans for their overwhelm-

who performed to the pleasure of his Guyanese fans.

As usual, he brought energy to the already hyped crowd, coupled with some laughter by his gestures which caused his pants to rip on stage. The man called “Rubber Waist” belted out a few of X2 hits, but mostly concentrated on his new singles, including “Nosey People”.

When his allotted 10 minutes were over, he made way for a new comer in the music industry with some

Guyanese roots. Rkhty appeared on stage and dished two accapella-styled songs that were not too appealing to the audience. The crowd by this time was anxiously awaiting Kelly, but before him, two powerhouses made their appearance. The first was Morgan Heritage, who is well known for their reggae rhythms.

Living up to their reputation, the group performed to perfection as they dished out several hits loved by Guyanese. The crown went berserk when he dished out “Tell Me How Come”, “She’s Still Loving Me”, “Don’t Haffi Dread”, “Down By The River” and “A Man Is Still A Man”.

through the powerful speakers of Fusion International.

The fans went hysterical and started to sing before the entertainer opened his mouth.

As he started to sing, again, the crowd sang and danced along.

By this time, it was time to say goodbye to his fans, and he did, promising to return to Guyana, noting that it was his first and he will obviously take back great memories. He said prior to being contacted to perform

Meanwhile, the show started after 23:00h with Kees and his band setting the tone for the evening.

Not too carnival-like, Kees dished out some of his popular soothing tunes that blended in well to suit the occasion.

He also tried his vocals with some reggae and some R&B and managed to get the crowd fully engaged. They totally enjoyed “Wotless”, his last song before departing the stage. Kees was followed by Guyana’s own, Jumo Primo,

Peetah Morgan, lead vocalist of the Morgan Heritage band during one of his renditions at the Redemption Concert

Kees entertain fans at the Guyana National Stadium

happy, calling on the promoters to extend the group’s time, but this was not possible.

Next on stage was the Karma Band, featuring Ravi B and Nesha B. As they appeared on stage, the crowd was not that responsive, but after a few minutes into their performance, the crowd lightened up.

During their performance, the only chutney music performed was “Prescription”. They dished out several soca, reggae and dancehall music. As usual, they ended their performance with “Palace”. They also were allotted 10 minutes.

When they departed the stage, there was a 20-minute break as Kelly’s band members changed over systems for his grand entrance. With one minute to go, a member of his band started the countdown. The momentum was built prior to the superstar arriving on stage.

The lights were dimmed; his voice echoed from the speaker boxes but was drowned out by the scream of his fans.

As he appeared on stage, the lights slowly got brighter and he was spotted decked in a hood over his head; dark shades and all back outfit.

He opened with “Your Body Is Calling Me”.

It was indeed a fabulous night of high quality entertainment to the fullest.

Patrons left the arena with smiling faces which indicated their satisfaction. Among the patrons were President Donald Ramotar, former President Bharrat Jagdeo, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Alli, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and other highlevel government officials, along with members of the diplomatic corps. (bhisham@ guyanatimesgy.com)

14

MONday, october 21, 2013

guyanatimesgy.com

Regional

Ambassador against injustice!

S

hanique Myrie, the woman who successfully sued the government of Barbados after her rights were violated at the Grantley Adams International Airport in that Caribbean island, is planning to become an ambassador for a non-government organisation in Jamaica to educate people in communities about their rights.

Myrie said that she was approached by members of the Cross Roads Development Committee, and she intends to be a crusader against injustice and

enabling people to know what they are entitled to under the law.

“I was approached by the organisation and I am now considering the idea,” Myrie told the Jamaica Observer.

She made the comment as she joined up with members of the CDC to donate a television set and other items to several schools in the Cross Roads area.

A microwave was also presented to officials at the Cross Roads Post Office.

Myrie claimed damages against the Barbados government for what she

said was unfair treatment meted out to her when she arrived at the Grantley Adams Airport in March, 2011.

Following a legal battle, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) handed down its judgment in the case involving the Jamaican, earlier this month.

Myrie was awarded BdnS$77,240 by the CCJ, which ruled that subjecting her to a cavity search, locking her up in an unsanitary cell, and deporting her, ran contrary to the rules of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Shanique Myrie considers working for charity

Fire in Brazilian port of Santos burns tonnes of raw sugar

A

fire in Brazil’s largest port has burnt some 180,000 tonnes of raw sugar, damaging six warehouses and pushing international prices to a one-year high.

The authorities in the port of Santos said it took six hours to bring the fire under control. The cause of the blaze is still being investigated.

Brazil is the world’s main sugar exporter, accounting for nearly half of international sales. The terminal affected by the fire belongs to Brazilian sugar gi-

Port authorities say the fire began in one of the overhead conveyor belts taking sugar into the warehouses

ant Copersucar.

Four other sugar terminals are operating normally, port authorities said.

Analysts say Brazil has enough port capacity to carry on with its usual export levels.

“International markets react because they know there will be a temporary drop. But other terminals will certainly make up for the accident,” sugar market analyst Plinio Nastari told Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

Sugar prices in New York future markets went up by six per cent when news of the fire broke, dropping later in the day. Port authorities said that the fire began at around 06:00 local time (10:00 GMT) on a conveyor belt taking raw sugar into one of the warehouses. (Excerpt

AG wants DPP probe into Range Rover, TT$13M land deal

A

ttorney General Anand Ramlogan says he will write to Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard to investigate whether any fraud took place in the purchase of land and a Range Rover owned by Independent Liberal Party (ILP) deputy political leader Anna Deonarine. Speaking at a UNC, Ramlogan said the letter had already been drafted and was expected to reach Gaspard on Saturday morning.

“I have drafted a letter to send to the honourable DPP... and I have highlighted the facts, and I am asking them to investigate whether this is a fraudulent transaction,” Ramlogan said. He said he was doing

this to ensure that justice is served, as an investigation done by St Joseph candidate Ian Alleyne suggested there might be false documentation at the Licensing Office and the Customs and Excise Division about the importation of Deonarine’s Range Rover from the United Kingdom.

“I am not saying this in parliament, I have no parliamentary privileges...I invite them to sue me if they so desire because the truth shall set me free,” Ramlogan said. “When this matter of the Range Rover first broke through an investigation done by our dear friend, brother Ian Alleyne, we were given documents to support what we were saying.” (Excerpt

from Trinidad Guardian)

Region to cooperate on Progress with FARC slower than hoped for disaster preparedness from BBC News)

– Colombia’s Santos

N

early a year after starting peace talks with leftwing FARC guerrillas, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday that negotiations have not progressed as quickly as he had hoped.

The government is in discussions with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to end a 50-year

struggle that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions.

Last week the two sides ended the 15th round of negotiations in Havana, with each blaming the other for the slow pace. For the first time they failed to issue a joint statement on the progress.

“The discussions have advanced, but not at the speed I would have liked.

I thought that in one year we could have finished the agenda points we agreed upon, but that hasn’t happened,” Santos told presidents and heads of state at the 23rd Ibero-American summit in Panama City.

“But we are clearing up points, we are advancing,” he added.

Talks have gone on since November 2012 with only a partial agreement on

agrarian reform, including land for poor farmers and policies to tackle rural poverty and inequality, which the guerrillas have asked for since the conflict started in 1964.

The two sides are currently negotiating the rebels’ future political participation, with the government requesting they disarm and form a political party. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Mexican “clown” gunmen kill ex-drug chief Arellano Felix

T

he authorities in Mexico have said gunmen dressed as clowns have shot dead a former leading member of a once-powerful and violent drug cartel.

Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, 63, was killed in a beach resort in Baja California in northwestern Mexico.

He and his brothers controlled the drug trade on Mexico’s border with the United States in the 1990s.

But their Tijuana cartel was gradually weakened by the capture or killing of other leading members.

“He was hit by two bullets, one in the chest and one in the head,” said Isai Arias, a Baja California state government official.

The motive for the attack and the gunmen’s disguise

were being investigated, he added.

The attack took place during a family party at a rented beach house in the tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas.

The former cartel leader was arrested in 1993, but released nearly 15 years later after spending time in prison in Mexico and the U.S. His brother Eduardo was jailed in August in the U.S. for 15 years after pleading guilty to money laundering.

Security experts believe the Tijuana cartel is now run by his sister Enedina and her son Fernando, known as “The Engineer”, according to AFP news agency.

Most estimates put the number of people killed in Mexican drug-related violence since late 2006 at more than 60,000. (BBC News)

L

eaders from 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have committed to further enhance regional cooperation in disaster preparedness and humanitarian response. The agreement was reached at a United Nations-supported meeting hosted by the government of Jamaica in Kingston, which concluded on Friday.

“Millions of people are affected every year by floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, as well as the impact of rapid urbanisation and climate change,” said UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Guyanese-born Valerie Amos, who participated in the annual forum.

“Jamaica and other countries have made great strides by strengthening legal frameworks, promoting risk reduc-

tion strategies, and improving emergency preparedness and response systems. This has made a real difference on the ground,” she added.

The three-day meeting, which was supported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), was aimed at improving humanitarian coordination mechanisms through building stronger collaboration between governments and the humanitarian community, the UN said.

It said regional leaders and representatives from humanitarian agencies adopted a plan of action to support countries and regional organisations in partnership with civil society and the private sector, to strengthen early warning systems, preparedness and response across the region. (Barbados Nation)

Fourth medical school coming soon to St Vincent

P

rime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has announced that a fourth medical school is expected to begin operations in St Vincent and the Grenadines by next year.

The prime minister made the announcement during a news conference. He said that the St James School of Medicine is looking at the possibility of starting operations in the South Leeward

area.

The prime minister also said that the St James Medical School has indicated that it will start with about 60 students, and this will increase to about 200 within two to three years.

Gonsalves noted that there are now over 400 medical students pursuing studies in St Vincent. (Caribbean News Now)

15 Around the world

guyanatimesgy.com

MONday, october 21, 2013

Suicide bomber kills 31 in Syria’s Hama

Egypt police clash with students at alAzhar University

suicide bomber driving a truck packed with 1.5 metric tons of explosives killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens in the Syrian city of Hama on Sunday, state media and a monitoring group reported.

The man blew himself up inside the vehicle on a busy road on the outskirts of the city in central Syria, the SANA news agency said. It blamed “terrorists”, the term it uses to describe rebel forces trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack targeted an army checkpoint but most of the dead were civilians. Syria’s two and a half-year-old conflict began as peaceful protests but has turned into civil war. More than 100,000 people have died, according to United Nations figures, in fighting that is now spread across most of the country.

gyptian police have fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of students staging an antimilitary protest at Cairo’s al-Azhar University, reports say. Students had blocked the main road leading to the campus and threw rocks as security forces drew near.

Clashes at the country’s top Islamic institution erupted when students tried to take their protest off the campus. Supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi have staged regular anti-army protests since he was ousted on July 3.

There were no immediate reports of casualties at the al-Azhar protest.

The campus is close to Rabaa Square where Islamists set up a huge pro-

A

Syrian state media blamed the attack on “terrorists”

Rebels have been joined by hardline Islamists, some of them linked to al Qaeda, who have become increasingly powerful among opposition forces. According to the Observatory, the suicide bomber was from the Nusra

Front, an al Qaeda affiliate that has frequently used suicide bombers to attack military and political targets.

Pictures on Syria TV showed firemen trying to put out huge fires as black smoke rose from charred

trucks and cars.

Rebels also used a car bomb a day earlier to attack a checkpoint on the outskirts of Damascus. Heavy clashes erupted after the blast and continued on Sunday. (Excerpt

from Reuters)

Australia declares fire emergency

A

state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales as Australian fire fighters battle bushfires that have already destroyed more than 200 homes.

The announcement comes as conditions look set to deteriorate with soaring temperatures and strong winds expected to fan the flames in the coming days.

The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, has been the worst-hit region with some fires still raging out of control. State officials say they are the most dangerous conditions in 40 years.

New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell said the declaration would give

The fires have already destroyed at least 200 homes, as Jon Donnison reports

emergency services additional powers over the next 30 days. These could include

cutting gas and power supplies if needed and ordering mandatory evacuations.

“We’re planning for the worst but hoping for the best,” he said. One man has died – possibly of a heart attack – while trying to protect his home. Hundreds of people have been left homeless by the bushfires.

One fire fighter, 24-yearold Tim Boxwell, said he had lost his own home in Winmalee, on the eastern edge of the Blue Mountains, to the fire while he was on duty. “I’d been standing watching other people’s houses burn and the emotion from that was bad enough. To be hit with your own house being lost was a shock as well,” he told BBC’s Newshour. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Belgium plane crash kills all 11 people on board

A

plane carrying parachutists for a skydiving trip crashed in southern Belgium on Saturday, killing all 11 people aboard, officials have said.

Twenty minutes after

the aircraft took off from a small airfield close to Namur, witnesses saw the plane lose height very quickly, then crash in a field near Fernelmont, said the town’s mayor, Jean-Claude Nihoul.

The skydivers were not

able to jump out, Nihoul said in a telephone interview.

Ten skydivers and the pilot were killed and no one was hurt on the ground, he said, adding that three parachutes were found near

the crash site.

The Belgian prime minister, Elio Di Rupo, immediately confirmed the news of the crash and said his thoughts are with the families of the victims. (Excerpt from

The Guardian)

DR Congo urged to punish soldiers over rapes

T

he United Nations has urged the the DR Congo government to prosecute soldiers for dozens of sexual assaults committed against women last year in the country’s east.

“Congolese officials should fulfil their obligations... towards the victims of such atrocious acts and their families to whom justice must be rendered,” the

head of the UN mission in the country, MONUSCO, said in a statement on Sunday.

Its joint investigation with the UN human rights agency recorded 135 cases of sexual violence committed by the regular army in and around the city of Minova in November 2012, MONUSCO chief Martin Kobler noted.

According to Human

Rights Watch, soldiers went on a 10-day raping and looting rampage in the area while they were fleeing an offensive by rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) on the main city of Goma, further north.

“Almost a year after these incidents, none of the presumed perpetrators of these human rights violations has been brought to justice... in

spite of the Congolese authorities’ commitment to prosecute the perpetrators,” the MONUSCO statement said.

The DR Congo government signed an accord with the UN in April to step up the fight against sexual abuse by armed groups and soldiers, which remains rampant mainly in the volatile east of the country. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

E

test camp that security forces raided in August, leaving hundreds dead and sparking days of unrest.

A Reuters witness said some of the students were trying to reach the square, when they were cut off by the security forces.

There were also reports of scuffles at a demonstration at Cairo University between supporters and opponents of Morsi.

Hundreds of people demanding his reinstatement – mostly Muslim Brotherhood supporters – have been killed in clashes with security forces since his ousting.

Morsi and other senior Brotherhood figures have been imprisoned and face trial next month. (BBC News)

Europe urged to follow Italy’s lead on people trafficking

E

uropean countries should learn from Italy and establish penal codes “fit for the mafia” to get to grips with people trafficking organisations responsible for enslaving nearly one million people on the continent, according to a report by the European parliament.

The report by the parliament’s committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering, which will be put to the vote on Wednesday, paints a devastating picture of slavery across Europe, with about 880,000 people in forced labour in the 28 EU member states, 270,000 of whom are victims of sexual exploitation. Criminal gangs are estimated to earn €25 billion

(£21 billion) a year through trafficking.

One of the authors, Slovenian MEP Tanja Fajon, said the figures showed “the mafia is no longer Italian, it’s everywhere in Europe. We are dealing with an octopuslike European mafia that is feeding off the current crisis and has its tentacles wrapped around member states’ assets.”

The European parliament urges member states to establish witness protection programmes for insiders who collaborate with investigators and to reuse assets seized from criminals for social purposes – all flagship measures of Italy’s fight against the mafia. (Excerpt from The Guardian)

Britain to build Europe’s first nuclear plant since Fukushima

B

ritain is set to sign a deal with France’s EDF for the first nuclear plant to start construction in Europe since Japan’s Fukushima disaster raised safety concerns worldwide, at a cost estimated at around US$23 billion.

Under the deal, to be announced today, the French state-controlled utility will lead a consortium, including a Chinese group, to construct two European Pressurised Water Reactors (EPRs) designed by France’s Areva.

Industry estimates, based on other nuclear projects, put the cost at around 14 billion pounds or more than 16 billion euros. EDF’s long-time partner China

General Nuclear Power Group, possibly in combination with China National Nuclear Corporation, is expected to have a 30 to 40 per cent stake in the consortium, with Areva taking another 10 per cent, according to newspapers including France’s Les Echos and Britain’s Sunday Telegraph.

The two reactors, each with a capacity of 1.6 gigawatts, would together make up nearly five per cent of British generating capacity and increase energy security in the country, which needs to replace 20 per cent of its ageing and polluting power plants over the coming decade. (Excerpt from Reuters)

16

monday, OCTober 21, 2013

guyanatimesgy.com

International Financial and Economic Report Chairman, Guyana Americas Merchant Bank

A

s the debt limit was well in view, the U.S. Congress passed laws on October 16 to allow the U.S. to end the threat of default and the government shutdown which started on October 1.

President Barack Obama signed the bill just after midnight on Thursday morning and the crisis is ended for a short time.

Two deadlines are included in the bill, the first funds the government through January 15, 2014 and the second suspends the debt limit through February 7.

Thereafter, the congressional fun and games are almost certain to begin again, with the Republicans being handed a massive defeat this time which many of them are determined to avenge.

It was calculated that the U.S. government shutdown would reduce growth by 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter. Moreover, the U.S. was put on a negative AAA watch by Fitch the day before the Senate acted to end the congressional impasse.

Still, the chances are that overseas central banks led by China (which has over US$3.6 trillion of reserves) will redouble their efforts to diversify their holdings in the light of the debt ceiling argument.

Even if all the subsequent episodes of the debt ceiling limitation are eventually extended, no central bank wants to take a risk that something might go wrong.

Total foreign currency holdings held by central banks are well over $11

trillion of which over US$7 billion is held by emerging markets and about 50 per cent of these by China.

The U.S. dollar accounts for about 62 per cent of total reserves, but is likely to find that this proportion will be reduced to 50 per cent by the end of this decade given the fights in Washington.

One of the obvious questions is what will China and Japan (now holding US$2.4 trillion of U.S. treasuries) buy? Inevitably, as a deal was struck in Washington, interest rates fell sharply with one-month U.S. Treasury bills down 12 bps early on Thursday.

However, exchange rates against the dollar have risen with the euro rising to US$1.37, the pound sterling to US$1.62 and the Brazilian real to US2.15 Friday morning.

The Chinese yuan has been allowed to rise to 6.09 and a Chinese bond rating agency Dagong has cut its rating on U.S. debt from A to A- and maintained a negative outlook.

Of course, little information has come out about the U.S. economy since the government shutdown almost three weeks ago. But on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve published its socalled “Beige Book” report on economic growth.

According to the report, growth was “modest to moderate” and in four of the 12 Federal Reserve districts, growth actually fell while eight others said that the expansion held steady amid “uncertainty” stemming from the U.S. fiscal

BY GEOFFREY BELL

Market Summary at 10:30 am October 18, 2013 Currencies: Euro

1.37

Swiss franc

0.90

Mexican peso

12.81

Yen

97.8

Aussie$

0.97

Euro/£

0.85

Sterling

1.62

Canadian$

1.03

Euro/¥

133.8

Treasuries:

Equity Indices Since Last Friday:

2-year

0.31%

Dow Jones

+0.8%

15,352

10-year

2.58%

Nasdaq

+2.7%

3894

30-year

3.65%

FTSE

+2.0%

6616

Nikkei

+1.1%

14,562

deadlock.

Moreover, the argument that the balance sheet size of the Fed is a constraint to further easing is not accepted by Dr Ben Bernanke.

Even though the Fed’s balance sheet is about 25 per cent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) ­­– approximately US$4 trillion – it is smaller than those of the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan.

Even if it has increased from US$800 billion in 2008, Dr Bernanke feels that expanding the economy comes first and he will deal with any subsequent inflation if and when it occurs. Fiscal policy in the U.S. is getting better, but is not helping the economy, while Dr Bernanke believes that monetary policy can only help at this stage.

The economic data released last week was badly affected by the shutdown of government.

Manufacturing in the New York region fell to an index of 1.5 from 6.3 in September. Also the initial claims data fell 15,000 to

Market statistics Gold Prices – Guyana Gold Board

Cambio Rates

Fixed as at July 24, 2013 Calculated at 94% purity

Bank of Guyana

Cur

Buying

Selling

GBP

$331.87

$336.03

CAN

$199.16

$201.46

USD

$204.99

$207.43

U.S.

$1335.00

Cambio

$202.67

Gross

$254,331

Net

$236,527

Selling

$262,426

Indicators as on October 19, 2013 Live Spot Gold

USD Per Once

Bid/Ask

$1317.40

$1318.40

Low/High

$1312.30

$1328.60

-2.70

Change

-0.20

London Gold Fix

Oct 18 USD GBP EUR

AM

1317.00 813.16 962.09

Oct 17 USD GBP EUR

AM

1308.50 813.09 959.87

Indicators Crude Oil Price Silver Platinum

PM

US$ per barrel

$110.97 USD per Ounce

21.96 $1435.00

Change %

0.10 Change %

+0.30 +0.14

1316.50 814.46 962.35

358,000 in the week ended October 12, but, once again, should be treated carefully because of California’s backlogs.

The Philadelphia Fed’s October factory index fell to 19.8 from 22.8 but still expanded faster than projected while consumer expectations were among the most pessimistic in almost two years during October.

In overseas news, UK jobless claims fell the most in 16 years and, the unemployment rate remained at 7.7 per cent amid signs that the labour market is improving. UK retail sales in September rose 0.6 per cent, which was more than forecast by economists.

China’s economic growth rose 7.8 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier and expectations of 2013 growth of 7.5 per cent is a new high.

In the aftermath of the week’s theatrics and the strong belief that the Fed will not “taper” its bond purchases anytime soon, the U.S. dollar weakened against almost all major

currencies. The euro was up to 1.37 Friday from 1.36 the week before, the pound sterling jumped to 1.62 from 1.59, the Australian dollar had a good week and is now 0.97 from 0.95 on October 12.

The Swiss franc at 0.90 is up from 0.91 and the Canadian dollar improved to 1.03 from 1.04.

The Mexican peso strengthened to 12.81 from 13.08.

Interest rates also declined on the last week’s events, with the two-year treasury now at 0.31 per cent from 0.34 per cent last Friday, the 10 year is 2.58 per cent compared with 2.66 per cent and the 30-year is 3.65 per cent from 3.71 per cent.

The Dow Jones was at 15,352 at 10:30h Friday morning up 0.8 per cent on the previous Friday’s close.

Oil prices are just about the same as they were previous Friday at US$101 a barrel (WTI), but the gold price benefiting from all the uncertainty moved up on the week and is now US$1317 an ounce from US$1269 an ounce a week ago.

The good news is that a full range of economic news will start filtering back, once the U.S. government is running fully again. Unfortunately, this could show a two per cent growth in the third quarter and perhaps a figure of less than two per cent in the fourth quarter. It is difficult to assess the damage that the recent antics in Congress have done to the economy except that it is not good.

Also analysts are tempering their forecasts of the strength of the upturn in Europe and Japan to something more like that of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And, given a slowdown in the emerging world despite a solid Chinese performance, it is difficult to believe that 2014 will get us out of the “new normal” of sub-par growth. Perhaps we should adopt the Venezuelan model of having regular beauty pageants to take our minds off economics. Anyway, a thought!

Investors' guide Wall St Week Ahead: Market priced for perfection as earnings, data flow

A

U.S. data clog will begin to clear next week and payroll figures will land just as more than one-quarter of S&P 500 companies report earnings. But equities, at record highs, have already surpassed expectations for the year and could begin to drift sideways.

The S&P 500 closed Friday at 1744.50, an all-time high, making it safe to say the bulls are in control on Wall Street.

Neither the four-month rise in benchmark Treasuries yields that topped in September,

nor the government shutdown and near-technical default on U.S. debt earlier this week could derail the rally.

“Investors may be feeling a bit invincible, having survived the rise in rates and the shenanigans in DC,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

He said, however, the consequences of the rise in interest rates and the evidence of an economic slowdown could take a toll, and

investors could begin to cash in on a good year as fourthquarter outlooks dim.

Expectations for earnings growth in the year’s last quarter are now at a lofty 10.3 per cent, though they are expected to fall. “I’m not so concerned about the third-quarter earnings numbers as those are likely to come in without much fanfare. I’m more concerned about what analysts do with fourth-quarter earnings numbers,” Jacobsen said.

“I think we could have a topping market here.” (Reuters)

Business concept – Multinational corporation (MNC)

PM

1319.25 816.82 964.65

Last: 15399.65

Changes: +28.00

% Change: +0.18

Open: 15371.71

High: 15412.97

Low: 15321.81

% YTD: +17.52

52Wk Hi: 15709.58

52 Wk Lo: 12471.49

An enterprise operating in several countries but managed from one (home) country. Generally, any company or group that derives a quarter of its revenue from operations outside of its home country is considered a multinational corporation.

There are four categories of multinational corporations: (1) a multinational, decentralised corporation with strong home country presence, and (2) a global, centralised corporation that acquires cost advantage through centralised production wherever cheaper resources are available.

news

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monday, october 21, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

Pressure mounts for passage of money laundering bill

T

he Insurance Association of Guyana has joined the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the government of Guyana in the call for the National Assembly to pass the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill as a matter of emergency.

In a press statement, the association advocated for the National Assembly to reconvene immediately to address the technical issues associated with the bill.

“The member companies of the Insurance Association of Guyana, urge the 65 members of our Parliament to urgently consider the ramifications of our failure to pass the anti-money laundering act into law,” the association said.

The Insurance Association of Guyana said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) must consider the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill as matter of national emergency which must take precedence over any domestic or political issue.

“Indeed it threatens

the viability and integrity of our financial sector and the well-being of this nation.”

Painting a vivid picture of the many challenges that await the commercial sector, if Guyana is blacklisted due to its failure to enact the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, the Insurance Association of Guyana said Guyana could experience intense financial pressure, noting that global financial transactions of blacklisted countries are no longer accepted or in some cases accepted after intense scrutiny by the rest of the world’s financial markets.

Incomprehensible “Incomprehensible, Guyana is on the verge of being blacklisted,” the association posited, noting that the financial sector would suffer the worse blow with the impact immediately felt if blacklisted.

“Insurance and banking transactions will become nearly impossible.

Without the global acceptance of risk, a small country with limited insurance bearing capacity, such as Guyana, cannot effectively insure the country’s assets.”

It was further pointed out that all sectors requir-

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh

ing life, health, motor, cargo, marine, aircraft, liability, accident, fire and catastrophic loss insurances will be severely limited. Additionally, issuance of all international financial instruments will be impaired while the possibility of bankers being unable to effect “simple” letters of credit would be extremely slim.

Far-reaching “Unpaid-for shipments of goods bound for Guyana will not leave their ports.

Simple essentials of life will become scarce commodities. Fuel is among them. All financial services will be severely affected as will every form of commerce supported by a healthy financial sector,” the Insurance Association

of Guyana further pointed out.

The impacts will be far reaching, the association posited, noting every man, woman and child will be affected. “There is nothing contained in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations which threatens the sovereignty or integrity of this nation. Yet it remains unratified to date as our country totters on the brink of financial disaster which blacklisting will surely bring.”

Assuria Life (GY) Incorporated, Caricom General Insurance Company Incorporated, Demerara Mutual Fire Insurance Company Limited, Diamond Fire and General Insurance Company Incorporated,

Hand-in-Hand Mutual Fire Insurance and Life Group of Companies and North American Life Insurance Company Limited are among members of the Insurance Association of Guyana.

In wake of a global phenomenon which allows for proceeds of criminality to be laundered through established legitimate financial systems of the world, to finance terrorism and other criminal activities, the FATF on Money Laundering was formed in Paris in 1989 during a summit held by the G7 nations. The fact that money laundering can destabilise governments and have damaging effects such as the destruction of property, loss of life and human suffering were taking into consideration.

Dire consequences The PSC recently called for the bill to be passed, positing that its non-passage will delay business transactions and drive the prices of commodities and services upward.

One example of these consequences will be felt by recipients of remittances. Because financial institutions will be subjected to intensified scrutiny and increased penalty fees for operating in a non-compliant country,

those increased fees will be incurred by the consumer.

Given the risk to Guyana’s economy, the government is also calling on the opposition to be responsible in the execution of its duties and to desist from the continued attempts to extract political concessions by holding these vital amendments and the nation ransom.

Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh also on Saturday called on the opposition to place the integrity of Guyana’s financial system above partisan politics by ensuring the passage of the bill.

He said the government of Guyana has made exhaustive efforts to involve and accommodate the opposition via a number of attempts to meet as frequently as possible in the select committee, of the National Assembly, to discuss the bill.

Minister Singh, in a release, said the government offered to meet with the opposition in the committee on two occasions so far, but those efforts have been futile. Another meeting is scheduled for today.

Despite these setbacks, he said, government is committed to working every day for the people of Guyana for as long as it takes to get the amendments to this bill passed.

Call for better food systems to fight hunger and malnutrition

B

etter food systems are required in order to defeat hunger and malnutrition around the globe was the key message coming out of the observance of World Food Day recently at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters.

World Food Day, commemorated in 150 countries, is also the anniversary of FAO’s founding in 1945. This year’s observance took place under the shadow of new hunger figures that show a total of 842 million people are chronically undernourished.

In a message for World Food Day, read by Archbishop Luigi Travaglino at the ceremony, Pope Francis said, “It is a scandal that there is still hunger in the world.”

The pope blamed individualism for creating an “attitude of indifference”, as if hunger and malnutrition was an unavoidable fact.

“It can never be considered normal.”

On the World Food Day

theme of food systems, he said he saw the need to change and renew food systems to bring in the value of solidarity with the poor.

He called for the elimination of loss and waste of food products, which affects one third of global food production.

Food security “We cannot improve nutrition without food security and we cannot achieve food security if we don’t have the right food systems,” FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva told the ceremony, attended by government ministers, diplomats, heads of UN agencies, and other dignitaries.

He said although food systems produce enough food for everyone, over half of the world’s population is affected by either over- or under-consumption. “The economic costs of hunger are striking. They can amount to as much as five per cent of global income through lost productivity and direct

FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva

health care costs,” he said.

“The flip side is the huge economic benefits that could result from ending hunger and malnutrition.”

Graziano da Silva pointed out that 62 out of 128 countries that FAO monitors have reached the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) hunger target.

He urged people to take on a new and broader understanding of the hunger problem. “World Food Day ... is an opportunity

to adopt critical tools and solutions that will move us towards a well-nourished, hunger-free world [and] to view hunger and malnutrition as the tragic outcome of unhealthy food systems, food systems in which we all play a part,” he concluded.

Growth has to benefit everyone In her keynote speech, Peru’s First Lady Nadine Heredia called for a broad consistent state strategy

against hunger that included health, education, and gender concerns.

“Growth has to benefit everyone: rural areas and cities, girls and boys. In Peru, we have social inclusion policies for the most vulnerable families,” she said, adding that her country had met the MDG hunger target and reduced malnutrition in children under five. Heredia, who is also FAO Special Ambassador for the International Year of Quinoa 2013, called the grain indigenous to the Andes a “super food” that is contributing to the fight against hunger.

“We know that smallholders can contribute to sustainable food systems if they have well-functioning infrastructure, supportive policies, and institutions. We have seen it in Brazil, China, Malaysia, and Vietnam. On this World Food Day, let us renew our commitment to a world without hunger,” International Fund for Agricultural Development President Kanayo Nwanze

said.”Let us work to support governments that are making the right policies, governments that are building effective institutions and governments that are investing in infrastructure.”

World Food Programme Executive Director Ertharin Cousin noted that “action to strengthen and reform food systems must fully recognise the critical role of women”.

“Many food systems throughout the world, in both rural and urban areas, structurally impede or ignore the participation of women.

This cannot continue, because if we leave women out, we will not achieve our objectives. It is the just and right thing to do,” she said.

Italian Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policy Nunzia De Girolamo told the ceremony that food was a right of which no one should be deprived. She also spoke out against wasting food, calling for a radical cultural change.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

monday, october 21, 2013

thursDAY, march 11, 2010 | guyanatimesGY.com

archie

By Bernice Bede Osol

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19) Look over your financial situation before you take on another expenditure. You have to be realistic if you want to get ahead. Now is not the time to lend or borrow.

dilbert

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19) Walk away from negative influences. Put effort into your domestic situation and your future. You can get ahead financially and emotionally if you are innovative and genuine.

Calvin and Hobbes

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Trust only in the facts and refuse to show vulnerability when emotional situations arise. Do what’s best for you by disengaging from anyone inflicting emotional manipulation.

CANCER (June 21July 22) Not everyone will be able to keep a secret. Don’t share personal information and you will avoid becoming the topic of conversation. Follow a dream and explore new endeavours.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22) Your generosity can be your downfall. Offer love, affection and handson help, not your hardearned cash. Emotions will surface and demands will be made, but you must be strictly practical.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22) You’ll learn something valuable if you mingle with people who have expertise you’d like to tap into. Ask questions and share your thoughts to attract an interesting offer.

Peanuts ARIES (March 21-April 19)

SUDOKU

To fairly assess a situation you face at home or with a partner, you will have to rely on past experience. Remember the old saying: “Once bitten, twice shy.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You can offer help to a needy party, but don’t be gullible if someone uses compliments to get you to do more than what’s required. Don’t let anyone take you for granted.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23) Stay on top of your spending habits. Budget wisely and don’t feel obliged to pay for others.

You cannot buy love, but you can win it with kindness and affection.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22) Stay on top of emotional matters. Do something nice for someone you care about. Listen carefully to what people tell you, and you will learn something that will help you excel.

Saturday's solution GEMINI (May 21June 20)

SAGITTARIUS

Don’t get angry, get even. No matter what type of situation you face, the sweetest revenge is your own success. Put your best foot forward and strive to excel.

Stick to what you know and don’t venture far from the truth when asked your opinion. A change at home will help ease tension or stress. Physical activity must be undertaken carefully to avoid minor injury.

(Nov. 23Dec. 21)

news 19

YELLOW PAGES

monday, october 21, 2013

dentistry Dentures provided in 72 hours from as low as $4500. Contact Dr B Stuart, 209B Charlotte St, Lacytown.

Tel: 225-5034

EDUCATION SAT/AP/CXC/IGCSE English classes, personalized tutoring. Phone: 6124821 after 4pm, 274-0437 after 7pm.

Learn to play the guitar, keyboard, drums, and train your voice at Foundation 7. Phone: 225-1151 or 617-4200.

flowers Available: Fresh long-stemmed roses, fresh dried and silk floral arrangements, gift items, bridal boutiques and wreaths. Nesha’s Flowerland. 78 Church Street (opposite St George’s Cathedral). Tel: 227-3553/225-3315

FOR SALE Cheap earth. Delivery to spot, ECD and EBD. Phone: 627-9977 Clean garden earth & builders waste.

Also bobcat rental, excavating, clearing & leveling done. Phone: 616-0617, 6633285.

Mercury in large quantity, 99.9999% purity. Call: 219-4535 / 693-5004 / 6791985

health Are you suffering from abnormal behaviors, addictions, stresses, or psychosomatic sickness? Feeling suicidal, low self-esteem, loneliness, unloved, anger, conflicts and relationship problems?

For appointments call 592-621-0552.

12:00pm -6:00pm, Email: healthworldhc@gmail.com

immigration Immigration & Visa Services We handle all Canadian, USA and UK immigration and visa matters. Self sponsorships, holiday/visitor’s visas, work permits, students visas, family, class, immigration forms, embassy enquiries, appeals for refused cases, US green card lottery, business class waivers, pardons, etc.

Get your visa approved. High success rate. Balwant Persaud & Associates.

Certified Immigration Consultants, 68 Sixth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown (Between Cummings & Lights Sts) Tel: 225-1540, 622-8308, 655-3105. Email: balwantpersaud@yahoo.ca U.S. Green Card Lottery 2013. We are now accepting entries for the Annual Green Card Lottery sponsored by the U.S. Government. Enter now for a chance to become a permanent resident of the USA. Closing date November 2, 2013.

Contact Balwant Persaud Immigration and Visa Services 68 Sixth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown (Between Cummings and Light Sts.) Tel: 225-1540, 655-3105, 622-8308

KEY CUTTing Professional Key Shop, 125 Carmichael Street, Georgetown. Phone: 225-3923, mobile: 621-3249. We cut any type of key, service and repair all types of locks.

Get your extra key today.

lAND FOR SALE New Providence Prime Housing Lots for residential purposes. Are you thinking of a quality, luxurious & modern home? Then think ELAINE VILLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT INC. Our gated community with play park is situated approximately 30 minutes from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport; 2 minutes from the Providence Police Station and gas station. Neighbouring: Guyana National Stadium, Princess International Hotel & Casino, ATM and 3 minutes from the Demerara Harbour Bridge, shopping plaza & supermarket. Enquire now to build your dream home. Infrastructure works ongoing.

Contact: 592-615-8810, 592-668-3100 or email:info@elaineville.co

MEDITATION Learn transcendental meditation and reduce stress and anxiety, develop full brain potential, increase focus and memory, be healthier & happier, increase energy, vitality and longevity, enjoy more success in life, improve relationships and develop higher states of consciousness. A technique that works for everyone. For next introductory lecture on October 10, contact Ashoke (certified TM teacher) Phone: 233-6921, 6093701. Email kashokejp_68 2yahoo.com askgeneration

UNFURNISHED, MEADOW BROOK GARDENS, MR NARAINE. PHONE: 696-8230 Two-bedroom self contained apt.

Caneville, Grove. PHONE: 6691954

Local govt minister commissions several projects in Region Nine

House at Lamaha Gardens, hot & cold water, A/C, etc. Call 219-4535 Two modern apartments at Campbellville, hot & cold water etc. Call: 219-4535

optician

Da Silva’s Optical. For Your Eyes Only, Look Better See Better. Phillip A Da Silva OD, Shannon L Da Silva OD, Natalie Da Silva OD. 248 South Road, Bourda. Phone: 227-3529, Linden: 444-6376, Corriverton: 339-3536, Meten-Meer-Zorg: 275-0322, Grand Cayman Islands: (345) 943-1515 for the perfect trendy touch.

Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud commissioned several projects in Region Nine

R

property for sale VACANCIES EXECUTIVE TWO STOREY BUILDING 3 BEDROOMS WITH ALL MODERN CONVIENCES, MEADOW BROOK GARDENS, MR NARAINE. PHONE: 696-8230 Gas station land. Size: over one acre Phone Ms Liverpool on 6257582, 681-9293.

services Dutch healing and upliftment, for clearing of land, dredging and ground work (strictly interior operation). Phone: 662-1247.

J Eastman & Associates Financial Services: Taxation, VAT Compliance, Accounting & Consultancy, and Cash Flow Projection. Address: 190 Church St, S/Cburg (East of Austin’s Book Store) Phone: 662-7467, 223-2105 House plans starting at $9,000 Phone: 674-0725, 266-2154.

spirituality Suriname astrology palmist and Djuka healer. The most powerful spiritualist in the world. Are you suffering from the following problems? (any religions) love, marriage, family, health, business, husband and wife relationships, property, court, children, promotion, visa, pregnancy, education, depression, job, sexual, jealousy, enemy, money, drinking, also you can have all evil forces destroyed such as black magic, witchcraft, voodoo, obeyah, etc, and gives powerful protection.

Private and confidential. Phone: 674-2112.

One customs clerk with at least three subjects CXC including English Language, mathematics. Applicant must be computer literate. Please submit application before the October 11, 2013 to email: windsortechhomes@ gmail.com or call 669-6874 or 682-3481

VEHICLES FOR SALE Titan (hardly driven) $3.5M neg.

Phone: 691-9984 JUST ARRIVED: TOP QUALITY RECONDITIONED VEHICLES; TOYOTA PREMIO; TOYOTA ALLION; TOYOTA COROLLA AXIO; TOYOTA NOAH; SUZUKI SWIFT; MERCEDES BENZ C200 COMPRESSOR; BMW 318i; COROLLA AE100 WAGON; HONDA CRV; LAND CRUISER (FULLY LOADED); MAZDA PROCEED; TOYOTA HILUX 4WD EXTRA CAB PICKUPS - 3RZ, 5L, SOLID DIFFERENTIAL; MITSUBISHI CANTER TRUCKS 3, 3.5 TONS OPEN TRAY; 2 TONS 4WD; 3 TON DUMP TRUCK; NISSAN ATLAS 2-TON TRUCK. PRE-ORDER YOUR UNITS EARLY AND GET THE BEST PRICES. FULL AFTER SALES SERVICE AND FINANCING AVAILABLE. DEO MARAJ AUTO SALES, 2 CHIMNEY ROAD, CHATEAU MARGOT, ECD. 6240762, 220-5177. A NAME AND A SERVICE YOU CAN TRUST. 1 Bedford truck. Phone: 616:0617, 663-3285.

Cleansing of spiritual problems of all kinds. Powerful Ifá protection against evil. Get help to overcome problems with love, relationship, legal, sexual, pregnancy, business, sickness, jobs, enemies, work, money. Call 10AM - 4PM. Tel: 592-6901824. Email:anew-life@live.com Dutch Spiritual work. Unite lovers, get rid of evil, enhance prosperity, good luck baths and charm bowu guards, etc. Phone: 220-0708, 6126417, 687-5653 TO let

House at Lamaha Garden hot & cold water, ac etc phone:219-4535.

2 modern apartments at Campbellville, hot & cold water etc phone:219-4535 One house located in Lamaha Gardens, hot and cold water. Call 219-4535 EXECUTIVE TWO STOREY BUILDING 3 BEDROOMS WITH ALL MODERN CONVIENCES FURNISHED/

esidents of Region Nine are set to benefit from better delivery of services following the commissioning of three key projects by Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud on Friday.

The projects were all executed under the region’s 2013 capital budget. Minister Persaud commissioned a six-apartment building in Lethem, which will provide housing for health staff. The building which was initially a nursery school and later used as a storage bond was converted to the apartment building

Vacancy exists for two cashiers/ office clerks and two porters, cashiers/clerks must be literate, apply in person with written application to May’s Shopping Centre, 98 Regent Street, Georgetown.

Urgently needed! One plot of land in Parfaite Harmonie, Herstelling and Eccles. Phone: 675-7292

Croal, Regional Chairman Wilson Lorentio and Regional Executive Officer Claire Singh.

While in Region Nine, Minister Persaud also checked on the progress of several on-going education programmes being executed in the region under the 2013 budget. These include the rehabilitation of the St Ignatius Secondary School science laboratory, and plant nursery and the Arapaima Nursery School sanitary block. The latter is 95 per cent complete, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

Police following new leads in missing neighbourhood police case

P

olice are following new leads into the disappearance of neighbourhood police rank Gould Marcellene Amsterdam who went missing from her home earlier this month.

According to a senior police officer, new information has surfaced that suggests that the rank was friendly with a young man who they are now trying to locate. The source said had the information been made available before Friday, they would have acted upon it earlier.

Amsterdam, also called “Mossa”, went missing shortly after midnight on October 6 after telling her daughter that she was going to the home of a friend who lives about a minute away.

She has not been seen since.

Police had arrested the friend and had carried out an intensive investigation, which resulted in them releasing that suspect.

Family dissatisfied

WANTED

at a cost of $8.9 million.

Commissioned also, in Lethem, was the newly-constructed conference room of the Amerindian Hostel. The bottom flat enclosure costing $4.5 million, in addition to its use for conferences will be utilised for training workshops and for meetings

by Amerindian toshaos visiting Lethem.

A fence constructed at a cost of $1.6 million at the Arapaima Primary School was also commissioned.

Also present at the commissioning were Local Government Ministry Permanent Secretary Collin

However, relatives of the missing Amsterdam are not satisfied with the support they have received from the Guyana Police Force, as the search for the 34-year-old enters its third week. According to the woman’s father, Lowerik Amsterdam, he is dissatisfied with the police’s work so far. Speaking with Guyana Times, the 65-yearold father said he did not get the kind of support he was

Missing: Gould Marcellene Amsterdam

looking for.

“I asked the police to get a list of the last calls she received and made, but I don’t know if this was done. We have received no information or feedback from the police,” he said, noting there has been only one neighbourhood police rank assisting the family in their daily search. “The missing woman is part of the joint services; police could have used dogs or soldiers. More military force should have turned out,” he added.

In an invited comment, B Division Commander, Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Joseph acknowledged that there was a lack of communication between the officer investigating the matter and relatives.

The commander noted that the relatives are now in receipt of a cellphone number of that officer and they will be

kept up to date with the progress of the investigation.

Joseph noted that the police had acted on every lead they received, and the understaffed force cannot afford to have a constable with the search party every day.

He said, however, he is being informed on a daily basis on the results of the search, by the neighbourhood police rank who has been assisting with the search.

Search ongoing

Meanwhile, the missing officer’s father said they have searched every possible area close by. “We have been in the backlands searching. On Wednesday, we went about 10 miles through ‘Potagee Dam’.” A saddened Amsterdam, who farms at Baracara up the Canje River, told this publication that it seemed as though the matter was “dying”.

“Soon, I have to return to work and I don’t want to go there with a troubled heart,” he stated.

Since Amsterdam went missing, her children have been split up and living with aunts. The missing woman’s 13-year-old daughter, Akesha Daniels said life was now very uncomfortable. “I remember that Mummy told us that she does not want anything to happen to her before we get big.” She said it was difficult living without her mother.

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guyanatimesGY.com

monday, OCTOber 21, 2013

Windies Women’s spin duo ICC extends Bangladesh’s hail work of Saqlain Mushtaq World T20

venue deadline to November 30

The Sylhet stadium’s grandstand was at this stage of construction in August Shaquana Quintyne

B

RIDGETOWN, Barbados – West Indies Women’s spinners Anisa Mohammed and Shaquana Quintyne have identified the work they did with Pakistan spin bowling legend Saqlain Mushtaq a month ago, as the main reason for their recent bowling success.

After the first week of action in the ongoing Women’s Twenty20 International Tri-Series at Kensington Oval, the pair has been the stand-out performers for the Windies Women.

Mohammed, the experienced off-spinner, took 5-12 in the opening victory over New Zealand, while 17-year-old Quintyne took a career-best 5-16 in front of her home crowd on Friday night, as the home team beat England by 11 runs.

“The time I spent in the camp with Saqlain benefitted me a lot,” said Quintyne.

“He was amazing to work with. I’m a leg-break bowl-

Anisa Mohammed

er, which is not always easy, but he helped me a lot with my control and direction. He also taught me a bit about maintaining my shape and variations.”

Mohammed added: “It was a lot of help for us and the information he provided has worked very well for us.

I am spinning the ball a lot more and I am also working on my shape as well.

“He also talked to me about varying my lines and length, using the crease a lot more, and really trying to spin the ball a lot more.

All of these are things I have worked on and I believe I will only get better.”

Sherwin Campbell, head coach of the West Indies Women’s team, lauded Quintyne for her confidence and control.

“You can see the improvement in her bowling since the camp,” he said. “She’s a more confident bowler and she’s willing to take on a

leadership role as well. It is clear that she benefitted a lot from the time at the camp and I can only see her getting better and stronger.”

He was also quick to shower praise on Mohammed and noted there had been improvement in her skill-set.

“She is our leading bowler and earlier she was struggling a bit in terms of taking wickets, but that did not mean she was not bowling well,” Campbell said.

“You could see she was trying a few new things, which she worked on during the camp, and I knew once she found her range the wickets would come.”

Last month, the West Indies Cricket Board invited Saqlain to host a three-week clinic at the Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre, where he worked with some of the leading spinners in the region.

Saqlain took 208 wickets

in 49 Tests for Pakistan and another 288 scalps from 169 ODIs in a successful international career.

Ottis Gibson, head coach of the West Indies men’s team, played a key role in organising the clinic and said he too was pleased to see the early results.

“From the start, all the bowlers were very keen and we saw some growth even during the period in Barbados,” he said. “The camp went really well and these are signs that Saqlain’s outstanding work is already bearing fruit.

“It’s great to see how the girls have improved and are making solid contributions towards the team’s success.”

Mohammed and Quintyne were back in action on Sunday night, when the Windies Women faced New Zealand New Zealand in the fourth match of the Tri-Series at Kensington Oval. (WICB)

Jesse Ryder to return after doping ban

N

ew Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder will return to first-class cricket next week following his recovery from a serious assault and a six-month doping ban.

Ryder, 29, was left in a medically induced coma after being attacked as he left a Christchurch bar in March. While recovering he was told he had tested positive for two banned stimulants and given a six-month ban.

Ryder, who has played 18 Tests and 39 one-dayers for New Zealand, will play for Otago against Wellington.

“After this year, you could probably say that I’ve been through the worst things you could go through, for my career at least anyway,” said Ryder.

“I wouldn’t look at it like I’ve been given a second chance at life. I’m just lucky, I guess.”

Ryder, who has not played for his country since February 2012, is targeting an international recall.

Jesse Ryder

“My main goal is to play for New Zealand again,” he said. “All going well, I’d like to push for the West Indies tour [in December].

“But, definitely, the main aim is to try and earn a call-up in time for that Indian tour [in January] if they don’t pick me for the West Indies tour.” (BBC Sport)

T

he ICC has accepted the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s request to extend the deadline for the readying of its stadiums for the 2014 World Twenty20 to November 30.

The ICC Development International (IDI) board took the decision after reviewing a report on the condition of the venues, put together by the ICC venue consultant.

The main issue is with the stadiums at Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar, which are still being developed. An ICC team visited the venues last week. The Sylhet stadium’s pavilion, the biggest reason for all the delay, is close to completion, with the structure in place, and the press box also almost complete.

The original deadline for the completion of the stadiums was September 30. BCB president Nazmul Hasan had said in August that he had “no doubt that the construction work will end by mid-October”. The tournament is scheduled to be played between March 16 and April 6 next year.

Now, sources in the BCB have said it plans to finish the work by the first week of November, and host Indian state side Maharashtra at the ground to judge its readiness. Maharashtra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke, however, said “no such proposal is in the pipeline”. But Maharashtra have a break in first-class Ranji Trophy between October 30 and November 14, and given the association’s severe cash crunch due to its ongoing dispute with Indian company Sahara Pariwar over title rights of the new stadium on the outskirts of Pune, it may agree to send over a team if all expenses are borne by the hosts.

While the BCB has been given more time by the

ICC to complete work on the stadiums, the schedule for the tournament will be announced in Dhaka on October 27. These decisions were taken at the ICC board meeting in London, on October 18 and 19.

The other major decision taken at the meeting was with regard to the ICC’s anti-corruption code. A revised version of the code, which an ICC release termed “more robust and strengthened” will be submitted for discussion at the board’s next meeting, in January 2014.

The matter of Mohammad Amir’s ban, which the PCB is looking to get reduced, will be discussed only after the new anti-corruption code is finalised, the ICC said.

The board also decided to maintain the current playing conditions for ODI cricket, bad light and the DRS. An ICC chairman will be appointed and take over only after the board’s annual conference in 2014, the ICC release said. The post of ICC’s chairman was first adopted in 2012 and will turn the role of the ICC president into a ceremonial one while vesting executive powers in a new chairman. It is understood that the BCCI and ECB are seeking a dilution of power to be exercised by the new chairman, and prefer that his role be reduced from head of executive office in the ICC to that of a convenor.

The ICC board also approved an increase in the financial assistance provided to Afghanistan, through its Targeted Assistance Performance Programme (TAPP), to US$ 1.1 million.

This move was prompted by Afghanistan’s qualification for the 2015 World Cup. The 2014 Under-19 World Cup will be played in the UAE, from February 14 to March 1, the board confirmed. (Cricinfo)

monday, OCTOber 21, 2013

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McIlroy finishes Ferdinand and Hodgson join Football Association commission joint second in Korea Open E x-England captain Rio Ferdinand and manager Roy Hodgson have been named on the Football Association’s commission to improve the national team.

The appointments come one day after Heather Rabbatts, the FA’s only female board member, criticised the group’s all-white, all-male make-up.

Hodgson, 66, has guided England to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.

Ferdinand, 34, quit international football in May after winning the last of his 81 caps in June 2011.

The centre-back, who has won six Premier League titles with Manchester United, is the first nonwhite member of the 10-person panel.

On Saturday, Rabbatts accused the FA of letting down black and ethnic minority people with the makeup of the commission.

Following the new appointments, she welcomed “a degree of diversity” but said questions needed to be answered to a make the body “truly credible”.

FA chairman Greg Dyke said Ferdinand had always been intended to be included on the panel.

“We have been speaking to Rio and Manchester United for some time about him joining the group - before we named the other members of the commission,” said Dyke.

“However, as he is a current Manchester United player we needed to be sure that Rio had the necessary time to fully participate on the commission and not impact on his day job. It has

Ex-England captain Rio Ferdinand

been agreed he does.

“As a current player with forthright views and opinions on the game, we can look forward to Rio providing significant insight and experience.”

Ferdinand and Hodgson join FA vice-chairman Roger Burden, former England manager Glenn Hoddle, exEngland defender Danny Mills, League Managers’ Association chairman Howard Wilkinson, Professional Footballers’ Association chairman Ritchie Humphreys, Football League chairman Greg Clarke and Crewe director of football Dario Gradi on the panel.

Dyke has previously said the commission would have no more than 10 members, although it is not yet confirmed whether the line-up is complete.

The group was set up to consider how to increase the number of Englandqualified players appearing for the country’s top clubs.

Dyke, who has set England a target of reaching the Euro 2020 semi-finals and winning the 2022 World Cup, said he delayed announcing Hodgson’s ap-

pointment until the conclusion of England’s qualifying campaign for Brazil.

“It is important Roy can offer his views as the current manager of the national team and share the knowledge he has gained when working for many years in a number of countries,” he said.

The revelation of Ferdinand and Hodgson’s inclusions come after a dramatic day on which Jamaicaborn Rabbatts, 57, wrote a letter to Dyke and fellow board members to complain about “a lack of diversity”, saying she had no choice but to go public as there had been a “refusal to understand” her position in private.

Responding in an open letter, Dyke said he was “sorry” Rabbatts felt the need to go public and “surprised” at the comments of his former board colleague at the BBC, where he was director-general from 2000 to 2004.

In a statement on Sunday evening, Rabbatts said: “While I can appreciate the appointment of Roy and Rio and of course welcome a degree of diversity, there are still questions which remain

about the work and role of the FA commission.

“The issue of real diversity, and the insight that can bring, is still not fully resolved nor are the exact terms of reference of the commission and the continued absence of the Premier League from its membership.

“Greg Dyke was right to say that this project was the FA’s flagship for the future well-being of our national team and it is essential that it is overseen by a body that is truly credible and has the trust and confidence of the whole of football.

“This is still not the case - today’s announcement is a start but there is a lot more work to do.”

Ferdinand, who played for England in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups, was left out of the squad for Euro 2012 by Hodgson.

His absence from the tournament avoided a potential conflict with John Terry, who at the time was awaiting trial over allegations he racially abused Ferdinand’s brother, Anton.

Terry was cleared of the charge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July, but was later found guilty by the FA. In October 2012, Hodgson denied telling London Underground passengers that Ferdinand’s international career was over.

Ferdinand was recalled for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro in March, but later withdrew because of a “pre-planned fitness programme” before announcing his international retirement two months later. (BBC Sport)

Rory McIlroy

R

ory McIlroy claimed a share of second place at the Korea Open after a 67 in Sunday’s final round.

The Northern Irishman, who had fallen 10 shots behind the lead after three rounds, carded five birdies in his round to end one behind Korean winner Kang Sung-hoon, who was four under par.

The only blemish for world number six McIlroy was a bogey at the 16th.

Overnight leader Kim Hyung-tae was penalised two strokes for grounding a club in a hazard on the 13th hole.

It was a strong finish for McIlroy after what had been a frustrating third day for the two-time major winner at the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club course near Cheonan.

McIlroy, the star attraction at the OneAsia Tour event, said: “I could have shot anything, absolutely anything.

“I only missed two greens and had so many chances, but it was like the story of yesterday - I just didn’t hole enough putts.

“I created so many more chances today that it could have been 61, 62. It just wasn’t to be.

“I didn’t birdie any of the par fives, which was disappointing. I felt like it could have been so much lower the last couple of days.”

Kim had begun the final round with a four-stroke lead and was on course for victory standing on the 17th tee only to be told by an official he was been penalised for for an indiscretion on the 12th.

The South Korean then bogeyed the 17th and could only par the 18th.

But after finishing his round, Kim returned to the 13th and argued for two hours that he had not grounded his club before finally accepting his penalty and signing his card for a six-over-par 77 to finish alongside McIlroy on three under.

Three other Koreans, Lee Sang-hee, Lee Chang-woo and Joong-kyung, also finished on three-under 281.

Kang won the title after coming home in 32, finishing a crucial birdie at the last. (BBC Sport)

Townsend inspires Spurs win at Villa

E

ngland’s man of the moment Andros Townsend helped Tottenham bounce back from their shock home loss to West Ham United with a convincing win at Aston Villa.

Townsend, outstanding in England’s victories against Montenegro and Poland that secured their place at next summer’s World Cup in Brazil, broke the deadlock with a fortunate first-half goal as his cross floated beyond Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

Sadly the goal was overshadowed by an ugly incident as referee’s assistant David Bryan was struck by a smoking flare thrown by a celebrating Spurs fan - although he recovered to continue.

As Aston Villa struggled to make on impact on Spurs’ defence, manager Paul Lambert called on fit-again striker Christian Benteke as a substitute for the last 30 minutes but it was to no

Andros Townsend fires his shot to goal

avail.

Roberto Soldado wrapped up the three points that takes Andre Villas-Boas’ side up to fifth place in the Premier League when he rounded off a sweet passing move with a clinical finish after 69 minutes.

There will, however, be

focus on that incident in which the referee’s assistant could have been more seriously hurt - with the Football Association sure to want further details of events in the aftermath of Townsend’s goal.

In a largely undistinguished first half it was, al-

most inevitably, Townsend who made the first decisive contribution after 31 minutes with a goal that contained more than an element of good fortune as his whipped cross from the right flank eluded everyone, including Guzan, and crept in.

Townsend’s first Premier

League goal for Spurs was followed by the incident in which the smoke bomb, hurled from among the visiting fans, struck the referee’s assistant on the back.

He took a few moments to regain his composure after the understandable shock and was fortunately able to carry on.

Villa, who had lacked serious threat, apart from when Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had to turn away Ashley Westwood’s free-kick, had another opportunity when Andreas Weimann fired a shot into the side-netting from the edge of the area.

Spurs ended the half on top and Guzan did well to turn away another Townsend effort - and repeated his heroics four minutes after the break from Paulinho.

Villa fans had been chanting for the introduction of Benteke from the opening moments of the second half and they got their

wish on the hour when he replaced Libor Kozak.

And the powerful Belgian striker almost made his mark inside three minutes when he headed just over from Leandro Bacuna’s cross.

It was Spurs, however, who had the quality to put the game out of Villa’s reach with the slickest of goals that hinted at the quality in their squad.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert said: “It was pretty tight. We had chances and there wasn’t much in it.

In the second half we came out and played really well.

“I thought they scored against the run of play in the second half. We were playing really well, with confidence and the crowd were really up for it.

“Starting with Christian Benteke was a big ask because he has only trained a couple of days in a month.

He got 30 minutes and that will have done him the world of good.” (BBC Sport)

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monday, OCTOber 21, 2013

South NA prevail over Manchester in Inter-Ward football competition

GOAL! South New Amsterdam’s goalkeeper went the wrong way to allow Nolan Richards to score

Part of the action on Friday night at the All Saints ground in New Amsterdam

he curtains came down on the round robin stage of the Hearts of Oak Masters Football Club Inter-Ward football tournament in New Amsterdam.

Action on Friday evening at the All Saints ground

ever a minute later Nolan Richards pulled one back for the Corentyne team.

In game two, Joint Services seemed as though they had saved their best performance for the Friday crowd as they put Canje on

T

in New Amsterdam saw South New Amsterdam booting Manchester from the tournament while Canje kept their unblemished record when they sent Joint Services packing.

In game one South New

Amsterdam disposed of Manchester 2-1. Winston Benjamin opened the scoring in the 25th minute to put South NA ahead. Delroy Dey followed up in the 54th minute to put more pressure on Manchester; how-

the defensive early in the game, creating several exciting moments in the game.

But it was Canje’s Randolph Hazel that opened the scoring in the 17th minute.

Canje made no mistakes, going up by two when Seon

Hetemyer netted in the 24th minute.

Meanwhile, Rose Hall were expected to take on Central New Amsterdam while Fyrish were expected to play North NA Saturday night. (Andrew Carmichael)

Marian Academy lifts U-13 hockey Shortened SA title after unbeaten run tour likely in December

T

Participants in the Pee Wee exhibition match pose with coaches Renee James, Kerensa Fernandes and Annesa Permal

D

ay two of the Star Party Rentals national Junior Hockey Championships was one of the most entertaining in recent memory.

In the Under-13 category Marian Academy continued their dominance when they landed their third title of the year without conceding a goal. They topped Group A with the maximum nine points from three matches over Saints Scorpions, Hikers and Saint Silencers.

Also, Old Fort played unbeaten in Group B with

GCC, Marian B and Saints Sensations rounding out the group.

In the semi-finals Marian Academy blew away GCC 3-0 while Old Fort squeezed pass Saints Scorpions 3-2.

The final however, was a close one with both teams defending desperately.

Marian eventually squeezed one past the Old Fort defence to secure the 1-0 victory, while GCC took third place over Saints Silencers 2-0.

In the Inter-Schools division defending champions

Queen’s College were hampered by an injury to one of their top players Briawna Gordon, while Christ Church rolled through the round robin phase undefeated.

In the semi-finals Christ Church dominated Marian Academy 3-0, while St Stanislaus College’s A and B teams played to a scoreless draw, before the B team’s captain Paramanand Dindial sent his team into the final on penalty flicks. The final was a keenly contested af-

fair before Christ Church captain Kareem McKenzie scored on the stroke of full time to give his school their very first hockey title.

Meanwhile, the highlight of the day was the Pee Wee exhibition match where 23 youngsters, barely taller than their sticks, drew the biggest cheers from the crowd as they showcase their already immense talent. The game ended in a 3-3 draw and all the players were presented with medals.

he BCCI president N Srinivasan and his CSA counterpart Chris Nenzani have “in principle agreed” for India to play three ODIs, a warmup game and two Tests in South Africa in December, ESPNcricinfo understands.

Although no formal statements have been released by the boards, some progress appears to have been made, two days after CSA offered to send “Lorgat on long leave”.

The fate of the series will be known when Srinivasan and BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel present the proposed tour itinerary to the BCCI working committee in Chennai on October 26. The two met with Nenzani on the sidelines of the ICC Board meeting in London on Saturday for finalising the solution to a three-month impasse.

The working committee’s decision is nothing but a formal approval once Srinivasan and Nenzani have worked out a solution.

As a result, India is likely to start the tour with onedayers in the first week of December and end it with the Boxing Day Test.

It is unclear whether the BCCI and CSA have reached an agreement over the fate of David Becker, the former ICC Head of Legal and one of several lawyers offering CSA advice, who had criti-

cised BCCI’s stand on FTP in the wake of India’s decision to prune the South Africa tour. However, the BCCI is likely to pursue the matter despite having agreed to tour South Africa.

The BCCI’s troubled relationship with CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat is understood to be the central reason for the tour being in jeopardy. Becker denied Lorgat had played any role in his decision to release a statement last week. “For the avoidance of any doubt, Mr Lorgat had nothing to do with my comments. They were my own personal views and neither he nor anyone else at CSA had anything to do with them,” Becker said on Sunday.

The series between two of the most high-profile cricket nations has been hanging in balance since July 9, when the BCCI objected to the tour itinerary a day after it was announced by CSA. Previously, it had raised “concerns” over Lorgat being in the running for the CSA top job.

While a meeting between Sanjay Patel and Lorgat in Dubai last month failed to resolve the contentious issues, the deadlock was broken when Nenzani was invited to India for a meeting after Srinivasan was reinstated as the BCCI chief earlier this month. (Cricinfo)

monday, OCTOber 21, 2013

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Fernandes takes inaugural Janet Jagan memorial cycling race

By Treiston Joseph

S

tephen Fernandes set the West Demerara roadways ablaze as he pedaled away with the inaugural 50-mile Janet Jagan memorial race, sponsored

by CARICOM Cement Inc., that ended at the Demerara Harbour Bridge on Sunday Morning.

With 54 cyclists gathering at Wales for the start of the event, Bibi Shadick set the race off in the presence of the Minister of Home affairs Clement Rohee. In the end, Fernandes won in two hours, two minutes (2:02).

John Chalres came in second while Eric Sankar finished third. Caribbean champion Paul DeNobrega was fourth, finishing ahead of Marlon Williams and Junior Niles who finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Robin Persaud, Paul Choo Wee Nam and Marlon Williams went on the attack from the start, splitting the front runners at Bushy Park. DeNobrega did not hold back as he and Persaud attacked after the race turned around at Bushy Park. However, they failed to hold off Fernandes in the final metres.

Hanza Eastman won the Junior category ahead of Alonzo Ambrose and Shaquel Agard respectively.

Turan Harris rode away with the veteran’s event to finish ahead of Talim Shaw

Cyclists pose after receiving their trophy and prizes with Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee and Bibi Shadick

and Shammar Bask that finished second and third respectively. Naomi Singh took the women’s event.

Ozia Meculle was the winner of the mountain bike event, topping Stephano Husbands and Julio Melville.

Williams, Mark Harris, Sankar, Persaud and Niles won a prime prize while Chow Wee Nam won two; DeNobrega won a special prize.

Meanwhile, Rohee in his address at the presentation ceremony noted that he will like Guyana to reach a global stage in the cycling arena.

“What I would like to see

Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee (left) hand over prize to Junior Caribbean champion Paul DeNobrega

is my country, our country, becoming the main hub for cycling in the Caribbean.

I would like to see cyclists from around the world coming to Guyana to witness the premier cycling event in the country.

“I have heard over forty cycling events are held here every year, compared to our CARICOM countries and by that right we deserve to have major events,” Rohee stated.

The event will become an annual event according to national cycling coach Mohammed Hassan who thanked CARICOM Cement Inc for their support.

Colts outplay ‘B’ Division supports FACC Suriname’s domestic violence awareness Yellow Birds programme

T

he Bounty Colts basketball club played hard interior defence to shutdown the Surinamese Yellow Birds 48-39 on Saturday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) goodwill tournament concluded.

The six-man rotation of the Surinamese team opened hard on the local side, playing a physical game to score 18 of their 22 first half points in the paint.

However, it was the second half that proved that the bench department is an important part of any team as the Colts capitalised by running the basketball on the break that resulted in a 24-17 run that would seal the game for the local club. Suriname’s Amilcar Cooman and Jahmal Henar combined to score a mere 11 points in the second half.

Shelroy Thomas had a game-high 16 points for the Colts as he took over the final period, scoring 10 points in the process; he displayed his offensive game with pull up jumpers or direct drives to the basket that left the defence of the Yellow Birds on their heels.

Dave Causway and Sheldon Thomas (brother of Shelroy) finished with 10 points, securing the win for the Guyana club.

Cooman was the top scorer for the Dutch side with a team-high 15 points while Henar supported with 14 points.

Meanwhile, in the earlier female fixture, Yellow Birds defeated local club Pepsi Sonics 39-24 with a game-high performance from Tricia Struiken who dropped 16 points while Chayenne Naarden chimed in with eight points in the victory.

B

Division has joined the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) eradication of “Domestic Violence Programme”.

Commander of the division Assistant Commissioner Brian Joseph on Thursday made a financial contribution to ensure the programme is a success and said the division is happy to join hands with the FACC in its awareness programme. The club held a day of sports on Sunday at the Blairmount Community Centre ground where persons participated in cricket, cycling, athletics and football.

Joseph said the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is willing to work hand-in-hand with any group that seeks to address the issue of domestic violence.

Meanwhile, several other agencies have also contributed towards today’s event, including the Berbice Bridge, Hand-in-Hand and Courts.

Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner Brian Joseph hands over the cheque to coach of FACC Randolph Roberts

Organisers of the event Randolph Roberts said: “We in the Flying Ace Cycle Club see domestic violence as a major problem in Guyana and so we decided to address the issue. This

is being done through this event.”

He said it is hoped that the event will help to raise awareness of the seriousness of domestic violence.

The target group will be

young persons who will be involved the various sports.

There is also expected to be several addresses by several personnel on the issue of domestic violence. (Andrew Carmichael)

monday, october 21, 2013

TOP SCORES

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

CRICKET: SOUTH AFRICA 249 AND 232 VS PAKISTAN 442 AND 45-3

Fernandes takes inaugural Janet Jagan memorial cycling race See story on page

23

Stephen Fernandes rejoices after crossing the finishing line ahead of his fellow competitors (Treiston Joseph photos) INSIDE TODAY’S SPORT

Marian Academy lifts U-13 hockey title after unbeaten P22 run

Colts outplay Suriname’s Yellow Birds See story on page

23

Shelroy Thomas drives through the lane to score a field goal during his 16-point performance for the Colts

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