Guyana Times Daily

Govt to present Food Safety Bill to Parliament P19

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana Issue No. 2034 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Rainstorm to hit Guyana’s coast Thursday, February 6, 2014

– massive flash floods predicted

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Teen missing after leaving P9 school

See story on page 3

Police so far see no crime in recent P9 ‘TIP’ cases Proposed changes P10 to ERC for House vote next week PSC upbeat about P10 automatic ballot scan, tabulation system

This map supplied by the Agriculture Ministry shows the storm heading in the direction of Guyana

Nigel Hughes in foreclosure tangle See story on page 16

No new P17 director for UG Tain campus anytime soon

APNU expresses commitment to Fishermen amend anti-money died by drowning – autopsy laundering bill See story on page 13

P19

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thursDay, february 6, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Thursday, February 6 from 09:30h-11:00h The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Thurssday, February 6 from 08:35h-10:05h

WEATHER TODAY

Weather: Thundery showers are expected during the day with partly cloudy conditions in the evening over coastal regions and near inland locations. Temperatures are expected to range between 24 degrees and 26 degrees Celsius.

Wind: Easterly between 1.38 metres and 2.77 metres respectively.

High Tide: 09:06h and 21:37h reaching maximum heights of 2.39 metres and 2.25 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 15:07h reaching a minimum height of 0.87 metre.

Wednesday, february 5, 2014

LOTTERY NUMBERS K 03 06 20 26 19 24 09 FREE TICKET

Daily Millions

12 14 16 20 22 LUCKY 3

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Draw De Line

01 05 06 08 15 17 20 DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

Rainstorm to hit Guyana’s coast – massive flash floods predicted

BY SVETLANA MARSHALL

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xtreme rainfall is expected to hit Guyana today and can result in massive flash floods across the country, the Agriculture Ministry has warned in a release on Wednesday.

The ministry, in collaboration with the hydrometeorological service, has indicated that there is a 70 per cent chance that this can happen. The high intensity weather pattern, which is presently over the Atlantic, continues to develop, and as a result, Guyana will experience rainfall of 45 to 80mm over a 24-hour period, the ministry predicted.

Regions Three to Five and northern Region Six are among regions to be severely affected. Low-lying and riverine communities are asked to take precautions against possible flooding.

Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy said based on information received from the Guyana Hydrometerological Service, the country is at risk of “severe weather conditions”, explaining that a storm is heading in Guyana’s direction. But he was keen on noting that it is possible that the storm will change direction.

It was anticipated that the heavy rains would start Wednesday night and continue today.

“The cloud system that is moving towards Guyana has enough moisture to produce along the coast and also in some interior areas like Region Nine, high intensity rainfall that could exceed 80mm rainfall,” Dr Ramsammy said during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times on Wednesday.

Close monitoring

He said the ministry, in collaboration with the hydromet office, was monitoring the situation minute-by-

Regions Three to Five and northern Region Six are among regions to be severely affected

minute. “We are following it. It is coming in a direction that indicates that Guyana will have severe weather conditions tonight and tomorrow, but because of the length of time between now and late tonight, it also have enough time to move in a direction that can miss most of Guyana,” he further explained on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, President Donald Ramotar and his Cabinet were informed of the high intensity rainfall and the likely impacts.

Though there was a sense of uncertainty, the Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday issued media advisories to all regional democratic councils and the Local Government Ministry. That ministry was instructed to notify all neighbourhood democratic councils.

These public entities were also advised to take the necessary steps to minimise flooding in the various communities. Dr Ramsammy said Georgetown and other parts of country do not have the capacity to take off the 80mm of intense rainfall.

It was explained that at the time of independence in 1966, Guyana had a capacity to deal with one and half inches of rain over a 24hour period. “That means a combination of the canals,

sluices, pumps, could cater for that 35-40mm of rain spread over 24 hours.” Now with a slight improvement, Georgetown has a capacity to deal with two inches of rainfall or 50mm of rain over a 24-hour period.

The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has put systems in place to deal with the intense rains if they occur, but the Georgetown Mayor and City Council continues to experience difficulties.

All pumps operable

It was explained that all drainage pumps operated by the NDIA are in operation, but several of the Georgetown municipality's pumps are down. “Two of the seven pumps that work within the city limit are not functioning. I can also say that the two pumps that pump into the Atlantic Ocean, these are Liliendall and Kitty pumps are oper-

ational but during a rainy period can rarely work 24 hours,” the agriculture minister explained. He said too that this situation is compounded by a poor drainage system that is clogged with garbage. “We are doing our part; other people in authority have to do their part.”

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in January slammed the hydromet office and by extension the Agriculture Ministry for late notification of heavy rainfall, resulting in unpreparedness.

In defence, Minister Ramsammy explained that like many other territories, Guyana has experienced difficulties with forecasting. He said while the technology used in Guyana has exceeded those used in the past, it cannot be compared with forecasting technologies used in developed nations like the U.S. Hence, the hydromet department may not be 100 per cent accurate.

He said too that the Agriculture Ministry has always notified the public on weather patterns defected, but many entities and residents have failed to take notice. “The fact that people haven’t paid attention before is not my fault, because I think we have done this before and people don’t pay attention.”

Though information from the hydromet department may not be 100 per cent accurate, Dr Ramsammy said precautionary measures should be taken. (svetlanam@guyanatimesgy.com)

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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

Engaging the citizenry

Ethnic Yi women are seen on their way to a dragon worship ceremony in Shiping county, China, February 4. The dragon worship ceremony is held every 12 years in Shiping to pray for good fortune and harvest (Reuters/Wong Campion)

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n any democracy, citizens expect public institutions to be transparent and accountable. Institutions such as the parliament, government ministries, the courts and law enforcement agencies must always strive to engage the various stakeholders in society as to how they can be more open, transparent and accessible to the public.

Public institutions many times operate with a high degree of secrecy and away from public scrutiny. In addition to ordinary citizens being denied an opportunity to direct probing questions to those in authority, the democratic processes of the nation is therefore stifled as the valuable contributions from stakeholders are excluded.

Recently, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) members walked out of a committee tasked with finalising the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill over the private sector being given an observer status to the deliberations.

APNU was nothing short of reckless and irresponsible, as the private sector is considered one of the key stakeholders likely to be affected by this legislation. It boggles the mind as to why would any responsible political party deny a key player such as the private sector body an opportunity to merely observe how an important piece of legislation is being addressed by members of a special select committee.

Notwithstanding, efforts are being made by the authorities to ensure that there is more openness and transparency with regard to the happenings in the National Assembly.

The Parliament Office and the Canadian government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), paving the way for the provision of live Internet streaming of all parliamentary business, sittings, committee meetings and other parliamentary-related activities.

Clearly, Guyana is gradually working at strengthening its democratic practices. Through the project, Canada is working with Guyana to provide the structure required to facilitate the transmission of information from the legislature to the people, thereby encouraging greater democratic participation.

The relationship between Parliament and the people is of growing importance everywhere. Citizens want to be informed about what is happening in the National Assembly and how they will be affected.

Elected officials want persons to be better informed about the work they do on a daily basis on their behalf. Quite a number of parliaments around the world have established television and radio channels dedicated to broadcasting parliamentary proceedings.

The Internet is the future and is considered one of the best ways to disseminate content of parliamentary proceedings to the public. The public will have free and full access to debates and other activities in Parliament.

Why should there be live streaming of parliamentary proceedings? There is need to create a direct link between citizens and those elected to represent them. Even though this may not necessarily lead to a better understanding of, or greater public interest in politics, it will enable more persons to watch and listen, allowing them to form their own opinions without any interference.

It is hoped that the process itself will be carried out in a transparent and independent manner. Professional criteria can be used to decide if the entire or sections of the parliamentary sessions will be streamed. Important questions such as who decides what will or will not be streamed, or who controls the cameras, would need to be taken into consideration.

A facility is provided where there can be some level of interaction between lawmakers and other parliamentary officials and citizens themselves, where they (citizens) can ask questions, seek clarifications or simply leave a comment on how they feel about a particular issue.

The essence of this is to get the involvement of citizens on matters concerning their own welfare. Not only would such a facility create a direct link between the electors and the electorate, but it would serve to provide useful citizens’ feedback to elected officials on issues affecting ordinary persons in the society.

This type of engagement can only make democracy stronger.

Granger must not contest the next election Dear Editor, Most politicians go through a stage of denial after losing a major election. Many around the world are kicked out of the leading role in their party after such a crushing loss, as the party prepares for the next time around. The loss by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in the 2011 election was by a wide percentage.

In the Caribbean, especially, it seems like politicians never go away. They keep coming back as in the case of Owen Arthur in Barbados and others. In 2006, Robert Corbin ran for president as the candidate for the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and lost. I remember him saying you should have one crack at the electorate and then you need to shape your transition for your successor. He kept his promise and moved on.

David Granger has lost a major election. His party seats in Parliament cannot pass a single piece of legislation on their own without the help of another party. He is being held up as the opposition leader by the Alliance for Change (AFC).

Without the AFC seats, he is a minority opposition leader and isolated from any major decision making with no bargaining power.

The AFC has proved the electorate wrong by failing to fulfil their charter as the balance of power by looking at

critical programmes that move Guyana forward. The opposition has attempted aggressively to move Guyana backwards.

Like all businesses, politics is cyclical. Luckily for us, it is a constitutionally mandated cycle. Where there are seats of power to be had, candidates will spring up to pursue them. The opposition campaign fiercely for constitutional change. Each opening line on every speech had the word “constitutional change”.

They said many areas were flawed and that it was their only priority in Parliament.

In their campaign, they even talked about the clause that said, “Parliament can only approve or disapprove the budget” and that needs to be changed. Now that that the court has ruled, they call foul.

Their failed promise to bring the Constitution to the top of the table, again demonstrates their inability to govern.

When you are a national leader, whether you are in government or in opposition and the reason why we have an opposition is that the opposition is so organised and respected that it can form a government.

And whiles that government is working there is an opposition that works also with the government in constructive criticisms and accountability processes that complete the cycle of democracy.

That is the book theory. What we have seen in the last two

years, is an opposition bent on hurting our nation and ultimately our people.

The continued debacle by the opposition on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Amendment (AML/ CFT) Bill is mind boggling.

This was not the bill for political grandstanding. It is hurting our nation and our people.

General secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Clement Rohee said it best: “Non-passage of the AML/CFT Bill will have devastating consequences not only on the economy, but also on Guyana’s international image. The bottom line, undisputed, is that every single Guyanese will suffer in the end. This will include opposition supporters as well.” We cannot assault our own country and then look for the electorate to vote us in to power.

Their tactic is simply despicable.

The website www.politicalstrategy.org has this definition: “Tactics are specific actions that you can take to debate, attack, defend or otherwise promote your agenda.

They are the actions that support the construction of the policies that ultimately form the overall strategy or agenda of an organisation.”

These tactics can be used at every level of political battles, from grassroots to campaign. Some are clever. Some

are commonsense and some are downright despicable.

Which one you choose to use is up to you. One rule of thumb is to choose tactics based on your desire to appear as a “likable” person. Obviously they have failed to even come across likeable much less constructive.

We are once again at the cross road of our mid-life crisis in Guyana. This is the period we should be focus on rapidly and radically moving our nation forward. The private sector is on board, yet the opposition seems to be fighting them at every corner in order to destabilise our economy in some hope that it reflects badly on the PPP/C. It will not, as I have said many times.

We have much more liberal and educated population whose daily drive is to improve their well-being, whether it is to own a car, creating a new business, getting a higher education, or owning a new home.

They want Guyana to continue to grow, to be an emerging economy where we all benefit. The opposition has failed in moving our nation forward and will pay a harsher price at the next election.

Granger should make this statement shortly: “I’ll be retiring and the party will have to schedule an election for a new leader.”

Sincerely, Dr Peter R Ramsaroop

Justice Chang’s ruling will not reverberate in the Commonwealth Dear Editor, In respect of the recent judicial decision that Parliament could not amend the budget, but could reject it in full, Speaker of the House Raphael Trotman declared that the decision would have far-reaching implications for the Commonwealth parliamentary system.

Trotman may be pleased to consider that there is no precise concept of a Commonwealth parliamentary system. For example, Commonwealth countries usually have prime ministers as being heads of government. Here in Guyana, there is an executive presi-

dent.

Commonwealth countries do not have parliamentary elections based on proportional representation. In Guyana we do. And there are a plethora of other differences among Commonwealth states in their parliamentary systems.

Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang’s decision could therefore scarcely be of the worldshaking dimensions over the five continents of the world where the Commonwealth is spread as Trotman seems to think.

The Commonwealth states all share in the concept of three branches of

government and Trotman’s recent remark encapsulates the concept: “The principle of comity dictates that the three branches of government – the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial – are all separate and equal and are to respect the right and authority of each other.”

The Commonwealth parliamentary system (however viewed) would therefore be horrified to learn that the Guyana Parliament has been trying to arrogate to itself the executive and judicial roles, has been trying to ignore and disregard the rulings of the courts, and even

disobeying the Constitution of Guyana. These outlandish actions shame the Commonwealth parliamentary system.

Trotman would do well to educate the parliamentarians as to the three branches of the government and their respective rights and authority. If they understand the roles of the three branches and their respective rights, duties and authority, then Trotman’s office as Speaker would be less stressful and far happier.

Yours sincerely, P Ramlall

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

The parliamentary opposition Guyana Foundation thankful for local professionals, counsellors who have wants power stepped forward to offer assistance

Dear Editor, The parliamentary opposition, in its mischievous and worthless political agenda, is clearly fighting for power.

However, it seems that they will never learn that power only comes through the ballot box and not through the back door. It is power they want.

In total shame of their court defeat that they cannot cut the country’s budget estimates anymore because it is unlawful and unconstitutional to do so, they now claim to be legally challenging the acting Chief Justice Ian Chang’s ruling.

It is power they want. The parliamentary opposition

claims that they will not support the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill.

It is power that they want.

But if the parliamentary opposition claims that they will not support the AML/ CFT Bill then it means that the U.S. State Department may have to apply sanctions against Guyana’s parliamentary opposition for being supporters of terrorism and money laundering.

It is my hope therefore that the U.S., Canada, British and European Union high commissions are making the necessary observations in relation to the AML/

CFT Bill and its current status and informing their respective governments.

But if Guyana’s AML/ CFT Bill is not completed before the February 13 deadline set by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), I will be making an intervention, since it is absolutely unfair for the Guyanese people to suffer severely as a result of being internationally blacklisted due to the arrogance of the leadership of Guyana’s parliamentary opposition.

Yours sincerely, Peter Persaud

Suggestions to get out of the impasse we are currently in Dear Editor, Some time ago, I had written a letter pointing out the reason why the local politicians despite paying homage to the liberal theory of government as consisting of three branches – Executive, Legislature and Judiciary – still regard functional government as purely executive.

It is this aberration of believing that all government is the executive branch that would allow a Cabinet to act to the limits of an executive and even beyond, or the Parliament to try to act as the executive, ignoring its real role as a legislature. Indeed, elements in Parliament are now trying to arrogate unto themselves the role of the judiciary.

This is clearly seen in the statement by Opposition Leader David Granger: “We are going to exercise our constitutional right to amendment of the budget and the courts cannot intervene….”

Granger has made this statement despite the judicial ruling that Parliament has the constitutional right to accept or reject in full the budget but that it has no constitutional right to amend the budget. Granger, from his statement, is clearly trying to arrogate the functions of the Judiciary to the Legislature.

I will outline the whole story to wipe away confusion from readers. Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh presented his 2012 budget.

The opposition parties, who, when combined, hold majority in Parliament, amended the 2012 budget, cutting off a sizable proportion of it. In Parliament, the government

claimed such cuts were unconstitutional and took the matter to the court (the judiciary), which is the final arbiters in such matters in a democratic state.

The judiciary took nearly two years to rule on this matter, owing to an intervening ruling that Granger and Dr Singh could not be parties in the case. This then allowed the court to rule on the original matter brought before it, that is, whether the 2012 budget cuts were unconstitutional or not.

The court rules that the 2012 budget cuts were unconstitutional, but in the intervening time before the ruling was made, the 2012 and 2013 budgets suffered the same kind of massive budget cuts.

Now, the 2014 court ruling allows for the budget to be debated in the long-established and normal way.

The opposition seems to be caught in a state of deep confusion, since they had no contingency or back-up strategy to use in case they could not do their expected budget cuts. This is a great failing on the part of the opposition, since, in politics, all sensible and capable political parties have back up plans.

The opposition is therefore in a state of panic and does not know what to do.

Some are calling the ruling unconstitutional and, trying in effect to make their own court decision in the case.

Others are talking of appealing the court decision, while others are talking of a snap election.

May I suggest a proper and easier way to get out of the impasse. The court’s rul-

ing that Parliament, by the Guyana Constitution, could either accept or reject the budget in full, but that it has no authority to amend it must be appealed to the higher courts, even to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The government appealed the parliamentary budgetary cuts to the court and waited nearly two years for the decision. The opposition could move for the amendment of the Constitution of Guyana to accommodate amendments to budgets.

The government and opposition could hold discussions on the budget, since there are still some weeks before it is presented. The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) recently held such discussions. If this is not possible for one reason or another then the concerns of the opposition parties should be publicly and immediately stated.

The opposition parties must not continue to be secretive and mysterious about their concerns and continue to hold both the public and their supporters in the dark.

It is their duty to make those concerns publicly known before the budget reaches Parliament.

The opposition parties publicly could use their think tanks to come up with creative and workable courses of action. They must however ensure that such courses of action are not outlandish or unconstitutional, or we well end up where we started.

Yours sincerely, P Ramlall

Dear Editor, Activities planned for phase one of the Guyana Foundation Mental Health Programme are well underway. The foundation launched this programme in January, with the guidance of professionals in the field to sensitise and educate the population about mental health issues, using internationally accepted definitions of various mental health conditions and disorders.

Among its activities, the foundation has published mental health awareness ads in some of the local newspapers, begun distributing posters on mental health issues in different parts of the country, and has also launched a dedicated mental health Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ mentalhealthgy.

On this Facebook page, followers find helpful videos, articles and stories about people who have been through, or are currently struggling with, some kind of mental health problem.

Since the launch of this programme, the foundation

has heard from many families who have reached out seeking information about where they may obtain treatment and support services locally.

While the foundation does not offer any kind of medical advice, the public is solely assisted to locate professional mental health services, and individuals who can help.

We are thankful that some local professionals and counsellors have stepped forward to offer to assist people who call our office.

There are also a few experienced, well established and well respected psychiatrists like Dr Frank Beckles, who we usually provide contact information for.

It is surprising to see the amount of people who are suffering but do not know where to go for help. When someone contacts the foundation, they can expect to speak with someone who is patient and empathetic, who will listen to their situation, and ask whether the individual wants to contact someone.

There are many people in desperate need of mental health services in Guyana, who don’t know where to find help. These are people from all walks of life and all social classes, ranging from those individuals living on the streets, to the wealthy.

What all of these families have in common is a deep sense of frustration, a desperation to see their loved ones get better and to stop suffering. Every single human life is valuable. That drives the sense of urgency behind our programme.

If we can raise awareness to assist one person to get professional help, then we would have accomplished much.

Members of the public who would like to assist in this or any of our other programmes are asked to call 225-4414, or to send an email to guyanafoundation@ gmail.com.

Sincerely, Anthony Autar, Managing Director Guyana Foundation

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Five things you didn’t know about shy children

BY BETH GREENFIELD

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hy toddlers might not want to speak up – but that doesn’t mean they don’t understand what you’re saying to them, according to a new study of the largely misunderstood connections between shyness and language.

“Behaviourally inhibited children who may not be speaking much shouldn’t be underestimated,” says study author Soo Rhee, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“Parents and teachers should be aware that they may need to be encouraged more in their expressive language development.”

The study, published in the journal Child Development, was prompted by a thesis student’s review paper that examined associations between shyness and verbal skills, Rhee tells Yahoo Shine. To test those associations, researchers looked at information collected on 816 toddlers – 408 sets of twins – at 14, 20, and 24 months of age, times when children’s language skills are growing rapidly. The researchers recorded observations of each child’s ability to repeat sounds, answer questions, and follow directions, looking for patterns in how the children’s behaviour changed over time, and whether an increase in shyness followed or preceded a delay in speech. Their findings showed that shy toddlers actually understand much more

than their lack of talking might suggest.

The study results are just the latest discovery about Children with often-misunderstood shyness – an “undervalued status in a world that values extroversion,” Susan Cain, best-selling author of “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,” noted in a 2011 New York Times opinion piece.

And so, to help foster value – and understanding – here are four more salient nuggets about shy children: * They are far from alone.

Shyness is a part of “the great and glorious range of the human normal,” notes Dr Perri Klass in a New York Times Well piece, who writes about a study by Kathleen Merikangas, a senior investigator at the National Institute of Mental Health, of 10,000 older children ranging from 13 to 18 years old. “We found that about half of children in America describe themselves as shy,” Merikangas tells Klass. * Labelling your child “shy” is not helpful. “On hearing this, a child feels something’s wrong with her, and this will make her feel more shy,” notes Dr William Sears, who suggests using more accurate terms like “private” or “reserved,” which won’t make your child feel flawed. That belief was echoed

by Merikangas, who told the New York Times that perhaps the worst thing to do is tell your child, “Don’t be shy. Don’t be

quiet.” * Children can form strategies for dealing with shyness.

“The general rule of thumb,” writes psychologist and parenting coach Dr Laura Markham, “is to accept the nervousness that comes up as a part of normal life that affects most people, reassure yourself that you’re OK anyway, and focus on others rather than yourself.”

You can help your child do that, perhaps with a reminder that she doesn’t have to be interesting, just interested, and that asking questions and listening to their answers can be all she needs to try to do. * A shy child is not necessarily introverted. “Shy people fear negative judgment, while introverts simply prefer less stimulation; shyness is inherently painful, and introversion is not,” Cain has noted, which is helpful when trying to understand the feelings of a shy child. “But,” she adds, “in a society that prizes the bold and the outspoken, both are perceived as disadvantages.” You can help your timid one to see his own quiet power by pointing out that same power in others. “For very different reasons, shy and introverted people might choose to spend their days in behind-the-scenes or ‘passive’ pursuits like inventing, or studying, or holding the hands of the dying,” Cain says.

“These are not alpha roles, but the people who play them are role models all the same.” (Yahoo!)

BY CAMILLE PERI

Provide hand sanitiser

Hand washing is the best defence against germs, but on field trips or at games or other events, it’s not always convenient or possible.

Depending on your child’s age and school policy, sending her to school with an alcohol-based sanitising gel or wipe is a good alternative. Some classrooms also provide hand sanitiser. To make it effective, your child should rub the product all over her hands and fingers until they are dry, about 30 seconds. Children under age six should not carry gel or use it without supervision.

“I would also recommend that parents carry hand sanitiser and sanitise children’s hands when they pick them up from school or parties, especially during cold and flu season,” Kourtis tells WebMD. Tierno warns that many natural brands of sanitisers either don’t work or don’t kill enough germs.

To be effective, a sanitiser should contain at least 60 per cent alcohol, according to the CDC.

Teach your child germ etiquette

Teach your child to stay

away from sick children as much as possible. “When children see another child hacking or sneezing, they should move away from the person, not mingle,” Tierno says. On the other hand, your child should cover coughs and sneezes to prevent spreading infection if he is sick. When possible, sneeze into a tissue and throw it in the trash right after. Then wash his hands.

Otherwise, he should cough or sneeze into crook of his elbow, not his hands.

Bring a pencil box

Supply your child with his own pencils, crayons, erasers, rulers, and other classroom supplies. He’ll have less risk of picking up an illness from sharing these objects. Consider packing mechanical pencils, which don’t need to be sharpened. Then your child can avoid the class pencil sharpener, a potential germ hotspot.

Don’t share at school

It’s simple to remember what is OK to share at school: “Nothing,” Tierno says.

Beyond sticking to their own food and drinks, “Children should avoid shar-

ing gloss or lip balm,” Kourtis says. “They should also use their own face make-up, razors, creams, and lotions to avoid skin infections, including MRSA and herpes.”

Items such as ear buds, locker-room towels, sports jerseys and helmets, and baseball gloves should also be off-limits for sharing.

With younger children, it may be difficult to avoid sharing books and toys in the classroom. Then it’s best to remind your child wash her hands afterward and avoid touching her eyes, mouth, or nose until she does.

Beware of top germ spots

A 2005 study of germs in schools found that classroom water fountain spigots and plastic cafeteria trays were the germiest spots in school.

The spigot had 2,700,000 and the tray 33,800 bacteria per square inch, compared with 3200 on the restroom toilet seat. This is most likely because toilet seats get cleaned regularly, while trays and water fountains may not be.

Tierno advocates teaching children not to put their mouths on spigots when they get a drink of water. Another strategy is to send your child to school with his own water, if school policy permits it. Some schools actually encourage children to bring their own water.

For avoiding germs on cafeteria trays, your child should not eat something that drops on the tray. And if she carries hand sanitiser, she could use it after carrying the tray to the table but before eating.

Keep backpacks clean

As any parent knows, school backpacks can get pretty gnarly from long-forgotten lunches and all the other things children stuff into them. Have your child clean out his backpack regularly. Then clean the inside of the backpack periodically.

Use a wet cloth or sanitary wipe to remove dripped milk and stuck-on food or crumbs.

Always make sure to pack lunches in a bag or lunchbox, not loose in a backpack, to keep backpacks cleaner. And while your child is cleaning out his backpack, remind him to bring dirty gym clothes home to wash and to clean rotting food out of his locker.

Build immunity

Help protect your child from inside as well as out.

Make sure that she gets enough sleep and exercise, avoids stress, and eats has a well-balanced diet. Pack a healthy lunch and snacks.

Encourage her to drink water at school to help keep her immune system strong.

(WebMD)

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Police responsible for Harding GMSA knocks MPs for dithering matter escalating – Kennard on anti-money laundering bill

By Vahnu Manikchand

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olice Complaints Authority (PCA) Chairman Cecil Kennard said the Guyana Police Force was responsible for the matter involving 23-year-old Colwyn Harding, who is accusing them of baton raping him, to be blown out of proportion.

In an interview with Guyana Times, the former chancellor of the judiciary said: “Had they performed their duty with due diligence in the sense they had caused this man to be escorted to the doctor, this entire thing would not have been blown out of proportion.” The PCA head pointed out that emphasis should be placed on the fact that the police failed to take Harding to seek medical attention.

After the gruesome allegations were made against the police force, the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) was tasked with probing the matter. After completing their investigations and compiling a report, the OPR handed a copy to Kennard for his leg of the investigations.

Approximately one week later, the retired justice concluded his work and disclosed that the report had no evidence of Harding being assaulted to the extent claimed. “I find that there is no conclusive evidence that Harding was sodomised, I have no conclusive evidence of that,” said the PCA head.

However, he noted that he found evidence of Harding being assaulted by two police officers at the Timehri Police Station. As such, he recommended that criminal charges be instituted against them, and disciplinary charges for neglect of duties be brought against five or six other ranks for failing to provide medical care for Harding.

Shortcoming

Kennard noted that he cannot disclose the names of those police officers, since his recommendations regarding the criminal charges will have to first go to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Bibi Shalimar Ali-Hack for her to say whether or not she will act on his recommendations.

According to the former chancellor, the shortcoming of the police in this entire issue lie in the fact that they failed to adhere to Standard Operational

Procedures (SOPs) by ensuring that the 23-year-old man received the necessary medical attention.

“I think the police ought to have taken him to a doctor as early as possible, as soon as the allegation was made because there were several policemen who are not involved in the case, but who are in line of authority and ought to have ensured that Harding was examined by a doctor at an early stage, we would have been able to have medical evidence whether he was, in fact, sodomised.”

As a result of the delayed examination, there is room for doubt in his mind that the sexual assault did occur. “As a matter of fact, there is no evidence coming from Harding or anyone that they saw Harding being sodomised. Harding’s evidence reveals that he was beaten unconscious by certain ranks and when he regained consciousness, he saw one of the ranks, against whom I recommended criminal charges, with a baton next to him so in essence he is asking the inference be drawn that the baton was used on him. When one looks at the evidence as a whole, I can hardly satisfy that that charge can stand up in the court of law and therefore, I have discounted that allegation,” Kennard noted.

Dishonesty

When questioned about the possibility of repercussions against Harding if he was found to have lied about the sexual allegations, the PCA head answered in the negative. The former chief justice explained that while Harding may have been dishonest, his story is not completely false since evidence of him been physically assaulted is present.

Some 45 persons were interviewed during the investigation of the allegation made by Harding that he was baton-raped by police officers in Timehri last November. Among those interviewed were Harding’s mother and the owner of the house where the 23-year-old alleged the incident occurred.

According to Kennard, the police officers maintained their innocence throughout the investigations conducted by the OPR. “I suppose police will try to protect themselves; there is no admission by any of them that they assault-

T

Police Complaints Authority Chairman Cecil Kennard

ed the man. I doubt whether a policeman would admit that they assaulted a civilian,” he said.

Asked whether the officers were questioned about neglecting to get Harding medical treatment, the PCA head noted that they were evasive in their answers on that issue.

He believes that the investigations at the level of the OPR were fairly balanced as investigators managed to acquire statements from both sides. In response to questions about people’s reservations about “police investigating police”, Kennard asked “who have investigative experience?”

He explained that persons cannot be taken from the road to investigate these matters, adding that police have been trained to do this.

“The persons at OPR have had tremendous experience in investigating matters. The fact that they have investigated and they made certain recommendations, myself nor the DPP are bound to accept those recommendations. We look at the evidence in the case and make our own recommendations.”

A month after the allegations were made, Harding was hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital, where doctors said he was suffering from a severe case of hernia. Currently, Harding is in Jamaica seeking medical attention for his injuries. (vahnum@guyanatimesgy.com)

he Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) said it is now more apparent that the parliamentary parties are continuing to dither in the special select committee over refining the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism legislation, which is long overdue.

The GMSA in a statement said Guyana has already been blacklisted by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), but Guyanese from every walk of life could be spared the harsher effects of ultimate blacklisting, if only its parliamentarians would work with more alacrity to pass the amended bill.

“These amendments to the legislation, the GMSA understands, accompany other agreements which have not been contested, yet they have not yet been properly constituted. The Financial Intelligence Unit is one such. The general population, the business community and civil society are yet to be assured that the non-contentious requirements in the CFAFT bill have been implemented and put to work,” the GMSA said.

According to the association, CFATF requires that Guyana passes the stipulated legislation and implement all the outstanding requirements outlined in its action plan.

No reminder needed

These include mechanisms to fully criminalise money laundering and terrorist financing offences, and address all the requirements regarding beneficial ownership.

Guyana also has to strengthen its mechanisms for suspicious transaction reporting, for international co-operation, for freezing and confiscating terrorist assets, and fully implementing the United Nations conventions. While some effort has been made to address these deficiencies, CFATF is not satisfied that Guyana has taken sufficient steps to improve compliance with the AML/ CFT regime.

The GMSA said members of the parliamentary select committee need not be reminded that harsh penalties are in store for Guyana if/ when the country is eventually clas-

GMSA President Clinton Williams

sified by the international taskforce as non-compliant. From all appearances, Guyana will again fail to meet the next CFAFT deadline.

“What they do need reminding of is that the average Guyanese will face the full impact of the penalties for a long time, impacts which promise to disrupt our lives and livelihoods. The stigmatisation of Guyana and Guyanese will seep into every pore of this nation and contaminate our political, social and most of all, our economic wellbeing,” the GMSA said.

The manufacturing body pointed out that it takes no stretch of the imagination to conclude that the five per cent growth that Guyana’s economy has recorded in the past two years could very well be whittled away as the result of the crippling absence of a macro vision, this seeming inability to see the ‘big picture’.

“The prognosis for this nation is grim once this parliamentary indecisiveness continues. The GMSA is again appealing to our legislators to consider the real consequences of their inaction on the people of Guyana, to find agreement on the few amendments to the CFAFT action plan, and most of all, to implement the support mechanisms needed to fight money laundering and financing of terrorism,” the statement concluded.

8 News

thursday, february 6, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

INSIDE THE ALBION MAGISTRATE’S COURT

By Royan Abrams

Eyew tness

Man requests jail time The totalitarian to stay away from wife impulse...

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wenty-four-year-old David Bailey of Rose Hall Town, Corentyne made his first court appearance on Tuesday before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the Albion Magistrate’s Court on a charge of assault.

Bailey, a father of four, pleaded guilty to assaulting his common-law wife Audrey Giddings on January 24 at Rose Hall Town. Police pros-

ecutor Phillip Sheriff told the court that the defendant and the virtual complainant had a misunderstanding on the day of the incident about 07:00h and as a result, Bailey dealt Giddings several slaps and cuffs about her body.

According to the prosecutor, the woman reported the matter and the defendant was subsequently arrested and charged.

However, Bailey denied cuffing the woman but acknowledged that he indeed slapped her, but not as many times as was indicated by the prosecutor – only twice.

After the defendant pleaded with the magistrate for leniency, stating that he would not do it again, he was placed on a bond to keep the peace for one week and told if he was to get into trouble

with the law during that period, he would be arrested and jailed for one month.

After hearing this, Bailey told the magistrate that he would prefer to spend the month in jail, since it would keep him away from the complainant.

However, the magistrate said he could not grant that request, since the one-week bond was already inserted in the jacket.

Robbery under arms suspect remanded

A

father of one made his first court appearance in the Albion Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday charged with three counts of robbery under arms.

Rakesh “Vick” Bachan, 24, of Chesney, Albion, Corentyne, pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh.

The allegations are that on February 2 at Albion, the accused, being armed with a cutlass, attacked and

robbed Surendra Sookram of $16,700 cash. On the same day, the accused also attacked Rohan Sookram with a cutlass and relieved him of $6000 cash. In addition, David Poonsammy, who was in the company of the aforementioned virtual complainants (VCs), was also relieved of $11,000 cash.

The prosecution’s case is that the three VCs were at a shop playing pool when the defendant went into the said shop and observed them.

Later that night when the men were walking through

a street on their way home, they were confronted by the accused, who was armed with a cutlass. He placed the said weapon to one of the VCs’ neck and demanded that the others hand over their monies or he would chop them to death.

The three men handed over all their monies to the defendant, who then made good his escape.

The matter was reported to the police station after which the accused was arrested, told of the allegations and later charged with

the offence.

The magistrate asked the accused if he has anyone to bail him out; and he responded in the negative, as no one was present in court on his behalf.

However, Prosecutor Sheriff objected to bail, noting the seriousness and prevalence of such crimes in the country and the fact that a weapon was used to execute the crime. After hearing the case, the magistrate refused bail. The defendant is expected to return to court on March 4.

Carpenter in court for threatening to kill aunt

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carpenter was placed on $15,000 bail on Tuesday when he appeared before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the Albion

Magistrate’s Court to answer two charges.

Harrinarine Appadoo, of Rose Hall Town, Corentyne, pleaded not guilty to both charg-

es which stated that on February 2 at his home, he threatened his aunt, Urmella Appadoo. It was further alleged that on the same day the accused

damaged a zinc fence and a door owned by the virtual complainant (VC) and other articles worth $21,000.

According to police prosecutor Phillip Sheriff, the defendant and the VC are not on speaking terms due to previous problems and on the day in question, around 15:00h, the VC was at home when she was confronted by the defendant, who was at the time under the influence of alcohol and armed with a cutlass. The prosecutor related that the accused then told his aunt that he will kill her, drink her blood, and burn the house down.

In addition, the accused started to chop his aunt’s fence and the door to the house causing damages, the prosecutor said.

As a result, the VC became afraid and went to the Rose Hall Town Police Outpost where she made a report against her nephew. The accused was subsequently arrested and placed into custody.

There was no objection to bail being granted to the defendant, who was unrepresented in court. He was ordered to return to court on March 18 for the commencement of his trial.

...in Henry Jeffrey enry Jeffrey was given marching orders by former President Jagdeo – after he failed at three (four?

One loses count) separate ministries and then demanded a cushy ambassadorial posting to Suriname.

Hell hath no fury like a fella who’s been feeding at the public treasury all his life – and is then told he has to earn his living!

So after he was given a spot in the opposition Stabber News, it’s no surprise he’s been gnashing his teeth something fearsome at the PPP/C – and anything even remotely positive for that organisation. What made it worse is that the Stabber is notoriously cheap when it comes to columnists.

So it was totally understandable that Jeffrey lashed out viciously against the Chief Justice’s ruling: hey, it went contra to the opposition’s demands. But before even addressing some points in his diatribe, it’s clear that Jeffrey’s so imbued with the totalitarian mindset, he didn’t even realise he allowed his slips to show. And they’re real “dutty” slips.

The gist of Jeffrey’s contention is that the CJ’s human and so his opinion could be flawed. Well...OK. But what makes Jeffrey think his opinion is superior to the CJ’s and he is not subject to “prejudices”? And we’re not even going to talk about the CJ’s expertise in the law. Does Jeffrey not concede that he too is human and as such, inherently imperfect? Or is he possessed of perfect knowledge or a perfect understanding of the human condition that his opinion trumps all?

He would have to be, to hurl such words as “nonsense”, “bias”, “prejudice” at the CJ. But this is how the totalitarian mind works – they are possessed of the TRUTH (in capitals) and by golly, they’ll righteously kill you so that you appreciate that truth (in the afterlife?).

We get a clue of how Jeffrey’s particular mind works (there are totalitarians of all stripes) when he claimed the CJ’s decision “run(s) counter to a progressive historical trajectory”.

So Jeffrey sees “history” operating outside of human agency and we must all bend to its “laws” (trajectory). But even within that paradigm, what makes him qualified to calibrate that “trajectory”?

The man is perfect: a perfect totalitarian buffoon and scrounger.

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...in opposition And while we’re on the subject of the Chief Justice – it’s downright sickening that the attacks haven’t been about his decision, but his character and mores. Imagine one fella from the Muckraker would go so far as to claim that the man got a duty-free car through the intervention of former President Jagdeo! Yet we all know that judges are entitled to duty-free vehicles. And when the inevitable retraction had to be made...the assertion was finessed as “being capable” of that interpretation. The CJ should’ve sued the columnist and the publisher for their shirts.

From the opposition, the attacks have come from a different angle. They’ve been pushing the line that since the CJ is “acting”, he’s toeing the PPP/C’s line. The “mouth is muzzled ...” and all that. Well, this might be all well and good. But why haven’t the opposition agreed with the President’s proposal and confirm the CJ’s appointment?

Wouldn’t this permanent appointment remove the “muzzle”? But do they have another nominee? And why would their choice be better? It comes back to the totalitarian mindset.

However, the opposition and the other detractors of the CJ’s decision can have the last word, no? If they have the cojones, call a vote of no confidence and precipitate general elections. C’mon, let’s get it on! ...Muckraker’s editor The Muckraker’s been sensationalising claims that “radioactive cars” from Japan are flooding Guyana. If they’re to be believed, we’ll all be glowing in the dark pretty soon. But the proof they know nothing about what they’re pontificating on is proven by their claim that “radiation is a chemical reaction”! Ignorant wankers!

news

9

thursDay, february 6, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

Investigation continues Teen missing after leaving school into OIA plane crash G

uyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director Zulficar Mohamed on Wednesday confirmed that investigations into the Cessna 206 aircraft that crashed when it took off at the Ogle International Airport (OIA) are continuing.

Mohamed stated that officials are looking at several factors that might have contributed to the accident, with special emphasis being place on the weight on board the aircraft when it went down.

The director added that once the final report is compiled, it will be known to the public.

Recently, Transport Minister Robeson Benn stated that apart from the Trans Guyana Airways crash at Olive Creek, there are several other investigations that are simultaneously being conducted, making referencing to the Cessna 206 that went down in January at the OIA. He also hinted that officials are working with the

The Cessna 206 after it veered off the Ogle International Airport (OIA) runway

theory that one of the contributing factors maybe the weight of the aircraft upon take off on the day in question.

Trans Guyana Airways Administrative and Finance Manager Eddie Soolal said the company is in constant contact with the GCAA, noting that a report from the authority is of legal importance.

He however stated that

the airline has spoken to the pilot, but refused to divulge any information on the discussion, noting that if he does, it will be prejudicial to the GCAA investigations.

The manager disclosed that the company was happy that none of the passengers received severe injuries, and is in the process of discussing compensation. He added that the Fenix Airways Inc has paid the medical bill for

the injured passengers.

The passengers were discharged a few days after the accident. The aircraft was fully insured by an insurance company in England and was also covered here

by CARICOM insurance company.

Two passengers and a pilot were injured after a Cessna 206 aircraft belonging to the Fenix Airways veered of the runway of the OIA, minutes after taking off.

Munroe, 23, of Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital while the pilot, Raul Seecharran and another passenger Zoreena Alli of Mahdia received minor injuries and were treated at private medical institutions.

The accident occurred on January 11 about 09:30h while the aircraft with registration number 8-RMML was taking off from the western end of the runway.

The plane veered off the runway, ending up obliquely opposite the control tower on its back.

Police so far see no crime in recent ‘TIP’ cases Human Services and Social Security Minister Jenifer Webster has been very reluctant to speak on the matter; however, during a brief interview with this newspaper she said she was awaiting a report from the ministry’s counter-trafficking unit. Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) Director Ann Green has also refused to speak on the matter, beyond saying that the alleged victims are in the care of the Human Services Ministry.

Crime chief Seelall Persaud

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rime chief Seelall Persaud said the Guyana Police Force has been unable to identify any crime committed against the five girls who were reportedly trafficked according to the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO).

During an interview with Guyana Times on Tuesday, the crime chief said: “We are dealing with a case of five persons who have said they are TIP victims.” The five girls ages 1617 have been reporting to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Police Headquarters Eve Leary since Monday.

Persaud said even as the investigation continues, “the police have not been able to identify any crime that has been committed”. As a result, no arrest has been made or identification parade facilitated.

Rescued

On Friday last, GWMO President Simona Broomes told Guyana Times that five teenagers who were trafficked to Cuyuni, Region Seven were rescued earlier that day.

Using some $3 million provided by the British High Commission, Broomes said GWMO members ventured to the Cuyuni district with the intent of sensitising persons on the negative impacts of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and simultaneously rescuing victims.

According to Broomes, one of the 17-year-old girls is known to the police and the organisation. She was rescued last November during a similar operation.

It is unclear how the teenager was trafficked for a second time. The case involving her is still before the court.

Broomes said while interacting with a shopkeep-

GWMO President Simona Broomes

er in the presence of a police officer, the girl jumped through the shop window to

attract their attention. She was reportedly locked away by the shopkeeper. Another victim is reported to have had a child.

The five young women were brought out of the mining community and transported to Parika where they were received by the Human Services Ministry.

In 2013, the GWMO rescued 29 TIP victims, with 16 of those rescued being under the age of 18. Recently, the GWMO accused the home affairs, human services and education ministries of failing TIP victims, pointing out to the callous treatment meted out to some survivors by ranks of the Guyana Police Force.

Missing: Philicia Carew

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elatives of a teenager are frantically searching for her after she disappeared while waiting on public transportation in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market area on Monday afternoon.

Philicia Carew, 16, of Lot 474 North East La Penitence was last seen at the North East Bus Park about 17:30h on the day she went missing. Numerous attempts to contact her have proven futile. The former Lodge Community High School student left classes at the Carnegie School of Home Economics with her friends who claimed that they left her waiting on transportation on the bus park.

Jenell Thompson, the mother of the missing teen, explained that she last spoke to her daughter on Monday afternoon about 17:30h, while she was at the bus park.

The mother said after some time elapsed, she tried to contact her daughter, but her efforts proved futile.

“I called and called but the phone went straight to voice mail… she didn’t call home or even contacted me since Monday night…. I am worried, I know she has a boyfriend but he is with us searching for her, so I can’t say what really happened,” the mother cried.

She explained that Carew contacted her boyfriend on Monday evening using another friend’s num-

ber and instructed him to return a call on her phone, but when he tried, it went to voicemail. The worried mother said her daughter would normally go out with friends, but never spent a night out.

Thompson is fearful that someone might be holding her daughter hostage or might have done something bad to her. She said a missing person report was lodged at the East La Penitence Police Station, but noted that the police have not shown much interest.

The mother said the law enforcement officers told her the young lady was over the age of consent and she is “probably with her boyfriend”.

The woman further stated that she went to the Carnegie School of Home Economics to inquire about her daughter’s whereabouts, but again her friends reiterated that they left her on the park.

The mother is calling on her daughter, if she went away voluntarily, to return home and in the case of being kidnapped, she urged the persons responsible to release her at once.

Thompson is also calling on members of the public who might have information that may lead to the rescue of her daughter to contact the family on telephone numbers 643-7687, 6293416, 692-9161 or the nearest police station.

10

guyanatimesgy.com

thursday, february 6, 2014

News

Proposed changes to ERC for House vote next week

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ommittee on Appointments Chairman, Dr George Norton is expected to present a report in the National Assembly on Monday relating to the reorganisation of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC).

Dr Norton told Guyana Times on Wednesday that the report will entail plans to add three more members to the legal structure of the ERC. He explained that the committee is moving to increase the number of appointees from seven to 10, and so include a representative from an Afro-Guyanese, IndoGuyanese and Amerindian group. That new category will be referred to as cultural/ethnic.

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament said significant progress was made over the past few months by the appointive committee to address this issue. “There was no difficulty really in arriving at the stage where we can put a report to the House and we hope it would get the two-third majority,” he said.

Dr Norton added that the

committee has removed the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) from the committee and placed the culture/ethnic group in its slot.

Detailed information

The report to be submitted on Monday provides detailed information on the work of the committee and will explain how the committee came to the decision to remove the IRO and replace it with another group. He said, “The ERC comprises certain entities and we had to have some additions, subtraction and changes… we also had to search to find if some of the religious and other organisations were still active.”

At present, the seven representatives comprise one member from the Christian religion, Hindu religion, Muslim religion, labour movement, private sector organisations, youth organisations, and women organisations. As it relates to the religious bodies, nine organisations falls under the Islamic group; 13 under the Hindu group, 36 under the Christian group, 20 under the labour movement group, 26 under the private sector

Committee on Appointments Chairman, Dr George Norton

group, 42 under the youth group, and 22 under the women group.

However, with the additional three positions, five Amerindian bodies, eight African bodies and three Indian bodies will be represented. All of the said entities that fall under the new category will be written to immediately after the passage of the motion, by the Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, and instructed to meet as a group to select their nominees and send back that information to Parliament.

A deadline will be set by the clerk for the receipt of the

nomination. The nominees that is chosen to represent these bodies are expected to be “competent to contribute positively to work of the commission and… committed to ensuring that it discharges all of its functions”, according to the National Assembly.

Dr Norton said, “We hope that nobody will judge the function of the ERC that should form now on any past commission that existed before.”

The ERC has been functioning without commissioners and a chairman for some time. While staff is attached to the commission, there is little known about the work they have been doing. The opposition, during the 2012 and 2013 national budgets, had cut funding for the constitutional body, but this was later restored through a court order.

The ERC was established under the Herdmanston Accord. It works with persons and agencies to promote harmonious ethnic relations.

The commission also deals with complaints, promotes training in racial harmony, and fosters a sense of security among all ethnic groups.

PSC upbeat about automatic ballot scan, tabulation system

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anadian High Commissioner, Dr Nicole Giles said her country will be donating approximately 60 paperbased, automatic ballot scan and tabulation machines

to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

The equipment will be donated to Guyana by the DELIAN project, an independent non-profit organisation registered in Canada and the

United States. Each machine can handle in excess of 1000 votes per day. These systems, while speeding up the tabulation process, also provide for paper ballots which could be manually tabulated

in the event of the need for a recount.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Thursday met with Giles, and GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally, and was briefed on the potential of an automatic ballot scan and tabulation voting system for use in both local and national elections in Guyana. The use of such a system, the PSC said in a statement, could enhance the accuracy of vote counts and speed up the delivery of election results.

The PSC said it was heartened by the information presented and looked forward to the results of a preliminary assessment of the system by GECOM, should the proposed project find acceptance from key stakeholders.

The commission is of the view that such systems could be of great value to Guyana where the current methods associated with the tabulation and the transmission of votes tend to impede the official declaration of results.

Earlier results

Only recently, GECOM said, in recognition of the need to tabulate, certify and announce accurate election results in a timelier manner, that it was exploring the possibility of embarking on a pilot project in which automatic scanning and tabulation machines could be used in a future election. Accordingly, a team of representatives of the DELIAN Project visited GECOM and conducted a demonstration on the use of automatic ballot scan and tabulation technology.

The DELIAN Project

All a dem just wanna run de country

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eople does either run to some ting when dem want that ting or run from some ting when dem friken that ting. De way de country goin, is plenty runnin goin on. Some a dem who run down de country still wanna run de country.

Green Bridge is a big time runner. He runnin from de finance minister. He run from all dem meetins whah he get invite to and now he run even from de P-Ace-C. And de P-Ace-C woulda never even run dem mouth in de meetin.

But Green Bridge realise he couldn’t run he mouth wid de P-Ace-C around. So runnin out was de next best ting. And this is a man who wanna run de country.

Before that Green Jah and he people run to Parliament and cut de budget. De A-Gee run dem to de court. De court run back Will Yams. Now Will Yams wanna run to de Appeal Court. But he tinkin twice because he friken that he get run back out again. And this is a man who wanna run de country.

Winstone Feelicks run from de SWAT team when he was in de police force. Now that de SWAT team comin in full force, Feelicks wanna run de team away. De other day, Feelicks run to Berbice when he hear bout police runnin slackness in a village.

After that Feelicks run back to GT de garbage town and sheer garbage run from he mouth. Bear in mind that Winstone had already get ketch runnin he mouth pun de phone wid Will Yams a couple a years back. And this is a man who wanna run de country.

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

Rum Jhaat decide that this kinda runnin ain’t wukkin. De other day he run to de bottle by 704 and then run fuh more bottle by de sea wall cricket club. But after he get drunk one a dem staff had to run he home. And this is a man who wanna run de country!

was created in 2011 as a philanthropic entity by the Canadian elections technology firm Dominion Voting Systems (DVS). The DEILAN Project procures and donates electoral technology to emerging and growing democracies. DELIAN is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, and recently joined the Clinton Global Initiative.

At the demonstration, it was pointed out that the DELIAN Project could donate up to 25 paper-based, automatic ballot scan and tabulation machines to Guyana for a future election. Each machine can handle roughly 1000-1250 voters on a typical polling day.

The automatic ballot scan and tabulation system could be deployed on a pilot basis at up to 25 polling stations at a future election, as selected by GECOM.

Paper trail

The system, though paper-based, allows for electronic, automatic tabulation of results. The advantage of a paper-based, automatic ballot scan and tabulation system is that results are tabulated (counted) as they are sent in at the close of polls, resulting in the ability to announce results immediately, while still maintaining the comfort of a “paper trail” should a physical re-count be required. They are a form of document ballot voting systems, meaning that there is a tangible record

of the voter’s intent even as a voter still marks a traditional paper ballot. The procedure for using the automatic ballot scan and tabulation system involves the voter simply using pen and paper to mark his/her intent on the ballot, and the voter’s ballot paper being confidentially scanned and dropped into a sealed ballot box.

At the close of polls, results are tabulated and the statement of poll is printed and shared with polling station officials, and then sent to the returning officer through a secure, electronic medium.

In the case of an unclear mark, the ballot scan and tabulation machine returns the ballot to the voter for review and correction, if desired.

Finally, the returning officer electronically collates and tabulates poll results received from the multiple machines to rapidly and accurately produce consolidated poll results.

Of importance, it must be noted that the ballot paper can be used to complete an audit trail if a manual recount becomes necessary.

Guyana’s election laws do not currently provide for the use of electronic voting systems. Hence, the laws would have to be amended accordingly, should there be agreement between GECOM and the bona fide political parties pertaining to any introduction of the automatic ballot scan and tabulation systems in Guyana.

11 News

guyanatimesgy.com

thursday, february 6, 2014

Habitat for Humanity GRA holds tax talks with women miners courts Japanese M group to build lowincome homes embers of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) were enlightened on their obligations as taxpayers, and the tax regulations governing the gold mining industry when they met officials of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for talks on Tuesday.

GRA Tax Advisory Services Division Manager Naresha Bobb-Semple and Tax Specialist Tyrome Anthony hosted the discus-

H

abitat for Humanity Guyana Inc is currently in discussion with a Japanese organisation for the construction of lowincome homes in Guyana.

This was disclosed by Habitat for Humanity’s National Director Rawle Small, during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times. Though the deal has not yet been sealed, Small noted that this venture will greatly assist the less fortunate people of Guyana.

“It is not a deal as yet; however, we are in discussion, and I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag right now… our hope is that we have the contract inked some time before the year is out.”

Small added that they are delighted and hope to commence construction and other preparatory works as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, as the organisation expands its programmes, Small said Habitat for Humanity operates with a concept called the Participatory Market System Housing Development in which the market impact of a service is quantified. He explained that the system not only focused on how many houses have been built or the number of families which have been housed for a year, but the impact that is being made in different areas within the market. Among the personnel and areas assessed for impact are the suppliers, labourers, contractors and the sustainability and or incentives provided for low-income families to access lowincome houses.

Giving back

Speaking about the support the organisation has been receiving from local businesses, Small said many of them have been buying into the idea of supporting and giving back to the local communities by sponsoring and contributing towards the low-income houses.

He alluded to the 2013 “Beharry Build” project.

According to the national director, this programme has been a tremendous success and it was expanded for another year to facilitate more citizens who are desirous of owning their own homes.

“Every day we receive phone calls and persons meet us on the road and ask us how can I benefit from the “Beharry Build”?

We have to say it’s a pilot programme and we can only serve a certain number.”

He noted that there are persons desirous of owning their homes, but they are not financially equipped to do so hence, they need to find alternative paths to homeownership.

Under the Edward B Beharry Limited (EBB) and Habitat for Humanity

sion. They explained, in detail, the policies regarding income and property tax; entitlements; aspects of the mining law; the newly-introduced Mortgage Interest Relief (MIR); the legal obligation of every eligible individual having a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN); as well as other relevant issues.

The engagement held at the authority’s 200201 Camp Street, South Cummingsburg headquar-

ters ended with GWMO President Simona Broomes signalling the organisation’s willingness to take taxation awareness sessions to miners in the interior locations if the need arose.

“We would love to have more sessions with you (GRA)… we can go out there to the miners and speak in their language, in the camps or wherever they are, both employees and employers, about taxes,” Broomes said.

The women miners were

candid about the numerous challenges facing small-scale miners and inquired about duty-free entitlements for certain capital equipment and whether tax defaulters can be granted amnesty if there is an acceptable reason.

Tuesday’s meeting followed requests by the GWMO for an audience with the GRA, as they sought clarity on a number of issues relating to taxation as it applies to employers and employees.

New fire station to be built in Region Three

Habitat for Humanity’s National Director Rawle Small

Guyana Inc low-income project, launched on June 21, 2013, the non-governmental organisation receives a portion of funds raised from the sale of Beharry brands such as Chico, Champion, and Indi. The monies raised will contribute to Habitat’s efforts to alleviate poverty through its community development initiatives, inclusive of youth empowerment programmes, disaster response and recovery training, and the like.

Major sponsors

In addition to the Beharry company, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) has been making timely contributions to the organisation’s work.

Other major sponsors include ScotiaBank and King’s Jewellery World.

Small further explained that in order to maintain the sustainability of some of the initiatives, changes which the NGO envisions can only become a reality through the empowerment, education and mentoring of young people.

He stated that through the youths within the communities, members of society can be significantly impacted and can become more involved in community development, learning various skills and creating networks, nationally, regionally and internationally.

Habitat for Humanity Guyana Inc began its work in 1994 following an invitation from the then President, Dr Cheddi Jagan and was officially registered here in 1995. Since then, the organisation has supported more than 3000 families within the country’s 10 administrative regions, through partnership with affiliates, home partners, volunteers, and sponsors to build simple, decent and affordable housing for low-income earners.

Also, the organisation has undertaken home repairs, rehabilitation works, and assisted in accessing secure tenure.

With a new programme direction, added focus will be placed on community development, disaster risk reduction, and social action and awareness.

C

hief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle has indicated that there are plans in the pipeline to build a fire station on the West Bank of Demerara.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) has quoted Gentle as saying that the Guyana Fire

Service (GFS) has had to respond to a number of firerelated incidents on the West Bank between Vreeden-Hoop and Wales. This is a situation that has been compounded by the Parfaite Harmonie/Westminster development, which is one of the larger housing schemes

in the region. Gentle said establishing the fire station to service the area specifically would reduce greatly the fire service’s response time to incidents on the West Bank.

There are currently 16 fire stations in Guyana, with two recently coming

on stream – the $13 million station at Mahaica and the $20 million station at Diamond, East Bank Demerara. Lethem, Mahdia, Kwakwani, Mabaruma, Kumaka, and Port Kaituma will shortly be provided with fire-fighting capabilities.

12 News

Thursday, february 6, 2014 | guyanatimeSGY.com

Several schoolchildren injured in bus accident

Berbice criminal assizes opens

High Court Judge Diana Insanally inspecting the guard of honour

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The ill-fated minibus

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everal students were among the persons injured on Monday after the bus in which they were travelling veered out of control and ended up in a trench on the Borlam Turn, Corentyne.

According to reports, at approximately 17:30h on Monday, minibus BSS 891 was on its way from New Amsterdam when the driver, who was reportedly speeding, lost control of the vehicle.

According to eyewitnesses, the bus was filled with mostly schoolchildren from the New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI) and was travelling east heading to Corriverton. “The driver was speeding and overtook two vehicles, but when

he approached the turn, he lost control of the vehicle.”

The bus ran off the road, cutting a lamp post in two, and flipped several times in the air before landing on its sides facing the opposite direction in the roadside trench. During the process, several parts of the vehicle flew off, including the sliding door which landed a few feet away from the bus. Villagers rushed to the scene and rendered assistance to the injured and taking them to the New Amsterdam Hospital for treatment.

An eyewitness said, “I was sitting outside when I hear a loud noise; when I look up the road, I saw the bus in the trench and some children from the NATI coming out soaked and some of

them covered in blood, I immediately rushed over and assisted in getting the others out to the hospital.”

The vehicle was badly damaged and it was a miracle that no one suffered fatal injuries. One student reportedly lost an ear during the accident. Several other persons were admitted to the hospital nursing injuries varying from a fractured hand to cuts and bruises.

One of the passengers said they urged the driver to slow down; however, the driver, who was only identified as “Chris”, did not heed their call. He fled the scene immediately after the accident without rendering any assistance to the injured.

Police are continuing their investigation.

he February criminal sessions of the Berbice Assizes opened on Monday with the traditional parade and march past by 32 ranks from B Division.

Scores of Berbicians came out to watch the police march from Coburg Street to the High Court.

Cadet Officer Ronald Ali assisted by Inspector Dennis Stephens led the parade, which was inspected by Justice Diana Insanally.

Inside the court, in the first case, Rakash “Rakesh” Janack pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter after the indictment was read to him. Janack is allegedly responsible for the death of Brentnol Richard Isaacs, called “Tonguey”, a 31-year-old mason, of

Ithaca, West Bank Berbice, on October 27, 2012 at Blairmont.

State Prosecutor Renita Singh asked for an adjournment after Justice Insanally suggested that a probation report on the accused be presented. Before the prosecution presented the facts of the case, Attorney Raymond Ali agreed to the presentation of the probation report, forcing Singh to ask for the matter to be adjourned until February 11 when that report is expected to be presented and Janack should be sentenced.

According to media reports, Isaacs and the accused had a misunderstanding at a house in Zorg-en-Hoop Scheme, Blairmont, around 21:15h on the day in ques-

tion. It is alleged that Isaacs was at the house with some men when an argument broke out. A brawl ensued and the accused reportedly got annoyed and went for a cutlass with which he chopped Isaacs across his chest and left arm.

The injured man fell and was picked up and rushed to the Fort Wellington Hospital, before being transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

It is alleged that Janack was furious over a relationship between Isaacs and a close female relative of his.

Meanwhile, another trial is expected to commence on Wednesday at the Berbice Assizes.

GRA launches random Three in custody for car accident import inspection system

A Guyana Revenue Authority public relations officer (left) assisting a member of the public during the authority’s Random Selection of Goods for Examination exercise

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The car that crashed into Raj Motor Cycle Spare Parts

hree men are currently in police custody assisting with investigations after the car in which they were travelling, crashed into Raj Motor Cycle Spare Parts, a shop located at Skeldon on the Corentyne.

According to information received, around 03:00h early Tuesday morning, the driver of motor car PRR 1482, which was heading south, lost control of his vehicle and ended up in the shop situated on the western side of

the public road.

The proprietor of the shop, Rajkumar Churaman, told Guyana Times in an interview that he was roused from sleep by a loud noise downstairs and upon checking, he observed the car parked neatly in his shop.

“This morning I was in bed when the car drive straight in and break in the shop… when I guh downstairs and check, I see the car in the shop and three man… all of Ah bin drunk,” he said.

Luckily, no one was in

the shop at the time of the incident. Churaman disclosed that he has suffered more than $500,000 in losses as a result of the incident.

According to reports, the driver of the motor car, along with the passengers, who were suspected to have been under the influence of alcohol, fell asleep and lost control of the vehicle.

The driver of the car and the other two occupants have since been taken into police custody, while investigations into the incident are ongoing.

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he Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Tuesday commenced its Random Selection of Imports for Examination System.

With the objective of preserving the integrity of the GRA and its officers, members of the public were involved in the selection of consignments of commercial imports for a 100 per cent manual examination using a lottery draw system.

According to a GRA release, five names were selected from a ticket cage containing the names of con-

signees, who from Monday lodged declarations at the Customs and Trade Administration. The consignments of those five persons were then searched.

Going forward, selections will be done twice per week with five consignments being selected at each draw.

In the interest of safeguarding the integrity of the system and stymieing persons who may seek to hinder the process, the dates and times of the draws will be announced via the GRA’s social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter on the

morning of each draw.

The primary objective of this random selection system is in keeping with GRA’s commitment to achieving greater transparency and efficiency in the selection process of consignments to be examined.

Importers whose names were drawn will be informed and inspections will be done at a mutually agreed time. Participants in the draw are invited to witness the examinations at the relevant wharves at their own expense should they so desire.

news

13

thursday, february 6, 2014 | guyanatimesGY.com

Rohee, Solomon trade blame over unspent money for Linden projects

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he People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary Clement Rohee said Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon should justify why $10 million for developmental projects was returned to the national coffers, but Solomon said government is responsible.

Speaking at Freedom House on Tuesday, Rohee said the Alliance For Change (AFC), but, in particular the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has often accused the PPP/C administration of neglecting the mining town.

Claims

“Despite claims about Linden being the most marginalised and impoverished community in Guyana, the regional administration returned double-digit millions to the national coffers for 2013,” he pointed out.

Instead of accelerating developmental activities in the region, he said, some regional leaders have been

PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee

promoting political confrontation, disunity and division.

According to Rohee, the poorly supported shutdown and protest led by Solomon on January 25 is a clear indication that Lindeners are rejecting confrontation, and they should commended in this regard.

“In the estimation of the party, a great majority of the Guyanese are becoming increasingly wary of the opposition’s politics of con-

frontation, disunity and division.”

According to Rohee, Guyanese all across the country continue to testify against the negative impacts of the opposition’s politics, as he alluded to the July 18, 2012 protest which evolved to violent unrest, leaving three dead and more than a dozen public and private buildings gutted, including the One Mile Primary School.

But the Region 10 chairman said the PPP/C administration should be honest with the public. He contended that the return of the $10 million was partially the fault of the government.

He explained that it was only on January 7, 2014 that central government released $6 million for the payments to be made for works executed at the Araima Primary School. The project was originally estimated by the region’s engineer at $10 million; however, following the tender process, it was awarded at $12 mil-

APNU expresses commitment to amend anti-money laundering bill

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fter being hammered by the two private sector bodies on Tuesday for walking out of a meeting when a proposal was made for the Private Sector Commission (PSC) to observe the meetings of the select committee fine-tuning the anti- money laundering bill, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on Wednesday said it is committed to amending the current act of 2009 to ensure that it is effective.

The party also committed to ensuring that the Bank of Guyana (BoG) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) are empowered and equipped to fulfil its functions and achieve the objectives of the act and to engage the government of Guyana, the private sector, civil society, the trade unions and the international community to protect “our economy with the enforceable Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism ( AML/CFT) laws”.

The PSC had criticised APNU’s position regarding the observation of discussion on the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill, at the parliamentary special select committee. APNU objected to a motion put to the select committee for the proceedings to be observed by the commission.

The PSC, in a statement, said on December 10, APNU gave an unqualified undertaking to support the PSC proposal that the meeting of the special select committee be held in public, thereby facilitating observers.

“The PSC finds it inexplicable that APNU would now renege on its under-

taking made at a meeting chaired by its leader, Brigadier (retired) David Granger, and considers this to be a disturbing display of bad faith on the part of the major opposition party.” The commission had requested an urgent meeting with the coalition over the matter.

Meanwhile, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) said members of the National Assembly should leave “political grandstanding” out of the negotiations.

“The chamber noted with deep disappointment the position adopted by A Partnership for National Unity to withdraw and not allow outside observers to the parliamentary select committee debates concerning the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill,” the GCCI said in a press statement on Tuesday. The coalition has since said that it walked out of the meeting, owing to the disrespectful attitude of the chairperson of the committee, Gail Teixeira.

Deliberate

On Wednesday, the coalition went a step further chastising the People’s Progressive Party/Civic administration for dithering on the issue.

It said the government has deliberately not enforced its own anti-money laundering legislation for over 13 years until it was threatened with sanctions by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and the international financial community.

Noting that the Money Laundering Prevention Act of 2000 was introduced by

the PPP/C 13 years ago, APNU said it was never enforced and was deemed ineffective.

“The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act of 2009 was then introduced under international pressure. It was never enforced and was also deemed ineffective,” the coalition said, adding that the Bank of Guyana never had the capacity to fully execute its mandate to supervise financial institutions for compliance with anti-money laundering requirements.

Always weak

It said too that the FIU, established since 2003, was always a weak, understaffed and underequipped one-person organisation.

“It was completely dependent upon the Ministry of Finance for its budget and office space. It has never made a single money laundering prosecution and never reported on its work before November 2013,” APNU charged.

The coalition said the government does not release statistics on the number of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) received by the unit, although it is required to make these statistics available as mandated by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

“The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force made recommendations to strengthen the AML/CFT Act, the BoG and the FIU. It was only in April 2013 when Guyana was threatened with being blacklisted and deadlines for compliance were set that the government was forced to introduce amendments to the AML-CFT Act in the National Assembly.”

lion. Guyana Times was informed that $6 million was paid to the contractor first and it was the remaining $6 million that was released in January.

Late payments

Solomon said central government must address the issue of late release of payments for projects.

Meanwhile, $4 million was allocated for the rehabilitation of the Rockstone Bridge. According to him, the initiative is a “roll over project”.

He made it clear that the regional council, for the past two years, has been prudent in the execution of its duties, pressuring contractors to deliver high-quality work.

However, Solomon said the council is frustrated over moves to awarded contracts to contractors closely aligned to the government.

Alternative Contracting Services was singled out.

According to the Region 10 chairman, three projects to-

Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon

talling approximately $50 million were awarded to Alternative Contracting Services, a move which has resulted in unnecessary delays.

Addressing the issue of propagating political confrontation, Solomon said Lindeners on January 25 were exercising their fundamental right to protest over a legitimate issue. He said residents signalled their unhappiness with the failures of the August 21, 2012

agreement, and were simply calling on the president to honour the agreement signed.

“I am quite confident that the government got the message that the people of Linden will hold them accountable,” Solomon said in response to allegations levelled by Rohee.

Days before President Donald Ramotar’s visit to Linden, for the opening of a Freedom House branch at Mackenzie, the regional chairman announced the shutting down of the town.

At the time, he said, the president should address the people on the failures of the August 21, 2012 agreement between the government and the region following the month-long unrest.

But on the day of the president’s visit, while the commercial sector in the town came to a standstill, only scores of people turned out at the five-corner junction in proximity of the Freedom House branch to vent their dissatisfaction.

14

guyanatimesgy.com

thursday, February 6, 2014

Regional

Trinidad and Tobago records more than 2500 teenage pregnancies annually

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ducation Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said many men were getting away with statutory rape after indicating that more than 2500 teenage pregnancies are reported annually in Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr Gopeesingh, speaking in the Senate, said that most of the teenagers had become pregnant for fathers who were between the ages of 25 and 40 and that some of the mothers were below the ages of 12.

The education minister told legislators research by the Faculty of Medical Science of the University of the West Indies (UWI) showed that by age 19, more

Dr Tim Gopeesingh, a gynaecologist with more than 27 years' practice, described the situation as “frightening”, saying that for every 15 new patients in the ante-natal, 10 were teenagers

than 1000 young women already had four children.

Dr Gopeesingh, a gynae-

cologist with more than 27 years' practice, described the situation as “frighten-

ing” saying that for every 15 new patients in the ante-natal, 10 were teenagers.

He said the country could not continue to ignore the statutory rape of teenagers, adding it was necessary to apprehended the fathers engaged in the practice so as to induce “fear among the perpetrators” that could serve as a deterrent to statutory rape.

“It is an issue of socialisation and what these teenagers are looking for. When you question them, even when I was in my own practice... they said they were looking for some degree of love. They felt they were not loved,” he said. (Excerpt from

Caribbean360)

Couva teacher murdered in TT

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till reeling from the murder of nursing student Sally Roopan on Monday, the community of Couva was rocked again on Tuesday as another one of its women was brutally taken away – this time a preschool teacher. Police identified the latest victim as Judy Duke-Guerro, the 33-year-old mother of three, of Cemetery Street, Perseverance Village. Police said Duke-Guerro’s body was discovered around 16:30h by her 18-year-old brother. She was found bound at the feet and hands; she was blindfolded and her throat was slit.

The victim’s mother, Lynette Duke cried inconsolably as the police conducted their investigations, and was constantly consoled by friends and relatives, all stunned by this latest killing of a woman they deemed innocent and very friendly to all who knew her. The woman had three children, Deneesa,

Progress made between Haiti, The Dominican Republic

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he Dominican Republic will present new legislation to the parliament on February 27 to address the constitutional court ruling that denies citizenship to children of Haitian migrants in the Spanish-speaking country.

A joint statement issued at the end of the latest round of talks Monday between The Dominican Republic and Haitian officials in the Dominican town of Jimani, indicated that progress had been made on some of the contentious issues between the two countries.

“The Dominican Republic confirmed its commitment to submit to Congress, as of February 27, at the beginning of the new legislature, a special law to address the situation of those born in The Dominican Republic

and who, currently, do not have any documentation,” the joint statement said.

Last September, The Dominican Republic Constitutional Court ruled that the children of undocumented migrants, who have been in The Dominican Republic and registered as Dominicans as far back as 1929, cannot have Dominican nationality as their parents are considered to be “in transit”.

The decision has been strongly condemned by the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the United Nations, with the UN human rights office in Geneva, calling on The Dominican Republic to take all necessary measures to ensure that citizens of Haitian origin were not deprived of their right to nationality.

(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

U.S. revises application form for Caribbean immigrants

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With shocked villagers crowding around, undertakers remove the body of Judy Duke-Guerro (inset) from the scene of TT’s latest murder in Perseverance Village, Couva, on Tuesday night

Johnathon and Joshua, all still in primary school, with her former husband Andrew Guerro, 40.

Speaking to the media outside the house, as villag-

ers crowded to the scene for a first-hand look at crime scene investigators conducting their investigations, Guerro said he and his wife had separated more than a

year ago. He said he could not understand why anyone would want to kill her, and said: “She did not deserve die in such a horrific manner.” (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

he United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says it has released a revised form for Caribbean and other immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship.

USCIS said through the Federal Register it received numerous comments from the public that helped inform the revision of Form N-400, Application for Naturalisation.

“The revisions to Form N-400 provide USCIS with additional tools to make important eligibility determinations, present customers with clearer instructions, and incorporate technology that improves efficiency and accuracy for both USCIS and our customers.

“Although the form is

now revised, the eligibility requirements for naturalisation have not changed,” it added. USCIS said the revised Form N-400 now includes additional questions to conform to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004 and Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007.

“The additional information is important for USCIS to make a complete and informed determination of an applicant’s eligibility for U.S. citizenship,” it said.

“The questions relate not only to concerns surrounding good moral character but also to issues relating to the security of the United States,” it added. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)

Islamic Bank to lend Suriname Colombia’s FARC says Panama Canal expansion ex-president behind US$60M for health sector work halted over cost row

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he Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) board of directors has approved a US$60 million loan for Suriname’s health sector, which was part of US$705.18 million of new financing focusing on infrastructure, and human development in member countries and the education sector in Muslim communities in nonmember countries, according to a press release from the bank.

On the human development front, the board approved US$73.83 million, which included US$60 million for “Health System Strengthening Project” in Suriname. It is the biggest single loan that Suriname has received from the IsDB since joining the bank.

Suriname and the IsDB recently signed an interim member country partnership strategy (MCPS), signalling a major shift towards the consolidation of ties between Suriname and the IsDB since Paramaribo joined the bank in 1997.

In addition to this US$60 million, the IsDB, under the interim MCPS with Suriname, will provide support in four major areas namely: i) healthcare services; ii) skills development/vocational training; iii) sea transportation (that is, rehabilitation and expansion of the New Nickerie Seaport through dredging and construction of warehousing facilities); and iv) institutional capacity building including cyber security. (Excerpt from Caribbean News Now)

spying on peace talks

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olombia’s FARC rebels accused former President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday of involvement in alleged spying on government negotiators at peace talks in Cuba, and said their delegation’s communications were also intercepted.

The FARC comments came a day after President Juan Manuel Santos ordered an investigation into apparent spying on his negotiators by rogue elements in Colombia’s military, saying “dark forces” were trying to sabotage his bid to end five decades of war with the leftist guerrillas. Uribe, Santos’s predecessor, intensified the military’s attacks on the FARC during his two terms in power from 2002-2008, us-

ing support from the United States to thin the rebels’ ranks and push them into more remote jungle areas.

“Alvaro Uribe is behind all this. Do not forget that (Uribe) is the Number one enemy of peace in Colombia,” Ivan Marquez, head of the FARC’s negotiating team in Havana, told reporters. “Not only is there spying by Colombia on the government’s peace delegation, but especially on the peace delegation of the FARC,” he said, without elaborating or offering any evidence.

Uribe denied involvement when the spying allegations came to light on Tuesday with the unveiling of a 15-month investigation by respected weekly news magazine Semana. (Excerpt from Reuters)

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ork has been halted on the expansion of the Panama Canal, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. The stoppage follows a breakdown in talks between the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Spanish-led consortium behind the project.

The two sides are engaged in a dispute over who should foot the bill for cost overruns totalling US$1.6 billion (£1 billion).

The consortium says 10,000 jobs are at risk but the canal’s authorities say they will not “yield to blackmail”. Canal Administrator Jorge Quintano accused the GUPC consortium of being “inflexible” in its negotiations.

He did not rule out that a deal could still be reached, but said that the window of opportunity was getting narrower “by the minute”. The Panama Canal Authority had earlier broken off talks accusing the consortium of breaching its contract.

The contract involves building a new larger set of locks to accommodate ships carrying up to 12,000 containers. At the moment the biggest ships that can navigate the canal carry 5000 containers.

The consortium is made up of Spain’s Sacyr, Impregilo of Italy, Belgian firm Jan De Nul and Constructora Urbana, a Panamanian firm. (Excerpt from

BBC News)

15 Around the world thursday, February 6, 2014

guyanatimesgy.com

UN condemns Vatican child abuse cover-up S

Eight South African miners rescued, nine still missing outh African emergency workers rescued eight miners trapped a mile underground on Wednesday by a fire and rock-fall at Harmony Gold’s Doornkop mine near Johannesburg, but nine other workers remained unaccounted for.

Rescue teams had to battle through smoke and debris at a depth of 1700 metres to reach the eight, who had managed to flee to a refuge bay equipped with a telephone and other survival

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he UN has rejected a Vatican argument that it cannot implement a children’s rights convention beyond its walls, saying the church has “placed the reputation of the church and the protection of the perpetrators above children’s interests”.

The Vatican was denounced on Wednesday by a UN human rights committee for failing to prevent priests raping and molesting tens of thousands of children over decades and for adopting policies that allowed abuse to continue once detected.

There was not, the committee said, adequate provision to ensure that cases like Ireland’s Magdalene laundries scandal – where girls were arbitrarily placed in conditions of forced labour – could not be repeated.

Offenders are moved around to new churches or locations, in order to protect them, while putting more children at risk of abuse, the report said while also

Al Jazeera’s Simon McGregor-Wood, reporting from Geneva, said that the report would put pressure on Pope Francis, who until now has been warmly received, and that the Vatican is uncomfortable with being forced into a public debate

condemning the “code of silence” imposed on child victims and the fact that those exposed almost always avoided prosecution. “The committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed,

has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators,” the report said.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

items.

“Efforts continue to establish the whereabouts of a further nine employees who are currently unaccounted for,” the company said in a statement.

Chief executive Graham Briggs cancelled a presentation at a major industry conference in Cape Town to fly to Johannesburg to oversee the rescue effort at the mine, 30 km (20 miles) west of Johannesburg. Normal mining operations were suspended.

The National Union of Mineworkers said the fire broke out on Tuesday evening after an earthquake that damaged ventilation and water pipes as well as power cables.

“The damage to the electric cables triggered the fire underground, which is still burning,” it said in a statement. South Africa’s gold mines are the deepest in the world and ranked as some of the most dangerous during the apartheid years. (Excerpt from

MSN)

Convicted paedophiles in Macedonia face chemical castration

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acedonia’s parliament has adopted a bill imposing chemical castration on repeat offenders convicted of sexually abusing children – but the country’s leading child protection group says the law is still too lenient.

The child protection group Megjasi, which had campaigned for the proce-

dure to be imposed on paedophiles, said the penalty should be mandatory for first-time offenders.

On Monday, Macedonian MPs voted to make penalties harsher for convicted paedophiles, increasing the maximum sentence to life imprisonment and imposing chemical castration on second-time offenders, with the

procedure to be imposed on their release from prison.

The legislation also offers reduced prison sentences to first-time offenders agreeing to undergo the procedure voluntarily. Dragi Zmijanac, the head of Megjasi, said imposing the treatment after the first offence would prevent convicts from re-offending on release. (The Guardian)

Syrian children enduring “unspeakable” suffering Four bombs hit central Baghdad, killing 23

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new report shows children have endured “unspeakable and unacceptable” suffering during the conflict in Syria, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says.

Children have been sexually abused and tortured in government detention, while rebels have recruited them in support roles and for combat, the report warns.

It estimates that more than 10,000 children have been killed. Many more have been injured or have disappeared.

Ban urged both sides in the conflict to protect and uphold their rights.

While the UN has previously accused the government and rebels of grave violations against children, the report is the first to have been presented to the UN Security Council.

Ban’s special representative for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, is scheduled to brief diplomats on the report’s findings next week. The report, which covers the period March 1, 2011 to November 15, 2013, says that in the early stages of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, violations were mostly com-

F

The report says the ongoing conflict in Syria has had an alarming impact on children

mitted by the Syrian military, intelligence services and pro-government militias.

Then, as the fighting intensified

and the armed opposition became more organised, an increasing number committed by rebel groups were documented. (Excerpt from BBC News)

our bombs exploded in central Baghdad near the heavily-fortified “Green Zone” and a busy square on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people, Iraqi security sources said.

The blasts came a day after two rockets were fired into the Green Zone, home to the prime minister’s office and Western embassies, and are likely to heighten concerns about Iraq’s ability to protect strategic sites as security deteriorates.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Sunni Islamist militants have been regaining ground in Iraq, particularly in the western province of Anbar, where they overran two cities on January 1.

More than 1000 peo-

ple were killed in violence across the country in January alone, and last year was the bloodiest since 2008, when sectarian warfare began to abate from its height.

On Wednesday, security sources said two parked car bombs went off opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, killing 11. The Interior Ministry gave a different version, blaming the “cowardly” attack on a suicide bomber on a motorcycle.

“At around nine o’clock this morning, a terrorist suicide bomber riding a motorcycle tried to enter the security area of the Ministry,” it said in a statement. “A group of guards stopped him at a checkpoint and denied him access so he blew himself and the bike up.”

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Syria misses chemical weapons U.S. lawmakers take aim at handover deadline French rail for Holocaust role

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yria on Wednesday missed a deadline to hand over all the toxic materials it declared to the world’s chemical weapons watchdog, putting the programme several weeks behind schedule and jeopardisng a final June 30 deadline.

At the same time, opposition activists say the Syrian air force is attacking the country’s biggest city, Aleppo, with barrel bombs, forcing many to flee. Turkey was turning away some of those refugees because

camps were now full.

Under a deal reached in October between Russia and the United States, which helped avert a U.S.led missile strike against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, Syria agreed to give up its entire stockpile of chemical weapons by February 5.

Russia said on Tuesday its ally Damascus would ship more chemicals soon, but Western diplomats said they saw no indications that further shipments were

pending.

Syria has said it would submit a handover timetable to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, but gave no indication of when that would happen.

There have been no shipments since January 27 and the latest deadline was missed, said OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan. “It’s a status quo until we get this plan.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

T

wo U.S. lawmakers are pushing to disqualify a subsidiary of France’s national railway company from bidding for a €4.4 billion U.S. contract over its role in deporting Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II. State Senator Joan Carter Conway has introduced a bill in Maryland’s state legislature that would ban the Keolis transport firm, whose majority stakeholder is France’s national railway company SNCF,

from bidding on a €4.4 billion contract.

Conway and fellow Democratic lawmaker Samuel Rosenberg say Keolis should be kept out of the bidding process unless SNCF compensates the families of Holocaust victims.

Several U.S. lawmakers have in the past called on SNCF to take responsibility for its role in the transport of 76,000 Jews from France to Nazi death camps.

“SNCF’s refusal to fully

acknowledge its role in the Holocaust and its recent attempt to rewrite history is insulting to its victims and deeply troubling,” Conway has said.

The bid concerns a 25-kilometre stretch of railway in the East Coast state.

Alain Leray, president of SNCF America, told the AFP news agency that the company would examine the bill to determine whether it discriminated against the French firm. (Excerpt from

France24)

16 news

thursday, February 6, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

Nigel Hughes in foreclosure tangle – proprietor granted injunction to stay eviction

A

lliance For Change (AFC) Chairman Nigel Hughes is now at the centre of a foreclosure controversy involving the property that now houses Mae’s secondary department.

Hughes has remained tight-lipped over recent disclosures that he sold the property to Mae’s proprietor Mayfield French-Rodrigues without indicating that loan payments were still owed to the Hand-in-Hand Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited.

French-Rodrigues, through her attorney Maria Yvonne French, on January 17, filed an injunction to stop eviction proceedings for the property. More than 300 students gearing up for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations are at risk of displacement.

On Wednesday, Hughes said: “… It would be wholly inappropriate… to comment on this matter, which is actively engaging the court’s attention. The balance of the purchase price remains outstanding.”

According to court documents, on February 24, 2006, Hughes and FrenchRodrigues entered a contract for the sale of the eastern half (E 1/2) of Lot 29 Third Avenue, Subryanville, Georgetown property for the sum of $20 million; however, only $12 million was paid to the AFC leader with $8 million outstanding.

Mae’s Secondary, Third Avenue, Subryanville

ing or impeding FrenchRodrigues’ peaceful occupation and enjoyment of the property.

The injunction also restrained the third and fourth defendants – the registrar and the first marshal of the Supreme Court, “from taking in execution and or custody” the property or offering the property for sale until the determination of the matter.

In her ex-parte application for the interim injunction, French-Rodrigues’ attorney recalled the date of

Ruin

It was pointed out that the conveyance of the property started in 2006 with instructions to advertise. On February 17, 2007, the conveyance was advertised in the Official Gazette as number 105 for the county of Demerara.

“No opposition was ever filed to the conveyance whether by the second named defendant (Hand-in-Hand Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited) or anyone else. The

AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes

the transaction, stating that the property was owned by Hughes (transport 224 of 1998). She confirmed that $12 million in instalments was paid with $8 million outstanding.

conveyance has also advertised and never opposed,” she pointed.

It was further explained that at the time of the purchase, the property comprised a dilapidated two-sto-

rey residential dwelling of less than 2000 square feet and the land.

The building was demolished and replaced with another property that adjoins buildings owned by FrenchRodrigues, worth a total of $390.9 million.

“The building erected on East half of Lot 29 comprising 12,438 sq feet is attached to and abuts the building on Lot 19 Third Avenue, Subryanville and forms part of a single premise, which is occupied by Mae’s Primary and Secondary School,” the attorney explained.

Mae’s Secondary School, the canteen, the auditorium, offices, washrooms, and administrative offices are housed in the building situated on the disputed land.

French-Rodrigues is reported to have no knowledge that Hughes had an outstanding debt of $26.601 million comprising a capital sum of $8.3 million for the insurance company.

Her attorney, in her suit, said her client’s “high school and her monies are invested in E 1/2 Lot 29 Third Avenue, Subryanville and she faces ruin if same is taken away”.

The educator is seeking the transport of the property in addition to $20 million in damages incurred due to the breach of contract.

Education Ministry preparing for possible intense rainfall

T

insane that a man can dismiss you for something like that”.

The supervisor opined that he does not believe that the dismissals were necessary as both him and Roshan had offered to repay the missing sum.

He said in his 17 years of service at the estate, this was the first time a matter of this nature has occurred.

He also claimed that there is no organised way in which management pays the various gangs, and that persons who work with the estate would just come and collect their monies.

Field Foreman Asgar Ali Roshan

Injunction granted

According to court documents, it was only in December 2013 that FrenchRodrigues received a call from Hughes informing her that the property was the subject of foreclosure in favour of Hand-in-Hand Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited.

Court documents seen by Guyana Times indicate that on January 20, Justice Rishi Persaud granted the injunction preventing the first and second named defendants in the matter, Hughes and the Hand-in-Hand company, from interrupting, obstruct-

Uitvlugt estate workers protest colleagues’ dismissal

he Education Ministry is on high alert following reports of possible intense rainfall expected over the next 24 hours.

Reports from the Agriculture Ministry indicate that a high intensity weather pattern, which is presently over the Atlantic, could result in rainfall of 45 to 80mm over a 24-

hour period.

This weather pattern is expected to be at its maximum capacity on Thursday.

The hydromet department said there is a 70 per cent chance that the weather pattern will remain as predicted.

“Minister of Education, Priya

Manickchand has directed a team to closely monitor the situation and is asking parents to be cognisant of this hydromet warning and as far as they can the reality surrounding their children’s school tomorrow (today) prior to taking or sending their children to school,” the Education Ministry said in a release.

U

itvlugt estate Field Supervisor Ravi Dashrath and Field Foreman Asgar Ali Roshan were dismissed on Wednesday after allegations were levelled against them that they stole a dead worker's money during payment of salaries.

According to Dashrath, the payment was made by him and Roshan in May, but claimed that they were off the job for two months.

“The personnel manager reassigned me the job, and after two months, I knew that a dead man’s money

Unaware

The field supervisor said he had no knowledge of what exactly happened to the cheque, but was willing to repay.

Roshan, the other dismissed employee, said he has in excess of 21 years of service to the estate, and was surprised when he received a letter from management informing him of the termination of his services.

“They should have come and ask. I’m sure it was a mistake…. I think it is a malicious act by management to dismiss us and accuse me of theft and fraud-

Field Supervisor Ravi Dashrath

was paid out.”

Dashrath informed reporters that the chief security officer, whose name was given as Zaman, informed him that the dead man’s wife was on her way to meet with an official at the estate.

The field supervisor said after he was informed, he tried to address the issue with the woman, but was unsuccessful.

He further explained that after talks with the estate management for repayment of the money, he was told by a manger that this cannot be done as the matter is under investigation.

Dashrath explained that there were cases where envelopes were stuck together, adding that “it is so

ulent behaviour,” the man explained.

He added: “I struggled all my life for this estate and I am innocent… the decision is wrong, totally, I have no knowledge.”

Representatives from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) are not pleased with the way the Uitvlugt estate management dealt with the matter.

They believe that the workers should be reinstated. The two men are supported by their colleagues, who have since embarked on strike action.

They have vowed to continue the protest until the matter is resolved.

news

17

thursday, february 6, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

No new director for UG Tain campus anytime soon A S tudents of the University of Guyana Berbice Campus may have to wait a while longer for a director since there will be no appointment anytime soon.

Members of the private sector in Berbice and students of the university’s Port Mourant, Corentyne campus, have been lobbying to have former director Professor Daizal Samad reinstated. However, according to information received from the university’s registrar’s office at Turkeyen , interviews are still to be held for the post which has been vacant since July last year.

Tension has been brewing over the last couple of months, as students and members of the public questioned the reason why the post has not yet been filled, particularly by Professor Samad, who had reapplied.

A delegation headed by student Shazeena Seetaya had late last year met with President Donald Ramotar and Education Minister Priya Manickchand with a petition signed by over 5000 persons, seeking to have Professor Samad reinstated.

According to Seetaya, President Ramotar had advised that Professor Samad re-apply for the post, noting that he would be given a fair

GDF private accused of murdering ex-boyfriend’s mother in court Guyana Defence Force private accused of murdering a 55-year-old Agricola resident was remanded on Wednesday when she made her maiden court appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Twenty-six-year-old Abiola “Abby” Jacobs was not required to plead to the indictable charge when she appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in Court One. Jacobs is accused of murdering Donna Taylor at her Lot 1617 Public Road, Agricola home on January 31. Taylor was found with her hands tied behind her back and her throat slit a short distance away from her home in a clump of bushes.

The accused was unrepresented by defence counsel and stood silently while the charge was read to her.

She was subsequently remanded until February 26 when she will appear before Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry. Two of Jacobs’ supporters appeared emotional as she was led to the prisoners’ dock.

More charges are expected to be laid against Jacobs. It is unclear whether she will also be charged with the attempted murder of Taylor’s British house guest, Samantha Sabat, the main witness in the case. Sabat suffered a broken arm and head injuries after jumping from the veranda as she fled the killers.

Former director Professor Daizal Samad

chance, however, to date, nothing has been done.

Other sources revealed that operations at the campus have been crumbling over the last couple of months. Guyana Times understands that Internet services at the institution were recently disconnected; a situation that would have never seen the light of day, had Professor Samad been there.

There has also been a decline in publications at the university, the source said.

Professor Samad, when contacted by this newspaper recently, said he wished not to comment on the issue, but had confirmed that he did reapply. Last July,

Professor Samad handed in his resignation, citing his inability to work under the strenuous circumstances.

Samad had been seeking to have independence from the Turkeyen campus.

In his resignation letter to Pro-Chancellor, Dr Prem Misir and the UG Council, dated July 4, 2013, Professor Samad stated that relations between him and the ViceChancellor, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, as well as with the “deadweight” Turkeyen campus had become strained and distant over the past couple of weeks. He had also accused Turkeyen of dictating the day-to-day running of the Berbice campus.

No headway in apprehending Dazzel getaway bandits

P

olice have made little progress in apprehending two bandits who robbed a Dazzel Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara businessman two Wednesdays ago.

Police spokesman Ivelaw Whittaker told Guyana Times that they have no new clue that can lead to the arrest of the two teenagers, who managed to escape after committing a brazen daylight robbery on Eon Evan, proprietor of E Evans and Sons Varity Store.

The robbery has left one of their accomplices, 15-year-old Leon Mc Curdy of Charlestown dead after he was shot at least six times to the body by the businessman, with his licensed .32 revolver.

Whittaker added that while the two men are on the run, police have been on the alert and have informed their colleagues in various divisions to be vigilant. In addition, a senior rank of the Guyana Police Force in an invited comment stated that, from all appearances, the three men who invaded the property of the businessman are a part of a gang, and would obviously go into hiding.

Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts

Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell

“These are young men and once they know one of their members have been shot down, they will be afraid but not for long…. It is also surprising that the young men reached East Coast Demerara, but is also an indication that they were working in cohort with another group.”

He added that the police force will use the necessary resources that are at their disposal to get rid of the criminal elements. Recently, Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell had stated that the Guyana Police Force has implemented various pro-

grammes to assist youths who are unemployed and implicated in minor matters, to get them involved in skills training. These programmes were rolled out in several communities, but Guyana Times understands that they are poorly attended.

Police had stated that about 13:30h, the suspects, two armed with handguns and one with a pair of scissors, entered the grocery and liquor store of businessman Eon Evans. The men held up Evans’ son and took an undisclosed sum of cash.

“While one of the men remained with the son, the two others went upstairs where they held up Eon Evans and his wife who was tied up and placed in a bedroom,” the release added.

The bandit was shot at least six times while he was attempting to exit the house.

He reportedly fell onto the back steps of the house and succumbed. His accomplices, while escaping, discharged a few rounds in the air as they flrd the village on feet.

The police have not yet released the identities of the two suspects.

Carol Ann Lynch further remanded ormer beauty queen Carol Ann Lynch made another appearance on Wednesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer the charge of murder before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

Lynch is accused of murdering her husband Farouk Razack in May 7, 2007 at their 106 Ireng Place, Bel Air Park, Georgetown home. Razack’s body was found about 08:30h on the day in question with a wound to his head and marks around his neck. At that time, Lynch had just returned home after taking their daughter to school. A post-mortem examination confirmed that Razack was strangled.

She was not required to plead to the indictable charge and stood silently before the magistrate. She was presented

by Attorney Peter Hugh as she made her appearance in Court One. Lynch was remanded until April 1.

This is the former Mrs South America’s second court appearance after she turned herself in on January 21, and was charged for the second time with the murder of her husband, the then head of the Swiss Cambio House.

The matter had been discharged back in 2007 by then Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys who said there was not sufficient evidence for a prima facie case to be made out against Lynch.

However, police issued a warrant for her arrest in September 2013.

F

Biker’s alleged killer to appear in court today usinessman Randy Jagdeo who is charged with the murder of Kirk Davis appeared on Wednesday before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Jagdeo, 28, of Lot 159 Third Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown, is accused of murdering Davis, a biker, on September 3, 2013 at Lot 320 Seventh Street, Eccles, East Bank Demerara.

It is alleged that accused shot the deceased several times about the body after he suspected that Davis was having an affair with his wife.

The accused appeared calm when the charge was read to him. He was not allowed to plead to the indictable charge. Several witnesses testified, including Davis’ brother.

Defence counsel Mark Waldron requested an early date for the next court appearance.

This was granted, and Jagdeo is expected to make another court appearance today before the chief magistrate in Court One.

B

Man charged for felony man appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry charged with felony.

It is alleged that Shawn Young attempted to break into the residence of Christopher Nascimento on January 9.

Police prosecutor Michael Grant told the court that Nascimento’s wife, Gem MadhooNascimento gave a statement saying that she retired to bed, but later awoke to the sight of the defendant on her veranda. Young pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was placed on $100,000 bail and is expected to return to court on March 6.

A

Truck driver on narcotics charge truck driver appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday before Magistrate Ann McLennan charged with the possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Errol Kelier, 63, of Lot 47 Norton Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, was charged for the possession of cannabis for trafficking.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that on February 3, he had in his possession 176 grams of cannabis.

Police prosecutor Deniro Jones told the court that on the day in question, police ranks acted on a tip and went to the accused’s home. After identifying themselves as police officers, they gained permission from the defendant to search his home and uncovered small bags of narcotics concealed in the second bedroom of the top flat. The prosecution said no one else was present except the accused and the ranks.

Defence attorney Mark Waldron claimed that the narcotic found is owned by a “Ms Sharon” who resides in the United States of America. Waldron noted that his client was given the responsibility to take care of the residence for Ms Sharon. The lawyer also said that his client cooperated fully with ranks of the Guyana Police Force when apprehended on Monday.

Attorney Waldron reiterated that his client had never been arrested previously in his 63 years and requested bail for the defendant, which was not granted. The accused was remanded until February 17.

A

18

guyanatimesgy.com

thursday, february 6, 2014

thursDAY, march 11, 2010 | guyanatimesGY.com

archie

By Bernice Bede Osol

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19) Social events should also broaden your outlook and bring you in contact with interesting people.

You will gain popularity through your ability to please others. Love is highlighted and romance encouraged.

dilbert

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19) Investments will pay off. Fixing up something you want to sell will add to its value and give you a seller’s advantage. Don’t worry about pleasing everyone. Do what’s best for you.

Calvin and Hobbes

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Participate in community events to develop new friendships. A journey that takes you somewhere mentally, spiritually or physically will be enlightening. Strive for perfection.

Peanuts

SUDOKU

CANCER (June 21July 22) Participate in something in order to make interesting connections.

Trips will prove eye-opening and adventurous.

Friends will help bring greater clarity to a situation that you’ve been questioning.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22) Don’t make unrealistic gestures. Think twice before you retaliate. Make sure you have the correct facts. Focus on what’s important and what will help you get ahead.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22) Mixing and mingling will bring you satisfaction and greater confidence.

Your social attributes will put you in a good position, resulting in popularity.

Take advantage of an opportunity.

ARIES

LIBRA

(March 21-April 19)

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Discuss your plans with someone you respect or trust and you will find a way to make your dreams come true. Concentrate on what’s important; taking on too much will deter progress.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Review your personal situation and consider how you can make an important relationship better. Special plans will help bring you closer to the one you love.

Invest in your skills, talent and knowledge, and you will raise your profile. Instigate a move and make decisions that will allow you greater freedom to explore avenues of interest.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22) Emotions will escalate if you have ignored a situation that can affect your personal life. Don’t overreact when stability is required. Put your energy into physical rather than mental encounters.

Wednesday's solution GEMINI (May 21June 20) Look for ways to get ahead and come up with a plan. Lady Luck is in your corner so take advantage of a moneymaking endeavour. A contribution will raise your profile.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21) Throw a creative slant into the mix when it comes to your work, and you will outshine any competition you encounter. Make a purchase that will grow in value. Invest in yourself.

YELLOW PAGES

Thursday, february 6, 2014

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news 19

Govt to present Food Safety Bill to Parliament

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The post-mortem examinations were done by pathologist, Dr Nehaul Singh on Wednesday.

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Food security

The third aspect is promoting increased institutional coordination and functionality for improved food and nutrition security.

Dr Ramsammy said Guyana has had great success in providing enough food for its people. He noted that government is now working to address the nutritional aspect of the strategy. Guyana has also been able to significantly increase its exports of various agricultural products.

The Food Safety Bill has been discussed widely by stakeholders, and the Agriculture Ministry has ensured that it was subjected to the relevant scrutiny. The bill was drafted after considerable consultation back in 2001. The draft was also presented to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) for their input.

Dead: Sahadeo Bhagwandat

sea. The men were reportedly under the influence of alcohol and might have gotten entangled in the nets, as they were putting them into the water. The two men were found wrapped in the nets around 06:30h by a relative, who had led a search party to the area.

Their bodies were decomposed beyond recognition, but relatives managed to identify them by their clothes and boots.

Both men worked at the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate, but during the out-of-crop season, they would catch fish as a means of sustaining their families. The men were last seen by members of the community about 10:10h at the waterside in a drunken state and claimed that they were going to catch fish.

They had in their possession several bottles of alcohol as they made their way to the koker. Bhagwandat is survived by his wife, four children and five siblings while Seejogie is survived by his nine siblings.

The men will be laid to rest today in the Met-enMeerzorg Cemetery.

Fraud accused on $100,000 bail

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Food safety agency

Dr Ramsammy said the bill will facilitate the production of high-quality healthy food for Guyanese.

In addition, it will enhance the country’s reputation as a net exporter of food. The bill is important, since it seeks to establish a food safety agency that will ensure harmonised regulation of the food industry, from the farm to the consumer.

This bill, he added, is in keeping with the National Food Security Strategy, which has several compo-

nents. Minister Ramsammy noted that success has been recorded in all of the components. These include: the facilitation of sustainable and stable employment and the promotion of systems for consumption of healthy foods for increased nutrition of all Guyanese.

Fishermen died by drowning – autopsy

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Attorney General before it is presented. “It is presently being worked on by the AG chamber to ensure that the bill is consistent with the laws and Constitution of Guyana. Once they are finished with this, the next step is for us to present it for its first reading,” Dr Ramsammy explained.

The agriculture minister said it was important that the bill be presented before Budget 2014, since the budget debates would take centre stage in all parliamentary affairs. “My intention is to move that bill to the special select committee of the Parliament and once it is read once and twice, then all will be in place to have it streamlined for passing.”

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A

40-year-old man was placed on $100,000 bail when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday before Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry charged with fraud.

Lloyd Thomas, of

Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara, is accused of having intent to fraud Anthony Dalgety of the sum of $800,000, for the sale of motor car PKK 1987, by pretending to be its legal owner on August 26 at Matthews Ridge.

Bail was requested by Attorney Leslie Sobers, who represented the accused, to which no objection was raised by police prosecutor Michael Grant. The matter was transferred to Matthews Ridge Magistrate’s Court for April 1.

20

guyanatimesGY.com

thursday, FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Second Test

Sangakkara 319 sets Bangladesh big test

H

aving sown 14 years of indefatiguable work ethic and uncompromising self-improvement into the game, Kumar Sangakkara harvested another crop of statistical triumphs in Chittagong, where he became the third Sri Lanka batsman to hit a triple-hundred. His 319 in a team total of 587 has almost put an upset, series-leveling victory beyond Bangladesh, spirited though the hosts have been in their innings so far. Bangladesh lost Tamim Iqbal for a duck, but wiped 86 off Sri Lanka's lead by stumps, fortuitously having suffered no further loss.

En route to his triple, Sangakkara had become the fastest man to 11,000 Test runs, eclipsing Brian Lara's previous record by five innings. In the morning session, he had also matched Lara's double-hundred count of nine, to sit at second equal on the list, behind only Don Bradman.

Already Bangladesh's most brutal tormentor with the bat, Sangakkara's score was also the highest ever against them, easily surpassing Ramnaresh Sarwan's 261.

Shakib Al Hasan was Bangladesh's best bowler of the day, completing an 11th career five-wicket haul. But though his aggression brought rewards, he also gave away 148 runs at 4.35. Sohag Gazi may never want to look at the scorecard again, having been hit for 181 for his one wicket.

At 286, late in the second session, with a no. 11 at the other end, Sangakkara leapt beyond his own previous best, flew through the 290s and into the record books in three calculated, consecutive strikes. Shakib pitched the third ball of his 33rd over outside leg stump, which Sanga darted at, then powered it over midwicket

Kumar Sangakkara matched Lara's double-hundred count of nine and is now only behind Don Bradman

for four. He ran at the next ball as well, launching it over long on. Almost unable to stop himself from charging a third time, Sangakkara picked Shakib's leg-stump line early and walloped him again towards midwicket, this time all the way. His celebrations were muted, as they had been at each of the five milestones on his way.

He had pulled the spinners magnificently on the first day, but it was his driving that set him apart on day two. The Bangladesh slow-bowlers sought to flight the ball more on day two, and though this proved successful against other Sri Lanka batsmen, they could not impose themselves on Sangakkara, who flitted swiftly about in his crease with intractable confidence.

Often he skated forward to meet the ball, preferring to whip it through midwicket, which was routinely left vacant, perhaps in fear of yesterday's pull. The unprotected boundaries at deep cover and long on did not evade his attention either.

When he sought to hit the ball all the way, Sangakkara launched it in the arc between long off and midwicket. He had trouble with his sweep in the previous series against Pakistan, and save for the balls down the leg side that he paddled fine, the stroke was largely absent for his biggest innings.

Sangakkara has faced far more menacing attacks than this spin-heavy Bangladesh unit, but the pitch on which he made his triple was hardly a batsman's paradise. The

ball stayed consistently low, with many pitching on a length and passing no higher than shin-height. No other batsman hit a hundred and only Mahela Jayawardene crossed 50.

Sangakkara made his last 116 runs in the company of Nos.9, 10 and 11, after Sri Lanka lost their last recognised batsman midway through the first session. Not long into the day, Bangladesh effectively gave up hope on dismissing him, placing men in the deep when he was on strike, in order to tempt a single that would expose his partner. For the most part, Sangakkara resisted the easy runs, and deigned to advance through boundaries.

Ajantha Mendis provided stauncher support than anticipated, even as the senior batsman shielded him against Shakib.

Strong square of the wicket, but also unafraid to use his feet and hit over the top, Mendis helped energise Sri Lanka as the opposition bowling worsened from stale to insipid. Mendis' checked drive to send a Gazi delivery wide of mid off, all along the ground for four, illustrated the ease with which even he progressed. Of the 171 balls the pair faced in their 100-run stand, Sangakkara faced 104, but Mendis had scored 47 at a strike rate exceeding 70 when he fell. He had survived an lbw shout that should perhaps have been given, when on 29.

Collectively, the attack bowled too many poor balls to build any semblance of pressure on Sangakkara, but they were also hampered by Abdul Razzak's continued absence, after he had sustained a hamstring strain on the first day.

Perhaps even more damaging was the injury to the lit-

tle finger Mushfiqur Rahim's left hand. He had borne a blow there during the first day, and did not take his place behind the stumps on Wednesday. A lacklustre Shamsur Rahman took the gloves, and conceded 16 byes in addition to missing a stumping.

Stand-in captain Tamim Iqbal appeared shocked when Suranga Lakmal's fourth delivery stayed low to clip his off stump, but given Sangakkara had faced no fewer than 60 such deliveries, surprise is a thin excuse for the high defensive shot he offered. After his departure, Shamsur Rahman batted with relative intelligence, investing time in which he could come to grips with the surface before venturing heftier blows. He was dropped by Jayawardene at slip on 28, when Dilruwan Perera drew an outside edge, but he was cautious and secure afterwards.

The same may not be

said about Imrul Kayes, who upon his return to the XI, strove to advance mainly in risky boundaries. He attacked short balls from Nuwan Pradeep in particular, hitting two fours and a six behind square leg, and also skipped down the pitch to clobber Perera over mid on. An attempted repeat off Ajantha Mendis went high into the late evening sky, and was shelled by a disconsolate Pradeep, with around ten minutes remaining in the day's play. He went to stumps on 36, while Shamsur had made 45.

In the morning, Kithuruwan Vithanage had been characteristically positive during a 90-run stand with Sangakkara, playing from the crease to pick off the bad balls. He should have been stumped on 20, but he should not have been given out on 35. The Nasir Hossain delivery that struck his pad had first taken a big deflection from his bat. (Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka 1st innings FDM Karunaratne c Mahmudullah b Al-Amin Hossain 31 JK Silva lbw b Sohag Gazi 11 KC Sangakkara c Sohag Gazi b Nasir Hossain 319 DPMD Jayawardene lbw b Mahmudullah 72 LD Chandimal† c Imrul Kayes b Shakib Al Hasan 27 AD Mathews* b Shakib Al Hasan 5 KDK Vithanage lbw b Nasir Hossain 35 MDK Perera lbw b Shakib Al Hasan 1 BAW Mendis lbw b Shakib Al Hasan 47 RAS Lakmal lbw b Shakib Al Hasan 0 N Pradeep not out 4 Extras: (b 21, lb 6, w 2, nb 1, pen 5) 35 Total: (all out; 156.4 overs) 587 Fall of wickets: 1-39 (Silva, 15.6 ov), 2-49 (Karunaratne, 20.3 ov), 3-227 (Jayawardene, 70.5 ov), 4-294 (Chandimal, 85.4 ov), 5-312 (Mathews, 89.6 ov), 6-402 (Vithanage, 109.6 ov), 7-405 (Perera, 110.5 ov), 8-505 (Mendis, 139.2 ov),

9-533 (Lakmal, 143.6 ov), 10587 (Sangakkara, 156.4 ov) Bowling: Al-Amin Hossain 255-81-1, Sohag Gazi 48-4-181-1, Abdur Razzak 4-1-6-0, Shakib Al Hasan 34-3-148-5, Mahmudullah 34-2-110-1, Nasir Hossain 6.40-16-2, Shamsur Rahman 1-05-0, Mominul Haque 4-0-8-0 Bangladesh 1st innings Tamim Iqbal b Lakmal 0 Shamsur Rahman not out 45 Imrul Kayes not out 36 Extras: (nb 5) 5 Total: (1 wicket; 25 overs) 86 To bat: Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim*†, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, Sohag Gazi, AlAmin Hossain, Abdur Razzak Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Tamim Iqbal, 0.4 ov) Bowling: RAS Lakmal 5-0-181, N Pradeep 7-2-29-0, BAW Mendis 4-1-13-0, MDK Perera 7-2-22-0, AD Mathews 2-0-4-0

David Beckham to launch Major League Soccer franchise in Miami

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ormer England captain David Beckham has outlined his plans for a new Miamibased Major League Soccer franchise.

The 38-year-old, who retired as a player last May, said a world class stadium would be built to host the club, which would be the 22nd in the MLS. “I want to make this my own team,” said Beckham, who played for LA Galaxy between 2007 and 2012.

No date has been set for when the team would enter the MLS. Beckham’s option to purchase a franchise is believed to have been part of the financial package he negotiated when he joined LA Galaxy in 2007.

The former midfielder, who also played for

David Beckham alongside Don Garber (left) and Mayor Carlos Gimenez

Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Paris St-Germain, added:

“This is an exciting time for myself, my family, my friends and partners, and

it is something we are really looking forward to bringing to Miami.

“We’re planning to bring a team that will be a global team. I want to create a team that we can start from scratch and I am going to work hard for this city to make this team very successful. It is an exciting time.”

Beckham, who won the Champions League, the Premier League, La Liga and Ligue 1 as a player, added that he intended to recruit “the best” players for the new side, but would not confirm any names.

“We will bring great players in,” he said. “The fortunate thing about my career is players are already interested in coming to Miami.”

Beckham has long had an ambition to own a team in the US. His representatives

held talks with the MLS about the possibility of him buying a franchise shortly before his retirement, while basketball superstar LeBron James said in November that he was in discussion with Beckham about investing in the planned Miami club.

The MLS currently consists of 19 teams, but the league announced in 2013 that two further sides would join in 2015.

Those will be Orlando City SC and New York City, which is part-owned

by Manchester City.

The last MLS team in Miami folded after being in existence for four seasons. It struggled with sparse attendance and had the lowest revenue in the league. (BBC Sport)

thursday, FEBRUARY 6, 2014

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T&T defeat Leeward Islands by 5 wickets E

Kevin Pietersen: Alastair Cook influential in batsman’s exit

The Trinidad and Tobago players celebrate the fall of another Leeward Islands wicket

A

day after flying in from South Africa, Sunil Narine tore thru the Leeward Islands, as hosts Trinidad and Tobago dismissed their opponents by six wickets at Shaw Park.

The Leewards found themselves in early trouble when they were reduced to 46/4 in 18 overs. However Devon Thomas and Jahmar Hamilton came together in a 67-run partnership to bolster the tourists.

Thomas hit two sixes in his knock of 42 runs from 52 balls. His stay at the crease last just over an hour. At the other end, Hamilton was more patient, hitting 39 runs from 80 balls. He struck two fours and a six.

However, Rampaul and Narine proved to be too much for the visitors.

Rampaul nabbed 4-20 while Narine took 4-17. T&T needed to get to their target of 141 runs in 40 overs to gain the bonus point.

Their run chase hit a block when Adrian Barath was caught behind without a run being scored. Evin Lewis followed soon after when he got to 11. Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons

then met in a 40-run stand.

Both batsmen took the score to 65 before Simmons lost patience and tried to clear deep mid-wicket He was superbly caught by Mali Richards for a well played 42.

Darren Bravo became T&T’s fourth wicket nine runs later when he was caught behind.

T&T were quite shaky at that stage but the international pair of Dwayne Bravo

and Denesh Ramdin combined to save the hosts. Both put on 65 runs from 58 balls to take T&T to within touching distance of victory.

The bigger Bravo scored four fours and three sixes in his knock of 42. Dwayne Bravo was out late in the innings. Denesh Ramdin ensured the victory, staying at the end and finishing on 22 not out. (WICB Media Release)

SCOREBOARD Leeward Islands innings K Powell c Emrit b Rampaul 8 M Hodge c Simmons b Rampaul 15 M Richards lbw b Narine 10 S Joseph c Simmons b Emrit 4 D Thomas c Simmons b Ottley 42 J Hamilton lbw b Narine 39 R Cornwall lbw b Narine 14 J Athanaze c Dwayne Bravo b Narine 0 G Tonge c Darren Bravo b Rampaul 4 A Martin b Rampaul 0 Q Boatswain not out 0 Total: (all out; 43.2 overs) 140 Extras: (4 w) 4 Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-30, 3-35, 4-46, 5-113, 6-130, 7-130, 8-139, 9-140, 10-140 Bowling: DJ Bravo 4-0-19-0, R Rampaul 9-3-20-4, R Emrit

7-0-19-1, S Narine 9.2-3-174, I Khan 5-0-24-0, L Simmons 3-0-11-0, Y Ottley 6-0-30-1.

Trinidad & Tobago innings A Barath c Thomas b Tonge 0 E Lewis lbw b Tonge 11 L Simmons c Richards b Athanaze 25 Darren Bravo c Cornwall b Athanaze 22 Dwayne Bravo c Thomas b Tonge 42 D Ramdin not out 22 Y Ottley not out 5 Total: (4 wickets; 27.1 overs) 144 Extras: (15 w, 2 lb) 17 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-25, 3-65, 4-74, 5-139 Bowling: G Tonge 8-2-38-3, Q Boatswain 6.1-1-35-0, A Martin 5-0-22-0, J Athanaze 6-1-302, R Cornwall 2-0-17-0.

ngland captain Alastair Cook played an influential role in the decision to end Kevin Pietersen’s international career. Cook was part of a three-man panel who met the batsman on Monday and told him of their decision.

Although some members of the England dressing room have no issues with Pietersen, the BBC has learned that Cook felt the 33-year-old’s departure was in the best interests of the team.

Pietersen scored 8,181 runs at an average of 47 in 104 Tests for England.

Cook, who succeeded Andrew Strauss as captain in August 2012, brought Pietersen back into the England fold after he had been dropped for sending provocative text messages to South Africa players.

But following England’s disastrous 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia, during which Pietersen was criticised for repeatedly falling to reckless shots, the captain wants to mould a new team with a new culture for the next five years.

Pietersen was summoned to a meeting on Monday with Cook, new England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Paul Downton and chairman of selectors James Whittaker at the Danubius Hotel near Lord’s.

That was followed on Tuesday by a separate meeting involving Pietersen’s agent Adam Wheatley, Professional Cricketers’ Association chief executive Angus Porter and Downton to discuss the severance terms of his 12-month central contract that was signed in October.

On Tuesday evening, the ECB sent out an official press release in which Downton, who had the final say on Pietersen’s departure, stated: “The time is right to rebuild not only the team but also the team ethic.”

Pietersen, meanwhile, feels he was not given a clear explanation for his sacking despite asking Downton and Whittaker for justification

England captain Alastair Cook (left) and Kevin Pietersen

during the brief meeting.

BBC Sport has been told that he is angered by stories of stand-up arguments with Cook and rumours of his alienation from the team.

He admits to occasionally turning up late for meetings and feeling frustrated by England’s overly analytical approach, but points to his support for younger players and work with tail-end batsmen as examples of his commitment to the cause.

Although there is no written condition that Pietersen will never be allowed to play for England again, it is believed to be highly unlikely that he could ever be recalled. Indeed, whoever is chosen to replace Andy Flower as England team director is likely to be informed that the South Africa-born batsman is not available for selection.

The decision to jettison England’s highest international run-scorer has been questioned by former captain Michael Vaughan.

Vaughan, who captained Pietersen in the 2005 Ashes success, wants the ECB to explain their decision.

“I really do think the ECB and the people involved have to give us the reason exactly why they got rid of Kevin Pietersen,” he told BBC Radio 5 live.

“You hear of rumours that he’s been a nuisance around the dressing room but it was only last week that Graeme Swann, who’s been in that dressing room

for the last few years with Kevin Pietersen, said ‘yep, in 2012 and the South Africa series, the textgate story, he was a problem, but once they reintegrated him he’s been fine, he’s had a great attitude’.

“Then England get rid of him on apparently cricketing reasons and that’s the guy that scored more runs than anybody else in the Ashes series. It’s a sad day for cricket.”

Vaughan believes that Flower’s replacement should have been the one to make the decision about Pietersen and that the batsman has been punished for speaking his mind in team meetings.

“A new director of cricket will be appointed in April and won’t have the opportunity to pick a star player,” he added. “They should be making those decisions on their own.

“Kevin will speak his mind. If there’s an issue within the side he will go straight to the coach and say these are the things we need to sort out and maybe Andy Flower didn’t like what KP was saying and that’s why they’ve got rid of him.”

However, another former England great Geoffrey Boycott does not agree and believes Pietersen’s batting at times set a bad example to his younger team-mates.

“We all remember his wonderful innings, but what about the daft things and the stupid shots?” he said.

(BBC Sport)

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne to play in Lord’s celebration

I

ndia legend Sachin Tendulkar and exAustralia bowler Shane Warne are to captain the Marylebone Cricket Club and Rest of the World respectively in a 50-over match at Lord’s.

The game is part of the ground’s bicentenary celebrations on 5 July.

The MCC will be managed by its president Mike Gatting and include Tendulkar’s former India team-mate Rahul Dravid.

Ex- South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock will oversee the Rest of the

World.

England Women’s captain Charlotte Edwards will lead the women’s MCC side against a Rest of the World team selected by the International Cricket Council on May 19.

It will be the second time Tendulkar has appeared at Lord’s in such a fixture, having captained the Rest of the World side in the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Match in 1998.

Tendulkar, who scored a record 34,357 runs in

Sachin Tendulkar (left) and ex-Australia bowler Shane Warne

664 international matches, said: “Lord’s is such a special place to play cricket and I am very much looking forward to help celebrate its bicentenary by taking part in this match.”

Warne, who took 19 wickets in four Tests at Lord’s, said: “I’m really excited about coming back. I’m sure the match will be a lot of fun and it will be a pleasure to be part of the bicentenary celebrations of the most famous cricket ground in the world.” (BBC Sport)

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thursday, FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Works on warm-up pool moving ahead

GCB resumes training camp for regional 4-day tournament

– 50-metre swimming pool in good condition – to focus primarily on fitness, says Moore

The 50-metre pool filled with water on Wednesday when Guyana Times visited the site

Sunken sidewalk facing the warm-up pool (Treiston Joseph photos)

By Treiston Joseph

W

orks on the warmup pool for the National Aquatic Centre are moving along at a reasonable pace with contractors currently working on land fillings at the Lilendaal site.

Lately many reports have surfaced of the pool having cracks in the foundation and collapsing due to the current warm-up pool which is under construction. However, a visit to the

site by Guyana Times Sport to the pool on Wednesday proved otherwise, as workers were seen working on the warm-up pool while the 50- metre pool was filled with water and seemed in excellent condition.

While a small section of the walkway attached to the pool house facing the warmup pool has dropped due to the hole dug for the warmup pool, Administrator of the National Aquatic Centre Abraham Watson told Guyana Times Sport that it

was nothing the contractors did not expect.

“As you can see the pool is fine and the contractors are working, it was known that digging the hole for warm-up pool would have caused a bit of sinking, but everything is ok and we have an additional 10 workers coming tomorrow to help catch up on the work which is about three days behind schedule,” Watson stated.

The contract for the foundation of the 25-metre warm-up pool was awarded to D&S Construction for $37.3 million in August of 2013.

The foundation work will include foot rests and upper walls to accommodate the pre-fabricated pool, a reinforced concrete strip, columns and base which will be six inches thick. There will also be various drainage works being done.

The foundation is expected to be completed in six months which will make the deadline for the completion of the foundation sometime in March. Further, the 25metre pool will be installed

by Myrtha Pools, the same company that installed the 50-metre Olympic size pool.

Reifer to retire at the end of the season

F

ormer West Indies captain Floyd Reifer will retire from regional cricket at the end of the season, the Combined Campuses and Colleges management announced on Wednesday. Reifer will, however, continue on as the team’s coach, working alongside former fast bowler Curtly Ambrose.

“Floyd was asked to build out the CCC within the model established by Sir Frank Worrell; having a senior motivational play-

er on the field, teaching tactics and strategies as the game evolves,” Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said. “This development and learning approach was fully realised by Reifer, and has so far produced many quality players for national teams as well as the West Indies.”

A left-handed middleorder batsman, Reifer took up the role of player-coach for the CCC in 2007 after retiring from the Barbados national team. He also featured in 15 internation-

al matches for West Indies, and captained the side in 2009 following a boycott by the original squad.

He led CCC to two finals in five years and helped establish them as a formidable force in regional competitions. Reifer also made a huge impact with the bat in the 2009 WICB four-day competition, scoring 1002 runs with three centuries and five fifties. During that year, CCC defeated all of the traditional regional teams except Jamaica. (Cricinfo)

Julian Moore

Sewnarine Chattergoon

Keon Joseph

By Rajiv Bisnauth

ness, as well as the different aspects of the longer version of the game.

The players encamped are: Sewnarine Chattergoon, Jason Sinclair, Rajendra Chandrika, Anthony Adams, Ryan Ramdass, Keon Joseph, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Vishal Singh, Rajiv Ivan, Ricardo Adams, Totaram Bishun, Zaheer Mohamed, Amir Khan, Shaquille Williams, Jonathan Foo, Royan Fredericks, Andre Stoll and Ron Thompson.

Guyana has not tasted success at this level since 1998, when they won the last of six Regional First-Class titles against Barbados at the Kensington Oval.

The Guyanese finished at the bottom of the points table last year with their only win being against the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC). Guyana drew with the Leeward Islands in their opening game, but suffered defeats at the hands of Barbados, Windward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

Last year, Leon Johnson was the top Guyanese run scorer with 430 from six matches, with a highest score of 87, while Assad Fudadin (289) was Guyana’s next best batsman.

Veerasammy Permaul, with 30 wickets, Bishoo, 20 wickets and Steven Jacobs, 17 wickets were the Guyanese

most successful bowlers.

Further, the WICB in an effort to increase the popularity of the tournament, has decided to return to night cricket in the upcoming 2014 season.

This experiment was tried a couple of years ago and now with the popularity of the longer format of the game waning, the board has decided that there will be one day/ night game for every round of the new season with a total of seven day/night matches to be played during the tournament.

The fixtures have been drawn in order to give all teams two day/night games.

It is expected that the teams will play with a pink ball for the day night matches because this has been used for matches of these kind.

The CCC will join the established six teams Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, defending champion Jamaica, Guyana, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands for this year’s tournament.

The Regional Four-Day Competition, formerly known as Shell Shield and Carib Beer Cup, is the first class cricket competition in the West Indies. It is administered by the WICB. The winners of the tournament are awarded the George Headley/Everton Weekes trophy.

W

ith the aim of capturing Guyana’s seventh Regional First-Class title, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) on Wednesday commenced a three-day camp at the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence at LBI, East Coast Demerara.

The camp serves as preparation for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional Four-Day Cricket Competition, which will bowl off on February 28, and consist of all the reserve players not selected for the Super50 tournament currently underway in Trinidad and Tobago.

The three-day camp is supervised by senior coach Julian Moore and is assisted by Quasen Nedd, while the trainers for the camp are two fitness experts from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Patrick King and Carl Stephenson.

The camp will end on Friday. However, the reserve players will be joined by the Super50 squad upon their return for a short period to facilitate at least one practice match, before the final squad is announced.

Meanwhile, in an invited comment, at the conclusion of the first training session on Wednesday, Moore said the three-day camp will focus primarily on the cricketers' fit-

Fixtures Round 1: February 28-March 3 Windwards vs Barbados (D/N), Windwards Jamaica vs Guyana, Sabina Pk Leewards vs CCC, Leewards T&T—bye Round 2: March 7-10 T&T vs Windwards, Trinidad Guyana vs Barbados (D/N), Guyana Leewards vs Jamaica, Leewards CCC—bye Round 3: March 14-17 Barbados vs CCC (D/N), Barbados T&T vs Leewards (D/N), Trinidad Guyana vs Windwards, Guyana Round 4: MarCH 21-24 CCC vs Guyana (D/N), Barbados Jamaica vs Windwards, Jamaica Barbados vs T&T, Barbados Leewards—bye

Round 5: March 28-31 Jamaica vs Barbados, Jamaica CCC vs T&T, Trinidad Windwards vs Leewards, Windwards Guyana—bye

Round 6: April 4-7 T&T vs Jamaica (D/N), Trinidad CCC vs Windwards, Barbados Leewards vs Guyana, Leewards Barbados—bye Round 7: April 11- 14 Guyana vs T&T, Guyana Leewards vs Barbados (D/N), Leewards CCC vs Jamaica, Barbados Windwards—bye Semi Finals: Apr il19-22 Final: April 25-28th

thursday, FEBRUARY 6, 2014

guyanatimesGY.com

Barnwell delighted after victory over O Windward Islands

23

AAG finding it hard to integrate Region Nine club

By Treiston Joseph

By Rajiv Bisnauth

G

uyana captain Christopher Barnwell expressed great delight following his team’s victory over the Windward Islands in Match 6 of the NAGICO Super50 tournament at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday.

The Guyanese successfully blended youthful talent and seasoned old hands to beat the defending champions by 22 runs, after setting a target of 236. Guyana, suffered an early dent in the batting line-up just before the game start with veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul ruled out due to injury, but that did not dampen the spirit of the team.

They, however, stuck to their game plans and ensured the defending champions were booted from the tournament as a damp squib.

“We did not get off to the best of start, the wicket was playing a bit tricky and somehow the batters manage to step it out and we know once we kept wickets in hand we can always go hard at the end, so we plan just to see out the new ball and ensure that we had wickets in hands for the latter part of the innings which eventually played out for us,” Barnwell said after the game.

The 27-year-old Barnwell added “While the batters did a good job, the bowlers held their nerves to pull off the victory. I was very impressed with young Beaton and also fellow fast bowler Paul Wintz as well as Permaul, they all held there nerves and bowl in the correct areas.”

Momentum

Meanwhile, Barnwell says despite their success, his side will remain firmly grounded as they recog-

nised their mission was not yet fulfilled. “What we’re doing is taking it step by step. We’re just focusing on our goal and the process,” said the West Indies T20 all rounder. “We would love to be in the final. We’re in the semi-finals so I think it is just a matter of taking the next game that we’ve got in stride and trying to continue with this momentum.

We don’t want to be looking too far ahead of ourselves.

I think for us it has been a process and we just want to continue that process.”

The win meant that both Guyana and Jamaica have qualified for the semifinals while Windward Islands and Ireland have been eliminated from advancing in the Nagico Super50 tournament.

Guyana will now clash with Jamaica in their final preliminary game on Saturday.

GABF and YBG in talks to work together

By Treiston Joseph

B

asketball in Guyana might have a brighter future with the new executive Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) making moves to broaden its involvements of other associations in the management of the game.

Nigel Hinds was elected president of the GABF last month. For years the sport has been stagnated with little to no effort being done to improve the state, however, Hinds has made one critical move that might see the system of the sport develop to create excellent players and hopefully a better brand of basketball.

Hinds and his administration unlike the previous executive of the GABF is reaching out to the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) organization which can help merge the youth talent into FIBA’s system.

YBG, led by Chris Bowman and Rayad Boyce is the only organization that organizes school basketball on a national level which has garnered the respect of the National Sports Commission (NSC) to the extent that YBG is in charge of the national youth basketball team especially for the Inter Guiana Games which is for players 19 years and under.

Nigel Hinds

Chris Bowman

Further, president of the GABF sees the importance of bringing the independent organization on board with the GABF and noted where both organizations stand in ironing out the kinks of the relationship.

“It’s still a work in progress we met informally but plan to meet formally; we think the YBG is an excellent place to continue their school programmes. We cannot clash with our dates but so far things have been going well and it’s a work in progress. “We also met with the NSC and the Ministry of Sport and Kumar hopes that we (YBG and GABF) can resolve the issues,” Hinds told Guyana Times Sport.

Meanwhile Bowman in a telephone interview with this publication noted that the two sides are communi-

cating. “YBG and the GABF have met informally, in fact we are communicating, Mr. Hinds is making a great effort to develop a more professional relationship between the stakeholders. It was an informal meeting but a meaningful one.

“YG has put forward a framework that the president has that we think is a good starting point to develop a working collaboration,” Bowman stated. However, despite the outcome of the talks between the two sides Bowman indicated that the YBG will continue to promote youth basketball.

“Regardless YBG will continue to focus on school basketball and make every effort to look at the interest of the student athlete,” Bowman said.

ne of Guyana’s newest clubs, the Region Nine Athletics Club might turn into a failed experiment with president of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Aubrey Hutson indicating that lack of communication between the club and the association was hampering progress. At the AAG’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in January a motion was moved to have the club join the athletic fray which was accepted unanimously by the stakeholders attending the meeting.

However, plans to integrate the new club into the system might be increasingly difficult due to the lack of communication between the club and the association.

“The problem with them is that there is no communication. The GOA (Guyana Olympic Association) has been asking us to look at them and put together a programme that we have not

Aubrey Hutson

got around to doing,” Hutson told Guyana Times Sport via telephone.

Region Nine/Rupununi is known for their exploits in long distance running with the likes of Ricardo Martin, Doretta Wilson, Regina John and Samuel Kaiton being some of the well known

athletes out of the region.

However, out of the four only Kaiton has been really active while the other three have seemingly fallen away something Hutson understands must be stopped while noting that they might turn to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs for support in establishing communication with the club.

“We realize that we got to start off with what is going on here in this area and if we look at their area of specialty it is long distance.

“They come out and they don’t sustain so we are trying to get them a programme to sustain them and for them to last longer, the thing is the communication and we are not getting them, they brought in their stuff since last year and we wanted to go ahead with it despite them not being at the AGM, so the next step might be to seek the assistance of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs,” Huston noted.

West Indies tour is Vettori’s fitness deadline

D

aniel Vettori’s fitness when the team is selected for the West Indies tour will be critical for him to keep alive his hopes of playing in another World Cup. Former New Zealand captain and their most successful spinner, Vettori, has been battling injuries recently, and last played for New Zealand in June 2013. He met captain Brendon McCullum and coach Mike Hesson on Tuesday to discuss his future, and was told he would have to prove his fitness around the West Indies tour, which begins this May. New Zealand will cohost the World Cup at the start of the next year.

Nathan McCullum has proved to be an able replacement in the ODI side even as Vettori tried to stage a comeback through the Big Bash League. He had to struggle with a back injury, though, which negated his claim made through an impressive economy rate of 6.25 in seven matches.

Vettori hasn’t bowled a ball since, nor is he expected to anytime soon. He has two to three months to get back to fitness. It has been made clear to him that he won’t be considered for the World Twenty20 in March.

“To be fair to everyone at NZ Cricket, I sense from speaking to Hess that they need me to be proving my fitness around the West Indies tour, that’s when they really want to get on and press for the World Cup,” Vettori was quoted as saying by Fairfax NZ News.

New Zealand Herald

Daniel Vettori

quoted Vettori as saying: “Mike and Brendon made it clear that if I play for New Zealand again I’ve got to deliver in all three facets of the game, which is completely fair. I can’t just bowl 24 balls, and then expect to be hidden in the outfield [during the World T20].

“I’ve also got to consider the deal I’ve signed to coach RCB [Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL], which could require me to be there three weeks early.

That might create a difficult situation regarding the World Cup.” Hesson said that fitness in non-negotiable. “There’s plenty of water to pass under the bridge,” Hesson said, “but the key is we’re very keen for Dan to still be available for the Black Caps and Dan is still really keen to play. That’s the pri-

ority. We’re going to have to be pretty rigorous in terms of what we see from him, and whether we’re going to select him [for the West Indies tour]. Hopefully he can play some cricket before the end of the season.”

While Nathan McCullum might have emerged as a good replacement in limitedovers cricket, New Zealand are struggling to find a Test substitute. Before the start of the home international summer, New Zealand were keen to get Vettori back. They delayed naming of the Test squad against West Indies so that they could see how Vettori went in his Plunket Shield match against Central Districts.

It was only his second firstclass match in 16 months, and New Zealand decided to go ahead without him.

Vettori played two more first-class matches before being injured again during the Big Bash League.

“It was a little bit worse than the past,” Vettori said of the injury. “Running around was difficult. I’ll just rest up and try and get that ready. If I can then that’s great, and if I can’t then the writing is probably on the wall.

“It’s all about bowling and because I haven’t done that for a couple of weeks it’s hard to know. I don’t want to just sit back in February with no cricket for a little while, and just give it away. If I can work reasonably hard and try to push towards it [an international return], then who knows.” (Cricinfo)

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

thursday, february 6, 2014

TOP SCORES

NBA ROUND UP: RAPTORS 98-83 WIN OVER MAGIC

Works on warm-up pool moving ahead – 50-metre swimming pool in good condition

Barnwell delighted after victory over Windward Islands See s to on pa ry ge

23

Area where the warm-up pool will be located (Treiston Joseph photo)

W

orks on the warmup pool for the National Aquatic Centre are moving along at

a reasonable pace with contractors currently working on land fillings at the Lilendall site.

Lately many reports have surfaced of the pool having cracks in the foundation and collapsing due

R&R-sponsored Mash 40-mile cycle road race billed for Sunday T

he R&R International Limited-sponsored 40mile cycle road race will be staged on Sunday on the West Coast Demerara roadways beginning at 08:00h from Schoonord (entrance of the Demerara Harbour Bridge).

The country’s top pedalpushers will journey from Schoonord to Bushy Park, East Bank Essequibo before returning to the place of origin for the finish.

The veterans, mountain bikers and females will turn back from the Uitvlugt Community Centre, while the open category and junior riders will turn back at Bushy Park.

The top six finishers in the open category as well as the first two finishers in the juniors, veterans and female categories will receive trophies and monetary rewards, while the first mountain biker will also be rewarded.

Alonzo Greaves

Naomi Singh

The defending champion is Alonzo Greaves, who clocked one hour 41 minutes 58 seconds in winning last year’s event. The defending champions of the juniors, veterans and female categories are: Raul Leal, Stephen Fernandes and Naomi Singh respectively.

The event, which is being organised by national cycle coach Hassan Mohamed M.S., will see former cyclist and managing director of R&R International Limited, Jacob Rambarran, on hand to assist with the presentation of prizes to the respective winners.

to the current warm-up pool which is under-construction.

See full story on page 22

T&T defeat Leeward Islands by five wickets See story on page

21

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Sunil Narine