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INSIDE Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana Issue No. 1999 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

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Govt dismisses phone-tapping claims – says law being used only for security

See story on page 3

WHAT'S INSIDE:

System to P7 monitor fishing vessels launched Body of elderly man found in Rupununi

P7

Another P9 section of Airy Hall Conservancy Dam breached

Army Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Mark Phillips presents the widow of late Lieutenant Ronald Gonsalves, Sharon Gonzalves with a hamper page 15)

(SEe story on

Ramjattan wrong 2014 holds out great possibilities for on role of PPC See story on page 11

– Ali accuses him of bias, vindictiveness

See story on page 24

Guyanese – Ramotar

Guyana donates millions to floodhit Caribbean P15 islands Regional P20 economies took a beating last year – IDB NAACIE urges reunion of P20 FITUG, GTUC

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BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Wednesday, January 1 from 05:00h-06:30h The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Wednesday, January 1 from 16:55h-17:45h

WEATHER TODAY Countrywide: Thundery showers are expected during the day and into the evening over coastal regions and near inland locations.

Winds: East north-easterly between 1.66 and 2.5 metres per second.

High Tide: 04:15h and 16:31h reaching maximum heights of 2.70 metres and 2.87 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 10:04h and 22:34h reaching minimum heights of 0.51 metre and 0.33 metre respectively.

tuesday, December 31, 2013

LOTTERY NUMBERS D 03 09 13 19 21 23 16 FREE TICKET

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Govt dismisses phonetapping claims – says law being used only for security tionalised when dealing with the investigation of crime. “I continue to offer all Guyanese, the assurance that any wiretapping that is done in Guyana fully subscribes with the legal framework,” he reiterated.

Dr Luncheon did not divulge any critical security information as how many times the legislation was utilised as part of crime investigating measures.

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

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he government of Guyana on Tuesday strongly rejected allegations peddled by the Alliance For Change (AFC) that is was engaging in illegal wiretapping and was recording the conversations of politicians in the country.

The AFC had premised its allegations on a comment made by the Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali as it called for a full disclosure on all of the instances where the conversations of politicians and citizens were intercepted.

Ali had strongly upbraided that party’s leader Khemraj Ramjattan for disrespecting and verbally abusing a public servant in his office who invited him to a discourse to clarify some distorted statements carried in the media about the East Bank Development Project.

Verbal attack

The minister had said that he was “hoping” to see if soliciting support from Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) was possible to further compel the AFC politician to apologise publicly to the public official whom he verbally attacked. Ali on Monday strongly rejected the charges levied against him by the AFC as he accused the leadership of the party of creating smokescreens, dodging to address the issues raised and seeking to create distractions through lies and misconceptions.

Questioned by media operatives at his post-Cabinet press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon said that there was no merit in the positions taken by the par-

AFC offensive

Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon

ty while opining that they appear largely to be unworthy of any in-depth response from his office.

Unfathomable assertions

He could not at that time understand the rationale behind the statements made by the party and its leaders, describing them as “unlikely and unfathomable assertions”.

“I want to reassure him, if that is indeed possible, that his fears generally should be disregarded and that he has very little basis or none whatsoever for even thinking that the government of Guyana and the telecommunication service

providers would engage in unauthorised wiretapping of his phone or any Guyanese (phone).”

Asked by Guyana Times whether government or any of its agents were engaged in authorised wiretapping of the phones of politicians or citizens, he delivered a stern answer: “I can speak authentically, since the enactment and the commencement order and say none.”

The Cabinet secretary has also admitted the focus of the legislation and wiretapping continues to be exclusively utilised in the fight against crime and criminality. He insisted that the legislation is only opera-

The AFC went on the offensive on Monday after the housing minister drew first blood by exposing the alleged lack of ethics in the party. Ali apart from calling for a public apology for the disrespect shown to his staff; exposed the kind of response delivered by Ramjattan who aspires to be president of Guyana when invited to a meeting to discuss matters of public importance.

Ramjattan allegedly told the minister to “haul your ass”. Since the comment went viral on the social media, the politician has come in for heavy criticisms for several quarters. Minister Ali said he could understand the anxiety caused by the pressure being placed on Ramjattan while he distanced himself from having any knowledge of any wiretapping of phones.

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wednesday, January 1, 2014

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

The New Year

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ime and tide, it is said, wait for no man. But that was said as far back as 1225. Nowadays, the tides are rising due to global warming. But it would seem that time, like Ol’ Man River, just keeps flowing along, as if ignoring Albert Einstein’s confirmed prediction that its flow should also change with our speed of movement. And we are moving much more rapidly, in this new millennium.

Take information. Undersea fibre-optic cables and satellites have combined to allow us to be in instantaneous direct communication with persons in any part of the globe. Our terrestrial distances are too puny to matter to the speed of digital electromagnetic pulses.

This synchronous communication then cascades into every facet of our lives. We know instantaneously that our cricket team has been ignominiously defeated “Down Under” and can go to sleep without agonising all night about what “might be happening to our boys”.

Over Skype, we can eat along with our relatives over in New York or Toronto and even comment on the black cake we sent them, and not wait for the now snidely described “snail mail” to arrive with the news. But the effects of simultaneity go far beyond the personal.

In business and finance, billions of dollars are made in “arbitrage” each day by individuals who are able to utilise knowledge of simultaneous fluctuations of values of an item in different markets. Electronic transfers of money in banks now bypass the days that businesses had to wait for “cheques to clear”. Money can now earn more interest or can be invested to deliver additional returns. It is a fast, fast (monetised) world.

Even wars are now also being waged at a faster pace.

The first U.S. invasion of Iraq – “the Gulf War” – began on August 2, 1990 and ended on February 28, 1991, a mere six months, which is not long for a whole war. But the second Iraq war in 2003 only lasted from March 19, 2003 to May 1, 2003 – an amazing month and a half.

By the end of the decade, wars actually happened in “no time”: technicians sitting in caves in Nevada simply guide drones 10,000 miles away in Pakistan and fire away at targets they could see in real time. There is no need to “invade” or even declare a “war”.

In Guyana, however, events do appear to be stuck in a time warp. Take our politics, for instance. Fifty years ago, almost to the day, the U.S. decided that democracy did not really mean “rule by the people” through their representatives – the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) – as chosen by free and fair elections.

Democracy really meant rule by representatives chosen by the U.S. for their fealty to the “American way” and “elected” to office through whatever mechanism that would deliver their desired outcome. Guyana got the People’s National Congress (PNC) regime that destroyed our country between 1964 and 1992.

And here we are, 50 years later chronologically, and the Americans are again convinced that our democracy needs “improving”. Maybe it is a pure coincidence or serendipity, but the government once again has been formed by the PPP. It is clear that the PPP does not appear to understand the American variant of English, especially their meaning of the term “democracy”. Back in the 1960s, the Americans had secretly poured money and training first into the labour movement and then the opposition political parties that understood their intonation.

This time around, the old labour groups have faltered, but in compensation, the political parties have literally gone for the gold. Like the PNC of yore, they have accepted the U.S.’s traducing of Guyana’s sovereignty in order to fund their “training” into the latest U.S.-prescribed democratic mores. Their end game, of course, is to become ensconced in power, for another 28 years.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

A reveller (unseen) writes “2014” with sparklers ahead of New Year’s Eve in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, December 30, 2013 (Reuters/

Benoit Tessier)

Let go of bad habits for the new year Dear Editor, Instead of making another batch of New Year’s resolutions that you’re probably going to break before January comes to a close, consider the following bad habits and which of these you might want to let go.

Don’t take your unwanted garbage with you in the coming year. Facing the truth and making changes about yourself and your life will give you the opportunity to deal with things as they arise for a better and a brighter new year.

Life is so short and it’s just like a mirror. You can only see as much as it reflects. So don’t be too arrogant or proud by looking down on others because of their current situations.

Things get changed with time just like the weather!

Don’t underestimate anyone because everyone has a great future! Where you have been rejected before, you will be celebrated soon in a positive way.

Break the habits of jealousy. The way I look at it, jealousy can arise when someone has something that you want. Instead of being jealous, however, you could just decide to go after what you want. That’s not to say you should steal someone’s partner, job or money, but that you go out and work on getting your own.

Comparing yourself with other people is another bad habit worth letting go of in the New Year. There’s never a good reason to do this because there will always be those who have more than you, or those who have less.

Instead of constantly comparing yourself with others, a better idea is to recognise that happiness comes from being the best version of yourself that you can be.

Another bad habit to

break free of is avoidance.

We tend to run away from things that are difficult or uncomfortable, but the problem is that sooner or later these things catch up with us. The longer you avoid things, the more time there is for them to get worse.

Whether it’s a financial problem, an issue with your health or your relationship, the sooner you deal with it, the sooner it’ll be resolved and the less you’ll have to deal with the consequences of having left the problem to fester for so long.

On the list of habits to let go is torching your ‘ex’ on Facebook. No matter how curious you are about what your ‘ex’ is up to, there’s never any good that can come out of scrolling through his/ her Facebook page. You really don’t want to know how happy and successful your ‘ex’ is or who he/she is involved with today.

Even if you see that your ‘ex’ isn’t doing well, it won’t make you feel any better and besides, it’s not good for you to maintain a psychological connection to them. It’s best to resist indulging your morbid curiosity and spare yourself the upset feelings. Let go of this bad habit and let go of the ex so that you can move on to better things.

Get rid of denial. Just like with avoidance, when we deny what’s going on around us or what’s happening to us, whether in our health, our relationships or our work, we give the problems a chance to get worse while we’re denying their existence.

Facing the truth about yourself and your life will give you the opportunity to deal with things as they arise, so you can nip them in the bud instead of waiting for them to become an even bigger problem down

the road.

Habits to ditch in the new year are rudeness. Yes, life can be stressful and people can be unpleasant, but that’s no excuse for you to be rude. If more of us were to let go of this nasty habit, more people would be polite and then good manners would become the norm.

Imagine how pleasant life would be if people were helpful, agreeable and accommodating. Imagine how much easier things would be if everyone behaved courteously. If you want this to be the way things are then, recognise that politeness starts with you.

Leave by the wayside in the coming year is a bad attitude, as this can poison your entire existence.

Being irritable, self-pitying or touchy can turn life into a battleground where you see yourself as the victim and everyone else as a potential competitor or adversary.

Instead, you can work on cultivating an attitude of equanimity and self-trust so that you aren’t automatically imposing your own negativity onto every circumstance.

You can believe in your own ability to take care of yourself, drop your angry, defensive victim stance and life will immediately become easier and more enjoyable.

Leave in the dust all the old habits and stop complaining. This will never make you happy or bring you success. All that complaining accomplishes is to remind you of your problems and to reinforce your sense of helplessness in the face of them.

Complaining is the opposite of dealing with things. If you sit and wallow in indignation and self-pity, nothing will improve; in fact, everything will get worse. Instead

of complaining, you can make the new year to take action and successfully resolve your difficulties.

A terrible habit that really needs to be ditched in the new year is gossip. When you sit around talking about everyone else, it’s not only hurtful but it’s a colossal waste of your time. Instead, you could choose to be productive, improving your life and the lives of those around you.

Instead of gossiping about other people, you could be discussing interesting ideas, finding fulfilment through creativity, focusing on getting healthy, or simply relaxing and recharging.

Any one of these activities is preferable to gossip, which fosters a narrow, mean-spirited and superficial existence.

Be free of co-dependency. Instead of being a needy child in your relationships, where each person is looking to the other for emotional healing and nurturing, you can be an empowered adult and take responsibility for your own happiness and success.

You can see your partner as a companion in your journey of life, rather than an instrument of emotional healing. This attitude shift will enable you to shift from being in frustrating, unsatisfying relationships to enjoying meaningful, fulfilling ones.

New year’s resolutions are almost always a bust, but making a conscious choice to give up one or more self-defeating habits is not only possible but will pay excellent dividends throughout 2014 and in the years to come.

Pandit Suresh Sugrim Humanitarian Mission New Jersey Arya Samaj Mandir Inc

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wednesday, January 1, 2014

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

Let’s focus on issues of nation-building

Dear Editor, I have noted the comments and statements made by various individuals and organisations regarding the granting of the now famous Permission for Geological and Geophysical Survey (PGGS) for the New River Triangle, South East of Guyana.

However, despite the facts and clarifications, including credible support from the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and attorney Ralph Ramkarran, just to name a few, there is still a so-called financial analyst that has

launched a nasty attack on those who supported the Muri Brazil Ventures PGGS. In several opinionated articles created by this financial analyst, Christopher Ram, which is aimed at attracting attention to him, he disregarded the facts about the granting of the PGGS and set out to besmirch those involved in the Muri PGGS. Ram, who is also a lawyer, should be interested in the facts, which he himself has disregarded and instead launched an attack on personalities and started spreading misinformation.

In several articles/opinions, Ram continued to repeat the

same misinformation in a bid to generate his relevance in society to make up for a lack in his personal fulfilment. This blunder will only serve to further diminish his minuscule followers.

The facts on the process of granting the Muri PGGS has been repeated over and over, notwithstanding that Ram and the people within A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) have chosen to disregard the facts and made this like many other irrelevant issue a political one.

I am also made to understand that Ram, along with APNU and AFC, wants to waste the National Assembly’s

Mandir arsonist(s) must be brought to justice Dear Editor, The Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) would like to forthrightly condemn the recent arson attack on the Shri Krishna Dharmic Mandir in Hydronie, East Bank Essequibo. This attack on a sacred house of worship must be seen as an act of sacrilege committed on our Hindu brothers and sisters and the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.

Further, the IAC believes that this unprovoked and callous act is counterproductive to the enviable religious tolerance Guyana is known for.

The country’s religious and cultural diversity has been the hallmark of tolerance, peace and tranquillity in the co-habitation of its peoples.

The participation in and celebration of each other’s cultural and religious observances have been the pillars in the fostering of nationhood.

Such acts have the potential to pose challenges to the harmony and exemplary religious forbearance that exist across the length and breadth of our country. It is in this context that the IAC urges the authorities to spare no effort and to be relentless in pursuing those responsible for this despicable act and to ensure that they be made to face the brunt of the law.

This act evokes painful memories of the trauma suffered when devotees of the Alexander Village Mandir and residents in the vicinity were bombarded with firecrack-

ers. Relief was only possible following the intervention of the law enforcement agency.

While this is welcomed, the IAC believes that the stringent measures adopted by the authorities to prevent a recurrence remain necessary.

Such a situation unfortunately symbolises the level of intolerance and hatred in the hearts of a mischievous few.

The IAC would also like to express the profound sense of sadness it feels following the arson attack on the mandir and urges the devotees to remain resilient despite the current challenges.

Yours, Yvette Ramharack Secretary/Coordinator IAC

OPPORTUNITY

time to discuss this Muri PGGS. This is one of the many reasons why this nation cannot progress. We are caught up with settling personal scores and irrelevant issues such as the PGGS, rather than being

focused on real issues to transform this beloved and blessed country of ours.

We all have a role to play and we must recommit ourselves to nation building rather than focusing on petty issues

raised by Ram and some members of APNU and AFC. Let us all recommit ourselves to a better Guyana.

Sincerely, Vivian Li (Mrs)

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Foundation

New Year’s resolutions your children made

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hat resolutions have your children made to ring in the new year? Parents share the real goals their children have promised to accomplish.

Learn new things

My daughter wants to learn how to sing. She is so smart and has accomplished so much in her short six

years. – Michele Martinez Five-year-old Grace wants to learn to read more “star words” (sight words).

Learning to read in kindergarten has been so much fun.

Two-year-old Ben wants to run and climb more! – Renee Ballerine

Improve education

My four-year-old daughter is still having a tough

time holding her pencil/ crayon correctly, so we’re set on mastering that. – Joanna Good My four-year- old wants to master addition. – Alisha Scalf

Stop eating junk food

My girls decided on no more fast food “minus a pizza every now and then”, and we figured if we can cut that

out, it would be a good lifestyle change. We already limit junk food that comes in the house. – Katie Fitch

Start exercising

My nine-year-old son has resolved to run with me three days a week. My seven-year-old son wants to play more with his brothers.

– Melissa Newell

Help mom quit smoking

My son is nine. He decided to make it his goal to help me quit smoking. Kids – gotta love them! – Lorena Kerrigan

Adopt a “green” lifestyle

I have five kids, and they decided to use less energy, so they are cutting out 90 per cent of TV usage, unplugging everything we don’t use daily, and walking to school!

– Millie Radona

Master milestones

My son just turned two years old; his resolution is to learn to use the big-boy potty. My second child is in the womb and “says” his/her resolution is to sleep through

the night as fast as possible.

– Ronella Collins My three-month-old daughter told me she wants to learn how to walk and say “Mommy.” – Lucy Herrera

Always have fun

My son wants to build a teleporter to Legoland. – Lisa Decker Last year, we held a New Year’s Eve playdate and we counted down at noon for the kids. That night, at bedtime, I was telling my son (then four years old) about resolutions, and without pausing he told me, “I want to have parties where we throw confetti and make lots of noise once a week.” – Katie Dugan (parents.com)

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wednesday, January 1, 2014 | guyanatimesGY.com

System to monitor fishing vessels launched

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Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

mid rampant piracy and other criminal activities at sea, the Agriculture Ministry has moved to have vessel monitoring systems (VMS) implemented on all marine vehicles plying their trade at sea.

The move, which is a collaborative effort of the Fisheries Department and the Guyana Association of Trawler Owners and Seafood Processors is another step closer to having the industry certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the ministry said in a statement.

The MSC certification contributes to the health of the world’s oceans by recognising and rewarding sustainable fishing practises.

Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy in an invited comment stated that such a move will significantly aid the fisheries sector as better monitoring of vessels and accountability will now be more evident.

However, he cautioned vessel operators to comply with the new standard so as to ensure a more even playing field, as products using the MSC labels, have a more advantage in the global market.

The instillation of the VMS units on fishing vessels is one of the major activities the Fisheries Department is looking to have further advanced in 2014. To date, the Agriculture Ministry is in receipt of all the VMS units, however, only 30 of the units have been installed on sea-

bob shrimp vessels.

Negotiations are currently ongoing with the National Frequency Management Unit to have the remainder released and subsequent installed on fishing vessels.

“We are therefore calling on all fishing vessels to be outfitted with VMS units before they are licenced for next year. Such a move will aid in traceability of the catch, as well as the surveillance efforts of the Fisheries Department,” Minister Ramsammy said.

The implementation of the Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) will also assist the Fisheries Department to monitor fishermen to ensure they are in compliance with the Harvest Control Rule (HCR). The HCR determines the number of days a vessel is permitted to fish for a year in order to ensure the resource is sustainably harvested.

“Another area for development is boundaries.

Presently, negotiations are being done to have fathom lines enforced. Once this is done, there will be boundary levels where seabob or prawn vessels are allowed to catch. This is to ensure survival of recruits in order to replenish the stocks,” Minister Ramsammy said.

The VMS is a satellitebased positional tracking system. These devices consist of a Global Positioning System (GPS), and a satellite data transmitter that provides information on vessel name, location and activity.

Body of elderly man found in Rupununi

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olice are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Harold Peters, 66, of Shea Village, South Rupununi, Region Nine.

Peters’ body was found

about 05:30h Monday on the roadway at Shea with injuries to the head and chest. The body is at the Lethem Hospital Mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination.

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Govt looking at more proposals for Amaila hydro power plant

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abinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon on Tuesday disclosed that government was receiving several new proposals and expressions of interest from companies that want to take on the task of constructing the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.

But, unfortunately, none of these proposals put forward have won the nod from the ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administration, according to Luncheon who made the disclosure on the same day the licences awarded to Sithe Global expired.

Sithe Global last year pulled out of the project, citing a myriad of concerns and a lack of political support for the design and project it had crafted which could have seen the use of hydropower becoming a reality in Guyana.

Dream will not die

Construction of the hydro facility and electrical interconnection was anticipated to begin in late 2013 and would have taken approximately four years to complete.

“We are continually engaging interests, both from our neighbours and further afield in having this reality realised. Nothing close to the definitiveness of the project we lost in 2013 is on the books right now,” he disclosed at his post-cabinet media briefing held at the Office of the President.

The Cabinet secretary said

government will not abandon its vision of making the project a reality given the positive and economic benefits which can be accrued from the construction and operationalisation of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, given its magnitude and well thoughtout design.

“We have to concede that it will be here forever... we are not going to wake up tomorrow and find the dream of an Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant that was presented in 2013 formally to the Parliament of Guyana would have indeed disappear,” he told reporters.

Dr Luncheon described the rejection of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant by the combined parliamentary opposition as the “crown of the bottle” of national disappointments for 2013.

“It is at the point where its focus has deliverables that are far in excess closer to reality than any other site in Guyana,” he offered, as he drove home the point that the plant would be better served if the site is located at Amaila.

The plant, whose proposed location was at the confluence of the Amaila and Kuribrong rivers, was expected to deliver electricity to Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, and its second largest town, Linden, by a transmission line.

Dr Luncheon admitted that government has not seen any “adequate” or “appropriate” design and proposal that

it will willingly accept, explaining that the focus of the ruling administration in the new year will be largely on harnessing the nation’s renewable energy potential.

He also confirmed that government was not in a rush to renew or extend the licences of Sithe Global as he explained that licensing was much more than just inking a document.

Agreements

He advised that the precursor to licensing bordered more on a menu of engagements and other agreements which must be undertaken way ahead of the symbolic signing of any document.

The construction of a new 165 megawatt hydroelectric facility creates an opportunity for Guyana to generate its own dependable and affordable power from a clean, natural source, fostering growth and economic development in the country.

The project, when completed, will immediately provide local communities with employment opportunities as well as the opportunity for expanded sales of goods and services. The plant was expected to lower average wholesale energy costs while spurring additional economic investment, resulting in more jobs and stronger infrastructure.

After 20 years of operation, the ownership of the project would have been transferred to Guyana Power & Light (GPL).

Eyew tness

Dialectics of... ...pompous nonsense ne of the reasons politics in Guyana is so vapid is because some politicians are so long in the tooth, they keep regurgitating the same ole, same ole...ad nauseam. Which means your Eyewitness is about to puke this New Year’s Day. Take this fella, Moses Nagamootoo. He dashed off a letter to the press, taking on the Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall. As a person who’s very familiar with probably every rum shop in Guyana, Nagamootoo should really heed the old folk wisdom on how rum shops stack their bottles. You just don’t mix big bottles with small bottles – especially “flatties”!

As a newcomer to the (legal) bar, he really ought to have some regard for the traditions of the profession and get a handle on the proper usage of language.

He accuses the AG of “trying to circle the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) wagon”. We’ve heard of “squaring the circle”, but how the heck do you “circle a wagon?” We’ve also heard of “coming off the wagon” – which means to stop drinking liquor – which advice Nagamootoo should well heed.

Then again, did he mean the AG was running around a PPP/C wagon? Or maybe because he’s still on the wagon, he really meant to say “the AG is trying to circle the PPP/C wagons? Plural?

Well, this just shows how people like Nagamootoo are so insensitive to indigenous peoples. He would know from all the “cowboy movies” he saw as a small boy in Berbice, how the U.S. white settlers used to “circle their wagons” to pick off the native Indians with their rifles. And take over their land.

From the way the Alliance For Change (AFC) is voting against development programmes for Amerindians in Guyana, looks like it feels the same way about our indigenous peoples. How heartless can you be? Nagamootoo also accused the AG of treating the “the opposition as a toothless poodle”. A number of things with this language.

First of all, Nagamootoo picked up the phrase in the 1960s from Janet Jagan who called the then Chairman of the Elections a “toothless poodle” for

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allowing the People’s National Congress (PNC) to debut the commission to rig the elections.

The phrase is so dated and clichéd. Can’t Nagamootoo be more creative than “toothless poodle” and “shut yuh so-and-so mouth”? Maybe he should follow his party leader and “haul ‘e ass”! Then he throws in the line that “the AFC and the united majority opposition are today part of this dialectics of struggle”. What the hell does this mean?

That because the AFC is in the same bed with the PNC/A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), they’re engaged in some “struggling” under the sheets? Well, as Dave Martins asked, the question is “Who’s on top?” ...democracy Being not of the Marxist persuasion, your Eyewitness is always a bit sceptical of the whole “dialectics” bit. What with immanent “contradictions” in every issue and resolutions that contained their own contradictions, it just made him tired. And maybe this is what’s happened to the Americans and their “export of democracy”, since they always gave very short shrift, if any at all, to old Karl Marx.

But David Granger and the members of the PNC still surviving in APNU should know better. Say what you want about Forbes Burnham, if he knew the difference between Bolshevik and Menshevik, he’d know a thing or two about dialectics. And he’d advise them to beware of those that would support another country in subverting the sovereignty of their own country. In another time, they’d call it “treason”.

He’d tell them to look at what happened after he, the student of Machiavelli, struck his Faustian bargain in his visit to Washington in1962.

Ruin and destruction, that’s what. ...the New Year The writer Omar Khayyam said it best: “The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on.” It is our wish that our opposition politicians will move on with the task of building rather than breaking this nation.

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wednesday, January 1, 2014 | guyanatimesGY.com

Another section of Airy Hall Conservancy Dam breached

A waterlogged rice field

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ven as workers sealed a huge, 15-foot breach in the Airy Hall Conservancy Dam, another has opened, Region Two Chairman Parmanand Persaud said.

The chairman said that his administration had managed to seal the first breach; however, during a visit to the area early Tuesday morning, he discovered another breakage.

He said the water continues to flow but at a slow rate. Engineers, overseers and rangers are working on a temporary initiative, using huge sand bags to plug the gap created by the breach.

The chairman said although the breach has been sealed, the dam remains fragile. The contractor, Persaud noted has been hired to execute works on the revetment. These will assist in helping to prevent major flooding in the residential area. The chairman said his administration in collaboration with the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) will continue to work around-the-clock to bring relief to residents in the area.

Farmers said that the water has receded somewhat, but the community appears to be a health hazard. When Guyana Times visited the area on Tuesday,

Water has receded in some parts of Airy Hall

many housewives were seen cleaning their yards and homes.

Meanwhile, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has called attention to what it deems the neglect of the nation’s drainage and irrigation infrastructure by the administration that has caused flooding in four of the 10 administrative regions of Guyana.

Empathy

APNU in a statement empathised with the suffering farmers of Black Bush Polder and farmers all across the nation, whose crops have been destroyed and acreage flooded “due to the lack of maintenance and poor infrastructure development”.

The coalition said in the East Berbice, Corentyne region, the koker at Mibicuri north has not been serviced in over six months, and the concurrent neglect has caused a buildup of mud which renders the facility inoperable, resulting in crop loss and damage to property.

“The breach of the conservancy at Airy Hall in the Pomeroon-Supenaam region which has resulted in several hundreds of acres of cultivated rice submerged, is a direct result of the PPP/C (People Progressive Party/Civic) chronic neglect

of our country’s infrastructure,” the APNU said.

APNU reiterated its call for the PPP/C administration to develop a commonsense approach to the drainage and irrigation needs of Guyana.

It said infrastructure development and especially the development and maintenance of “our drainage and irrigation capacity is critical for Guyana’s economic transformation; because of the country’s phys-

ical size (particularly in relation to its population), geographical positioning, terrain and topography and historical settlement pattern that is predominantly coastal”.

APNU called on the gov-

ernment to enact policies and programmes and a national development strategy that will strengthen state support for efficient drainage and irrigation infrastructure nationwide.

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wednesday, January 1, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

A new dawn S

atiricus was at the coming of a new year. Normally, being a worrier and a nail biter, he’d be fretting at what was ahead. But not this year. This was going to be the dawning of a new age. If not the Age of Aquarius, well, not far behind. Satiricus, as a newspaper hack, had been told by one of his buddies over at the MuckrakerKN that his BOSSMAN, Mook Lall, was going to throw his hat into the political ring.

Satiricus did have a momentary twinge of worry as to what might happen to the Mook’s bald head in the blazing sun – when he threw off his hat. But what the heck? It was one measure of how much the Mook was willing to sacrifice for the good of the country. And there’s a lot of other measures. Satiricus remembered the time when the Mook used to sell shallots in front of Big Market. And he gave up all that to take over the MuckrakerKN from some confused lil’ boy, who now works for the Stabber News.

Some say he didn’t “take over” the paper, but “took away” the paper from the lil’ boy. “Whatever!” thought Satiricus. A guy’s gotta do what a guy's gotta do when he’s planning on running an entire country, no? After all, look at how many businesses the Mook’s hero Forbes Burnham took over back in the day.

And look what a masterful job the Mook had done with the MuckrakerKN! Before him, all those people who went to fancy schools used to just report on the news. You know? About what happened in the country.

Satiricus always thought that schools and education were overrated. Without being burdened with an education, the Mook thought, “Why me should write wha people do?”

That was so deadly dull. And “dull” didn’t sell newspapers.

So the Mook told his people, “Mek up the news!” The reporters loved him! They didn’t have to leave their desks...they could just write whatever the hell popped into their head! But the Mook also knew that people liked to pull down successful people. Heck! He liked to pull down whoever did better than him! And he was people, no? So his paper became the Muckraker it is today. Cuss, cuss, and more cuss!

But this just persuaded the Mook he could fool the people even more big time. He was going to take on his old buddy, Prezzie. He’d supported and given thousands of column inches to Prezzie’s opponents. But Prezzie still wouldn’t do what the Mook told him. The Mook would teach him a lesson. When Satiricus heard the plan, he knew it was a winner.

The plan was simple. For years, the Mook had been the top backtracker to the U.S. When he runs for Prezzie, he’s going to promise to backtrack everyone to the U.S.! Or get them to sell shallot.

How could he lose?

11 News

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, January 1, 2014

Ramjattan wrong on role of PPC – Ali accuses him of bias, vindictiveness

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mid the ongoing row over the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali said Alliance For Change (AFC) leader Khemraj Ramjattan is on the wrong side of the track when it comes to understanding the role of the constitutional body.

In a long statement responding to a recent article that appeared in the Stabroek News in which Ramjattan commented on the issue, Ali said that the current government has no objection to the establishment of the PPC. “In fact, one must recall that it is the PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/Civic) government that sought to rein in tremendous and extensive reforms of the financial system and sector in relation to governance, transparency, and accountability.”

He said the modernisation of Guyana’s procurement system and the comprehensive overhaul and reforms within the procurement system was led by this PPP/C government at the time when “we had the majority in Parliament. It is, therefore, a misnomer for Ramjattan to question this government’s commitment to accountability, transparency and, in this particular case, the establishment of the PPC”.

Responsibilities

He said government has certain responsibilities guaranteed in the Constitution and the Procurement Act 2003. The government also has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that it provides oversight of the expenditure of public funds.

“It is important that we understand that Cabinet’s no-objection or objection role is not synonymous with an award of a contract. This fact is clearly established under the Procurement Act 2003.”

He quoted Section 54(4) which stated that Cabinet is not authorised to award a tender to suppliers or contractors.

“The power granted to Cabinet under the Procurement Act 2003 is limited merely to a review of the procurement procedures followed by the procuring entity.”

In Ramjattan’s article in the Monday 30, December 2013 edition of the Stabroek News, he said: “Cabinet being able to make a complaint against an award to the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) which will then

rule on it.” “Here it is that Ramjattan is ignoring the powers granted to Cabinet under the Constitution and the Procurement Act 2003,” Ali said, noting that Article 212AA (1) of the Constitution of Guyana specifies the functions and responsibilities of the Public Procurement Commission and that none of the 13 functions and responsibilities listed under Article 212AA (1) empowers the Public Procurement Commission to award or approve or grant a no-objection to contracts. “This is a fundamental point that Guyanese must be aware of and which Ramjattan very skilfully avoid,” Ali charged.

He said Ramjattan continues to create the misperception that the PPC would be an overriding and awarding procurement mechanism, but according to Article 212AA(1) of the Constitution of Guyana, the PPC does not have the right to give an objection, a no-objection or grant an award or non-award of contracts.

“The contention that the present procurement system does not allow for a supplier or contractor who is dissatisfied to request a review is also flawed. There are a number of safeguards in the present procurement system that can be utilised by any supplier or contractor in relation to any dissatisfaction they may have with the procurement process followed.”

Similarities

Additionally, Ali pointed out that Cabinet’s authority to grant a no-objection is not something that is unique to Guyana. “In fact, numerous jurisdictions as well as international financial institutions such as the IDB, World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development retain the power to grant a no-objection to any grant or loan that they are financing.”

He said a perusal of the rules from the various international financial institutions indicate that the main objective of the retention of the no- objection clause is to ensure that proper procurement procedures have been followed and further that the beneficiary country does not alter with or modify any terms of conditions of the contract.

Further, there is emphasis on capacity of the recommended entities and the issue of conflict of interests in relation to consultancies.

Housing Minister Irfaan Ali

“Similarly, the power to review granted to Cabinet under Section 54(2) is specified… the Cabinet may object to the award of the

procurement only if it determines that the procuring entity failed to comply with applicable procurement procedures.”

Ali said it is interesting to note that Ramjattan would continuously, and in an unashamed and biased manner, name and attack companies in relation to the PPC. “This is indeed a bias on the part of Mr Ramjattan.

One cannot call for the PPC and then demonstrate that the PPC would be a corrective mechanism for perceptions that he has. It seems as though Mr Ramjattan believes that the PPC, which will not be made up of any politician, but comes from a pool of professional people, would be a board with a vendetta that oper-

AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan

ates under the perception or perceived notion that Mr Ramjattan seeks to purport.”

Ali said Ramjattan’s

revelation in relation to the way he seeks to use the PPC is very interesting.

“As minister with responsibility for the private sector, I find it disturbing that a public official, in this particular case, Mr Ramjattan, would seek to use the PPC to fulfil his personal vendetta against companies, naming and accusing companies of all sorts of breaches in relation to public procurement. This shows that he has a real bias and a clear agenda in relation to what he wants out of the PPC. It is, therefore, necessary for all citizens and the private sector of Guyana to notice the double standard and hypocrisy in Mr Ramjattan’s position on the PPC.”

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Wednesday, january 1, 2014 | gu

THE TOURISM INDUSTRY -

Message from the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Hon Irfaan Ali

Message from GTA Director, Mr Indranauth Haralsingh

ourism is the most important and strategic sector to secure Guyana’s future growth and development, coupled with stellar levels of service, Guyana’s tourism sector will be propelled onto the international front.

We recognize that the expansion of Guyana’s economy lies in tourism, and with the increasing investments and expressions of interest for the coming year, there will be a great turn around in our tourism drive.

With this in mind, we must therefore inculcate a culture that understands tourism, which must be ingrained in the daily lives of Guyanese, and which must be reflected in our interactions with guests/ visitors arriving in Guyana.

It is also imperative for every citizen to embrace the necessary infrastructure that seek to further propel the sector forward, including the CJIA Expansion Project and the Marriott Hotel; air service is critically linked to the survival of the tourism industry, and there is an immediate need for an adequate airport as we prepare to welcome several major carriers in the new year.

We acknowledge too that there is a need for Guyana to be made a vibrant ‘transportation hub’ in anticipation of the Brazil World Cup Football tournament, to make this a reality, it therefore necessary for a combined marketing effort, involving government and the tourism and private sector representatives .

2013 has been a very successful year on many fronts, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and the Guyana Tourism Authority have intensified partnerships with the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana and other private sector companies, to host a series of events, to facilitate training within the industry and to market and promote the destination.

The resulting reality holds much reason to celebrate, the GTA has recorded consecutive months of record breaking arrivals, as of November we are 11.7% above the same period in 2012.

Destination Guyana continues to receive international acclaim, in November 2013 National Geographic Traveler presented their 2014?s must-see places on planet earth and Guyana earned a coveted spot on this exclusive, very short list for the very first time in 2014.

National Geographic further went on to say that Guyana may be the best-kept secret in South America - “Stunning natural wonders – stretching from newly restored mangroves near Georgetown to the mighty Kaieteur Falls to the pristine Iwokrama rain forest, Guyana offers curious travelers an opportunity to experience one of only four remaining intact rain forest ecosystems on the planet.”

Additionally several new documentaries were filmed and major publications featured Guyana, highlighting several aspects of the growing tourism industry.

These achievements are certainly impressive when one considers the performance of other Caribbean countries and differences in the dynamics of our respective tourism industries.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage the tourism stakeholders to continue your hard work and push towards the sustainable development of this very important industry. I would also like to use this occasion to salute our discerning tourists for choosing ecologically friendly destinations such as Guyana.

I take this opportunity also to wish the entire nation and visiting family and friends a Happy and prosperous 2014…

HAPPY NEW YEAR

he Guyana Tourism Authority, over the past year, provided active support for almost all local events and continued to promote the ‘Rediscover Home’ campaign, which encourages overseas-based Guyanese to return, explore and enjoy Guyana.

Additionally, there has been closer collaboration with the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana and several Private Sector companies and tour operators, while we emphasized the need for more packaging within the industry.

Over the past twelve months, the Authority intensified efforts to raise awareness of market demand, tourism trends and tourism product development opportunities for Guyana’s tourism businesses and attractions, in keeping with its mandate.

We also attended and facilitated private sector participation in several key trade shows and contributed towards the development of new tourism products and experiences that are in demand, relevant, and suitable for Guyana’s domestic and international tourists.

In recognition of the importance of high standards within the growing industry, the GTA also partnered with several agencies to provide technical training to persons within the industry and the staff of the Product Development department.

In the coming year, increased focus will also be placed on continuing the enhancement of standards within the industry, focusing on tourism products and services; multi destination itinerary planning, event management, eco/sustainable principles and guidelines as well as a grading scheme will be developed for the Industry.

As a result of increased marketing and promotion, Destination Guyana is now a much talked about location, with several international publications and filming companies recognising the potential of the sector and paying homage to the uniqueness of the tourism product.

With this world wide recognition, the improvement in infrastructure that supports growth of the industry and the increasing investments in the sector, it is anticipated that our visitor arrivals in 2014 will increase by as much as 15 %.

In this regard, efforts must be made to prepare local human resources to take on the important function within the hospitality industry and guard against tourists’ first experience here being undesirable, hence it becomes equally important to recognize all the benefits the establishment of the Hospitality Institute will bring.

We also expect our air capacity to increase, and several major carriers have expressed their intention to begin plying the Georgetown route from next year, this will accommodate the influx of visitors to the destination.

The modernisation and growth of the Tourism Industry is clearly underway, and I urge all private sector players to focus on strategic marketing of their products and to recognise the benefits of packaging, which will cement out position on the international front and accelerate our efforts to promote Guyana as the premier destination of choice.

I would like to take the opportunity to thanks the hardworking team at the Guyana Tourism Authority and all Private Sector Stakeholders for their commitment and passion towards tourism development in Guyana….Happy New Year!!

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wednesDay, january 1, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

14 News

wednesDay, january 1, 2014 | guyanatimeSGY.com

New Year Messages

Granger dubs 2014 “Year for Workers” A common vision for 2014 – LaRocque

“G

uyana’s ‘Year for Workers’ must dawn today,” Opposition Leader David Granger said in a New Year’s message.

He said this country’s economic future lies in their hands. “Many of our working people, however, are underemployed and unhappy and are not as productive as they could be. Workers face unsatisfactory labour relations in the sugar and mining industries and in the public and private sectors. Artisanal fisherfolk, craftsmen, small farmers and miners found themselves in difficult circumstances during 2013. Life must be better for all in 2014.”

Granger said Guyana’s Year for Workers must be one in which working people should be able to look forward to

a good life. It should be one in which they could look forward to living in safety, to working for “living wages” to cope with the cost of living and to enjoying adequate social protection in their old age.

“Guyana’s ‘Year for Workers’ must be one in which workers can feel free to join trade unions of their choice; in which collective bargaining agreements between their employers and their unions will be respected and in which the state will enforce labour laws fairly, but firmly to protect them from adversity and from delinquent employers. Let us, therefore, make the New Year – 2014 – Guyana’s Year for Workers as we all work together towards providing a good life for all Guyanese,” the opposition leader noted, while wishing all Guyanese best wishes for a happy new year.

New year presents opportunity for fresh start – first lady

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irst Lady Deolatchmie Ramotar said that the new year is an opportunity to start afresh, a time to recheck moral and spiritual compasses, to set personal goals, and to make plans for the future.

In a message to mark the occasion, the first lady said “in so doing, we must not dismiss the past but instead build upon our achievements and learn from the disappointments experienced”.

During the Christmas holidays, the first lady hosted and attended numerous events for children.

“The children were a joy to behold. They enlivened the sessions with their boundless enthusiasm and energy.

Their innocence and amazing ability to find unbridled

happiness in the company of each other reminds us all of the great promise they hold for our country’s future. It is for us adults to nurture that promise and to create conditions that would allow each child to fulfil his or her indisputable potential,” Ramotar said.

She said in 2014, “I wish to urge all adults to seriously reflect on our obligation to our children. It is our duty to bequeath to them a dignified and secure future, one that is free of bigotry, hatred, and animosity. Through our own example, especially in regards to how we relate to each other, we can ensure an environment of love, understanding, togetherness and compassion for our children. They deserve nothing less.”

C

aricom Secretary General Irwin LaRocque said 2013 was a reflective and celebratory year for the community as it marked its 40th anniversary.

“That we have come thus far is testimony to our determination and commitment to forge a common destiny as small unified states in this unique corner of the world called the Caribbean. Our anniversary theme of ‘Celebration and Renewal’ remains relevant as we bask in our ‘Caribbeanness’, rekindle the spirit of community and continue our integration quest with an outlook that is shaped by new thinking and different approaches,” LaRocque said in a

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back firmly on the national agenda, recognising that constructive dialogue is the only way to ensure we move this country of ours forward, for the benefit of all. In closing, we salute our gallant fighters in all 10 regions of Guyana and in the diaspora who have kept the Alliance For Change going under difficult circumstance and note the passing of several of our members and close friends.”

The party said that the past year has been a challenging one for most Guyanese with alarmingly high levels of domestic violence, affecting mainly “our women and the high incidence of road fatalities, which have taken many valuable lives, including our youngest and brightest minds”. The AFC said in 2013 it waged a fight against corruption and advocated the need for good governance.

“We focused on demanding accountability and transparency in the day to day running of our dear country, Guyana. In this area, our shouts have

He said the new outlook will also be shaped by the review and reform that have been undertaken at the behest of the heads of government. “We are on schedule to achieve early in the New Year one of our key milestones, the completion of the draft fiveyear strategic plan. The plan was crafted following consultations with stakeholders across member states and associate members.

The plan will set out a common vision, identify our priority areas of focus over the period, and will also address issues of implementability, including the roles and responsibilities of all participants in the community architecture.”

Yarde prays for better leaders

“O

h Almighty one, over many centuries you have freed your children from bondage and have punished perpetrators in many ways. We now ask you Lord, to enlighten those who were chosen to lead us, but have sought to seek their own interest in doing so. Enlighten them, oh Saviour, that leadership entrusted is to be executed in the interest of the

AFC says will continue fight for better Guyana he Alliance For Change (AFC) says it will continue to advance the issues it has been asked to raise by its supporters which include a reduction in the economic pressures, garbage free communities, jobs for young people and a livable wage for all.

“In 2014, we will lobby hard to ensure that the state media will be opened up to give us and other organisations access to this ‘national’ resource as happens in most democracies across the globe and that coverage of parliamentary proceedings will be carried live, better informing the people of Guyana and eliminating the cloak and dagger approach,” the AFC said in its New Year’s message.

“We in the Alliance For Change know that more can be achieved when we accept that every Guyanese has a valuable contribution to make. We recommit to ensuring that the spirit of working together among our major political parties is put

message.

According to LaRocque, that outlook will be influenced by the necessity for appropriate responses to the current global environment which has placed member states in dire straits, stymieing growth and development and denying the region the wherewithal to create a better standard of living for the people of the community.

“Indeed, the vulnerability of our member states and their capacity for resilience came into stark relief last week in St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, and Dominica, when severe weather visited death and destruction and caused a setback to development efforts there.”

been loud and resounding, resulting in the many revelations of corruption in the management of our national assets by our government that seemed to plague the entire year yet again.”

According to the party, the fight was vindicated with the pronouncements “we heard from Transparency International, in U.S. State Department reports, from our diplomatic missions and our own auditor general as we continue to strive to establish a true democracy.”

The party said its stance in Parliament has been based on these principles “as we sought to bring the government to account to Parliament as should be.

To this end, we have taken up issues that dealt with this – including the need for the establishment of a Public Procurement Commission, and amendments to the Fiscal Management and Accountable Act to ensure financial accountability of the judiciary and Parliament”.

people and must be benevolent.

Dear Lord, give them wisdom, that they may see the errors of their ways, seek to right the wrongs they have done for over 20 years, in pursuit of their own political aspirations and self-serving ambitions and greed.

Lord, we ask that you strengthen us as a nation, and use us as instruments to create a better Guyana, where all can live in unison, while enjoying equitably the richness of the land. This we ask in your Son’s holy name, Amen.”

This is the prayer of Guyana Public Service Union President Patrick Yarde as he wished the country a happy New Year. He said in Guyana exists an environment, where the government continues to exhibit increasing disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law.

“This is manifested in its failure to put in place certain constitutional institutions that are intended to protect you as public servants from the abuse of power. This is evidenced in the fact that the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, a

constitutional body, was not made operational for over 20 years and the Public Procurement Commission has not been operationalised, since being required by the 2003 Procurement Act. As noted, the Office of the Ombudsman, which was not reformulated for over a decade was reluctantly resuscitated in the latter part of 2013. In time, we would determine whether government would allow it to function with its required independence, which interestingly enough was not accorded to the Ethnic Relations Commission, which is headed by one of its cohorts.

This clearly demonstrates the selfserving nature of government and its willingness to trample on the rights of citizens.

Yarde spoke about government’s arbitrary approach to wages and salaries of public servants. He commended his members for their “militancy... I commend the members of the union, members of the political opposition and citizenry as we continue the struggle for respect, decency and fairness”.

15

News

wednesDay, january 1, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

GDF presents cash, hampers Guyana to families of fallen ranks donates cash I to flood-hit Caribbean islands

– to launch aid appeal with private sector

ready to render all possible assistance in the recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Sympathy

Caricom Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque

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n a gesture of solidarity with its sister nations of the Caribbean Community, Guyana will contribute US$100,000 to St Lucia; US$100,000 to St Vincent and the Grenadines; and US$75,000 to Dominica, to assist in their recovery efforts in wake of the recent heavy rains which resulted in the loss of lives and critical damage to property and infrastructure.

Government will also be launching a national fundraising appeal in collaboration with the private sector to assist in the recovery efforts of the countries of the Eastern Caribbean that were affected by the torrential rains and high winds which caused deaths and severe damage to property and infrastructure over the period December 23 to 25.

Further details will be announced shortly, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a terse statement on Monday. Meanwhile, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque said he was profoundly saddened by the loss of life in St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia, and the destruction wrought by floods, landslides and high winds in those member states and in Dominica.

In a message of condolence following the severe weather that affected the three Caricom member states, the secretary general extended sympathy to those who lost loved ones.

He also gave the assurance that the community stood

“On behalf of the community, I extend deepest sympathy to those persons who lost loved ones, were injured or displaced or suffered damage to property, and lament the damage to infrastructure as a result of the severe weather. The community shares the concerns of the families of those who remain missing, and prays that they are found safe and sound.

“The community’s regional emergency response mechanism has been activated. As the process of recovery and rebuilding begins, I wish to assure those persons who are affected that the community stands ready to render all possible assistance as the member states seek to rebuild from the destruction,” the secretary general said.

Ambassador LaRocque, who is in Dominica, has visited some of the affected areas there and has been in contact with St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minster, Dr Ralph Gonsalves; Saint Lucia Prime Minister, Dr Kenny Anthony; Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and Caricom Chairman, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

The secretary general has held discussions also with Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDEMA) Executive Director Ronald Jackson and government officials who are involved in the recovery operations.

CDEMA, which has been assessing the priority needs of the three member states, conducted site visits to the affected areas over the weekend. The Barbadosbased Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) is also monitoring the weather pattern to provide critical and timely information to the authorities in the affected member states.

Prime Minister PersadBissessar, who has responsibility for security in Caricom’s quasi-cabinet, has dispatched emergency supplies, upon request, to Saint Lucia, and, on Friday, sent a team to St Vincent and the Grenadines to assess the needs there.

n keeping with its tradition of spreading Christmas cheer, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) presented hampers and cash contributions, to the surviving spouses, children and relatives of seven of its members who passed away during 2013.

This was just one of the activities during which the force undertook to embrace and share the spirit of the Christmas season with its officers and ranks and their extended families, GDF said in a release.

The deceased ranks, whose spouses and relatives received the Christmas tokens were Lieutenant Ronald Gonsalves, Sergeant Viola George, Corporal Kevin Calder, lance corporals Eon Blair, Ravi Phillips, Akini Sampson and Private Charwyn Hooper.

Meanwhile, at all

At Base Camp Stephenson, Base Commander Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Lee serves lunch to the troops

the GDF bases and locations, serving members of the force participated in gunfire activities. The army also hosted several Christmas lunches.

Additionally, hundreds of children of members of the force were treated to

much jollification and received gifts at the several special annual Children’s Christmas parties that were held.

Brigadier Mark Phillips extends best wishes to all officers and ranks of the force for a rewarding new

year.

The chief-of-staff also thanked all its partners, for supporting the force in the effective conduct of its mandate, particularly, the communities in the immediate environs of its bases and locations.

16 News

Wednesday, january 1, 2014 | gu

Toronto-G funds to h

By Vishnu Bisram

T

oronto-based students of the (Guyanese) Pranav Ashram, a branch of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, with affiliated branches in Guyana and New York, fundraised US$11,000 in a concert at the ashram in Toronto for the Sick Kids Foundation.

This is a non-profit organisation that previously sponsored surgeries in Canada and India for dozens of Guyanese and other Caribbean children.

Similar plans are in store for the coming year.

Officials of the Pranav Ashram noted that the Hindu spiritual organisation’s emphasis is on “seva”; that is, serving others with no expectation of reward and members of the Pranav.

The Pranav Mandir as well as affiliated ashrams have been performing yeoman service to humanity across Guyana, New York and the greater Toronto area.

The teachings and practices of seva have been the cornerstone of the Toronto Ashram’s heritage and cultural class

under the tutelage of Guya Bhajananandaji and others 14 years.

The funds raised in 2013 dren of the Pranav will be sist in rehabilitating broke children who come from acr and the globe, including Guy mandir’s Diwali concert in children also raised funds th nated to help sick children.

The ashram’s children ised and performed at the c trained by music experts – D (vocal and harmonium) and Jr (tabla). In the past, the k volved with the Pranav’s “foo distribution to the poor at T and Christmas events and Guyanese affected by natu ties. This year, the concert’s ning was titled “Sangeet Ma

Praise

Swamiji Bhajananandaji work of the children, extolli manitarian attributes. He sa practice of charity means th

News

ary 1, 2014 | guyanatimesGY.com

17

o-Guyanese ashram raises o help sick children

tutelage of Guyanese Swami ndaji and others for the past

ds raised in 2013 by the chile Pranav will be used to asabilitating broken health of ho come from across Canada be, including Guyana. At the Diwali concert in 2012, the so raised funds that were dolp sick children. hram’s children who organerformed at the concert were music experts – Dev Bansraj harmonium) and Dev Bansraj In the past, the kids were inthe Pranav’s “food drives” for n to the poor at Thanksgiving mas events and also to aid affected by natural calamiear, the concert’s musical evetled “Sangeet Mala”.

Praise

Bhajananandaji praised the e children, extolling their huattributes. He said that “the charity means the voluntary

giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver, meaning an unlimited loving-kindness to all others.”

Swamiji added that “those who are in a favourable position should feel obligated to extend a helpful hand to the less fortunate so as to alleviate their pain and misery”.

In a separate event relating to children, the Advocates for Etobicoke Youth (AFEY) in the Toronto area hosted a children’s Christmas party at the popular Woodbine Banquet Hall that is patronised by Guyanese and other IndoCaribbean nationals. The event was supported by the Toronto Police Service, Guyanese-Canadian businessman Dhaman Kissoon, charitable groups and several other Guyanese businesses.

Some 450 children of all ethnicities were treated at the party, along with their parents or guardians. Altogether, organisers say some 1000 people attended the special children holiday treat. The children were treated to games and other forms of entertainment including a gift and food hamper from Santa Claus, who took pictures with them.

Members of Pranav Ashram donate the cheque of US$11,000 to members of the Sick Kids Foundation

18 News Tax cheats cause municipalities to miss revenue target R

wednesDay, january 1, 2014 | guyanatimeSGY.com

evenues raked in by the six municipalities across Guyana remain below par, Junior Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker has disclosed.

Initially in 2013, it was estimated that the municipalities would have garnered a whopping $2.8 billion by year-end. The Georgetown Mayor and City Council was expected to receive some $2.4 billion followed by Rose Hall with $45.7 million, but collectively, the six municipalities fell short by 48 per cent as of November 30.

Minister Whittaker said the Anna Regina, Rose Hall, New Amsterdam, Linden and Georgetown municipalities’ inability to rake in the budgeted revenues is primarily because persons are failing to pay their rates and taxes.

“While people have a right to demand, while people have an expectation to have services provided by the municipality and visa versa; there is an expecta-

tion that citizens would pay their rates,” the junior local government minister posited.

In municipal areas like Linden, payment plans have been initiated for defaulters. In explaining the importance of paying rates and taxes, in addition to other fees, Whittaker said the monies garnered are often used for the payments of wages and salaries and administrative activities.

“We would like to see the municipalities, rake in enough revenues that would allow them to use some of that revenue to provide services to fix more roads, to clean the drains with greater frequency,” he said as he remains optimistic that the attitude of citizens will change in the New Year.

Anna Regina

Nevertheless, he said the Anna Regina Municipality continues to perform exceptionally well when compared to the other five municipalities. He explained

Junior Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker

that the government of Guyana in 2013 provided $65 million in subvention to the municipalities, with Anna Regina receiving $9 million.

With the town depending heavily on agriculture, the subvention was used to execute seven projects, which included the construction of concrete box culverts, the desilting of some 15,000 rods of drains and the reha-

bilitation of roads. Minister Whittaker was more than overwhelmed to disclose that the Anna Regina municipality completed 100 per cent of its work programme for 2013.

New Amsterdam received $10 million; funds it used to procure a tractor that will aid in the rehabilitation of roads. “A significant amount was spent on the rehabbing of roads,

including the filling of potholes and the clearage of drains.”

Rose Hall, in the process of executing its mandate, experienced some difficulties; however, it used its $8 million subvention for the construction of concrete drains, the backfilling of streets and the maintenance of roads constructed under the Urban Development Programme.

Meanwhile, in the town of Corriverton, $8 million was used to maintain culverts, bridges and dumpsites. “The Linden municipality had some challenges and still have, but all municipalities have… and so the Linden municipality received $10 million, they started a bit late, but they were able to successfully complete their programme which included road upgrades and maintenance.”

Street lights

The municipality also purchased street lights for the Wismar shore and acquired a fogging machine.

Meanwhile, the Georgetown Mayor and City Council received its yearly $20 million subvention. The council has moved to acquire two trucks to assist with solid waste collection. It is expected that the

council will be in receipt of the trucks early this month.

In addition to the subvention, the government through the Local Government Ministry provided $9.4 million to the Linden municipality to assist in the payment of wages and salaries for the period September-December 2013. The ministry moved to assist the council following the July 1 Minimum Wage Order. From this year; however, the council will accelerate its collection rate to sustain the payment of wages and salaries.

Meanwhile, in the city of Georgetown, it has provided substantial sums of monies to aid in the collection of waste around the city. Most recently, the government provided some $58 million to clean up the city.

“We are not about to take over the responsibilities of the Georgetown City Council but we feel that we have a duty or a responsibility to our people, to the Guyanese public, to intervene where resources would allow us to and that is what we have been doing.”

Nevertheless, Minister Whittaker said 2013 has been a year beset with challenges for the six municipalities, but it also resulted in positive developments.

Vendors blame vagrants for messy markets

T

he untidy outlook of city markets is in large measure a result of the actions of vagrants who recklessly dispose of vendors’ waste and the untimely collection of it.

This is according to vendors who spoke with Clean Green Guyana/ Guyenterprise during a visit to Bourda market this week. They say some of the vagrants do not properly dispose of waste collected from vendors’ stalls, a release from Guyenterprise said.

“Some of them, when they see the bins them full, they just dump the garbage right there next to it.”

Another said “Is de junkies, when you pay them, they don’t care where they throw de garbage,” one vendor was quoted by the agency as saying.

These were the sentiments expressed by the majority of vendors who sought to give some reason for the wanton disposal of garbage around the market area. However, some stallholders have taken full responsibility for the vagrants’ actions, noting that as stall owners employing the vagrants’ services, they should ensure their waste is properly disposed.

“I gon admit, I don’t always see to it that they throw it the right place,”

one stallholder confessed.

Another vendor revealed that the vagrants would even raid some of the waste for items that seem good enough to sell. “When you see some of them junkies walking round with thing in they hand selling, is from de garbage they get it and people in car does buy it from them,” she said.

She also highlighted that at nights, some of the vagrants would dump garbage right within the market. Vendors also complained about the untimely collection of garbage, noting that Cevon’s Waste Management Inc did a better job when they were employed. However, Solid Waste Management Unit Director Walter Narine, during an interview with Clean Green Guyana/ Guyenterprise, dismissed the claims of irregular garbage removal, pointing out that the council’s compactor is making four trips per day to collect waste from market areas.

He explained that the vendors would accumulate the waste and the compactors would subsequently remove it. Narine also acknowledged the actions of the vagrants in adding to the untidy surroundings of the markets. He noted that it is an old and ongoing issue, since the vagrants search bins for food or things to sell.

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20 NEWS

wednesDay, january 1, 2014 | guyanatimeSGY.com

Regional economies took NAACIE urges reunion a beating last year – IDB of FITUG, GTUC ... forecasts three per cent growth for 2014

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IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno

he Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said that 2013 was marked by an external context that did not encourage a strong economic performance in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In a statement, the bank said the high degree of volatility that rattled international financial markets and the fall in prices for basic goods took a toll on the region’s GDP growth, which averaged 2.7 per cent. In 2014, the growth forecast for the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole is three per cent.

“A less favourable external environment, along with weak external demand over the mid-term and latent risks in international financial markets, will require the region to accelerate growth without depending on the external conditions that helped us in the past decade,” IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno said in his year-end report to the bank’s board of executive di-

rectors.

“Therefore, our priority is to increase potential output over the medium-term through reforms, focusing on bottlenecks that are restricting growth in productivity, internal savings and investment,” Moreno added.

As an example, Moreno cited the need to improve the quality of education, as seen recently in the region’s performance in the PISA, an international educational evaluation tool. In the 2013 PISA test, Latin American youths did not perform nearly as well as students from other regions of the world.

Moreno added that Latin America and the Caribbean need to invest more in infrastructure, given the gap that exists in that area between the region and the world’s richest and most dynamic countries. Besides modernising their highways, ports and airports, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean must improve infrastructure and logistical services in order to lower transaction costs and make their industries more competitive.

The IDB in 2013

According to preliminary data, in 2013, the IDB approved 167 financing packages worth some US$14 billion, a figure surpassed only by that of 2009, when the bank’s financing hit a US$15.9 billion in response to the global economic crisis. As for resources, new operations centred on high-priority sectors such as institutional development (37 per cent), infrastructure and the environment (33 per cent), social welfare programmes (21 per cent) and regional integration and overseas trade (nine per cent). Among the loans and guarantees approved by the IDB in 2013, privatesector operations (without a sovereign guarantee) totalled US$2.1 billion.

T

he National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) has called on the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and the Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC) to hammer out areas of common concern, common objectives and common approaches to help fight for workers’ rights.

The union headed by General Secretary Kenneth Joseph and is a key plank in the FITUG set up, said if there cannot be full unity between the two organisations, “surely there can be consensus with respect to the common solutions necessary for improved conditions for the nation’s workers”.

NAACIE’s call was made in its New Year’s message to the nation.

“NAACIE wishes you a new year of opportunity and fair play along with access to those services and standard so necessary to the provision of a reasonable standard of living, while our human, natural and national resources are capable of delivering,” the union said in its message.

“As a trade union and bargaining agent for workers in such sectors as agriculture (sugar), industry (bauxite), utilities services and manufacturing, NAACIE has to assess the past and prepare for a future from a working class perspective. We use the lens of workers’ representative to search for principles and practices provided in law, customs and practice

NAACIE General Secretary Kenneth Joseph

to ensure that our members/ workers receive fair conditions and pay for the fair labour they provide for their employers and Guyanese people.”

According to NAACIE, a few new years ago, it had alerted the labour movement that certain employers seemed bent on destroying the right to trade union representation.

Threats “In 2013, this threat persisted from now well known quarters. Contract workers were and are left without that representation as provided for in Articles 147 and 149 of the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. In 2014, NAACIE will be encouraging our FITUG grouping and the TUC to find who gave employers the permission or loophole to openly flout these fundamental workers rights enshrined

within our Constitution.

“Let 2014 be a year when our trade unions must become trade unions again. NAACIE here enjoins FITUG and the TUC to hammer out areas of common concerns, common objectives and common approaches. If there cannot be full unity between the two organisations, surely there can be consensus with respect to the common solutions necessary for improved conditions for the nation’s workers.”

According to NAACIE, collective bargaining agreements must also be honoured by all employers, whether they are the government, a state corporation or private sector store or company.

“Again, NAACIE calls upon the country’s trade unions to resolve to fashion strategies which will redound to the benefit of their members and the nation as a whole.”

NAACIE also called on the government to find ways to work with the parliamentary opposition and civil society in the interest of national development.

“We call on the opposition to put the Guyanese nation first instead of a programme of scoring more political points. Let 2014 be the long overdue year for practical cooperation by all representatives, elected or not.

NAACIE also looks forward to local community elections to make developmental democracy real at grass root level.

All of the above will make the wish Happy New Year real and meaningful and not hallow.”

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ary 1, 2014 | guyanatimesGY.com

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THE NEXT GOLD SECTOR Trade Shows

2013 Highlights 2013 Arrivals

Training

* Visitors’ arrival to Guyana has increased by 11.7 percent. This gives the country the right to boast of being one of the three countries in the entire Caribbean, to record a double digit growth. * The increase represents visitors from across the Caribbean region, especially from Suriname, Brazil, and Jamaica; several have come to Guyana on Familiarization trips. * The increase in arrivals can be attributed to hosting and attending of several key events including the Trade Shows in New York and Canada, British bird watching Fair in London etc.

2014 Arrival Projections

Fort Island Dinner

* It is expected that 2014 will be another record breaking year in term of arrivals and we are projecting a 15 % increase. * The Guyana Tourism Authority continues to record numbers from all major ports of entry including Moleson Creek, Lethem Ogle and CJIA. * Several FAM trips are scheduled to be conducted will result in more persons visiting Guyana.

Investments

Fort Island Dinner

* Guyana’s tourism sector is expected to be boosted significantly with the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and the establishment of the Marriott Hotel. * Bboth projects have the potential to transform the country into a modernised and more developed nation.

They both will stimulate Guyana’s economy simultaneously creating a myriad of job opportunities and employment, which in turn will generate a lot of revenue and taxes as well. * Most of all, it would improve and increase Guyana’s capacity and ability to attract more tourists, for instance an expanded airport might be the best in the Caribbean. * An expanded airport of the scale and magnitude intended coming at an opportune time where nationals of other countries will be given the opportunity of frequenting Guyana for whatever purpose. * It is a relevant investment by government and will attract major carriers which will ensure that the benefits will be significant to improving commerce here * Several major carriers have already expressed their intention to begin plying the Georgetown route and other carriers are expected to increase their schedule, Conviasa (VENEZUELA) Travel Span. * The US$ 51 million Marriott Hotel with 160 rooms will help to fill the current gap that exists in the hospitality industry in Guyana, and as the economy grows, there will be greater demand for more in that sector. * Investments in additional Hotel/resort construction have increased which will boost the capacity to accommodate the influx of visitors in 2014 and beyond; more rooms will be available.

Films and Documentaries

* In 2013 Guyana was featured in several major publications and documentaries, most notably Geographic Traveler lists Guyana among 21 must see places for 2014-dubbed “the best kept secret in South America”. * Blue Paw out of Germany recently produces their documentary on their journey to finding the mythical source of the Essequibo River. * Guyana was featured in the Report Company publications out of China- we are expecting to strengthen relations with China o the tourism front. * Gold Rush filmed an entire season of their popular show in Guyana; this was voted the # 1 most watched show in America. * Guyana was featured an 8 page spread in Fortune Magazine

There are plans for Alcon Films (Producers of Twilight Movies) to film part of a movie in Guyana in 2014

Initiatives

* Guyana hosted the inaugural Guyana Trade Show and Tourism Expo (GTSTE) in June 2013 in new York, this was well attended over the three days of the event * Guyana has a four consultancies out in the area of eco tourism training , CJIA as a hub, destination Branding and Cruise terminal * ‘Guyana Tourism Sector Surging’- reported in the Caribbean Journal * The Ministry of Tourism hosted several successful inaugural events including the Leguan Night and Fort Island Dinner – Romancing the Fort * Moleson Creek : 3581 tourists came in August , 3602 September, average 2630 per month * Lethem arrivals- total 11,614 * Intensifies Social Media Marketing via twitter and Facebook * One new initiative to get Editorial in popular publications, in the Guardian which came out on 4th November which is the opening of World Travel Market and Fortune 500 * Guyana wont top 4 awards at STC, retained the Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award * Designed and ran 30sec ad for IPL for Sports Max , 5 minute Destination ad for CPL * Facilitated visit for a number of celebrities- R. Kelly, Shria Goshal, Sami Yusuf * Gold rush returned to film an entire season of their show * Blue Paw from Germany concluded filming in the Essequibo , who found the source of the Essequibo * Expression of interest from Alcon Entertainment (Twilight Films) to shoot part of a film at Kaieteur * Fly Jamaica began operations in Guyana * Resuscitated #63 Beach Committee to make it more broad based * Guyana Hosted several matches for CPL * There is currently a boom in the construction industry relating to the tourism sector and the number of Hotels going up * Government convened the National Economic Forum , of which Tourism was one of the major thematic areasstakeholders identified the Tourism priorities * Guyana welcomed more then 15 yachts as part of the inaugural Nereids Rally * The National Geographic Explorer Cruise Ship Docked in Guyana * The Ministry of Tourism welcomed the MV Sky cruise liner on Christmas Day * The Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority will strengthen collaboration with the Private Sector to host signature events in the coming year including the highly successful Fort island Dinner , Masharama, Guyana Trade and Tourism Expo in New York and Canada, Leguan Night, and the South Rupununi Safari

ICT and Tourism in 2014

* The GTA will continue to make available the Guyana Tourism Products information online through various medium such as its wesbites, social media sites and other available technology.

Product Development

* This unit at the Guyana Tourism Authority will continue to focus on Training, Regulations, Institutional Strengthening, Community Development Programmes, Niche Product Development, and the continued development of standards, criteria or best practices for Guyana’s tourism products and services.

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wednesday, January 1, 2014

guyanatimesgy.com

News

PPP/C urges national front alliance Court to resume at Georgetown – to solve Guyana’s political problems

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he People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) said the search for a political solution to meet the expectation of Guyanese must continue, noting that the time has come for a broad left national front alliance to take the country forward.

In its new year message, the PPP said it was extending a hand of friendship to all those who subscribe to the aspirations of a free and democratic society within the broad framework of a national democratic state based on the principles of national sovereignty, a tri-sectoral economy, good governance, rule of law, and a working-class orientation.

The party said it was its hope that the new year brings serenity and the spirit of goodwill, as it continues to charter a path towards racial and working-class unity, growth and development, in keeping with the founding vision 63 years ago.

“A new year always brings with it a renewed sense of optimism and hope for a brighter future. The PPP shares this feeling of optimism, which is grounded on the measurable progress the country has made over the past two decades under the visionary leadership of successive PPP/C administrations. Our party in the new year will continue to remain a critical partner in the development of Guyana and its people.”

Overcoming the challenges According to the PPP in this new year, it remains committed to working towards actively overcoming the challenges Guyanese face on a daily basis. “The PPP will continue to address all matters affecting the welfare of our members and supporters and more so all Guyanese,” the party’s message said.

It added that the PPP/C government has always been and will continue to remain faithful to the vision of its founding leaders to create a society in which there is racial and working class unity, participatory democracy, and inclusive governance. The PPP said it was of the view that critical to the realisation

of the above objectives is the need to build trust at the political level and create political space for all. It noted that confrontation and threats must give way to dialogue and the good of the country should remain paramount in all political engagements and discourse.

“It is clear from the standpoint of the PPP that there is a strong political will to find common ground. The PPP/C administrations have always recognised the importance of multiparty democracy and have always sought to ensure that opposition parties are not treated with disdain.

There has never been harassment of opposition politicians as happened in the past. The attainment of political power by democratic means will be recognised as a legitimate objective, which is the right of every political party.”

In this regard, the PPP/C said in keeping with its programme which calls for the establishment of a national democratic state that represents the interests of all classes, groups and social strata, a decision was taken by the party to work towards the creation of a broad left, progressive and democratic nationalist front comprising representatives of all sections of the working people, farmers, intellectuals, professionals, the business community, NGOs and all Guyanese who share a common vision.

Proud and respected “Comrades, there can be no doubt that the political, social and economic landscape has been transformed under the PPP/C administration. Guyana today is a proud and respected member of the international community.”

The party said, as stated in its political declaration which emanated from its last congress, it recognises and is proud that as a nation under successive PPP/C governments, “we have established a formidable record of improving the lives of thousands of people, in particular our children”.

“To name only a few – providing

Magistrates’ Courts building this month

The newly-renovated Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts

PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee

the opportunity for the first time for thousands of ordinary men and women to own their own homes; for the first time, thousands of Amerindian children are receiving secondary school education; providing thousands of laptops to low-income households in one of the most innovative projects executed by a government in the world to reduce the digital divide and enhance equitable access to new technology.”

The party acknowledged that challenges remain. “It behoves us all, more so as representatives of the people, to put the national interest ahead of narrow partisan interests. Differences will be there, but in the words of President Donald Ramotar ‘“the important thing is how we move forward in resolving our positions’. To move forward will call for maturity if we are to avoid gridlock and inertia; political cooperation in the interest of the development of Guyana must exist.”

“In 2014, let us all resolve on this joyous occasion to build a strong, prosperous and united Guyana for all.

Once again, best wishes for a peaceful, progressive and prosperous 2014 to everyone.”

O

perations at the substantive Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts will resume next month – almost three years after repair works forced the relocation of court sessions to a building on Middle Street.

This is according to acting chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh, who in an interview with Guyana Times said: “We are going to relocate in the coming month (January), that’s our expectation that we can relocate in the coming month.”

However, the chancellor disclosed that there is not a full complement of magistrates in the system, but the judicial system is working on appointing more magistrates. Currently, there are 17 magistrates in the system, four less than the full complement of 21.

Singh pointed out that while the building is completed, there are a few minor works to be completed; however, the major hindrance is the availability of furniture. “The problem right now is about some necessary furnishing, but it is actually being worked now,” he said.

New courtrooms The chancellor disclosed that the entire building was rehabilitated and extended to facilitate additional courtrooms. New lightings were also installed and a generator was procured. In addition, he noted that the entire building had to be rewired, because air conditioners were installed in all the courtrooms and magistrates’ chambers as such

the old wirings could not have handled the capacity of the current.

Sitting arrangements for the public have also been upgraded.

The chancellor also hinted that there will also be seating arrangements for the media in the main criminal courts. Even the section which houses the office of the Clerk of the Georgetown Magisterial District and support staff was upgraded.

The rehabilitation works on the building began in 2011. The building was expected to be completed several months ago, and the prolonged delay was blamed on various problems, including incompletion and difficulties with the Guyana Power and Light (GPL).

Other works on the building includes washroom facilities in the magistrates’ chambers, and two parking facilities on the northern and southern sides of the building (Croal Street and Brickdam respectively).

The renovations were done under the Modernisation of the Justice Administration Project, which provides for the improvement of the physical and infrastructural institutional capacity of the Justice Sector. Under this project, renovations have been done to almost every court building in the country, including the Court of Appeal and the High Court’s Complexes of Berbice and Demerara.

These improvements in the judicial sector are all mechanisms of a holistic plan to revamp the entire sector.

23 News

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, January 1, 2014

No response from U.S. on USAID fiasco G overnment said the United States embassy here is yet to respond to a letter it had written seeking clarity on the ambassador’s insistence that the rejected United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project will go ahead with or without the administration’s support.

Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon on Tuesday told reporters there has been no response to the letter as yet. He said it is hoped that one will be made soon.

Repercussions The government just over a week ago had warned that there could be serious repercussions over the U.S. government’s insistence on carrying out the project. Dr Luncheon had told a previous news conference that the administration will view Ambassador D Brent Hardt’s response as the official reaction of Washington.

In a letter to the editor of this newspaper, Dr Luncheon said he noted the ambassador reportedly

stating the U.S.' intention to implement the project notwithstanding Cabinet’s disapproval. He said he noted the insistence of the ambassador that the government of Guyana was consulted on the project.

“I have also noted the political opposition supporting the U.S. ambassador’s line that the government had no good reason to reject the project.

Contempt “Mister Editor, at this stage, the issue is the U.S. ambassador’s apparent contempt of the Cabinet of Guyana – an act that can have serious repercussions,” Dr Luncheon warned.

The Cabinet secretary said Hardt was playing with words with regard to consultation. “I still contend Guyana was not consulted. The project was conceived by the American authorities, the project was funded by Congress,” he said. A bid was then tendered, and the U.S. organisation International Republican Institute (IRI) won that bid and was awarded the contract to implement the project.

Ambassador D Brent Hardt

According to Dr Luncheon, it was subsequent to those actions by the American authorities that the U.S. ambassador approached the government of Guyana.

“I challenge the ambassador to indicate at what point was the government of Guyana consulted about this project. The U.S. ambassador presented the government with a fait accompli.”

Dr Luncheon further stated that Hardt’s apparent contempt of the Guyana government begs the question and supports “our contention that the

ambassador is of the opinion that the U.S. authorities can execute projects in Guyana at will. This is a dangerous proposition that all right-thinking Guyanese and indeed sovereign states must repudiate.”

Earlier this week, the Alliance For Change (AFC) threw its support behind the project. In a statement, the AFC said any “effort which enhances democracy promotes, rather than undermines sovereignty and at a time when there has been no local government elections for over 14 years, and where the country is governed by a minority party which is continuously at war with the legislative arm of the state, any effort which improves the participation of a broader cross section of the population in the decision-making process of the country is not only welcomed but necessary”.

Democracy The party added: “The PPP/C [People’s Progressive Party/Civic] government seems to have conveniently forgotten that it was none oth-

er than their founder leader, Dr Cheddi Jagan, who not only sought but insisted on the participation of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in his efforts to enhance democracy in Guyana in 1992.”

Sovereignty The AFC said it was, therefore, perplexed by what circumstances might have changed since then that now categorises efforts at enhanced democracy as a challenge to sovereignty.

“But what could be the justification in not wanting to support a project as this which has increased participation of the citizenry in democracy building, consensus building in the National Assembly, funding for research and legal drafting skills for parliamentarians, women and youth civic education festivals, and local government education and awareness?

It could only be the downgrading of participatory democracy and the abandoning of a once loudly heralded PPP/C’s goal ‘No development without democracy’.”

Autopsies conducted on bodies of slain Brazilians

A

utopsies were conducted on the bodies of three Brazilians who were killed in the interior over the weekend.

According to a police statement, a post-mortem examination was on Tuesday performed on the body of Brazilian national Antonio Silva by pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh who gave his cause of death as gunshot injury to the back.

The body of Silva was found along the Waimu Trail, Cuyuni, on December 28, 2013.

Autopsies were also performed by Dr Singh on the bodies of Brazilian nationals: Joao Veloza Nascimento and his wife, Eoldene Fernandes Dos Santos. The cause of death of Joao Veloza Nascimento was given as blunt trauma to the head, while that of his wife was undetermined.

Their bodies were found at Sandhills, Cuyuni, on December 28, 2013.

Investigations into both matters are continuing.

24 news

wednesday, January 1, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

2014 holds out great possibilities for Guyanese – Ramotar …warns against politics of blackmail

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resident Donald Ramotar said this new year holds great possibilities for this country but also great challenges, and warned against the politics of blackmail as his administration forges ahead with its development agenda.

In his New Year’s message, Ramotar said how much we will achieve as a nation this year will depend on all of us, noting that: “I am working on the assumption that all of us want to see our country move forward, all of us must want to see poverty eradicated and that Guyana can move quickly to achieving a more developed status in the world. I acknowledge that political obstacles stand in the way of our transformative agenda.

I hope that the New Year we can get some cooperation from our colleagues on the other side of the house to move our country forward.”

Accountable

He said if the government was to be held accountable for the performance of “our economy, we reserve the right to be responsible for its developmental trajectory. This right, however, will not be pursued to the exclusion of other forces within the country. We will continue to encourage dialogue, debates, and consultations with all stakeholders, including the people in the communities.”

The president said in 2014, he proposes to conscript social and religious

organisations in the fight against domestic violence. “I believe that these organisations should play a leading role in addressing this concern and I wish to incorporate then to reduce this terrible scourge. It is also my wish to see more community and social organisations involved in enhancing our physical environment.”

Growth

A clean environment will contribute to improving the mental and physical health of our citizens and will continue to reduce anti-social behaviour in the population, Ramotar said, noting that his government will continue to pursue more affordable and reliable energy for our country. This is one of the most vital infrastructures for our continued growth and development.

With this, Guyana will grow by leaps and bounds, he said.

“I have already mentioned some of the benefits.

But those are not all. We can save almost nine billion that we now spend on subsidising electricity. Moreover, even more billions can be saved in the importation of fuel to generate electricity.”

With those savings alone, the nation can solve most of the problems presently facing communities. The benefits, according to him, are enormous “and we will persevere. We will also continue to work with other friendly governments to move forward other important infrastructural works. Two

President Donald Ramotar

of which we are pursuing are the deepwater harbour and a road from the coast to Lethem in the south. At the moment we are studying the cost/benefits of these projects.”

The president said his administration has to also pursue Information Communication Technology.

“This is essential to the whole process of modernisation. It also has great possibilities in creating jobs. You are no doubt aware that last year I joined the executives of Qualfon in turning the sod for their new campus at Eccles which will be one of the largest contact centre facilities in the entire world when it is completed. When completed, 6000 new jobs would be created at that facility to be filled by young Guyanese.”

He said recognising the vast potential of information and communications

technology to transform both the economy and individual lives, “we are working to ensure that no home is denied access, through our One Laptop Per Family programme which will see 90,000 laptop computers distributed across the length and breadth of our country.

At the same time, we are building the network infrastructure that would enable us to deliver e-government services to all our citizens.

Our aim is to ensure that every single Guyanese person is able to acquire computer literacy.”

Meanwhile, other new and emerging sectors are also showing great promise for the future. Tourism and hospitality, in particular, promise to be major contributors to growth in the future, given Guyana’s unique tourism product and given the significant investments being made in the sector.

During 2014, he said, they expect to open the spanking new Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, which will dramatically increase capacity and raise standards in the sector.

At the same time, a number of major mineral projects are expected in 2014 to advance exploration activities and commence mine construction, setting the stage for a dramatic increase in activity in that sector. During mine construction, thousands of jobs are expected to be created, and once extraction commences, production and exports would experience increased growth.

Climate change

“Very important, too, is the issue of climate change and the challenges it poses.

In recent weeks, we have witnessed extreme weather in Guyana and the wider Caribbean. This has resulted in millions of dollars in damage and loss of life.

The scientific evidence is showing that for our region – which is one of the most vulnerable – these weather events will become more frequent as the impacts of global climate change intensify.”

In this regard, Ramotar said he intends in the coming year, to work with other Caricom heads to ensure regional action on climate change is given top priority.

“Recognising our own vulnerabilities here in Guyana, efforts will intensify in 2014

to improve and expand infrastructure, in particular, our sea and river defence and drainage and irrigation systems; enhance our forecasting capabilities and response mechanisms, and build climate resilience in the social and productive sectors of our economy. These will be done within the framework of our Low Carbon Development Strategy,” the president assured.

World peace

At the international level, he said Guyana will continue to play its part to promote world peace and friendship among all peoples.

“We will also work towards having our diplomacy facilitate growth and economic developments in our country. We will continue to promote regional integration with Caricom and also with South America. We will also continue to pursue peaceful resolutions to issues affecting us and on the international arena.”

He stressed that the politics of blackmail will undermine Guyana’s democracy and can lead to further inequality. It will not be a good example for Guyanese, particularly for the youths. “I wish to urge all to let us work together in the interest of our people. Let us be aware that life is short, let us not waste time on pettiness, but focus our energy towards the betterment of our people.”

regional

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wednesday, January 1, 2014| guyanatimesGY.com

Jamaica could earn billions from Heatwave kills seven in Argentina limestone industry – researcher

A

leading Jamaican metics, plastics and adhe- (Caricom), and South researcher believes sives.

America. that the counDr Douglas “Jamaican limestone try could earn up to is occurring naturalseven billion U.S. dolly, we have been prolars annually by inducing it, and we have creasing the producbeen exporting it, and it tion of limestone and its has found acceptance in value added products. the international markets.

Conrad Douglas We have pharmaceutical and Associates limestone, we have Jamaica's limestone resources are estimated at E x e c u t i v e 150 billion tonnes of which 50 billion tonnes is chemical limeChairman, Dr recoverable. The main export markets for limestone stone, and we also Conrad Douglas, are Canada, United States, the Caribbean Community have metallurgical told a recent (Caricom), and South America limestone (use pristakeholder that marily in the bauxthe industry offers vast op- said Jamaica was blessed ite industry). Limestone portunities for investors in with rich limestone re- has the most diverse endagriculture, food process- sources and is considered use structure of all mateing and manufacturing. as the limestone capital of rial known by mankind.

“There are great oppor- the world.

That, in itself, presents a tunities… what we found Limestone resources wide range of opportuniwere really large. We are are estimated at 150 bil- ties,” Dr Douglas said. talking about total cumu- lion tonnes of which 50 But he noted that there lative value for the mar- billion tonnes is recov- was need to focus on the kets of some US$7 billion,” erable. The main export production of high valuehe said, citing the produc- markets for limestone are added products to drive tion of paper, polishes, Canada, United States, the industry for the fupaints, rubber, glass, cos- the Caribbean Community ture. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)

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heatwave affecting Argentina has left at least seven people dead – most of them elderly – in the past week, officials say.

The heat has been compounded by power cuts, which have prevented many people from using air conditioning.

In Santiago del Estero and other northern provinces temperatures have soared to over 45C (113F).

Meteorologists say it has been the worst heatwave in the region since records began in 1906.

The victims of the extreme weather lived in Santiago del Estero, located 1100km (680 miles) north of Buenos Aires.

Hundreds of people in the province have required medical help and doctors have warned people to stay indoors during the hottest hours.

Argentina’s ageing power grid has been struggling

Meteorologists say some of the highest temperatures have been recorded since records began

to keep up with increased demand for air-conditioning.

Ice cream parlours and other businesses have lost their stocks due to the power cuts Authorities are blaming the energy shortages on the hot weather. But the opposition accuses the government of mismanaging the crisis.

Many people are protesting about the lack of services, says the BBC’s Irene Caselli in Buenos Aires.

Some parts of the city have been without power for two weeks.

Residents have set fire to rubbish bags and tyres on the roads, causing traffic jams as many left the capital for the New Year festivities. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Resort developer denies building Caribbean economic growth declined in 2013 on St Vincent flood plain

H

arlequin Hotels and Resorts (UK) Limited, the owner of Buccament Bay Resort in St Vincent, which was severely affected by flooding from the recent torrential rains, has denied that the resort was constructed on a known flood plain.

In a letter to the editor (since amended following complaints of defamation from Harlequin’s inhouse lawyers), Caribbean News Now reader Peter Binose said, “Buccament Bay Resort was built on a

known flood plain and areas that were known as swamp.

Flooding of this area has been happening since the very beginning of the valley, which acts like a great funnel draining into the bay itself”.

In response, Daniel Abrams, Harlequin’s in house solicitor, denied this assertion.

“Buccament Bay was not built on a known flood plain or swamp. The government provided building specifications that were complied with during constructions

to avoid flooding etc. This scale of the flooding was unprecedented and could not have been foreseen when the resort was being designed and built. We understand that St Vincent suffered the worst rainfall for over 100 years and an act of God that could not be accounted for,” Abrams said.

According to Abrams, the developer carried out its own due diligence and would not have purchased land from the government on a known flood plain/ swamp. (Excerpt from Caribbean News Now)

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new United Nations report says economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean declined this year but is predicted to improve over the next two years.

According to the UN’s World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 to be launched this month, growth in Latin America and the Caribbean decelerated in 2013 to a pace of 2.6 per cent.

The report, however, forecast growth in the region to improve to 3.6 and 4.1 per cent in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

“Growth in the aribbean has been hampered by weak external demand, for the tourism sector in particular, and weaker commodity prices, but is expected to strengthen in the outlook,” it said.

The report said the regional fiscal position “slightly deteriorated” last year, adding that public debt “remains high in the Caribbean countries”.

However, it said many countries retain space for countercyclical policies.

The UN report said inflation outlook was “fairly stable, although inflation is

expected to accelerate somewhat in 2013 amid more accommodative monetary policies in some countries”.

Sergio Vieira, a UN economic affairs officer who monitors the region, urged that Latin American and Caribbean countries address violence and insecurity that affect potential investors.

“Violence has an impact on economic growth through several channels,” he told the Miami Herald, adding “instead of channelling private and public spending to aspects of development, they are investing in security”.

(Excerpt from Caribbean360)

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wednesday, january 1, 2014

thursDAY, march 11, 2010 | guyanatimesGY.com

archie

By Bernice Bede Osol

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19) Seek closure by communicating with those who have upset you. You can make positive changes if you clear the air. If you fail to sort out personal problems, your future will stall.

dilbert

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19) Awkwardness will ensue if you allow others to blame you. Begin this year by setting the record straight. Be strong and take a stance that reflects your own values.

Calvin and Hobbes

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Don’t allow others to leave you holding the bag.

Avoid indulgent forms of entertainment. Instead, relax and prepare for the year to come. Put yourself first.

Peanuts

CANCER (June 21July 22) Don’t be afraid to lead.

You will be admired for your skills if you get involved in family projects.

Someone may express jealousy toward you. Ignore any negativity, and continue to offer your support.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22) Socialise with friends and relatives. Be candid with your opinions, but prepare to be accountable. If you can let go of the past, you will have an easier time moving forward.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22) Deal with any issues that have been hanging over you. Reflect on past experiences to avoid getting caught in a vicious cycle. You need stability, and you can only find it by letting go.

ARIES

LIBRA

(March 21-April 19)

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Get the year off to a good start. Carefully plan how to get ahead. Make use of your talents. As soon as you get the chance, confidently share your ideas.

SUDOKU TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Reflect on your past, and make it your mission to avoid repeating mistakes. Treat other people as you wish to be treated.

Focus on empathy.

Don’t be tempted by a dubious scheme. Try to start the year on the right foot. Hold out for better opportunities. Travel is likely to result in frustrating delays.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22) Overindulgence is likely to cause you problems today. Don’t lend money to friends or take on responsibilities that aren’t yours.

You must take care of your own needs first.

Tuesday's solution GEMINI (May 21June 20) Things will go smoothly today. Love is on the rise, and you will have plenty of choices. If you are already in a relationship, plan a romantic evening. If not, get out on the town.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21) Begin planning for the new year. Put your ideas on paper so that you’re ready for the future to arrive. Don’t allow personal setbacks to interfere with your goals.

news 27

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Sydney kicks off New Year’s celebrations for 2014

wednesday, January 1, 2014

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But it is Dubai that is hoping to break the Guinness World Record for the largest display this year, pledging to set off more than 400,000 fireworks. Kuwait set the bar in 2011 with an hour-long blast of 77,282 fireworks.

Tonga, located near the international dateline, was also one of the first nations to greet 2014, holding a prayer festival that culminated with a bamboo “cannon” fired into the air.

Antarctica was also among the first places to ring in the New Year. Passengers and crew on a ship awaiting rescue after being stuck for a week in ice welcomed the New Year with a specially composed anthem. Footage on YouTube showed them performing a rousing rendition on the top deck of the Akademik Shokalskiy, with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition singing that they were “having fun doing science in Antarctica”. The chorus, however, lamented that it was a “bloody great shame we are still stuck here”.

Some 1.5 million people gathering to watch a fireworks display over the famed Opera House in Sydney Harbour

Cities across Asia will be next to hail the New Year, with Hong Kong boasting its biggest-ever countdown show. Fireworks will soar from skyscrapers and a onekilometre line of barges along Victoria Harbour in a “wish upon a star” tourism board show.

Millions in Asia were due to visit shrines and temples through to early morning, paying their first respects of the year and praying for peace or for relatives.

In Japan, shoppers were busy buying crabs, tuna sashimi and other delicacies to feast in the New Year, with noodle shops doing an especially brisk trade. Eating noodles on New Year’s Eve is regarded in Japan as a symbolic act to wish for a long life.

Seoul will ring in 2014 with a ritual clanging of the city’s 15th-century bronze bell 33 times, reflecting the ancient custom for marking a new year. (Excerpt from France24)

South Sudan rivals Egypt freezes assets of to begin peace talks Brotherhood leaders

KEY CUTTing

lAND FOR SALE

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ountries around the Asia-Pacific kicked off celebrations for the 2014 New Year on Tuesday, with 1.5 million people gathering to watch a fireworks display over the famed Opera House in Sydney Harbour.

Seven tonnes of explosives helped light up the waterfront in Australia’s biggest city, with fireworks shooting off the Opera House over Harbour Bridge for the first time in more than 10 years.

“They were absolutely fantastic,” said U.S. tourist Murphy Robertson of the $5.4 million pyrotechnics show.

“The Opera House was fantastic, but the thing that really got me was the sparks, the golden curtain of sparks going off the bridge,” Robertson said.

A record three fireworks displays took place – one at 21:00h another at 22:30h and one at midnight – as part of the show, which Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore had promised would be “bigger than ever”.

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alks between South Sudan’s government and rebels are due to start in the near future in Ethiopia, say observers.

However, there has been no immediate halt to hostilities, with reports that heavy fighting is continuing.

The conflict erupted more than two weeks ago between supporters of President Salva Kiir and those of his sacked deputy Riek Machar.

At least 1000 people have died and more than 121,600 are believed to have fled their homes.

East African leaders have been leading mediation efforts to end the crisis.

On Monday, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni threatened the rebels with military action if they failed to agree

to a ceasefire by the end of Tuesday, and begin talks.

It appears pressure on Machar has worked, says the BBC’s James Copnall in the capital Juba, as he says he is sending a delegation to the talks despite Kiir failing to agree to demands including the release from jail of Machar’s political allies.

But Machar insists he will not order his troops to stop fighting before preliminary talks have taken place.

The end-of-Tuesday deadline was also missed, with Ethiopia now saying they hope talks in Addis Ababa will start today and the UN’s special representative to South Sudan, Hilde Johnson, saying they will begin on Thursday for “logistical reasons”. (Excerpt from BBC News)

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gypt’s interim government has ordered the assets of more than 500 Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist leaders seized, senior judicial and security officials say.

Tuesday’s announcement came as the military pledged to confront “the forces of terrorism and darkness” and protect the upcoming January 14-15 vote on Egypt’s draft constitution.

Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi called on Egyptians to head to the polls as their “top national duty”, saying that a “heavy turnout” is the only guarantee of a successful vote.

Abdel-Azzem el-Ashri, a Justice Ministry spokesman, said on Tuesday that a ministerial inventory committee ordered the “movable and immovable properties” of 572 Muslim Brotherhood leaders seized.

Another Justice Ministry official said leaders on

the list included toppled President Mohamed Morsi and his family, as well as provincial Brotherhood leaders and members of its General Guidance Bureau, which is the group’s executive body.

A security official said the list also included female Muslim Brotherhood members like Azza el-Garf and wife of leader Khairat elShater and his daughter.

He said other Islamist leaders include Assem Abdel-Maged, the leader of Gamaa Islamiyah, which waged an anti-government insurgency in 1990s against former President Hosni Mubarak.

The two officials said that the list includes those indicted in cases of inciting violence and those are under investigation or could be investigated.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to journalists.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Israel releases 26 Palestinian prisoners

I

srael released 26 Palestinian prisoners Monday in a gesture of goodwill between the two sides, days before a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

The release was a step aimed at “resuming the diplomatic process,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Saturday announcing the move.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas greeted 18 of the freed prisoners in Ramallah, West

Rami Barbakh, a released Palestinian prisoner, centre, is reunited with his mother in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun

Bank.

The prisoners “perpetrated offences prior to the Oslo accords and have served

sentences of 19-28 years,” Netanyahu’s office statement said.

Kerry travelled to

Jerusalem and Ramallah today in his ongoing attempt to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Monday’s release was part of a pledge made by Israel at the start of the talks last summer.

The two sides are four months into a nine-month deadline set by Kerry to reach a peace deal, with little visible progress.

Kerry will meet with both Abbas and Netanyahu during his trip – his ninth visit to the region. (Excerpt from CNN)

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Chelsea report £49.4m loss but meet Financial Fair Play rules C

England peaked about two years ago, says Schofield Report author

helsea have made a loss of £49.4m for the year ending June 30,

2013.

Their group turnover of £255.8m for the 12-month period is a record figure for the club, but elimination from last season’s Champions League in the group stages saw a drop in income.

The club said these figures, combined with the previous year’s profit of £1.4m, fall within the criteria set by Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

Their commercial income rose from £67m to £79.6m a 19% rise. Chelsea won the Europa League in 2013 - but the club received significantly less prize money for that than they did in winning the Champions League in 2012, which contributed to the loss.

“For Chelsea FC to achieve a record level of turnover, despite our first group-stage elimination from the Champions League, shows we have structured our business and are growing in the correct way for long-term stability,” chief executive Ron Gourlay said.

“Our philosophy is that we build upon success on the pitch - and although in these financial results we haven’t repeated the sizeable profits made the previous year from

The current Ashes has been a disaster for England Elimination from last season’s Champions League in the group stages saw a drop in Chelsea’s income

player transfers, we believe the age profile of the existing squad means we will benefit from that investment for many years to come.”

Chelsea’s profit last year was their first since Roman Abramovich took control of the club in 2003.

That profit was aided by money brought in from player sales, in addition to a oneoff financial boost that came when the broadcaster BSkyB agreed to cancel its shares in a joint digital media venture with the club.

The last two seasons have been the first monitoring period for Uefa’s FFP regulations.

Chairman Bruce Buck added: “A long-term objective was financial sustainability, and the subsequent implementation of Financial Fair Play by Uefa and by the Premier League has brought that to the top of the agenda for football clubs.

“We are pleased therefore that we will meet the stipulations set down by Uefa in their first assessment period.

“By our own analysis, we are progressing from a commercial viewpoint as well as continuing to add trophies to our collection, which we never lose sight of as our most important goal.” (BBC Sport)

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ngland are past their peak according to the Schofield Report author who reviewed their 5-0 loss to Australia in the 200607 Ashes.

Ken Schofield wrote a report calling for a 19-step overhaul of English cricket policy after that defeat.

But Alastair Cook’s side are 4-0 down ahead of the final Ashes Test in Sydney and could fall to a second England whitewash in three visits.

“We probably peaked about two years ago,” Schofield told BBC Radio 5 live. However, Schofield - former executive director of golf’s European Tour - does not believe a review such as his in 2006 is as pressing this time, pointing to

the fact that Australia have recovered from last summer’s 3-0 defeat in England.

He also believes that Cook’s side did not have enough time to recover from the last home Ashes series, which only finished in August.

England normally visit Australia once every four years, but the England and Wales Cricket Board want to break a cycle that sees such a tour always take place in the winter immediately before a World Cup. As a result, the current Ashes series was brought forward a year, meaning the first Test of the current series began less than three months after the last one ended.

“Australia found their best

team in about four months,” said Schofield, who was a longserving executive director of golf’s European Tour.

“I rather feel the 3-0 win that Alastair’s team got this summer took a lot more out of them than we probably thought.

“Leave aside any issues with the structure of cricket, the one thing that’s really acted against them - and I do feel for them here - is the schedule.

“This is the first, and I hope, the only time we will play the Ashes back-to-back in the same year.

“We know the reasons why - let’s hope we never have to do it again. (BBC Sport)

wednesday, January 1, 2014

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Schumacher’s condition improves T

he condition of German motor racing star Michael Schumacher has improved slightly after a second operation to relieve pressure on his brain, his doctors say.

The seven-time Formula 1 champion suffered head injuries on Sunday in a skiing accident in the French Alps.

The 44-year-old remains in intensive care at a hospital in Grenoble.

Doctors say Schumacher, who is being kept in a medically induced coma, is still “not out of danger”.

An initial scan on Monday night showed “an improved situation” and in-

Michael Schumacher

dicated a window of opportunity for a second operation,

doctors said.

The family took the “difficult decision” to give consent for the procedure, and surgeons operated on Schumacher for about two hours.

“We can’t say he is out of danger but... we have gained a bit of time,’’ Dr Jean-Francois Payen said on Tuesday. “The coming hours are crucial.

“All the family is very much aware that his state is still sensitive and anything can happen.”

Doctors said it was impossible to give a prognosis for his condition in the coming days and months.

‘Extremely shocked’

Schumacher had been skiing off-piste when he fell and hit his head.

His manager, Sabine Kehm told reporters that his helmet cracked on impact after hitting a rock.

“That does not mean that Michael was travelling at high speed. He was not too fast,” Ms Kehm added.

She said that the former champion was not skiing with just his teenage son, as had been reported, but also with a group of friends at the time.

Messages of support have come from around the world.

Schumacher’s manager said that his wife Corinna was “very grateful” for the

messages and kind words.

International Automobile Federation President Jean Todt - Ferrari manager during Schumacher’s career visited the former champion in hospital on Tuesday.

Outside the facility, fans raised the Ferrari flag, telling reporters they had come to support Schumacher and his family.

Schumacher is held in a great deal of affection in the area, says the BBC’s Imogen Foulkes in Grenoble. He is seen as a kind and generous man who has done a lot for charity.

The former champion, who turns 45 on 3 January, retired from F1 for a second

time in 2012.

He won seven world championships and secured 91 race victories during his 19-year career.

The driver won two titles with Benetton, in 1994 and 1995, before switching to Ferrari in 1996 and going on to win five straight titles from 2000.

He retired in 2006 but managed to recover and made a comeback in F1 with Mercedes in 2010.

After three seasons which yielded just one podium finish, he quit the sport at the end of last year. (BBC

Sport)

Junaid, Bhatti make it Pakistan’s day guise didn’t offer much to the bowlers, but it was a mix of tight bowling and loose batting from Sri Lanka that resulted in their innings slipping off the precipice. From

Bilawal Bhatti triggered Sri Lanka’s collapse with a wicket immediately after lunch

T

he Pakistan seamers shredded Sri Lanka’s batting in unthreatening conditions to wrest control after a manic second session in Abu Dhabi.

Junaid Khan maintained his stranglehold over the Sri Lanka batsmen, picking up his fourth five-wicket haul

against them, but central to the collapse was debutant Bilawal Bhatti’s post-lunch spell during which he picked up three wickets - two of them in one over. The twitter feed was abound with the question: “What did they eat for lunch?”

The pitch in its green

SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka 1st innings FDM Karunaratne c Asad Shafiq b Junaid Khan 38 JK Silva c Mohammad Hafeez b Bilawal Bhatti 20 KC Sangakkara c Ahmed Shehzad b Junaid Khan 16 DPMD Jayawardene c †Adnan Akmal b Bilawal Bhatti 5 LD Chandimal c Mohammad Hafeez b Bilawal Bhatti 0 AD Mathews* st †Adnan Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 91 HAPW Jayawardene† c †Adnan Akmal b Junaid Khan 5 SMSM Senanayake c †Adnan Akmal b Junaid Khan 5 HMRKB Herath b Junaid Khan 0 RMS Eranga c †Adnan Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 14 RAS Lakmal not out 1 Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-1) 9 Total (all out; 65 overs) 204 Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Karunaratne, 19.3 ov), 2-67 (Silva, 26.4 ov), 3-76 (DPMD

Jayawardene, 28.2 ov), 4-76 (Chandimal, 28.4 ov), 5-82 (Sangakkara, 31.6 ov), 6-104 (HAPW Jayawardene, 35.5 ov), 7-124 (Senanayake, 39.2 ov), 8-124 (Herath, 39.3 ov), 9-185 (Eranga, 58.3 ov), 10204 (Mathews, 64.6 ov) Bowling: Junaid Khan 20-458-5, Rahat Ali 16-3-41-0, Bilawal Bhatti 15-1-65-3 (1nb), Saeed Ajmal 14-3-32-2 Pakistan 1st innings Khurram Manzoor run out (Mathews/†HAPW Jayawardene) 21 Ahmed Shehzad not out 25 Extras: 0 Total (1 wicket; 18.1 overs) 46 Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Khurram Manzoor, 18.1 ov) Bowling: RAS Lakmal 7-217-0, AD Mathews 1-0-60, RMS Eranga 5-1-18-0, HMRKB Herath 5-3-5-0, SMSM Senanayake 0.1-0-0-0

a comfortable 66-1 at lunch, Sri Lanka lost seven wickets for 58 runs and only a rearguard action from their captain, Angelo Mathews, who scored a counterattacking

91, prevented a complete capitulation.

Sri Lanka were eventually bowled out for 204 and Pakistan had a comfortable start to their innings till a

run-out off the last ball took some sheen away. Khurram Manzoor was left stranded mid-pitch after dabbing a ball to cover, and Pakistan ended the day on 46-1. (Cricinfo)

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wednesday, January 1, 2014

Banks Beer Cup final at Stadium tonight

K&S Secondary Schools football…

Christianburg/Wisburg, Ash T Education to contest final

I

n what is a Linden versus Berbice clash, Christianburg/Wisburg Secondary and Ash Education Institute will square off in the final of the Kashif and Shanghai Secondary Schools football competition today at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground, Bourda.

In the two semi-finals hosted on Monday evening, Christianburg/Wisburg edged St George’s 2-1, while Ash Education Institute came from behind to eke out a similar margin of victory over one of the tournament

favourites, Waramadong Secondary.

Both games were played at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary.

In the feature contest, Waramadong squandered a one-goal advantage to lose out on a place in the final.

Lyndel Joseph put the hinterland school ahead in the 21st minute, but that advantage was quickly nullified by the Berbicians.

Akeemo Watts equalised for Ash Education Institute in the 25th minute, before Brian Thom put the game beyond Waramadong with

the winning goal in the 29th minute.

Earlier in the evening, Christianburg/Wisburg took an early lead through Shane Luckie, who netted the opening goal in the sixth minute.

However, that advantage was shortlived as Jermaine Scott equalised for St George’s two minutes later.

As the game wore on, both teams searched feverishly for the goal to secure the lead but to no avail, until Duquan Hercules produced the winner in the 79th minute to send

Christianburg/Wisburg through to the championship game.

The champion school will pocket $1.2 million, 75 percent of which will be used to finance a project identified by the school. The second, third and fourth placed finishers will receive $750,000, $500,000 and $250,000, 25 percent of which will used for a project at those schools.

The Most Valuable Player will be the recipient of a laptop, as well as a onemonth stint with a top club in Trinidad and Tobago.

he Georgetown Football Association (GFA) has secured the Guyana National Stadium for the hosting of its Banks Beer Cup final and third place playoff this evening.

Executives of the association made the disclosure during a press briefing on Tuesday at the venue.

In the opening game at 19:00 hours, the Guyana Defence Force will take on Western Tigers, while in the final, Slingerz FC will tackle Santos FC at 21:00 hours.

The champion team will pocket $4 million.

The runner-up, third and fourth placed finishers will collect $2.5 million, $1.5 million and 1$ million respectively.

A new addition to this year’s tournament was the

monetary incentives for all the teams, including $250,000 each for the losing quarter-finalists, $150,000 each for those knocked out at the second round and $100,000 each for teams booted at the first round.

There are also individual prizes for the Most Valuable Player, highest goal scorer, best goalkeeper and most discipline team. The most outstanding coach will pocket $100,000 cash.

Each association also received 20 percent or a maximum of $250,000 as gate receipts after expenses from all games played in their jurisdiction.

Admission to the games and an after concert featuring Jamaican artiste I-Octane is $1500.

Wada could test for drugs GABF elections a shame without YBG representatives using hair samples

By Treiston Joseph

W

ith the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) a few months away, it is a shame that Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) will not be involved in the process.

This publication understands that YBG made the requisite submissions to the GABF seeking affiliation with the national association, but has not received a response from the local governing body since the start of 2013.

YBG is arguably the most progressive basketball organisation in the country as it produces and prepares the future of the nation’s ballers.

Players such as Akeem “The Dream” Kanhai, Dominique Douglas, Dominic Vincente, Nikkoloi Smith and many more have come out of the programme and are all now in the first division league of basketball

in Guyana.

YBG also has the best structured tournament in that there are conferences before the national championships while having independent tournaments and challenges, along with training courses that feature some of the best school teams and players in the country.

Having such a progressive organisation involved in the electoral process would only boost the level of respect shown to the GABF, especially since a key figure in sporting circles- Director of Sport Neil Kumar- has openly embraced YBG while criticising the GABF for lack of vision and development.

However, the slow move to have the YBG organisation integrated into being an affiliate of the national body only speaks of the stagnated state that basketball in Guyana is in at the moment. It also shows the lack of interest and vision by the current executives who have done little justify their elec-

tion to office.

While it is not known whether or not any member of the YBG is interested in becoming president, the interest is there by the independent organisation to be a part of a larger movement for basketball by requesting to be affiliated to the governing body of basketball in the nation.

Such an opportunity should have already been grasped by the GABF to synchronise their synergies with the YBG and formulate a way forward in incorporating youth development with the third and first division aspects of the game.

This would only allow for a better structured system for the game in Guyana, thereby producing a superior brand of basketball for local fans.

Meanwhile, with YBG unable to make any contributions to the electoral process in 2014, it seems as though basketball will start off on the back foot…which is simply a shame.

A

thletes could soon be tested for drugs using hair samples according to Sir Craig Reedie, the incoming president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

Briton Reedie revealed that a £6m fund from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) could lead to new testing techniques to catch cheats.

Currently athletes are tested using blood and urine samples.

“Now we will look at different approaches such as,

can we use a lock of hair?”

Reedie said.

Traces of some drugs can last longer in hair than blood and urine and could improve testing.

“This new fund from the IOC will create tremendous opportunities for advances in anti-doping and allow our scientists to look at alternative approaches to sample testing for banned substances,” Reedie said.

“This is a really exciting development and means we can look at approaches that in the past have been unaf-

fordable.”

A Moscow testing laboratory for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics had its Wada accreditation suspended recently, but Reedie, who takes over his role on New Year’s Day, confirmed that provisions have been made.

He added: “There will be a very well-staffed and functioning satellite laboratory in Sochi and a group of foreign experts are helping resolve the problems in Moscow.” (BBC Sport)

Murray easily beats Zayed on competitive return

A

ndy Murray returned to competitive action at the Qatar Open with a comfortable straight sets win over Qatari wildcard Mousa Zayed.

Murray featured in exhibition games in Abu Dhabi recently in his first action since back surgery in September.

But the 2013 Wimbledon champion made his competitive comeback against Zayed, ranked 2,129th in the world, and lost just seven points in the opening set.

He secured his place in the second round with a 6-0 6-0 win in 37 minutes.

The Scot will play either Germany’s Florian Mayer for a

Andy Murray

place in the quarter-finals as he continues his preparations for the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on 13 January.

“It’s good to be back,” he said. “I will probably go and hit a few balls with my coach now as it was quite windy and there were not a lot of rallies in the match.”

Murray, 26, lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi on Thursday in his first outing since Britain’s Davis Cup World Group play-off win over Croatia in September.

But the 2013 BBC Sports Personality of the Year then beat Stanislas Wawrinka in the same

exhibition event.

Britain’s Dan Evans went out in the opening round as he lost in three sets to Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis.

Evans, the world number 150, had come through three rounds of qualifying to make the main draw, but was unable to spring an upset against the seventh seed.

Gulbis won 6-2 4-6 6-0 in oneand-a-half hours, breaking his 23-year-old opponent seven times in the match World number one Rafael Nadal progressed with a 6-2 7-6 (9-7) victory against Lukas Rosol, the Czech player who beat him at Wimbledon 2012. (BBC Sport)

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wednesday, January 1, 2014

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Banks Beer Cup Poole becomes final at Stadium Guyana’s first three- tonight See story on page

star boxing coach

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By Treiston Joseph

L

ocal boxing coach Terrence Poole is now in a category by himself after qualifying as Guyana’s first three-star International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) coach during the World Championships in October 2013.

Poole, who is one of a few in the Caribbean and the only in Guyana to reach such a level in coaching, explained the importance of the accomplishment during a press briefing on Tuesday at the Sport Ministry’s head office.

“This is an honor for me having this certificate; this piece of document is so important to me, my family and the entire boxing fraternity of Guyana. In any endeavour one tries to achieve the maximum or pinnacle, and as a boxer I was not fortunate to reach the pinnacle. [I] turned to coaching and this is the pinnacle in coaching at present.

Three-star is the highest level of coaching they have worldwide by AIBA,” Poole told representatives of the media present.

President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Steve Ninvalle congratulated Poole while noting the importance of the achievement.

“Mr. Poole went to Kazakhstan in October and he was successful in the three-star competition that was run

by AIBA and he is the only three-star coach in Guyana. We [GBA] are extremely proud and extremely happy that Mr. Poole could have gone and

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Steve Ninvalle (left) alongside three-star coach Terrence Poole showcasing his [Poole] certificate at the media briefing (Photo: Treiston Joseph)

done Guyana well by being successful at the examination. This basically means as AIBA has stipulated or mandated that we must have a threestar coach, so you cannot send a team to certain AIBA competitions without them being accompanied by a threestar AIBA coach,” Ninvalle explained.

Further, Poole outlined his immediate goal upon notching up such an achievement.

“My goal and the only way this certificate could show well yes I achieved the fullest, I must able to have someone qualifying for the next Olympics or even going on and winning a med-

al. The certificate is just paper but this now is production, I need to have someone qualify by any means for the coming Olympics which is in 2016,” Poole echoed.

Meanwhile, Ninvalle thanked Permanent Secretary of the Sport Ministry, Alfred King, for ensuring that the trip came off while Poole was quick to thank the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) boss Mark Phillips, the former brigadier Gary Best and the GBA for allowing him to achieve his new credentials before both wished prosperity for boxing in 2014.

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GABF elections a shame without YBG representatives

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