Guyana Times Daily

Caribbean academic urges united position on Syria

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Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana Issue No. 1881 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

ANSA McAL ethanol project still on table – Dr Ramsammy says search on for suitable site

See story on page 3

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Ministry to work closely with RDCs, NDCs P2 to limit first day hiccups Literature P2 prize shortlist announced Police warn against P11 reckless statements in Broomes’ defence Newly-trained P12 doctors deployed across country

P13 More changes for GuySuCo’s Craft vendors at the Amerindian Village, Sophia Exhibition Complex, continue to enjoy sales as the country celebrates Amerindian Heritage management Month

Qualfon new Police arrest contact centre 14 roadAFC to create blocking Ituni defends party protesters 6000 jobs leaders

AG slams P17 Trotman’s stewardship of House

See story on page 7

See story on page 7

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2 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ministry to work closely with RDCs, Literature prize shortlist announced NDCs to limit first day hiccups C hief Education Officer Olato Sam said the Education Ministry will be looking to collaborate more with all regional democratic councils (RDCs) and neighbourhood democratic councils (NDCs) nationwide, to limit the hiccups experienced each year at the beginning of every new school term.

Sam told Guyana Times

Chief Education Officer Olato Sam

on Tuesday that this is necessary to ensure that all schools are fully prepared to accommodate pupils at the beginning of the term.

He explained that while the responsibility lies with the Education Ministry, to ensure that all the necessary arrangements are made to have schools prepared for the new school term, the ministry is not responsible for the weeding of school compounds.

A few school compounds across the country, especially on the East Coast of Demerara, were not weeded as of Monday.

According to Sam, that responsibility lies with the RDCs, which most times pass on that task to the NDCs. Given this fact, the

chief education officer believes that the Education Ministry, through the Department of Education within every RDC, will have to ensure that if this is not done that they could step in to assist. He admitted that the issue is one that continues to occur at the beginning of each new school year.

“Ultimately, we take responsibility for all our schools and where there are shortfalls, we step in to provide assistance,” Sam stated. Some 27 schools on the East Coast of Demerara were not weeded for the re-opening of school on Monday.

Other issues

Besides this, there were a number of other issues that were encountered during the first day of school.

For some, there was shortage of furniture, incomplete sanitary blocks and unsanitary conditions of schools.

These issues continue to occur year after year and despite numerous attempts by the central ministry, there have been limited changes to correct them.

Sam said the ministry will work to ensure that all of these problems are resolved in the future. This, he said, calls for greater collaboration between the

regional education departments and the local government authorities.

On Monday, Education Minister Priya Manickchand expressed disappointment with the situation at some schools.

The Beterverwagting Practical Instruction Centre was not prepared for opening and will be closed until Thursday.

Repairs and renovation works are being done on the building. The St Rose’s High and St Agnes Primary also experienced some problems, while the Moblissa Primary School was not ready, because construction works were not finished, but school began with children being housed at a nearby benab.

Protest

In addition, protesters blocked the Kwakwani Road, making it impossible for the Region 10 Education Department to send food to the Kwakwani Dormitory. It was reported that the only food items present at the dorm are rice and sugar. A truck carrying food items to the dorm on Monday was greeted by the protesters and turned away. The ministry said it deems the action unscrupulous and said it will look into the issue with the help of its sister ministries.

Despite these hiccups, schools along the East Coast, East Bank, West Coast and West Bank Demerara recorded high student turnout on Monday. Reports from the other regions also indicated that schools in those areas were fit and ready and opened promptly for their new school year intake.

The ministry also stated that parents were eager to see their children off to their new schools and were very happy to find that schools across the country were opened with teachers present to welcome them and their children.

T

Harold Bascom

Ian Mc Donald

he Guyana Prize for Literature Committee has announced its shortlist of winners for the prestigious awards billed for September 15 at the Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown.

In a statement, the committee said the shortlists and winners were decided by a jury made up of distinguished judges, selected by the Guyana Prize Management Committee because of their outstanding credentials in the field of literature as literary critics, academics, literary editors, authors and creative writers.

September 15, at 19:00h at the Pegasus Hotel. The awards will be presented to the winners

by President Donald Ramotar.

Chair of the jury, Professor Jane Bryce will read the judges’ report.

Shortlist

For the Best Book of Fiction, Ruel Johnson’s Collected Fictions, a semi-autobiographical collection of short fiction that addresses racial and political tensions, relationships and displacement and Chaitram Singh’s The February 23rd Coup, a fastpaced fictional account of an attempted coup by a group of disaffected Guyanese soldiers have been shortlisted.

In the Best Book of Poetry category: Cassia Alphonso’s Black Cake Mix, a collection of evocative poems with a well-realised creole voice; Ian McDonald’s The Comfort of All Things, an elegiac musings by a mature poet on aging and mortality; and Sasenarine Persaud’s Lantana Strangling Ixora Complex, a collection of introspective poems with a bitter edge are on the shortlist.

Harold Bascom’s “Deportee”, a screenplay for a crime thriller set in New York and Georgetown, involving deportation, narco-trafficking and corruption and Mosa Mathifa Telford’s “Sauda”, a morality tale about the need for understanding and forgiveness between mothers and daughters, and the difficulties of escaping from a legacy of self-contempt have been chosen for the best drama prize.

For the Best First Book of Fiction, the committee said only one entry was shortlisted, and will therefore be declared the winner. In the Best First Book of Poetry, no work was considered suitable for a shortlist in this category.

The winners of the prize will be announced by the chairman of the jury at the Guyana Prize Awards ceremony to be held on

Panel

The jury panel is made up of Professor Jane Bryce, Brendan de Caires, Dr Louis Regis, Professor Daizal Samad and Lori Shelbourn According to the committee, Bryce is a professor of African literature and film in the Department of Language, Linguistics and Literature, University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill campus.

Bryce, who is also a fiction writer, has published prose works and short fiction. She is a co-editor of Poui, the Cave Hill Journal of creative writing; has conducted courses in creative writing; and is a leading scholar on African and Caribbean films. de Caires has been described as a literary critic, reviewer, and was an editor and book reviewer for the Caribbean Review of Books (CRB). He has published literary articles and reviews and is a co-founder of Moray House in Georgetown.

Regis is head of Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies at UWI, St Augustine campus and a specialist in West Indian literature, cultural studies and cultural history; and an authority on the political calypso in Trinidad.

He has researched and published on carnival and calypso, including studies of Black Stalin and Maestro and has been a theatre director.

Samad is a professor of literature. He is also a fiction writer and former director of the University of Guyana (UG), Tain Berbice campus. Professor Samad has worked in Canada and the Middle East and has published extensively on literature.

Shelbourn of the University of Leeds, UK has researched extensively on Wilson Harris for doctoral studies at Leeds and is an authority on Harris.

Shelbourn is also a researcher of West Indian literature, literary editor, writer of literary entries for Wikipedia and has directed international conference on Caribbean literature and culture in the UK.

News

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Wednesday, September 4 from 14:30h to 16:00h The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Wednesday, September 4 from 16:00h to 17:30h.

WEATHER TODAY Countrywide: Heavy thundery showers are expected during the day with lighter showers in the evening over coastal and near inland locations. Temperatures are expected to range between 24 degrees and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East south-easterly between zero and 1.94 metres per second.

High Tides: 16:00h reaching a maximum height of 2.58 metres Low Tides: 09:36h and 21:52h reaching minimum heights of 0.64 metres and 0.60 metres respectively.

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wednesday, september 4, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

ANSA McAL ethanol project still on table – Dr Ramsammy says search on for suitable site

quested in excess of 50,000 hectares of land but was granted a lease to occupy 12,000 hectares. “They have been in the country with their technical people putting together their overall investment proposal, to sign an investment agreement,” he said.

According to the agriculture minister, the Indian company is also in the process of identifying local contractors for the construction of roads, drainage systems and wharf facilities.

BY SVETLANA MARSHALL

G

overnment has denied reports that ANSA McAL has suspended altogether its proposed multimillion-dollar bio-fuel project here, insisting that while the Trinidadian conglomerate has turned its back on the 40,000 hectares of land in the Canje Basin, the administration was still searching for suitable alternatives.

ANSA McAL’s Chief Executive Officer Anthony Sabga III, during a recent interview in another section of the media, said a feasibility study conducted in the Canje Basin indicated that the soil was unsuitable for the US$300 million ethanol project and rainy conditions proved the area useless.

But during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times, Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said the ANSA McAL multimilliondollar project is still on the table.

He explained that the Trinidadian group of companies had requested a change of location from the Canje Basin to the Intermediate Savannah.

Location

According to Dr Leslie Ramsammy, a proposal was made in keeping with the recommended location but this too was overturned by ANSA McAL. Though the company’s rejection has caused some delay in the materialisation of the project, the government remains optimistic that it will be able to meet the demands of the company.

ANSA McAL requires a specific amount of land with special characteristics. “For example, a river port, this is quite an understandable request, I believe that it is still possible for us to accommodate ANSA McAL and so I am working closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment to find a solution,” he posited.

It was explained that the Natural Resources and the Environment Ministry is evaluating the geographical land mass in the Intermediate Savannah to determine whether the company’s specifics can be met.

If the Natural Resources Ministry comes up emptyhanded, only then ANSA McAL will have no other option than to scrap the project, the minister said.

Meanwhile, Dr Ramsammy said there is

ANSA McAL CEO Anthony Sabga III

Agriculture Minster Dr Leslie Ramsammy

a high demand for land in the Canje Basin and the Intermediate Savannahs with investors collectively demanding more than two million hectares of land to facilitate large scale biomass production.

“In terms of suitable location for these investments, we don’t have two million hectares for immediate allocation.

Not everyone will have the ideal location,” he made clear.

Canje end through Mara, they can actually access their concession and I am aware that in the next couple of weeks, a technical team from Malaysia and China will be in the country to begin feasibility work,” the agriculture minister reported.

In addition to the ChinaMalaysian group, a company out of India is currently conducting a feasibility study in another section of the Canje Basin to determine the possibility of bio-ethanol production through the usage of sugar cane.

Dr Ramsammy said the company will be placing major emphasis on the production of bio-ethanol. However, given its proximity to the Skeldon Sugar Factory, if proven feasible, the Agriculture Ministry will be working along with the company to provide the factory with sugar cane.

This company has also re-

Foreign investors

From a batch of more than 15 foreign investors, the Agriculture Ministry has signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with just four group investors, hence, paving the way for feasibility studies to be conducted in the Canje Basin and the Intermediate Savannah for the production of bio-fuel through the planting of sugar cane, palm and soya.

A group of investors from Malaysia and China recently signed MoUs with the Agriculture Ministry. The agreement was inked approximately two weeks ago to determine whether the Canje Basin is suitable for the planting of palm trees.

The group of investors is aiming to tap into the global market through the sale of palm oil to meet the growing demand.

Palmoil is not only used for cooking but for the production of fuel and creation of cosmetics. “They already signed the MoU and they are in the process in preparing an investment agreement.”

The Asian group had requested in excess of 50,000 hectares of land in the Canje Basin, but was only leased approximately 12,000 hectares.

Upon full utilisation of the 12, 000 hectares of land, more will be allotted, Dr Ramsammy told Guyana Times.

“They have access to the

Agro-fuel

Another group had put forward a proposal to utilise 50,000 hectares of land but this time in the Intermediate Savannah for the production of agro-fuel. However, this company was also allotted 12,000 hectares of land to conduct its feasibility study at Ebini in the Intermediate Savannah.

“We have signed an MoU that they will have access to what they requested but only on the basis of utilisation. In the Intermediate Savannah on the Ebini end, they are interested in corn as a biomass and palm oil as a biomass for agro-fuel,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the Intermediate Savannah, a Barbadian company Santa Fe is exploring the possibility of the large scale production of corn to supply Guyana’s feed industry and produce agrofuel. The company is using a 20- hectares plot of land to conduct it studies.

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guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

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

Editorial

Desert art

Invasion in region

T

he world is agog at the U.S.’s posture on the Syrian civil war in which its direct intervention is only a matter of time. This is in the face of domestic and almost unanimous international disapproval and the parliamentary defeat of its ally Britain’s motion for authorisation to support the invasion. Guyana, to its credit, has declared that international law be followed.

While nations will always couch explanations for their actions in moral language, especially when they are acting in contravention of the stated international law, as is now the case, history has shown that they always act to protect or further their own interests as they define those interest.

In the Caribbean, we are approaching the 30th anniversary of the first and only direct invasion of the U.S. on a former British colony. The parallels to the Syrian case are instructive.

This was Operation Urgent Fury, in which U.S. troops landed in Grenada on October 25, 1983, ostensibly to rescue American students at the offshore St George’s Medical School. But the question was actually one of U.S. strategic interest as defined by itself.

Ever since the Panama Canal had been completed in 1914, the U.S. had declared the Caribbean islands of strategic importance, since they controlled the approach to the canal from the Atlantic Ocean.

After Cuba announced its “communist” orientation and aligned itself with the U.S. Cold War enemy USSR after 1960, it became an “outlaw” state to the U.S. The latter deployed economic sanctions that are still in place, and declared it will not allow “another Cuba in the hemisphere”.

When the New Jewel Movement (NJM), led by the socialist Maurice Bishop, staged a coup against the government of Grenada on March 13, 1979 and declared himself head of a People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG), the U.S. felt its strategic interests were threatened. It feared that Soviet use of the island would enable them to project tactical power over the entire Caribbean region. It saw an arc of Soviet influence extending from Cuba in the north to Grenada in the south.

The internal conditions were that Eric Gairy, who had led Grenada to independence in 1974 after being premier since 1967, had become increasing dictatorial and ruled with the help of a private “mongoose army”. Bishop and the NJM claimed the polls of 1976, won by Gairy, were fraudulent and staged a coup. His new Marxist-Leninist government suspended the constitution, and immediately established close ties with Cuba, Nicaragua and other communist bloc countries.

After being rebuffed by the U.S. for aid to build a new airport to increase its tourist trade, the NJM turned to its new ally Cuba, which promised skilled workers and road building equipment.

The Cubans assisted the Grenada government with funds and hundreds of workers starting in 1981 and, gradually, with additional funds secured from friendly countries including some in Europe, the airport progressed.

The U.S. claimed the airport was for military use and the Cubans were actually soldiers. The concerns expressed by U.S. president Jimmy Carter about developments in Grenada were intensified after the staunchly anti-communist Ronald Reagan became president in January 1981.

When a serendipitous power struggle developed between Bishop and his deputy Bernard Coard in 1983 and led to the execution of the former, the U.S. saw an opportunity to resolve its security concerns and launched Operation Urgent Fury. During the fighting, 45 Grenadians, 25 Cubans, and 19 Americans were killed.

Grenada had remained in the Commonwealth and even though Britain, under the leadership of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a close ally of Reagan, refused to sanction the invasion, the U.S. persuaded Caribbean leaders from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Jamaica and Barbados, which were ideologically closer to it, to invite the invasion.

The rest, as they say, is history, which apparently is also going to be the case with Syria.

Once a year, tens of thousands of participants gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance. They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever. Need a ride anyone? (Flickr)

Amerindian Heritage 2013 – a time for reflection Dear Editor, One of the biggest things in Guyana is indeed the quiet, but noticeable and ongoing, revolution of development in the hinterland.

Recently, the vibrancy of the Hinterland Scholarship Programme (HSP) came to the fore, as news of the success story of three hinterland scholarship students was made public.

Quite a few of the students from this programme would not ordinarily have had the chance to do well, but because of this, they are doing exceedingly well, tell-

ing us that the programme is a very successful one. If we are talking real development, then we have to talk investing in human resource, and the HSP hits the nail right in the head.

Amerindians and the hinterland overall first became a concern in the period of 1957 to 1964. In fact, it was during this period, that the then government started to expand the educational opportunities in the hinterland and introduced the scholarships in 1962.

This year, Amerindian Heritage Month is a good

time for reflection. Recently many concerns were raised in this regard. We are quite aware that there is an ongoing and rapid deterioration in our Amerindian heritage, especially the language.

The president of the Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG) wants the various village councils to grasp their remaining chances to salvage their native languages. He has also lauded the Amerindian Affairs Ministry for the initiative in launching the first Arawak Language Project

in Guyana. This project is receiving a lot of attention.

We are big on tourism now, and I am thinking that we can boost local and overseas tourism during this month every year. We have a week of activities at the village at Sophia with craft and food exhibitions.

The sad part is that school is on and many will miss out. The media should make sure then of full coverage, even if we have to get delayed presentations.

Yours truly, Elroy Holder

GWI and its customers Parents need to take

Dear Editor, I hear a lot about errant customers of the Guyana Water Inc (GWI). It is time to stop all talk and get on with dealing with these customers in a most definitive, professional and prudent manner.

GWI is now on a drive to target those who are in default. So this is not an outreach in the sense of the water agency trying to be generous. GWI simply needs to collect its outstanding arrears and it will do all it can.

Many who have left these shores have GWI connec-

tions and after a few years, the service charge adds up.

Then someone goes to live in the property, and the next thing is that a big bill hits them. I was told that these occupants, maybe relatives or friends, are accountable and that they have to pay up or be connected.

We need some enlightenment here. The next thing is that when these people cannot pay say $100,000 and they are disconnected, then they find illegal ways of getting water.

Yours sincerely, Jameer Ally

greater responsibility Dear Editor, Parents need to take responsibility for their children a bit more seriously. Admittedly, parents or guardians cannot watch over those under their care all the time. Even at home this is not possible.

Entire village will have to cooperate and look out for the boys and girls in their communities. The police must be a part of this. When gambling was rampant in my village, I got the police to make some raids and things turned around.

Parents must not allow their children in some places. The adults must show responsibility, and when they do not, they must answer for anything that goes wrong.

At the higher level, where creeks are concerned, I suggest that all resorts employ a lifeguard. I know that we are moving in this direction where tourism is concerned, but we have to make it a national policy. Safety must come first.

Respectfully yours, Roderick Bacchus

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, september 4, 2013

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

Protests must be peaceful Dear Editor, The people of Ituni, Kwakwani and Aroaima are protesting the deplorable condition of the LindenKwakwani access road. They have moved to the streets to vent their frustration, and their promise is to stay with the protest, until their demands are met.

Now I have to ask myself if I were living in the area, what would I have done? Well, I have always believed in raising my voice or in taking some kind of action, whenever I found it necessary to do so.

If you ask if I support these protesters, the answer is yes, but with an explanation, and simply put, I only support peaceful protests.

Otherwise the whole exercise descends into hooliganism.

Peaceful protests are a vital part of any democratic so-

ciety and it has a very long and respected tradition in many places the world over.

Recently, we were celebrating Dr Martin Luther King and he was known for peaceful resistance.

I would have been out there with the LindenKwakwani people, but definitely not a part of some of the things that I see they are now getting involved in.

These villagers are blocking the road and affecting the livelihood of many other people.

It makes me remember the recent Linden situation.

Many people were put off by what happened, since streets were blocked too. We should be able to protest if and when we want, but we must not restrict the freedom of other people in doing so.

In recent years, new pieces of legislation had to be passed to deal with a range

of threats. I will never ever endorse anti-social behaviour. It does not matter what is the reason.

In Linden, roads were damaged and buildings burnt. Quite a few lootings and robberies also took place.

Huge logs were placed across the road, bringing traffic to an abrupt halt.

As expected, this caused an annoying traffic jam.

Some residents want to stay with this action, but many want to go about their lives too. The right to protest must not be taken as a right to do anything.

I call on everyone to do the right thing. Protests do not have to be disruptive.

Peaceful ones usually get better long-term results.

Yours faithfully, Resident of Ituni Name withheld by request

Watchmen are in danger Dear Editor, The petty thieves who used a toy gun to rob two watchmen bring several considerations to the fore.

The two men were at best at the mercy of their attackers.

If these three robbers wanted to kill them, they could have done so very easily.

Watchmen must take a stand. The whole profession must be elevated. The presence of a watchman is not the same as that of a police officer.

I suggest that watchmen be very able-bodied, they get some training in the use of firearms, thereby making the profession one of seriousness, and that they also

work only where there is a camera installed. It will help to have them work very closely with the police too.

Usually our watchmen are from the elderly group, and even though they are somewhat healthy and can stay up for the night, they be really are not a force to be reckoned with.

Then how can two men, without weapons, be allowed to work throughout the night all by themselves?

They are sitting ducks. Gas station proprietors must do better.

This shift is referred to as the graveyard one, and I guess where Guyana is concerned, for watchmen, it is

worse than the tag suggests.

The next thing is that after the thieves attacked and robbed the two men, they sped off on their bicycles.

They are from the general area I presume. No wonder some quick action from the police nabbed one of them right in the area.

I am glad that the police came very quickly and now they have a lead to work with. They are grilling the suspect to find out the names of the other two men and I think that he will give in.

Yours truly, Geoffrey Dover

No prisoner must be mistreated Dear Editor, Many of us just like to criticise our country for so many silly things. I know that we can do some little things to enhance our self as a people and also our surroundings.

We drop our food boxes randomly when we are in vehicles eating. Men urinate visibly in public. Men make all kinds of derisive remarks when females are passing by and we seldom try to improve our speech. These things, if we cut them out, will make us so much better.

Right now, we are big on hospitality and I mean at the professional level too. I read about the woes of a Cuban family, who arrived in the U.S. from a migrant detention centre in The Bahamas.

The claim from some members is that guards regularly beat some of the male inmates and sexually abuse some of the women. If this can be proved, then the international community should seek redress.

Justice must be served in a most non-discriminating manner. One of the victims is claiming repeated rape and she is saying that she is now pregnant.

This perpetrator, if indeed there is one, must be made to answer. This will send a message. There are laws governing the safety and well-being of prisoners.

Guyanese law enforcers have been accused of doing this kind of thing. They have been accused of being a bit

bad with their own Guyanese, but not with other nationals.

Barbados recently was accused of harassing outsiders, namely a few women from Jamaica. I recall one case where a woman went to court because she was reportedly abused by an immigration officer as she sought entry into Barbados.

In Guyana, we have so many foreigners coming up for various breaches, but I have not heard anything like what I am reading regarding Barbados and The Bahamas.

I take my hat off to our many law enforcers. I also ask them to make sure that we stay professionally hospitable.

Yours, Dionne Charles

Restrict Styrofoam in Guyana Dear Editor, Government has approved a menu of measures to restrict the importation and use of Styrofoam products – an operation which will be carried out by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

This is an initiative I fully support.

Styrofoam is actually a brand name and it is now a commonly used name for what is really polystyrene. Its primary ingredient, styrene, is the danger.

It is used in carpets, insulation, and general packing materials. People most often come in contact with it, however, as a product of tobacco smoke.

In terms of actual manufacturing, workers who

are exposed to styrene may inhale the substance and so experience nervous system difficulties. According to the literature on hand, these include fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and problems with coordination. Along the line of ingestion, food products placed in containers may become contaminated with styrene.

Eating or drinking such contaminated products can lead to anything from general gastrointestinal difficulties to liver and kidney damage. Styrofoam is in the realm of the physical environment and almost anywhere we go, we see the boxes and cups, strewn all over the place.

They are not bio-de-

gradable, and so we cannot have them so abundantly in Guyana – at least not until proper measures are put in place to deal with solid waste.

I think what can help too is that people who are still non-cooperative should be pressed further. If they are using Styrofoam, then their handling of their solid waste should be watched more closely.

A lot of these boxes and cups are found clogging kokers and sluices. Even at the sea wall, when the tide recedes, these things are found on the shoreline and in quite a fair quantity.

Sincerely, Gaitri Manbodh

Rice should be used more in Guyana Dear Editor, Rice is a significant food that improves some health conditions. It is easily digested and absorbed into the body. According to “Organic Facts”, rice helps to relieve indigestion and nausea, diarrhoea and dysentery as well as some skin disorders and high blood pressure. Also according to ricemilk.com, rice also contains b-sitosterol, a natural substance that lowers blood cholesterol levels.

Rice is of course an important source of complex carbohydrates, which provide energy to the body and fuel for the brain. According to ricetrade.

com, rice provides vitamins including riboflavin, thiamine and niacin.

Rice also contains iron, vitamin D and calcium. It contains no cholesterol or gluten and has no additives or preservatives. Rice contains eight amino acids which make it a good source of protein.

There is a big myth that rice is not good in the morning or late at nights. We need to dispel some of the prevailing negatives about rice and push for using more of it.

I notice one store in Georgetown is selling a lot of rice cakes and we need to think pastries as well. I fig-

ured out that it is good that we have a lot of rice to go round and so we might as well utilise it in as many forms as we possibly can.

The Agriculture Ministry is spending huge sums of money on drainage and irrigation and the rehabilitation of structures countrywide. So we have to indulge more in rice consumption. We are set to produce more, and even as government seeks to find plenty of overseas markets, we have to do our part on the inside.

Yours sincerely, Faith Gordon

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wednesday, september 4, 2013

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Foundation

It isn’t easy being Parents have a role to play in a parent... encouraging healthy behaviours

arents are in a unique position to influence the health of their children. Parents set the stage for health behaviours, provide reinforcement for such behaviour, and serve as emotional supports in the behaviour change process.

In an intervention, parents can serve three roles: providing support, serving as role models, and setting limits.

Providing support

Most children like to be active, but often something more is needed to make it happen. Parents can provide tangible assistance, sometimes called instrumental support, for children to engage in physical activities. In order to find a safe place to ride a bike, it might be necessary to drive the child to a park or field.

Enrolling youth in sport programmes or paying for tennis lessons can also aid in the child’s quest for an active life. Family support is important for sustaining a child’s interest in activity.

Attending games, watching pickup play in the backyard, asking questions, and generally demonstrating interest add support to the youth’s

participation in physical activity.

Role modelling

Active adults present a consistent and enduring reminder of the role of physical activity in health and happiness. Parents and guardians who participate in exercise or activity have children who are more likely to be active. It is not important, however, to be athletic, to engage in any specialised sports, or to be a highly successful performer. Regular walking (with the dog or with others), working in the yard, and doing living room calisthenics illustrate the role physical activity plays in the life of an adult.

With the knowledge that role modelling might influence child behaviour, negative behaviour must be considered as well. Fathers who spend much of their time after work in front of the TV and mothers who do not have a regular physical activity pattern might present an adverse model for their offspring. Care should be taken to minimise negative role modelling. Parental involvement has been shown to be particularly relevant for girls, as evidenced by the

impact of parental activity levels and parental encouragement. It has been shown that mothers provide greater support and facilitation for physical activity, while fathers tend to demonstrate personal involvement in the activity.

Although it seems logical that children who see active parents would be inclined to imitate them, demonstrated support for physical activity is more important. Research showed that parental facilitation, encouragement, and involvement were more important to a child’s physical activity participation than role modelling an active lifestyle. Role modelling was useful, but primarily as a function of support. More active parents tended to provide more support for the physical activities of their children.

Setting limits

Parents play important roles in a child’s activity level not only through promoting physical activity, but also through their efforts to minimise inactivity.

Requiring a child to be active might, in the long run, be an ineffective way to create positive feelings about

physical activity. It is often easier to set household rules or policies focusing on household objects that create inactivity than to try to force children to be active.

One example is to limit the amount of TV viewing allowed through a TV viewing policy. In some cultures the average child spends nearly six hours per day watching television and using other electronic media such as video games and computers!

The relationship between inactivity and physical activity seems to be one of opposite behaviours. Decreasing the time spent in sedentary pursuits such as watching TV, playing computer games, or watching videos will surely provide more time for active pursuits.

However, the choice between physical activity and sedentary pursuits seems to respond to different stimuli.

Screen time plays a major role in the sedentary behaviour of youths. Parents and guardians can monitor and control children’s and adolescents’ access to the television and computer; and, as already discussed, familybased programmes to support such behaviours exist.

(humankinetics.com)

C

Keep your children safe

hildren need emotional and physical safety in equal measures.

The challenges parents face in providing it vary as much as kids and their environments. * A secret to keeping children safe is to do the other eight things on this list. If you’re communicating, you’ll know what’s going on in your child’s life, where they might need some help, or if they might need someone to look out for them. If they have contributing roles and posi-

tive influences, they’re more likely to make safe choices, and if lots of people care about them, they can get help and support when needed. * A second key is to take physical safety measures

continuesd from wednesday

(such as baby proofing when they’re young, or setting rules about driving when they’re teens) out of love for them and a desire for them to have positive experiences, rather than out of fear.

Set boundaries and high expectations

It’s no fun being the parent who says no when others are saying yes. But sometimes it’s in the best interest of your children and your entire family. The key to reducing everyone’s stress and frustration about limits and

expectations is to be clear, consistent, reasonable, and evolutionary. “Evolutionary” means being responsive to your child’s changing developmental needs and what they’ve demonstrated about their choices. * Reward the positive behaviour and limit opportunities for negative behaviour.

For example, if you have a teenager who has a history of impulsive behaviour, don’t let her go to an unsupervised party; have a gathering at your home instead. Or, if your son gets up five mornings a week in the summer to go to cross country practice, let him skip an evening lacrosse workout when he’s feeling ragged and worn out.

Get to know your children’s friends

Be the dad who talks to your passengers during the carpool. Be the mom who asks a lot of questions about school, interests, and activities. You don’t have to be nosy to get to know your children’s friends, but you do have to be the one to set the tone of kind, friendly interaction. Your children might think it’s a little weird at first, but in the long run they’ll appreciate it.

Be a positive role model

This one is simple, but definitely not easy: Be the kind of person you want your child to be. Know your values and act on them, treat others the way you would like to be treated, follow your dreams, cut yourself some slack when appropriate, and feel good knowing you’re building the assets your kids need to succeed. (Parentfurther.com)

News 7

wednesday, september 4, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

Qualfon new contact centre to create 6000 jobs

– sod turning ceremony billed for today

M

exican-based business process outsourcing (BPO) company Qualfon will this morning turn the sod to build a new state-of-the art contact centre at Providence, East Bank Demerara, a venture which is estimated to create 6000 jobs.

Describing itself as a leading global BPO provider, Qualfon said the contact centre will be one of the largest campuses in the world, noting that the new state-ofthe-art, multi-building campus will expand its capacity in Guyana and bring an estimated 6000 new jobs over the next five years.

The new contact centre will bring jobs with opportunities in customer service, sales, technical support and management. Phase one of the construction is expected to be completed in 2014.

In a curtain raiser state-

ment, the company said it is proud to be investing in the future of Guyana. “Qualfon is making a major investment in Guyana, because it is a country that is well suited to serve the contact centre industry. Qualfon’s largest market is serving customers in the United States, and Guyana understands Americans.

They speak the same nativeEnglish language and watch the same TV. In addition, they have a diverse and welcoming culture that is unique in the world,” said Qualfon Chief Executive Officer Mike Marrow.

“That’s why we have decided to heavily invest in Guyana and build one of the largest contact centre campuses in the world.”

The multi-building facility will be built near the Guyana National Stadium and will accommodate 3500 seats. In addition to the ini-

tial contact centre, construction plans include an administration building as well as a second operation. The centre will also feature solar power panels and “green” building materials; an indoor/outdoor cafeteria; an interfaith chapel; an on-site waste water treatment facility; back-up generators; a water pond and landscaping and parking; and designated pick-up and dropoff areas.

Qualfon has been operating in Georgetown since 2005 and said it is the largest private employer in the country.

The company said it provides award-winning services to clients and their customers. The company has an average employee tenure of 28.8 months and an average monthly attrition rate of 5.45 per cent at its facilities in Guyana.

“Guyana provides one of the most compelling offers in the BPO industry. With its

An artist’s impression of the new Qualfon complex

competitive prices and nativeEnglish language, as well as Qualfon’s low attrition rates, Guyana is a great alternative to India and a strong complement to the Philippines,” said Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Bob Dechant.

He added: “Qualfon’s investment in a new 3500-seat contact centre campus represents a concrete sign that Guyana is a premier new lo-

cation for the industry and that Qualfon believes in the future of Guyana.”

Since 1996, Qualfon has delivered a strategic advantage for billion-dollar companies around the world.

“Today, we have 10,000 employees across six countries, including the Philippines, Guyana, Mexico, Costa Rica, the U.S.A, and China. Our mission is to be

the best BPO and make people’s lives better.”

Qualfon invests in employees, their families, and communities, the release said.

As a result, Qualfon achieves employee tenure rates two times higher than the industry average. Leading the BPO industry in employee tenure is the secret to it high-quality services and disruptive pricing.

Police arrest 14 road-blocking Ituni protesters – break up demonstration, clear roadway

Residents of Ituni blocking the Linden to Kwakwani Public Road in the vicinity of Ituni last Thursday

BY SVETLANA MARSHALL

A

six-day protest in Ituni, Region 10, came to an abrupt end on Tuesday after 14 persons were arrested for blocking the roadway.

The Linden-Kwakwani Public Road which was blocked with huge logs in the vicinity of Ituni was subsequently cleared by ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). Residents were protesting the deplorable state of the main access road.

According to GPF Public Relations Officer Ivelaw Whittaker, 10 men and four women who were involved in the blocking of the roadway at Ituni were arrested.

Blocked road

Additionally, with support from the Public Works Ministry, a machine was used to remove the logs. A police constable was assaulted during efforts to arrest another man.

Meanwhile, at Kwakwani, several persons used co-

conut tree trunks to block the roadway at Kwakwani Waterfront around 08:00h, but the obstacles were also removed.

“The Guyana Police Force has shown considerable restraint in this matter and wishes to reiterate its respect for the rights of all citizens to protest peacefully on issues of concern to them.

The force has no objection to persons conducting peaceful protests, but when protests degenerate into unlawful acts, infringing on the rights of other citizens, the police will as a consequence have to take the appropriate action,” the police stated.

However, Curth Murphy, a resident of Ituni for more than 25 years told Guyana Times that 20 persons were keeping watch at the road block on Tuesday around 04:30h when the police arrived on the scene. “About more than 30 of them came in four vans from Georgetown wearing blue and black and khaki. They came with a log loader,” he reported.

When the police arrived on the scene, five women were sleeping under a tent while the men were sitting on the logs.

Women sleeping

The protesters were instructed to return to their homes, but instead of following the instructions, they put up a resistance. “We refused to move. We told them that it was for a worthy cause and that is when they started to arrest us. They outnumbered us,” he said.

Approximately six persons managed to escape from the hands of the police, but the majority, including four women and 10 men, were detained.

Using the heavy-duty equipment, the police cleared the blocked area. The main access road has remained under police guard.

Meanwhile, the detained protesters were taken to the Ituni Police Station and subsequently transferred to the Mackenzie Police Station in Linden.

The protest started on Thursday when residents of Kwakwani and Araoima joined their counterparts at Ituni to block the access road in the vicinity of the logging community. According to the residents, the road has been in a deplorable state for more

than two years, but has deteriorated over the last month.

They had received the backing of Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon, who said the Regional Democratic Council, (RDC) had requested funds to repair five roads including the

Linden to Kwakwani Road, but got none.

On Tuesday afternoon, Solomon in a release condemned the actions of the police, noting that the force had conducted yet another predawn attack on the people of turn to page 10 Region 10.

8 news

wednesday, september 4, 2013| guyanatimesGY.com

Man remanded for possession of counterfeit notes Eyew tness O Know nothing...

n Tuesday, a man was brought before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts after he was charged with possession of counterfeit notes.

It was alleged that on

August 29 at Stabroek Market, Georgetown, Seon Davis had in his possession six one thousand dollar bills. He pleaded not guilty to the charge read against him.

According to the facts read by Prosecutor Bharat Mangru, on the day in ques-

tion, the defendant was walking along Stabroek Market when police ranks acting on information received stopped the defendant and searched him.

The notes were found in his pocket. He was cautioned about the offence and was arrested and charged.

Davis who was unrepresented told the court that he is 32 years old with a fixed address at 3512 Durban Street, Lodge.

Magistrate SewnarineBeharry granted bail in the sum of $25,000 and the matter is set to return to court on September 30.

Brothers fight and end up in court

T

wo brothers were brought before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday after they were cross charged.

It was alleged that on September 1 at Regent Street, Georgetown, Yuman Besisar unlawfully and maliciously wounded Ricardo Jagdeo. He pleaded not guilty to the charge read against him.

It was further alleged that on the same day, Ricardo Jagdeo unlawfully assaulted Besisar. He too pleaded not guilty to the charge read against him.

According to the facts read by Prosecutor Bharat Mangru, on the day in question, the two had an argument because Jagdeo visited a brother-in-law’s residence. Besisar complained about an ongoing issue between himself and

the said brother-in-law which resulted in the fight.

Attorney Omiana Hamilton represented Besisar and told the court that her client has a wife and three children with a fixed placed of abode at 132 South Ruimveldt, Georgetown. She went on to say that the two are brothers and Besisar has one pending matter before the court for threatening language. Jagdeo howev-

er was unrepresented and told the court that he has a fixed address at 257 Second Field, Grove, East Bank Demerara.

There were no objections to bail put forward by the prosecution and the parties were placed on selfbail. They were also bonded to keep the peace pending the outcome of the matter which was transferred to Court Six for September 11.

Excavator operator charged with three offences

O

n Tuesday, a man was brought before Chief Magistrate

Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts after

he was charged with three offences.

It was alleged that

on August 23 at the Brickdam Police Station, Kelvin Charles unlawfully assaulted Police Constables Jermaine Brown, Deochand Sookdeo, Joel Benjamin and Freon Wilson. It was also alleged that Charles on the same day at the Brickdam Polcie Station behaved disorderly. It was further alleged that on September 1 at Church Street, Georgetown, he had in his possession an offensive weapon, that was to say a knife, without any lawful cause or reasonable explanation. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges read against him.

According to the facts read by Prosecutor Bharat Mangru, on the day in question around 14:00h, police were on mobile patrol on Church Street when they stopped and searched the defendant.

The knife was found in his pants waist. He was taken to the Brickdam Police Station where he began to behave disorderly saying he did not want to be arrested. He began resisting arrest which resulted in him assaulted the officers mentioned in the charge.

The defendant was unrepresented and told the court that he lives on the West Bank of Demerara and is an excavator operator at BK International.

He also stated that he has no prior or pending matters before the court.

There were no objections to bail put forward by the prosecution and he was placed on his own recognisance. Charles was also bonded to keep the peace pending the outcome of the matter.

...AFC destroyers ew would dispute that Plato was the greatest philosopher ever. It’s been famously remarked that all western philosophy pretty much amounts to footnotes to Plato. We might therefore be surprised that Plato wasn’t too enthused about democracy. He worried that ordinary citizens would fall for sweet-talking snake-oil salesmen.

These fakes would get elected but without anything in place between their ears, would inevitably screw up the affairs of the country. The behaviour and actions of the opposition ever since they got a one-seat majority in Parliament proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Plato was on to something.

Let’s take this joker, Moses Nagamootoo. Within the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), he was always known as a “talker” who could never be depended on to perform even the simplest task. Just before he jumped ship – because he was passed over for the umpteenth time by his old comrades for the PPP/C’s presidential candidate – he was given a simple job. Basically, filling out forms. Now this wasn’t any favour – he was paid $7 million to help relocate people displaced by the approach of the Berbice Bridge. He bungled this, leading to several persons having to go to the press. The government was blamed.

Now in the Alliance For Change (AFC) opposition, elected by fooling the people of Berbice, he continues with his “know nothing” bull-in-a-China-shop threshing about. He was quoted the other day threatening to have the allocation of radio licences by the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) revoked. With his usual bluster, he shouted, “It (the GNBA) needs independent experts who know how to deal with issues like the electromagnetic spectrum.”

Now can you believe this level of ignorance from a man who thinks he should overturn legislation? This fellow doesn’t even know the difference between the “electromagnetic spectrum” and the “broadcast spectrum” which the GNBA allocates. The “broadcast spectrum” of course, refers to a portion of the full electromagnetic spectrum that is ideal for telecommunication, with frequencies much lower than infrared or visible light.

By claiming that the GNBA has authority over the entire electromagnetic spectrum, which includes visible light, does he think Commissioner Bibi Shadick can now declare – “Let there be light!!!”?? But seriously, the people of Guyana have to be on the lookout for these charlatans who have no interest other than filling their pockets from the public purse.

F

...PNC destroyer Linus Pauling received two Nobel Prizes in science but that didn’t stop him from making a complete ass of himself by claiming for decades, against all the evidence, that Vitamin C could cure cancer. Carl Greenidge, former People’s National Congress (PNC) finance minister of Guyana, seems determined to go down the path of Pauling. And he didn’t even get a New Amsterdam prize much less a Nobel prize after presiding over the destruction of our economy in the 1980s.

In seeking to prove the government doesn’t understand the economics of the Amaila Falls Hydro project, the man who would be finance minister again (if David Granger lets him), sought to prove his case as follows: “Suppose your neighbour offers to marry your daughter. Assuming that your daughter doesn’t mind, would you only be concerned that your daughter could live in a fancy house and have access to half a dozen Prados? Would it matter that he had beaten his previous father-in-law and girlfriend to death? This is where we are in relation to the debate on the Amaila.”

We’re not making this up...cross our heart and hope to die. This is what the man learnt about financing in the years Guyana sponsored him to sit in air conditioned offices in Brussels and elsewhere! ...reprobate Suspenders Ram, the self-proclaimed “financial analyst”, needs to answer one simple question. If the rates of return by investors rise along with the “political risk” who, but the opposition, has increased our political risk – and so, the rates of return demanded by Sithe Global, Inter American Development Bank (IDB) and China Development Bank (CDB)??

9

wednesday, september 4, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

10

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, september 4, 2013

News

Caribbean academic urges united position on Syria A

leading regional academic on Tuesday called on Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries to adopt a common position as it regards the ongoing situation in Syria.

Professor of social and political change at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Brian Meeks, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that his advice to regional governments is that “they should do it together, they should consult each other (and) they should act multilaterally through their respective organisations, in particular, the Caribbean Community and whatever decisions are made, should be made on that foundation”.

He said his own view is that Caribbean countries should stick close to the United Nations and the positions taken by the United Nations.

“We should look after our own business, but we should also strongly oppose positions that encourage the notion of a warring policeman with arbitrary powers.

“What if you get it wrong as in the case of Iraq not very long ago in which there was supposed weapons of mass destruction which

Professor Brian Meeks

were nonexistent? That is the danger and I think our governments should consider this and act together.”

On Monday, the St Vincent and the Grenadines government said it was “alarmed” at the recent allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Syria and remained

“deeply concerned with the spiralling humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. On Saturday last, Guyana and Venezuela urged restraint on any impending military strike on Syria. President Donald Ramotar told a joint news conference with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro that the UN experts should be allowed to complete their scientific analysis.

“No action should be taken without the ratification of the United Nations Security Council. That’s our position.” The UN’s team of chemical weapons inspectors has returned from the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria, to the UN headquarters at Hague in the Netherlands. According to reports, the team is now racing against the clock to complete the analysis which is being executed at two unidentified laboratories in Europe.

Maduro on the other hand said any attack will be a criminal, noting that the solution to the problem is not to bombard and to kill more people in Syria.

“The cruel logic because a government supposedly killed the citizens of its country, the logic is to launch an attack to kill more people and more citizens of that country?” Maduro asked.

Sound of NoGel falling

S

atiricus was perplexed. He’d heard about the conundrum, “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one to hear it, does it make a sound?” He’d never been able to figure out the answer. But then he knew he wasn’t as smart as most – as for instance the brainboxes in the leadership of the KFC party – notably the Jhaat and Naga Man. They’d solved the philosophical enigma just like that!

Well, it wasn’t exactly a tree falling – even though NoGel certainly had the girth of a hundred-year-old Saman tree.

But that was only to be expected to one born in a family named “Huge”. Name and nature and all that sort of thing.

Anyhow, here it was that NoGel had fallen (from on high – all the way from the top of Amaila Falls) but not a sound was heard since.

To be strictly truthful (and Satiricus, simple soul that he was, liked being truthful), Satiricus conceded NoGel hadn’t exactly fallen. It was more like he was hit in the solar plexus, doubled over and just collapsed after the revelation that he was a “company secretary”. Satiricus figured if NoGel was just a company secretary, why should he tell everyone?

Jeez!! The fellow must have attended law school and everything, no? For him to take such a lowly job of taking shorthand, must’ve really embarrassed him. That’s why he kept mum.

As he collapsed, NoGel croaked weakly he was resigning as chairman of the KFC party. (This was before the Integrity Commission closed them for a week to clean up their act.

There were all kinds of messy evidence from their dirty tricks department lying around.) And this was what created the conundrum as far as Satiricus was concerned. If NoGel had made no sound subsequently, how did the Jhaat and Naga Man maintain that NoGel was still chairman of the KFC? And Satiricus figured that either the Jhaat or the Naga Man must have heard a sound – even though no one else did. And then suddenly, the answer struck Satiricus. My God!! How dense he’d been. It was Naga Man!! The man had a history of hearing sounds when no one else did.

Wasn’t there that incident with Dr Cheddi Jagan in the deepest Rupununi?

The Naga Man maintained stoutly, that from a stage in front of hundreds of people (plus dozens on the stage) Dr Jagan had announced that he, Naga Man, was to be the next leader of the PPPEE. No one else heard anything. But the Naga Man did. “And he wouldn’t lie, would he?” Satiricus asked himself.

Naaah! It was just that the Naga Man had solved the eternal conundrum. Does a Huge NoGel make a sound when he falls (or is pole-axed) and no one is around to hear? Yes! But only the Naga Man can hear it.

Police arrest...

from page 7

Sharma reported that the commander informed the RDC that persons were arrested for wilfully disrupting public way, unlawful assembly and loitering and will be detained until further instruction.

He said residents of both Kwakwani and Ituni are simply exercising their fundamental rights and freedom to petition the government to fix the deplorable condition of the roads.

“These roads continue to pose a threat to lives, limbs, schoolchildren, the vulnerable (pregnant women and elderly), vehicles, and the community’s economic wellbeing. Roads are not only a means of traversing; they are also a foundation for personal well-being and developmental opportunities,” he said.

But the blockage of the road had prevented the transfer of food stuff from Linden to Kwakwani.

In a release on Monday, the Education Ministry stated that a truck transporting food for the Kwakwani Dormitory was turned back on Sunday by the angry protesters, leaving the dormitory without food for the commencement of the new academic year.

“The Ministry of Education condemns this behaviour and takes this opportunity to remind all involved that the prosecution of one’s rights should never interfere with the enjoyment of another’s rights. Children have a right to an education. This right must never be interfered with.

The ministry has instructed that a flight be chartered to take in the food so as to ensure the children at the dormitory will have food to eat,” the ministry said.

The food has been reportedly transported.

11 News

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

Canadian engineering Police warn against reckless statements in Broomes’ defence expert to conduct in-plant training T

GMSA President Clinton Williams

T

he Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) in collaboration with the Canadian Executive Services Organisation (CESO) will shortly embark on an extensive training and sensitisation programme for medium to large scale manufacturing companies that have installed technical Programmable Logic Controlled (PLC) semiautomatic production systems in their plants.

According to a GMSA release, CESO, and the Trade Facilitation Office (TFO) of Canada, are both arms of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

TFO/CESO is partnering with the GMSA to address a wide range of developmental issues in the local manufacturing and services sectors.

In the organisation’s overview of the project, it was noted that maximum utilisation of automatic controls in PLC type equipment and machinery results in better quality and higher yields of products, improved in-plant safety, and significant reduction of downtime.

Dearth of skills

From the GMSA’s perspective, there appears to be a dearth of skills in Guyana to optimise these high tech equipment, to successfully troubleshoot and to effect simple repairs. It was found that owing to a lack of knowledge of the full capacities of PLC-controlled equipment, some operators bypass the automated controls or do not use the equipment altogether.

As a further consequence, damaged parts are not replaced efficiently and system upgrades are often not done as required. Some companies resort to hiring expensive foreign support to address simple issues that could be handled in-house if their

operators received the appropriate training.

In short, the lack of knowledge of compatibility issues generally defeats the efficiency of the equipment and consequently the production yields, CESO said.

In order to address this shortcoming, the GMSA and CESO have embarked on a plan to provide the necessary in-house, on-site training to interested Guyanese companies through a highly specialised Canadian consultant and professional engineer Andrew Sare, who has been working with PLCs in process industries in Canada and elsewhere for more than 30 years.

He is expected to arrive in Guyana on October 6 and will conduct a three-week in-plant surveys and on-site training for operators and engineers at companies which have expressed interest in having their equipment downtime dramatically reduced.

Programmes

Prior to his arrival, the Canadian expert will prepare company-specific programmes based on the information he receives on the makes and models of installed PLCs, their roles in each individual production process, and specific problem areas.

GMSA’s executive board is of the view that this TFO/CESO funded project will result in significant improvements in productivity in the participating companies.

The training and sensitisation intervention is designed for medium to large scale manufacturers which use modern equipment in their operations.

Other interested manufacturers who wish to benefit from this long-term cost saving initiative may contact the GMSA on Telephone number 223-7405/6 for inclusion in this new high-tech training programme.

he Guyana Police Force has warned against unsubstantiated statements about its handling of the matter against Simon a Broomes, the president of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) who has been accused of theft and assault by a human trafficking offender.

In a statement, the police said the incident took place on April 21 at Puruni, but the victim who allegedly suffered at the hands of Broomes, Ann Marie Carter had evaded the police until her arrest in August.

“Upon being arrested, Ann Marie Carter made an allegation that she was brutally assaulted, including with the use of firearms by Ms Simona Broomes and other persons in her company. Her allegations were supported by a medical report and eyewitnesses.”

Broomes was subsequently questioned by the police and placed on bail as investigations continue.

“The reports in the media including the statement made by the Guyana Human

GWMO President Simona Broomes

Rights Association display a lot of reckless and unsubstantiated pronouncements being made that seek to vilify the police without knowledge of the facts.

"Or is it being suggested that we live in a society where some are more equal than others and under such circumstances, the Guyana Police Force should use the unprofessional approach of selective enforcement to achieve justice?”

said the statement.

It was made clear that the force will continue to deal with matters professionally.

Meanwhile, Broomes’ Attorney Raphael Trotman has called on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to treat the allegations against Broomes with expediency in the interest of ensuring that justice is served.

On Monday, Broomes through her attorney issued an official complaint to the DPP's chambers. It is expected that a request will soon be made for the police to send the file on the matter to the DPP office.

Speaking with Guyana Times, Attorney Trotman said it could take “several weeks” before a report is issued by the DPP office, but it is his hope that a response is given within two weeks.

It is alleged that Broomes on April 21 assaulted Carter and stole an eight-ounce gold chain during a trafficking in persons operation at Puruni.

The report was lodged on September 19.

Approximately five hours

after detention, the GWMO president was released on station bail to the tune of $10,000; however, she has not been charged. Broomes is mandated to return to the police on September 6.

The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) had chided the police for the way they handled the matter.

“The GHRA is very alarmed by the implications of this new incident against Broomes,” the organisation said in a release.

The GHRA said the mining industry is now a safe haven for criminal elements. “Mining circles are rife with stories of bribes demanded and paid to secure licences, permits, exemptions, circumventing laws, regulations and routine requirements for any description.

"The jaw-dropping size of the sums allegedly changing hands at the upper-reaches only undermines the extent of the hopelessness of the task facing the rank-and-file police and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) enforcement officers,” said the release

No shortage of chicken expected, says agriculture minister

A

griculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy has dismissed reports of a possible shortage of chicken and eggs on the local market, saying that an estimated 3.7 million kilograms of chicken will be consumed this month.

“Production numbers are comparable to last year… so those reports which state that production level has declined are false,” he said in an interview with Guyana Times on Monday.

The minister said the local chicken industry is not lacking the capabilities of meeting the growing demands in the market. “As a matter of fact, the industry has been vibrant and producing even more than in previous years,” Dr Ramsammy said.

However, chicken prices have been increasing.

According to Dr Ramsammy, local poultry producers do not have a need to increase chicken prices. “It is true that in July the amount of imported hatching eggs would have seen a slight decline… this has been stabilised,” he added.

Dr Ramsammy said 90 per cent of the chicken being consumed is hatched from imported eggs.

“So if we know how much eggs are coming in, we would make an average and be able to make a projection of the eggs that will be consumed,” Dr Ramsammy said.

He explained that if there is a high demand for chicken, eventually, there would be a hike in the prices; however, this is only if the supply is stressed and not able to keep up with demand.

The minister stated that last year, 28,000 tonnes of chicken were consumed and this year, it should be the same in terms of usage.

“The overall production in metric tonnes was 3.3 million kilograms, and that would be 30,000 tonnes; this year, it is expected to be just about one and a half per cent higher,” he explained.

Dr Ramsammy said with the granting of licences for the importation of chicken, issues of shortage would be greatly eliminated. The government has issued 18 licences for import of chicken and once chicken prices are stabilise, those licenses would not be renewed.

“We have utilised this in the past and it has worked; this mechanism has worked in 2012 and 2011, these li-

cences that we have given out will be valid until September to 2014,” he added.

The minister said he is confident that the local industry will this time around be more successful that it has ever been with this new implementation. “Let me be frank, the Ministry of Agriculture is working along with the Tourism Ministry and we are aware of how the market places are during the peak season,” he said.

According to Dr Ramsammy, the government will be taking action now to ensure that consumers do not have issues with high prices during the Christmas season.

“We are working to ensure that there isn’t a shortage or significant increase in prices during that time,” he stated.

12 News

wednesday, september 4, 2013 | guyanatimeSGY.com

Newly-trained doctors Rice shipment with cocaine was not scanned – GRA deployed across country I T he Health Ministry on Monday dispatched 70 newly-trained doctors to its main hospitals across the country.

Fourteen of the doctors are being deployed to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, 10 to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, eight to the Suddie Public Hospital, eight to the Linden Hospital Complex and 30 to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

During a press conference in the ministry’s boardroom, Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran emphasised that these efforts are part of the ministry’s vision to facilitate the continuous learning of health-care providers.

He noted that during the day, the first batch of doctors were able to interface with the permanent secretary and personnel manager and discussed their contractual arrangements, accommodation and other planning.

As part of the initial process, the doctors including those who recently returned from Cuba, will be engaged in additional training sessions in basic life support, advanced life support, paediatric advanced life support and Visual Inspection Using Acetic Acid (VIA).

With regards to the 200 odd doctors who returned from Cuba, Minister Ramsaran indicated that they too, will be engaged

Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran

in similar training sessions during September 12 to 28.

The intention is that all the doctors will complete the training and their orientation before month-end.

While these doctors fall under the supervision of the new Regional Health Services Director Dr Monica Odwin, the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry also has a role to play in ensuring that they are introduced to the management of the hospital at which they will be posted.

The regional health and executive officers will function as their administrative supervisors.

Minister Ramsaran noted that the process is a collaborative one among the ministries of health, local

government and regional development and public service. Additionally, the doctors will be given an evaluation journal similar to that given by the medical council.

In relation to the offering of post-graduate studies, Minister Ramsaran explained that talks have been had with the Cubans, and as a result of that discussion, four Guyanese doctors are preparing to travel to Cuba to commence their post-grad studies.

This arrangement is similar to that of the initial one made between the governments of Guyana and Cuba for the offering of medical scholarships.

Additionally, doctors are also encouraged to pursue studies in the administrative and policy aspects of the medical field. That partnership has resulted in hundreds of Guyanese being able to access scholarships and the construction of critical medical facilities such as the Suddie, Diamond, Mahaicony and National Ophthalmology hospitals.

He also emphasised that there have been expressions of interests from Cubantrained Caribbean nationals to complete their sixth year of study and rotations here in Guyana.

Minister Ramsaran indicated that thus far, two are already in the programme and more requests are expected.

n light of the 69 kilograms of cocaine that were found concealed in a shipment of rice destined for Venezuela; the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Monday disclosed that all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were followed by its officers in the processing of documents and examination of goods prior to the said export.

The GRA in a release said based on a request from the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), rice shipments coming through the GRBD are granted via the Prior to Processing (PTP); a system which is utilised under specifically defined circumstances.

“In accordance with the SOPs, the GRDB would apply to ship on behalf of the ‘exporter’, prior to processing of the Customs Declarations Form C72. The GRBD would then supply the covering letter regarding the PTP along with the C72 form, the invoice and the Caricom Certificate of Origin. These documents are then subject to our risk profiling system,” the release added.

The statement said that the risk-profiling system was used for the shipment since it allows for exporters to be profiled based on several criteria, including their reputation, shipping history, destination country and type of goods. As such, the shipment was not profiled for scanning, but for physical examination.

Hence, based on the risk assessed, the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) was not required to be present during the examination of the rice shipped.

However, a physical examination was conducted by the customs officer assigned to the DEU prior to the sealing of the container.

This entailed the observation of the packing or stuffing of the container with the bags of rice. It should be noted that the bags would have already been sealed via a process from which the GRA is excluded.

The GRA systems are periodically reviewed and internal controls strengthened to ensure the integrity of all consignments shipped from Guyana. The organisa-

tion remains committed to such reviews and to ensuring that SOPs are followed by officials.

Investigations are still being conducted at an interagency level and the findings of same will be made available upon conclusion.

In the latter part of August, Guyanese law enforcement officers were trying to ascertain whether the 69 kilograms of cocaine that was found in a shipment of rice was actually loaded onto the vessel in Guyana.

The Liberian-registered vessel was scheduled to leave The Dominican Republic for Caracas when authorities there uncovered the cocaine. Immediately after the discovery was made public, the board of directors of the GRDB had an emergency meeting to assess the situation.

GRA Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur on Friday disclosed that his agency was forced to review its operational procedures not only to prevent drug smuggling, but to assure some level of security in the system.

Republic Bank staffers repaint pedestrian crossing in Vreed-en-Hoop

Republic Bank Vreed-en-Hoop Branch Manager Shridath Patandin (in blue) and his staffers after repainting signs in the Vreed-en-Hoop community last Sunday

R

epublic Bank (Guyana) Vreed-enHoop branch staffers came out in their numbers last Sunday morning to perform critically needed traffic sign restoration works in the community.

Vreed-en-Hoop is a rapidly expanding and increasingly commercialised community and the junction where the West Coast meets with the West Bank of Demerara is a critical one used on a daily basis by thousands of persons, commuting to and from Georgetown and other points.

The bank said in a release that the pedestrian crossing at the juncture is utilised to a large degree by schoolchildren and the elderly, but for months, it was badly in need of repainting as it was virtually undetectable.

Republic Bank (Guyana) Vreed-en-Hoop Branch Manager Shridath Patandin said the work was part of a community outreach programme where the branch was giving back to the community in which they operate.

Patandin said repaint-

ing the traffic sign was crucial due to school reopening on Monday and that it was important for drivers and pedestrians to adhere to the rules and traffic regulations.

He said other branches across the network, namely Berbice, Essequibo and Linden would also be conducting similar community outreaches and that the sign painting project was the start of many to come as the venture was expected to be an annual one. The Republic Bank branch is one of the focal points of Vreeden-Hoop, the bank said.

Man held with unlicensed gun

A

man was found with an unlicensed pistol and matching ammunition during a police operation on Tuesday in Georgetown.

Police in a release said about 04:15h, ranks of a mobile police patrol stopped and searched a man at John Street, Campbelville, Georgetown, and found on

him an unlicensed 9mm pistol and four matching rounds.

He was arrested and is in police custody assisting with investigations.

NEWS

13

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

More changes More Caribbean males dying from road accidents, violence – World Bank study for GuySuCo’s W management A

long with the appointment of a new board of directors at the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), a second round of changes will be implemented at the entity.

“As was announced by the president, GuySuCo by the end of the month will have a new board of directors announced,” Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said.

He has assured that he remains committed to his promise which is to make changes to the board of directors.

“As part of my presentation during budget, I committed to making changes to the board and the corporation and I will remain committed to this… cannot sit without making changes,” he said.

According to the minister, while it is his ultimate belief that changes to management should happen when things are not going the way they should, he holds the opinion that the weather is a major con-

Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy

the burden on one person.

This, he believes would make the factories more effective and sugar production would be greater. Dr Ramsammy therefore lobbied for more changes to be made to address other fundamental issues.

There will be field managers, operator managers and to add to that an overall director of the factory who will assist with the smooth running of the operations.

The minister said while

ith the exception of young men, most people in Latin America and the Caribbean are living much longer today than 40 years ago. The mortality rate has dropped by at least 80 per cent for children four years old or younger and by more than 50 per cent for women between the ages of 20 and 44. For men between the ages of 15 and 19, however, the mortality rate has increased by one per cent, largely due to deaths from road injuries and rising violence.

These are some of the findings released by the World Bank Group and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in a new report, The Global Burden of Disease: Generating Evidence, Guiding Policy, Latin America and Caribbean Regional Edition. The report also highlighted the fact that the Latin America and Caribbean region (LAC) faces increasing threats from chronic disease, violence, and road traffic injuries. In the region, health loss from heart disease grew by 36 per cent between 1990 and 2010, while interpersonal violence, depression and low back pain grew by 35, 40 and 57 per cent, respectively.

Similar global trends

The report is based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010 (GBD 2010), a collaborative effort of researchers from 50 countries around the world led by IHME at the University of Washington in the United States and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The report finds that, similar to global trends, The Skeldon Sugar Factory

straint in the sugar industry.

Apart from changing the board of directors, Dr Ramsammy said there will be a second level of changes to management and daily operations of the factories and fields.

He explained that to overlook a field that may have some 50,000 hectares of crops, managing seven different factories and looking after decision-making is not an easy task.

“Presently, there is an overall director for factory management and an overall factory director… we have agreed that it is too much work for one person to provide that kind of supervision for seven or eight factories,” he said.

He said the aim is to have more than one supervisor and managers in different areas of the factory, production and management process so that it would ease

there are many critics and persons would questions why managers are not going into the fields every day, this is a huge task, and according to him, this new management process should reflect significant changes. There will be a new chief executive officer at GuySuCo and some of the old board members and staff will be reassigned.

“Clearly, new people will coming in… we are now looking at a package of changes and this will be announced shortly,” he added.

GuySuCo has been struggling to reach production targets.

This year, the industry will again fail to meet its 2013 targets; however, government has been working assiduously to bring the company back to its former glory. To this end, a new board will be instituted along with several other major changes.

World Bank Group, Health, Nutrition, and Population Director Timothy Evans

communicable, maternal, nutritional, and newborn diseases are becoming less important in LAC as noncommunicable diseases kill more people prematurely and cause increasing disability.

“The rapid shifts in disease burden place poor people in low- and middle-income countries at high risk of not having access to appropriate services and incurring payments for health care that push them deeper into poverty,” said World Bank Group, Health, Nutrition, and Population Director Timothy Evans.

Preventable risks

“The data in these new reports are critical inputs to the efforts of policymakers in countries towards universal health coverage that aim to improve the health of their people, communities, and economies.”

The report details preventable risk factors that account for a substantial amount of premature death and disability in the region.

These include dietary risks, which include not eating

enough fruit, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and eating too much salt. Improving Latin Americans’ diets could substantially reduce ischemic heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, as well as colon and rectal cancers.

“Health-care providers in Latin America and the Caribbean are seeing very different problems today than they did 20 years ago,” said IHME Director, Dr Christopher Murray, and one of the lead authors on the study.

“Data on potentially avoidable causes of health loss, or risk factors, can help policymakers and donors prioritise prevention strategies to achieve maximum health gains.”

The report also highlights other critical health issues: injuries from traffic accidents and violence.

Brazilian men, for instance, lost nearly three million years of healthy life in 2010 as a result of interpersonal violence. In Mexico, loss of healthy life caused by interpersonal violence ranked the highest in 2010,

while road traffic injuries ranked third.

“While the region has made great progress fighting infectious diseases and saving children’s lives, many of these same children, particularly males, die violent deaths when they reach adulthood,” said IHME Latin American and Caribbean Initiatives Director Rafael Lozano, a lead author on the study.

“Lack of economic opportunities coupled with easy access to guns has helped make violence the number one cause of health loss in countries such as Venezuela, Honduras and El Salvador.”

Leading causes

Among countries in the region, the leading causes of disease burden were as diverse as HIV/AIDS in Belize and Jamaica, diabetes in Dominica and Mexico, and ischemic heart disease, or coronary artery disease, in Cuba, Costa Rica, and The Dominican Republic. When comparing rates of diseases and injuries across countries and taking into account differences in population growth and ages, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Chile performed best while Guatemala, Guyana, and Haiti performed the worst.

The World Bank commissioned the first Global Burden of Disease analysis as part of its World Development Report 1993.

Earlier this year, IHME presented GBD 2010 findings in meetings hosted by the World Bank. Bank officials saw how the GBD analysis could be applied to the bank’s work in specific countries and began working with IHME on six regional reports, including the one on LAC.

14

Wednesday, september 4, 2013

guyanatimesgy.com

Regional

TT teachers’ boycott over Blackouts hit nearly half of Venezuela gang violence A

Students at the Pleasantville Secondary School walk about the corridors during the morning hours as their teachers failed to show up for class on the first day of school after the long July/ August vacation on Monday

T

eachers at the Pleasantville Secondary School have decided to boycott classes for a week demanding that the Education Ministry address gang warfare and other issues plaguing the school.

When the teachers returned to school Monday after the long vacation, they stayed away from classes and subsequently walked off the job.

School was subsequently dismissed at 12:45h. Navin Ramai, a representative of the TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA), said a meeting was held with the school supervisor, but teachers were no longer prepared to work under the conditions at the school. “We are giving them a week,” said Ramai, who also teaches at the school, which has 100 teach-

ers and 800 students.

He said last term the union sent an eight-page letter outlining the teachers’ health, safety and security issues. Gang violence, gambling, indiscipline, incomplete or abandoned buildings, rat and snake infestation and holes in the wire fence were just some of the issues, he said.

“Students are undisciplined.

We have two notorious gangs – the Bloods and the Crips – on the compound and there is a lot of fighting for turf.

Police are coming in here on average twice a week.” He said there were not enough security guards to patrol and deal with issues in the school. To compound matters, he said the CCTV cameras were disabled and never put back up, and the wire fence around the school perimeter has holes and is crumpled in some areas.

“Pleasantville is a high-risk area,” he said. (Excerpt from Trinidad

Guardian)

Colombia’s FARC talks at “critical” stage, government negotiator says

C

olombia’s peace talks with Marxist FARC rebels have reached a “critical” stage, with discussions over the next couple of months a key gauge of whether an end to five decades of war is likely or not, government negotiator Sergio Jaramillo said on Tuesday.

The government has spent almost 10 months working through a difficult peace agenda in Cuba with representatives of the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed

Forces of Colombia. While some progress has been made, talks have been painstakingly slow and most now see the hoped-for year-end deadline as unlikely.

“We are currently in a critical moment of negotiations, I think that in the next months we will know if this is going to work or not because we are beginning on essential issues,” Jaramillo, one of the six-man government negotiating team, said during an address in congress.

President Juan Manuel

Santos said from the very beginning he did not want the talks to drag on indefinitely, putting a November limit on completion. He has since loosened the target date to year-end or some months later.

Unused to seeing rebel leaders taking centre stage and making televised political statements and demands on the government, Colombians have grown impatient over the last few months at the pace of talks.

power outage has hit nearly half of Venezuela, including much of Caracas, which normally escapes blackouts.

Deputy Energy Minister Franco Silva says failures on several transmission lines are to blame.

He told state TV that nine of Venezuela’s 23 states were affected.

Venezuelans have been struggling with worsening blackouts but the capital is almost always spared.

Opposition politicians complain that the government has not invested enough in the electrical grid and generating plants to keep up

with growing demand.

Authorities say delays in several initiatives designed to boost electricity output are

Mexico's bus driver killings: Ciudad Juarez woman sought

M

exican police investigating the murder of two bus drivers last week are examining claims the killer was a woman seeking to avenge sexual abuse.

Two drivers from the same company in Ciudad Juarez were killed last week.

A woman who identified herself as “Diana the huntress” sent emails to newspapers and posted messages on social media saying she was the killer.

She said she murdered the drivers to avenge women passengers sexually abused by night-shift drivers. “I and other women suffered... but we can’t stay quiet,” one of the emails said.

The Diario de Juarez newspaper reported that the killer did not rob the victims, nor did she use a weapon normally favoured by gang members. On Wednesday, a woman with blonde wig or dyed hair ap-

Observer Poll: Holness best suited to lead JLP

R

Andrew Holness

eponses to the Jamaica Observer Online poll ques-

tion “Who do you think is best suited to lead the

Observer)

proached the first driver, took out a pistol, shot him in the head and left the bus, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The killer told the second victim, “You guys think you’re real bad, don’t you?” before shooting him. The message by the self-proclaimed murderer caught the attention of authorities because it contained certain details about the crimes that had yet to be publicly disclosed. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Suriname takes over leadership of re-united UNASUR

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) at this time?” have placed party leader Andrew Holness as the top choice.

Interestingly, Holness with 34 per cent of responses lead Christopher Tufton with 26 per cent as the best person to lead the JLP. Audley Shaw, who is contemplating a JLP leadership challenge, received only 19 per cent of the 3555 responses to the week-long poll.

Two per cent of respondents said Horace Chang is best suited while 19 per cent said no one mentioned – Holness, Shaw, Tufton, Chang – was suitable to lead the JLP. (Jamaica

partly to blame. But they also have suggested that government foes have sabotaged the grid. (Jamaica Observer)

Suriname President Desi Bouterse took over the rotating presidency of UNASUR at the seventh UNASUR summit last Friday in Paramaribo

U

nity within the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) was restored on last Friday at the summit of the South American government leaders in Paramaribo, Suriname, with the return of Paraguay to the region-

al bloc after a suspension of more than a year.

“Through an extra effort from Suriname, Paraguay returned to a re-united UNASUR,” Suriname’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Lackin told reporters.

“The issues within Mercosur were also resolved today. This has happened in Paramaribo,” the minister stressed.

Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse, in his bid to advance “unity and mutual understanding” in South America, facilitated the participating countries with outstanding bilateral issues with a neutral venue to resolve their differences. It was in this atmosphere that member states of the sub-regional trade bloc Mercosur also held discussions to clear the air within the organisation after tensions flared recently between Paraguay and other partners over Venezuela’s allegedly illegal entry into Mercosur.

Initiated by Suriname, the presidents of Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay came together to discuss several matters.

This was done, said Lackin, because of the Surinamese government’s conviction that conflicts and issues should be resolved through dialogue. (Excerpt from Caribbean News

Now)

15 Around the World

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

Mali: UNICEF boosts efforts to help UN’s Ban casts doubt on legality of U.S. plans to punish Syria half a million crisis-affected children return to school U N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that the use of force is only legal when it is in self-defence or with Security Council authorisation, remarks that appear to question the legality of U.S. plans to strike Syria without UN backing.

Ban was speaking to reporters after President Barack Obama won the backing of two top Republicans in Congress in his call for limited U.S. strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of

A girl lays out her school supplies at a UNICEF-supported child-friendly primary school in Guivagou Village, Mali

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he United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday announced it will scale up efforts to help half a million children in Mali restart their education, which was disrupted by the conflict and nutrition crisis in the northern part of the country.

UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado told reporters in Geneva the agency and its partners have already delivered learning materials for over 90,000 students, and during the coming school year, 9000 teachers will receive train-

ing and temporary learning spaces will be set up, while schools are refurbished or repaired.

Since January 2012, a rebellion of ethnic Tuareg groups followed by an insurgency of Islamist extremists displaced hundreds of thousands in Mali and prompted the government to request assistance from France to halt the southward march of the extremists.

The conflict caused a dire humanitarian crisis affecting many areas in the north, including Gao and Bourem, where the rate of global

acute malnutrition stands at 13.5 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, making it a “serious” nutrition situation according to UN classification.

The conflict also destroyed or damaged around 200 schools. Many reopened earlier this year, and classrooms in Gao and Timbuktu were packed with students, who in many cases, sat on the floor because there was no furniture. In the south, already overcrowded classrooms saw an influx of about 75,000 displaced students.

(Excerpt from UN News Centre)

Car bombs across Iraqi capital kill 36 people

A

series of car bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital late on Tuesday, killing at least 36 people in predominantly Shi’ite districts, police and medics said.

It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attacks, which appeared coordinated, but Sunni Islamist militants, including an al Qaeda-affiliate, have

been regaining momentum in their insurgency against the Shi’ite-led government.

Tuesday’s deadliest blast took place in Baghdad’s northern Talbiya neighbourhood, where a car bomb in a busy street killed nine people. More than two years of civil war in neighbouring Syria have aggravated deeprooted sectarian divisions in Iraq, fraying an uneasy co-

alition of Shi’ite, Sunni and ethic Kurdish factions.

About 800 Iraqis were killed in August, according to the United Nations, with more than a third of the deadly attacks in Baghdad.

The bloodshed, 18 months after U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq, has stirred concerns about a relapse towards the sectarian slaughter of 2006-07. (Reuters)

One Indian woman killed every hour over dowry

O

ne woman dies every hour in India because of dowry-related crimes, women’s rights activists have said. The National Crime Records Bureau said that 8233 women were killed across India last year because of disputes over dowry payments given by the bride’s family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage.

The conviction rate in dowry-related crimes remained a low 32 per cent, according to statistics the bureau published last week.

Women’s rights activists and police said that loopholes in dowry prevention laws, delays in prosecution and low conviction rates have led to a steady rise in dowry-related crimes.

Giving or receiving dowry is illegal under Indian law, but the practice remains very prevalent

Dowry demands have become even more insistent and expensive following India’s economic boom, said Ranjana Kumari, a women’s rights activist. Suman Nalwa, a senior New Delhi police officer dealing with

crimes against women, said dowry practices extended to all classes in society.

“Even highly educated people don’t say no to dowry,” she said. Giving or receiving of a dowry is illegal under Indian law. (Al Jazeera)

chemical weapons against civilians on August 21.

“The use of force is lawful only when in exercise of self-defence in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations charter and/or when the Security Council approves of such action,” Ban said. “That is a firm principle of the United Nations.”

Obama said on Saturday he was “comfortable going forward without the approval of a United Nations Security Council that so far has been completely paralysed and unwilling to hold

Assad accountable.

Russia, backed by China, has used its veto power in the Security Council three times to block resolutions condemning Assad’s government and threatening it with sanctions.

Ban also questioned whether the use of force to deter Syria or other countries from deploying chemical arms in the future could cause more harm than good in the two and-a-half-year Syrian civil war, which the United Nations says has killed over 100,000 people.

field, were recovered nearby.

Authorities have now made the boy’s aunt, who committed suicide on Friday, their prime suspect, the state Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, quoting police.

The aunt killed herself by jumping into a village well. The boy’s blood was found on the aunt’s clothes after DNA tests, according to a statement from police in the city of Linfen, Xinhua news agency said, adding police investigations also pointed towards her.

Initial reports had said the corneas were missing when the boy’s eyes were found, leading to speculation that the attacker was an organ trafficker, but police later ruled out organ sales as a motive saying the corneas had been found attached to the eyeballs.

Police had offered a US$16,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect. Reports said the little boy had been drugged before his eyeballs were gouged out. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

(Excerpt from Antigua Observer)

Dead aunt main suspect in China eye-gouging case

C

hinese police suspect an aunt – who just days later killed herself – was responsible for gouging out the eyes of a sixyear-old boy, state media has said.

The blinded boy, Guo Bin, was found covered in blood in the northern province of Shanxi after he went missing while playing outside on August 24, Chinese media reported previously.

His eyes, gouged out by a woman with dyed yellow hair who lured him to a

16

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

guyanatimesgy.com

Caribbean

Montserrat looks forward to geothermal project

M

ontserrat officials say they are encouraged by the geothermal flow at the first well that became active last month.

Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) is funding the exploratory phase of the geothermal energy project and Premier Reuben Meade says he is hoping London will fund the entire project so that the resources and revenue can go to the people of Montserrat rather than to private firms.

North America

The DFID has already allocated £8.5 million (one British Pound = US$10.37) for the exploration of geothermal energy on the island.

The government said the drilling and testing phases are expected to take three to four months. It said two wells will be drilled down to a depth of 5000 feet and that a recent Geothermal Exploration Report done by EGS of California indicated that there was an 80 per cent likelihood of geothermal ener-

gy on Montserrat.

Director of Public Works, Ron Beardsley, said the MON-01 well began flowing to the surface last Wednesday.

“It continued to flow overnight and everything is looking very positive. The intention is to let it continue to flow for a few days to monitor temperature and pressure. It is still too early to confidently say that we have a commercially viable well however the signs are very encouraging.”

(Trinidad Guardian)

Microsoft to buy Nokia’s mobile phone unit

M

icrosoft has agreed a deal to buy Nokia’s mobile phone business for 5.4 billion euros (US$7.2 billion; £4.6 billion).

Nokia will also license its patents and mapping services to Microsoft. Nokia shares jumped 35 per cent on the news, whereas Microsoft’s fell more than five per cent.

The purchase is set to be completed in early 2014, when about 32,000 Nokia employees will transfer to Microsoft.

Nokia has fallen behind rivals

Samsung and Apple, while critics say Microsoft has been slow into the mobile market.

Describing the deal as a “big, bold step forward”, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer told the BBC that his company was in the process of transforming itself from one that “was known for software and PCs, to a company that focuses on devices and services”.

“We’ve done a lot of great work in the two-and-a-half years that we’ve been in part-

nership with Nokia, going literally from no phones to 7.4 million smart Windows phones in the last quarter that was reported,” he said.

But he admitted: “We have more work to do to expand the range of applications on our product.”

Microsoft, one of the biggest names in the technology sector, has struggled as consumers have shunned traditional PCs and laptops in favour of smartphones and tablet PCs. (BBC News)

Europe

HSBC’s chief adviser Germany to lead global M&A unit

H

SBC, Europe’s biggest bank, has picked Florian Fautz to head the group’s mergers and acquisitions unit, a spokesman for HSBC Germany said on Tuesday.

Fautz, current head of advisory Germany, will start as global head of M&A Execution later this year as part of a wider management shakeup at HSBC, the spokesman said, confirming Reuters information from three sources

familiar with the matter.

Fautz will report to Spencer Lake, who is head of capital financing.

Fautz, aged 51, joined HSBC from Dresdner Kleinwort in 2007. Alain Renaud, previously head of M&A, is currently on sabbatical. HSBC is reshuffling senior executives in Asia and Europe and will create a “product neutral” team, separate from sales, to improve its client relationships.

HSBC has hired several high-profile bankers in the past few months as rivals have stepped up job cuts at their investment banking businesses. Among others, HSBC appointed former Citi banker Daniel Bailey to lead its global telecom, media and technology (TMT) team, as well as Herman Deetman as head of utilities for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) from Deutsche Bank. (Reuters)

Gold Prices – Guyana Gold Board

Bank of Guyana

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

CAN USD

Buying

Selling

U.S.

$1335.00

$ 318.90 $194.55 $204.99

$322.90

Cambio

$202.67

$196.79 $207.43

Gross

$254,331

Net

$236,527

Selling

$262,426

Indicators as on September 3, 2013 Live Spot Gold Bid/Ask

$1412.20

$1413.20

Low/High

$1391.30

$1417.70

Change

+15.70

+1.12

USD GBP EUR

AM

1391.25 893.09 1056.06

Sept 2 USD GBP EUR

AM

1391.25 893.14 1052.46

Crude Oil Price Silver Platinum

London Gold Fix

Sept 3

Indicators

USD Per Once

T

he Kenyan government is to start expansion of water and sanitation services in Iten town at a cost of Sh2 billion. CEO of the Iten-Tambach Water Services Company Simon Kiplagat said preparations are being finalised by the National Treasury.

The Belgium government has already released the funding for the project which will help to ease water problems for the town that has more than 100,000 residents.

Under the agreement, 65

per cent of the money will be a grant while the rest will be a repayable loan.

“The government has negotiated for good terms which will largely be a loan to be repaid within the time to be agreed on,” said Kiplagat who was speaking in his office during a courtesy call by a team from the Radio Africa Group led by Business Development Manager Cornelius Muli.

Muli said the supply of water services in the town has been improved by his com-

pany in the last few months.

He said the company collects more than Sh1 million from consumers every month. The water tariffs in Iten were increased by more than 100 per cent early this year but Kiplagat said residents currently enjoyed better services.

Several towns will benefit from loans by donors to improve water services as part of a plan for the sector in Kenya.

The government will use Sh350 billion to implement the plan in five years. (allAfrica)

Asia

Malaysia cuts subsidies on fuel

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alaysia has cut fuel subsidies for the first time in more than two years as it tries to reduce its budget deficit. The subsidy on petrol has been cut by 20 sen (six U.S. cents; four pence) a litre and on diesel by 20 to 80 sen a litre.

Prime Minister Najib Razak said the cuts would result in savings of about 3.3 billion ringgit (US$1 billion; £650 million) a year.

The government spent 24 billion ringgit on fuel subsi-

dies last year, which contributed to a widening budget deficit. Malaysia’s budget deficit was 4.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) last year. Ratings agency Fitch cited the high budget deficit as one of the factors that led it to cuts its outlook on Malaysia’s credit rating to negative from stable in late August.

“It’s a process of fiscal consolidation,” Najib said. “The market will feel more confident if we can bring down our fiscal deficit.” The change also

comes at a time when Asia’s emerging economies have been hit by investors pulling their money out.

The pull-out has been triggered by speculation that the U.S. central bank will soon begin to cut back on the amount of money it is pumping into the economy. That has hurt currencies and stocks in some Asian countries, including Malaysia, which has seen its currency, the ringgit, decline by nearly 10 per cent against the U.S. dollar since May. (BBC News)

Middle East

Dubai shares plunge on Syria ballistic object

R

egional shares fell on Tuesday after Israel carried out a joint missile test with the United States, rattling investors already worried that a possible military strike on Syria could trigger wider regional conflict.

Russia raised the alarm after detecting the launch of two ballistic “objects” in the Mediterranean Sea. There were no reports of missile strikes on Syria but investors were on edge because Washington is preparing for

a possible military action over what it says was a chemical weapons attack by government forces in their conflict with rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Obama has asked for support from Congress for a strike – which is not expected to take place before mid-September at the earliest. Dubai’s bourse was the hardest hit, plunging 3.7 per cent to hit a seven-week low but is still up 53.4 per cent year-to-date. The retail-dominated market has suffered the

most from political tensions in the region, especially because of a sharp early-year rally.

Regional markets underperformed MSCI’s emerging market index , which slipped 0.2 per cent, due to their proximity to Syria. “Regional markets started the day positive with a good momentum and activity but the reports of missile launch took them south,” said Ahmed Shehada, head of trading at QNB Financial Services.

“We saw many orders called off and halted.” (Arabianbusiness)

Investors' guide CONTINUED FROM TUESDAY

Cambio Rates

GBP

Kenya to launch Sh2B Iten water project

Five common legal issues faced by businesses

Market statistics Cur

Africa

US$ per barrel

Change %

$114.01 USD per Ounce

-1.01

24.28 $1531.00

Change %

+0.75 +10.00

PM

1399.50 900.64 1064.26 PM

1392.25 893.84 1054.50

Immigration audits

You should make sure that all your company’s employees can legally work in your country. Do top down sweeps off your company’s staff, using background checks, to identify illegal immigrants with falsified documents. The U.S. government has been known to conduct extensive surprise immigration audits that can cripple a company if it is found to be using illegal labour.

Copyright and patent issues

Cutting edge companies in the tech industry often face aggressive patent litigation.

Companies often sit on patents for years, hoping that another company inadvertently violates them, to get easy money through patent and

copyright lawsuits.

In the product development phase at your company, make sure your research and development teams thoroughly research the patents and copyrights of your current product, to avoid a messy legal battle should you step on a competitor’s toes.

Dissatisfied customers

Customers who are dissatisfied can file class action lawsuits against your company, in which they gather in large consumer groups and attack your company over faulty products, services or promises. With enough dissatisfied customers, class action lawsuits can do more damage than any individual or corporation and irreparably tarnish your brand’s image.

Again, be proactive and

keep a finger to the pulse of your customers through tech support, online message boards and emails. Promptly issue recalls for flawed products and be prompt to address customer issues.

Other legal issues

These are only some of the most common legal issues facing small businesses today. Other ones include tax litigation (a whole other topic) and legal disputes with competitors and contractors.

Make sure you are proactive in solving these problems before they start, and make sure you have a solid legal team to back you up should you get sued. Good communication in the workplace and a hands-on approach to management is the best deterrent to legal issues. (Business Dictionary)

Business concept – Working capital

Last: 14833.96

Changes: +23.65

% Change: +0.16

Open: 14801.55

High: 14933.35

Low: 14777.48

% YTD: +13.20

52Wk Hi: 15658.43

52 Wk Lo: 12035.09

The cash available for day-to-day operations of an organisation. Strictly speaking, one borrows cash (and not working capital) to be able to buy assets or to pay for obligations. Also called current capital.

Accounting: Net liquid assets computed by deducting current liabilities from current assets. The amount of available working capital is a measure of a firm’s ability to meet its short-term obligations.

news

17

wednesday, september 4, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com

AG slams Trotman’s Police recover question stewardship of House rifle, several persons Vive La Force killing

– urges PYO members to remain mobilised

P

Attorney General Anil Nandlall addressing a section of the audience at the PYO Night of Reflection held at Red House, Kingston, Georgetown

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

A

ttorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall has accused the Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman of condoning unconstitutionality while at the same time contributing to a situation of “chaos” in Guyana as the combined opposition is being allowed to show disrespect for the supreme laws of the land.

Nandlall also criticised Trotman’s stewardship of the 10th Parliament, saying that he has failed miserably in curbing the excesses of what he described as the tyranny of one, and has failed to execute his mandate in a fair and constitutional manner.

The AG was at the time delivering a lecture at the Progressive Youth Organisation’s (PYO) Night of Reflection organised as part of activities to mark the entity's 61st anniversary this year.

Fundamental laws

Addressing more than 150 youths at the event, staged at the Red House in Kingston, Georgetown, Nandlall said that it was important for the youths to understand what was taking place in the National Assembly and how the combined opposition political parties were being allowed to breach fundamental laws and parliamentary practices.

This, he said, could see Guyana reaching a state of “anarchy” if the Speaker does not revisit and resign

several positions he has adopted in the past, despite the counsel offered by the judiciary on several matters.

He said the Speaker in parliamentary systems like Guyana’s was expected to be the mere chairman of the proceedings and was fundamentally responsible for the maintenance of decorum, rectitude and enforcement of the Standing Orders of the Parliament.

The AG reasoned further that Trotman does not seem to understand quite fully too that he as Speaker along with the clerk of the National Assembly ought to be functioning as the combined agency to ensure that unconstitutional matters are not placed on the order paper and piloted through the assembly.

“The Speaker disputes that but in my view, a Speaker cannot be a rubber stamp for the majority. He is supposed to be a filtering instrument,” Nandlall said to loud applause.

Challenge

He sharply criticised the Speaker for the positions he has adopted with respect to the suite of litigation brought against him by the executive arm of government, which is challenging the constitutionality of several rulings and actions of the opposition which enjoy the approval of the Speakership.

“Here is a judge telling the Parliament that you are violating your own laws and here is the Parliament saying basically to the judge to hell with it,” he said. The attorney general advised the

gathering that when a society descends to that level, it has a position that is close to lawlessness and anarchy as there is a lack of respect for everything.

“When you have these serious constitutional clashes... and when pillars of a nation clash like that, the country could collapse,” Nandlall opined to an attentive audience.

Asked by the audience about filing contempt proceedings against the Speaker for his reported dereliction of duty and noncompliance with the basic tenets of society, the attorney general said the government was hoping that it would not be forced to go “to those extremities” to remedy the apparent crisis.

“We are hoping that the Speaker of the National Assembly (would) admit that maybe he made an error of judgement and would reflect upon it in his more mature moments and resign from positions that he has taken before and bring himself into conformity with the judge’s ruling,” the AG, who is also the legal affairs minister submitted.

Basic respect

Driving home his dissatisfaction with Trotman’s leadership in the Parliament, Nandlall reasoned that even if the judge’s ruling was deemed “wrong” or rejected, the Speaker, like every other entity in the state, has the right to challenge that ruling at a higher court even if he has to exhaust the entire legal system.

“A judge can be wrong

but everyone of our duty is to obey that judge. It is not open to anyone to say judge you are wrong and I am not obeying your judgement,” he emphasised at the lecture.

During the lecture, the legal affairs minister made a presentation where he simplified issues relating to the Constitution, the Parliament, the power espoused in various arms of the state and their independence while contending that the opposition and the Speaker appear not to understand their roles.

Abuse of power

The AG said that wonce the Speaker continues to allow the misuse and abuse of power to take place in the Parliament, government would have to find other effective methods within the confines of the law of implementing its executive policies.

He said the buck really stops with the Speaker and, while he has confidence that the courts would at some point resolve the questions relating to pure law, the mandate was still with the Speaker to implement its advice.

Nandlall, who himself is a former member of the PYO, also encouraged the body to rebuild its membership and to continue to play a role in “vocally opposing the unconstitutionality of several acts” in the Parliament.

“The PYO has to work day by day to ensure that when elections are called, we get back our majority in the Parliament,” Nandlall advised.

olice have recovered a rifle and questioned several persons in relation to the killing of school boy, Ryan Persaud by a stray bullet at Vive La Force, West Bank Demerara on Monday afternoon.

Crime Chief Seelall Persaud on Tuesday told Guyana Times that the police have questioned several persons and a rifle has been recovered. He noted that swab samples were also taken from those questioned, but no one was arrested.

Persaud explained that he is aware that the residents are claiming the shots came from East Bank Demerara; however, he noted that the reality of such a theory depends highly on several factors.

He stated that while manufacturers of weapons guarantee effective range, the distance a bullet travels is affected by the type of cartridges, the length of the barrel, and atmospheric conditions, among other factors.

The crime chief further stated that the police are waiting for the warhead to be recovered from the teen’s body to determine whether it was fired from the rifle confiscated and whether it travelled from the alleged distance. The post-mortem examination is expected to be conducted today.

Addressing complaints from residents that several reports were made to the police on the shooting but nothing was heeded, Persaud said the bullet holes in the residents’ yard could have been caused by someone nearby.

Negligence

Meanwhile, residents continue to blame the inefficiency of the Guyana Police Force for the death of the 14-year-old boy. They are claiming that if the police had promptly responded to the reports made and handled the matter with the urgency it requires, the death of the lad could have been avoided.

Ryan Persaud, of Lot 11 Vive La Force, was killed by a single bullet to the right side of the back suspected to have come from a high-powered rifle which was allegedly discharged from the other side of the Demerara River.

Angela Munroe, a neighbour who witnessed the incident, recalled that on Monday she was in her yard when they began hearing gunshots and went into the house to take cover.

She noted that her husband then called the police and left shortly after to go on the road so she sat by her window looking outside.

Dead teenager: Ryan Persaud

“I see de lil boy come out de yard and he was going on de bridge because he cousin was there, then all I see when he reach de middle of de road he bend down in a crunching position and I done know he get shot because de gun de firing quick, quick and then he flick over and fall down,” recalled Munroe.

The woman said there had to be more than one weapon firing because of the rapidness of the sound. She noted that the shooting lasted for about 45 minutes and immediately after the young man was shot, it had stopped.

Previous shootings

The woman disclosed that this shooting has been going on for years; however, the bullet never got so far and only recently intensified. On one recent occasion, she and her two sons were in their yard when they heard the clashing sound of the bullets on a nearby shed, prompting them to run for cover. She noted that the shooting did not last for a long time, but stopped shortly after.

Munroe continued that the following Sunday, which was about two weeks ago, one of her sons was riding home when two bullets flew by, inches in front of him and landed in the trench. “He come and say ‘Mommy I just had to pull up, I see two bullets fly pass me and gone in de trench’ but by time he finish talking, we hear another shot on the shed,” said the woman.

As the police continue to investigate the matter, there has been no arrest; however, they took several persons into custody for questioning, but subsequently released them. While the residents of Vive La Force claim that the shots were fired from over the other side of the bank, on Monday a vessel was seen in the middle of the Demerara River and is said to be the property of a popular businessman.

Based on information received, the police took the man into custody for questioning, but have released him.

18

guyanatimesgy.com

wednesday, september 4, 2013

thursDAY, march 11, 2010 | guyanatimesGY.com

archie

By Bernice Bede Osol

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19) You’ll have the edge when it comes to practical matters concerning investments and medical concerns. Your common sense and practicality will lead to gains and added respect.

dilbert

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19) Reflect upon and size up your situation and you will know exactly what you must do regarding a difficult situation. Listen to your doubts concerning certain associates.

Calvin and Hobbes

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Interaction will be the name of the game today.

Deal with your partners or colleagues fairly, and success will smile upon you.

Opportunity will knock, and you must take advantage of what’s offered.

CANCER (June 21July 22) You can go far as long as you craft a detailed agenda and stick to it.

Your skills and experience will come in handy. An interesting approach to an old idea will pay off.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22) Do whatever it takes to bring about positive change in your life. It may be necessary to alter the scenery if you hope to achieve a fresh perspective.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22) Mix business with pleasure and socialise with people you like. If you create your own opportunities, you will gain respect.

Your expertise will be in demand.

Peanuts ARIES (March 21-April 19)

SUDOKU

You would do well to take part in activities that present a mental or physical challenge. What you accomplish will make a lasting impression. Don’t allow anyone to belittle your successes.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23) You should keep something secret if it will help you avoid opposition.

Taking on too much will work against you. It’s better to offer less and end up doing more.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Now’s the time to put your nose to the grindstone. You can make a difference if you offer solutions and are passionate.

Don’t hold back and don’t run away from conflict.

Play to win.

You’ve got all the right moves, and Lady Luck will give you numerous chances to use them. Take on any challenge you face with confidence, verve and the determination to come out ahead.

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

SAGITTARIUS

Not everyone will agree with you, but you should still follow your heart and make the moves that you believe will bring you the best return. You can make a difference.

Not everyone will see things your way. Make changes that will improve your financial situation, but make sure you have the facts and figures straight before you proceed.

Tuesday's solution (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

NEWS 19

YELLOW PAGES

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

ACCOMMODATION

TO LET

Tourist villa apartments 1, 2 & 3 bedroom, long & short term, and car rental service. Phone: 227-2199, 227-2186

7-bedroom family/students/ individuals. Bungalow for long & short term rental (local & overseas guests), facilities included, vegetarian meals available. Contact BG Real Estate Agency on: 622-7079, 220-2130.

CAR RENTAL

One office space for rent at 195A Camp St, Georgetown. Phone: 6173673, 677-0073

Journey Inn Apartments & car rental. Rooms & car to rent from $3000 Premio, Vitz. Phone: 679-7109, 6896668, 639-4452.

2 bonds with 30,000 and 15,000sq ft space, with offices and residence; 15 minutes from Georgetown, ample parking. Call 647-8077/613-0567

DENTISTRY

One house located in Lamaha Gardens, hot and cold water. Call 219-4535

Dentures provided in 72 hours from as low as $4500. Contact Dr B Stuart, 209B Charlotte Street, Lacytown. Tel: 225-5034

EDUCATION Electronics course - practicals 12 persons per class, register early, beginning September 4, Abdul Electronics.

Phone: 226-6551, 225-0391.

Music is fun! Register now and learn to play the keyboard, guitar, drums and do voice training. Call Foundation 7 on: 225-1151/617-4200

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

FOR SALE Mixed breed pups. Phone: 2533114, 692-0126

HEALTH Healthworld Holistic Centre: Psychotherapy available for all types of abnormal behaviors – addictions, emotional, suicidal, anger, relationship and sexual problems. Treatment of stress disorders, depression, fear, low self-esteem, insomnia, trauma, psychosomatic sicknesses, and children's disorders. We also conduct IQ evaluations and behavioral assessments. By appointments only. Clinic hours: 11:00 – 17:00h. Tel: 592-6210552. Email:healthworldhc@gmail. com Ayurvedic herbal treatment for all chronic genetical /none genetical and diseases, including, HIV, Cancer, diabetic, pregnancy, sexual (weakness) etc. Phone: 685- 3220.

Are you pouring on pounds? Then call Raul /Carol Wilson: 660-6818, 641-5923, 216-3016, 216-3601 for your healthy eating package.

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PENPAL Retired Engineer aged 66 would like to know a single female over the age of 50. Phone: 604-7022

PROPERTY FOR SALE One business property, Lamaha Street.

Phone: 669-3313, 231-4586, 695-4382.

Properties for sale. Phone: 642-2116 1 large 5-bedroom house with business.

Diamond. Phone: 627-3902 2-storey concrete house 32’x 55’, 4 bedrooms, block 8 Mon Repos, ECD, $35 million. Phone: 642-2116

SERVICES Dutch healing and upliftment, for clearing of land, dredging and ground work (strictly interior operation). Phone: 6621247.

Repairs to LCD, LED, plasma, projection, CRT TV’s, microwave ovens, etc, ordering of circuit boards and hard to get spares, Abdul Electronics. Phone: 2250391 Greenes Electrical Contracting Services For all electrical services contact Greene Electrical Contracting Services, we specialize in phoneS & data, CATV, CCTV, intercoms, fiber optics, fire alarms, security systemS, SVC equipments, all other residential, industrial & commercial installation. Phone 223-0973, 618-3075 for safe & reliable services.

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Get your Visa approved. High Success Rate. Balwant Persaud & Associates.

Certified Immigration Consultants 68 Sixth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown (Between Cummings & Lights Sts.) Tel: 225-1540, 622-8308, 655-3105. Email: balwantpersaud@yahoo.ca

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LAND FOR SALE Parfaite Harmonie $1M and $1.2M phone: 675-7292

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2 modern apartments located in Campbellville, Georgetown, hot and cold water, self-contained rooms etc. Phone: 219-4535

AFC defends party leaders T he Alliance For Change (AFC) has defended two of its leaders, deeming media reports on their public dealings as attacks on their character.

AFC General Secretary David Patterson in a letter to the editor on Tuesday lamented that Nigel and Cathy Hughes, two of its ace leaders have been vilified in the media in recent times.

In light of the vilification, Patterson said the party will be presenting guidelines for the conduct of leaders to inform on the requisite attributes that the AFC thinks must be demonstrated by all who commit to the process of providing leadership.

Individual freedom

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One black scooter for sale, excellent condition. Phone: 602-7277, for information.

“It is our position that integral to the need for quality leadership is the idea of individual freedom and respect for the right to work and association,” the letter stated.

He claimed that the AFC unreservedly supports the right to work of its leaders, which is a constitutional right and also a right to life.

In 2010, long before she was elected an AFC Member of Parliament, Cathy Hughes was contracted to provide professional support services to Sithe Global, an American company that was involved in the Amaila Falls project.

The letter explained that Hughes has never hidden her association with Sithe Global, and the AFC discerns no conflict of interest in her association as she was required to carry her party’s position on any and all issues relating to Sithe Global and the Amaila Falls project, which she did with honour and conviction.

As to the matter regarding Nigel Hughes, the AFC said he is a good man, and remains

Nigel Hughes

Cathy Hughes

“innocent until proven guilty” in a court of law.

The AFC says it respects confidentiality as the foundation of client relationships, and would never have required its leaders to breach this sacred convention.

AFHI was the investment entity incorporated in Guyana for the purposes of the hydro project. The principal participants in the discussions about the project were the government of Guyana, Sithe Global, China Development Bank and China Railway – the contractor of the project.

Patterson’s letter said Hughes was not an officer of any of those companies and could not have been privy to any of those discussions, agreements, technical studies and/or project costs or rate of returns.

Exposed

Hughes was exposed for being the lawyer and company secretary of the Amaila Falls Hydro Inc (AFHI), the company that was to operate the Amaila Hydro plant, a position AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan said he was unaware of.

According to the letter, no party raised any conflict of interest concerns over the role of Hughes in the formation of the company. At that time, too, Hughes was neither a member nor official of AFC. “Because of the flurry of mis-information and inaccuracies being peddled here and abroad to tarnish the character of Hughes and the image of AFC, we are at pain to point out that most foreign companies when coming to invest here do not have offices in Guyana and are not sure how their investments are likely to develop,” the AFC claimed.

Conflict of interest

However, when it was alleged that a conflict of interest might have arisen, Hughes immediately offered his resignation as AFC chairman, not wanting to rock the AFC in any controversy.

“For the AFC, the professional services of both Catherine Hughes and Nigel Hughes were not deemed by the movement to be a conflict of interest as both individuals recused themselves from all discussions this party had with the government of Guyana and Sithe Global on the hydropower project,” the letter stated.

Over 440 booths for GuyExpo

P

reparations are moving apace for the opening of Guyana’s leading trade fair and exposition on October 3 at the Sophia Exhibition Complex.

The four-day event promises 85 international exhibitors as compared to 36 last year, and more booths, as over 440 are to be erected.

Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Director Indranauth Haralsingh said, “We are ready to host one of the most successful GuyExpos.”

Several of the foreign exhibitors are first timers at the event. Exhibitors are expected from China, India, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Grenada, St Lucia, French Guiana, and Suriname.

These countries will be exhibiting spices, wine, culture, forestry, equipment and foods.

The event is host-

ed through a collaborative effort by the Tourism Ministry and the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GM&SA).

The ministry will be preselling tickets since there is a limit of 25,000 individuals per day at the venue in an effort to reduce the yearly congestion experienced.

Another means of easing the congestion is the provision of three entrances instead of one.

Event coordinator Tameca Sukhdeo-Singh said an investment forum is part of the event and will facilitate linking and networking of local and international participants. Five key areas will be addressed including creating business opportunities in the United States and China, using alternative energy in businesses and small businesses.

Apart from nightly en-

tertainment, a special GuyExpo 2013 magazine will be launched.

This yearly trade fair serves as an initiative for creating new markets, exports, and awareness for exhibitors.

It promotes sales and increases competition for local businesses and boosts tourism. Over the years, the expo has had a tremendous impact on the country’s economy.

Haralsingh said that a lot of attention is being given to small businesses and financing, and highlighted that one of the difficulties faced by such businesses is lack of and unawareness of means of financing, an aspect that will be focused on during the event.

GuyExpo 2013 will be held under the theme, “Advancing productivity through innovation, modernisation and expansion”.

Eccles man succumbs to gunshot injuries

A

n Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD) man died Tuesday night after being found with multiple gunshots in his house,

police have confirmed.

Police said about 21:45h, Kurt David of Eccles Housing Scheme, EBD, was found in his home with gun-

shot injuries and was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he later succumbed. Investigations are in progress, the police said.

20

guyanatimesGY.com

wednesday, September 4, 2013

Saeed Ajmal takes gloss off Zimbabwe’s day E

ven 24 hours before the toss, there had been uncertainty over whether this match would take place as Zimbabwe’s players were again threatening a boycott over delayed payments.

The Test started on schedule but Zimbabwe were hamstrung as Sean Williams decided he would not play till he was paid, and their regular captain Brendan Taylor was away on paternity leave after his son was born late on Monday.

Few teams have had such major distractions to deal with, and there had been concerns about whether Zimbabwe’s players would be able to focus on the challenges of Test cricket. The home side’s bowlers, though, responded superbly to reduce Pakistan to 182 for 8, before some of the gloss was taken off by a battling ninth-wicket partnership between Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan.

The first hour was near perfect for Zimbabwe on Wednesday. The trio of Tendai Chatara, Tinashe Panyangara and Shingi Masakadza may have little Test experience and only moderate pace, but their accuracy and movement left Pakistan hobbling at 27 for 3 by drinks.

Once again, Misbah-ulHaq walked out with his team having lost early wickets, and began more adventurously than you’d expect from him in the first session of a Test.

Along with Azhar Ali, Misbah extricated Pakistan from the hole caused by the top-order’s failure. After lunch, the pitch had settled down a bit, and both Misbah and Azhar reached their half-centuries.

fered some easy runs.

Pakistan began in a similarly confident mode after lunch and Zimbabwe’s limited attack seemed set for a struggle. Azhar had a bit of a battle through the forties, taking his time to complete the final steps of his half-century but Pakistan were slowly levelling the game. The responsibility on Azhar grew after the ordinary strokes from Misbah and Shafiq left Pakistan at 132 for 5, and he continued to bat sensibly.

Zimbabwe’s bowlers built on the advantage soon after tea, getting three quick wickets, and the innings seemed set for an early finish when Azhar nicked to the slips.

Pakistan were still some way away from their previous lowest total against Zimbabwe (231), but Zimbabwe just couldn’t deliver the final blows. (Cricinfo)

Saeed Ajmal’s unbeaten 49 kept Pakistan alive as they finished the first day on 249 for 9 against Zimbabwe in Harare

Tinashe Panyangara took three wickets as Zimbabwe’s bowlers posed plenty of questions to Pakistan

The stand had grown to 93, and the pair was looking comfortable in the middle.

This was supposed to be the big challenge for Zimbabwe could their bowlers keep the pressure on when the conditions eased out? They didn’t have to, as Misbah attempted one of those occasional, unpredictable big hits over the leg side and miscued to short midwicket. Prosper Utseya had even more to celebrate soon after, as Asad Shafiq also tried a wild slog and ended up insideedging it to leg slip for 4.

Zimbabwe’s bowlers could take more credit for the wickets in the morning session.

The basis of their early success was a steady line and

today either as he again poked outside off, handing second slip an easy catch.

His opening partner, Khurram Manzoor, had even more at stake as he was playing his first Test in three-anda-half years. He was cautious early on, not attempting anything flashy, and had seen off 11 overs when a big incutter from Panyangara struck him on the pads. The ball looked like it would sail over the stumps, but the umpire disagreed and Manzoor had to trudge off.

Younis Khan began his innings looking for quick singles, and he was dismissed when the ball spun back onto the stumps after an attempt-

length, constantly questioning the batsmen around off stump and getting the odd delivery to swerve around or bounce awkwardly.

They posed enough of a threat to give the stand-in captain, Hamilton Masakadza, the confidence to put three slips in place for much of the first hour. Panyangara and Chatara had the ball snaking both ways, and the batsmen guessing.

Mohammad Hafeez had racked up the runs in the recent limited-overs matches, but his Test form has been suspect this year. The South Africa Tests had been a humbling experience for Hafeez, and there weren’t many runs

ed forward defence. Younis had taken a couple of steps down the track after playing the delivery and could only watch the ball roll back towards the base of middle stump.

Zimbabwe were cocka-hoop at that stage, but Misbah and Azhar slowly deflated them over the next couple of hours. The frontline trio kept testing the batsmen but the odd loose ball crept in, which Misbah profited off. He didn’t bat in a manner that has earned him the nickname tuk-tuk, but went for his strokes and he was rewarded especially towards the end of the morning session as Elton Chigumbura and Utseya of-

SCOREBOARD Pakistan 1st innings K Manzoor lbw b Panyangara 11 M Hafeez c Sibanda b Chatara 5 A Ali c Sibanda b S Masakadza 78 Y Khan b Panyangara 3 Misbah-ul-Haq* c Sibanda b Utseya 53 A Shafiq c Mawoyo b Utseya 4 A Akmal† b Chatara 18 A Rehman lbw b S Masakadza 7 S Ajmal not out 49 J Khan c †Mutumbami b Panyangara 17 Extras: (lb3, w1) 4 Total: (9 wkts, 89.5 overs) 249 Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-21, 3-27, 4-120, 5-132, 6-157, 7-173, 8-182, 9-249 Bowling: T Chatara 22-6-642, T Panyangara 19.5-2-713, S Masakadza 22-8-40-2, E Chigumbura 2-0-15-0, P Utseya 23-1-55-2, H Masakadza 1-0-1-0

Morgan, Bopara tons see off Ireland challenge candor

U

nbeaten centuries from Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara took England to a six-wicket win over Ireland in the one-day international in Dublin on Tuesday.

Chasing 270 to win, England slipped to 48-4 as Tim Murtagh (3-33) ran through the top order.

But captain Morgan (124) combined with Bopara (101) for a world record fifthwicket stand of 226 to see England home with seven overs remaining.

Skipper William Porterfield earlier made 112 as Ireland posted 269-7.

That total always seemed likely to challenge a youthful England side on a slow Malahide pitch, and so it proved as the accurate Murtagh got to work.

But England rebuilt when London-born Murtagh went out of the attack, with Bopara going on to complete a maiden ODI century and Morgan his first for three years.

They accelerated towards a victory that gives England some momentum going into the five-match one-day series against Australia, which begins at Headingley on Friday.

Eoin Morgan

Ravi Bopara

“It was nice to get some time in the middle and get a win,” Morgan told BBC Sport. “It was quite a nervous day for some of our guys, but it was nice to get over the the line.”

England, though, must improve before taking on an Australia side that recorded a crushing 200-run win over Scotland.

Handing debuts to Michael Carberry, Gary Ballance and Boyd Rankin the pace bowler who played 37 ODIs for Ireland - England were guilty of dropped catches, sloppy ground fielding and undisciplined bowling.

They were not helped by

what seemed to be an imbalanced attack, with Rankin, James Tredwell and Steven Finn - the sole player in the England side to have taken part in the Ashes win - selected as the only three frontline bowlers.

Both off-spinner Tredwell, who found turn for his 2-35, and Rankin, who bowled with hostility for 4-46, impressed, but allrounders Bopara, Ben Stokes and Luke Wright were expensive.

Rankin’s late strikes included the wicket of Porterfield, who enjoyed good fortune but also played some eye-catching strokes through

the off-side in his sixth oneday international hundred.

The home captain received good support from Niall O’Brien (26), Kevin O’Brien (23) and John Mooney (27), while Ireland were also boosted by England’s gift of 32 extras.

The feeling that England had lost control was compounded by the 90 runs plundered by Ireland in the final 10 overs of the innings, one of which was delivered by the occasional off-spin of Carberry.

“We were pretty happy with where we were at, we were right on top be couldn’t sustain the pressure,” said Porterfield.

The debut of Carberry, who dropped both Niall O’Brien and Porterfield when simple chances were offered on the leg-side boundary, failed to improve when he played across the line to Trent Johnston to become the first England wicket to fall. Then, when Murtagh removed Wright, Ballance and James Taylor, Ireland looked set for a first home ODI win over England.

Unable to adjust to the lack of pace, Wright played on, Ballance dabbed his second ball through to wick-

etkeeper Gary Wilson and Taylor was bowled through the gate.

At that point, England looked set for an embarrassing defeat, a repeat of the shock loss at the 2011 World Cup in India.

But Dublin-born Morgan, booed to the crease by some on what was his home ground as a youngster, nudged and swept his way to fifty while Bopara provided support.

After Morgan passed that milestone, the England pair went on the attack, clear-

ing the boundary rope nine times on the way to setting the best fifth-wicket stand in ODI history.

Morgan brought up his ton with a maximum and, after the left-hander was dropped in the deep, Bopara reached three figures by slapping George Dockrell through the covers for four.

Yet another Morgan six off the same bowler wrapped up what was ultimately a comfortable victory, masking the deficiencies of earlier in the day. (BBC Sport)

SCOREBOARD Ireland innings W Porterfield* b Rankin 112 P Stirling c Ballance b Rankin 10 E Joyce hit wicket b Rankin 1 N O’Brien b Tredwell 26 G Wilson† lbw b Tredwell 2 K O’Brien c Morgan b Bopara 23 J Mooney lbw b Rankin 27 D Johnston not out 12 M Sorensen not out 24 Extras: (b6, lb13, w10, nb3) 32 Total: (7 wkts, 50 overs) 269 Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-36, 3-95, 4-121, 5-161, 6-224, 7-229 Bowling: S Finn 10-1-44-0, W Rankin 9-1-46-4, R Bopara 7-0-41-1, B Stokes 10-0-51-0, J Tredwell 10-0-35-2, L Wright 3-0-21-0, M Carberry 1-0-12-0

England innings M Carberry lbw b Johnston 10 L Wright b Murtagh 5 J Taylor b Murtagh 25 G Ballance c Wilson b Murtagh 0 E Morgan* not out 124 R Bopara not out 101 Extras: (b4, lb2, w3) 9 Total: (4 wkts, 43 overs) 274 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-25, 3-25, 4-48 Bowling: T Murtagh 10-2-33-3, D Johnston 7-0-34-1, M Sorensen 4-0-24-0, G Dockrell 10-0-730, K O’Brien 4-0-41-0, P Stirling 5-0-36-0, J Mooney 3-0-27-0

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Li becomes China’s first U.S. Open semi-finalist

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EW YORK - Li Na broke another barrier for Chinese tennis, becoming China’s first semifinalist at the U.S. Open by beating Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2 on Tuesday at windy Flushing Meadows.

The 31-year-old, fifthseeded Li pumped both fists in joy after 24th seed Makarova sailed a backhand long to end the two-hour, 20-minute match at Arthur Ashe Stadium as the crowd showered her with cheers.

“For me, this is the first time to come to the semi-finals, so I’m very proud of myself,” said Li, who looked about to claim victory in two sets after winning the first three points of the tiebreaker and holding a 4-2 lead.

“After I lose the second set, I was sad. But I just told myself to go point by point.”

Restore order

Li’s win over the Russian left-hander helped restore order after Monday’s shocking straight sets, fourthround surrender by Roger Federer to Tommy Robredo.

Men’s top seed Novak Djokovic was dazzling in a 6-3 6-0 6-0 demolition of unseeded Marcel Granollers of Spain to reach the quarters against 21st-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who ended the run of 2001 winner Lleyton Hewitt 6-3 3-6 6-7

Li Na

Novak Djokovic

Mikhail Youzhny

Victoria Azarenka

(3) 6-4 7-5.

“Today (Tuesday), the second and third set have been some of the best tennis that I’ve played on Arthur Ashe in my career,” said Djokovic, which is saying something given his charge to the title in 2011 and runs to the final in 2007 and 2012.

“I was wishing to be more aggressive as the tournament progresses and to be able to stay committed to play every point, to win every point, regardless of what’s the score,” said the Serb, who won the first 25 points on his serve.

“So I’m very happy with my mental state, how I feel physically, and the way I played. It’s definitely coming at the best possible time.”

Youzhny, the 21st seed,

outbattled renowned fighter Hewitt by overcoming deficits of 1-4 in the fourth set, and 2-5 in the fifth, as he won the last five games of the match.

“Obviously, it could have gone either way,” said 32-year-old unseeded Hewitt, who had upset sixth-seeded former champion Juan Martin del Potro in the second round and was trying to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals for the first time in seven years.

“There were a lot of momentum changes. In the end, he played the big games when he needed to.”

Earlier, women’s second seed Victoria Azarenka overcame Ana Ivanovic, the 13th seed, 4-6 6-3 6-4 to complete the women’s quarter-finals

field after their contest was postponed from Monday due to nearly five hours of rain delays.

The world number two Belarussian, U.S. Open runner-up last year to Serena Williams, will play unseeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the last eight.

Two years ago, Li became the first Chinese to make a grand slam final when she finished runnerup in Australia and a few months later she won the 2011 French Open to become China’s first grand slam champion.

Li’s semi-final opponent will be either world number one Serena Williams or Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, who were meeting in Tuesday’s feature night match.

“I will lie down in the bed, take some chips and watch the match,” Li said about scouting her next opponent. “They will just fight and I’ll relax.”

Li took the fight to Makarova in her quarterfinal, smashing 44 win-

Last barrier

The U.S. Open had been the last grand slam where Chinese women had stalled before reaching the final four.

Zheng Jie was the first Chinese player to reach a grand slam semi-final, making the last four at Wimbledon in 2008 and the Australian Open in 2010, but Li has enjoyed even greater success.

ners against just 15 for the more defensive 25-yearold Makarova, though the Chinese struggled with eight double faults.

Azarenka and former world number one Ivanovic had even more trouble serving in the day’s opening match, where holding serve was the exception rather than the rule.

In a match of 29 games, there were 16 service breaks with Azarenka fittingly ending the two-hour, 10-minute struggle by breaking Ivanovic for the ninth time of the contest, when Ivanovic netted a backhand on the fourth match point.

Double faults

Azarenka had her serve broken seven times and committed nine double faults, while Ivanovic lost nine of her service games and made eight doubles after playing a brilliant first set.

“It was a big battle.

That’s what I was expecting from Ana,” said Azarenka.

Ivanovic, making a concerted effort to climb back up the rankings after a long slump, tried to see the bright side.

“It’s very encouraging, because I know I’m right there,” she said. “It’s definitely a lot of positives to take from this week and this match. But it still doesn’t change. It’s disappointing and it hurts.” (Reuters)

Australia crush Scotland in Edinburgh ODI BCB seeks two-week extension for Cox’s C Bazar facility enturies from Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh helped Australia claim an emphatic 200-run win over Scotland in their one-day international.

The tourists showed little mercy to the mostly-amateur Scots as they smashed their way to 362 for three.

Scotland could only muster 162 all out in reply at the Grange in Edinburgh as Matt Machan top-scored with 39.

Darren Lehmann’s Australians start a fivematch series with England on Friday at Headingley.

Having failed to regain the Ashes with a 3-0 Test series defeat before sharing the two Twenty20 clashes that followed, the Aussies were looking for a moraleboosting victory.

And the side currently ranked second in the ICC’s one-day rankings were never in danger of losing as their top-order batsmen secured an easy win that Marsh suggested had still been a useful trip north.

“It wasn’t easy out there,” he said. “It was a tricky wicket, they bowled well and I had to work hard.

“It was definitely a worthwhile exercise - 100%.

The boys got time out in the middle, the bowlers bowled well and it was a great spectacle. It’s great to come

Aaron Finch

Shaun Marsh

up to a lovely place like Edinburgh.”

Finch had continued on from his record-breaking Twenty20 knock of 156 against England last week by grabbing his maiden 50over century.

The Victoria batsman struck 14 sixes in his world-record score against England on Thursday in Southampton and this time hit 148 from only 116 balls before being caught in the deep by Freddie Coleman off Majid Haq. He and March had put on 246 for the opening wicket an Australia record - and the latter then took up the scoring responsibilities by pushing beyond Finch’s figure to end on 151 as Iain Wardlaw tempted him to slog into Gordon Goudie’s grasp.

The same combination accounted for Shane

Watson on 37 as the Scots claimed their second wicket in as many balls, but the Australians already had 347 on the board.

Michael Clarke (four) and George Bailey (10) batted out the final two overs

to set up an improbable run chase.

Coleman fell for a duck early before Hamish Gardiner went for a single, while Watson ran out Scotland skipper Preston Mommsen for eight.

Machan and Calum MacLeod (24) helped add a touch of respectability to the score before Haq (25) eventually prodded Scotland into three figures.

With little to lose, Scotland continued to let their shots go and Goudie (23) raised a couple of cheers with two huge sixes.

However, Mitchell Johnson (four for 36) cleaned bowled Gordon Drummond for eight to claim his fourth wicket and end a painful day for the hosts. (BBC Sport)

SCOREBOARD Australia Innings Finch c Coleman b Haq 148 S Marsh c Goudie b Wardlaw 151 Watson c Goudie b Wardlaw 37 Clarke not out 4 Bailey not out 10 Extras: (1nb, 5w, 3b, 3lb) 12 Total: (3 wkts, 50 overs) 362 Fall of wickets: 1-246, 2-347, 3-347 Bowling: Wardlaw 10-0-69-2, Drummond 9-0-63-0, Goudie 9-0-75-0, Haq 10-0-52-1, MacLeod 5-0-31-0, Machan 6-0-52-0, Berrington 1-0-14-0 Scotland Innings Gardiner lbw b McKay Coleman lbw b Johnson

1 0

Machan c McKay b Faulkner 39 Mommsen run out (Watson) 8 MacLeod c Clarke b Ahmed 24 Berrington c Watson b Faulkner 6 Murphy c McKay b Voges 11 Haq c McKay b Johnson 25 Goudie c Wade b Johnson 23 Drummond b Johnson 8 Wardlaw not out 0 Extras: ( 1nb, 9w, 3b, 4lb) 17 Total: (all out, 43.5 overs) 162 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-2, 3-27, 4-69, 5-79, 6-85, 7-109, 8-148, 9-157, 10-162 Bowling: McKay 9-2-18-1, Johnson 9.5-3-36-4, Voges 7-123-1, Clarke 2-0-7-0, Ahmed 10-0-39-1, Faulkner 6-0-32-2

T

he Bangladesh Cricket Board has sought two extra weeks from the ICC to complete the stadium at Cox’s Bazar, one of the venues for the World Twenty20 matches next year.

On Tuesday, the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the venue which has been named after her brother Sheikh Kamal. BCB president Nazmul Hassan, who accompanied the Prime Minister during the ceremony, later said that the board had written to the ICC for more time.

“We are scheduled to hand over the stadium to the ICC on September 30.

The way work is progressing, I think it will take another fifteen days from the deadline to finish the work,” Hassan said. “So we have asked for some additional time from the ICC and sent a letter. I hope the work will be completed in time.”

The stadium has been named the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium and Complex, but the board’s ambition to set up a sports complex alongside the stadium is still un-

certain. In July, the civil aviation and tourism minister Faruk Khan had said that the stadium would be a temporary structure and the ground which was located near the beach, would be converted into five-star hotel.

But Hassan, who is also a member of parliament, said that the board was working to resolve the issue with the tourism ministry. “If we continue to argue about the land right now, the stadium’s work will not be finished in time,” Hassan said. “It is of utmost importance that we complete the stadium first, and then go into discussion about this venue. I think we will have an amicable solution.”

Since it was the prime minister who had directed the civil aviation authority back in February this year to hand over the land to the BCB, Hassan expects to stay out of the tug-of-war.

“The prime minister will discuss the matter with the tourism authorities,” Hassan said. “We don’t need to be involved in this. We are just trying to complete all preparations for the Women’s World Twenty20s.”

(Cricinfo)

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wednesday, september 4, 2013

guyanatimesGY.com

Race of Champions 2 set for Sunday

Andrew King

Mark Vieira

Kevin Jeffrey

ocal motor-racers will hit the South Dakota circuit on Sunday when the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) stages its second Race of Champions event.

The GMR&SC and competitors have agreed to host the meet, following the cancellation of the Barbados leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC), and from all indications the organisers are gearing up to provide the same kind of excitement seen at CMRC. The organisers are working assiduously to ensure that all the top drivers, bikers and go-karters, along with those from Suriname, Canada and the U.S.A., confirm participation for the meet.

Drivers Irfaan Kalamadeen, Paul Vieira and Rupie Shewjattan are expected to be on show, while stalwarts such as Andrew King, Kevin Jeffrey and Mark Vieira could be set to renew their battle for outright supremacy.

Mark Vieira drew first blood at the previous meet, but could face a determined Jeffrey, who performed creditably for Guyana at the opening leg of the CMRC in Jamaica earlier this year, while King, will be looking to regain his grip on the local scene, having relinquished that stranglehold to the two over the past year.

When the three met in the season opener, they split the three races, but Vieira was the most outstanding since he added two second places to be voted champion driver.

At that same Meet, Jeffrey had broken Barbados’ Roger Mayers of Barbados previous lap record (33.5) with his Mitsubishi Evolution by one tenth of a second (33.4) in the time trials which was held the previous day.

However, the Group 3 category should eclipse the Group 4 for excitement and daredevilry with Ryan Rahaman, Shewjattan, Kamal Seebarran, Raj Boodhoo and Kem Lall, all anticipated thrilling the

fans during their battle for the top podium spots.

Afraz Allie and Syed Hassan, two of the leading drivers in the Group 2B Division and who both earned points at the CMRC, apart from their own skirmish will also have to stave off the challenges of Suriname’s Oliver Tjin Liep Shie, Danny Persaud and John Joseph.

The Superbikes category also promises to be just as exciting as the cars with the young brigade of Matthew Vieira and Nikhil Seereeram expected to continue their competition and this is in addition to the ‘big boys’ scrap that should feature Stephen Vieira, Carlos Rodrigues, Kwame Ridley and Carey Griffith.

The go-karts category is also billed to provide excitement and once again the young drivers are expected to take centre stage with Stanley Ming Jr and Wayne Elliot Vieira throwing down the gauntlet to veterans Marcus Fiedtkou and Stanley Ming Sr.

L

West Indies likely to play two Tests, three ODIs in India

A

day after BCCI announced a proposal to host West Indies in November for a series that had never been mentioned in the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, it appears that West Indies will play two Tests and three one-dayers in India.

A BCCI official confirmed with ESPNcricinfo that West Indies are set to play “two Tests and three ODIs starting in the first week of November”. The final decision will be made once the tour, programme and fixtures committee finalises the dates in consultation with the West Indies Cricket Board. The itinerary of the tour is expected to be announced mid-September.

If West Indies are to play two Tests and three ODIs after India’s home ODI series against Australia, which concludes on November 2, it would mean India cannot reach South Africa before November 30, for a series

that was originally scheduled to begin on November 18 with a T20 against South African Invitation XI. Add to that the commencement of India’s tour to New Zealand on January 19, which was originally supposed to be the last day of the South Africa tour, which gets trimmed further.

However, the official, who has been involved in negotiations with Cricket South Africa ever since BCCI objected to the itinerary eight weeks ago, reiterated that the South Africa tour was not put off. “We understand we have a commitment and we want to tour South Africa, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t safeguard our players’ and board’s interests,” he said.

With the BCCI adhering to the players’ demand of having “at least a week’s break” between the South African and New Zealand tours, it appears that India’s original South Africa tour

of three Tests, seven ODIs and two Twenty20s will be pruned to two Tests, three ODIs and a solitary T20 and CSA may have no choice but to accept whatever BCCI offers.

Players’ demands aside, the official also indicated that the ego problem that the BCCI representatives have had with their South African counterparts has been one of the hurdles while finalising the tour schedule. “Just because an FTP was announced many years ago doesn’t mean you should announce the tour itinerary without even consulting us,” the official said.

With time running out for CSA to finalise their domestic season’s fixtures, it appears that the South Africa tour itinerary won’t be sealed till the CSA officials bow down to the pressure exerted by the most influential body in world cricket. (Cricinfo)

WICB appoints official UK tour operators for Windies/England series

S

t John’s, ANTIGUA – The West Indies Cricket Board has appointed Howzat Travel Limited and On the Ball Sports Marketing as the official United Kingdom, Ireland and European tour operators for the West Indies versus England series in Antigua and Barbados in February and March next year.

WICB Chief Executive Officer Michael Muirhead said that the WICB acted early to facilitate fans who will be making plans to visit the Caribbean for the series.

“We know that there are thousands of English cricket supporters who are always keen on visiting the Caribbean as we are the world’s premier cricketing destination for fans. We are therefore most happy to be able to announce this partnership with two official tour operators well in advance of the series so that the many English and West Indian fans in the UK can make their arrangements early,” Mr. Muirhead said.

Michael Muirhead

“We look forward to working with Howzat Travel Limited and England Cricket Tour to ensure that the series is a major success and that all matches are sold out,” Muirhead added.

“We extend a warm and hospitable Caribbean invitation to our friends in England and around the world to come to the Caribbean and enjoy the cricket atmosphere like only

we can provide,” Muirhead concluded.

Sara Malin, of On the Ball Sports Marketing commented: “We are ecstatic to have gained a WICB appointment for the forthcoming winter tour. Our packages include 3, 4 & 5 star properties with the option to tailor make should this be required. England hasn’t visited the West Indies since 2009 so demand is high and supporters will get to see high-quality, action-packed cricket in sun kissed Antigua and Barbados. There really hasn’t been a better time to be an England cricket fan.”

Ian Kerr of Howzat Travel Limited also added: “It’s been 4 years since our last visit to the Caribbean for an England series and Howzat Travel is absolutely delighted to have been appointed as one of the official tour operators for the series. We are very much looking forward to revisiting Antigua and Barbados and hope the rum punch is on ice. See you there!” (WICB)

Edwards bids for West Indies return

B

r i d g e t o w n , BARBADOS - West Indies A captain Kirk Edwards aims to use the tour of India later this month to force his way back into contention for the senior team.

“There’s a job to be done [for the team]. I look forward to that,” Edwards said.

“Personally, I know people harp on my Test stint against England last year but I think I had a good outing with some consistent scores. It was a bit disappointing but I’ve got over it and I’m looking forward to making some runs and moving back into the senior spotlight.”

Edwards, 28, last played for West Indies in May 2012 and has since been searching for consistency in his batting. He seems a viable option in Tests with an average of 39.11 in nine matches but his ODI credentials - a top score of 40* at 19.12 - struggle to match up. His recent form is suspect as well, having played only one game for the Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League. However, the selectors have seen him as an A-team mainstay and continued to place faith in his leadership.

With a mooted senior team trip to India before the visit to New Zealand, Edwards was determined to make the most out of this tour. “This is an opportunity to propel you into the senior team,” he said. “I need to keep getting scores to get back into Test cricket and

Kirk Edwards

I’ll be going about things in a professional manner, dayby-day. I’ve been on tour to India before and I’m familiar with the conditions, so this knowledge counts for a lot.”

Edwards believes that his team has the right balance of youth and experience to enjoy a good outing in India. While happy to lead in the four-day matches, he was hopeful being relieved of limited-overs captaincy - with Kieran Powell taking over - will allow him to focus more on his own performances and present himself in better light to the West Indies selectors.

His side completed a successful series against Sri Lanka A in June and Edwards was grateful that the selectors kept the majority of the nucleus intact.

West Indies began those unofficial Tests in emphatic fashion, with three of their batsmen recording centu-

ries in the same innings; Edwards, with 190, was the top-scorer. Besides two highscoring draws, Edwards led his side to a 2-1 victory in the ODI series and secured the T20 series 1-0.

“This unit we have here was formed for a while,” he said. “It’s positive to stay with this group, let players get comfortable and learn the game from and with each other. Experience counts for a lot and this continuity will help us.

“The pitches and environment [in India] are different to the Caribbean. It’s different for spin and the new ball turns from ball one.

Some outfields are quick and some pitches have a lack of bounce but we can - and will - capitalise on the good batting tracks. It’s a brilliant atmosphere because people love cricket in India, so I hope they come out for the games.” (Cricinfo)

wednesday, september 4, 2013

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23

Trainer not surprised by Shewdas’ performance

By Avenash Ramzan

P

hysical Education teacher and trainer of “Golden Boy” Gumendra Shewdas, Egbert Jackson, said he is not surprised by his athlete’s exemplary performance at the World Junior and Sub-Junior Powerlifting Championships in Killeen, Texas, U.S.A. The 18-year-old Shewdas copped gold in the 53kg Class, thereby becoming Guyana youngest world champion in any sport discipline.

According to experienced Jackson, lead trainer at the Total Fitness gym in Corriverton, fitness training is a critical element of his programme at the gym, with the focus being on the development of strength, speed, power, endurance and reaction.

He noted that prior to Shewdas’ departure for Texas, the training was concentrated on developing the lifter’s strength for the championship.

“Essentially for a competition he would start by doing maybe 10 sets of 10

Egbert Jackson

repetitions and we gradually work him down until shortly before the competition when he will be doing sets of singles- four sets of one, three sets of one and so on. Of course, we keep a watch on things like his body weight, we start taking things like fat out his diet, a lot of sugar from the diet and restrict his salt intake,” Jackson said as he explained Shewdas’ training regimen.

Jackson, who has been at the helm of the gym since its

Fully loaded! Gumendra Shewdas displays his gold medal as well as other medals won from previous championships (Photo: Avenash Ramzan)

formation 25 years ago, said that with such meticulous preparation he was positive Shewdas would have been the man to beat in Texas.

“I was not that surprised

[by the victory] because we actually plotted it. We suspected that if he goes the way he was going it was a done deal. But as I always say although we strongly felt

that he would have win, we were actually happy when he won because you can trip just before the tape, but he didn’t. He held his nerves,” Jackson related.

Over the years Jackson has harnessed the skills of several notable lifters to emerge from the Ancient County, including Gumendra’s brother Suraj Shewdas, Anis Ade Thomas and Fabian Katwaroo, all of whom are part of the current crop of national lifters.

Wazeem and Tariq Immamdeen, who have both migrated, are also past stars of the Total Fitness gym.

While Jackson is pleased with the contribution he has made the national grid, he pointed out that despite the success of Shewdas and others, local lifters are faced with numerous challenges, key among them is the lack of support.

“The biggest hurdle the guys have is the support factor [gear and supplements] because as you get higher up the ladder, it becomes even more crucial, because they are always improving on the type of gear they wear,” the trainer explained.

Jackson reasoned that more sophisticated apparels are being developed and if lifters cannot afford to purchase same, they would find themselves at a disadvantage during competitions. It is against this background, the veteran trainer has called for more support for powerlifting.

“If you can’t afford that and you go into a competition and you have two people of the same ability, the guy who can afford it will get five-10 pounds more.

Once that is in place, the sky is the limit. But as I said we have plenty of promising lifters, but if the support is not there then we’re not getting anywhere,” Jackson concluded.

“Golden Boy” Shewdas is currently basking in the glory of his success; he is set to return to the gym shortly to recommence training ahead of some other upcoming competitions.

With this being Shewdas’ last year as a junior, only time will tell what Jackson has up his sleeves to ensure his protégé ‘raise the bar’ when he competes with the senior lifters.

Bale can help Real Madrid win Champions Ricciardo ‘expected’ League – Calderon to challenge Vettel

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ormer Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon says Gareth Bale is a unique talent who can help the Spanish club win the Champions League.

Calderon signed Cristiano Ronaldo for Real for a then-world record £80m.

“Nowadays there is not another player in Europe or the world like him. He is strong, fast and scores a lot of goals,” said Calderon.

“He can help the team reach their aims of winning the Champions League, the Spanish League and any other titles.”

Bale was introduced to the Madrid fans at the Bernabeu Stadium on Monday, but Calderon warned that the world record £85m fee could weigh

Gareth Bale

heavily on the player’s shoulders at first, citing the example of Zinedine Zidane, who himself made a recordbreaking switch to Real Madrid when he moved from

Juventus for £48m in 2001.

“In his first season Zidane wasn’t approved [by the fans] and was questioned in November of that season,” he said.

“After that he was one of the players most loved and appreciated at Real Madrid.

“The price that the club pay for a new ‘Galactico’ can be a burden. The people who attend the Bernabeu Stadium are very demanding.”

Calderon expresses his views in Gareth Bale - The Real Deal , a BBC Wales documentary that tells the story of Bale’s journey from Cardiff schoolboy to the most expensive player in the history of the game.

His much-anticipated transfer from Tottenham was confirmed on 1

September and he was welcomed by a crowd of more than 20,000 in Madrid on Monday.

Calderon, the Real Madrid president from 2006-09, set the previous world transfer record when he bought Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009.

He says only time will tell if Bale can justify his transfer fee and wages of £300,000 a week.

“We need to have a crystal ball to answer that,” said Calderon.

“People said I was mad to pay £80m for Cristiano Ronaldo. But now everyone is happy. He has scored a lot of goals and helped us become much better. We have to wait for the results [to see if Bale is worth the money].”

(BBC Sport)

Sheffield United investment is ‘game-changing’ – Kevin McCabe

S

heffield United owner Kevin McCabe has revealed that the club’s new co-owner is Saudi Arabian Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The Blades announced last week that a foreign investor would be joining the club’s board.

McCabe told BBC Radio Sheffield: “We’ve been looking for partner investors for six years and this is fantastic.

“This is game-changing for this club and the funds being invested in the team are substantial.”

McCabe added: “The money being made available is for investment at firstteam level and that means building a squad that can get us back to the upper echelons of English football.

“The partner is here for the long term and I’ve got to know him well, and I’m delighted that he’s on board.”

Since the club’s announcement on Friday, David Weir’s side, who are currently sitting in 17th position in League One after five games, have signed Stoke midfielder Florent Cuvelier for an undisclosed fee and Manchester City

striker Harry Bunn on loan.

In recent years the club have been forced to sell players, including full-back Matt Lowton to Aston Villa, midfielder Stephen Quinn to Hull City and striker Nick Blackman to Reading.

McCabe is confident the new investment will mean the club are able to keep hold of promising youngsters like England Under-21 goalkeeper George Long and defender Harry Maguire.

“The plan of action is simple and that is to improve the first-team squad whether that be through the loan system or in the

January transfer window,” he said.

“I would also say to our supporters that this also ensures we can keep our own young players, hopefully on longer contracts.

“We are going to look to make shrewd signings at the right time, with the strong belief we will get promoted not only from League One but with a squad that can gain promotion from the Championship.”

The Blades are in their third season in League One having failed to gain promotion through the play-offs in the last two seasons. (BBC Sport)

in 2014

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel

R

ed Bull team principal Christian Horner expects their new driver Daniel Ricciardo to be rivalling Sebastian Vettel in 2014.

Ricciardo, 24, replaces Mark Webber, who is leaving F1 to join Porsche in sportscar racing next season.

“We expect him to challenge Sebastian,” Horner told BBC Radio 5 live.

“He’ll get the same chance, the same equipment and it will be down to what he does on the circuit that counts at the end of the day.”

The Australian has driven for Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso for the last two seasons, making him the “logical” choice.

“Daniel has really earned his place in the team,” added Horner.

“He tested really impressively with us earlier in the summer and obviously we have been keeping a close eye on his performances in Torro Rosso and therefore it was logical to give him a drive.”

Ricciardo, who won the Formula Three championship in 2009, made his F1 debut at the British Grand Prix in June 2011.

Since then he has competed in 41 races and picked up 22 points with his best finish coming in the Chinese Grand Prix in April when he finished seventh.

“He’s a really exciting prospect,” added Horner.

“He’s got a good character and personality, he’s always got a smile on his face, but most importantly he’s seriously quick.” (BBC Sport)

wednesday, september 4, 2013

TOP SCORES

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

Pakistan 249-9 v Zimbabwe; England 274-4 (Morgan 124*, Bopara 101*, Murtagh 3-33) beat Ireland 269-7 (Porterfield 112, Rankin 4-46) by six wickets

World champion Shewdas, team pay courtesy call on President T

he outstanding performance by Guyana’s second powerlifting world champion Gumendra Shewdas and his teammates was lauded on Tuesday when the team paid a courtesy call on President Donald Ramotar at his office.

Also on hand was Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony, who praised the athletes’ performance, especially the 18-year-old’s.

“It has put us right up there in the world because he’s a world champion. He’s very young so he has a bright future in the sport,” Anthony said.

The nation’s youngest ever world champion, who hails from Corriverton, Berbice, recently returned to Guyana after winning the overall gold in the 53kg class at the World Sub Juniors and Juniors Championships in Killeen, Texas.

INSIDE TODAY’S SPORT

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President Donald Ramotar with Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony and members of the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation

He thanked the government and the private entities for their support,

and said he was excited with his achievement.

His coach Egbert Jackson

said the world is ahead of Shewdas and with the right support, he will con-

tinue to excel, eventually becoming a world champion in the open category.

Among the powerlifters were Corporal Randolph Morgan, who thanked his officers in the Guyana Police Force for their support, and 34-year-old Kimberly Forde, a former bodybuilder and five- year veteran in the sport; she thanked her husband for his support on her way to winning the 84kg category at the Pan-American Games.

The results were fantastic, but expected, according to president of the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) Peter Greene, saying “we’ve been working towards this since 2008”. He added that with more persons taking up the sport, some may be tempted to take short cuts, hence the move to introduce drug testing in the near future to ensure that the sport remains drug-free.

GKC dojo construction at financial standstill

By Rajiv Bisnauth

T

he second phase of construction for the Guyana Karate College’s (GKC) $100 million dojo at Liliendaal is currently delayed due to financial constraints, according to Public Relations Officer of the GKC, Wayne Orderson on Tuesday.

Orderson said the work on this phase is stalled because the GKC is not in a position accrue the funds to offset the remainder of the expenses.

“Phase two entails the fabrication and erection of the steel frame; what I can say is that the steel frame is already fabricated by Industrial Fabrications Inc (Infab), but the responsibility is ours at the GKC to complete the payment in order for the frame to be delivered and installed on site,” Orderson related.

Mid last year Infab was given the $15M contact

Wayne Orderson

for the construction of the frame. However, the GKC has made a down payment of $8M, but the remaining $7.5M must be paid in order for the second phase of construction to commence.

Therefore, in an effort to generate funding, the GKC has planned two fundraisers in October and November where all proceeds will go towards the GKC’s Liliendaal facility.

Foundation work at the Guyana Karate College’s (GKC) G$100M Dojo building has been completed

The architectural design for the facility includes four main training areas, an administrative office and dormitory for students.

The plans for the facility also projects a Japanese garden and fish pond in its roofless centre and sliding doors to enclose all training areas so that training sessions can be visible from nearly any part of the facil-

ity.

The college, which is currently housed at the Malteenoes Sports Club, offers a variety of courses in martial arts. Apart from the regular coloured belt courses, the college offers first to seventh Dan black belt courses as well as courses in self-defence. Winning strategies, CPR and First Aid, conflict resolution and nutri-

tion and health, international instructors, examiners and judges’ courses are also on the college’s curriculum.

The aim of the college is to help young people find direction in life and break the cycle of crime and violence in Guyana through karate.

The college acquired a99-year lease for the acre of land from former president Bharrat Jagdeo in 2010.

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