Guyana times 18 january 2018

P5 Local businesses to benefit from inaugural oil and gas summit

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Issue No. 3454

GuySuCo pension fund under severe pressure – source ...President unaware of status Page 5

Drive-by shooting Parking leaves 1 meters hospitalised are back Page 2

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Logger P11 killed by falling tree 3 new foreign diplomats P12 accredited

2 Guyanese, 5 Venezuelans nabbed with illegal fuel P10

Page 9

…2 in custody

Wanted man arrested for rape, ganja possession P2 Page 13

Teen remanded for raping 7-year-old

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GDF rank P11 charged for $5M robbery Couples showcasing wedding attire at the launching of the 10th Wedding Expo hosted by the Roraima Airways, on Wednesday at Duke Lodge, Georgetown (Carl Croker photo)

APNU ready to contest LGE without AFC – PNC General Secretary

Page 3

…but Granger downplays possible breakaway from coalition

4 lawyers UN’s ruling could take appointed 2 years – Greenidge Senior Counsel Guyana-Venezuela border controversy

Page 7

Page 11

Free legal aid available for LGBT P14 community …as SASOD launches paralegal services

2 News

thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Drive-by shooting leaves 1 hospitalised …2 in custody

As the gunmen left the scene, they were pursued by a Police patrol that was in the area. The car in which the men were travelling was intercepted at Penny Lane, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown where the duo was taken into custody.

This newspaper was

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andemonium broke out in Leopold and Breda Streets, Charlestown, Georgetown on Wednesday afternoon when gunmen opened fire during an alleged gang related drive-by shooting.

Reports are a 55-yearold shop owner was injured when gunmen opened indiscriminate fire. She is in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Injured is Jacqueline Lagnah of Lot 83 Leopold and Breda Streets, Charlestown, Georgetown.

Reports are the incident occurred at about 11:20h as Lagnah was tending to customers in her grocery store, which is situated on the western end of the two-storey concrete building, where she resided and was shot twice to her lower back.

This publication was told that on Tuesday evening,

Wanted man arrested for rape, ganja possession

The scene of the drive-by shooting

there was a brawl between a group of men at Lagnah’s shop.

Investigators are working on a theory that the brawl may have stemmed Wednesday’s shooting.

Guyana Times was told that on Tuesday at about 20:00h, a 40-year-old East Ruimveldt, Georgetown

man and others were arguing at the shop.

It is alleged that the disagreement was due to an accusation that one of the men reportedly robbed another’s friend.

As the dispute continued on Wednesday, this publication understands two

told that in 2016, one of the men arrested was shot three times by an ex-Cop during an altercation outside the ‘Wings and Things’ Bar, on Mandela Avenue, Georgetown.

Investigations are ongoing.

men of Penny Lane, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, went to Leopold and Breda Streets in a Toyota Premio, bearing registration plates PTT 9521 and opened fire.

“The lady went inside she shop. She went looking after customers,” persons at the scene told this publication.

The ziplock bags containing cannabis that were found

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2 8 - y e a r - o l d Buxtonian, who has been evading justice for some time, having been granted bail by the court on a joint charge of rape and for whom an arrest warrant was issued, was on Tuesday night arrested by ranks of a Police patrol at Sideline

Dam, Annandale, East Coast Demerara.

At the time of the arrest, the accused rapist, who is also wanted for questioning in relation to several armed robberies, was found in possession of 29 grams of cannabis, packaged in smallsized zip lock bags.

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thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Thursday, January 18 – 05:00h-06:30h and Friday, January 19 – 05:00h-06:30h.

…but Granger downplays possible breakaway from coalition

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, January 18 – 05:00h-06:30h and Friday, January 19 – 05:30h-07:00h.

FERRY SCHEDULE Parika and Supenaam departure times - 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily

WEATHER TODAY

Thundery to heavy showers can be expected in the morning, while lighter showers with sunny intervals can be expected in the afternoon. Clear evening skies will give way to thundery showers as the night progresses. Temperatures are expected to range between 23 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Easterly to East North-easterly between 2.68 metres and 5.36 metres.

High Tide: 05:16h and 17:28h reaching maximum heights of 2.51 metres and 2.64 metre respectively.

Low Tide: 11:03h and 23:27h reaching minimum heights of 0.69 metre and 0.58 metre respectively.

wednesDAY, january 17, 2018

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APNU ready to contest LGE without AFC – PNC General Secretary

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Evening Draw

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DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

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hairman of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), President David Granger has downplayed the Alliance For Change’s (AFC) announcement that it is contemplating breaking away from the governing coalition to compete in the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE).

However, General Secretary of the People’s National Congress (PNC), the leading party in the APNU coalition, Amna Ally, has made a contrary statement explaining that the APNU is prepared to contest the LGE without the AFC teaming up to contest with one ticket.

Granger, who heads both the PNC and the APNU coalition of parties, brushed aside news that the AFC appeared prepared to run its own campaign at the local elections while running against his coalition. “I have seen reports that the AFC is contemplating the prospects of going it alone. When I get that letter if it ever comes, I will meet with AFC leader,” the President remarked.

He continued, “We went into the coalition as a matter of principle and we believe that it good for Guyana.

We believe that we have been able to introduce a new form of political cooperation based on inclusionary democracy and we can’t walk away from that at this point in time.”

The President also ditched questions as to whether he would be concerned were the AFC to abandon the coalition to run alone as he reiterated the PNCR-led APNU’s commitment to coalition politics.

“As far as the five-party partnership (APNU) is concerned, we shall go into the Local Government Elections, and the General and Regional Elections as a partnership.

And we believe in coalition politics, it’s not just for political expedience. It is something we believe in that Guyanese need to come together in order to resolve the problems or political division and economic development,” the President said.

Contradicting

On the other hand, however, Ally said she was disappointed with the statement made by the AFC which indicates that they may go it alone. She told the media on Wednesday, “Whichever way it goes, we are prepared to go with it. We are sorry that the AFC has taken such a position because like I said, we believe that we are better and stronger together. However, if that is how they feel, so be it.”

Only recently, the APNU issued a press release in response to AFC’s announce-

APNU and PNC leader, President David Granger

General Secretary of PNC, Amna Ally

ment stating that its parties have agreed to vie for local elections as a united body.

The party said this commitment was reaffirmed at meetings in September 2017 and January 2018. The other APNU members are the Guyana Action Party, the Justice For All Party; the National Front Alliance and the Working People’s Alliance.

The APNU chair also reaffirmed this position on Wednesday when he told the media, “As I said we had two meetings at each level and we took a principled position and I don’t anticipate that will change.”

The Head of State also noted that based on media reports, some voices of the AFC have called for a review of the Cummingsburg Accord. He said whenever he gets a correspondence in that regard from the Leader of the AFC Raphael Trotman, he will respond to it. “I have not received any such letter yet.”

On Monday, the AFC

announced that there is a possibility that the party may break away from the APNU for this year’s Local Government Elections. AFC Leader Raphael Trotman said there was “a strong opinion of body within the party that we

should go alone.” However, in the same breath, he said there was another view that the AFC should seek to enter a new accord with the APNU. The party leader explained that the Cummingsburg Accord that was signed between the AFC and APNU in 2015 was just to facilitate the General Election and did not include local elections.

The AFC has, of recent, come under fire for the perceived submissive role it played when it joined forces with APNU. In mid-November 2017, the top leadership of the AFC had decided to revise its governing agreement with its coalition partner. This decision was taken after the AFC – the smaller of the two groups forming the Government – was accused of being coerced by its large partner.

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THURSDAY, january 18, 2018

Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Public officials and social media

O

ver the last two weeks, a rather unfortunate exchange over social media – Facebook – was initiated by the Guyana “Director of Public Information” (DPI), who tagged the High Commissioner of India, ie directly informed the latter of his views, on an aspect of India’s foreign policy initiative. The High Commissioner responded to the post to refute the claims articulated, but the DPI continued with further elaborations even after the Indian High Commissioner disengaged from the exchange.

One senior Government Minister made a post after the DPI’s initial salvo, describing his intervention as inappropriate and asked him to remove it. The DPI ignored the request and continued posting. There were soon public demands that the Government make an official clarification of the DPI’s claims, but the Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency merely announced that the claims were not those of his government but the DPI’s “private” opinion.

The Chairman of the AFC, the party of the Government coalition from which the DPI was appointed, agreed with this position. The DPI’s substantive superior, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, the holder of the Government’s information portfolio, did not offer any comments.

In light of the foregoing ambiguities, it is our considered opinion that the Government should offer guidelines on public officials’ comments on social media. It must clarify the pre-social media standard that insisted although public officials are entitled to freedom of opinion, their freedom of expression is not unconditional and they have a “duty of discretion” which requires them to “moderate the public expression of their views”.

We suggest that they could do worse than start from the US Office of Government Ethics legal advisory of April 9, 2015 on the subject in reference to time of posting and use of government title: “When employees are on-duty, the Standards of Conduct require that they use official time in an honest effort to perform official duties. As a general matter, this requirement limits the extent to which employees may access and use their personal social media accounts while on duty.

“A question that frequently arises is the extent to which employees may reference their official titles on their personal social media accounts. In general, the Standards of Conduct prohibit employees from using their official titles, positions, or any authority associated with their public offices for private gain. (It) also requires that employees avoid using their titles or positions in any manner that would create an appearance that the Government sanctions or endorses their activities or those of another.

“Employees’ use of personal social media ordinarily will not create the impermissible appearance of governmental sanction or endorsement which would be prohibited... An employee does not, for example, create the appearance of government sanction merely by identifying his or her official title or position in an area of the personal social media account designated for biographical information.

“In evaluating whether a reference to an employee’s official title or position on social media violates the Standards of Conduct, the agency ethics official must consider the totality of the circumstances to determine whether a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would conclude that the government sanctions or endorses the communication. Relevant factors for agency ethics officials to consider in making the determination include: Whether the employee refers to his or her government employment, title, or position in areas other than those designated for biographical information; whether the employee holds a highly visible position in the Government, such as a senior or political position, or is authorised to speak for the Government as part of the employee’s official duties or whether other circumstances would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the government sanctions or endorses the employee’s social media activities.”

In our estimation, in the incident cited it is incontrovertible that the DPI Facebook claims would lead, and in fact, did lead a “reasonable person to conclude that the government sanctions or endorses the employee’s social media activities”. He should be sanctioned.

A man rides a horse through flames during the annual “Luminarias” celebration on the eve of Saint Anthony’s day, Spain’s patron saint of animals, in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares, northwest of Madrid, Spain (Reuters/Juan Medina)

Unanswered questions about use of deadly force Dear Editor, According to media reports, the Police are presently investigating the shooting to death of Marlon Fredericks by a City Constabulary Lance Corporal. This fatal shooting took place on January 14, 2018 at the Constabulary Outpost, Bourda and Regent Streets, Georgetown.

I am not au fait with all the facts surrounding the shooting. However, there are several unanswered questions about the use of force, including deadly force.

To put it another way and more clearly – when a law enforcement officer should

fire in relation to the use of his firearm. I am not aware of the training the subordinate officer had in relation to the use of firearms and what are the guiding principles the City Constabulary has in place to direct their ranks about the fit and proper use of firearms. However, the Police Standard Operating Procedure as to when you may fire can be very instructive. Here is it: "When you are attacked, and you apprehend serious danger to your person and are unable to defend yourself by any other way. When property you are ordered to defend is attacked and you

are unable to safeguard it by any other means. When an attack is made to rescue persons in lawful custody. When anyone is found committing or about to commit a felony; that is murder, dangerous violence to person, robbery, burglary, shop breaking, store breaking, arson or larceny and does not desist after warning and cannot be deterred or arrested by any other means.

To prevent a Police station or Police outpost from being overrun. When so ordered by a superior in rank.”

These binding principles have been with the Police since 1969. They have been

republished in the Police Force Orders several times, yet they remained pristine.

The City Constabulary and the security services operating in Guyana should be guided by the Police Orders relating to when you may fire. It should be imbedded in the minds of all in order to prevent the reckless, careless, dangerous and deadly use of firearms.

In another article, I will elaborate on the use of force, including deadly force, by law enforcement officers.

Yours respectfully, Clinton Conway

Another day, another drama at City Hall Dear Editor, For the citizens of our capital city, it is always ‘another day another drama’ at City Hall in Georgetown.

More recently, it has been the shooting of a prisoner at the Bourda Outpost of the Georgetown City Constabulary by a City Constable that brings to the fore once again the extraordinary level of incompetence, poor leadership and venality of the Council at the highest levels, both administrative and political.

The City Constable opening fire at a fleeing unarmed man who was not facing him, not attacking him, nor posing any danger to him or his colleagues at the station, was just simply reckless and uncalled for.

Why couldn’t the Constable shoot the prisoner in a non-fatal area? Could he not have fired a warning shot? Could he not have used a baton instead of a gun?

Does the City Constabulary have a shootfirst and shoot to kill rules

of engagement policy? At the end of this year, we need to elect a Mayor, a City Council, appoint a new Town Clerk and senior administrators that will force all City Constables to be retrained to abide by different rules of engagement.

Why the news coming out of City Hall is always so depressing? When will sanity returns there? The Town Clerk is always proudly boasting that the City Constabulary is the oldest Police force in the coun-

try, however he does not speak of how uncontrolled, badly trained and dangerous they are. I think the time has come for the national Police to take over this errant Constabulary department. But more importantly, I think it is time for Georgetown to get a new Mayor and a new Town Clerk who can properly lead our capital in this modern enlightened period.

Sincerely, Amber Valentine

Adding insult to injury

Dear Editor, Our union has noted reports appearing in several sections of the media concerning the press conference by the Alliance For Change (AFC) held on

January 15, 2018 and more so, the comments made by leaders of that party with regard to the severance payments to the some 4000 sugar workers of Skeldon, Rose Hall and

East Demerara Estates.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) found the statements attributed to leaders of that party which has boasted about its links

with the sugar workers as incredulous, to say the least, and they say a lot about the sincerity of the AFC’s concern about the plight of the sugar workers.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

THURSDAY, january 18, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

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News

GuySuCo pension fund under severe pressure – source

Local businesses to benefit from inaugural oil and gas summit

…President unaware of status

S

everal employees – past and present- of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) are worried about the status of their full pension benefits as the pension fund is in deep trouble.

Reports are that the Employees Retirement Benefits is in the negative of $1.1B as opposed to $2.4B in 2014, according to the 2015 financial statements produced by GuySuCo. A GuySuCo source told Guyana Times on Wednesday that the fund has seen a constant decline over the past few years and the closure of the estate will add enormous pressure to it.

“It is under severe pressure before and now that GuySuCo is now retrenching, several employees who would have been eligible for the pension may suffer,” the source opined.

It was also noted that the scheme, which is opened up to salaried employees of

GuySuCo, may have been severed and who would have been contributing to the pension scheme.

“That will be an onerous pressure to the scheme because you have new people who are coming in to receive a pension,” the source added, noting that this is a major worry for many fired employees.

Meanwhile, a former employee of the corporation told this newspaper that since the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) pulled out from the fund, it has also added pressure.

The employee, who asked not to be named as well is of the firm view that Government had to be aware of the dilemma.

He said this on the basis that there was no likelihood that foreign investors would have joined the fund, as the Financial Act currently prohibits certain level of offshore investment.

According to the former

employee, there is likelihood that the scheme will lose its viability to provide a pension for those who have already receiving a pension, because of lack of investment portfolio.

“The pension is already burdened by those already receiving a pension and it will be exacerbated by the additional people who will now become eligible for pension as a result of being severed from the company,” he added.

While the pension had been in trouble before the new Government took office in 2015, there was no move made to stabilise the fund, especially in light of plans to downsize the industry.

Asked to comment on the status of the fund on Wednesday, President David Granger he is unaware of the issues relating to fund and has not been apprised with information about it.

“We respect the different stakeholders in the industry and I would say that we have not been provided at Cabinet level, with any information about the pension fund but we know at this point in time that the central Government has been asked to provide funds for the termination benefits…I cannot answer now on the status of the pension fund but you know for the last 32 months or so the Government of Guyana has been bailing out GuySuCo almost at the rate of $1B per month,” he stated.

Adding insult to...

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder is quoted in the January 16, 2018 Guyana Times, as saying “[f]inding the $4.5 billion in severance is a difficult thing to do” but, seemingly, it was not difficult for the Minister and his colleagues to send home 4000 workers which have directly impacted the well-being of approximately 20,000 Guyanese men, women and children to the breadline.

From the Minister’s perspective, using 1.8 per cent of the 2018 Budget in the interest of a large group of our citizens is a difficult thing to do. This is adding insult to injury now Minister Holder.

The Agriculture Minister didn’t stop there and according to the <<<Guyana Times>>> newspaper, he

also is reported to have said “paying the entire severance amount was impossible” which seems to indicate that the Administration hadn’t any intention to fully settle its indebtedness to the workers. We cannot help but wonder what the Government had intended to do to the already beleaguered, now jobless, workers. Moreover, Minister Holder’s recent statements are also is in complete contrast to what he said in the December 22, 2017.

Then Minister Holder’s colleague, Natural Resources Minister and AFC Leader, Raphael Trotman, on January 16, 2018 in the media is quoted to say “[w] e knew we had to pay severance, we just weren’t sure

where it would come from”.

The statement by the AFC leader leaves us in disbelief and causes us to wonder if this is how the affairs of the State and the business of the people are managed.

Clearly, the Administration needs to do a better job at dotting its Is and crossing its Ts. At this time, GAWU recalls that the AFC in a statement issued on December 7, 2017, said among other things, “[t]he Party insists that as per the requirements in law, severance must be in place”. Based on the now admissions by the AFC leaders who are also Cabinet members, they were well aware that the call issued in their statement was utterly wrong and, therefore, par-

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman addressing the gathering at the launch on Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel

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uyanese businesses will have a chance to network and learn from leaders in the oil and gas industry at the inaugural Guyana International Petroleum Business Summit (GIPEX).

GIPEX 2018 is being hosted by the Natural Resources Ministry from February 7-9.

At a launch on Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel, subject Minister Raphael Trotman noted Guyana “is about to take off”.

“We are providing a platform and an opportunity for all of those who speak about local content and the desire to see more of it, to actually shake hands and to actually touch the Schlumbergers and the others who do this and have been doing this for the last 10 and five decades,” Minister Trotman pointed out.

The three-day summit will see some 50 local and international companies participating in the event, which is being coordinated

by Valiant Business Media.

Managing Director Shariq Abdul Hai noted that some 350 to 400 executives and high-level industry leaders

FROM PAGE 4

ticipated actively to mislead and hoodwink the Guyanese people and more so the thousands in the sugar belt who are affected by the callous and cruel plans to minimise the sugar industry.

For GAWU, it is disheartening also to recognise that the AFC’s press conference took place on the same day that the world took time to pause and reflect on the life and work of Dr Martin Luther King whose advocacy on behalf of the downtrodden is well-known and which serves as an inspiration for the working and oppressed people of the world.

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine General Secretary GAWU

were expected to be in attendance.

Hai pointed out that while the Government was a partner in coordinating the event, the cost was being fully covered by the Private Sector. ExxonMobil is the lead sponsor of the summit.

Hai noted that sponsors will be subsidising the cost to allow local businesses to participate in the summit.

The Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) is the lead organiser for the Government. CEO Owen Verwey also reiterated that the summit provided an opportunity for local businesses to benefit from joint ventures with international companies as well as gain knowledge from the workshops and panel discussions that will be held during the summit.

GIPEX 2018 aims to promote Guyana’s oil and gas sector while exposing local businesses to the industry’s best practices. Areas that will be covered during the conference include using oil

to remain green; overcoming challenges and supporting the growth of independent, indigenous producers and service providers, and providing Government priorities relating to the petroleum industry to provide insight into opportunities available in the future.

On the final day of the summit, there will be an exhibition, which is open to the public. Meanwhile, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin noted that the summit was an opportunity for the Government and the Private Sector to showcase Guyana as a business destination.

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thursDAY, january 18, 2018

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guyanatimesgy.com

Foundation

…parents can take certain actions to help children excel in their chosen pursuits

By Paula L White, MA

I

didn’t find out that Dr Martin Luther King, Jr was a bad speller until I began taking the course his sister taught me in college.

I was preparing to become a teacher, and the class was titled “The Fundamentals of Teaching Reading.” It was there that she mentioned that as a child, her brother didn’t spell very well at all.

When a fellow student said she was stunned to learn this, I discovered that the brother my professor was referring to was no ordinary sibling, but was, in fact, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, a supremely articulate man who is arguably the most globally respected American of our time.

When I heard about Dr King’s childhood spelling skills, I longed to ask my professor a few questions.

For starters, the fact that Dr King had such a command of the English language, yet was not very good at spelling made me wonder about his parents’ reaction.

Did they punish him for not excelling in this area? And, how much did they worry about what would eventually be his fate? I never got the nerve to pose these questions, but as I continued to think about Dr King’s aptitudes and how his family may have supported his success, it became

clear that while they may not have minimised his orthographic challenge, they certainly didn’t use it to define him.

Parents are the adults most responsible for determining their children’s personal legacies, but h o w

much impact on a child can a parent really have?

Quite a bit in fact, so while children are the final arbiters of who they will become, when parents ponder if moms and dads can increase the likelihood that their children will fully realise their talents, I’m happy to report that the answer is yes.

Here are three ways parents can do this:

1. Take a strengthsbased perspective of your child. What if Dr King’s family had taken a deficit approach to his skills? They would likely have discouraged him from writing o r forced him to put it on hold to focus

only o n r a d i cally improving his spelling first.

Certainly, many parents, particularly during that era where language conventions were greatly emphasised, might have taken that approach. But while spelling is important, so too is generating ideas and expressing them well. By not stifling this aptitude of Dr Kings during his childhood, his parents allowed it to flourish.

Think about something that your child isn’t good at right now, and ask yourself, “Am I more focused on this than on something else that my child does very,

very well?” If the answer to this question is yes, it’s time to reframe your thinking – not ignoring the place where your child needs to improve but being sure to also reinforce him strongly in the area in which his

greate s t talent seems to lie.

2. Expose your children to new opportunities, then let them lead the way. In a study done with aspiring scientists selected to participate in a demanding summer science programme at a university, the majority of programme participants identified early science exposure fostered by a close family member as being responsible for initially sparking their interest in the field. The implication of this study is not that you as a parent are responsible for authoring your children’s interests, but it does mean that you have a role to play in enabling access to various opportunities that will help them to find their passion.

Michael Phelps, the most decorated male swimmer of the current era, began swimming in part because his mother wanted him to participate in activities that would be a good outlet for his boundless energy. However, after his swimming got underway, his mother fostered open dialogue about his continued interest so that he could make the decision about his own future in the sport.

There will be times when your children are not at all interested in the avenues you steer them to but it is only through exposure and some inevitable “hits and misses” that they will ultimately unearth their interests and passions. Begin

with short introductions – a six-week tennis class or an all-day acting workshop.

This way, you can reasonably hold your child accountable for finishing what he starts without c o m mitting

him t o something that is oppressively long if, in fact, he dislikes that new pursuit.

3. Make a loving parent push.

Early experience, coaching, practice, and motivation are four correlates of extremely high achievement in children. However, research tells us that parents play a pivotal role as the mediator of these factors. This translates to the idea that for moms and dads, little things mean a lot. Finding the right coach to fit your child’s needs, curtailing your own personal ambitions to support your child’s, artfully managing logistics in family scheduling, and providing words of encouragement on those days when a child has no desire to rehearse a speech or practice on his violin, are all part of the realm of possibilities for a parent to give a nudge to their children’s success.

What does it all mean?

In the end, too many unwieldy internal and external variables abound for parents or anyone else to definitively craft a recipe for a child’s success. Fortunately, life is a dynamic journey that children can almost always successfully navigate, even if it means changing course, thus rewriting their story when they get off to a rocky start. It’s good to know that parents can help.

By being intentional with actions, parents can clear the path to maximise the conditions for their children to develop their greatest talents and realise their fullest potential. (psychologytoday.com)

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thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Guyana-Venezuela border controversy

UN’s ruling could take 2 years – Greenidge T

he United Nations Secretary General António Guterres’s decision on the GuyanaVenezuela border controversy could take as much as two years to be handed down if needs be, Vice President and Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge said on Wednesday.

Providing an update on the matter, the Minister said that nothing new has happened since the Good Offices Process ended on December 31, 2017 and a commitment was made to clearly outline the way forward by the Secretary General.

The Secretary General undertook to make a decision after a process which ended on December 31. “It is possible of course that he could take two years to answer…We are still waiting on the Secretary General to carry out his responsibilities,” Greenidge told <<Guyana Times>>> on Wednesday.

However, the Minister said given the circumstances by which he was invited to carry out his mandate under the 1966 Agreement, Guterres was fully aware of the urgency of this matter.

“And the fact that when

Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge

the Guyana Government called on him to intervene, it wasn’t only because Venezuelan troops were on our borders, but because the continuation of this controversy caused by Venezuela claiming that the 1899 Treaty was null and void was having an effect on Guyana,” he added.

“The Secretary General would know that during personal discussions with his personal representative, we made it very clear that our main concern was to embark on the process identified under the Geneva Agreement,

but one that required an urgent resolution…And I don’t think we have to beat him over the head every week to tell him that,” Greenidge continued.

Director General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ambassador Audrey Jardine-Waddell had told sections of the media that after the Personal Representative to the Secretary General, Dag Halvor Nylander submitted his report on enhanced mediation efforts, the UN Head would decide the next step.

“December 31 wasn’t

the date of the decision.

December 31 was when the process ended….Having received the report from his personal representative, the Secretary General will now make his decision and inform us of the decision,” Jardine-Waddell was quoted as saying.

There have been reports that Secretary General Guterres could inform the two countries of his decision before the end of March 2018.

“He didn’t have to inform us on December 31st; that was the date when the process ended,” Waddell reiterated.

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had given an undertaking that 2017 would have been the last year of mediation to end the border controversy. If that process failed, the con-

troversy would be referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the UN. Guyana maintains that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award that settled the boundary issue between Guyana and Venezuela was full and final. But Venezuela has, for several decades, registered its diplomatic and military objection to Guyana’s development of its natural resources onshore and offshore.

Venezuela, with almost 40 times the population of Guyana and a territory that is several times bigger, purported to claim in 1968 the entire territorial sea of Guyana by means of the Leoni Decree, which has never been withdrawn.

On the military front, Venezuela’s navy in October 2013 seized the Malaysian-

owned seismic research vessel, <<<Teknik Perdana>>>, that had been conducting surveys in a Guyanese oil concession offshore Essequibo for the US company, Anadarko Petroleum.

In May 2015 when ExxonMobil officially announced a large oil find in its offshore Stabroek Block concession, Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro had unilaterally extended his country’s maritime boundary to include almost all of Guyana’s maritime space.

He, however, backed down after intense pressure from the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) after it became known that his unilateral maritime demarcation had also included almost all of the Caribbean islands.

8 news

thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

IN THE COURTS Lindeners remanded for narco possession

A portion of marijuana that was reportedly found on Henry Conway

S

eventeen-year-old Shequan Alleyne of Block 22, Linden, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) was on Wednesday morning remanded to prison

by City Magistrate Fabayo Azore one day after he was busted in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown with 16 grams

of amphetamines for the purpose of trafficking.

Alleyne denied the indictable offence while his lawyer, Leslie Benjamin, appealed for bail on the grounds that her client was expecting a child and was about to be married.

The prosecution, howev-

er, raised objections based on the seriousness of the charge and Magistrate Azore agreed. As such, the defendant was denied his pre-trial liberty.

Alleyne will return to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on February 7, for the continuation of the trafficking case.

Meanwhile in a separate case, a 55-year-old Lindener was charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking on Wednesday morning.

Henry Conway, of Lot 162 Amelia’s Ward, Linden, appeared before Magistrate Christel Lambert at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court.

The prosecution contended that Conway was searched and arrested on Tuesday evening by ranks

Shequan Alleyne

on patrol at Two Miles, Mabura, Region 10. The man was reportedly found with 547 grams of cannabis.

In court on Wednesday, Conway denied the charge.

He was remanded to prison. The case continues on February 13.

Teen remanded for raping 7-year-old

A

16-year-old male from Georgetown was on Wednesday remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for his alleged sexual activity with a seven-year-old male relative.

Due to the nature of the incident which occurred earlier this month and the ages of the parties involved, the matter was heard in-camera at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The case will continue on January 26.

Accused bicycle thief remanded

Mark Mangal

F

orty-seven-yearold carpenter, Mark Mangal, of Hadfield Street, Lodge, Georgetown was on Wednesday denied bail for allegedly stealing a pedal cycle.

It is alleged that Mangal stole Oslyn Warston’s bicycle on January 12, 2018 at Barr Street, Kitty, Georgetown.

Warston’s wife told Magistrate Fabayo Azore that the defendant is in the habit of constantly threatening her husband whenever he receives bail for offences.

The man however rejected the woman’s statements and pled not guilty when the charge was read to him. He was remanded.

Ignoring history I

…in politics n a very sympathetic letter on the sugar workers’ plight – occasioned by the President’s unilateralism in executing his pre-elections promise to stick it to the sugar industry, one analyst made a throwaway comment approving the President’s unilateralism on his GECOM chair appointment. In this he agrees with the Chief Justice, but since the case was appealed to the CCJ, “the fat lady” hasn’t sung her song as yet.

In your Eyewitness’ estimation, some folks are still missing the point about the compromise struck by President Carter of the US and Premier George Price of Belize who crafted the “formula” that broke the impasse on getting out of rigged elections in Guyana. The whole point of the formula was to seek to achieve a greater legitimacy in the electoral process that had been abused for over two decades – in the eyes of the Guyanese people.

ALL the people – not just the supporters of one party.

After all, Burnham had been allowed to get away with his rigging and fiddling of elections by unilaterally picking a pliable and pliant GECOM chair during those 20 years because he played on the fears of his supporters about “those people” winning. Those fears are still there and Granger is hoping he’ll be able to get with matching the Founder Leader’s stride with his unilateralism.

Now of course no one can say with absolute certainty that (Chief?) Justice Benjamin will be as pliant as the other two real Chief Justices who’d been picked by Burnham. But this is simply the dilemma that’s presented by all inductive reasoning. Not because previous unilaterally Chief Justices allowed the rigging of elections means this one will do the same. But in real life one has to go with the odds. We can’t be absolutely sure the sun will rise in the East tomorrow, can we?

But because of our experience, we confidently peer out every morning and expect to see the sun. And it’s the same with this presidential unilateralism on picking the GECOM chair. While partisans of the PNC (let’s get real with this “APNU” business, shall we?) are willing to close their eyes – even as they hold their noses – surely no one expects those who were on the receiving end of rigging for two decades will roll over and play dead.

The courts (and commentators) should therefore look to the SPIRIT of the law – not just the LETTER. A “poorly drafted” law shouldn’t be allowed to cause harm. And that’s why, early on, the courts invented the Maxims of Equity.

In this case your Eyewitness suggests: “Equity will not allow a statute to be used as a cloak for fraud.” Much less the Constitution. …in political proposals Back in the Middle Ages, there was a phenomenon called “scholasticism”, practiced by – who else? – scholastics.

These were a bunch of churchmen trying to break out of the thinking of the “Dark Ages”. It was actually a METHOD of learning that concentrated in extending knowledge by “inference”. Now with this method, of course, everything depends on your starting premises.

One famous example that illustrates their methodology has to do with figuring out “how many angels could dance on the head of a pin?” Yep…that’s right. Think of what premises THEY started from!! Anyhow, your Eyewitness was reminded of the Scholastics’ fatuous disputations and inferences by the welter of proposals on us getting out of our political morass that are being thrown out by our newspapers “scholars”.

All of them, unfortunately refuse to acknowledge the existence of the real world as they spin their proposals.

In the real world of Guyanese ethnic politics, do they really think decisions are made by “rational choice”? …on LGE APNU says they’ll contest the LGE together!! As opposed to what? The five micro-parties contesting against the PNC and PPP? Ha!!

But what about the PNC’s old vow not to contest as a party but allow “the people” to select local leaders?

Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

News

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thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Parking meters are back …MAPM vows more protests would be held in Miami despite the jurisdiction being Guyana.

By Lakhram Bhagirat

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mart City Solutions (SCS) and the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of the City of Georgetown have reached a new agreement under the controversial Parking Meter Project, which will now see persons paying $150 per hour and $800 for eight hours of parking in the city.

This new structure was presented at a Special Statutory Meeting called to discuss the recommendations of the Parking Meter Renegotiation Committee, on Wednesday.

“Pay for time instead of space was agreed to by both parties, thus allowing persons to move from location to location until the time paid for is exhausted. This will allow for the transferability of time from meter to meter,” Councillor Akeem Peter proudly boasted.

Meanwhile, residents of the city would be issued with a restricted residential pass for free parking from 17:00h-19:00h Monday to Friday while parking will be free on Saturdays.

The M&CC had entered into a contract with SCS Inc on May 13, 2016, for parking meters to be implemented in Georgetown, but following heavy objection and intense protest from citizens, Central Government suspended the by-laws of the project.

Not enough time

Some of the Councillors at the Special Statutory Meeting on Wednesday

The renegotiated contract with SCS and the restructured fees come in light of a recent High Court ruling quashing the by-laws of the controversial project. The city, through its lawyers, has filed an appeal to the ruling.

The renegotiation committee’s report noted that SCS has agreed that the condition for enforcement of paid parking in the city be in conjunction with the parking meter by-laws, despite those by-laws being quashed.

Chairman of the renegotiating committee, Councillor Akeem Peter said that there were 15 consultation sessions, with 13 of them being the Committee just meeting to discuss a way forward before meeting with the representatives from SCS. He noted that SCS was cooperative during the renegotiation phase and that while some of the terms of

the original contract remain unchanged, both parties agreed to modify as many critical terms as possible to satisfy the needs of the general public.

Modified contract

Under the modified contract, both parties have agreed to have an oversight committee set up to monitor, review and manage the operations of the project. The committee is expected to have three representatives from City Hall, three from SCS and one third-party, with the terms of reference for the committee expected to be agreed upon at a later date.

During his lengthy synopsis of the renegotiation process, Peter noted it was agreed that the project shall be reviewed every six months for the first three years, both the operational and financial aspects of the project. Additionally, there would be no imme-

diate booting for the first three months following the recommencement of the project, but after the grace period, failure to pay parking fees for up to three violations would result in booking or towing. Peter also said under the new arrangement SCS may recommend that City Hall put a vehicle up for auction after 60 days of it being unclaimed.

Peter also proudly boasted that schools and religious organisations would now be required to write SCS seeking consideration to be exempted from paid parking.

The committee’s report noted that during the renegotiations, the subject of the shared profit and he contract was discussed and it was agreed to have it remain the same – 20/80 M&CC-SCS for a period of 20 years. It was also disclosed that in the event of arbitration the proceedings

The final report of the committee was presented to Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase Green on Monday and sent to Councillors around 18:00h on Tuesday.

Several of the Councillors complained of not enough time being allotted for them to peruse the 90 plus pages of the document.

Councillor Alfred Mentore said that he would have preferred more time to decipher the minutes of the meetings the committee had with SCS so that he could seek clarifications and he would have also wanted to have his constituents’ input in his final decision.

“I’m not saying I’m not in support of parking meters. I am in support of parking meters and how we go about dealing with parking meters, but the mad rush to push it through is what I’m concerned about,” Mentore noted.

Councillors Khame Sharma, Bishram Kuppen and Deputy Mayor Lionel Jaikaran also reiterated that position.

Scrapped

The Deputy Mayor during his charged presentation on the recommendations of the report reiterated that the contract should

be scrapped, and the process restarted since it was a project that was shrouded in secrecy. He added that while he was not against metered parking, he was against the process that led to SCS being the contractor since the initial contract lacked transparency.

“The matter is still in front of the court and it is sub judice…I feel that this contract should not have been renegotiated… we need help and parking meters would offer relief coupled with proper traffic management, but I don’t believe Smart City is the solution…you could put lipstick on a pig and at the end of the day, it’s still a pig,” Jaikaran noted.

More protests

Following the implementation of the parking meters, a civil society group – Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM) was formed and played an instrumental role in the suspension of the by-laws of the controversial project.

A member of that group, Don Singh, was at the Special Statutory Meeting and following the recommendations, he noted that the MAPM was willing to take to the streets again to ensure that the project was scrapped.

He said that they would continue to monitor the project closely and would take the necessary action.

10 news Acting Appeal Judge appointed to tackle backlog thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

I

n light of the current shortage of Judges at the Guyana Court of Appeal, President David Granger has appointed University of West Indies (UWI) Lecturer,

Dr Christopher Arif Bulkan, as an acting Appeal Judge.

However, his temporary appointment will only last six months.

The swearing-in ceremo-

ny was held at State House on Wednesday and among those present were members of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) – the body responsible for making

the recommendation to the President.

In an invited comment, Dr Bulkan told reporters that he looks forward to working with all stakeholders to address the backlog of cases, which currently plagues the judicial system.

“Because they are under-staffed right now, my position will help to clear up the backlog or go somewhere towards that,” he said.

Having worked at the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chambers and being a Magistrate here, Dr Bulkan believes he would be able to make some headway in clearing up the backlog within his short tenure.

“It would mean less adjournments, it would mean lawyers will get to present their cases and so on,” he added.

Although Dr Bulkan has never served as a High Court Judge in Guyana, his appointment was recommended to the President after he was interviewed by the JSC. Asked how Bulkan’s

Dr Christopher Arif Bulkan taking the oath of office on Wednesday

name found its way before the Commission, Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams could not say.

However, he did note that the Constitution does provide for the appointment of acting Justices of Appeal.

Nevertheless, Williams posited that he believes the newly appointed Appeal Judge (ag) has the ability to acquit himself excellently.

Meanwhile, President Granger in brief remarks

highlighted the importance of efficient and timely dispensation of justice by the local courts, which he said are fundamental bases for a lawbased State such as Guyana.

In this regard, he added that the Judiciary is the vital organ in the preservation of the system of law and order.

He went onto reaffirmed his Government’s commitment in ensuring that the judicial system remains independent.

Bulkan was appointed under Article 128 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana, which provides that, “Judges, other than the Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall be appointed by the President who shall act in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC)”.

Also in attendance at the swearing in ceremony were Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, Chief Justice (ag) Justice Roxane George, and Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

2 Guyanese, 5 Venezuelans nabbed with illegal fuel

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wo Guyanese, along with five Venezuelans, were on Wednesday nabbed by ranks of G Division (Essequibo Coast and Islands) with illegal fuel.

They are currently in Police custody assisting

with investigations.

According to information reaching Guyana Times, a joint operation was conducted by personnel from the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) and Police, and around midday they intercepted an un-

named unregistered wooden vessel at the mouth of the Pomeroon River.

The vessel was loaded with approximately 100 barrels of gasoline. The captain, along with the other occupants, was arrested.

news

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thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

4 lawyers appointed Logger killed by falling tree Senior Counsel A wood cutter from Bethany, an Amerindian community in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) tragically lost his life on Wednesday evening after a tree fell on him.

Dead is 51-yearold Brimsley Jeffrey, of Bethany, Supenaam Creek.

Jeffrey was at the time cutting logs at Seklehleh backdam, Supenaam Creek along with two of his sons when a tree fell and hit him

on his head.

He was rushed to the Suddie Public Hospital with severe head injuries and was pronounced dead on arrival.

His body is currently at the Suddie Mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination.

City Council hoping for debt-free 2018

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From left: Kalam Azad Juman Yassin, Josephine Whitehead, President David Granger, Andrew Mark Fitzgerald Pollard and Fitz Le Roy Peters

P

resident David Granger on Wednesday presented four long-serving legal practitioners with their instruments of commission, elevating them to senior counsel. The new senior counsels are Kalam Azad Juman Yassin, Fitz Le Roy Peters, Andrew Mark Fitzgerald Pollard and Josephine Whitehead.

There were all officially appointed at a ceremony held in the Baridi Benab at State House.

“The title is: a national symbol, alongside other symbols – national honours and awards, anthem, coat of arms, flag and motto – that

define our Guyanese identity; a professional symbol that distinguishes attorneys of erudition, experience, eminence and excellence; a social symbol representing the values of duty and integrity and the standards of social responsibility and respect for the law,” President Granger said.

Noting that the award of the honour of Senior Counsel recognises those whose service in the legal profession has evinced these values and standards, the President said that the simple but significant ceremony constitutes, as President of Guyana, an important personal obligation. “Guyana,

GDF rank charged for $5M robbery

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n active Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Lance Corporal was slapped with a host of charges brought against him after he reportedly used an unlicensed gun to carry out a string of robberies on at least two victims in which over $5 million in cash and valuables was stolen.

The defendant, 21-yearold A Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown resident, Jamal Hazel was remanded to prison following his arraignment before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman on Tuesday and denied the robbery under arms and unlicensed gun and ammunition possession charges.

According to the prosecution’s case, while being in the company of others and armed with a gun at Kitty, Georgetown, Hazel robbed Andrea Purdessy of one mobile phone valued $210,000 and $400,000 cash. It was further alleged that the GDF Lance Corporal also on January 11 at Pike Street, Kitty, robbed the said victim of $4.5 million, being armed with a gun.

The prosecution is contending that according to additional evidence obtained by investigators, on January 10 at North Road, Georgetown, while being in the company of others and armed with a gun, Hazel robbed Budram Hemraj of a brush cutter valued $100,000.

On January 13 at Middle Road, La Penitence,

Georgetown, Police said that they found the Lance Corporal with nine rounds of .38 ammunition in his possession when he was not the holder of a valid firearm licence. It was further alleged that at the same time, the serving army member had a .38 pistol when he was not the holder of a valid firearm licence.

After the charges were presented, Hazel denied them all. He was represented by defence lawyer George Thomas, who applied for bail on claims that his client was taken to the dumpsite in Eccles, East Bank Demerara and severely beaten by Police on two occasions. Police Prosecutor Arvin Moore, however, objected to bail on the grounds of the seriousness of the offence, the penalty which the charges carry and the fact that the defendant was a soldier. Moore noted that Hazel’s occupation has a mandate to serve and protect. The Prosecutor further added that the accused was positively identified by one of the Virtual Complainants (VCs). After considering the charges and subsequent applications by both sides, Magistrate Latchman refused bail and the serving Joint Services member was remanded to prison. The Principal Magistrate adjourned the matter to January 30 when Hazel will make another appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

acknowledges their exertions during their long legal careers and applauds their accomplishments at the Bar,” he said.

“I am a trustee of the traditions which sustain society. I am duty-bound to recognise those who have served with distinction. It is my obligation, not an option, to respect our national system of honours,” the Head of State said.

he Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is hoping to sustain itself with viable plan to stay out of debt.

This is according to Mayor Patricia Chase Green, who, during an interview with Guyana Times, said that she was confident of her plan to do so.

The Mayor was asked on Tuesday about the constant debt crisis at City Hall.

“As of now, we don’t owe Cevon’s and Purans, anything other for the work that they have done. I think that payment would come on time. We are going to look at it; our finance committee would meet. As I said that we should not be owing,” she

stated.

She explained how they would be dealing with payment to these companies, “While our contracts say that you have a 90 days’ grace period to pay them what is owed, if you take 90 days to pay them for January you talking about till April, while you wait till April to pay for January, you have February and March coming down the line. We would try to pay much earlier so we don’t have that backlog that we had, because the Government has indicated that they are not going to take us out of any deep waters.”

In hopes to further control the garbage situation,

the City Council is also expecting to purchase two garbage trucks this year, utilising the $200 million allocated to them by the Government in the 2018 budget.

In late 2017, the City Council found itself in hot water, owing hundreds of millions to garbage collection contractors, Cevon’s Waste Management Inc and Puran Bros Disposal Service. In an attempt to deal with this backlog of payment, Councillors had voted to seek a bailout from the Government through the Communities Ministry.

The bailout had been granted until December 31.

12 news

thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

3 new foreign diplomats accredited T hree new ambassadors were accredited by President David Granger during separate ceremonies at State House on Wednesday.

Those accredited were new Non-Resident Ambassador

of the Republic of Georgia to Guyana, David Solomonia; Non-Resident Ambassador Mohammed Ahmad Al-Hayki, of State of Qatar and NonResident High Commissioner, Haralambos Kafkarides, of the Republic of Cyprus.

Speaking at the accreditation ceremony of Ambassador David Solomonia, President David Granger said Guyana is looking forward to sharing experiences and expertise with the Republic of Georgia, as both countries move to

From left: Minister within the Communities Ministry, with responsibility for public affairs, Dawn Hastings-Williams; Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge; High Commissioner Haralambos Kafkarides; President David Granger; Mrs Kafkarides and Director General Audrey Waddell

pursue green development initiatives.

The President noted that Guyana’s efforts to improve conditions of life for all its citizens and Georgia’s proven expertise in several fields of common interest represent a platform for enduring cooperation. He also underscored the fruitful bilateral cooperation that Guyana and Georgia have shared over the past six years. This cooperation has resulted in an agreement between the two

countries for visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic, official and service passports and the Memorandum of Understanding for political, economic and social cooperation between the Foreign Affairs Ministries of Guyana and Georgia. Additionally, Guyanese students have benefited from scholarships, which the President said has advanced relations and common interests.

Echoing the President’s sentiments, Ambassador

Ambassador of the Republic of Georgia to Guyana, David Solomonia laying a wreath at the Independence Arch at Brickdam

Solomonia said there is much scope for improved trade and economic exchanges between the two states which has the potential to significantly enhance social welfare and economic prosperity.

Guyana and Georgia established diplomatic relations in April 2012, aimed primarily at promoting greater understanding and increasing people-to-people contact.

Meanwhile, the President invited the State of Qatar to examine ways of investing in the development of the emergent oil and gas sector.

According to the Head of State, Guyana and Qatar have utilised their membership in organisations such as the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to advance their shared interests. This, he said, is a reflection of the two countries’ confidence in the efficacy of multilateral diplomacy to address international issues which are beyond the capacities of single states, strong or weak, rich or poor.

Continued on page 13

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thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Wedding Expo 2018 launched

Couples showcasing wedding attire at the launch of Wedding Expo 2018

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he 10th Annual Wedding Expo, hosted

by Roraima Airways, was launched on Wednesday at Duke Lodge, Georgetown.

With great pomp and high expectations for a grand event this year, the Wedding Expo was officially opened.

The Expo is said to provide yet another opportunity for a couple to win a million-dollar wedding.

The Chief Executive

Officer (CEO) of Roraima Airways, Captain Gerry Gouveia said that the Expo would provide the selected couple with an all-expenses paid wedding and other opportunities such as an all-expenses paid honeymoon package with the couple getting to choose from an array of destinations to visit.

The Wedding Expo was inspired by a similar event held in Jamaica, and was

3 new foreign...

brought home by one of the Roraima managers who proposed to have the event for couples hoping to get married.

The event started with just 10 exhibitors, but has, over the years, grown to feature a wide array of attractions beyond just the wedding aspect.

Small businesses in Guyana will also be given an opportunity to showcase their offerings.

From page 12

Ambassador Mohammed Ahmad Al-Hayki, of the State of Qatar receives a military salute upon his arrival at State House

Ambassador Al-Hayki informed that his country has committed to using its financial resources to invest in education, health and social welfare and human resources development.

These investments have resulted in Qatar having one of the most advanced educational systems and some of the best universities in the world.

Guyana and Qatar established diplomatic relations in August 1996.

Additionally, received Letters of Credence were accepted from High Commissioner Haralambos

Kafkarides, as the non-Resident High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to Guyana. The new High Commissioner will reside in Brasilia, Brazil.

President Granger said the relationship between the two countries is founded on mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, cooperation for mutual benefit, respect for treaties and international law and the maintenance of regional peace and security.

Meanwhile, High

Commissioner Kafkarides said Cyprus attaches great importance to the strengthening of its relations with Guyana at both the bilateral and multilateral levels. “Our two countries have signed a number of bilateral agreements and we are discussing the conclusion of others. High-level official visits have also contributed to the enhancement of our bonds of friendship and cooperation,” he said.

Guyana and Cyprus established formal diplomatic ties 45 years ago, in February 1972.

14 news

thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

State’s legal advisers deny backlog of cases from SOCU same way as some of the cases he left.

“I do not make decisions on behalf of SOCU,” Dr Sittlington related. “(But) there’s a number of recommendations I made last year, which although approved have not yet been implemented. The five special prosecutors that we have also have private practices so they are conflicted between two different areas.”

“Ideally, we want one good British expert, Dr Sam Sittlington

Police Legal Advisor, (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh

ritish financial crimes expert, Dr Sam Sittlington, has decried the slothfulness with which cases investigated by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) are being processed, but the State’s top legal advisers have denied holding up the prosecution of these cases.

Last week, Dr Sittlington, who has returned as an adviser to SOCU, expressed concern that there has been little done to take the financial crime cases, which have close to $300 billion at stake, before the courts.

On this note, the white-collar crime expert said that he would soon be meeting with Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack; Police Legal Advisor, retired Justice Claudette Singh and SOCU’s special prosecutors to determine the reasons for the delay and work on a solution.

However, on Wednesday, Justice Singh told reporters that all the cases from SOCU

that were before her were still active.

“All the matters which I have are in progress. There’re things being done like for example Pradoville, we are seeking valuations. So, I don’t know what he is talking about,” she asserted.

The Police Legal Advisor could not say how many SOCU cases were before her, but explained that certain files had to be returned to the investigators for further work to be done. “…so it’s not like the files are static,” she defended.

Nevertheless, Justice Singh pointed out that while investigators as well as the British expert would like to see results and have the cases prosecuted, due diligence has to be exercised.

“They feel that they must charge right away… (but) we cannot just go and charge people… They would have done their investigations but even after investigations, files are not completed ,so you have to

B

DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack

then advise on them and then you would see certain things missing and you would need certain statements, so that is it,” she added.

Justice Singh noted that she too was awaiting a meeting, which has not been scheduled as yet, with Dr Sittlington to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, DPP Ali-Hack also denied having a backlog of cases, revealing that only four files from SOCU were before her Chambers presently.

“We only received four files from SOCU last week and those files have received attention,” she said. The DPP added too that one of those files was returned to SOCU last week, while the other three should be back by the end of today.

At a press conference last week, Dr Sittlington also lamented that recommendations like hiring in-house legal counsel for SOCU and special prosecutors to assist the Police Legal Advisor (PLA) are languishing in much the

lawyer in SOCU who can work with the cases … they can finalise a case before it goes to [the] PLA or DPP to try to quicken that actual process of getting that case to court,” Dr Sittlington noted.

He also noted that conflict sometimes arose between the PLA, the DPP and the special prosecutors. At the end of it all, Dr Sittlington acknowledged that undue delays were unfair to those being investigated from a human rights

perspective.

Dr Sittlington pointed out that with only four forensic audits resulting in court charges, SOCU presently has to deal with 26 forensic audits that could result in over 300 cases. Of these, he said, an estimated $170 billion could be at stake. In addition, Dr Sittlington revealed that SOCU was handling a number of referrals from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Stranded Cubans return home

…aircraft’s mechanical issue resolved

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number of Cubans who were stranded in Guyana over the past three days have started returning home as a mechanical issue affecting their Aruba Air aircraft has been resolved.

Reports are the delays were as a result of the mechanical defect arising from the engine of the Aruba Air aircraft being hit by birds Sunday.

“Aruba Air’s top priority is safety. The mechanical issue took a bit longer to rectify than initially anticipated and the aircraft is now back in service. Additionally, a second aircraft is being di-

verted to the Guyana route to effectively deal with the backlog of passengers,” said Captain Gerry Gouveia, Chief Executive Officer of Roraima Airways, the local representative of Aruba Air. Gouveia explained that a standard operating arrangement was in place for delayed Aruba Air passengers to be accommodated at Roraima’s Residence Inn, but owing to the extended delay additional accommodation had to be secured. This additional accommodation came in the form of Roraima Airways Residence Inn and Duke Lodge Hotels as well as the Diocesan Youth Centre in Subryanville and

the YWCA on Brickdam. He said that the affected passengers were provided with daily meals.

“Aruba Air had expected to have the Guyana flight operational on Monday, but the mechanical issue was not rectified by that time as was anticipated. This resulted in the need for additional accommodation at short notice and arrangements were immediately put in place to have them comfortably accommodated in groups so that they could interact among themselves and at the same time be communicated with together and updated on departure information,” Gouveia explained.

Free legal aid available for LGBT community …as SASOD launches paralegal services

Managing Director of SASOD, Joel Simpson

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ocal LGBT advocacy group, the Society Against Sexual Orientation and Discrimination (SASOD), on Wednesday launched their Community Paralegal Services initiative.

This initiative was launched owing to what they described as the lack of equal justice for persons in the LGBT community.

Managing Director of SASOD, Joel Simpson noted that although the organisation has been informally providing legal aid to LGBT persons for many years, this programme will aim to provide legal representation and justice for persons in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

“So the intention of the initiative is to address the unmet needs of LGBT persons and to strengthen the capacity of vulnerable communities and act on their rights. We are trying to deal with a diverse range of problems which include inter-partner violence, societal discrimination, domestic abuse, child sexual abuse and family violence, civil society groups are an invaluable link to accessing

justice,” Simpson explained.

Meanwhile, President of Guyana Trans United (GTU), Devanand Milton, shared an experience which saw the need for him to receive legal representation through the Community Paralegal Services Initiative. Milton explained that in September 2017, he was in the process of entering a minibus at the 32-bus park when he encountered a most unfortunate experience.

The GTU President was reportedly threatened by a bus driver who said, “If you know what is good for yourself you will come out this bus.”

Milton continued to share saying, “Often times it is difficult for LGBT persons to get legal support and representation because we can’t afford it. With this initiative in place, vulnerable persons more, like me, now have access to qualified and trained advocates who can navigate us through the legal system.”

The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) is funding the programme.

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the CVC, Kristina Mena, said they received a collaborative three-year grant from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. She said the grant is being implemented in eight Caribbean countries mainly Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, The Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.

“One of the key objectives of this grant is to improve the legal and policy environment to support the delivery of access to justice to key populations. One of the key actions under this programme is the community

Attorney Mishka Puran

paralegal programme, the community paralegals would support clients in terms of providing outreaches in legal literacy and human rights documenting and reporting human rights violations using the shared instant database which is an online tool that was Caribbean developed to support documentation and reporting human rights breaches, pursuing redress for clients and providing referrals for pro bono lawyers and supporting strategic litigation,” she noted.

Also working on the initiative is the Caribbean Lawyers for Social Justice (CariBono).

Attorney Mishka Puran and steering committee member of CariBono noted that, “CariBono is a network of human rights lawyers and advocates dedicated to facilitating access to justice and legal services for members of vulnerable communities.” Additionally, she noted that there are five practicing attorneys in Guyana who are members of CariBono providing pro-bono services to SASOD’s Community Paralegal Services Initiative.

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ommitment and drive.

Josephine Tapp has them in spades. Over the course of a late-night Facebook Messenger conversation that spanned more than four hours, that became more than evident.

The second-year-old law student, who with a ‘lol’ described herself selfdeprecatingly as “quite average, actually…Nothing too special other than some passions and a bit of commitment”, started her scented candle company Wick’et one month ago – inspired by her mom’s love of candles.

Wick’et is all about “creating unique, novelty scented candles”, Tapp says. “Candles that represent various aspects of fandoms, such as Harry Potter and Pokémon ( d u e mostly to me being a fangirl myself who wanted to own such c a n d l e s , but found shipping to be inconvenient), and also aspects of Guyanese life and culture, like our Christmas, our countryside, and cricket.”

“It took me a while to find a name I liked. I didn’t want a name based solely on the product or on my own name, and I love puns. So I thought, wicks are in candles, cricket (which I think most recognise as an integral part of Guyanese culture) has a wicket and that was what I got.”

But the Facebook-based company almost never existed,

as Tapp confessed that she was “rather reluctant to start such a venture” when she already had a sizable workload. “However, through my interactions with a fellow student, Jubilante Cutting, who does so much with her time, even starting her own foundation (Guyana Animation Network), I thought “….I can”,”

Market statistics

Gold Prices – Guyana Gold Board

Cambio Rates

Calculated at 94% purity, Jan 17, 2018

Bank of Guyana Cur

Buying

she disclosed.

Asked how she juggles her various responsibilities, Tapp said: “To be honest, candle making is almost therapy for me, so I actually consider it a break from school work to take the time to create my candles. Still, in terms of the business aspect, my mom is a major help. Since

Selling

USD

$1335.65

GBP

$284.07

$287.66

Gross

$261,623

CAN

$165.58

$167.49

Net

$243,310

USD

$205.98

$208.44

EURO

$251.46

$254.67

Indicators as on January 17, 2018 Indicators

US$ per barrel

Crude Oil

$69.15

Price

USD

Change %

-1.04 Change %

Rough Rice

$267.52/ton

+2.96

London Sugar

$363.40/ton

-2.15

Live Spot Gold

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1328.00

$1329.00

Low/High

$1325.90

$1341.20

Change

+1.40

+0.11%

Business Concept – Working Capital 1. 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.

2. 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. Sources of working capital are (1) net income; (2) long-term loans; (3) sale of capital assets, and (4) injection of funds by stockholders. Ample working capital allows management to take advantage of unexpected opportunities, and to qualify for bank loans and favourable trade credit terms. (Business Dictionary)

I don’t have a physical location as yet, she does my deliveries for me and gives me advice on pricing and so forth, saving me a lot of time.”

Tapp’s mom has been integral to the business in other aspects and her daughter lauded her ‘awesomeness’. “When I was starting, she told me that it’s important that I don’t drop this half-way, and adapt to whatever situations may arise. She started a company herself, on a much larger scale, so she knew it could be quite discouraging when you invest and it seems you’re not getting returns. But, yea, despite the fact that I have been tempted to do so (give up) on quite a few occasions – especially when I encountered problems with shipping or suppliers or financing – she has kept me motivated through it.”

Her mom also influenced Tapp to keep her candles (made of soy) all natural, since she would only purchase for herself candles made with natural ingredients.

Reflecting on her struggles, the 22-year-old said she has “learnt to see every setback as a way to find a new way of doing things”.

“I learnt to use words of doubt as encouragement. To use

that as motivation to people who were not supportive that I did it. Also, I realised that sometimes, persons who were reluctant to support me were doing it from a place of concern.

And that sometimes the persons who asked me 20 times if I was sure it will be successful cared about me and the success of my dream 20 times more than those who just said “do it.””

“Adaptability is very important, especially for producers; if you can’t get what you want when you need it, you need to find an alternative. Persistence. And enjoying what you’re doing.

Having a genuine desire to do whatever it is you set out to do, not only entrepreneurs, but in any career,” she noted in listing essential traits entrepreneurs need.

Her advice to budding entrepreneurs is: “Talk to your family and friends; a few persons, persons you care about deeply, will almost certainly express doubt, but take their advice and incorporate that doubt into your execution. Make sure you are prepared for what they are worried about. As I said, it’s not always that they mean to discourage. And do your thing. If you’re sure this is what you want to do, go for it.”

In terms of encouraging entrepreneurship, she believes “a cultural shift is required: the realisation that local can be,

15

and is, of just as high a quality as imported and that local producers do not benefit from the economies of scale that large suppliers do, so while they may be higher priced, they are worth supporting.

You’re pumping money into your own economy rather than that of India, China or the USA.” Revealing that the response to her candles which has been slow but good is growing, Tapp said: “Two varieties of my product have sold out completely. I look forward to seeing what this year brings and to finding new ways to keep my customers happy.”

The Triumph, East Coast Demerara resident explained that she hoped to expand her product line to include Game of Thrones and Guyanese forestscented candles and lip balms made from local wax.

Contact: https://www. facebook/wick’et/ or wicketcandles@gmail.com.

Persons can also order or buy Wick’et Scented Candles from Lit, 9 Kersaint Park, LBI, Georgetown, Guyana (https://www. facebook. com/lit.guyana/ ) or Kards Plus in the City Mall, Camp Street (https://www.facebook.com/ Kards-Plus-Greeting-Cards-GiftCentre-1452818688075590/) Want to be featured on the business page or know someone who should be or maybe you just have a comment? Contact businesspagegy@gmail.com

Business News Digital Wealth Creation Summit 2018 set for Feb 10

W

ith over 700 attendees and more than 100 testimonials and success stories from its first event in February 2017, The Masterclass Institute is excited to announce that the digital revolution continues!

After the massive success of Digital Wealth Creation Summit (DWCS) 2017, where global and local Internet marketing experts and online entrepreneurs showed attendees exactly how they can use technology (ie, phones, laptops, Internet) to make legitimate and life-changing money with the Internet, this year’s DWCS is focused on financial empowerment.

“We believe that empowerment is incomplete without financial empowerment.

We believe that if we work together to serve the world through digital mediums, we will have a stronger and more prosperous Guyana.” said Dr Rosh Khan, the founder /director of The Masterclass Institute.

DWCS 2018 will be held at The Guyana Marriott Hotel, Georgetown on Saturday, February 10, 2018.

Although this is a free event, it is also a ticketed event. Interested persons are advised to secure tickets as only 250 tickets were left at the time of this interview and they are going fast. To sign up, please visit: http://bit.ly/ DWCS2018, call The Masterclass Institute on 225-1842 or email exec@socialrankmedia.com.

Among the sponsors for this

Part of the audience at DWCS 2017

year’s event are FranklinCovey Guyana; the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED); Digicel; ScotiaBank; GeoTech Vision; Ming’s Products & Services (MPS); Starr Computers; and the Public Telecommunications Ministry.

This Summit is especially for entrepreneurs (whether veteran or aspiring); service professionals; students; or anyone that has a burning dream and desire to do what they love and to relentlessly pursue their dreams.

A few of the speakers and presenters include: Dr Khan, who is also the local franchise holder / lead consultant of FranklinCovey, the world leader in consulting and training for organisational and behavioural change; Gabriel Abed, Founder of Bitt.com, a Barbadosbased blockchain startup. He has a demonstrated history of working

in the computer software and financial tech industry with skills in bitcoin, blockchain, and central banking; Cathy Hughes, Minister of Public Telecommunications; Ramesh Persaud, CEO of IPED; Samantha Sheoprasad – the 2017 recipient of the Queen's Young Leaders Award.

Last year, Minister Hughes in an energetic presentation lauded The Masterclass Institute for its “out of the box businesses”, which have taken Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to a next level.

The Founder/Director said the Summit is being hosted to help Guyana’s entrepreneurs “participate in the ICT revolution” and to help Guyanese increase their income. “The technology is here, it has always been here but now it is time to apply strategic knowledge,” Khan added.

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thursDAY, january 18, 2018

Regional

World’s longest underwater cave Caricom denounces enslavement system discovered in Mexico by divers of African migrants in Libya

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A new record-holder lurks in the subterranean depths of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula

A

group of divers has connected two underwater caverns in eastern Mexico to reveal what is believed to be the biggest flooded cave on the planet. The discovery could also help shed new light on the ancient Maya civilisation.

The Gran Acuifero Maya, a project dedicated to the study and preservation of the subterranean waters of the Yucatan peninsula, said the 347km (216-mile) cave was identified after months of exploring a maze of underwater channels.

Near the beach resort of

Tulum, the group found that the cave system known as Sac Actun, once measured at 263km, connected with the 83km Dos Ojos system, the project said in a statement.

Sac Actun now absorbs Dos Ojos.

Guillermo de Anda, director and underwater archaeologist on the Gran Acuifero Maya team, said the “amazing” find would help to understand the development of the rich culture of the region, which was dominated by the Maya civilization before the Spanish conquest.

“It allows us to appreciate

much more clearly how the rituals, the pilgrimage sites and ultimately the great pre-Hispanic settlements that we know emerged,” he told Reuters.

The Yucatan peninsula is studded with monumental relics of the Maya people, whose cities drew upon an extensive network of sinkholes linked to subterranean waters known as cenotes.

Some cenotes acquired particular religious significance to the Maya, whose descendants continue to inhabit the region. (Excerpt from The Guardian)

St Vincent threatens to sue T&T over forex

T

he ongoing currency issue in which Vincentian traders in agricultural produce are unable to convert their earnings to Eastern Caribbean dollars after plying their trade in T&T could end up before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, told a press conference on Monday that while his Government has implemented shortterm measures of “a sensible, practical nature” to deal with the matter in Kingstown, a long-term solution is needed.

As a result of the ongoing situation, some traders have large stockpiles of T&T currency in Port of Spain and farmers in St Vincent are re-

Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves

luctant to sell their produce to these traders because of the delay in getting paid.

As result, Kingstown has set up a facility at the Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines that allows the conversion of T&T dollars to Eastern Caribbean dollars.

However, Port of Spain says it is constrained by a shortage of foreign exchange in its financial sector.

On Monday, for the second time this month, reporters asked Gonsalves about the situation, which he said he would raise at the upcoming intersessional meeting of Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders in Haiti next month.

“And I will raise it and I will make certain suggestions about certain things which we may have to do beyond what we have been trying,” the Prime Minister said.

Gonsalves, who is also a lawyer, said Port of Spain cannot simply say that things are difficult and it doesn’t have the foreign exchange. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

aribbean Community (Caricom) Foreign Ministers have denounced the enslavement of African migrants in Libya saying slavery should never again be experienced in old or new forms.

A statement issued by the Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat said that the Ministers met earlier this week for the first time this year and issued the statement expressing concern at the reports of the dehumanising situation of African migrants in Libya being auctioned into slavery by criminal elements.

It said that the Ministers joined in solidarity with the statements made by African and European leaders at the 5th African UnionEuropean Union Summit on November 29-30, 2017, calling for “an immediate end of these criminal practices” and with that of the United Nations Security Council on December 7, 2017 condemn-

Caricom Foreign Ministers met in Guyana

ing “such actions as heinous abuses of human rights”.

The statement said that the ministers also welcomed the statement by the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord of Libya denouncing “slavery and human trafficking” and committing to take action against the reported crimes.

“Given the history, lessons and effects of slavery, the (Community) Council (of Ministers of Caricom) underscored the need to condemn this gross violation of

human rights.

“As stated in 2007 by then Chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Dr Ralph Gonsalves, on the occasion of the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the TransAtlantic Slave Trade, slavery should “never again be experienced in old or new forms,” the statement added.

An estimated 700,000 migrants are in Libya, which is among the key transit pathways towards Europe, according to a UN estimate.

(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Suriname to regularise illegal Haitians

H

aiti says it is pleased with a decision by Suriname to regularise more than 1500 Haitians who have been residing in the Dutch Caribbean Community (Caricom) country.

Consul General of the Republic of Haiti in Suriname, Alex Jospitre, accompanied by the Vice Consul Rosario Alexandre held what has been described as “important and fruitful meeting” with Justice and Police Minister, Ferdinand Welzijn, regarding the regularisation of Haitians in the country.

A statement issued following the talks noted that Welzijn had reiterated Suriname is moving to ease the uncertainty regarding the irregular situation facing the estimated 1800 Haitians who had been able to obtain temporary residence for a two-year period through an initiative undertaken by the Desi Bouterse Government three months ago.

Jospitre said he was pleased with the outcome of the talks and the initiative “because our regularised compatriots will soon be entitled to social bene-

fits and civil rights such as access to health insurance coverage, driver’s licence, authorisation of work, the right to invest, the right to property, the possibility to marry foreigners, to move freely through and out of the country”.

In addition, Jospitre said that the meeting also explored other initiatives with the possibility of an extension of the process of legalisation, which expired on December 20 last year, for the benefit of Haitians who could not meet the requested documents and funds in time. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Fledgling political Brazil yellow fever: WHO warns parties merge ahead of travellers to Sao Paulo elections in Barbados

F

ive months before elections are constitutionally due in Barbados, two alliances have been formed among four of the island’s fledgling political groupings.

In the latest development, Barbados Integrity Movement (BIM) leader Neil Holder announced on Tuesday that his almost two-year-old old organisation has formed a political union with the New Barbados Kingdom Alliance (NBKA), founded by Apostle Lynroy Scantlebury in July last year.

“It is a merger not of convenience but necessity, because we share the same views and perspectives in terms of our country and what we look forward to happening here,” Holder said.

“We have the same demands also on service, and how we will deliver that to the country and what

we expect of those persons who will put themselves up for political office,” he added, stressing that the two parties were also on the same page regarding stamping out corruption in Barbados.

Scantlebury added that the union was about giving Barbados the best alternative government.

The BIM-NBKA partnership is the second political alliance announced recently, following last month’s amalgamation of the Citizens Action Partnership (CAP) and the United Progressive Party (UPP). The two are now operating under the UPP banner.

Holder and Scantlebury said they have 14 candidates between them, but are aiming to have a full slate of candidates by the time the election bell rings. The next poll is constitutionally due by June. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)

T

he Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, the country’s most populous, is at risk of yellow fever, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is warning.

The WHO is recommending that travellers to the state and its capital, Sao Paulo, get a yellow fever vaccine before visiting.

The warning comes after a significant rise in numbers of suspected and confirmed cases was reported. Local officials say travellers will not be at risk if they stay in cities. Brazilian Health Minister Antonio Nardi said the WHO advice stemmed from “an excess of concern”. He said that while there had been an increase in the number of reported cases it did not constitute an “outbreak”.

He also said that most people attending Brazil’s famous carnival celebrations in February should be safe as they are held in large cities and not the rural and forest-

ed areas which have seen the biggest increase in yellow fever cases.

However, the WHO’s advice is for all travellers to the state to get a vaccination at least 10 days prior to travel and to take measures to avoid mosquito bites.

Brazilian health authorities said that since July 2017, 35 cases of yellow fever had been confirmed. Of those, 20 cases proved

fatal. Sao Paulo has been the worst-affected state, with 20 confirmed cases.

Nardi said Sao Paulo state authorities would speed up their vaccination campaign with the aim of vaccinating half of the state’s population by the end of February.

More than 45 million people live in the state of Sao Paulo. (BBC News)

thursDAY, january 18, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Around the World

Senate confirms Grewal as nation's 1st Sikh Attorney General

N

ew Jersey lawmakers on Tuesday confirmed former Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal as State Attorney General, placing him in one of New Jersey’s most powerful unelected offices just hours after Governor Phil Murphy took office.

In a late afternoon session, the state Senate voted 29-0 in favour of the nomination, installing Grewal as the nation’s first Sikh attorney general and New Jersey’s first Attorney General of South Asian-American descent. He was born in Jersey City to Indian-American parents and raised in Bergen and Hudson counties.

“I never imagined that my life's journey could bring me here today,” Grewal told lawmakers at a confirmation hearing earlier in the day.

Grewal, 44, is the first member of Murphy’s Cabinet to be approved by lawmakers and is likely to be the most influential, with a broad mandate to oversee all law enforcement agencies and county prosecutors across the state, and to head up the massive

Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal is the first member of Murphy’s Cabinet to be approved by lawmakers and is likely to be the most influential

Department of Law in Trenton.

The Attorney General vowed to focus litigation efforts on environmental and consumer protection issues. And he said the fight against opioids would

be among his key priorities.

Grewal graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and obtained his law degree from the College of William & Mary in 1999. (Excerpted from Politico New Jersey)

Romania to have 1st female Prime Minister, Viorica Dancila

V

iorica Dancila has been named as Romania’s first female PM following the sudden resignation of Mihai Tudose. Dancila, a member of the European Parliament, is regarded as an ally of the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea.

President Klaus Iohannis says he wants her appointment approved quickly by Parliament and a new Government in place

by February 1. Dancila, 54, is Romania’s third Prime Minister in seven months.

The PSD has been gripped by a power struggle which also claimed former PM Sorin Grindeanu in

Viorica Dancila is an ally of PSD leader Liviu Dragnea

June. “For me it’s very clear that the Social Democrats have a majority... so I weighed all the arguments and decided to name their proposal [Ms Dancila] for

premier,” Iohannis said after announcing the appointment.

Dancila has served in the European Parliament since 2009. Dragnea de-

scribed her as “a respected MEP in Brussels... who doesn’t seek conflict, is communicative and has good relations with the [European] Commission”.

Tudose quit on January 15 after his own party withdrew its backing. Reports say he fell out with Dragnea after sparring with Interior Minister Carmen Dan, a Dragnea ally.

Tudose said he he was leaving “with his head high”.

“I did not want to break the party,” he said. “They named me, they removed me. I take responsibility for my deeds and I do not regret anything in my actions [as Prime Minister].” (Excerpt from BBC News)

Guinea healer held over faking hundreds of pregnancies

P

olice in Guinea say they have arrested a healer for conning hundreds of women into believing they were pregnant.

N’na Fanta Camara gave women who had been unable to conceive a mixture of leaves, herbs and other medicines that caused them to bloat and look pregnant.

For her services, patients paid US$33 (£24), in a country where the average monthly wage is around US$48 (£35).

Police believe Camara made thousands of dollars a month, though she says she was only trying to help.

On Tuesday, more than 200 women protested outside the police station in the Guinean capital of Conakry

17

A traditional healer gave women medicines to make them look pregnant

where Camara was held.

Over 700 women aged 17 to 45 are believed to have been affected by Camara’s pregnancy “cure”. The high numbers reflect Guinea, and

the rest of Africa’s, dependence on traditional healers.

In 2006, the World Health Organisation said that 80 per cent of Africans used traditional medical

treatments. “It’s been a year now since we first went to see this woman,” one of the protesters told the BBC’s Alhassan Sillah in Conakry.

“During our first visit, she gave us some medicines of leaves and herbs that made us vomit. She assured us that this was good for us. As one continues to take these medicines, the stomach starts to rise a bit.”

Some of the women reported looking pregnant for 12 to 16 months. A Police doctor has examined 47 of the affected women and said they risked long-term complications from the treatment. Camara, however, maintains she didn’t do anything wrong. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Taliban leader approved Islamabad meeting on Afghan peace talks – sources

A

delegation approved by the Taliban’s supreme leader visited the Pakistani capital this week for exploratory talks on restarting peace negotiations to end Afghanistan’s 16-year war, two senior officials in the movement said.

It was unclear if any progress was made in the unofficial meetings with a representative of a prominent Afghan politician.

Many previous attempts have failed to revive direct talks that ended nearly as soon as they started in 2015.

The Islamabad talks on Monday followed another back-channel meeting over the weekend in Turkey between individuals with Taliban connections and representatives of Hizb-iIslami, the party of a former Taliban-allied commander who last year laid down arms to join Afghan politics.

A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday he was not aware of the Islamabad

talks, while the Taliban did not respond to queries. Both sides on Monday denied participating in the Turkey talks.

However, two senior Taliban officials said on condition of anonymity that supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada had approved Monday’s exploratory meeting in Islamabad on restarting talks to end the war that kills thousands of Afghans each year.

Washington has piled pressure on to Pakistan to persuade the insurgents’ leaders to negotiate as well as crack down on alleged Taliban safe havens inside the country – tactics that Pakistan has said are incompatible.

The Taliban’s Haqqani network last week released 14 Afghan army soldiers in the eastern province of Paktia as a goodwill gesture ahead of the talks, according to both the Taliban officials and the aide to Gilani. (Excerpt

from Reuters)

Moustached monkey is separate species

The Blue Nile patas monkey is found in parts of Ethiopia and Sudan

A

monkey from Ethiopia and Sudan with a “handlebar moustache” has been identified as a distinct species.

Scientists took a fresh look at the distribution and physical appearance of patas monkeys in Ethiopia, confirming there were two species rather than one.

It was originally described as a separate species in 1862, but was later folded in – incorrectly – with other patas monkeys to form a single species.

Details have been published in the journal Primate Conservation. Patas monkeys are found from west to east across sub-Saharan Africa; they are among the fastest-moving of ground-dwelling monkeys – able to reach speeds of about 55 km/h (34 mph).

Spartaco Gippoliti, from the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, reassessed the species status of patas

monkeys in the Blue Nile region of Ethiopia and Sudan.

His analysis led him to revive the classification of the Blue Nile patas monkey (Erythrocebus poliophaeus) first proposed more than 150 years ago.

That designation was dropped in 1927, when the German zoologist Ernst Schwarz rearranged the primate group’s taxonomy and decided there was just one species.

The newly recognised, bewhiskered primate lives in the Blue Nile basin in western Ethiopia and neighbouring Sudan, and geographically separated from other patas monkeys by Sudan’s Sudd swampy region and the Ethiopian highlands.

Their faces and noses are black and they lack the characteristic band between the ear and eye found on other patas monkeys. (Excerpt from BBC News)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

thursDAY, january 18, 2018

ARCHIE

Your enthusiasm is best ARIES contained. Don’t give anyone (March 21- the impression that you are April 19) willing to take on responsibilities that you don’t have time for. Only offer what you can really handle.

Walk away from unpreTAURUS dictable people or parties us(April 20- ing emotional tactics to perMay 20) suade you to get involved in things you find questionable.

Indulgent behavior will turn out to be costly.

dilbert

Don’t let your emotions GEMINI take the reins when deal(May 21ing with colleagues or people June 20) who could influence your position or status. Overreacting or taking on too much should be avoided.

Emotional spending or accruing too much debt will (June 21- leave you in a predicament.

July 22) Look for ways to cut costs instead of adding to them.

Someone close to you will make an unusual offer.

CANCER

Peanuts

If someone overreacts, LEO walk away. Getting into a dis(July 23- pute over something that is Aug. 22) being overblown is a waste of time. Keep your emotions in check and offer love and peace instead of discord.

A solid, steady pace will VIRGO get you to your destination on (Aug. 23time. Look for unique ways to Sept. 22) impress someone you love, but don’t let emotional blackmail or jealousy sour a special connection.

Calvin and Hobbes

Knowing what you want LIBRA (Sept. 23- will help you make the right Oct. 23) choice. How you go about getting what you desire will require crafty navigation to avoid backlash or financial loss.

WORD GAME

SUDOKU

Protect your physical and SCORPIO emotional wellness. Know (Oct. 24what you are up against and Nov. 22) do whatever you must to bypass obstacles and challenges.

You need a pick-me-up.

SAGITTARIUS Sign up for something you (Nov. 23find exhilarating or update Dec. 21) your appearance. Invest more time and effort in yourself and what you want to pursue.

YESTERDAY’S

solution for LAST PUBLISHED Puzzle

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” is not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. To contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe, write to Word Game, Kathleen Saxe, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

A personal change is best CAPRICORN planned to suit your bud(Dec. 22get as well as your lifestyle.

Jan. 19) Emotional spending will not make you feel better. Avoid arguments or making unnecessary personal changes.

Emotions will be set off AQUARIUS easily if you let someone (Jan. 20goad you into a debate. Keep Feb. 19) your thoughts to yourself and focus on personal improvements, not on trying to change others.

If someone asks about your PISCES (Feb. 20- personal finances, health or a March 20) pending legal matter, be wary of what you reveal. You are best off keeping your business private if you want to avoid interference.

thursDAY, january 18, 2018

19

Chanderpaul, Hemraj delivering the goods together – ECC urge openers to keep batting

By John Ramsingh

G

uyana Jaguars opening batsmen, Chandrapaul Hemraj and Tagenarine Chanderpaul are fresh off career best First Class knocks in the ongoing Digicel Regional Four-Day tournament which may be described as the coming of age.

Playing at the Region’s ‘Mecca,’ the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown Barbados in round nine, the pair of left-handers listened to Coach Esuan Crandon’s call for big scores at the top of the order and answered with Hemraj narrowly missing a century in the first innings scoring 90 while Chanderpaul put the icing on the cake with an unbeaten 101 in the second innings against a high quality Pride attack.

Hemraj who made his First Class debut back in 2012 as a teenager was first used as an opener in the third round of the season against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes after established opener, Rajendra Chandrika suffered a dip in form and was

dropped.

He was placed alongside his Everest Club mate and established opener, Tagenarine. On their first mission, they put on just six runs with Tagenarine the first to go for three while Hemraj, in his new role went on to get 23. In the second innings, Hemraj was dismissed without scoring while the partnership was just two runs.

However, with the Jaguars looking for a set pair at the top of the order they persisted with the youngsters who eventually. Their best partnership, 115, came in round five at Providence against Barbados Pride with the 21-year old younger Chanderpaul getting 52, what was then his second half century of the tournament while his 24-year old partner scored 79, his third 50-plus score of the season and what was then his career best knock and the turning of the corner.

As the Jaguars prepare for the final round match against the Red Force beginning on Friday at Providence, Hemmy as Hemraj is called on the

field, when asked about his new role told Guyana Times Sport “Well, initially when I was positioned as an opener it was a bit of a challenge, I had to take the time to reevaluate my batting style but nothing major; nevertheless, being teamed up with Brandon was a bonus as I have known him from way back and we played together a lot of times and I think we compliment each other well, give support to each other at the crease and we are enthusiastic for one another's success while we try our best to give the team a good foundation.”

Hemmy further stated that he was happy to see Brandon convert to three figures, “Coach was always stressing on one of the openers to score a 100, I came close first innings but was really happy to see “Branny” get it in the second innings.”

Hailing from the village of Mahaica on the East Coast Demerara, Hemraj played his first nine of his 16 First Class matches as a middle order batsman has suddenly come of age as an opener which has

Men on a mission! Jaguars openers Chandrapaul Hemraj and Tagenarine Chanderpaul are up to the challenge of laying the foundation for their team

now brought him 416 runs (average 37.82) from seven matches of his 551 runs (average 34.44) from nine matches this season. In his overall career, he has 774 runs at an average of 26.68.

Tagenarine or Brandon as he is also known as, has played all eight matches this season as an opener has scored 423 runs from

15 innings at an average of 38.45 compared to his career stats of 1,179 runs from 24 matches at an average of 28.75.

From a statistical stand-point, it is clear that the very good mates on and off the field compliment each other and their club, the Everest Cricket Club (ECC) have recognized

their achievements.

In a congratulatory statement, President of the club Rajesh Singh stated, “We the executive and members of ECC extend congratulations on your career-best innings and look forward to more special innings from Brandon and Hemmy and the other ECC members in the Jaguars team. You have certainly done ECC and Guyana proud, keep on batting.”

Other Everest players this season include Chandrika, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Akshaya Persaud and Bhaskar Yadram. Persaud made his debut when Brandon was ill in Jamaica while Yadram is with the Windies U-19 team in the Youth World Cup in New Zealand.

Hemraj is only 20 runs behind Anthony Bramble (571 runs) on the list of run getters for the Jaguars while Tagenarine is the fifth Jaguars batsman over 400 runs and 60 runs more than his father, Shivnarine.

The Jaguars have won their fourth consecutive Headley/Weekes Trophy this season.

Ngidi bowls South Africa to series win – India fold for 151 I

t was a brown banana peel for South Africa.

Morne Morkel said it was 100% like bowling in India. Virat Kohli batted as if he was in India. However, in the end South Africa not only dodged a bullet, they caught the bullet and shred it into pieces with their determined batting, ruthless bowling and sensational fielding, beating India by 135 runs and winning back the Freedom Trophy with a match in hand.

South Africa began the day needing seven wickets, but closed the match even before the lunch break.

Lungi Ngidi ended his impressive debut with a sixfor, but the start of the final collapse was self-inflicted.

When he was under pressure to keep his place in the XI in the West Indies, Cheteshwar Pujara ran himself out. In Centurion, he became only the 23rd player to

Lungi Ngidi ended with his best figures in his Test match debut (AFP photo)

be run out twice in the same Test.

As with the first-ball duck in the first innings, Pujara's mouth wrote a cheque his knees couldn't cash. With AB de Villiers and Ngidi chasing after a ball, Pujara overestimated his speed and was caught short. The other overnight batsman, Parthiv Patel, batting ahead of Rohit Sharma,

soon hooked Kagiso Rabada in the air, and Morne Morkel took a splendid diving catch after running to his right at fine leg.

Hardik Pandya and R Ashwin have provided resistance with the bat earlier in the series, but this time they couldn't. Pandya repepated his first innings dismissal from Cape Town, edging when looking to ramp a

wide bouncer. Ashwin fell on the loose drive. Seven down, India still needed 200 to win.

Rohit and Mohammed Shami then added 54 runs to delay the inevitable and bring India to the brink of the lunch. However, in the last over before the scheduled lunch break, de Villiers pulled off a sensational catch diving forward at deep fine leg. Rohit had got enough bat on his pull shot, which resulted in a low flat offering. Given only a split second, de Villiers judged it perfectly, took the required paces, threw himself at the ball and caught it smoothly. Not for a moment did he look like dropping the chance. Usually these low catches go to the third umpire; there was no need here Lunch was now delayed, and moments later, Ngidi had Shami caught at midon, his fifth wicket. The

crowd wasn't big given it was Wednesday morning, but the appreciation was whole-hearted and Ngidi soaked it all in, kissing the badge on his shirt and then walking back to fine leg to an even bigger applause.

He went on to make it one better in the next over and end the Test. The third test starts at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on January 24. (ESPN Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

South Africa 1st innings 335 India 1st innings 307 South Africa 2nd Innings 258 India 2nd Innings (Target: 287 runs; Overnight 35-3) M Vijay b Rabada 9 KL Rahul c Maharaj b Ngidi 4 CA Pujara run out (Ngidi/de Villiers/†de Kock) 19 V Kohli* lbw b Ngidi 5 PA Patel† c Morkel b Rabada 19 RG Sharma c de Villiers b Rabada 47 HH Pandya c †de Kock b Ngidi 6 R Ashwin c †de Kock b Ngidi 3 Mohammed Shami c Morkel b Ngidi 28

I Sharma not out 4 JJ Bumrah c Philander b Ngidi 2 Extras (b-4, w-1) 5 Total (All out; 50.2 Overs) 151 Fall of wickets: 1-11 (M Vijay, 7.5 ov), 2-16 (KL Rahul, 11.1 ov), 3-26 (V Kohli, 15.6 ov), 4-49 (CA Pujara, 26.1 ov), 5-65 (PA Patel, 29.5 ov), 6-83 (HH Pandya, 35.3 ov), 7-87 (R Ashwin, 37.1 ov), 8-141 (RG Sharma, 47.2 ov), 9-145 (Mohammed Shami, 48.2 ov), 10-151 (JJ Bumrah, 50.2 ov) Bowling Philander 10-3-250, Rabada 14-3-47-3, Ngidi 12.2-3-39-6, Morkel 8-310-0, Maharaj 6-1-26-0

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

thursDAY, january 18, 2018

GBBC, MCG Inc/ Sangre Malo – Bad Blood

Dr Norton in local boxers’ corner

National Junior Chess Qualifier 2018…

Gopaul, Lee assume early lead

Joshua Gopaul (left) and Gerath Da Silva locked in battle in the opening round on day one of the qualifiers The Guyanese pugilists assume the familiar pose following Wednesday’s meeting with Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr George Norton

who paid the Minister a courtesy call on Wednesday afternoon at his Main Street office. The fighters some of which included; Dexter Marques, Dexter Gonzales, Elton Dharry, Shawn Corbin and others, were given best wishes by the Minister who urge the team to represent Guyana to the fullest in the ring.

Norton said the highly anticipated boxing card was undoubtedly a big deal in the fraternity but a bigger deal as it focuses on the youth. He said that with Guyana having such class in the ring, he’s confident that upon the conclusion of Saturday’s bout, the Guyanese will be standing tall.

With the Spanish phrase Sangre Malo meaning Bad Blood, the Minister said he was expecting a very professional fight card as he believes that the quality of matches billed for Saturday’s card was as professional as it can get.

Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for sport, Dr George Norton The Minister lauded the organizers; the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) and inister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for NextGen Global Marketing for having a smooth Sport, Dr. George Norton urged the Guyanese lead up to the fight. He said that the organizing of the event contingent of fighters to represent their country was good and he was happy to see international boxing reproudly at this Saturday’s “Sangre Malo” billed for the Cliff turning to Guyana after a brief hiatus.

Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).

The fighters will assemble on Friday at the Strip at Minister Norton was warmly received the local fighters Giftland Mall, Pattensen, at 15:00h for the official weigh in.

M

Dharry prepared

C

to talk with gloves

urrent InterContinental bantamweight champion Elton “The Bully” Dharry said he wants to do less talking and more punching as he prepares for the January 20 fight night dubbed, “Sangre Malo.”

Dharry recently returned from the United States where he resides, as he prepares to set alight the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on January 20 when the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) in partnership with NextGen Global Marketing host the first major card for 2018.

The current InterContinental bantamweight champion will headline the card as one of the main fights when he squares off

against Venezuelan Jesus Garcia in what is expected to be a thrilling eight round contest.

Dharry who turned pro back in 2004, arrived home early Tuesday, met with Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Sport Dr. George Norton at Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports’ Main Street office.

He along with the Guyanese fighters was greeted by the Minister who wished the fighters well ahead of the fight.

The prizefighter said that he was elated to be back in his country of birth and was even more excited to represent his country on home soil. Dharry confirmed that the road to the fight had been a stern one, as

rounds boxed prior to his arrival in Guyana.

With the theme being Guyana versus Venezuela, Dharry believed that the fight will be an important one for the Guyanese who are tasked with defending their turf while Dharry seeks to join fellow co-main-event fighters; Dexter Marques and Dexter Gonsalves in their quest for international gold.

“The Bully” said the upcoming fight was important to him as he’s currently looking to place himself in contention for a possible international title fight; following Elton “The Bully” Dharry some 18 consecutive

he completed some 56 rounds leading up to the fight, with 10 of those

J

oshua Gopaul and Eathan Lee have assumed the early lead, as both players are undefeated in the National Junior Qualifier 2018 when play began last weekend at the National Aquatic Center.

A media release coming out of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) stated that the tournament has attracted some twenty-four juniors from various schools across Guyana, with the majority coming from Marian Academy in Georgetown.

Registering wins in round one were Joshua Gopaul who got the better of Gerath Da Silva, Ghansham Alllijohn who got past Joshua Williams, Akili Theophil who won against Alexander Ally, Nellisha Johnson over Andrew Ally, Waveney Johnson who beat Rebecca Ramlall, Rachael Ramlal over Savir Gookul, Dwayne won against Zackary Persaud, while Jaden Taylor and Odit Rodrigues played to a draw.

In round two, Joshua Gopaul defeated Dwayne Bess, Ghansham Allijohn won against Roshawn Washington, Akili Theophil defeated Rachael Ramlal, Sasha Shariff won against Nellisha Johnson, Eathan Lee got the better of Waveney Johnson, Jaden Taylor defeated Runako Williams, Odit Rodrigues won against Savir Gookul, Nickel Charles defeated Alexander Ally, Rebecca Ramlal won against John Wong, Gareth Da Silva defeated Zackary Persaud, while Andrew Ally got past Joshua Williams.

In round three action, Joshua Gopaul won against Akili Theophil, Eathan Lee defeated Ghansham Allijohn, Jaden Taylor got the better of Sasha Shariff, Nellisha Johnson and Waveney Johnson won against Odit Rodrigues and Andrew Ally respectively. Other winners in rounds were Dwayne Bess Roshawn Washington, Chelsea Juma, Rachael Ramlal, Savir Gookul and John Wong.

The points standings after the three completed rounds read, Joshua Gopaul and Eathan Lee 3 points each, Jaden Taylor, 2.5, Sasha Shariff, Ghansham Allijohn, Akili Theophil, Waveney Johnson, Nellisha Johnson, Dwayne Bess, Roshawn Washington, Rachael Ramlal and Chelsea Juma all on 2 points apiece, Udit Rodrigues 1.5, Runako Williams, Gareth Da Silva, Rebecca Ramlall, Andrew Ally, Nickel Charles, John Wong, Savir Gookul and Zackary Peraud on one point each.

The tournament continues this Saturday at 13:00h and Sunday at 10:00h with the final four rounds. wins.

The Guyanese pugilist further added that he had been scouting his opponent by watching fight tapes and was impressed by the Venezuelan fighter. The soft-spoken yet hard-hitting Dharry further added that he was not prepared to do much talking as he plans to let his gloves do the talking.

Meanwhile, Dharry’s coach Martin Gonzales said that his fighter was prepared to topple the Venezuelan come this Saturday, admitting that his student had

been dedicating countless amount of hours in order to get himself fully prepared for the fight. The coach added that while they have seen footage of Garcia and were impressed, he still believes the Guyanese is the better man and will prevail victorious.

The official weigh in for the event which is sponsored by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) in partnership with NextGen Global Marketing, is set for 15:00h Friday January 19 at the Strip, Giftland Mall.

sports

thursDAY, january 18, 2018 | www.guyanatimesgy.com

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A

NSAMcAL through its Magnum Tonic Brand have partnered with the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) for their new season of basketball which is themed, ‘Reload Basketball Meet Fashion.’

The new season will tip-off on Saturday and the stars will be out at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court from 19.00h.

With a blend of fashion to go with a Georgetown versus Linden basketball matchup where National Club Champions Bounty Colts, just off a two-point victory comes up against Linden’s best Victory Valley Royals in what will be the night cap where another clash featuring the upcoming basketball stars of Linden square-off in an East against West game to go with the fashion displays.

According to the LABA president Lawrence Simon the rain prevented the show to hit the bright spot that evening even though top national field athlete Chantobra Bright appeared as a model and brightened things after the event was badly affected by persistent

Good Hope and Pomona in Region Two. It was part of the club's community service project aimed at giving back to the society.

Eight pedestrian crossings were repainted within the area starting from

21

Pomona Secondary, Huist Dieren Primary and Nursery, Hibernia Nursery, Aurora Primary and Nursery, Good Hope Primary and Nursery.

According to Secretary of the Club, Andy Ramnarine, youths are the future of Guyana and such safer road ways are required. Giving an overview of the club, Ramnarine said it is in existence for more than 50 years and is very vibrant.

It is managed by an Executive which is headed by the President Jeremiah Latchman. The club over the years has executed many community projects that benefited a wide cross section of the communities ranging from the youths to the elders.

"Painting of the pedestrian crossing within the Good Hope Pomona NDC is an annual project which is done before the reopening of school," Ramnarine said.

The project received full assistance from by traffic ranks from ‘G’ Division of the Guyana Police Force. The officers assisted were Lance Corporal Mike D’Andrade, Constable Andrew Ramkissoon and Constable Clarence Haywood.

Ramnarine said the executives would like to extend gratitude to all those who made the project possible.

Magnum powering Linden basketball

The Mackenzie Sports Club court will come alive this Saturday with some intense basketball action

rain. He said however, there is an interest for the event to be reloaded and as such they are giving the fashion and basketball lovers to see a night where they will meet some of the start sports persons on the basketball court.

Bright will be on show again as the sports stars will be out to see the fashion displays on a night when basketball and fashion will converge at the MSC hard court.

Top Linden designers Crystal Lam and Setra O’selmo and will present several displays to whet the appetite of those who love fashion and the designs should be attractive enough

to cause some ooohs and aahs when the promotion takes place this Saturday.

The basketball aspect will be the main attraction with the West seeking to get the better of their East rivals this time and a specially arranged 3 on 3 girls matches will also be part of the night’s card which will culminate with the heated Georgetown versus Linden basketball clash.

Several athletes and sports persons will also find themselves on the basketball court and as they will be recognised for their outstanding performances over the last year in their various field of endeavors.

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

thursDAY, january 18, 2018

Controversial dismissal

sparks spirit-of-cricket debate …Windies U-19 at centre again

W

est Indies have once again ignited the spirit-of-cricket debate at the Under-19 World Cup, when they appealed against South Africa opener Jiveshan Pillay for obstructing the field in their Group A fixture in Mount Maunganui.

Emmanuel Stewart, the West Indies captain and wicketkeeper, made the appeal after Pillay picked up the ball close to off stump, even though it was stationary after rolling off an inside edge. The third umpire Ranmore Martinesz was called in and the decision went in West Indies' favour after a long wait and a number of replays. The incident occurred in the 17th over of South Africa's innings, when they were 77 for 2.

Once the decision was referred

to the TV umpire, it was going to be difficult to give the batsman not out unless Stewart and West Indies withdrew the appeal. Law 37.4, which deals with 'returning the ball to a fielder', states: "Either batsman is out obstructing the field if, at any time while the ball is in play and, without the consent of a fielder, he/she uses the bat or any part of his/her person to return the ball to any fielder."

South Africa Under-19 coach Laurence Mahatlane was measured in his reaction during the innings break. "Our take is very simple: we play to the laws of the game and it's part of the laws," he said. "It's happened and hopefully we'll learn for a long time from it."

West Indies' actions in this game are likely to be debated

widely, as they were at the 2016 World Cup when their bowler Keemo Paul effected a mankad to dismiss Zimbabwe's last wicket - Richard Ngarava - to win a must-win group game. They eventually went on to win the tournament. West Indies were in a mustwin position against South Africa in this game too, having lost their tournament opener against New Zealand.

In 2016, former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop had defended the U-19 side against criticism for the mankad, but he was less supportive of this obstructing-the-field dismissal.

"This is an unfortunate issue," Bishop, one of the commentators at the game, told Fox Sports. "The

batsman isn't trying to gain an advantage. He is not trying to being unfair. The umpires have done what they need to do. The ball has stopped. It's not threatening the stumps. I don't really necessarily feel as if that's a good law. It could take a re-look.

"The batsman is not trying to gain an unfair advantage. All he is trying to do is help out the fielding team. I would have to have a deeper look at myself if I was the fielding captain. Can I use some discretion here for the sake of the game and whatever the spirit of the game means? I wouldn't have gone that way. He's obviously a bright kid and he understands the letter of the law. On this occasion it's

Paul in full support of Stewart after World Cup drama

By Akeem Greene

F

ormer Windies under-19 vice-captain Keemo Paul has pledged his support to current captain Emmanuel Stewart after the player was the centre of the latest controversy to hit the ICC Youth 50-over World Cup which is being held in New Zealand.

South Africa opener Jiveshan Pillay was given out obstructing the field after picking up the ball and returning it to wicketkeeper Stewart after it stopped close to the stumps.

Stewart appealed for the batsman’s dismissal and on review from third umpire, the player who was on 47, was given out.

According to the article 37.4 of the Laws of cricket, “Either batsman is out Obstructing the field if, at any time while the ball is in play and, without the consent of a fielder, he/she uses the bat or any part of his/her person to return the ball to any fielder”.

Paul told Guyana Times Sport on Wednesday, “It is in the rules of the game. It is appropriate to appeal if you think it is out. It is all in the rules so we can fault him for what is right.”

The 19 year-old added, “Yes I will support him. I am a West Indian so the support is definitely there.”

At the post match press conference Stewart said his decision to uphold the field appeal “wasn’t in the spirit of the game.” He stated precisely, “I asked the question and it was given out based on the laws and the rules of the game but on reflection it wasn’t in the spirit of the game. I think moving forward I would have withdrawn the appeal.”

Paul who is now one of Guyana Jaguars leading all-rounders explained that the decision to withdraw the appeal is always with the captain.

“In the games they always ask if you want to go through with the appeal or not and it was in his power to withdraw the appeal if he wanted to.

I won’t know his plan of thinking at that time but he went through with it.”

The incident sparked social media frenzy with many former great players and commentators voicing their

displeasure or support.

Learned commentator and former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop took to twitter and stated, "Law needs changing but don't criticise West Indies U19s. These are kids learning their way on the path to being adults."

A section of the preamble to the law of the cricket concerning the ‘Spirit of Cricket states, “The major responsibility for ensuring fair play rests with the captains, but extends to all players, umpires and, especially in junior cricket, teachers, coaches and parents. Respect is central to the Spirit of Cricket. Respect your captain, team-mates, opponents and the authority of the umpires.

Play hard and play fair. Accept the umpire’s decision.”

Paul in his concept of the ‘Spirit of cricket’ stated “There is no specific definition but it’s all a part of cricket. What is in the rules and you play by the rules so you cannot really fault anybody if they do what’s in the rules.”

At the victorious 2016 World Cup campaign in Bangladesh, Paul himself was the heart of controversial mankad against Zimbabwe which sent his team into the knockout phase. However, the man from Saxacalli prefers not to gather a dismissal by that rule again.

“I don’t think I would do it if the situation arises again.

It caused a lot of controversy and a lot of things were said. I don’t think if it ever comes down to that again I would go that route.”

Former Windies Under-19 Captain Keemo Paul

Windies Under-19 Captain Emmanuel Stewart appeals for obstructing field against Jiveshan Pillay

slightly different for me compared to the last World Cup."

UCCA/Roy Baijnauth T20

Cut & Load, Scorpions continue winning ways

N

umber 72 Cut and Load and Number 43 Scorpions highlighted Round two of the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA)/Roy Baijnauth T20 competition which continued last weekend.

Some 12 remaining teams battled to secure spots in the quarter final round of the competition with the two aforementioned sides notching up victories. At the # 73 Young Warriors ground, # 43 Scorpions defeated the # 77 Cricket Club by 50 runs.

Batting first the Scorpions scored 118 all out with batsmen T. Persaud (24), Ronald Pottaya (15) the main run scorers. Bowling for # 77 was led by Gajendra Ramnarine, Kenny Rogers and Nazarudeen Persaud who snared 3-15, 3-22 and 2-24 respectively.

In reply, # 77 CC were bowled out for 68 runs in just 14 overs after Farook Drepaul of the # 43 Scorpion bowlers snared 4-18, with support coming from Persaud 3-17, Marcel Harvel 2-12 and Bhojpaul Deen 1-11.

In the second match, # 72 Cut & Load got the better of # 70 Muslim Youth Organization (MYO) at their Club’s ground in # 72 Villages. Winning the toss and batting first, # 70 MYO scored 101 all out in 17.2 overs with Fazir Ali top-scoring with 49.

Bowling for Cut & Load, Rishi Persaud 4-17, Davenand Chatterpaul 2-17, Ramesh Omapersaud 2-20 and Clavern Beresford 1-20 were the wicket taking bowlers.

Batting second, # 72 Cut & Load raced to the target as they cemente d their spot in the next round by reaching 104 for 6 in 12.4 overs. Batsman Rishi Persaud struck a belligerent 51, while Ramesh Joseph scored 15.

N e a z i Khan with 3-11, led # 70 MYO to an easy four wicket win.

The competition continues this weekend.

thursDAY, january 18, 2018

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23

ICC U-19 World Cup, New Zealand…

Windies dethroned – South Africa storm into quarter-finals

S

outh Africa joined New Zealand as the second quarter-finalists from Group A after they dumped defending champions West Indies out of the Under-19 World Cup in Mount Maunganui.

The result capped off an incredible evening, where South Africa were comfortably behind the game for the first 40 overs after being put in. Then, in a ferocious display of lower-order hitting, wicketkeeper Wandile Makwetu made an unbeaten 99, with 37 of those coming in the last three overs off which South Africa blasted 58. The last 10 overs fetched 112 as they posted 282 for 8.

On a cold, rainy evening

Wandile Makwetu played some lovely shots during the onslaught (ICC Photo)

Coetzee, Thando Ntini and Akhona Mnyaka came hard at West Indies. By the 21st

Windies had little to celebrate on a gloomy night in New Zealand (ICC Photo)

where there was enough moisture underneath the surface, South Africa's pace bowling trio of Gerald

over, the top four were dismissed for 87. As the asking rate spiralled, Kirstan Kallicharan and Alick

Athanaze fought back to put together 90 for the fifth wicket to bring the target close to double digits.

But in a bid to hit out, Kallicharan, who oozed class and confidence in his 50-ball 44, was trapped lbw by medium pacer Hermann Rolfes off the third ball of his new spell in the 39th over to leave West Indies 177 for 5. It left the lower order needing to rally around Athanaze.

But they had other ideas, looking to tee off instead of rotating strike and bringing the well-set batsman back on strike. This resulted in two more wickets in quick succession that helped South Africa close out the game. Athanaze, who took a while to set himself in and consolidate to make his second youth ODI half-century, was the ninth man out for 76, trying to take it upon

himself to inch closer to the target.

It left West Indies wondering what may have been had the middle order shown a little more application and better shot selection. The final nail was drilled by Coetzee in the 46th over as their campaign went pear-shaped with one to play. This meant a potentially high-voltage match between New Zealand and South Africa on Saturday was reduced to a dead rubber.

South Africa had started cautiously and had progressed to 77 for 2 by the 18th over when the game came alive courtesy a controversial decision. West Indies had opener Jiveshan Pillay out obstructing the field when they appealed for what seemed a harmless pick-up of the ball from the batsman after it had stopped besides the stumps off an inside edge.

This led to a break in play for four minutes as the third umpire deliberated the matter with the onfield umpires. Pillay, who carefully constructed 47 to keep South Africa chugging along, accepted the decision and walked back without a trace of dissent even as most at the ground were stunned by the very basis of the appeal, even if West Indies were within their rights to make it.

South Africa's lower middle order didn't let this passage of play distract them. While run-scor-

ing was difficult, they took the innings right till the end. In what turned out to be a game-changer, Jeavor Royal put down a sitter at deep midwicket to reprieve Makwetu on 49 in the 44th over. He would go on to smash 50 more in an exhilarating passage where West Indies' bowlers kept missing their lengths.

The Caribbean side will next meet Kenya

on Saturday in their final Group A match after which both teams will compete in the Plate category of the competition. Other team in the group, hosts New Zealand won their second game after beating the Kenyans by a whopping 243 runs after scorching 436 for 4 from their 50 overs before restricting their opponents to 194 for 4. (ESPN Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

South Africa Under-19s Innings (50 overs maximum) MP Breetzke c & b Hoyte 18 J Pillay obstructing the field 47 R van Tonder* run out (Hoyte) 0 H Rolfes c Simmons b Royal 17 W Makwetu† not out 99 J Niemand run out (Athana ze) 15 KT Smith b Young 22 J de Klerk c †Stewart b Yadr am 21 G Coetzee c Yadram b Alimohamed 29 T Ntini not out 0 Extras (b-4, nb-1, w-9) 14 Total (For 8 wickets; 50 Overs) 282 Did not bat: A Mnyaka Fall of wickets: 1-56 (MP Breetzke, 10.4 ov), 2-58 (R van Tonder, 11.2 ov), 3-77 (J Pillay, 16.4 ov), 4-93 (H Rolfes, 20.6 ov), 5-112 (J Niemand, 26.1 ov), 6-170 (KT Smith, 41.1 ov), 7-201 (J de Klerk, 44.1 ov), 8-268 (G Coetzee, 49.2 ov) Bowling Young 9-0-54-1, Alimohamed 9-0-78-1 (w-3, nb-1), Hoyte 7-0-36-1 (w-5), Yadram 8-0-52-1 (-1), Royal 101-34-1, Nedd 7-1-24-0 West Indies Under-19s Innings

(target: 283 runs from 50 overs) K Melius c †Makwetu b Mnyaka 24 K Simmons c †Makwetu b Coetzee 20 EWJ Stewart*† b Rolfes 2 B Yadram c †Makwetu b de Kle rk 13 A Athanaze c & b Rolfes 76 KA Kallicharan lbw b Rolfes 44 J Royal c Breetzke b de Klerk 2 N Young c de Klerk b Rolfes 4 RJ Alimohamed c Smith b Ntini 0 J Hoyte not out 1 A Nedd b Coetzee 0 Extras (lb-8, w-12) 20 Total (All out; 45.3 Overs) 206 Fall of wickets: 1-38 (K Simmons, 6.6 ov), 2-55 (EWJ Stewart, 11.4 ov), 3-63 (K Melius, 14.2 ov), 4-87 (B Yadram, 20.6 ov), 5-177 (KA Kallicharan, 38.3 ov), 6-182 (J Royal, 39.6 ov), 7-201 (N Young, 42.5 ov), 8-202 (RJ Alimohamed, 43.4 ov), 9-205 (A Athanaze, 44.3 ov), 10206 (A Nedd, 45.3 ov) Bowling Coetzee 7.3-2-21-2 (w3), Ntini 8-0-52-1 (w-2), Rolfes 10-3-33-4 (w-2), Mnyaka 6-038-1 (w-4), Niemand 4-1-140 (w-1), de Klerk 10-0-40-2

CWI/Digicel Regional 4-Day Championships 2017-18

Ousted Red Force hoping for revival against champions I

– Hetmyer, Adams return for final round

t will be a tale of two vastly different tapes when the final round of the 2017/18 Cricket West Indies/Digicel four-day championships gets underway with bottom placed Trinidad and Tobago Red Force challenging rampant four-time Champions Guyana Jaguars from today at the National Stadium, Providence.

The main task for the visitors will be a ‘face-saving’ one since after nine rounds, they lay in the stellar position on just 80 points.

The franchise from the twin-island Republic have endured a torrid time this season, winning just two matches, losing four and drawing three. Should they

lose this match, it will be their fourth straight defeat for a unit who were once the regional powerhouse.

Their demise could be attributed to many of their seasoned campaigners either on Windies duties or playing foreign T20 leagues.

Though, a dark cloud lingers of how they may perform in this match, captain Denesh Ramdin is still backing his team to do well.

He believed that once they play good cricket they can steal some of the champs’ momentum and that itself will be used as fuel going forward.

On the other hand, Jaguars who secured their fourth consecutive Headley/ Weekes Trophy with two rounds in hand, have

amassed 145.2 points, 65.2 ahead of their depleted opponents.

This will be their last test to replicate their performance in the 2015/16 season when they played unbeaten. This season they have won six matches, tied one in cliff-hanger fashion and battled tirelessly for two draws.

Assistant Coach Rayon Griffith, contended they will not be taking their opponents for granted since they are firm on ending the season without a defeat.

Griffith further stated he is wary of the threat Red Force hold since “they have nothing to lose.”

The last time these two teams met was in November and Red Force suffered its

He’s back! Test batsman Shimron Hetmyer in deep concentration during Wednesday’s net session (Akeem Greene photo)

biggest loss in history by an innings and 217 runs at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

Regarding teams’ news, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the injured Romario Shepherd make way for

Test batsman Shimron Hetmyer and left-arm spinner Anthony Adams in the Jaguars squad while Ewart Nicholson makes way for Jason Mohammed for the visitors.

The rest of the squad

will come from Leon Johnson (captain), Anthony Bramble, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Veerasammy Permaul, Akshaya Persaud, Raymon Reifer, Sherfane Rutherford and Vishaul Singh.

For the Red Force, their final XI will come from Denesh Ramdin (captain), Yannic Cariah, Bryan Charles, Amir Jangoo, Steven Katwaroo, Imran Khan, Jason Mohammed, Anderson Philip, Khary Pierre, Isaiah Rajah, Jeremy Solozano, Daniel St. Clair, Tion Webster.

Up until Wednesday morning the pitch had an appreciable amount of grass covering which may add to the liveliness of the encounter which is slated to commence at 09:30h. Admission to the venue is free.

THURSDAY, january 18, 2018

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

guyanatimesgy.com

ICC U-19 World Cup, New Zealand…

Windies dethroned Pg 23

– South Africa storm into quarter-finals Wandile Makwetu of South Africa celebrates the wicket of Bhaskar Yadram (ICC Photo)

CWI/Digicel Regional 4-Day Championships 2017-18

Ousted Red Force hoping for revival against champions

– Hetmyer, Adams return for final round

Pg 23

Guyana Jaguars put in the hard work in the nets on Wednesday to defend their cherished unbeaten record and sacred hunting ground against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force beginning today at Providence (Akeem Greene photo)

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