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INTERNATIONAL

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General Elections most viable option - Govt ISSUE NO. 220

week ending December 7, 2014

See stories on pages 3 and 11

Man busted at JFK for smuggling 18 pounds of cocaine Page 44

President Donald Ramotar is likely to announce a date for General Elections after many failed attempts at having dialogue with the Opposition.

APNU Leader David Granger has rejected the Government’s invitation for dialogue, saying that he will only talk when Parliament reconvenes.

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NEWS

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General Elections most viable option - Govt

BY ERICA WILLIAMS

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uyanese will likely go to the polls early next year, even as President Donald Ramotar prepares to make a formal announcement following the outright rejection by Opposition Leader David Granger to engage in talks outside of Parliament.

Head of the P r e s i d e n t i a l Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon told a news conference on Wednesday that in light of the refusal of Granger to facilitate talks with the President, elections

may be on the horizon.

“There can be no doubt that General and Regional Elections are gaining currency as a reasonable and acceptable alternative and option for talks among the parliamentary parties,” Luncheon said during his postCabinet media briefing at the Office of the President.

Dr Luncheon explained that Granger sent a written response to President Ramotar’s invitation for talks on December 2.

In this letter, Luncheon said it is very clear that there will be no talks under

any circumstances between the Opposition and the President.

Ramotar’s invitation was dispatched on November 18.

Following the prorogation of the National Assembly on November 10, the President had said that his decision was taken to facilitate talks with the Opposition and to preserve the life of the 10th Parliament.

However, both Granger and leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan have refused dialogue.

They have said that they will only speak

to the President in Parliament after it is reconvened.

The Opposition parties did not budge from their decision despite calls from various sections of society for talks. APNU had vowed to organise countrywide protests until Guyana returns to political normalcy.

Luncheon said in the context of a failed prorogation (in the sense of not meeting the objective of the prorogation), three questions have always consumed the President and his advisers.

Luncheon said first-

ly, the Government has addressed the prorogation in its entirety and has accepted that it has failed to deliver a desirable outcome. “It has failed to deliver the goods, a continuation cannot be justified and therefore, when will it end?”

Luncheon questioned.

He added that the options that were available on November 10 were looked at.

These options included prorogation, which as of December 3, has been scratched out.

This essentially points to the superiority of holding early elections. As a re-

sult, the President, Dr Lunchoen said, has reflected upon Granger’s response and has responded to Granger’s letter expressing his level of disappointment in the Opposition Leader’s decision.

It is in this light that President Ramotar has decided to hold a media briefing on Saturday at State House with the aim of enlightening the Guyanese population on the decision he has taken following Granger’s letter.

“There is no value in prolonging the prorogation,” Dr Luncheon added.

Gy$4.1M refurbished Anna Regina Market commissioned

By Indrawattie Natram

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endors inside the Anna Regina Market in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) will now enjoy the comforts of selling in a more conducive environment now that the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry has commissioned several infrastructural projects valued Gy$4.1 million.

The projects were commissioned by Local Government and Regional Development Minister Norman Whittaker on Wednesday at the Anna Regina Market.

Projects included rehabilitation and construction of concrete drains, installation of security lamps and accessories, raising of the market floor by eight inches, and construc-

tion of a chainlink fence around the market environs.

According to Minister Whittaker, the projects were made possible through the IndiaBrazil- South Africa (IBSA) cooperation pact and the Guyana Solid Waste Management Improvement Project. He said the funds were provided by the countries for the execution of the projMinister Whittaker interacting with a vendor at the Anna Regina Market

continued on page 5

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EDITORIAL

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Granger’s grandstanding

he last hope of a political rapprochement between the Government and the Opposition has been dashed: David Granger sent a terse one sentence rejection of President Ramotar’s offer to “dialogue” in the window of opportunity presented by his prorogation order. In every society that has successfully transitioned from a dictatorship to a functional democracy, it was achieved in the wake of some sort of “democratic pact” between the warring parties or factions.

This was true with Argentina from one end of the polarization spectrum to South Africa on the other. While both these countries still have several challenges, they were yet able to move significantly forward on the backs of their pacts.

From the moment Donald Ramotar took office after elections that took the country into “uncharted waters”, he has been experimenting with mechanisms to create ground rules for our conflict-prone political engagement, occasioned by Opposition angst. More modest than a “Democratic Pact” they at least suggested a path and process that might get us there.

Very early in 2012, within months of his inauguration, Ramotar initiated the “Tripartite Talks” mechanism that would allow the top leaders of the three parliamentary parties to meet specifically, but not exclusively, to discuss the upcoming Budget.

The Talks started off positively with Granger, leader of the PNC, APNU and Opposition, finding common ground with the Government on a most nettlesome issue that affected its traditional constituency in Linden. There were great expectations aroused at this meeting of the minds with the amiable “give and take” exhibited during the Talks.

The fly in the ointment, however, were the actions of the minuscule, but strategically important AFC (to APNU) which refused to participate in the Talks and forced APNU to renege its agreement with the President and adopt its extreme position. As the Americans would say: “Strike one!!” There was no opportunity for the President to expand the dialogue into a Democratic Pact during the Tripartite Talks.

Strike two occurred the second year, at the same time, before the second Budget. As baseball Manager Yogi Berra inadvertently once quipped, “It was déjà vu all over again”! Issues in the meantime, which could have been settled in negotiations around a table at the Tripartite Talks, had to be taken to the Courts – the arbiter of the Constitution delineating the powers of the Executive and Legislature.

Following the breakdown of the first round of Tripartite Talks, APNU had become more insistent on confrontation rather than consultation with the Government. With the Opposition controlling the Legislature by one seat, the President had signaled his appreciation of the new realities by his convocation of the Talks.

But it was clear that the AFC, driven by the twin goads of hatred of former “comrades” and the imperative of increasing its support base, had other ideas. By outflanking APNU in reference to its traditional constituency’s interest, the AFC, for all intents and purposes was now calling the shots for the entire Opposition.

This was clearly demonstrated following the almost accidental call for a Vote of No-Confidence by the AFC in June. Even though APNU under Granger had insisted on Local Government Elections as the issue to take on the Government – since most pertinently, this would have allowed them to mobilize at the grassroots for the eventual general elections – they were once again wagged by the AFC’s tail.

Trying to seize the initiative from the AFC with protests against the President’s prorogation, Granger is now grandstanding as the “extremist” against further Talks that might offer the Guyanese people a light at the 50-year old tunnel of internecine political warfare.

This was “strike three” and the chances of a Democratic Pact between Government and Opposition have evaporated: the only hope is for the PPP/C to show real leadership and be beneficent when they are returned with an absolute majority at the imminent elections.

Amid the political turmoil in Guyana, Photographer Marceano Narine captured this scene in downtown Water Street, Georgetown as Guyanese prepare for the Christmas season

Guyana’s high growth rate raising investor interest

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his little known Englishspeaking nation is enjoying one of the Latin America and Caribbean region’s highest growth rates, and is taking the steps to sustain its leading position by more sustainable means As one of South America’s smallest countries – with a population just shy of 800,000 – the tiny former British colony of Guyana is also one of the continent’s least known nations.

Besides being often confused with Guinea or Ghana in Africa (due to the comparable spelling/pronunciation), the fact that it is Latin America’s only officially Englishspeaking country also sometimes raises doubts about its geographical location.

However, despite the linguistic differences, Guyana shares other important characteristics with its neighbours. Besides the obvious likenesses in physical climate, Guyana’s economic climate has benefited from growth widely enjoyed throughout the region, particularly at time when much of the world has continued to suffer from aftereffects of the global financial crisis.

Including Guyana, LAC (Latin America and Caribbean) countries grew at an average 4.3 per cent in 2004-2011, far outstripping global growth.

Expansion

And while LAC economies managed just 2.6 per cent growth last year, Guyana has remained resilient, registering economic expansion of 5.2 per cent in 2013, the fourth fastest in the region.

What is more, it is predicted to sustain its leading position this year and next.

Although Guyana remains one of South America’s poorest nations – owing to a tiny economy that is traditionally dependent on agriculture and mineral exports and thus highly susceptible to adverse weather conditions and fluctuations in commodity prices – Prime Minister Samuel Hinds believes that the country’s recent growth has resulted from finding strength in adversity, as well as

a change in fortunes. “We had a pretty serious flood in 2005,” recalled the Prime Minister.

“During that period, the country came together (and) we’ve had continuous growth from that time. The first stage was recovery, but a number of fortunate things also happened. Gold prices were rising and there was also hope of finding oil. This led to the drilling that eventually took place along the Guyana coast (French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana) from 2009 to 2012. In addition, there was demand for rice, and prices for rice were also quite high. All of these factors came together and that has given us a period of growth, which I hope snowballs. Success tends to lead to more success.”

Indeed, the country hopes its luck will not run dry when it comes to the ongoing oil exploration, with hopes that a big find could eventually transform economic prospects completely. In the meantime, Guyana has had to continue to rely on its primary sectors. Much of Guyana’s growth in recent years has come from a surge in gold production.

Agricultural expansion has also helped drive growth.

However, in 2013, sugar production – a key source of foreign exchange and Guyana’s main employer – dropped to a 23-year-old low due to the loss of preferential access to EU markets and a cut in European sugar subsidies.

Given that Guyana is heavily dependent on the other commodities of bauxite, shrimp, timber and rice, which together with gold and sugar represent 60 per cent of GDP; the Government has identified the vulnerability of the country’s economy, and begun to do something about it.

Meanwhile, a big part of Guyana’s efforts to protect its economy is through protection of its natural environment.

LCDS

With over 80 per cent of Guyana’s land area covered by forest, to protect this national asset and to find ways to utilise

it as a means to generate revenue and propel economic development, Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS has become an essential part of its economic development plan.

While the LCDS aims to facilitate the growth of these industries, the Government is also working to attract a greater amount of foreign investment and promote itself as a business destination. As a member of Caricom, it has Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with all of the members of Caribbean community of nations. It borders one of the BRICS, Brazil, with whom it also has an FTA, as well as with Colombia and other countries in the region.

This gives Guyana easy access to markets in Latin American and Caribbean – 33 countries with a collective population of 580 million individuals and collective GDP of almost US$5 trillion.

Aside from having a highly trainable workforce and an English-speaking population – a very attractive asset for US companies – Guyana is only a fourhour flight away from Miami.

Another major concern for investors looking to use Guyana as an export base to the region is transport infrastructure.

However, the Government has invested significant sums to upgrade the country’s infrastructure and there are also numerous plans to modernise and expand the country’s logistics framework.

An important component of this plan is the paving of the Linden-Lethem Road, which will facilitate integration and sustainable development of the hinterland, as well as improvements to port facilities and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

Although there is still undoubtedly a long way to go for Guyana, it is certainly a country on the up. And if people were not overly aware of this tiny South American country before, they are certainly sitting up and taking notice of this developing economic success story now.

(Theworldfolio)

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Gy$4.1M refurbished... ects at various markets countrywide.

Speaking to vendors inside the Anna Regina Market at the commissioning, Minister Whittaker said that the projects were aimed at improving as well as transforming the environment for vendors.

“We are trying to collaborate, so as to improve the conditions under which vendors live and operate.

We intend to improve the sanitation of communities and as such, we embark on projects of such nature,” the Minister noted.

More security

He called on roadside vendors to cooperate with the Anna Regina Market Town Council and stop blocking the main market entrance and Government reserve. It was also noted that the projects sought to address infrastructural issues faced by vendors in the past as well as provide proper security. The Minister said that the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and the Interim Management Committee (IMC) were given monies in the form of subventions in an effort to facilitate works. He said that the Ministry was trying to share its budget

equally in all the regions.

Whittaker also encouraged vendors to clean drains whenever they become clogged and to not depend on the Government for assistance: “Simple things can be done internally, not everything Government will do.” He reminded them that a clean environment was a reflection of the persons who resided or worked there.

Meanwhile, Region Two Chairman Parmanand Persaud urged vendors to abide by the rules of the market as well as to protect the projects. He said in the past he received many complaints of lack of security in the market and cautioned that the projects were done in an effort to eradicate the past issues.

He said that the installation of the chainlink fence and lighting facilities was done to strengthen on-theground security. He called on the Anna Regina IMC to crack down on roadside vending, noting that the practice was bad for tourism in the town.

Anna Regina IMC Chairman Toolsie Narine thanked the Ministry for executing the projects.

He said that there will

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be continuous monitoring of them.

United Nations D e v e l o p m e n t Programme (UNDP) Governance and Poverty Programme Analyst, Trevor Benn, in his remarks, said the UNDP was pleased to partner with the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry to help solve solid waste management problems throughout Guyana. He explained that US$1 million in funds was provided by countries such as Brazil, India and South Africa to help facilitate projects in various regions.

Rehabilitation works of similar nature were done at various markets in Regions Two; Four (Demerara-Mahaica); Five (MahaicaBerbice); Six (East Corentyne-Berbice); Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) and 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice).

Vendors were pleased with the projects and showered praise on the Ministry. Also attending the commissioning ceremony were Elford Less Flores, Engineer attached to the Local Government Ministry and Anna Regina Town Clerk Diane Critchlow.

- GPSU admits failing the working class

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uring a heated argument with journalists at his Shiv Chanderpaul Drive office Tuesday afternoon, President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) Patrick Yarde admitted that the Union he has been at the helm of over the last 13 years has been failing the people it represents.

The GPSU and Yarde have been under severe criticisms for the lack of efficiency and full representation of its members, usually failing to stick to the initial stand taken against the Government.

Having been established in June 1923, the GPSU had as its main objective, the innate interest in the working class, seeking to represent them in every possible area.

But since taking up office, critics say Yarde’s performance and that of the GPSU are more like a “toothless poodle”, saying that over the years Government has been carrying out its imposition and the GPSU has been accepting those offers.

Questions were posed by journalists who sought to ascertain what new

GPSU President Patrick Yarde

the GPSU will be bringing to the table, especially since the current situation has been recurring over the years. Yarde, in responding, said that the Union is not “hasty in its operations” while disclosing that there is so much that he and the Union could have done differently for public service employees.

“I must tell you that everyone – leader and members could have done better. There are things that I could have done better. We are dealing with a very peculiar situation in this country and sometimes that leniency that I have displayed I have regretted it,” Yarde told journalists.

Commentators say that the Union is based on talks only, with little or no action. There is also talk too that with the usual charade being carried on every year, this year’s threat will bear no fruit.

The GPSU President said while there is no outline to the way things are done, in taking action there are things that must be traded.

“There is no blueprint where there is a processed way to deal with things. There are sometimes very difficult decisions. There are times that you must take a decision where there must be a cost. These are things that happen”, Yarde confessed.

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This was a damaging The President saved Guyana and scandalous article from ultimate "cuss down" carried by Kaieteur News

Dear Editor, Once again, KN has embroiled me in a scandalous and damaging article, published on November 23, entitled, “Skeldon Estate Manager badly beaten after drunken confrontation”.

Like in their previous article, they did not make any attempt to contact me for verification, but instead went ahead with their irresponsible journalism. The article bears no truth and is callous and vindictive, a po-

sition that KN has taken where I am concerned.

Not only have they accused me of being disrespectful to a female, but also to the President of the Republic of Guyana.

These apart, KN has accused me of using indecent language in the public and to persons unknown to me.

How much more destructive can they be, taking into consideration my personal and professional life?

I wish to categorically deny what the KN has

written and state that I was nowhere in the vicinity of Rita’s Hotel and Bar that night.

Whoever said I was there has attempted to soil my reputation, since I was in the Estate Compound during the entire evening on November 21.

I would again ask that KN refrain from publishing scandalous articles about me.

Regards, Devendra Kumar Estate Manager Skeldon Estate

Questions for Freddie Kissoon

Dear Editor, I read in a letter written by Frederick (Freddie) Kissoon dated December 1, under the headline, “What did Ramphal think about local politics and Cuba?” in which Mr Kissoon posed several questions to Sir Shridath Ramphal.

I have observed over the years the tendency of Freddie Kissoon to pose probing questions to hundreds of public figures as well as private

individuals. His strategy has been to call on the public to ignore and chastise these persons when they refuse to supply answers to his enquiries.

From where he assumes this roving moral authority to pose these questions I am unaware.

But, that has been his undoubted modus operandi.

In his letter, he wrote, “I went to Canada to do my doctorate….” I would

like to pose the following questions to Mr Kissoon: Do you have a doctorate? If you do, why don’t you use it, since vanity and self-acclamation are some of your known attributes? If you do not have a doctorate, explain to the public why? Is it true that you were expelled from a University in Canada and, if so, what were the reasons for your expulsion?

Yours faithfully, Abdul Jamal Khan

Dear Editor, I fully support the President’s decision to prorogue the 10th Parliament. With this action by the President, all respectful adults and more importantly our children were spared from the ultimate ‘cuss down’ on November 10.

If you recall the attitude of the 33 Opposition members, week after week in Parliament, then you would surely agree with me that Guyana was saved from what would have been the Caribbean’s biggest shouting match.

My view is strongly supported by the fact that every time there is a sitting of the House, Members of Parliament on the Opposition side tend to use the opportunity to launch personal verbal attacks on Ministers of Government and Members of Parliament of the ruling PPP/C Government.

This type of behaviour is a far cry from what is expected of persons elected to represent the best interests of our country.

I challenge the members of the Opposition to show me how this type of behavior benefits any

of their constituents.

These personal attacks are sometimes so distasteful that they would sometimes provoke a rebuke from the Speaker of the House.

One would recall when Raphael Trotman was elected Speaker of the House, Prime Minister Samual Hinds requested that the House get on with the people’s business in the 10th Parliament.

Sadly, after three years, Government was rejected in every move to get parliamentary approval to continue its developmental agenda for the benefit of all stakeholders.

For me, the lowest point as a spectator in the House must have been when mention was made of an ailment suffered by the Director of Sport. This was to me a huge display of insensitivity and a lack of professionalism and tact by the Opposition MP that made a most distasteful attempt at heckling.

His Excellency acted in the most fitting way with this prorogation of the 10th Parliament. He has saved our children from about two weeks of exposure to some of the most rotten rants by so-

called leaders.

I have no reason to doubt also that all nasty rhetoric which would have come from this debate would have been in the full view of our children. And of course this would have been all due to the one sided, unbalanced and sensationalized reporting of the “Green Press”.

This type of display must never be allowed to continue. Our elected officials must see Election Day as the day their job application is approved or not, by the populace.

They must never forget the fact that they were not elected to the House to execute personal vendetta or malice.

They are servants of the people, so we need to see them act to fulfill their constitutional responsibility. Guyana’s people have entrusted them with a mandate to do all that is collectively possible to improve their communities, better their living standards, and to ensure the prosperous and peaceful coexistence of all Guyanese.

Guyana is waiting for action in this direction.

Respectfully, Ossie Rodgers

Guyanese voters will make wise decisions when the time comes

Dear Editor, Election fever is once again in the air and many pretenders will masquerade on the stage and strut their stuff, making promises to the electorate. The AFC is caught in a dilemma.

They desperately want power (at all costs), but they know that an electoral alliance with APNU is dangerous and can spell the death knell for them.

These cunning politicians know very well that their dwindling support group will not accept an alliance with APNU because of historical reasons.

APNU’s main component, the PNC/R, represents everything that the AFC supporters hate, that is, years of oppression under Forbes Burnham with victimization, Swiss bank accounts, banning of vital food items, poor auditing of the national Treasury (hope Annand Goolsarran is reading this), witch hunting and killing of perceived critics, abusing of Indian women during national

service, and many, many more.

However, AFC knows that it cannot win the election on its own. A look at the AFC leaders also presents a conundrum.

Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan are bent on practising revenge politics for what they perceive to be the denial by the PPP/C (especially Naga) of what they felt should have been theirs.

If these men assume office, they will be engaged in a witch hunt (something Dr Cheddi Jagan did not do when he won free and fair elections in 1992), which will put this country in a disastrous situation that it cannot afford.

Nagas and Ramjattan are also inexperienced in handling conflict resolution situations which abound in Guyanese politics. In addition, the supporters of APNU are not yet ready to embrace an East Indian presidential candidate.

This leaves us the other Berbician who has been disparaging to the former President

Bharrat Jagdeo. This individual butchers the English Language and is not fit for a high office. He needs to spend some more time learning grammar.

Then there is Nigel Hughes. He destroyed his credibility with his controversial handling of the Lusignan murder trial. This is a massive mistake which a learned politician like Hughes should not have made.

Hughes also compromised his integrity with double standards in the Amalia Falls HydroElectric project.

The fact that Hughes bashed Indians (who got their jobs with the necessary qualifications) in the Jagdeo/Freddie Kissoon libel case makes him a liability to the AFC taking into consideration who the main AFC voters are.

Imagine Kissoon considers this man one of his favourite Guyanese politicians!

Guyanese voters are wise and they will make the wise decision when election comes Sincerely, Rakesh Singh

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Dr Ganga sworn in as Guyana’s Sun and Sand knocks Kaieteur News twisted report Central Bank Governor

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President Donald Ramotar flanked by the Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr Gobind Ganga and Deputy Governor Leslie Glen in the presence of Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and Junior Finance Minister Bishop Juan Edghill

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resident Donald Ramotar swore in Dr Gobind Ganga as the Governor of the Bank of Guyana on Tuesday, and the new Deputy Governor received his letter of appointment.

This appointment comes seven months after Dr Ganga was appointed as the Acting Governor on May 8 following the passing of then Governor Lawrence Williams.

As he handed over the letter of appointment to Dr Ganga, the President urged him to execute his mandate professionally.

Addressing the press

at the Office of the President shortly after being sworn in, Dr Ganga pledged to propel the business of the bank.

According to him, major emphasis will continue to be placed on the sustainability of the country’s economy.

“I will ensure that there is a very efficient payment system in place and a payment system that we all can be proud of … We will also ensure that the economy remains robust, because we are also a part of the economy, but obviously that will need the cooperation and assistance of a number of players in

the sector,” he stated.

Dr Ganga, who has a doctorate in Economics, has been working at the Bank of Guyana for 19 years. In 1995, he was appointed Director of the Research Department before taking up the position of Alternate Executive Director at the World Bank in 2003. In June 2005, he was appointed Deputy Governor.

Dr Ganga has a wealth of central banking experience.

He has written and published many articles on a wide variety of economic issues, includcontinued on page 10

An artist’s sketch of the Sun and Sand Guyana Hotel

un and Sand Mining Resources Inc said it will not participate in a “trial by the media” even as it expressed dismay over reports published by Kaieteur News.

In its November 30, 2014 Edition under the caption “Local partner takes Sun and Sand to court for US$38M”, Garfield Harte accused the mining company of failing to make good on a business agreement. In that article, Harte alleged that he brought Sun and Sand Inc to Guyana in 2012 with the intention of developing a mining agreement. Considering his ownership of three mining blocks in the Cuyuni Mining District each valued in excess of $168 million, Harte said he entered a Joint Venture Agreement with the Sun and Sand Mining Resources Inc in August

2012 with the intention of pooling their resources.

According to Harte, to date he has upheld his side of the bargain, but the mining company has apparently abandoned the partnership; hence, his move to file a lawsuit totalling US$38 million or G$7.7 billion.

But, according to Sun and Sand Mining Resources Inc, Kaieteur News was biased in its reporting on the matter.

“The rush to publication of the details of a civil claim brought by Mr Garfield Harte against the company does not take into account the fact that the company refutes the allegations…and is defending the claim in accordance with the rules of the High Court,” the India-based firm said in a press statement on Tuesday.

According to the company, the complete ab-

sence of balanced reporting by Kaieteur News in this matter is unfortunate, allowing for suspicion to arise with regard to the agenda behind such reporting.

In defence of its apparent innocence in the matter, Sun and Sand Mining Resources Inc said it remained committed to the Joint Venture Agreement.

It was pointed out that millions of US dollars in equipment was imported in keeping with the agreement.

According to the company, it was Harte who breached the contract. “….The claims being made by Harte Holdings demonstrate that the relationship between the parties has broken down and this breakdown, together with other failures, constitute grounds for the termination of the contract.”

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

PPP pledges unwavering support for Amerindians T

he People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has pledged its unwavering support to Amerindians even as it accuses the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) of reducing them to “secondclass citizens”.

Speaking at his

weekly press conference at Freedom House on Monday, PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee wasted no time in lashing out at the PNCR and by extension the Opposition over what he described as its blatant disregard for the indigenous population.

Rohee said the

PNCR, through the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has seen it fit to denounce moves by the General Register Office (GRO) to equip Amerindians within the hinterland with birth certificates.

According to him, the Opposition is attempting to disenfran-

chise the Amerindians; an attempt, he stressed, which must be condemned. He explained that the acquisition of a birth certificate is key for Guyanese to be registered on the list of electors. “This is a right that the PPP has always advocated in an effort to preserve the constitutional right of eligible Guyanese. With regards to Amerindians, our party has fought for their right to be heard and for them to vote, like every other citizen,” he added.

Rohee said it must be recalled that it was the PPP/C that worked relentlessly to remove the stigma of Amerindians being called second-class citizens, something that was encouraged under the PNC Administration.

Best interests

He added that the PNC remains bent on marginalising the indig-

enous population, pointing out that it was the APNU with the support of the Alliance For Change (AFC) that voted down financial support for Amerindians during the consideration of the National Budget. The Opposition had used its majority in the National Assembly to disapprove the Gy$1.1 billion budgeted for Amerindian Development. This move was viewed as highly outrageous and unconscionable.

Rohee warned that the PPP/C will never sit idly by while the Opposition attempts to dehumanise Guyanese, in particular Amerindians, through its irrational decisions on human and social development.

“PPP would never sit idly by and allow the PNC/APNU to dehumanise and stigmatise any

citizen.

Amerindians must rest assure that the PPP would continue to work in the best interest of the Amerindian people.”

Though the indigenous population was “battered” under the PNC regime, Rohee said significant progress has been made over the years to raise the standard of living of the first people, a process that is still ongoing.

The General Secretary maintained that Amerindians have always been seen as hard-working Guyanese who have undoubtedly gained the respect of the PPP/C. “I have tremendous respect for them and that respect is there because I grow up in a party that has always had tremendous respect for the indigenous people of this country,” he added.

Winners of GuyExpo booth competition awarded

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Winners of the GuyExpo 2014 best booth competition (Royden James photo)

inners of the GuyExpo best booth competition were awarded at a simple ceremony held on Monday at the National Exhibition Site, Sophia,

Greater Georgetown.

Winners were judged in four categories: micro, small, medium, and large. The booths were judged based on creativity, imagination, originality, staff enthusiasm, neatness and presentation and adherence to the competition rules.

Winning the award for the micro category was Saltro Trading, while the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc copped the award for the best small booth; the National Communications Network (NCN) won the medium booth award and E-Networks won the large category.

Presenting the awards was the Marketing Manager of GuyExpo, Indranauth Haralsingh. Singh noted that the objective was to encourage excellence in exhibiting and to make sure the booths were properly constructed and designed. He said the focus was placed heavily on raising the bar on booth designs, presentation and interactivity.

Standing out

He pointed out that

this year’s exhibition saw some 266 booths comprising both local and international exhibitors. Against this backdrop, the four booths awarded were the ones that stood out above the rest. “To make it this far, you had to put in some extra work; to make it this far you had to get an objective and you did so proudly by standing out among over 200 booths,” the Marketing Manager underscored.

He added that the winning booths are proof of a good event, which helped to create a lasting impression and provide excellent visibility for exhibitors visiting Guyana for the first time.

Meanwhile, GuyExpo Co-Chairman Derrick Cummings said that all businesses should come on board and be a part of GuyExpo, as he highlighted that it will be a good way for persons to market their business, noting that the trade fair attracts tens of thousands of persons to the four-day exhibition.

Cummings also disclosed continued on page 10

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Beyond reparations:

African Business Awards to boost Know-how of beneficiaries

By Samanta Layne

A

mid calls for more African Guyanese to get into business, the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) recently honoured a number of young Guyanese businessmen and women at its inaugural African Business Awards ceremony hosted at the Herdmanston Lodge, Queenstown, Georgetown.

Guyana Times International spoke with the mastermind of the initiative, Guyana Reparations Committee Chairman, Dr Eric Phillips, who, said the idea to give the award and an incentive for outstanding and exceptional achievements by young African Guyanese, evolved out of National Reparations discussions.

Dr Phillips said Europe should compensate Caricom for the slave trade, pointing out that the money can be injected into the establishment of African businesses.

“My main concerns

were how the money would be spent… there are not enough African businesses or businesses owned by people of African descent for the money to be injected into. I am also concerned about who would manage the money once it was acquired.”

Phillips reiterated the strong need for African businesses to be resuscitated, noting that ACDA has been long working behind the scenes to make this possible.

Highlighting the many limitations faced during the preparations for the ABA, including the fact that the initiative was undertaken with very little cash and only one month of preparation time, he is generally pleased with its success.

The ABA, which will now be a yearly event, is slated to take place in August 2015 during the week leading up to the birthday of Black Social activist Marcus Garvey.

Business Expo

The event will kick off with a Business Expo that is expected to see participa-

Youth of the Year Awardee Elisa Hamilton with Lifetime Achievement Awardee Eddy Grant (African Business Expo photo)

tion from at least 20 Caribbean countries.

It will feature lectures, workshops, entrepreneur skills training, and product branding, among other activities.

The expo will culminate with the award ceremony. Dr Phillips also disclosed that a Business Secretariat will be commissioned in Georgetown sometime in January, to facilitate

the smooth flow of the preparations for next year’s awards, among other activities.

He said that work is already in the pipeline to have African Business Councils set up in all 10 administrative regions of Guyana, so that small businesses may have an organisation to assist them with their affairs and also for the launch of

an African Business Directory.

With an eight month head start, Phillips said the organisation will be enlisting the help of this year’s top awardees and businesses to make the next event an even bigger success.

This year’s awards presentation saw top Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) student Elisa Hamilton being named Outstanding Youth of the Year.

Hamilton received cash awards from Eric Phillips of the African Business Expo and Nigel Hughes of the Alliance For Change (AFC). In addition, she received a week’s trip to Miami, Florida to visit the Disney World Epcot Centre and several pledges of support towards her dream of becoming a doctor.

Hamilton also presented internationally-renowned Guyanese artiste Eddy Grant with the Lifetime Achievement Award, for his contributions to the music industry.

Grant, who was the keynote speaker at the

event, recently celebrated his 50th year in the music industry.

The Heritage Business Award was given to quite a few recipients including Victoria Village, which celebrated its 175th anniversary; Nigel Johnson of Nigel’s Supermarket; Rockcliff Christie of Little Rock, Berbice; Asafa George of W&T George; Wilfred Bransford of Car Care; Lennox John of Ashmins; and Lloyd Austin of Austin’s Book Store. The award for Outstanding Business of the year was given to Terrence Campbell of CAMEX Restaurants and Shawn Hopkinson of Hopkinson Mining; the Professional of the Year Award went to Charles Ceres while the award for Male Business Executive of 2014 was shared by Derrick and Clinton Williams.

The award for Female Business Executive of the Year was shared by Tracey Lewis of the Guyana Lottery Company and Violet Smith of Guyana Goldfields.

Duo jailed for causing deaths of children Mother of seven

C

.com Marketing Group of Companies Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tazim Gafoor, 40, has been jailed for four years for causing the death of young Varshanie Seelall.

The sentence was handed down by Magistrate Rhondell Weaver at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s

Tazim Gafoor

Court after he was found guilty of driving recklessly, causing the death of the four-year-old on November 22, 2013.

Seelall of Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice was killed when Gafoor was at the time driving 4-Runner GKK 8838 at a fast rate and happened to get into the path of motor car PMM 8599.

Seelall was a backseat passenger of the motor car along with her mother at the time of the accident. The child died after being in a coma for several days.

Gafoor of Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara is also the owner of T and R Sea Foods.

Meanwhile, another Gafoor was also given a

succumbs after labaria bite

A Trichel Williams

similar penalty by the same Magistrate for also killing a 4-year-old by dangerous driving.

Naresh Gafoor, 39, a carpenter of Block 8, Mon Repo, East Coast Demerara drove motor car PGG 2527 in a manner dangerous, resulting in the death of Trichel Williams on June 25, 2013.

Varshanie Seelall

The accident occurred on the Plantation Foulis Public Road, West Coast Berbice.

Gafoor was driving the vehicle at a fast rate when he lost control of it and hit the nursery school child.

She was rushed to the Mahaicony Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival

mother of seven from Siriki, Upper Pomeroon River on Thursday last succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital after she was bitten by a poisonous snake said to be a labaria.

Dead is Marilyn Narine, 57, who was bitten on both feet by the reptile.

Narine was bitten after returning from her farm with her daughter.

The mother was walking behind her daughter in a trail when she stepped on the tail of the snake,

which reacted by biting her.

According to reports, the woman screamed for help and was rescued by her husband.

She was rushed to the Charity Oscar Joseph Hospital, but was transferred to the Suddie Public Hospital then to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she did a few days after admission.

Only recently, a miner was bitten by a labaria in the Port Kaituma jungle, North West District.

However, he managed to survive.

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Utter rubbish! Rohee refutes claim that money found on jet was for PPP/C campaign

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n light of the recent controversy surrounding the legality of the usage of a private aircraft by President Donald Ramotar to travel overseas; the Opposition-driven media have accused the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) of plans to use the money to fund their election campaigns.

Speaking at the party’s press conference on Monday, General Secretary Clement Rohee refuted the claim, saying it is “utter rubbish”. He said “we work hard for our money through fundraising activities for our campaigns”.

These and other allegations came in light of the recent interception of an aircraft owned by

Guyanese businessman Khamraj Lall in Puerto Rico with US$620,000 onboard.

Subsequently, he was arrested by US law enforcement authorities for failure to disclose the cash on departure from the US. He has since been granted bail in the sum of US$100,000.

Rohee at the press conference contended that there is nothing remotely illegal about President Donald Ramotar or his office chartering a flight to look after the Government’s business.

He said the flight was paid for and was not done in a secretive manner.

“They paid for it and it was open in the view of everyone. It was a legitimate activity.”

Ramotar has already denied the allegations made against him and former President Bharrat Jagdeo that they travelled on the said aircraft to Brazil and Puerto Rico.

Sources have said the reports were all erroneous and seemed to be targeting Jagdeo for reasons only those writing the articles would know.

Rohee pointed to Kaieteur News as he stated that certain sections of the media have agendas to make the Government and Ramotar look bad.

“Certain sections of the media trying to make an issue out of it, what wrong did the Government do? Efforts are being made to embarrass the President

and Government.”

Lall is the owner of KLX Logistics Inc, located in Jersey City, New Jersey in the US, which offers trucking and warehouse services, and was operational from 1995 to 2010.

In Guyana, he owns the Kaylee’s Service Station at Coverden, East Bank Demerara, as well as a limousine service. He also operates a courier service out of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.

NBS matter

The General Secretary then made reference to previous articles on the New Building Society (NBS) Gy$69.9 million fraud reported on November 29 by all major news agencies.

Holding each of the three main newspapers in his hand, Rohee read the headline of Guyana Times, which said “Media unfair to Jagdeo – Ombudsman”, then Guyana Chronicle, “Ombudsman said KN headlines extremely unfair”.

He cited what he called an attempt by Kaieteur News to create mischief — Kaieteur News’ headline read “NBS report:

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee

Ombudsman refutes Luncheon and DPP claim.”

Rules for media houses were then called for and Rohee went on to quote the Ombudsman’s statement on the matter which said: “I made no such finding considering the former President in the media, there should be rules.”

On November 28, the Ombudsman, retired Judge Winston Moore held a press conference at Cara Lodge to address the media reports and sensationalisation of the contents of a recent leaked report compiled by the Office of the Ombudsman.

He said “to cast aspersions on the character and tenure of former President Bharrat

Jagdeo were extremely unfair to the former President”.

He asserted that the former President should have been given the opportunity to respond to the allegations before he was crusaded against by certain media houses. Kaieteur News had reported that the former President was responsible for the subsequent firing of several staff members. Justice Moore said the findings of his report in no way insinuated that Jagdeo had a part to play in the outcome of the investigations into the fraud against several NBS employees.

Rohee felt that if rules are not implemented in the media, there will continue to be problems. He appealed to the relevant sections of the media to carry what the Ombudsman said.

The need to have oversight of the media was emphasised

by Rohee. He then appealed to persons to refrain from making allegations against anyone with regards to the ongoing money laundering case. He explained that the matter is still being investigated.

Dr Ganga sworn in as...

from page 7

ing Monetary Policy and Macroeconomics.

Additionally, he served as an Economics lecturer at the University of West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica; an adjunct professor at the Consortium Graduate School at Mona; and a Senior Researcher/ Senior Lecturer at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus.

With Dr Ganga be-

ing appointed Governor, Leslie Glen has been promoted to the post of Deputy Governor. He received his letter of appointment from Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh.

Glen has been employed at the Bank of Guyana for 34 years.

His career at the financial institution commenced in 1980 as an economist. By 1984, he

was promoted to the position of senior economist within the Bank before several other promotions. Notably, from the period 1995-2005, he served as the Director of Operations before being appointed Banking Manager, a position he held until Tuesday.

The relatives and friends of Dr Ganga and Glen were present at the swearing-in ceremony.

Winners of GuyExpo booth...

from page 8

that the Organising Committee is looking to embark on a new initiative to transform the Sophia Exhibition Site every Sunday afternoon with cultural and other family-friendly activities. He said GuyExpo, over the years, has

evolved from being just a trade fair to an activity which provides entertainment and educates persons.

He further added that the committee is looking for avenues to expand the staging of the next edition of GuyExpo,

noting that it was one of the Caribbean’s largest activities and brings Caricom member states together.

GuyExpo 2014 was held from October 2 to 5 under the theme “Transformation: Partnering for a better Guyana”.

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“We will only talk when Parliament reconvenes” - Granger

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eader of the Opposition, David Granger has formally rejected an invitation to have dialogue with President Donald Ramotar on the way forward following the prorogation of Parliament.

In his response, Granger said to the President that the Opposition was not willing to engage in dialogue with the Executive outside of the National Assembly.

Granger made the announcement on Tuesday outside the Office of the President on Vlissengen Road, Georgetown, during A Partnership for National Unity’s weekly anti-prorogation protests. The Opposition Leader told reporters: “A Partnership for National Unity will not be prepared to enter into the dialogue that the President proposed until Parliament is reconvened. So he now has an answer and our answer is quite clear; there will be no dialogue until and unless Parliament is reconvened.”

Granger maintained that it was quite reasonable to refuse to engage

APNU protesters in front of the Office of the President

the President, given the fact that a minority government suspended a majority-controlled National Assembly. “We are still prepared to talk once Parliament reconvenes. What happens in Parliament is another matter,” said Granger.

APNU ready for polls

Granger made it clear that should the President name a date for elections, the APNU coalition was ready to go to the polls. “If he wants election, let us proceed; let him hear how angry the people are at what has happened under his administration for the last three years,” the Opposition Leader said.

While the APNU has been taking to the streets every Tuesday

for the past couple of months, one of the parties within the coalition has said that there needed to be a stronger presence. The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has complained that the protest actions are not seeing the support that it should have. The party also argued that there was need for a definitive game plan on the part of the APNU in its antiprorogation campaign.

But Granger was insistent that the party had a game plan. When questioned by this publication about the “game plan”, the APNU leader remarked “we have a definite game plan”, but “we will not disclose that game plan to the Guyana Times”.

According to the Opposition Leader, the current protest actions are being conducted in the interests of the entire coalition and not in accordance with the whims of any single party. “We will continue to act in accordance with the best interests of the entire partnership. We are conducting a series of orderly and lawful protests to bring pressure to bear on the PPP/C [People’s Progressive Party/Civic] Administration and we feel that, that is working and once we feel that there is going to be success in our efforts we will continue these efforts,” said Granger.

WPA Leader, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine told reporters that the par-

ty still thinks the protest actions are inadequate. He told reporters during the protest that “we wanted to see something more robust”, adding that “we would like to see for instance, action in the villages”.

Roopnaraine explained that thus far all of the protest actions have been centred in Georgetown, but there was ample need and opportunity for there to be action in the villages.

When asked about the game plan, Roopnaraine flat out stated that the WPA has not seen any definite plan of action from the APNU. He said “that is something that we continue to believe is required”, adding that there was

need for the activities to be upped in order to get any mindful response from the government. “The AFC [Alliance For Change], the Opposition’s junior partner that initiated the No-Confidence Motion which precipitated the prorogation move by the Government to thwart the vote for early elections, has been so far conspicuously absent from the firing line, except for a guest appearance at the APNU rally of November 14.

Momentum is being lost and reaction to the Government’s derailing of the No-Confidence Motion appears to be protest in slow motion,” said the WPA in a release over the weekend.

Preparations for Mashramani on track – draft calendar of events completed

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he draft of national and regional activities for the anticipated celebratory period, Mashramani is already completed with tentative dates slated for the various events.

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony has already predicted that Guyanese will have a “very good Mashramani Celebration 2015”.

He noted that the Organising Committee is doing a superb job in planning the events leading up to the 45th Republic Day celebrations on February 23.

Mashramani 2015 was officially launched on October 10 under the theme “One people, One Nation, One celebration”.

At the launch, Minister Anthony was hopeful that there will be 45 bands on the road come next year.

In an interview with Guyana Times International on Wednesday 3, Dr Anthony was still very optimistic in this regard.

He said talks have already begun with “traditional” and “non-traditional” companies to

get them onboard for the grand parade.

The Minister urged all companies to indicate their interest in participating in a timely manner so that everything can continue to be executed smoothly and on track.

Additionally, he encouraged more companies to participate, noting that they can use the opportunity for successful advertisement.

“It is a very easy way to advertise a product with over 80,000 people on the road, and in addition to that, all the other television stations would normally cover the Mashramani events.”

Moreover, the Minister stated that the international press such as BBC and French Television usually cover the event and it would be a great opportunity for companies.

“We’re very hopeful companies will see the wisdom in coming onboard and contributing to this national festival, but also it’s not like they’re giving to charity. They’re also going to gain by advertising their products and enhancing

their company’s brand.”

He was also excited about the fact that an increasing number of private promoters are coming out in trucks to add to the celebrations.

Some of the activities lined up for Mashramani 2015 include steel

band concerts and competitions, Calypso Competitions, Road March Competitions, Chutney Competitions, the Carib Soca Monarch Competition, Art Competition, M a s q u e r a d e Competitions, Essay

Competitions, workshops, exhibitions and fairs.

Additionally, various activities are lined up in the various regions.

At the Mash launch, the Minister had pointed out that there has been an increase in steel

pan participation due to the generous intervention of Republic Bank.

He noted too that the Calypso Competition, which has been sponsored by Banks DIH, has been on the rise, which has brought to the fore much talent.

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Linden Hospital staffers Nagamootoo cornered on celebrate MDG award AFC’s dwindling support … now alleges PPP/C spread “race propaganda” in Berbice

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T

Senior staff members of the Linden Hospital Complex with the Millenium Development Goal (MDG) Champions Award

he Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) has reason to celebrate, having received a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Champions Award, presented by the United Nations, for achieving zero maternal deaths from 2010 to May 2014.

While the award was officially presented to the health institution in October, a presentation ceremony facilitated

by Dr Quincy Jones was held at the hospital on Thursday for contributing staff members.

The MDG Champions Award was presented

under the MDG 5 strategy for improving maternal health, in addition to the regional, prenatal and neonatal care strategy, designed to guarantee the sustainability of the zero per cent maternal mortality rate.

Gratitude was extended by the management of the LHC, to the staff of the hospital’s Maternity Ward as well as contributing health centres on the accomplishment.

Staff members including midwives and nurses of the Maternity Ward and health centres involved in the prena-

tal and delivery process have all come in for high praise following the delivery of the award.

In 2009, the LHC recorded two maternal deaths, and according to Dr Jones, this is relatively low when compared to other hospitals countrywide as well as global standards.

Region 10 Health Committee Chairman Maurice Butters also congratulated the management and staff of the LHC, noting that the efforts of the hardworking nurses and other health professionals contributed to the achievement.

lliance for Change (AFC) Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo last Thursday alleged that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is bent on inciting racial tension among residents of Berbice.

Nagamootoo’s comments came in wake of a report in the Thursday, November 27 edition of the independent Guyana Times newspaper which stated that the political party is losing its footing in the Ancient County.

The report claimed that PPP/C supporters in Berbice, who had crossed over to the AFC just before the elections in 2011, are now disappointed that the AFC is now joining forces with APNU and have threatened that they will be withdrawing their support for the party.

Residents claimed that from the onset of its political campaign, the AFC had promised that once it gets into power, it would work towards a radical turnaround, mov-

ing away from the hard bent politics of the primeval PNC (now APNU) and PPP/C. In hope of that radical change, it is reported; residents had agreed to lend their support to the party.

But Nagamootoo, who appeared jolted by the article and the fact that it exposed how many of the party’s supporters felt cheated at this time, denied that his party will be forming an alliance with the PNC-dominated APNU. He claimed that even if that were the case, the current Administration, through its political campaigns, continues to incite racial tension among residents.

Nagamootoo accused leaders within the PPP/C of “peddling false and mischievous propaganda” to the Berbice residents, claiming that the AFC has joined forces with APNU. “We repeat our position. The AFC has not agreed to form a pre electoral coalition with APNU, but we have de-

cided to work with APNU and any other stakeholder and civil society to fight against the PPP regime for the restoration of parliamentary democracy”.

Residents say Nagamootoo is making a distinction in search of a difference and that the AFC is misusing the votes they had cast at the last General Election to form a de-facto alliance with the main Opposition party, which is essentially the PNC of old.

A large portion of other residents interviewed explained that they are still waiting to see the game plan being followed by the AFC. For the most part, they are disappointed with the sly posture taken by their leaders.

“The AFC did a number on us and now we feel foolish. I made all my family members vote for them. Not again. They not getting a vote from us and lots of neighbours at Whim, Tain and Port Mourant feel so”, one man had told Guyana Times International.

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Research grant gives US student chance to do fieldwork in Guyana

UMSL biology student Hannah Stowe (right) helped Gyanpriya Maharaj, a doctoral candidate in biology at UMSL, conduct field research on butterflies during a sixweek research trip to Guyana this past summer. (Photo courtesy of Hannah Stowe)

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or six weeks this past summer, Hannah Stowe was in her element. Hot, sweaty, covered in dirt and doing field research in a foreign country.

Such hands-on research may seem an unusual opportunity for many undergrads, but not for students at the University of Missouri– St Louis, USA. Stowe, who is majoring in Biology and a student in the Pierre Laclede Honors College at UMSL, was one of

nine undergraduate students to receive a US$1000 research grant from UMSL’s College of Arts and Sciences in the spring.

The grant money covered her research trip to the South American country of Guyana where she worked under the supervision of Godfrey R Bourne, her research mentor and Associate Professor of Biology at UMSL, and Gyanpriya Maharaj, a doctoral candidate in Biology at UMSL.

Their fieldwork was conducted at CEIBA Biological Centre, located in a rainforest near Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. Stowe provided research support to Maharaj, who was investigating the foraging habitats and flower preferences of three species of butterflies.

Stowe said her experience of fieldwork, gathering and analysing data, was invaluable.

“I’m very thankful to have had the opportunity because I wouldn’t

have been able to afford the trip without the research grant,” she said.

“Fieldwork is something that I love, and being in Guyana was a great opportunity to get to know researchers and to know how a scientific project really works. You get down on the ground and you see what field research is and you understand fieldwork. I’ve been bragging about it to everybody.”

When she is done with her studies, Stowe wants to go into Entomology, the scientific study of insects.

“There is so much complexity in the insect world that it just makes me so excited,” she said.

“I love studying insects.”

Stowe is particularly enamoured of beetles.

“Beetles are so, so, important. I have to be careful here because I might start preaching about this,” she chuckled.

Of all the animal species on the planet, 25 per cent are beetles, explained Stowe, noting that they impact everyday life, from agricultural projects to dyes to medicine. (UMSL Daily)

More than Gy$227M distributed in Education Cash Grant

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he Education Ministry has reported that the distribution of the “Because We Care” Gy$10,000 Cash Grant has concluded in most of the Administrative regions.

Service to eight locations in the hinterland and riverine communities has been delayed due to inclement weather conditions, among other minor unforeseen circumstances. Service to these areas is expected to be completed by December 4.

As of November 25, the Ministry has recorded that a total of 135,347 “Because we Care” Gy$10,000 Cash Grant vouchers have been distributed, a release said.

According to Western Union, on Sunday, November 23, their records indicate that a total of 131,075 vouchers have been en-cashed at their locations.

Meanwhile, in the areas where only cash was distributed, the Ministry reports that it has distributed more than Gy$277 million.

As the Ministry continues its reconciliation processes to ensure that monies and vouchers

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

are accurately accounted for, it advises parents to make every effort to en-cash their “Because we Care” Gy$10,000 vouchers by Sunday, November 30.

The “Because we Care” Gy$10,000 Cash Grant programme is meant to provide more support for parents with school-age children and increase the disposable income of parents with school-age children with a view to raising enrollment and attendance rates.

This is in fact the first programme of its kind in the Caribbean and indeed anywhere else in this part of the world where every public school child is entitled to this benefit.

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Agriculture Ministry eyes large-scale production of bio-ethanol

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he Agriculture Ministry is gradually reducing the importation of ethanol as it eyes the large scale production of bio-ethanol production in Guyana.

Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy made this disclosure to Guyana Times International even as he reported that the Gy$85 million Bio-ethanol Demonstration Plant at the Albion Sugar Estate was fulfilling its mandate.

Bio-ethanol produced via this multimillion-dollar plant is being used in laboratories across the eight estates and seven factories within the sugar industry. The plant produces both hydrous and anhydrous ethanol for these laboratories. It is also designed to produce ethanol for biomedical laboratories.

It was explained that prior to the establishment the demonstration plant, ethanol was either sourced locally or imported, however, with this new intervention, the Agriculture Ministry through the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is gradually

A section of the multimillion-dollar bio-ethanol demonstration plant at the Albion Sugar Estate

reducing the amount imported due to its ability to produce bio-ethanol.

“A small part of our operation is now transformed from procurement from an external source to production inside the industry,” Dr Ramsammy explained.

Additionally, the demonstration plant continues to supply 20 vehicles within the Agriculture Ministry, GuySuCo and the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institution (NAREI)

with an E10 blend of fuel.

The gasoline used to fuel these vehicles contains 10 per cent of ethanol. Vehicles fuelled by the demo plant carries stickers indicating that they are using a local blend of fuel.

This comes after the Corporation last December installed a fuel blender at the bio-ethanol demonstration plant funded by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) and the Japanese Special Fund

for Sustainable Energy and Climate.

After approximately one year of the production of the E10 blend of fuel, GuySuCo in close collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry will soon conduct an analysis to determine the effectiveness of this blend.

“We are still in the testing phase but so far we have not encountered any problem with the shift from regular gasoline verses the blended fuel. We have not seen that it had any negative

impact on the functioning of our vehicles,” Dr Ramsammy further explained.

According to him, the analytical study will also determine whether it is economically viable to use the blended fuel.

“So we are comparing mileage that you get from a gallon of blended fuel verses the nonblended fuel.”

If proven to be efficient, Minister Ramsammy said Guyana in the future would be required to put bio-eth-

anol legislation in place to legislate for the use of blended fuel in the transportation sector.

Such legislation, he emphasised would allow for large-scale production, thereby creating a new market in the local arena.

The Bio-ethanol Demonstration Plant was commissioned in August 2013 by President Donald Ramotar at the Albion Sugar Factory.

It was designed to fulfil three primary objectives: demonstrate the production of fuel grade ethanol locally, provide fuel for future demonstration of the use of ethanol as a vehicle source; and develop the facility for training of local personnel in biofuel technologies.

The demonstration plant is a two-component system: the first produces hydrous ethanol (95 per cent from molasses) and the second anhydrous ethanol (99.9 per cent) using membrane technology.

These systems were designed by Green Bio of Porto Alegre in Brazil and the second by White Fox from Calgary, Canada.

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Cocaine in Kund case

Granger supports Bond representing Gy$300M drug trafficker

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pposition Leader David Granger is standing behind A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) and Attorney James Bond, who represented the confessed drug trafficker in the Gy$300 million cocaine in kunds case.

The confessed trafficker Leonard Bacchus was given a suspended sentence by Magistrate Alex Moore when he appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court about two weeks ago.

Following the imposition of a five-year suspended sentence on Bacchus, who had pleaded guilty to trafficking 76 kg of cocaine in kunds worth some Gy$300 million, there has been a public outcry over the decision handed down by Magistrate Moore.

In a separate matter, Magistrate Moore was recently suspended by the Judicial Service Commission for allegedly abusing a woman in court.

There were also reports of alleged miscon-

APNU MP James Bond

duct by Bond, who was representing Bacchus at the time of sentencing. However, Granger has downplayed such reports, saying that Bond did not breach the Code of Conduct as an MP and was performing in private practice.

Further questioned last Friday at the party’s weekly press conference about APNU’s position regarding the type of cases coalition members in the legal fraternity should take, the Opposition Leader said that while there is a Code of Conduct for members, it does not detail any restrictions on their private work.

continued on page 18

Elimination of mother to child HIV transmission…

Guyana among front runners in the Caribbean T

hirteen Caribbean countries including Guyana are on track to be certified as having eliminated HIV transmission from mothers to children while three are close to reaching this goal.

Over the last decade, countries have successfully increased access to antiretroviral medicines during pregnancy and empowered women to make informed decisions about their health and that of their children.

National validation processes are underway throughout the region to confirm reported rates, making it likely that by 2015 a Caribbean country will be the first in the world to announce that it has ended HIV transmission to babies.

“This region was the first to eliminate polio and measles,” UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team Director, Dr Ernest Massiah said.

“These successes would not have been possible without political commitment. We need the same will to end mother to child HIV

transmission. The question is which country will be first.”

Before treatment was available, at least one in four babies born to HIV positive women in many Caribbean countries was infected with HIV. Today Anguilla, Barbados, Cuba, Guyana, Montserrat and St Kitts and Nevis all have shown that they have reached the elimination target of below two percent transmission.

(Guyana’s transmission rate is 1.6 per cent) Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Saba, St Eustatius, St Kitts and Nevis and St Maarten have not had an HIV positive baby on record in the last four to 10 years, but must finalise their documentation.

The Bahamas, Jamaica and Suriname currently have transmission rates between two and five per cent.

Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago lag behind with more than five per cent of children born to mothers living

with HIV becoming infected. The Dominican Republic, Grenada and St Lucia have insufficient information.

“No child living in the Caribbean should be born with HIV,” Massiah said. “We must look carefully at how we can protect and empower women so that they go to clinic early, get tested, get treated and follow-up with their babies.”

Possible

Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is possible, but only by closing the gap between people who have access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services and those who are being left behind. In the Caribbean, more must be done to prevent HIV

among young women, sex workers and men who have sex with men.

Those already living with HIV must also be able to access the services they need.

New data from UNAIDS point to public support for giving young people age-appropriate sex and sexuality education in schools as well as access to condoms and contraceptives.

Public opinion polls commissioned by UNAIDS in Belize, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago show that the majority of people support giving youths access to age-appropriate sex and sexuality education as well as access to condoms and contraceptives. Nine in 10 respondents think that child abuse and domestic violence are problems throughout in their countries.

Addressing the lack of knowledge, sexual and reproductive health services and social protection available to young women can help reduce their vulnerability to HIV.

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PM Kamla lays down the law for TT ministers

P

O R T - O F S P A I N , TRINIDAD: An intense, confidential Cabinet meeting at the Diplomatic Centre last Wednesday, left a few ministers chastened and upset when Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar laid down new guidelines for their code of conduct.

The TT media understands that PersadBissessar clamped down on the use of blue flashing lights on vehicles, banned use of shortcuts through the South Quay bus terminus, and restricted use of the National Security Operations Centre (NOSC) helicopter to her office only. She also asked them to adhere to the law by removing very dark tints from their cars.

While several of the ministers in attendance remained tightlipped on the issues discussed at Wednesday’s meeting, one insider described it as “tense,” saying that all was well until Persad-Bissessar detailed her four mandates. The TT media contacted the ministers who attended the ses-

TT ‘s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar

sion, and could be seen in a photograph taken of the meeting, but was told that it was “highly confidential” and no one was allowed to speak of what was discussed.

Minister of National Security Gary Griffith, who attended the meeting, said he could not recall if the issue of the helicopter came up, but was out of the meeting for a short moment, so he could not be sure.

“It is hardly likely that the Prime Minister said that. She may have obviously had to remind ministers that the NOSC falls under the purview of the Office of the Prime

Minister,” Griffith said.

Griffith also said that the helicopters and operational equipment attached to the NOSC still falls under his remit.

The Prime Minister, he said, had control of the administration of the NOSC, as she also controlled the National Security Council.

Head of the NOSC, Commander Garvin Heerah, in a brief telephone interview, said only the Prime Minister’s office is authorised to approve the use of the NOSC’s helicopters now. He said it used to be that the Ministry of National

Security was authorised, but that has been restructured. “It must go to the Prime Minister,” Heerah said.

“We do interministerial support as required, such as for environmental missions and disaster evaluations. If a ministry needs to requisition a helicopter, it used to be authorised by the Minister of National Security, but as the head of the NOSC, it is the Prime Minister that has the final say,” Heerah said. He said the NOSC ensured that all requests came in writing and once approved, then a helicopter would be allowed off the compound.

On the issue of the blue flashing lights, Griffith said no minister or ministry was authorised to used blue flashing lights on their vehicle unless it was being driven by an on-duty police officer. “If a minister has a civilian driver, then he cannot use blue flashing lights,” Griffith said. One attendee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, however, confirmed that Persad-Bissessar gave no ground on the issues.

(TT Guardian)

Granger supports Bond representing... from page 17

“We do have a Code of Practice for MPs… it covers ethical behaviour, it does not cover which case an Attorney may take or may not take and which case a doctor may operate on, or which a doctor may not operate… it is a professional matter and there was no specific direction to Attorneys or any other professionals,” he pointed out.

Nevertheless Granger noted that considerations will be given to implementing such a clause.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in a statement last Thursday called out APNU to “walk the walk” when it comes to the issue of drug trafficking in Guyana.

The Opposition party on several occasions had chastised the Government for not doing enough to rid the country of this scourge; however, the PPP/C pointed out that an APNU member represented the confessed trafficker and even managed to secure a suspended sentence for him.

Hypocrisy

“This is kind of hypocrisy by the Opposition and this action is another indication of how disin-

genuous the Opposition can be. While Mr Bond was not representing the APNU in the trial, the fact of the matter is he represents a political party which time and again sought to give the public the impression it is serious about tackling the drug trade,” the ruling party said in the statement.

The decision taken

by Magistrate Moore received criticism by many, including members in the legal fraternity.

Guyana Bar Association President Ronald Burch-Smith has been reported in the media as saying that the ruling is “highly unusual”, given the circumstances of the case.

“It is highly unusual. I don’t know what he heard or what the situation is exactly, but [in] the normal course of things, this would not happen…

Mr Moore seems to be breaking new ground here,” Burch-Smith was quoted saying.

Burch-Smith expressed his agreement with the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal the case, stating that “It is certainly worthy of further examination”.

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US$2.5M in sawn timber heading to UK - European timber markets officially open to Guyana

T

he first shipment of local value-added timber destined for the United Kingdom (UK) is currently being loaded for shipping, signalling Guyana’s entry into the European timber market.

Over one million Board Measure (BM) of processed greenheart worth some US$2.5 million is being exported in this shipment. Five suppliers had to combine in order to achieve the desired quantity and quality in a timely manner.

At the John Fernandes Wharf in Stabroek on Thursday, workers were busily loading the timber off trucks and onto a vessel under the watchful eyes of officials from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).

Speaking to the media during the loading process, Managing Director of the timber buying company, Howard and Aitken Limited (UK), Roderick Aitken emphasised that indeed it should be a great deal for local timber producers, given the quantity of wood being shipped on

Roderick Aitken, Managing Director of Howard and Aitken, the company purchasing the timbers, speaking to the media last Thursday in Georgetown.

the first shipment to the UK. He explained that greenheart timber is primarily used in large engineering projects throughout the UK and Europe, ranging from bridge construction and marine defence projects to oil industry projects.

It was noted that Aitken and Howard’s stated buying policy is for suppliers to do as much downstream processing in-country as

possible. This would enable the local suppliers to see higher profit margins while generating more employment in the associated industries.

Aitken emphasised that it was largely due to the Wood Tracking System (WTS) that they were able to import the timber into the European market. “The WTS gives us and our customers a very high degree of confidence that the lumber is all traceable and the logs

have been felled in accordance with the GFC code of practice. It cannot be underestimated how important these traceability schemes are to the end customer and are a part of the requirements to export to Europe.”

Also on hand at the loading were two of the suppliers who briefly spoke to the media on what the shipment meant for them as timber producers and exporters.

Justin Habidullah of Parika Saw Mills noted that this shipment has propelled his company onto the international scene. He also made mention of the fact that there was enhanced traceability on this shipment of timber.

“We can actually tell you where the stump is for every piece of timber we have cut for this market,” Habidullah boasted.

Another exporter lamented that it took his company just over two months to produce its share of the timber.

The representative of Sustainable Forestry Inc noted that this shipment signalled an increase in buyers’ confidence in the Guyanese market.

Deputy Commissioner of Forests, Tasreef Khan noted that the shipment was unique in that it is only taking processed, sawn timber to the UK. He noted that in the past there had been shipments of processed timber leaving Guyana, but they would have been mixed with logs.

In Guyana’s National Forest Policy and other relevant policy docu-

ments, it is articulated that State Forest resources are part of the patrimony of all Guyanese.

The Government, in the past, emphasised that these resources must be accessed in keeping with the legal framework, and sustainably harvested in keeping with social and environmental global best practices, adapted to the local situation.

Direct and indirect stakeholders in the Forestry Sector have been provided with extensive training to fully understand the concept and content of the guidelines, and be better equipped to use them.

Over the past decade, the Government of Guyana working collaboratively with Private Sector Groups such as the Forest Products Association (FPA); the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) and the Community Forestry Associations (CFAs) have been able to implement several initiatives that have led to a more enabling environment for the manufacture of incountry value-added forest products.

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NEWS

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Lethem Airport to be upgraded to regional status

By Vahnu Manikchand

G

overnment’s vision of building another regional airport, this time in Lethem, is coming closer to fruition, and industry officials are very optimistic about the project, saying that it will revolutionise the economy of the already rapidly developing community.

According to Transport Minister Robeson Benn, against the backdrop of the success of the Ogle International Airport (OIA), Government has decided to capitalise on the thriving aviation sector by expanding into the country’s hinterland in order to make travel easier and cheaper.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the Minister disclosed that a team of engineers from

the Transport Ministry is currently working on the project along with the specialists from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). “So we’re doing a study; we have made visits (and) spoke to the stakeholders in the area.

I think too they did a visit to Boa Vista (Brazil) in respect of this exercise to see what type of investment, what level of service is needed and how it will grow and all of these things, so as to do all the calculations, come up with the estimates, the type of building and architecture,” he stated.

The Transport Minister explained that a plan of the building has already been prepared as well as the architecture concepts. He

Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) is one of the most rapidly developing regions in Guyana, propelled by the building of the Takutu Bridge, the emerging agricultural sector and the enhancement of the tourism sector. With the construction of the Lethem Airport, the region will see more growth in the various sectors and in the lives of the people living there.

Transport Minister Robeson Benn

added that the team should be able to finalise the figures for the construction of the airport within a year’s time and can then approach Government for funding or explore the possibility of having a public/private partnership as was done with the OIA.

Revolutionary

Former President of the Lethem Chamber of Commerce (LCC), John Macedo, outlined that such a facility will contribute to the rapid development of the community. He noted that the airport would make travel easier and more cost-effective for residents of the region, as they can go directly from

Lethem to their destination rather than having to fly to Georgetown and possibly have to overnight at a hotel, all of which can be very costly.

Macedo added that the airport will also encourage tourism in the region since persons will have easier access.

Additionally, the former LCC President is calling for a duty-free port to be established in the community. This, he stressed, will further boost the economy of Lethem and encourage more trading activities.

One of the stalwarts in the local aviation industry, Gerry Gouveia pointed out that building a regional airport at Lethem is probably one of the most “revolutionising thing in the development of Guyana” that Government has done.

He said it needed to

be done a long time ago and would definitely contribute to further development of the region’s economy as well as the tourism sector. Gouveia also reiterated that such a facility in the area will greatly enhance and encourage airlines to fly that route. He stated that with a port of entry in that part of the country, many opportunities particularly in trading will be available.

Guyana’s aviation sector is rapidly advancing with more regional and international airlines servicing the country. One contribution to the success of the sector is the dramatic transformation of the OIA over the past years. In March last, the country’s secondary port of entry in terms of air travel was certified as a regional airport.

Value-added won’t save tumbling gold CGX announces settlement with Repsol prices - Private Sector head

By Jomo Paul

E

ven if calls are realised for value-added production of gold produced in Guyana, it would not be enough to save gold mining from its current pitfall as is hoped by the Government and other stakeholders.

so sure, trading within striking distance of three-week highs.

The gold mining sector of Guyana’s economy has been the catalyst for economic growth and has improved the economic well-being of citizens of Guyana.

This has been achieved because of the

International that it is now up to the miners, both small and large scale to look at methods of cutting costs and improving recovery.

He explained that despite what is being advocated, it is common knowledge that gold is sold by weight and not necessarily by design as is done overseas.

Hence, the problem will remain, he said “It would not help the producers, it would help the economy,” he said, adding that “the industry is not surviving, it is in a crisis”.

Measures

GGDMA President Patrick Harding

This is the position of Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman Ramesh Persaud and Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) President Patrick Harding during separate interviews with Guyana Times International.

At present, gold remains narrowly confined just below the US$1200 mark in muted trading ahead of the end of November.

While recent polling showed a loss of support for the measure, the market does not seem

consistently rising levels of gold declaration over the last decade. The importance of the gold mining sector to the economy cannot be overemphasised since gold has been the largest earner of foreign revenue for the last seven years.

This fluctuation in gold prices has left miners scared and contemplating the way forward, since they are of the opinion that the industry will be unable to survive, given all that is happening.

The PSC Chairman in a recent interview, told Guyana Times

In light of the slumping prices and increased calls for more to be done for the mining community, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission has outlined a number of measures put in place to protect miners.

These include duty-free concessions, fuel waivers, and availability of new areas for mining.

Included also is a Gy$1 billion Mercury-Free Mining Development Fund (MFMDF).

This saw the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry working closely with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), looking at ways through which miners can be further “incentivised” to incorporate mercury-free technologies into their practices.

The main objective of the MFMDF is to provide small and medium scale miners with the where-

PSC Chairman Ramesh Persaud

withal to adopt mercury-free technology and to increase the level of gold recovery in the mining sector.

The MFMDF is designed to address the needs for working capital and investment financing at beneficiary level for adopting technology to be used in the mining sector that are more environmentallyfriendly.

But GGDMA President Patrick Harding told this publication that a lot of these incentives come with prerequisites that have to be met before being able to access them.

He noted that some small miners in particular are unable to meet these prerequisites; hence, they cannot access the incentives.

Harding explained that at present, there is a huge decline in the gold industry and persons are scaling down their operations.

CGX Energy Inc has announced a settlement of the claims brought against Repsol Exploración relating to the joint operating agreement governing the Georgetown Block, offshore Guyana

C

GX Energy Inc has announced a settlement of the claims brought against Repsol Exploración relating to the joint operating agreement governing the Georgetown Block, offshore Guyana.

CGX Resources Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CGX Energy, commenced an arbitration against Repsol in the London International Court of Arbitration and received an injunction against Repsol from the High Court of the Supreme Court of Judicature in January and August.

Under the terms of the settlement, CGX Energy received approximately US$900,000 due to CGX Resources pursuant to the terms of the Georgetown JOA and neither party was responsible for costs or damages.

Repsol has also agreed to evaluate opportunities in the Guyana-Suriname basin and Repsol was

granted a 90-day option to present a farm-in proposal to acquire at least a 10 per cent participating interest in any of the Corentyne Block (100 per cent), Demerara Block (100 per cent) or the Berbice Block (62 per cent).

In addition, CGX Energy and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp have been granted a similar option on the Kanuku Block.

In the event that a proposal is accepted, any definitive agreements are subject to due diligence and the terms of any pre-existing petroleum agreement or joint operating agreement.

The parties look forward to the prospect of working together again in the future if and when the right opportunities arise.

CGX Energy is a Canadian-based oil and gas exploration company focused on the exploration of oil in the GuyanaSuriname Basin.

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Ramotar dismisses media reports about private jet travel

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resident Donald Ramotar has never travelled on a private jet to Puerto Rico or Brazil with former President Bharrat Jagdeo, as has been insinuated by an Oppositionaligned online media entity, Demerara Waves.

On Wednesday, the online news site published what well-placed sources said were malicious reports about Ramotar and Jagdeo previously travelling on the jet belonging to Khamraj Lall, who was apprehended in Puerto Rico following a whopping US$620,000 cash discovery on the aircraft when he landed over the weekend.

The sources said the reports were all erroneous and seemed to be targeting Jagdeo for reasons only those writing the articles would know.

When contacted, Ramotar himself stated that, contrary to the reports, he and the former President have never been on a private jet together to the US island of Puerto Rico or neighbouring Brazil.

Observers said there appeared to be perennial efforts aimed at dragging Jagdeo’s name into matters that he had absolutely no knowledge of, or any interest in.

Ramotar also confirmed that he and the former President never travelled together on a private jet overseas.

The President, however, noted that he had previously chartered Lall’s aircraft to travel to Caribbean destinations on two occasions and once to Brazil, but reiterated that it was never with Jagdeo. On this note, he explained that

President Donald Ramotar

these trips were official state visits to participate in conferences.

Lall, a Guyanese businessman was arrested by United States law enforcement authorities after the cash was found on his private plane last weekend in Puerto Rico.

He was detained on November 22 on his way to Guyana after stopping to refuel on the US island.

During the stop, US

Customs officers reportedly became suspicious and the aircraft was promptly grounded by airport authorities.

While on the ground, the officers reportedly asked Lall to report how much cash he was carrying.

Lall, who was travelling with his father and the pilot of the aircraft, is believed to have initially said only US$5000 between himself and his father, but later al-

legedly said they had US$12,000. On closer inspection of the plane, officers found US$150,000 wrapped in plastic bags and a blanket under an exit seat.

As the search continued, several black garbage bags with another US$470,000 in cash were found in a compartment near the engine. Lall reportedly admitted that all the money was his and that his father knew nothing about it.

Lall is the owner of KLX Logistics Inc, located in Jersey City, New Jersey in the US, which offers trucking and warehouse services, and was operational from 1995 to 2010.

In Guyana, he owns the Kaylee’s Service Station at Coverden, East Bank Demerara, as well as a limousine service. He also operates a courier

service out of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.

Lall migrated to the United States of America some 30 years ago in pursuit of his dreams in aviation. He graduated from the College of Aeronautics with a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology and Engineering, and later obtained his pilot’s licence.

He has been flying since 1994 and holds a PIC (Pilot-In-Command) type rating approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

He worked for Pan American Airlines as an Engineer for five years until the airline closed its operations in 1991.

For the past 15 years, he has been freelancing with Ringwood Airport in New Jersey as a flight instructor.

Surinamese farmer held for trafficking Guyanese men

T

he Surinamese Police have arrested local farmer Dipak J in connection with the Trafficking In Persons incident that involved five Guyanese men. The victims were reportedly duped and taken to the neighbouring

country where they were held captive and forced to work on farm lands for more than two years, before finally escaping last week.

According to a Surinamese daily newspaper, De Ware Tijd, Police Spokesman

Humphrey Naarden confirmed that Dipak J has been detained for trafficking the five Guyanese men. He was apprehended after the Guyanese men escaped and filed a report at the Nickerie Police Station. Four of the Guyanese are said to

be from Region One and the other from Region Four.

The Police official further stated that investigations have revealed that the farmer is also suspected of being engaged in smuggling, trafficking and possessing of ille-

gal firearms. The farmer is in the Nieuwe Haven lock-up, in the nation’s capital, Paramaribo, and is expected to be charged soon. He is likely to face charges for trafficking in persons and being in possession of illegal firearms.

Naarden is also calling on none-Surinamese nationals who are victims of human trafficking to come forward, noting that even if they are in the country illegally, special arrangements for such persons will be made.

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Caricom SG recognises continued growth of Guyanese economy

S

ecretary General of the Caribbean C o m m u n i t y (Caricom), Ambassador Irwin La Rocque commended the local private sector’s contributions to Guyana’s growing economy, amid challenges faced by global and regional economies.

In recognising Guyana’s achievements amid the trying times, La Rocque pointed out that the country’s economy continues to grow at a pace that leads the region.

The sentiments were expressed on Friday evening as the Secretary General delivered the feature address at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association’s (GMSA) annual dinner and awards ceremony at the Princess Hotel.

“According to the Caribbean Development Bank, Guyana is one of only three Caricom member states to exceed the global average of three per cent growth in 2013.”

Guyana is also one of five Caricom countries with debt to GDP ratio

The gathering at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association’s Dinner and Award Ceremony

below the international benchmark of 60 per cent, while export from Guyana to the rest of the community has been growing by approximately 10 per cent per year.

“These are all positive indicators, but to sustain them here and elsewhere we must continue to enhance regional cooperation cross a broad range of fronts, economically, socially, and in every other way.”

The Secretary General reminded the members of the private sector of their role in sustaining this growth.

“As members of the private sector you are

Over 20,000 Government employees receive salary increases in Guyana

I

n light of rumours surrounding teachers’ bonuses for 2014, the Office of President (OP) has cleared the air by stating that some teachers will receive an eight per cent increase for 2014.

It said that teachers earning less than Gy$50,000 monthly as at the end of December 2013 are being granted an additional three per cent increase, retroactive to January 1, 2014 across the board. This increase will benefit nurses, Police officers, etc.

On top of that increase, OP said a five per cent increase has already been paid to teachers in keeping with the multiyear agreement with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU).

This brings their total increase to eight per cent and circulars have already been issued to effect the payment of these increases on wages and salaries for 2014.

Recently, teachers from various parts of the country have been expressing concerns over their non-receipt of wage increases or bonuses for Christmas.

When Mark Lyte,

the new President of the GTU took office earlier this year, he said he would be advocating for better working conditions for teachers, among other things.

He said that as a part of his mandate, he will not only engage the Government, but also the Private Sector to see how teachers can enjoy some non-salaried benefits. He said while he will still be advocating for higher salaries, he felt that with the rampant increase in cost of living, an increase will not be of much help.

In addition, the Office of the President said over 20,000 public servants and members of the Disciplined Forces have been granted wages and salaries increases for 2014.

As of December 31, 2013, retroactive to January 1, 2014, these Government employees received five to eight per cent increase on their wages and salaries.

It was further explained that Government employees earning above Gy$50,000 monthly, are being granted a five per cent increase across the board.

key players in the drive towards increase prosperity for the people of this country and region.”

This event, which is a highlight on the GMSA’s calendar, saw several local businesses awarded for their exceptional and longstanding achievements.

In noting his delight at being invited to such an auspicious event, La Rocque congratulated the recipients who were awarded in the areas of export achievement, new and innovative technology and those for lifetime and long service.

Should be proud

“You all have rea-

son to be proud of your achievements, your enterprises, and your efforts as promoting Guyanese goods and services.”

Having conceded that much has changed in Guyana, Caricom, and the rest of the world, La Rocque said the Community has devised a five-year strategic plan to aid its member states amid these changes. He reminded that Caricom has begun a process of reform, a critical part of which is the five-year strategic plan which was approved in July of this year.

He noted the persis-

tence of the private sector in its request for a seat on the councils of the Caribbean community.

“I have heard you, our leaders have heard you, last July the head of government and the captains of industry had a frank exchange on the challenges facing our region.”

Further, La Rocque said that COTED has recognised the private sector as a partner and agreed that it must take part in the deliberations in some way.

“In the mean time, I proposed and the Ministers agreed that

COTED will engage the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce pending the creation of the CBC.” Further, he added that even with new threats emerging, including, health, geopolitical and climate change, the private sector needs to critically examine enterprise on a regular basis to ensure that it is efficient, effective, and relevant, and meeting the needs of the market.

In the interim, Caricom’s strategic plan will continue to focus on economic, social, environmental and technological resilience.

MACORP opens branch in Bartica M

a c h i n e r y Corporation (MACORP) last Wednesday expanded its operations by formally opening shop in Bartica.

The store will be of great benefit to contractors, farmers and a number of businesses, bringing the company closer to its goal of being the sole supplier of machinery equipment in Guyana.

MACORP’s General Manager Jorge Medina told reporters that the company has made a wise move in establishing roots in Bartica as the economy is growing and the demand for their products is great and continues to grow.

He informed that the demand was great in Bartica and customers have complained of being unable to get the parts they needed for their machines.

Medina said the new branch has taken the company a bit closer to their goal of being the leading supplier of machinery in Guyana, adding that “sustainability” is the way to accomplishing such a goal.

MACORP has been providing the people of Bartica with top of the line equipment for the last 10 years.

Product Support

Caption: From left: Acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali; MACORP’s General Manager Jorge Medina; Labour Minister, Dr Nanda Gopaul and Parts and Production Manager Asif Sahid help a staffer cut the ribbon officially to open the company’s branch at Bartica.

Manager Guillermo Escarraga explained that the company does not only supply machinery to its customers, but also offer technical support.

He noted that customers need advice on the right machinery for their businesses, but many of them are unaware of how these machines operate or can be used advantageously.

Escarraga stated that these services are necessary for the survival of mining businesses, and the success of the customer is the success of the company.

“Our customers are hardworking people that

undertake a mission to be successful in their various endeavours, so MACORP’s only wish is to help with this.”

Parts and Production Manager Asif Sahid said the new branch will contribute to the economic boom in Bartica, noting that three persons are stationed there.

They are expected to train a number of Barticians who have recently graduated or have passed through the Labour Ministry’s training programme.

Acting Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali had boldly proclaimed Guyana a country that

is unquestionably moving forward, this being indicative in the number of investors that continue to show interest in Guyana’s market and steadily growing economy.

Minister Ali was in attendance when the technical equipment provider, Machinery Corporation (MACORP) officially opened an all new branch within the bustling town of Bartica.

The Minister was elated with MACORP’s decision, stating that Guyana is “a country that is on the move” when it comes to development, opportunities, jobs and growth.

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Dismal attendance at Second bandit in LBI robbery succumbs “prorogation protests” G deliberate – Harmon

O

ver the past weeks, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has organised “protests” in front of the Office of the President on Vlissengen Road against the President’s decision to prorogue Parliament.

These “prorogation” protests replaced the “Local Government Elections” (LGE) protests that had gone on for a couple of months.

But like the LGE protests, the prorogation protest actions have been poorly attended with some days seeing as little as 20 supporters hurling remarks and chants on Vlissengen Road under the wary eyes of the Guyana Police Force and the Presidential Guards.

Given the noticeable lack of persons at these protests, concerns have been raised in the public with respect to whether the protests are being supported by the entire APNU coalition or whether in fact its main member the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has lost its ability to mobilise its supporters in Georgetown.

One observer has explained that for the most part, Co-Chair of the coalition, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine was absent if not all the time on most of the occasions. Also, following suit was PNCR Chairman and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Basil Williams.

However, when con-

APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon

tacted on Saturday, APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon incredibly claimed that the dismal turnouts at the antiprorogation protests were deliberate. He did confess that indeed attendance has slumped on some of the protests.

He said that “from time to time…the attendance goes up or go down”, claiming this was based on the message that was being sent to the President on the occasion.

Referring to the recent APNU rally at the Square of the Revolution which saw close to a thousand persons gathered, Harmon contended that if the APNU sees it fit, the party can activate more supporters to rally behind them.

Intended for Cabinet

When asked whether he believes that the protest was achieving its objective, Harmon responded in the positive, noting that it is intended for the Cabinet.

He pointed to the fact that the Government holds weekly Cabinet meetings on Tuesdays; hence, their selection of that day for protests.

“I believe the message is being sent and President Ramotar understands that Parliament has to resume,” the APNU General Secretary said.

Some skeptics contend, however, that the message President Ramotar might be getting is that APNU is losing support.

Harmon also commented on the fact that the Alliance For Change (AFC) has been noticeably absent and has said it will not be taking part in the APNU organised protests in front of the Office of the President.

Harmon contended that the AFC is not required to be at the protests, noting that they can attend and lend support should they choose to do so.

This is in spite the AFC saying that it is committed to working with the APNU against the prorogation of the National Assembly.

When asked whether he thinks the AFC was being opportunistic or just “piggybacking” on the APNU, Harmon said “whether or not the AFC joins us they are free to do so… you can’t make the assumption that they are ‘piggy backing’, we don’t see it.”

uyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard Kevin David, 26, who sustained injuries after he was struck down during the course of an attempted robbery, has succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

David of Agricola, Greater Georgetown, was Absent Without Leave (AWOL) for more than three months from the GDF. He and his accomplice Trillion Munroe were chased and hit off their CG motorcycle after they attacked and attempted to rob Jasdai Persaud and her husband of Cheery Field, La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara, after trailing them from a city bank.

Moments after the incident, Munroe died

Dead: Kevin David

while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

It was reported that soon after Persaud and her husband returned home from conducting business in the city, the husband went to attend to an urgent matter. It was during this time that a black CG motorcycle ridden by David and Munroe pulled up in front of their house.

The pillion rider reportedly got off the motorcycle and entered

Persaud’s yard where he held her at gunpoint, demanding money. The woman complied and while returning to his accomplice on the waiting motorcycle, he was confronted by the victim’s husband.

A confrontation ensued and Persaud’s husband and the bandit got into a scuffle. In a bid to escape, the bandit with the bag of money discharged a round at the man before jumping onto the waiting motorcycle and speeding away from the scene.

In response, a relative of Persaud who was close by gave chase, colliding with the motorcycle the robbers were riding. As a result, the bandits fell off the motorcycle.

According to Police, a quantity of the stolen cash along with a .32 revolver and four live rounds with a spent shell were recovered.

Commander Amsterdam promises full investigation into latest police beating at Leonora

D

D Division Commander Ian Amsterdam in conversation with the dead man’s reputed wife

D i v i s i o n Commander, S e n i o r Superintendent Ian Amsterdam accompanied by Pastor Winston Assannah and Pastor Deryck Anderson of the Cops and Faith Community Network on Friday met and comforted the wife, children and other relatives of the late Asif Rahim Khatoon.

Amsterdam told Sursattie Chandrapaul, the reputed wife of the deceased that the Force is concerned over the allegations surrounding Khatoon’s death, and assured the family that every effort will be made to ensure the matter is thoroughly investigated.

The pastors also offered words of comfort to bereaved family members. Khatoon died on Thursday amid allegations that he was assaulted by Police while in custody over the last weekend at the Leonora

Police Station.

The matter is being investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

The Guyana Police Force said an investigation has been launched by the Office of Professional Responsibility into the death of Khatoon.

Khatoon died days after an alleged beating from the Police while en route to Leonora Police Station, West Coast Demerara.

Khatoon, 38, of Ocean Garden, MetenMeer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara, succumbed to his injuries at his home.

In a release, Police stated that the now dead man was arrested on Saturday, November 22 following investigations into a report that he had allegedly assaulted his reputed wife. During efforts to arrest him, the Police claimed that he resisted but was eventually subdued and tak-

en to the Leonora Police Station. At the station, he made no complaints against the arresting ranks.

At the Leonora Station, Khatoon was kept on the bench handcuffed to another man in custody whom he later reported had allegedly assaulted him.

He was subsequently taken to the Parika Police Station where he was kept in the lockup.

He was charged with assault and brought to the Leonora Police Station on Monday, November 24, to attend the Magistrate’s Court.

While at Leonora, his reputed wife reported that Khatoon was allegedly beaten by the Police and as a consequence, he was taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was referred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he was seen by a doctor.

News

25 Abram Zuil Secondary to represent Guyana at Sagicor Competition in Florida T

WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

he auditorium of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in Georgetown erupted in screams of excitement and joy as Abram Zuil Secondary School was declared the winner of Guyana’s National Sagicor Competition 2014 on Saturday.

The school will represent Guyana as they compete with Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Tampa, Florida (Hillsborough County, USA) in the regional competitions next July in Tampa, Florida.

During the month of November, all participating countries were required to host a national competition to select a team which would go on to represent their respective country at the regional competition.

Each of the winning national teams will meet in Florida in July 2015 for the regional competition and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Ambassador Programme.

The winning project – Husk Particle Board

Factory – was designed to address the issue of the burning of paddy husk in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam). The school explained that the issue of paddy burning is a grave annoyance to residents and contributes greatly to mass air pollution. The solution put forward by the school not only finds a better alternative for the good riddance of the waste material, but also provides a low-cost and durable building material for the market.

How the project works

First, the paddy husk is ground into smaller particles then placed on a conveyor belt which transfers the material into a mixing drum filled with aliphatic resin.

There, the materials are mixed together for approximately 10 minutes before it is moulded and placed on another conveyor belt where it is transferred into a hot and cold press. The compressed material then goes into a refinery. After that process, the boards are trimmed and polished and ready to enter the market.

The school also

Students of the Abram Zuil Secondary School at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Saturday

grabbed the special award prize for Best Creative and Innovative Project.

Other schools snatching special awards were Queens College – Best Presentation; Johanna Cecilia – Best use of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Diamond Secondary School – Best Plan and Project Design; St Roses High School – Most Relevant to a Sustainable Caribbean; and St Ignatius Secondary School – Best Innovation.

Moreover, all schools

received certificates of participation. The presiding officials declared all schools winners, saying that most schools developed practicable, feasible and implementable projects.

The students were also urged to not let the end of the regional competition be the end of their journey in Science.

Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said he was extremely impressed by the ideas presented by the participating schools and was elated to see Guyanese students tak-

ing their “book knowledge” and developing them into practical solutions.

Minister Anthony encouraged all the students to work on their projects with the vision of one day implementing them in their communities.

Additionally, Chief Education Officer (CEO) of the Education Ministry Olato Sam said he was extremely pleased to see the large participation of schools in the competition. He said he wants to see more entries in the coming years.

The CEO stated that

the “true value” of the competition is what the students take home at the end of it all. On that note, he urged them to reassess what they learnt during their journey and to never forget the experience gained.

Also charging well wishes to the students were officials from the Caribbean Science Foundation and Sagicor Life Inc. The second and third place finishers in the competition were Queen’s College and St Stanislaus College respectively.

26 NEWS “Regard yourselves as a valuable asset to the nation” WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

– Chief Education Officer tells GTI graduands

S

ome 483 men and women from the Government Technical Institute (GTI) last Thursday graduated from the institution, having completed two years of technical training in different areas.

On the occasion, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam charged the graduands to value their skills and to build on their achievements thus far, and see this graduation as a stepping stone for higher heights.

“I first charge you to develop a keen sense of who you are. I stress this because due to the highly traditional nature of our society and the prevailing practices which are rooted in our painful history, many within our ranks do not place tremendous value on the technical areas of pursuit.”

Sam said as such, many persons having received technical training and skills, even after devoting the long hours studying and experiencing the range of other sacrifices, ironically might not truly appreciate the value and significance of their achieve-

ment.

“You are now among the most able in this society. The development of this nation depends on individuals with technical knowledge which you now possess and will further develop. You should therefore regard yourselves a valuable asset to this nation.”

Sam told the graduands that their skills will be highly sought after, and that they ought to appreciate the importance of the work they have done.

“Do not accept substandard payment for

your hard work, do not accept below par working conditions, be a catalyst to change the general perception and behaviour that currently relate to the technical pursuits in Guyana.”

He called on them to propel themselves to greater heights with the foundation they have received from the institute.

“To the young ones among you, the majority of you I’ve noticed, I urge you to break the cycle of dependency, that has now become a part of the youth experience in our country, find your

unique place in society, set yourself apart from those who see the world as owing them something.”

The Chief Education Officer implored the graduands to move ahead and use their skills and knowledge to establish themselves as responsible and productive citizens of Guyana.

Mutual respect

He however, pointed out that mutual respect is an essential element in that arrangement as he called on them to let their graduation be seen as only one-step in their

A section of the graduands of the Government Technical Institute

Valedictorian Mark Gomes receives a trophy from GTI Board Chairman, Norman Mc Lean

educational achievement. “… structure your life in a way that will afford you the opportunity to engage in lifelong learning, you are young, able citizens and you will have to restore, redefine, and reshape the social fabric of this society.”

Further, the graduands were urged to build networks among themselves and forge relationships that will enable them to realise the highly sought after mutually beneficial prosperity that this country still seeks.

Sam told the latest batch of skilled technical persons that they are all now investments imbued with talent that can serve to propel society forward, and that they should use these talents

widely and wisely. “… years from now when you reflect on what impacted on your life most, these hallowed walls will certainly be a significant factor in that equation.”

Meanwhile, Chiefof-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Mark Phillips, who delivered the feature address, lauded the efforts of the institution for the role it plays in preparing skilled citizens who will contribute to Guyana’s development.

Phillips told the graduands that it does not matter today in what field they are graduating, as the industrialised sector is increasingly linked to skilled training necessary to raise labour productivity and average living standards.

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Strengthening local indigenous culture

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n international project geared at cultural dissemination and capacity building from the north, east, south and west, Encompass, a travelling exhibition, is currently being hosted in Guyana - one of the few destinations in its 36-month travel itinerary.

In collaboration with Iwokrama and the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), Encompass, a project established by the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, is conducting a series of activities under the theme, ‘Heritage Management and Preservation’.

With the aim to strengthen cultural expressions, productions and services, improve cultural access and dissemination, while maintaining the protection of cultural heritage, the travelling exhibition, after stopping in Kenya (Mombasa), is scheduled to remain in Guyana for three weeks before heading to University of Newcastle and then China (Hainan Province).

“En-compass took three cultural practitioners from Guyana on exchange visits to China,

Kenya and Newcastle, and then three persons came to Guyana and visited in the North Rupununi. On these exchanges they looked for similarities differences, concerns, how they can deal with their concerns, and so forth. Of course they also did research to put together this exhibition,” Dr Raquel ThomasCaesar, Director for Research Management at Iwokrama, told Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

The three cultural practitioners from Guyana who participated in the exhibition were Benita Roberts, a coordinator from the Makushi Research Unit; Glenn Allicock, the leader of the Ceramics Culture Group; and Oswald Hussein, an Arawak sculptor from St Cuthbert’s Mission.

The three participants noted some similarities in the indigenous tribes of Africa with their own, which they shared at the opening ceremony. Additionally, they shared their experiences, comparisons between the tribes and a display of the cultural items they were exposed to, such as food, artefacts, clothes, music and much more.

In a highly globalised world where cultural her-

Tools used in food procurement

Some of the individuals from the indigenous community who benefited from the En-compass project

itage is rarely celebrated, En-compass seeks to strengthen local indigenous culture through increasing access to intangible and tangible cultural heritage, expressions, products and services in China, Kenya (and Anglophone Africa) and Guyana. The project is geared to encourage improved management and protection of these resources by linking shared cultural information at all levels to ensure the protection of threatened cultural heritage and to combat discrimination.

Special emphasis is continuously placed on the training and professionalization of cultural and heritage practitioners in each country or territory. The project saw the participation of the Li Miao and other ethnic minority groups in Hainan Province (China), indigenous African peoples in Kenya and Anglophone Africa and the Makushi

of Guyana, among others.

The key stakeholder groups in Guyana involved included Iwokrama and NRDDB, representing the 16 communities of the Amerindian people living in or adjacent to the Iwokrama rainforest reserve.

The entire 36 months will not be spent only travelling with the exhibition - although the travelling exhibition takes up much of the time - there will also be cultural exchanges,

country workshops, research on each group and supported master’s studies to empower both the participants and the general public of each country.

The staff and partners of International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies (ICCHS), of the University of Newcastle, will conduct a short incountry training and facilitation on the protection, management and interpretation of cultural heritage resources and expressions.

Representatives of each territory would have the opportunity to complete one ICCHS postgraduate programme, which provides training in heritage education and interpretation and cultural management and dissemination.

The ICCHS is a leading international centre for research and training on cultural heritage. It seeks to give special attention as well as tackle the vulnerability of local cultural expressions that has emerged during the last few years. This will be done by creating a platform for cultural minorities to strengthen their cultural expression and products, while simultaneously encouraging international exchange, and providing a foundation for ongoing capacity building through in-country training and opportunities for community members to obtain appropriate and desirable postgraduate qualifications at a leading UK university.

The travelling exhibition is being hosted at the Guyana National Museum through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport from 26 November to 13 December 2014.

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The ingenious fish traps B

efore the fishing rod, the indigenous people created ingenious fishing traps to sustain their daily life.

Some of these traps are extremely complex with one-way valves, bait chambers and floats, while others were primitively basic.

Nevertheless, all fishing traps had one common trait - all evidently adapted to specific functions and ultimately different species of fish.

According to Denis Williams’ book Prehistoric Guyana, “the second great petroglyph tradition of the Northern Amazonia is represented by the Fish Trap Series…”, which shows the frequency and importance of fishing in indigenous communities.

Fishing was good in those early times. As early as 2000BC, small bands of “hunter-gatherers”, as Williams described them, would fish in pools, rivers and streams in the “productive rainforest” to trap their next meal.

The stratification of food refuse at the Pedra Pintada rock shelter on the Parima River,

Resourceful tools showcase the expertise of the indigenous people of Guyana

harvesting, the different types of traps indicated location, design, and baiting procedure utilised by the indigenous community.

Fish trap locations also differed in accordance with various habitats. Certain traps were anchored on the river bed, while others were supported on the platform of the water current or just below the surface, and sometimes barriers across waterfalls.

Fish trap locations

and designs were specific to particular water bodies, depending on the geographic area, surface shapes and features.

Not to mention, the indigenous fish traps and baiting procedure “evidenced by petrographic data” implies a “wide knowledge of the habits and haunts of various fish species and of their respective food preferences”.

Notably, the Amerindian community was monitored in their fishing exhibitions

to limit exploitation.

According to Williams, “selective extraction was guaranteed by the imposition on a nearby rock exposure of a range of fish traps known to [be effective] in taking particular species of a given pool”.

Hence, choosing a fish trap for fishing was crucial to the hunt, the species caught and the amount taken home at the end of a given fishing trip. (Information taken from Denis Williams’ Prehistoric Guiana)

The Maswah, a trap that is usually placed where there is flowing water such as the bottom of a waterfall

Region Nine, shows occupation there to have lasted between 2000BC and1000BC. This ‘refuse’ was said to indicate the heavy reliance on fish, fresh water snails and various small reptiles and mammals.

This is further exemplified by the exploitation

of the Kassikaityu River (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), as illustrated by the Kassikaityu petroglyphs, which indicated “four kinds of fish traps: the Maswah, Box Trap, Cylindrical Fall Trap and the Spring Basket Trap”.

Aside from selective

A Spring Basket Fish Trap, a trap that pops out the water when a fish is caught

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What’s going on

WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Simply the Truth

Common courtesy W

I

By Anu Dev

try to follow the goings on back home as best as I can. The internet makes that feat achievable just by a few taps on the old iPad’s virtual keyboard!

But with finals looming, I must confess that I’m not so up to date on the intricacies of the “No-Confidence” maneuvre versus the “prorogation checkmate”.

Now I want to make this very clear. Contrary to what many of my friends and acquaintances back home might believe, I’m not too enamoured of politics. My Dad’s foray into that vocation gave me a whole new perspective: it’s not one that I would want to make my own.

But on the other hand, everything that I’ve learnt up to now has made it clear to me that we, the ordinary folks, ignore politics at our own peril. And it’s a grave peril.

You see, even though we may be taught differently – politics pervades every ounce of our being and every second of our lives.

Its challenge is basically the same with all the social institutions we create to make our lives a little better or simpler or just. We create these rules on how we ought to behave but pretty soon – and evidently inevitably – they take on lives of our own.

Take this expression that’s being thrown around so casually back in Guyana – democracy. It sounded so simple when I was in Primary School. We all sat around in a circle and decided what game we ought to play.

We voted…and even though our game mightn’t have been chosen, we were always consoled by the thought – “next time”!! And when you came down to it, the other persons’ games were also fun to play!!

Now I know by now that running a country is much more complex than selecting a game to play.

But really, are they so different in their goals??

With games, the object is to have fun and in the end…all games are fun in some way or another. Now in running the country, I always thought the goal was your make life “better”.

And while we may differ on the specifics (for me “better” means being able to sleep longer during rainy day…under my coverlet!) I really do suspect that in general we all want the same things.

We want things like a decent job, good roads and radio disc jockeys who don’t talk too much. So when I see the life or death intensity with which politics is played in Guyana, it frightens me.

It’s not as if it’s like in the old days when there were severe differences in ideologies and so on.

From what I see, all the parties in Guyana seem to have the same perspective on how to get going with developing our country.

So the intensity must have to do with deciding who will get into power. Over here in Trinidad, I don’t get the feeling that the politics is so intense. At election time…things do heat up, but never allowed to get out of hand like in Guyana. I’ll never forget being trapped in a bus on the Agricola Public Road while cars were being burnt in 2012.

It looks like whether through prorogation or NoConfidence, elections are in our near term future.

I just hope that our political leaders don’t raise the temperature too much. And as far as democracy is concerned – it’s our duty to participate and let the politicians know how we feel.

I’ll be voting for the first time, this go around, you know.

Imagine that!!

e Berbicians are quite proud of our reputation for being hospitable.

Justifiably so, sometimes.

John Hearne, the Jamaican novelist and former advisor to Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, told me way back in the 80s about Berbicians being “dangerous people”. I was rather surprised at the statement, and asked him to explain.

Hearne was in Guyana in the early 60s to cover the racial riots. He was brought to Berbice, he said. He said that we Berbicians almost killed him. I asked. He told. His version was that that each family of each home he visited insisted that he drank a bottle of rum and eat food!

It was simply too much, and he said laughingly that we Berbicians almost killed him with our hospitality. This story was repeated many fold, the most memorable by a white Canadian named Mark Guay. It seems we almost killed him too, cruel as we are with our kindness.

As a boy, a small group of us (Errol, Clement, Gerald, Dilip, Kayko, etc) rode from Rose Hall to Skeldon on bicycles to see the lights of Deepavali. Not the cheap sting of bulbs and strung, but real deeyahs with real oil and real wicks, those adorning stairs and window sills and fences.

Professor Daizal Samad

It was wonderful but tiring, so we would stop and visit homes.

One of our stops was in Cromarty Village. And we, as strangers at the gate, were treated with soft drinks or tea and cakes. The ceremony was in the simplicity, the sheer gift of decency and welcome.

Those were the days.

Yesterday, I understood how much we have devolved. Someone, close to my heart, came to my humble rented home. Tired and seemingly distraught, she went into bed and slept a sound sleep.

I kept watch, brushing away mosquitoes. She awakened, and – like a good Berbician – insisted that she eat. She took offence at my simple Berbician insistence, put on her formal suit and left.

The words of thanks were: “I am leaving!” My own up-bringing abandoned me (things like you open a door for a lady; you stand when she enters or exists; you place her to sit before you assume your own seat!); and so I sat whilst she walked out slamming the door.

Through my many years in 67 countries, I have asked only three people to leave my home.

Strangely, all three were in Berbice!

The first was a man who claimed the status of being a “relative”. He talked racist garbage.

Offended, I insisted that he exit my home with dispatch. I have never seen him again, much to my pleasure.

The second was a woman that I was helping with “academic” stuff.

She got a bad grade for a paper that I thought was publishable. It remains publishable, but the UG lecturer (who will never publish a line) thought otherwise.

The woman, angry, accused me of deliberately making her fail. I asked her to leave, since she questioned my single virtue – integrity.

The third was a girl from Demerara who was intolerably rude, such that she was instructed to leave. Good riddance to bad rubbish! Not in my home, not in Berbice.

Lynching… …by insinuation here’s something rotten in Guyana….and we’re not talking about the raw sewage that washes up every time it rains for an hour in Georgetown. That’s due to the rottenness in City Hall beginning with Mayor-ForLife Hamilton Green and his band in City Hall. No…we’re talking about the stench from the MuckrakerKN and the unwillingness of anyone – in and out of authority – to do something about it.

There’s not a day that goes by when Mook Lall’s MuckrakerKN doesn’t malign and libel Bharat Jagdeo and those associated with him. But not a word of disapproval – much less condemnation – from those holding themselves out as “guardians of propriety and morality”. Take the case of the Ombudsman’s report on the NBS fraud.

The Report was obviously leaked to the Muckraker… but the Ombudsman remained mute. If he’s serious about his job – knowing his report was gonna stir controversy…he should’ve coded the copies so that he’d know who leaked. This is an elementary precaution.

But more amazingly, when the Muckraker ran with the headline on Novemver 13, “Explosive Ombudsman report…Jagdeo ordered dismissal of NBS boss…because he refused to lend US$10M for Berbice Bridge,” the Ombudsman stayed quiet.

TWO WEEKS LATER, after this blatant and flagrant lie had become imprinted in the mind of the public as “fact” because it was not rebutted by the Ombudsman, he then SHEEPISHLY CONCEDED that the headline was “extremely unfair”.

“Extremely unfair??!!!” Forget this has to be the understatement of the year. Forget that this was a public lynching of Jagdeo’s reputation. When the hell did Moore realise the headline was “extremely unfair”?

He admitted he was shown the headline. Why didn’t he immediately point out – as he now does – that the headline was just Arjoon’s allegation…AND WAS REBUTTED BY GOPAUL to boot!!

But even now, why doesn’t the Ombudsman

T

order Kaieteur News to apologise to Jagdeo – just as prominently as it originally blared the lie?? It is the Ombudman’s slackness that encouraged the Muckraker to later lynch Jagdeo for “flying” in the cash-stuffed jet.

Jagdeo never did any such thing!!

But even if he did (as did President Ramotar) what the hell does this prove?? Were all the players and cricket greats who participated in the Stanford T-20 tournament guilty of the latter’s Ponzi Scheme?? And it hasn’t even been proven that the jet’s owner’s been running illegal businesses!

But what can you say?? Who will be lynched next??

Be careful…it could be YOU! …between Opposition minnows Seems that war’s been declared between the WPA and the AFC – the two minnows on the Opposition benches. Tension always simmered beneath the surface because the WPA was miffed the AFC’d stolen its thunder (such as it was) as the “minnow of minnows” in Parliament. The WPA snucked in by providing cover to the PNC as a member of the “coalition” called APNU. That’s as much a “coalition” as a gnat on the back of an elephant makes them a “honeymooning couple”!!!

There is, when all is said and done, the matter of size and how well one can then perform one’s duties, no??

Anyhow, the WPA – all four of its existing members – castigated the AFC for not supporting APNU’s protests against “prorogation”.

Ramjattan, honest for once in his life, said sternly that he ain’t joining no PNC protest. The revolutionary shouted: “We will maintain our hard-hitting press releases and comments in the press!!” A luta continua!!

We guess. …of young AFC leaders Since whether via the “No-Confidence” or “prorogation” route, elections are imminent, the refusal of the AFC to elect their Presidential and PM candidates, means “selection” rather than “election” is in the offing.

Hasn’t Ramjattan already selected friend Moses as the Presidential Candidate?

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The South Rupununi Experience E

xploring the rarely travelled regions of Guyana is a ‘must experience’ adventure for many tourists. That is why the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and the Guyana Tourism Authority, in collaboration with Rain Forest Tours and the Ministry of Local Government, have organised the second annual South Rupununi Safari.

The tour offers an ideal opportunity for persons to experience the outdoors, fun and adventure, explore little known places in Guyana, experience the beauty of natural landscapes, visit several indigenous villages to test the skills of vaqueros and enjoy their territory.

A six-day tour with highlights such as visits to the Bottle Mountain, the Kanuku Mountain, Shea Village and Shea Rock as well as the corral to gain a firsthand experience viewing the vaqueros tame wild horses, brand steers, tan leather and round up cattle. Indeed, the South Rupununi Safari

Scenic view of the South Rupununi Savannah

2014 is ideal for nature lovers and adventures!

On the week-long journey, tourists will also get the chance to see petroglyphs, over 400 species of birds including the Cock-of-theRock, the rare Red Siskin and Jabiru Storks and enjoy an overnight stay at Dadanawa Ranch, which was once the world’s largest ranch.

The tour is planned to begin this year with a brief stop at Mabura after leaving Georgetown and continue the following day through Kurupukari in the

Rupununi where tourist will cross the Essequibo River then into Iwokrama Rainforest Reserves, Annai Oasis and Lethem.

By day three, the tour will pass through St Ignatius, Parkwarw, Shulinab, Shirri Mountain and Dadanawa Ranch. To complete a total of 14 indigenous villages, Shea Village, Maruranau Village, Awariwaunau, Churikidnau, Aishalton, Karaudanawa, and Achiwuib will then be visited before the return to Lethem and finally

Georgetown.

Six days of venturing into Guyana’s most remote terrain as ex-

plained by the safari’s officials is “not an easy task” but it is worth the hassle to experience the Rupununi and its “teeming flora and fauna, frontier blessed with wildlife and the beautiful scenery”.

Tour packages for the South Rupununi Safari are available; food and accommodation for the 14 indigenous communities are included in the trip.

Arrangements can be made for persons who choose to use their personal vehicles, however, the drivers of each vehicle must ensure to donate a gift to one of the 14 Amerindian villages on the journey (no cash only food, clothing and or educational materi-

als).

Participants are also advised that accommodation in Dadanawa and Achiweb are generally outdoor camping settings so they are expected to walk with various camping gear.

Required items include hammocks, supplies and equipment for food preparation among other things.

The South Rupununi Safari will commence this year on 25 November and continue until 30 November.

For more information on the South Rupununi Safari visit Pakaraima Mountain Safari on Facebook or contact Frank Singh at 642-3298 or 231-5661.

A Vaquero at work

legal corner

Rent-Stabilized Lease is exempt in bankruptcy

By Richard Kistnen, Esq.

I

n a decision released on November 20, 2014, the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, decided whether a “bankruptcy debtor’s interest in her rent-stabilized lease be exempted from her bankruptcy estate” as a local public assistance benefit. The Court ruled that such an interest is exempt in bankruptcy as a local public assistance benefit.

To set the backdrop, when a person files for bankruptcy, the trustee that is assigned to his/her case may assume or reject a lease, as leases are generally interests that are part of a bankruptcy estate. In the case of rent-stabilized leases here in NYC, landlords and property management companies had been offering to buy-out a bankruptcy debtor’s interest in a rent-stabilized lease (to take advantage of the higher rents of a de-stabilized apartment), and trustee’s had been accepting such offers. In this case, the landlord had offered to buy-out the debtor’s rent-stabilized lease (and such monies would go to pay the debtor’s creditors). The debtor subsequently amended her

papers to reflect that the rent-stabilized lease was a “local public assistance benefit” under the New York laws.

In its decision, the Court reflected on the elements of a local public assistance benefit. The criteria set out include: (1) that the benefit is “plainly local”; (2) the benefit is public; (3) the benefit provides assistance to a specific segment of the population; and (4) the benefit is inured by a targeted group.

The trustee argued that a rent-stabilized lease is not like other recognized local public assistance benefits, such as social security benefits, unemployment compensation, or domestic support obligations, as those are tangible periodic payments.

The Court stated that “payments are not a prerequisite to a benefit being in the nature of public assistance.”

Ultimately, this is a big win for debtors here in NYC. With rents always on the rise, a debtor needn’t fear filing for bankruptcy and then losing her apartment. If you would like to speak to an attorney, contact the Law Office of Richard Kistnen, (718) 7382324, www.kistnenlaw.com.

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

History of Anna Regina

By Indrawattie Natram

I

f you are visiting Region Two ( P o m e r o o n Supenaam) for the first time, then one of the historic locations you must visit is the town, Anna Regina.

of Aberdeen\Zorg-enVlygt Neighbourhood Democratic Council, and north to the village of Paradise - part of Evergreen\Paradise NDC. Anna Regina has an area of 78.8km.

According to records, on 1 August 1990 Anna

the High Bridge. The bridge is now regarded as a historical site.

Anna Regina is managed by a municipality, which is managed by the Interim Management Committee (IMC). The Chairman of the IMC is Toolsie Narine. Those

The Anna Regina Town Council building

Anna Regina High Bridge

Anna Regina has a population of approximately 3,000 persons.

It is bordered by east of the Atlantic, west to the Main Canal and south of Aberdeen - part

Regina became a town.

The town was named after Anna and Regina, the daughters of a Dutch plantation owner. Anna and Regina drowned in the ‘punt trench’ under

Guyana get less of more

G

uyana gotta lotta good and a lotta problems at de same time. But after all, that is how life is and that is how de world is. It got good days and bad days. It got good people and bad people.

That is why old people seh yuh have to mek de most of every ting.

And that include mekkin de most of de bad days and de bad people, although is hard to see how any body can mek any ting good outta de Mayor-Fuh-Life.

Two fellas been arguin by de market de other day and one seh de Mayor-Fuh-Life is a good man. De other one seh yes, he good fuh nutten. That sound a lot like Rum Jhaat too.

De farmers had want some rain, now dem get too much. So dem have to mek de most of it. Nagga Man had want “Prezzi” next to he name. But at least now he get some ting like that, just that he had to add “candidate”. But he mekkin de most of it.

De other day de Bell Crier tell de nation that more of every ting ain’t always a good ting and that Guyana need less of More. Well, Sparendaam and dem Pullice down deh gon already see less of one More, if any at all.

De other More end up spillin tears and beggin de other day after he had mek de most of some talk name stuff whah he had hear from More-ice. So hopefully de one More who leff gon mek de most of de lil time whah he got leff.

A couple days ago, one man was tryin to mek de most of a lil plane from de US. Well now, some fellas must be mekkin de most of he in de lock ups. And de US gon mek de most of de money whah dem find and whah dem lookin for.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! And even Lalloo tryin hard to mek de most of a couple of lawyer wuk whah he get!

with delegated duties report to the Minister of Local Government through the Permanent Secretary, whose primary focus is to ensure the efficient management and proper execution of his duties.

A large percentage of the town's population comprises of youths.

Employment opportunity within the town is limited, resulting in a high unemployment rate among youths.

The Anna Regina village is developing as well as transforming. With the vital input from the municipality, the RDC

and the private sector, the town has experienced a boom in its development. This is evident with the construction of the new Town Hall; Citizen Park; improvements of the Community Centre Ground; maintenance of a clean, healthy and peaceful environment; good roads; kokers; clearing of expansive land for housing schemes and also the waterways as a means of transportation.

Prior to October 2012, the town was under the administration of a 15-member council headed by Mayor Sammy Rampersaud.

The Regional Democratic Council; a market; schools (primary and secondary); commercial banks; fire station; historic monuments such as the Damon monument and the Cenotaph dedicated to World War fallen soldiers; Anna Regina Three Friends Bridge;

and rice mills are all lo-

cated within the town.

Cenotaph that was built in memory of World War fallen soldiers. It is located within the compound of the Anna Regina Town Council

The invisible man

S

atiricus was saddened at what’d happened to GrainJa. The fella had disappeared!! He was now just like that fella Satiricus had read about in an old novel – “The Invisible Man”. Not the one by Wells about the fella who physically became transparent – and so invisible to everyone around him. No. With GrainJa, it was more like Ellison’s “Invisible Man”. People just refused to see him.

Satiricus blamed the Rum Jhaat and the Naga Man from the KFC party for GrainJa’s predicament. Imagine that GrainJa was the leader of leaders – leader of the Pee an See, leader of the APANU and leader of the Parliamentary Opposition.

But what did that do for him?? Nada, zilch, Zero! Even though he had so many seats, just because he didn’t have a majority he had to depend on those wankers in the KFC to challenge the PPCEE. Granger’s mother had taught him “when yuh hand in tiger mouth…pat ‘e head”. And by Jove, GrainJa had been doing so much “patting” on the KFC’s head, he felt he was playing “pat-a-cake”.

First there was that “thing” in Linden. He patted their heads and pretended he agreed with the AFC’s blocking roads and all that. And of course, Agricola was next with even more road blocking. “What do these KFC people have against roads, anyway?!” grumbled GrainJa, sourly.

GrainJa was an admirer of the old Army Hero – Teddy Roosevelt – and followed the latter’s motto – “Talk softly but carry a big stick”! The KFC “wild men”, as his sponsor CorBane pointed out, just wanted to show people they existed. GrainJa, on the other hand, fancied himself as a strategic thinker. But because of the KFC provocations he had to talk loudly and show his big stick. “No more!” he vowed!!

And so it was that GrainJa began his picketing of the President on his own. No KFC. People thought KFC didn’t want to come – but that wasn’t true. They wanted sooo badly to get a piece of the action. But GrainJa had learnt his lesson. No more nice guy!! He wasn’t going to be suckered no mo. He would march alone. And alone it was!! Nobody showed up…not even his faithful WhoreMon. So gradually GrainJa faded from the people’s consciousness. In the beginning, they would ask… ”Where is GrainJa?” And GrainJa would smile. Then after a while, they’d asked, “Where is that fella in the Green shirt?” And GraniJa would smile even wider. And finally, on being prompted, they’d respond, “GrainJa Who??”

GrainJa was the Invisible Man. But he’d forgotten that politics was all about recognition. He would soon join CorBane as, “The Forgotten Man”.

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

This week's Crossword

J k es

The Missionary A missionary recruit goes to Venezuela for the first time, struggling with the language. He visits one of the local churches and sits in the front row.

So as not to make a fool of himself, he decides to pick someone out of the crowd to imitate. He decides to follow the man sitting next to him in the front pew.

As they sing, the man claps his hands, so the missionary recruit claps, too. When the man stands up to pray, the missionary recruit stands up, too. When the man sits down, the missionary sits down.

Later in the service, the man next to him stands up again, so the missionary stands up, too.

Suddenly a hush falls over the entire congregation. A few people gasp. The missionary looks around and sees that no one else is standing. So he sits down.

After the service ends, the missionary recruit greets the preacher. "I take it you don't speak Spanish," the preacher says.

The missionary replies, "No, I don't. It's that obvious?"

"Well yes," the preacher says. "I announced that the Acosta family had a new-born baby boy, and I asked the proud father to please stand up."

At the movies When the usher noticed a man stretched across three seats in the movie theatre, he walked over and whispered, "Sorry sir, but you are allowed only one seat."

The man moaned but didn't budge.

"Sir," the usher said more loudly, "if you don't move, I'll have to call the manager."

The man moaned again but stayed where he was.

The usher left and returned with the manager, who, after several attempts at dislodging the fellow, called the police.

The cop looked at the reclining man and said, "All right, what's your name, joker?"

"Joe", he mumbled.

"And where are you from, Joe?" Joe responds painfully, "The balcony!"

This week's Puzzle

Better late than never A newly appointed young preacher was contacted by the local funeral director to hold a graveside committal service at a small country cemetery.

There was to be no funeral, just the committal, because the deceased had no family or friends left in Iowa. The young pastor started early to the cemetery, but soon lost his way.

After making several wrong turns, he finally arrived a half-hour late.

The hearse was nowhere in sight, and the workmen were relaxing under a nearby tree, eating their lunch.

The pastor went to the open grave and found that the vault lid was already in place. He took out his book and read the service in its entirety.

As he returned to his car, he overheard one of the workmen say: "Maybe we'd better tell him that's the septic tank."

Moses Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday School.

"Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge, and all the people walked across safely. He used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters and call in an air strike. They sent in bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved."

"Now, Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?" his mother asked.

"Well, no, Mom, but if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd NEVER believe it!"

see solution on page 47

Giddy Up One day a man ran into an old friend and asked him if he was still dating the same girl.

"No," replied the friend. "She wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Just the other day she decided to ride a horse for the first time.

Without any instruction she hopped on and took off at full gallop. Everything was fine for a minute until she started losing her grip and began sliding down the side of the horse. She started grasping desperately at the reigns and the horse's mane. The horse kept its pace up as she bounced up and down on the ground with the horse's hooves pounding away inches from her head.

The horse might have killed her if it were not for an alert Wal-mart greeter who ran over and unplugged the thing!"

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Decent into …

W …vacuity by Opposition

e’ve some serious issues being aired in Guyana right now…some that’ll shape the trajectory of our democratic transition for years. Yes…we’re still in “transition” as far as “democracy” is concerned. You didn’t think a country sloughs off the structural deformities a 28-year dictatorship imposes just like that, did you??

In fact, the Opposition’s intransigence in insisting that “it’s their way or the highway” to a legally elected Government, is a direct outcome of that dictatorial rule. Dictators, by definition, “dictate”. Anyhow, one of the present burning issues has to do with how far can the media go in destroying people’s reputations and livelihoods before the authorities should say “enough is enough”.

More specifically, we have the case of one newspaper – the Muckraking Kaieteur News – abusing all the tenets of journalism to get at persons they define as their “enemies”. For instance, they’ve conducted the vilest vendetta against former President Jagdeo and anyone with the slightest association with him – for years. All the while hiding under the cover of “freedom of the press”.

Now some may say what about the libel laws???

Well, we all know the answer to that, don’t we?? As someone pointed out a few days ago, the Muckraker has to be the most sued newspaper in the Western Hemisphere – in addition to issuing apologies for “misstatements” daily! Didn’t do a thing…and in the meantime, as with most ordinary folks who find it easier believe negativities about folks – the damage has been done.

So up comes the young Attorney General, who has a friend at the Muckraker. Or so he thinks.

And in the course of a most candid telephone conversation imaginable (they say a fella’s a “friend” when you can tell him anything and everything??) he cautions the “friend” that folks who’re maligned by his paper – not having a paper of their own to respond – might get so incensed that they’ll take to violence.

And guess what?? The owner, Mook Lall, who’s intercepted the entire conversation, screams that he’s being THREATENED by the AG’s caution!!!

Fella called a press conference and shed a river of tears about how fearful he is!

Is there anyone out there who REALLY thinks the AG wasn’t just telling his friend what MIGHT happen if his boss doesn’t ease up on destroying people’s reputations?? And, quite obviously under the influence, exaggerating for effect??

While the AG was certainly indiscreet and uncouth, surely that’s not enough to declare him a gangsta from the hood!!

…dementia by Lalloo

Well, one seasoned Attorney, who’s a bit of a non-conformist, actually – but certainly not a part of the AG’s outfit – decided that the answer to the above question was an unequivocal “NO!!”

And being the lawyer he is, he offered legal precedents and all to show that in addition to no ordinary Guyanese possibly construing the AG’s utterances as a “threat”, this was also so in the most expansive legal sense!

So it goes without saying that out of the woodwork would crawl Lalloo “Suspenders” Ram – fresh out of law school at the age of 70 (?) – disputing his betters once again. The senior lawyer had cited a case from 1938 – but somehow Lalloo declared that this was from 184 years ago…from Feudal England!! You’d think a fella who was a bookkeeper all his life would’ve been able to subtract 1938 from 2014, no??!!! And that feudalism ended 300 years ago.

But while Lalloo might’ve fallen asleep when “criminal threats” were taught, surely he would remember that if a precedent wasn’t subsequently vitiated it remains valid, even if it was handed down along with the Magna Carta.

And in case Lalloo is wondering, THAT was promulgated back in Feudal times!!

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travel & tourism

WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Located at the Iwokrama River Lodge, the Fred Allicock building tells a story of a notable man

Y

our visit to Iwokrama directly contributes to the communities in and surrounding the Iwokrama forest.

Tourism there supports the development of an eco-friendly sustainable model which is being shared locally, nationally and internationally.

Located at the Iwokrama River Lodge is the Fred Allicock building, which was built in the years 2000 to 2001.

Upstairs of the building, the restaurant

Fred Allicock

Iwokrama River Lodge and bar, dining hall for both staff and tourists are found. The building is also used for meetings, conferences and workshops. The offices are housed downstairs: tourism office, administration office, monitoring office, conference room, medical centre, shop and patio.

In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Kevin Edwards, Tourism Coordinator at Iwokrama River Lodge, stated that Fred Allicock is an Amerindian expert who shares his local knowledge on managing natural environment who presently resides in Surama. Edwards also mentioned that Allicock served as the first Field Station Manager with Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development and was successful in accomplishing all of his tasks in the field.

The building, according to Edwards, was dedicated to Allicock because of his diligent work at Iwokrama.

Best view of the Essequibo River from the building

From the building, tourists enjoy a scenic view of the Essequibo River. It is where, after an exciting day of discovery and exploration, they can enjoy traditional Guyanese cuisine at the restaurant.

A computer with internet access is available in the tourism office, and the entire building is covered by WiFi internet access. A gift shop and a shop selling cold drinks, snacks and general items, such as toiletries, are available in the lower level.

Not far away are two science laboratories and a conference room with air conditioning and which is wired for digital equipment such as computers and LCD projectors.

There is also a beautiful mural on the building’s walls. It was done

by Guyanese artists George Simon and his brother; Anil Roberts; visual art students from Annai Secondary; and others. The mural showcases the biodiversity of Iwokrama. (Photos by

Raquel Thomas-Caesar)

news

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Amazon songbirds compete in Guyana ‘races’

A

s the sun rises over the Demerara River, a half dozen men gather on its west bank, tightly gripping small wooden cages.

Complementing the scenic beauty of the nearby palms and sugar cane fields, male finches chirp melodiously from within their coops, affixed twoto-a-post hammered into the marshy ground.

“Everybody be out here to exercise the bird, and sometimes we have a race,” said fisherman Eric Takchand, a participant in the centuries-old Guyanese tradition.

“We feed them, walk them, exercise them.

They love that,” said Takchand, 54, who has been caring for chestnut-bellied seed finches, locally known as “towa

Men on the west bank of the Demerara River with their birds, ready for a whistling competition

towa”, since he was a boy.

In competitions called “races”, the winner is the first bird to chirp 50 times. This takes just a few minutes, with bets ranging from token amounts to thousands of dollars.

The men-only custom transcends social and racial divides in the former British colony on the shoulder of South America between Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname.

For more than a

half century, the country has been held back by ethnic and political tensions, primarily between descendants of African slaves and those of indentured Indian servants, in a hangover from European colonial

rule.

“All backgrounds and religions come together, all because of one bird,” said naturalist Gajendra Nauth Narine, also known as “Andy” at his home across the river in Georgetown.

“The chestnut-bellied seed finch is one of the top songbirds in the world,” he explained, as macaws and parakeets squawked in the background.

Takchand is proud of having raised his birds, which he purchased in the country’s Amazon basin interior.

Some birdmen catch their own in the jungles of Guyana.

The practice, believed to have been brought over by indentured workers in the early 19th century,

has also found its way to the sizable Guyanese community in New York.

There, in Richmond Hill, Queens, finches are often found “racing” and exercising in Smokey Oval Park.

Birds from back home are prized among Guyanese in the United States and authorities occasionally catch people trying to smuggle them in through John F Kennedy Airport.

Back on the banks of the Demerara, Takchand and fellow birdman Ryan Boodho watch as their birds sing.

“This bird has become my best friend,” said Boodho, 34, an electronics importer. “I was offered lots of cash for this bird, but I have never sold it.”(Times of India)

TT mother reunited with daughters who were taken away by relative to fight for ISIS

P

O R T - O F S P A I N , TRINIDAD: A Laventille mother on Monday wept for joy over the safe return to Trinidad of her children who were secretly taken away by a militant Muslim relative to fight for ISIS in Syria.

The woman did not want to be named, but told the TT media she cried uncontrollably when she reunited with her daughters Zakia, 17, Akia, 14, and Niaeh, 12, who escaped from Syria to Turkey with their step-mother Leeanne David in October with the help of a Syrian law enforcement officer.

“When I saw them,

tigations continue into the circumstances that led them to Syria.

The woman’s two young sons, however, remain in Syria. The five children were taken out of Trinidad by a male relative without their

the tears just kept flowing. I was so overwhelmed. I could not contain my joy, just being able to hug my children was the greatest joy for me. In fact it has helped me to overcome the depression I was going through,” the children’s mother told the TT media.

She learned her daughters were flown home safely from officers of the Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU), who worked with foreign agencies to help get the children and their stepmother flown to Trinidad from Turkey. The children and stepmother are in a safe house as inves-

mother’s knowledge.

When told of her daughters’ return, she went to relatives in Laventille until she could meet them.

Mohammed on Monday said the woman informed him of her

children’s safe return home.

“She said police told her that the children were by the grandmother and were waiting to be put in a safe house,” he told the TT media.

(TT Newsday)

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Umana Yana building pegged at Gy$50M C

ulture, Youth and Sport Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Wednesday said Gy$50 million will be added to the Ministry’s 2015 budget for the reconstruction of the historic 55 feet cone-shaped benab.

“After the fire, we invited a group from the Wai Wai community in Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) to come down.

They did an estimate for us and we have since incorporated that into next year’s budget,” the Minister said.

However, he noted that the project cannot commence until the budget is approved.

The Minister said most of the challenges and expenses will go towards transportation of the materials from the Wai Wai Amerindian communities to Georgetown.

Reflecting in 2010 when the roof of the Umana Yana was being repaired, Minister Anthony stated that transportation consumed most of the money allocated for the project.

“Bringing out the material was a substantial cost because they had to get trucks to bring them out of the interior, so I

The Umana Yana before it was flattened by fire

think that’s the main cost…”

Furthermore, he said the Gy$50 million was calculated to cover the exact structural design of the benab.

“We’re aiming to have a similar structure. The estimate we’ve done is really to replace what we had previously.”

Nevertheless, noting that persons usually complain about the heat under the benab, the Minister is hoping that the construction experts can improve the ventilation.

New and improved

“In its new form, we’ll try to address if that’s possible, to have better ventilation so that It’s cooler inside of the benab.”

Additionally, since it was believed to be an electrical fire that caused the destruction of the monument, Minister Anthony noted that they need to alter and improve the transmission of electricity from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) poles to the structure.

“The way that we bringing electricity in the building has to be different… the electricity was coming from the

pole onto some structure at the Umana Yana and I understand that’s where the spark took place, so we’ll probably have to bring electricity from the GPL poles into some other structure within the compound of the Umana Yana and then distribute it from there.”

Minister Anthony also suggested installing “breakers” in the event of power surges so it could prevent possible damages.

“But that’s for the electricians and technical people to look at,” he said.

Unfortunately, the

chances of the Umana Yana being completed in time for Amerindian Heritage Month 2015 are very low.

The Minister again reflected in 2010 when the rehabilitation of the roof took approximately three months to be completed, noting that this project will take much longer.

Alternative locations

Nevertheless, he assured of the availability of alternative locations for the usual Amerindian Heritage Month activities.

He mentioned the Amerindian Village in

Sophia is well equipped to hold the activities, noting that the only difference between the benab there and the Umana Yana is that the Umana Yana was built by the Wai Wai Amerindians and the other one took the form of an Arawak benab.

The Umana Yana, which was built in 1972, was a historical structure and one of Guyana’s most famous landmarks having appeared on the cover of several magazines and publications.

During Amerindian Heritage Month 2014, on September 9, the iconic monument was completely destroyed by fire within a mere 15 minutes.

The fire was reportedly caused by an electrical spark that ignited the thatched roof of the benab, causing the flames to rapidly consume the building.

The structure was made from thatched alli banna and manicole palm leaves, and wallaba posts lashed together with mukru, turu and nibbi vines. The Umana Yana was constructed by a team of 60 Wai Wai Amerindians and was known to be the largest structure of its kind in Guyana.

British couple to sue TT for £2 million

P

Peter and Murium Green

O R T - O F S P A I N , TRINIDAD: A British couple is moving to sue the TT government for £2 million, five years after a brutal machete attack in Tobago.

In August 2009, Peter Green and his wife Murium were chopped and left for dead at their Bacolet Crescent home.

They survived, barely, and with permanent injuries. Green, 70, a retired hotelier, had a cracked skull, fractured cheekbones, smashed teeth, limited vision after the knife cut out his left cornea, and nerve damage. Murium, who has multiple sclerosis, had both cheek-

bones and eye sockets smashed, and her jaw detached.

According to UK media reports, the Greens are claiming that the TT government should have warned tourists the place was “dangerous.”They are reported as saying that they suffered ongoing physical and psychological damage from the incident.

The reports days after a German couple— Hubertus Keil and his wife, Birgid—were found hacked to death at Minister’s Bay, a stone’s throw from their Bacolet residence.

Green is quoted as saying: "It might cost us a lot of money but we're

going to do it. We want to bring it to people's attention that these islands are dangerous.

According to the report, Green said, "The authorities don't like me because I am a constant reminder of what their republic stands for. They say I've ruined their tourism industry and had an effect on hoteliers, but people need to know how dangerous this place is."

The legal challenge, the report said, will begin after medical assessments.

One neighbour told the TT media: "Several couples from Europe and the USA came to view the property but after they were informed of the bloody attack they have changed their minds because they are very scared knowing too that the suspect is still on the loose."

The resident is very concerned and is thinking of selling her property and leaving Tobago for good.

Another resident compared it to a haunted house out of a horror movie.(TT Guardian)

Arts & culture

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

U

Marina Kelawon

S - b a s e d Guyanese artist Marina Kelawon uses art as a means of self-expression and escape, while capturing the beauty of nature.

Born and raised in Enmore, East Coast

Kelawon recalled in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

Growing up, Kelawon would draw a lot but she did not try her hand at painting until 2012.

“I have never received any formal train-

Inspired by the work of veteran Guyanese artist Bernadette Persaud, Kelawon decided to seriously take up painting.

“Every time I hold a brush to the canvas, I strive to invoke a sense of calm, peace and realism. My favourite subjects to paint are landscapes, beachscapes, birds, still life and Lord Krishna. There is a multitude of emotions that surge through when painting, especially the joy of seeing my visions being translated through my hands. When I paint, I try to show a bit of my soul. It is a way try to connect with my inner self; it is an escape for me,” expressed Kelawon.

Intricate details of a strawberry displayed in the artist's work Demerara, Kelawon migrated to Passaic, New Jersey, US, in 2010.

“Adapting to a new environment was very hard. I was accustomed to interacting with my neighbours and hanging out with my friends, but was unable to practice that since Passaic is Latino populated,”

ing nor attended any art classes or have any qualifications whatsoever. I am self-taught through many books and many sessions of trials and errors,” she disclosed.

The self-taught artist mentioned that creativity is a prominent feature in her family, as her uncles would draw a lot.

One of Marina's recent paintings

As for now, art is a hobby which Kelawon hope will soon transform into a profession.

“One of my biggest dreams is to someday go to an art institute to further my passion in art. I

plan to keep painting in the years ahead and try to attain perfection,” the artist declared.

For more information on the artist visit Marina's World of Art on Facebook.

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NEWS

WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Rum and coke! Man busted at JFK for smuggling 18 pounds of cocaine

A

ccording to the New York Post, a Guyanese man tried to dupe John F Kennedy (JFK) Airport security into thinking he was only bringing in a few bottles of South American booze after arriving in New York from Guyana — but it was actually liquid cocaine he was carrying, authorities said Tuesday.

Atlanta resident Wilton Sinclair, 35, thought he had officials completely fooled

when he arrived in New York on November 17 with four big bottles of purported “El Dorado” rum in two duty-free bags.

Before boarding his flight to New York from Georgetown, Sinclair had allegedly secretly filled the 1.75 liter glass containers with nearly 18 pounds of liquidised cocaine, which officials later estimated to be worth more than US$300,000.

But his scheme fell apart when he presented the bags for inspection to US Customs and Border Protection agents, according to Anthony Bucci, a CBP spokesman.

Customs officers noticed that the liquid in the bottles had an unusual chemical odour and that it was a “thick syrup-like substance inconsistent with rum”, according to a criminal complaint.

The substance test-

ed positive for cocaine – what amounted to eight kilos, or 17.6 pounds, with a street value of approximately US$310,000, officials said.

Sinclair was arrested and charged with federal narcotics smuggling.

“Cocaine is a dangerous narcotic, and CBP does its part in keeping these drugs off the streets,” said Robert Perez, Director of Customs’ New York Field Operations.

Sinclair, who has dual American and Guyana citizenship, told authorities he was paid US$6,000 to bring the bottles into the country, according to court papers.

He was arraigned the day after his arrest by Brooklyn Federal Court Magistrate James Orenstein and freed on US$75,000 bond after surrendering both his American and Guyana passports, records show.

feature

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The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

‘Beacons of Excellence’

By Petamber Persaud

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n Wednesday 19 November, Dr Juanita Cox, the contemporary authority on Edgar Mittelholzer, delivered the 2014 Edgar Mittelholzer Memorial Lecture at the Theatre Guild Playhouse, Parade Street, Kingston, Guyana. The novel title of Cox’s talk read: ‘Edgar Mittelholzer’s Creative Genes(is) and the Geni(us) behind it’. The substance and delivery of that lecture has ensured it a place in a series of publications by the Caribbean Press labelled ‘Beacons of Excellence’ edited by Andrew O Lindsay.

The Caribbean Press recently published two volumes of the Edgar Mittelholzer Memorial Lecture Series. ‘Beacons of Excellence’: Volume 1 covered the period 1967 – 1971 which comprised four lecture series while Volume 2 covered the period 1975 – 1984 comprising an additional four lecture series.

In Volume 1, the first series of four lectures was delivered by AJ Seymour in 1967 under the theme, ‘Edgar Mittelholzer – The Man and his Work’.

AJ Seymour was an exceptional man of letters with numerous publications to his name. He knew Mittelholzer very well.

The second series of four lectures was delivered by Denis Williams in 1969 under the theme, ‘Image and Idea in the Arts of Guyana’. The lectures

AJ Seymour

Martin Carter

Wilson Harris

Edgar Mittelholzer

were namely ‘The Concept of the Ancestor’, ‘The Complex Womb’, ‘Image and Idea in African and Caribbean Literature’, and ‘Image and Idea in the Arts of Guyana’.

Denis Williams was an artist, art historian, archaeologist, anthropologist, biographer and novelist. He is better known for his novel, Other Leopards.

The third series of lectures was delivered by Wilson Harris in 1970 under the theme, ‘History, Fable and Myth in the Caribbean and Guianas’. The three talks in that series were namely ‘History, Fable and Myth in the Caribbean and Guianas’, ‘The Amerindian Legacy’, and ‘Continuity and Discontinuity’.

Wilson Harris is a novelist, poet, short fiction writer and essayist. Harris and Mittelholzer were born in New Amsterdam,

Berbice.

The fourth series of lectures was delivered by Martin Carter in 1971 under the theme, ‘Man and Making – Victim and Vehicle’.

There were three talks in this series namely ‘The Question of Identity’, ‘The Victim Identified’ and ‘Victim as Vehicle’.

Martin Carter was an exceptional poet and gifted essayist. He is better known for his ‘Poems of Resistance’, ‘Poems of Succession’, and ‘Poems of Affinity’.

Edgar Mittelholzer was Guyana’s first internationally acknowledged novelist.

Mittelholzer was born on 16 December 1909, in the town of New Amsterdam, British Guiana. He went on to live in Trinidad, Barbados, Canada and the UK. When Mittelholzer committed suicide in England on 5

May 1965, he had already published 25 books, including 23 novels. Mittelholzer was also a poet, painter and writer of short fiction.

The Edgar Mittelholzer Lecture Series was started by Arthur James Seymour to “provide an apparatus whereby Guyanese writers and intellectuals abroad could be invited to come back home at a level of honour in order to serve the country by bringing new ideas to bear upon the community’s inquiring minds”.

Juanita Cox has done extensive studies on Mittelholzer and she has also written and lectured on the man and his work.

Cox recently completed her thesis, ‘Edgar Mittelholzer and the Shaping of his Novels’.

All presenters of the Edgar Mittelholzer have distinguished

themselves in one or more than one discipline of the arts.

Responses to this author: telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo. com What’s Happening: • ‘The Voice and the Vision of Robert J. Fernandes’ (poems) will be launched on 1 December 2014 at Moray House.

• The book, From Ashes to Ferro-Concrete: A History of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 1914 -2014 by Joanne Collins-Gonsalves, published by the Guyana Heritage Society, will be launched on 8 December 2014, at 18:00 in the Church.

• Look out FOR Sharon Maas’ new novel, The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q; and Ryhaan Shah's third novel, A Death in the Family.

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Austin House The present structure, which was 120 years old in October (Photo by Amanda Richards)

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ustin House on High Street, Kingston in Georgetown was built in 1894, and is the official house of the Anglican Bishop of Guyana.

The current edifice stands on the site of what was once known as “Kingston House”, a building which the then

Austin House in 2009 (Photo by Amanda Richards)

newly appointed Bishop Swaby reportedly considered “not at all to his liking” upon his arrival in 1893 to replace Bishop William Austin who died 9 November 1892.

After determining the state of Kingston House, it was decided that it had become “old and in a state of disrepair”, and

a new building should be erected. So on 7 July 1894, Kingston House was duly demolished, and construction for the current building began 17 July of that year.

(However, as happens often in Guyana, local rumours claimed that Austin House was relocated west of its pres-

ent site because Bishop Austin’s children would pelt passersby from the residence as it was close to the street...)

Austin House was designed and constructed by engineer Mr Joseph Bradshaw Sharples, who was also contracted for the design and construction of some train

stations in the country, the current Walter Roth Museum building, and the former Queenstown residence of the current Guyanese president, among others in the city.

On 5 October 1894 the L-shaped building was officially presented to the Bishop and the Diocesan Council and is the residence of The Venerable Cornell Jerome Moss who succeeded the Right Rev. Randolph George

who retired 31 December 2008.

Austin House’s facade and grounds remain testament of a bygone colonial era with its cobblestones and hitching posts (once used to secure horses and their buggy) at the main entrance, its expansive main staircase, and its traditional Victorian architecture and timber construction. (National Trust of Guyana)

Atkinson Field -now Cheddi Jagan International Airport (n.d.)

De Mayor-FuhLife wanna go Puerto Rico

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The Lodge, showing the Jenman Memorial Clock, Botanical Gardens (n.d.)

s a long time now people been talkin bout cleanin up GT de garbage town and nutten wasn’t happenin. That was because de Mayor-Fuh-Life never do nutten. He was busy cleanin up de cheque book.

Then de Guvament try to do a cleanup campaign, but de more dem cleanin, is de more de Mayor-FuhLife messin.

Since from when he was small, de Mayor-Fuh-Life had a mess problem. De Mayor-Fuh-Life get old and he still gotta mess problem. So de Mayor-Fuh-Life born wid mess and he gon go to he grave wid a even bigger mess.

De first problem wid GT de garbage town is that it got some very nasty, don’t-give-a-damn people bout de place. Dem does throw any ting any where any how any time all de time, and then don’t have time to clean up de mess.

One soca man sing a song bout people mashin up de place, but he now need to sing another song bout GT people messin up de place, led by de Mayor-FuhLife, who he self is a mess. Some body gon soon have a big mess to clean when he gone.

De second problem wid GT is that de Mayor-FuhLife want to clean up de cleanup campaign money.

That is because he was plannin a trip to somewhere to do some ting wid he eye. Hopefully that gone mek he finally see de garbage.

Plus de Mayor-Fuh-Life had need some dollars, since he was always short on cents. And that cleanup campaign money woulda come in perfect fuh de Mayor-Fuh-Life, because he accustom to doin a thorough clean up of every ting, except de garbage in GT of course.

Usually, by de time de Mayor-Fuh-Life done clean up some ting, nutten ain’t good fuh any ting.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! And soon he might wanna go all de way to Puerto Rico to clean up a plane!

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Revolutionary F

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atiricus has always wondered who’d keep the revolutionary flag burning in the present age. As a student of history (albeit a “slow one”, he admitted, dejectedly) he admired Robespierre of the French Revolution, Washington of the American’s, L’Overture of the Haitian, Lenin of the Russian, Mao of the Chinese and Fidel of the Cuban.

But those were all past – even Fidel had one foot in the grave.

And while Satiricus knew that the forces of history rolled inexorably forward, he knew too that you could never tell who exactly would embody the new, revolutionary “geist” – the revolutionary spirit of the age. But cometh the hour; cometh the leader, no?? And so it was that when the great Leader of the Opposition, GrainJa, demanded “revolutionary action” to stop the dictatorship the Government was establishing, he just knew the hour had arrived.

After all, how dare the President announce that before the Opposition “bruk up” Parliament, they should maybe sit down and parley!!! So what if the word “Parliament” came from the word “parley” which meant “to talk”.

What an insult!! This was just like telling people to “go eat cake” when they complained they had no bread! This was the straw that broke the donkey’s back. Hadn’t the fiery GreenBridge reminded the Government who dared to want dialogue what’d happened to Charles 1?? Off with his head!!

The revolutionary GrainJa immediately called upon his people to storm the Bastille. Well…the pink OP did look like a fortress, no? He called upon his ally from the KFC to rally to his side.

And this is where Satiricus just knew that the hour had arrived for “the revolutionary of the millennium” when he heard that great leader of the KFC, RumJhaat respond to GrainJa. “Oh GrainJa… We have listened to your call.

But we must tell you now that dis time na lang time. Times change and we must change. Look how me and Naga Man used to drink El Dorado Rum. Now we drink Bush Rum. “Your tactics of storming the OP is outdated.

Look what happened to Markus Benchcapus and Phillipus Bynosus. One is doing charity work and the other is a charity case. In this new millennium, there has to be new revolutionary action.

“And it is this: we will continue to bombard the Government with our hard-hitting press releases and comments in the press. And let this statement ring from every hilltop: the pen is now mightier than the sword!! You can quote me on that!!”

All the hairs on Satiricus’ arms stood up.

“Horripilation” it was called and it signaled awe!

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

lab is a massive health crisis and we are today fatter than at any time in human history. Malnutrition resulting in people being overweight and obese is one major cause that close to so many people are at risk of disability and death due to the chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The present generation is likely to live with more disability and likely to have shorter life expectancies than their parents. In 2010, more than 3.4 million people died directly because of overweight and obesity and 38 million people die each year because of the NCDs. Ebola, HIV, and Malaria are also major health crises confronting humans. But the flab crisis is an even bigger health crisis confronting the human race. Now we are forced to ask: Do we eat to live or do we live to eat?

Did you know that overweight and obesity – the flab scourge – cause more deaths than smoking or wars? Overweight and obesity are twin malnutrition problems and are major reasons why Type II diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension, cancer and other NCDs today account for the majority of disability in the world, and more than two-thirds of all global deaths.

Health expenditure for individuals and for countries has become unsustainable because of the NCDs. Even though overweight and obesity result from our lifestyles, no one really wants to be fat, other than a tiny minority who argue that fat is good.

Most of us in the Caribbean eat daily meals that are far greater, more than 3,000 calories per day, than the recommended amount of 2,200 that the WHO has provided in its guidelines. The bigger problem rather is that most of us eat too much of the wrong food.

One scientist has shown that we are driven not by our bellies, but by the measure of how much food is in front of us. We will eat ice cream according to the size of the container in front of us and not by how much we should have.

We eat not simply because we are hungry but because we have access to food. We eat

Time to curb “big food” out of compulsion. Our diet today lacks essential micro-nutrients and contains too much salt, sugar like fructose, trans-fat, gluten, etc. We are not silly or greedy, so why do we eat like gluttons?

We are victims of Big Food, which prepares ready-made food in larger portions and food that is far in excess of salt, sugar, trans-fat etc, food low in iodine and zinc and other micro-nutrients.

These are the kinds of food that are in our baskets at the supermarkets not because we need them, but because Big Food persuades us through slick promotion campaigns that we must buy them.

Mindless eating is at the heart of the controversy in New York where the former Mayor tried to mandate sales of smaller size soda containers, and ban jumbosize soda. The intention was to reduce the intake of soda-based sugar. The soda manufacturers took the Mayor and New York City to court and they

won based on personal choice.

Unless we legislate to stop them, Big Food will continue to get people to eat too much of the wrong food and eat far in excess of what we need.

We are today faced with the 21st century struggle against Big Food, just as we confronted Big Tobacco in the last quarter of the 20th century.

Big Food is making a killing (profit wise, that is, and literally) with ‘low-fat’ food. But this low-fat fad is the con of the century. The food contains killers such as fructose, trans-fat, salt, gluten, and other ingredients that shorten our lives and bring about disabilities like diabetesrelated amputation and blindness.

We will not win the battle against bad food because bad food also tastes good. We will not win the battle against food that makes us sick because Big Food has persuaded us that it is good for us and that the real problem is we do not engage in enough physical activity.

Even as consumers are bored by public health mass messages, they are imbibing on big chocolate bars, ice cream in containers bigger than their bellies, chips with salts and sugars and fats. A snack often contains enough calories of a whole meal.

We must legislate, in addition to improving our messages and public health campaigns. We need standards and rigid labeling requirement to control salt, trans-fat and sugar. Leaving it all up to choice will not help.

As much as we hate being over-weight we will argue that beauty is not skin-deep, but what is inside our hearts. The easiest things for the average human being to do about his flab are to justify waiting another day and find another excuse.

Let us not procrastinate – let us legislate today so that we could eat to live.

Readers are invited to send their comments by email or Facebook to times.notebook@gmail. com.

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hollywood

WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Cruise writes a five page Paul Walker's daughter Tom apology letter to Nicole Kidman keeping busy T

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ate actor Paul Walker's daughter Meadow is doing well in studies and keeping herself busy, says her grandfather.

The world paid tribute to the "Fast and Furious" star, who died in a car crash last year, on his first death anniversary Nov 30. "She's doing - I hear from the grapevine - very good in school. She's keeping (herself) busy," Paul

Walker Sr. "I think she's just a little bit shy around me, grandpa. I think time is on my side and things will get better," he added.

Earlier, Meadow posted a touching tribute on social media in honor of her talented father.

The throwback picture featured the 16-yearold as an infant when Walker held her in his arms. (TOI)

I'll do very little acting in future: Angelina Jolie

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ctress Angelina Jolie says she now prefers being behind the camera, and is slowing down

her acting career.

The 39-year-old, who is busy promoting her directorial venture, 'Unbroken', has hinted that her career as an actress is over and being behind the camera is what her future holds, but her retirement isn't set in stone just yet.

"I'll do very little acting in the future. And it's funny, somebody said to me - and I think it's true - what's odd is that I wouldn't direct the films I act in.

"Some of them, maybe, but in general I wouldn't spend two years working on the things I'm in," she told the Sunday Times Culture magazine.

Jolie's 'Unbroken' stars Jack O'Connell in the lead role and it will release on Christmas. (TOI)

om Cruise and Nicole Kidman divorced 15 years ago, but it's only recently that the Mission Impossible star's `apology' to Nicole came to light.

As per a recent magazine report, Cruise decided to bury the hatchet and wrote a five-page letter to her. Reportedly, when Kidman's father passed away , the 52-year-old star wrote a five page letter offering his condolences and stating his intentions to `put things right'.

He also said he was

thinking about his own life and the mistakes he made. Cruise and Kidman, who have two adopted children together

from their marriage, had a rather sudden separation when Tom decided to call it quits after 10 years of marriage. (TOI)

Dustin Hoffman may star in Edward Snowden film

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ustin Hoffman is in negotiations to join cast of the upcoming Edward Snowden drama.

The project, which is to be helmed by Oliver Stone, would see the 77-year-old actor join Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who's

playing the lead, and the 'Fault In Our Stars' actress Shailene Woodley, who's currently in talks to play his girlfriend, the New York Post reported.

If the deal works out, Hoffman would either play a mentor of Snowden's at the NSA or a politician in the film, which is also being produced

by Stone.

The untitled film, which is based on two books, Luke Harding's 'The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man' and an upcoming novel by Snowden's attorney Anatoly Kucherena, would begin filming in January in Germany, Hong Kong, Washington, DC, and Hawaii.

(TOI)

Hugh Jackman pays tribute to Jenner, Delevingne won't walk Phillip Hughes on Broadway for Victoria's Secret show

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ctor Hugh Jackman paid a moving tribute to cricketer Phillip Hughes by putting his bat out at his Broadway show of 'The River'.

The Australian actor posted an image of a bat propped up on the empty stage before the performance.

"Just before curtain on Broadway ... Paying tribute to Phillip Hughes," Jackman captioned the image on Instagram, in memory of the Australian cricketer who died last week after being struck on the head while batting in a Sheffield Shield game. (TOI)

Scarlett Johansson marries Romain Dauriac secretly

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carlett Johansson has reportedly married French journalist RomainDauriac in a secret ceremony just after the birth of their daughter, Rose.

The actress, who was recently seen wearing a

gold ring on her wedding finger, is yet to confirm the wedding. The ceremony apparently happened in September just after the birth of Rose, reported the New York Post quoting sources.

"Scarlett and Romain

were married in a very intimate ceremony after the birth of their daughter. They kept the wedding a big secret because they both wanted privacy," the source said. It was speculated that the wedding would take place in Paris but the source said the couple tied the knot at a secret location in the US. Johansson, 30 started dating Dauriac in 2012.

They got engaged in August.

The 'Avengers' star was previously married to Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, who is also expecting a child with his current wife Blake Lively. (TOI)

odels Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne won't walk the ramp for Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

The annual lingerie show has released the list of models who will be walking in Earls Court, London Tuesday night and it does not include Delevingne or Jenner.

Delevingne had walked for the show in 2012 and 2013, but the 19-year-old reality TV star was yet to make her Victoria's Secret debut.

It seems that the two are busy working on a fashion project together, after they shared numerous

photographs of themselves on social media.

They are also expected to walk in Chanel's Metiers d'Art fashion show in Salzburg, on the same date as the VS fashion show, although it is not yet confirmed by the

officials.

Veteran Victoria's Secret models, Lily Aldridge, Adriana Lima, Doutzen Kroes, Candice Swanepoel and Behati Prinsloo are returning to the show, which will be aired Dec 9. (TOI)

Joan Collins was raped by husband before marriage

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ctress Joan Collins said she was drugged and raped by husband Maxwell Reed before their marriage.

The 81-year-old star, who has also written about the harrowing ordeal in her autobiography, spoke frankly about it in the new documentary "Brave New World".

Reed, who died in 1974, was married to Collins for four years. She describes being drugged

and raped at 17 when she was on a date with Reed.

"The next thing I knew, I was out flat on the sofa in that living room and he was raping me. And what he had

given me was a drug. He had drugged my drink.

It wasn't my fault but I didn't know. I went out with him," she said.

Collins has explained that she went out with him again and again, eventually marrying him after he asked.

"Well I better (marry him) because you know, he took my virginity. I really hated him, but I was so filled with guilt that he had done this thing to me," she added. (TOI)

bollywood

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WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Karan Johar to direct Aishwarya, Ranbir Action Jackson: How Ajay and Anushka in 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' went the extra mile for the

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ome people are super special.

Whatever they do becomes the talk of the town. The extremely talented Karan Johar clearly falls in this category.

There is speculation every time he just produces a film, but in a film that he will be directing, the amount of speculation is at another level. While Karan has not responded to any speculation so far, for the very first time, he shares details of his next directorial venture Ae Dil Hai Mushkil starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

I had developed a film for over a year-and-ahalf that needed another 3-5 months of screenplay work. That film is still going to be made and I will make it immediately after 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'. That film is tough and a challenging

film's fight sequences

'A narrative and is about a husband, wife and a daughter and I have already cast the husband.

But when I went to New York, this film suddenly came to me. I think it is about getting out of Mumbai. I wrote it in just 30 days. I have never done that before.

One day, I was chatting with my friend Apoorva Mehta on the phone, telling him that I am writing this and I am writing

that. We had a long hourand-a-half chat and suddenly after that, he says, 'But Karan, you have the screenplay.' And I said, 'Yes, actually I do.' I had not written a word anywhere. I rushed back to the hotel room and just made some notes, so that I didn't forget it. I had decided that I had to make it. I never write down a thing on paper as it's always in my head.

(TOI)

Kumar Gaurav’s daughter marries Amrohi’s grandson

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n March, Kamal Amrohi's grandson Bilal confessed his love for Kumar Gaurav and Namrata Dutt's daughter Saachi and announced that he would marry her one day. Well, the couple who have been dating for the last four-and-a-half years, have tied the knot.

Namrata confirmed the news saying, "Yes, Saachi has married Bilal. We wanted to keep it quiet, but now that you ask....We had the option of calling everybody or

just the immediate family. We chose the latter." The reason the wedding, which happened in Mumbai few days ago,

was a hush-hush affair because Namrata's brother and Bunty's best buddy, Sanjay Dutt is in jail. (TOI)

Prabhudheva prays to the God of Elephants ‘Padmanabhan’ at Guruvayur temple

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head of his upcoming action entertainer, 'Action Jackson', director Prabhudheva visited the extremely famous Guruvayur temple in Thrissur district in Kerala. This was his second visit here. Talking to us post his darshan, he said, "As soon as you enter only, you get such positive energy that we feel we are in some other world only. In front of God, you have no fame, nothing. You are just a normal person. Somebody once asked me, 'Sir, how do you promote your film?' I said by praying to God."

The temple has 60 elephants. Close to the temple is the aanakotta (the elephant yard of the temple) where the God of all the Elephants, the world famous Padmanabhan lives. In the month of December, many Keralites return to Kerala from across the world to visit their friends and family. Prabhudheva was blessed to have visited the temple during the Ekadasi celebrations (a very special time at the temple) and do, not just darshans of Lord Guruvayurappan, but also meet the superstar Padmanabhan.

The Krishna temple in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala is one of the five most famous Lord Krishna and Vishnu temples in India. The others being the Jagannath temple in Puri, Orissa, Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, Nathdwara in Rajasthan and Dwarka in Gujarat. Even though the idol in Guruvayur is that of Vishnu, it is still known as a Krishna temple since the boy, Lord Krishna, is always said to be running around incognito in the temple precincts. Lord Krishna in Guruvayur is popularly called 'Sri Guruvayurappan'. 'Appan' means God or father so the title means the God of Guruvayoor. The whole life of this town revolves round the temple. (TOI)

ction Jackson' has generated palpable interest among the audience right from its trailer launch. The Gordhan P Tanwani and Sunil Lulla production has Ajay Devgan teaming up with director Prabhudheva. The action comedy also features Sonakshi Sinha, Yami Gautam and debutante Manasvi Mamgai, Miss India World 2010.

One of the highlights of the film is Ajay's action sequences. Besides practising martial arts specially for the movie, the actor has also displayed his stellar swordsmanship. Turns out, it was Prabhudheva's idea to incorporate sword fighting instead of the typical action scenes so often seen in Bollywood.

He says, "Sword fighting has not been seen in Hindi films for many years.

That is one of the main reasons why we thought of incorporating it, especially ninja sword fighting, which I think looks stylish on screen."

While Prabhu was upbeat about the action scenes, even Ajay was thrilled at the prospect of doing something challenging. The dedicated actor that he is, he lost several kilos only for a particular scene. The director adds, "Ajay sir has a two-and-a-half minute fight se-

quence where he will be sporting his bare body and showing his sword fighting moves. When I told Ajay sir about the sequence, he readily agreed. In fact, it was just for this scene that he lost 17 kilos."

Of course, it was easier said than done. Not only did Ajay follow a strict diet to tone his physique, but also underwent intensive training. "In a scene like this, the posture and the technique have to be correct. So Ajay sir had to train accordingly. He used to even exercise on the set before shooting for the sequence. One day, in spite of being down with fever, he insisted on working out and then shot for the fight sequence," says Prabhudheva. (TOI)

Mannara is not new to acting

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riyanka Chopra's sister Mannara, who is all set to make her Bollywood debut with Zid, is not new to acting.

Mannara, who is fondly known as Barbie Handa, is a popular name down South and has also modelled for several commercials. (TOI)

Finally, Priyadarshan and Lissy part ways

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umours of an impending divorce have dogged filmmaker Priyadarshan and actress-turned-entrepreneur Lissy for the past

year. And on Monday, Lissy announced that the marriage has indeed come to an end.

Lissy, who starred in more than a dozen films

made by Priyadarshan in the'80s, released a statement on Monday, which confirmed the longstanding rumours.

"It is with profound sadness that I am announcing that I and Priyadarshan have decided to get separated after 24 years of marriage. I have filed for divorce today (Monday) in Chennai family court.

Both our children and close friends are aware of this decision." (TOI)

Gautam's mother: My son will marry a girl of his family’s choice and that definitely will not be Diandra

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ooks like the intimacy between 'Bigg Boss' house contestants, Diandra Soares and Gautam Gulati is not going down too well with the latter's mother, Anurag Gulati, who visited him on the show recently. She admits that she does not like Diandra at all.

"It's just a show," she laughs, adding, "The two might be getting close on the show, but I can give you in writing that nothing is happening between them. It is just for a short while. I am sure that Gautam will forget all about it, when he comes out. Diandra is a model-actress and must be 15 years older to my son, how can there be a relationship? My son will marry a girl of

his family's choice and that definitely will not be Diandra." (TOI)

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Sport

WEEK ENDING December 7, 2014 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana rugby team depart for NACRA 7’s championships

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EORGETOWN, GUYANA: The national men’s rugby seven’s team departed for the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association’s (NACRA) championships on Friday.

The team left brimming with confidence and they aim to bring a seventh title back home.

Before the team’s departure from the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) headquarters, Coach Theodore Henry highlighted that his team is looking to change their style of play.

“We are not looking to play with any particular pattern because teams would have seen us before and might be able to

The national rugby team poses before their departure

stop us so we are looking to be more unorthodox with our play, I have a

lot of confidence in these guys,” Henry stated.

President of the

Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) also left the team with his final

charge, “You are the best that Guyana has to offer and based on the experi-

ence and professionalism you possess, you should not have much of a problem except the weather and the altitude.“Barring any acts of God I expect you to bring home the title.”

Guyana will be a part of group ‘C’ and will have to play against St Vincent, Cayman Islands and the host (Mexico) who are also the title holders.

Once Guyana is able to win the tournament it will start the process of Guyana qualifying for the 2016 Olympics.

Guyana will face Mexico on December 3 when the tournament kicks off in their first game.

TT’s women Soca Warriors lose to Ecuador for spot in FIFA World Cup

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ORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: TT’s Women Soca Warriors’ hopes of achieving an historic berth in next year’s Fifa World Cup in Canada were dashed at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Tuesday, after they conceded a goal in time added on in their intercontinental playoff against Ecuador. Monica Quinteros stunned the packed stadium of most-

ly local supporters when she deflected a seemingly harmless free kick from the left flank over advancing keeper Kimika Forbes which bounced into an open net.

Forbes was left stranded as she left her line to gather the cross but ran into heavy traffic inside the penalty area and could only look on as the ball sailed over her and into the net. The effort came

against the run of play and gave TT, who had dominated the match from nearly the start until then, the task of having to score two goals to win, as Ecuador’s away goal counted as two.

TT threw everything into attack but when Mariah Shade pushed her shot wide of advancing Ecuador goalkeeper Shirley Berruz it was the visitors who would celebrate their first ever

TT captain Maylee Attin-Johnson, left, reacts as the ball beats goalkeeper Kimika Forbes during Tuesday’s Women's World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of- Spain, on Tuesday against Ecuador. TT lost 1-0.

World Cup berth. The result was all too familiar for many of the local fans, bringing back memories of the Strike Squad’s campaign in 1989 when TT men, needing only a draw then, suffered a 1-0 defeat to USA in the final qualifying match at the very same venue.

Speaking afterwards, TT coach Randy Waldrum could not hide his disappointment, but still congratulated his players for their sterling effort throughout the qualifying experience. “We had more clear chances… It was almost a replay of 1989,” he said.

“I am really disappointed for the players. I want to congratulate Ecuador.

Their plan was to sit in and counter. “I am really proud of this group. This group touched so many people around the world.”

“We have to continue the momentum … We have to move forward.” Ecuador had played the counter-attacking game for most of the 90 minutes, allowing TT to press from the onset. There was a sense that a goal was coming for TT almost immediately after

kickoff as winger Ahkeela Mollon poured in crosses from the right flank.

Tasha St Louis, on the opposite flank, was also lively up until her early withdrawal in the 36th minute from an apparent leg injury. She was replaced by Shade, who also linked well with the star striker Kennya Cordner and Mollon.

Cordner was TT’s most enterprising player throughout and was perhaps unlucky not to convert one of her chances. In the 60th minute, she connected with an overhead kick, which beat Ecuador’s goalkeeper but went out off of the crossbar. Then, in the 77th minute, she made a darting run past a couple of Ecuador defenders from the right flank and had two team-mates in support, but opted to shoot into the gloves of Ecuador’s shot stopper.

Ecuador’s 25-year-old coach Vanessa Arauz will look forward to the draw for the 24 qualifying nations in Ottawa, Ontario, on the weekend.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on

Tuesday night congratulated the Women Soca Warriors for their effort in the intercontinental playoff saying although the were just edged out

by Ecuador they had captured the heart of the nation. “You won the admiration of an entire nation.

You won our pride by the way you played your hearts out,” Persad-Bissessar said in a statement after the match, which she attended.

“You won a world of respect and the heartfelt gratitude of all of Trinidad and Tobago. You have demonstrated how far we can go no matter how great the odds.” She noted that the team had been an inspiration to every young girl who may want to “emulate your character, your spirit, your ability to bring a nation together.” “Your efforts have gone well beyond the excitement and pride from what occurred on the field of play. You have united us all,” she said.

“The red, white and black unfurls proudly in your honour and our nation salutes you.” (TT Guardian)

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50 athletes to compete at Eastman closes 2014 cycling Flex Night International season with win in Berbice

Hamzah Eastman crosses the finish line ahead of his competitors

By Andrew Carmichael

G A

Suriname’s Miss Bikini trio! From left: Melitia Galimo, Vanety Bouoe and Suelle Shepperd

total of 50 male and female athletes will hit the National Cultural Centre stage on Sunday for the second edition of Flex Night International, which will sign off the 2014 bodybuilding season.

In giving an update to this publication on Wednesday, Managing Director of Flex Night Inc., Donald Sinclair, said 37 males and 13 females have confirmed their participation in the upcoming event. The majority of athletes are from Guyana, while the others are from Suriname, one of whom has Brazilian roots.

Representation at the final bodybuilding event of the year will come from Buddy’s Gym (2); Extreme Fitness (2); Fitness Paradise (9); Fitness Zone (2); Genesis Fitness (2); House of Pain (1); Precision Body Max (4); Republicans Flex-In Gym (8); Skeldon Community Centre (1); Tej Mohall, Skeldon (9); Top End Fitness Centre ( 3 ) ; Universal Barbell Club, Linden (1); and

Marissa Lowden

Under-176 lbs and Over176 lbs.

On the distaff side, there will be the Miss Bikini for the ‘short’ and ‘tall’ classes of athletes, with the benchmark being 5’4”. There will also be the Miss Best Legs, which is an Open division.

Bikini contest heating up

Managing Director of Flex Night Inc, Donald Sinclair

Suriname (5).

Sinclair said the team of organisers is approaching the climax of the preparation phase, concluding arrangements with the National Cultural Centre management and responding to the numerous requests for tickets.

This year, the Flex Night International event has received overwhelming support from corporate Guyana in the form of sponsorship and Sinclair said it is indicative of the success the programme has had in a short period of time.

He added that the Flex Night brand has truly gained traction, both in the bodybuilding community and among the sponsors, hence the influx of support from the business community.

Sinclair also pointed that there would be no guest poser at the event, but rather an overseas bodybuilder who will deliver remarks at the event.

Meanwhile, the males will compete in the Men’s Physique, which will be an open category; the bodybuilding segment would see competition in the following weight classes: Under-143 lbs, Under-154 lbs, Under-165 lbs,

Meanwhile, the Miss Bikini contest has now emerged as a straight clash between the ladies from Guyana and those from visiting Suriname.

Last Sunday at Congress Hall in Paramaribo, Suriname held its first Miss Bikini Fitness contest. The event attracted six competitors and Suriname is sending the top three finishers to compete in the Miss Flex Night Bikini and one other to the Miss Best Legs contest.

The quality of the female physiques was noted by aficionados of the sport, especially given the fact that the event was the first of its kind.

Also the number of competitors– six– was seen as a very positive and encouraging development, given the efforts made for years by that country’s Bodybuilding Federation to attract females to the competitive stage.

Holding off the Suriname challenge will be seven of Guyana’s best, drawn from two gyms– Fitness Paradise Gym (5 females) and Genesis Fitness (2 females).

For Genesis Fitness, it will be their debut on the Miss Bikini stage, and they are making that debut in fine style, sending the statuesque twins Marissa and Marise Jordan to represent the gym and the country.

EORGETOWN, G U Y A N A : H a m z a h Eastman closed off his 2014 season in fine style when he won the fifth Annual Philip Arokium Memorial Cycle Road Race in Berbice on Sunday.

Eastman completed the 60-mile event in a time of two hours thirty one minutes and thirty one seconds (2:31:31) to take the Gy$50,000 first place prize.Eastman who was one of seven riders out on an early break, used his superior sprinting power to mount the Canje Bridge and peddle away from Michael Anthony to finish the race all alone.

Earlier, Eastman, Anthony, Mario King, Orville Hinds, Paul De Nobrega, Chris Holder, Marlon Williams and Stephana Husbands positioned themselves at the top of the race as the riders pulled off from Main and Philadelphia Streets in New Amsterdam.

The group led the race to the turnaround point at Number 43 Village on the Corentyne with a slight lead ahead

of the other riders which included Junior Niles, Romello Crawford and Andre Abdul.

Eastman soon broke away and took Holder and De Nobrega with him as they topped 40KM per hour.

Just as it looked as though the seven were coming home as a group Eastman and Anthony turned up the pace and made it into a two man race with Anthony faltering on the steep Canje Bridge allowing Eastman to eventually win easily.

Niles was able to peddle his way back to catch the rest and finished a close third behind Anthony.

Hinds, who developed a cramp finished just behind Niles despite protest by some riders in the race who claimed that he used unethical means to get back to the pack.

DeNobrega rolled in fifth ahead of Holder, Williams and King in that order.

Anthony was the first junior to cross the finish line at Main and Alexander Streets in New Amsterdam with the other positions being occupied by Romello

Crawford and Stephano Husbands.

Cyclists also protested against Crawford saying that he too used unethical mean to get back into the top peloton of the race.

Anthony claimed two sprint point prizes with one each going to Abdul, Eastman, Hinds, De Nobrega and Husbands.

The female race was won by Toshwanna Doris. Ronella Samuels finished ahead of Whitney Poyer and Shamika Teixeira for second and third respectively.

Meanwhile the first three cyclists from the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) also received prizes. Elijah Bhajadder was the first club cyclist to cross the finish line although finishing thirtyminutes behind the initial winner of the race.

The second club cyclist to complete the distance was Audrel Ross ahead of Syborne Fernandez.

During the presentation ceremony which followed, organizer and Coach of FACC Randolph Roberts thanked the Arokium family for their continued support for the sport.

Guyana Squash Christmas tournament to serve off on Wednesday

G

EORGETOWN, GUYANA: The Guyana Squash Association (GSA) in collaboration with its number one corporate sponsor Digicel will run off the annual Farfan& Mendes Junior Christmas Squash Tournament at the Georgetown Club squash courts, starting

Wednesday.

The tournament will run until December 7 as most of the country’s top junior players will be participating in this tournament.

Forty Five players have entered the tournament and have been separated into eight categories with players of equal

skill level in each of the categories.

A few of the players will use this tournament as a warm up as they will be leaving Guyana shortly to participate in the Canadian and US Junior Squash Open tournaments scheduled to be held later this month.

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Huge challenge for West Indies in South Africa, says Keith Semple

By Ravendra Madholall

T

ORONTO,CANADA: Former Guyana and West Indies player Keith Semple says there will be a huge challenge for the West Indies team in South Africa when the two countries begin their three-match test series on December 17 in Centurion.

The Caribbean side will also compete in five one-days and three T20s subsequently which is scheduled to conclude just before the International Cricket Council (ICC) limitedover World Cup in Australia and New Zealand jointly.

Semple, who featured in seven one-day games for the regional team coincidently played all in South Africa, made this declaration recently from his home in Whitby, Toronto.

Several weeks ago West Indies aborted their tour of India owing to payment dispute with the players, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA)

and that gives Semple some doubts of solid performances overseas.

“Given the recent fallout between the players, WICB and WIPA, and the withdrawal of Darren Bravo from the tour I think it will be a huge challenge for us in South Africa; I would say I [am] quite hopeful but not very confident that West Indies can make a big impact there which is one of the toughest places to play if you are not fully prepared,” the right-hander stated.

Apart from that, Semple, who still plays professional cricket in the Toronto and District Cricket Association Elite 50-over competition representing Civics Cricket Club, divulges it might affect the camaraderie of the team to an extent as well.

“As professional cricketers it should not affect their approach and level of commitment to performing well personally, but I’m sure there might be some lingering mistrust given that not everyone seemed to be fully in favour of aborting the Indian tour,” re-

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

vealed the former Demerara Cricket Club player.

He further related it will obviously take strong leadership from the management and captain to ensure that the dispute is put firmly behind them and that everyone is pulling in the same direction.

West Indies, who is currently ranked at number 7 on the test rating, will open their campaign against a South Africa Invitational XI on

December 10 with a three-day warm-up match.

The 44-year-old Semple spoke about his experience on the African continent and believes conditions can be a crucial factor when plying your trade there.

“The conditions in South Africa are great for playing cricket, good weather, excellent facilities and first-class accommodation but having said that it’s probably one of the toughest places to tour especially coming from the Caribbean where the pitches are very placid,” he highlighted.

With some of the senior players have been selected to represent the regional side, Semple reckons they have got a great bunch of guys who are capable guiding the younger and upcoming players.

“I think it’s a balanced side and in the absence of Darren (Bravo), probably the strongest we could have put out at this time whether it is a strong enough side to compete against SA remains to be seen. I think a lot will depend on the experi-

enced players like Shivnarine (Chanderpaul), Chris (Gayle), Marlon (Samuels) and Jerome (Taylor),” Semple, who scored a magnificent 142 for Guyana in 1994 against host Jamaica, mentioned.

Promising talented cricketers such as Barbadian Kraigg (Brathwaite), Jamaican Jermaine (Blackwood) and Guyanese Leon (Johnson) among others will benefit from the tour and guidance of the seasoned campaigners, according to Semple who played 56 first-class matches for his native country.

Bravo, who recently made himself unavailable for selection on this tour due to personal reasons, is one of their key and established batsmen and Semple said it will be a “big blow” for them but optimistic the rest of the guys would churn out great performances.

Semple feels if the team does well in South Africa, it will do good for their confidence and strengthen the spirit of the side ahead of the ICC World Cup mega event.

Jamaican Paralympics Association embarks Yaw, Hooper on 'aggressive' fund-raising campaign meet with sports minister after South African success

“T

he best moment was standing on the podium listening to the national anthem,” were the words of gold medalist and new South American Youth Championship 400 metres record holder Jason Yaw to the Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony at a courtesy call on Tuesday.

Yaw smashed the 400 metres record at the recently held championship not once but twice to completely dominate the event with a time of 46.79s to break the 12 year old record that stood at 47.46s while his club-mate Natricia Hooper bagged silver in her 400 metres for Guyana.

“It feels great and I’m looking forward to lowering my times next year,” Yaw continued as he expressed his joy of his historic feat.

Yaw and Hooper’s personal Coach Julian Edmonds, who was also the coach at the Championships held in Columbia over the weekend, expressed his joy for both Yaw and Hooper.

“I was happy for Guyana, for these young athletes… it was rewarding, Hooper had some hiccups with the

Jason Yaw

language barrier but she did really great for her first international event.

“This is the first time I have seen Jason run at his full potential and it was pleasing, the President of the Brazilian Federation came personally to congratulate him,” Edmonds highlighted.

Hooper on the other hand was a bit peeved that she did not win, “it felt great to get the silver, it was an eye opener to some of my weaknesses but I’m still a bit vexed that I didn’t win,” she noted.

Anthony in his address to the athletes highlighted that they were “proud” and challenged the athletes to remain “focus and discipline” towards their craft.

(From left) Jamaica Paralympic Association president Christopher Samuda, British High Commissioner to Jamaica David Fitton, function chairman Patrick Anderson, minister with responsibility for sports Natalie Neita-Headley and Jamaica Olympic Association president Michael Fennell admire the Cauldron Petal moments after its unveiling at the Norman Manley International Airport on Friday.

K

INGSTON, JAMAICA: The Jamaica Paralympics Association will be aggressively looking to raise funds ahead of a busy 2015 schedule which includes two major championships.

Christopher Samuda, the president of the local association, said the Parapan American Games in Toronto, Canada next August and the 2015 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships to be held in Doha, Qatar in October are high on the agenda.

"Toronto is going to be in August and the World Championships

will be in October; two tremendous expenses on our books and we'll be going out aggressively for the support," Samuda said on Friday during the unveiling of the symbolic Cauldron Petal at the Norman Manley International Airport.

"We need funding and we, thank God, have survived under the benevolence of individual persons and companies. We salute the generosity, but that is not enough."

Samuda, who is also secretary general of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), said the aim is to establish medium- to long-term partnerships with entities which can provide

sufficient financial backing.

That, he explained, will allow the Paralympic Association to better prepare budgets, particularly ahead of seasons when there will be major championships.

"We need to get the sponsors onboard in a sustained way, not just simply supporting events, but supporting development programmes. We are hoping to tie down sponsorships of three, four, five years so that we know that our budget can be caste with some certainty, fully knowing that inflows will be coming to support the various programmes that we have," said Samuda.

Paralympic sports is competed among athletes with physical disabilities. Under the governance of the IPC, paralympic athletes have competed at international events since 1952. Athletics has been a sport at the Summer Paralympics Games since 1960. The most recent Paralympic Games was in London 2012.

The previous IPC World Championships was hosted in Lyon, France, last year.

Some of Jamaica's more prominent paralympic athletes are Sylvia Grant, Alphanso Cunningham and Tanto Campbell.

(Jamaica Observer)

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Phillip Hughes gets emotional send off

today we will feel some consolation as we celebrate his life."

A

In Macksville, Clarke, Aaron Finch and Tom Cooper were among pallbearers

ustralia cricket captain Michael Clarke broke down in tears as he paid tribute to friend and team-mate Phillip Hughes at the batsman's funeral.

Hughes, 25, died last week after being hit by a ball during a match in Sydney.

His death stunned Australia and the funeral was broadcast live to millions of people on national television and on big screens in major cities.

Around 5,000 people attended the service in Hughes's home town of Macksville, New South Wales.

The service was also shown at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Hughes suffered the injury during a state match on Tuesday, 25 November. He died two days later.

During the 80-minute service, Clarke said: "Phillip's spirit, which is now part of our game forever, will act as a custodian of the sport we all love.

"We must listen to it. We must cherish it.

We must learn from it.

We must dig in and get through to tea. And we must play on.

"So rest in peace my little brother. I will see you out in the middle."

Around 1,000 people attended the funeral at Macksville High School, which Hughes attended, as thousands more watched on screens in the baking heat outside.

Australia captain Michael Clarke: "We must dig in and get through to tea. And we must play on" Joining the parents of Hughes, Greg and Virginia, and his siblings, Jason and Megan, were Clarke and Sean Abbott, the bowler whose delivery caused the fatal

injury to Hughes.

Former Australia internationals Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Steve Waugh and Justin Langer were also among the mourners.

They were joined

by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and cricketing legends from around the world, including former New Zealand all-rounder Sir Richard Hadlee and West Indies batsman Brian Lara.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told mourners: "I imagine Phillip has already taken guard up there and is currently flaying his trademark cut shot behind point.

"Cricket's heart has been pierced with pain, but it will never stop beating. Phillip Hughes... forever unconquered on 63."

Jason and Megan Hughes also read letters to their brother.

"I couldn't have asked for a better little brother," said Jason. "From a very young age, you were destined to be our rock star.

"I miss you, I'm so proud of you and thank you again for all the memories. I'll love you now and forever."

Megan added: "I want to thank you for being the most amazing brother I could ask for. You have certainly changed the way I look at and appreciate life. I will certainly take every opportunity that comes by."

Hughes, who would have been 26 on 30 November, was in line for a possible recall to the Australia Test side for the forthcoming series against India - which was rescheduled following his death.

The left-handed batsman, who also played

for English counties Hampshire, Middlesex and Worcestershire, had already played 26 Tests for his country, after making his Test debut at the age of 20 against South Africa in 2009.

The number 63 the runs he had scored when he was fatally injured - has become inextricably linked with Hughes, as has the social media campaign that urged people to remember the batsman by placing cricket bats outside homes, workplaces and at sports grounds.

Macksville, with a population of just 2,500, lies on Australia's east coast in the state of New South Wales.

Father Michael Alcock told mourners: "We gather to celebrate his 26 years of life. That is what we are doing here this afternoon.

"To those both near and far whom his life has touched, we pray that

Among those to send their condolence messages was West Indies great Sir Viv Richards, who tweeted: "My heart goes out to the family, friends & the people of Macksville honouring their favourite son Phillip today. Viv." The service opened with the song Forever Young and closed with Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me. The local community also took part in a public procession that followed the hearse at the conclusion of the service.

His baggy green and state caps were displayed on a hat stand at the funeral service

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