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“No need for Tiwarie as Business Advisor” - President Granger ISSUE NO. 288

WEEK ENDING April 3, 2016

See story on page 3

New York Phagwah Parade draws thousands See photos inside

Guyanese born, NY woman on the run after suspected fake cancer diagnosis Page 7

2 NEWS

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

British Royal Navy conducting training with GDF coast guards A team from the British Royal Navy which arrived in a British naval vessel is currently conducting training with the Guyana Defence

Force Coast Guard in several areas of maritime security and counter-narcotics exercises.

The team, led by Lieutenant Commander Richard Hewitt, docked

the HMS Mersey on Tuesday morning and will be in Guyana for the next four days conducting training exercises with the Coast Guard.

President David

President David Granger in discussions with Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Richard Hewitt and Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Brown as British High Commissioner to Guyana, James Quinn looks on, aboard the HMS Mersey

The HMS Mersey docked at Port Georgetown

Granger, who toured the British Naval Vessel on Wednesday, said this first such visit in 20 years is significant for the country, even as Guyana looks to build stronger international cooperation for regional security.

“The presence of the British Navy here is very reassuring. Although we do not have an agreement for them to be involved in any enforcement activities, we hope that this is the start of a longer [term] relationship, in which the Coast Guard and the British Navy could conduct joint training [exercises] and improve the level of security along Guyana’s coastline,” the President said.

The HMS Mersey is specially designed and equipped to respond to disaster-related emergencies and to intercept the trade of narcotics. President Granger explained that since Guyana is a part of the Caribbean’s disaster and emergency management mechanism, and is also keen on interdicting narcotics entering and leaving Guyana, the ship’s arrival is welcomed by the Administration.

“Guyana has not entered a formal defence or security agreement with the [United Kingdom] or with the British Navy but we are committed, as part of the Caribbean Community, in the two main areas [disaster response and fighting the narco-trade] in which the Royal Navy has particular interest in the Caribbean,” the Head of State said.

Speaking of the country’s large Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), he reminded that Guyana has been victim to intrusion into the zone, for which it does not have the maritime capability to efficiently patrol on its own.

Speaking with the media, Lieutenant Commander Hewitt said it is a privilege for him and the crew to visit Guyana.

“We’ll be here for four days and we’re here to work predominantly with you and to celebrate your 50th year of independence, and as you can see, we’ll be working in partnership with you and the Coast

Guard and visiting places, and my sailors are delighted to be here. I’ll be visiting various bases from the Coast Guard and taking tours and my ship’s company is very much looking forward to seeing Georgetown itself,” the Lieutenant Commander stated.

Hewitt explained that the vessel is one of three UK river class offshore patrol vessels and is approximately 80 metres long, and weighs close to 2000 tonnes.

Hewitt further added that the team would also be participating in various training exercises with the Coast Guard in hopes of strengthening their capabilities for maritime security.

The Naval Commander further divulged that the team will be offering advice on counter-narcotics exercises, as well as participating in practical exercises during the visit, adding that the team has been successful thus far in its patrol of the Caribbean in relation to reducing narcotics travelling via ships and other vessels.

British High Commissioner to Guyana, James Gregory Quinn commended the Captain and his 48-member team for voyaging across the Caribbean and undertaking the training ventures. “It is my great pleasure to be standing here today. I didn’t think I’d be standing here today on a Royal Navy ship sitting along the Coast Guard station but it makes me extremely happy and extremely proud to be here, and I’m extremely grateful to Captain Hewitt and his members here on board for chartering the unknown in a way and coming up the river in a way that a British Navy Ship has not been,” he related.

The HMS Mersey, with a 48-member crew, set sail from the United Kingdom in early January to visit British overseas territories.

NEWS 3

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

“No need for Tiwarie as Business Advisor” - President Granger - Harmon says appointment was "honourific"

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fter coming under severe pressure from various sections of the public regarding the appointment of Brian Tiwarie as Business Development Adviser, President David Granger on Thursday declared that he has a very competent Minister of Business and therefore the government does not have a need for the businessman to serve in that capacity.

Expanding on his decision to rescind the appointment of Tiwarie as a Ministerial Advisor on Business Development, during a recording of the weekly Public Interest TV show, the President said Tiwarie’s appointment was not a government appointment.

According to the

Minister of State, Joe Harmon

President, “Mr. Tiwarie is not an appointee of the government and he is not performing any function and that is why the position was rescinded. He is not required to perform any function. We have a Minister of Business, and as far as I am con-

cerned, that Minister is quite capable and quite competent”.

“I personally rescinded Mr. Tiwarie’s appointment”, the President said, as he explained that the Minister of Business has never requested any help to deal with

Government’s business agenda.

“We don’t have any ongoing relationship with Mr. Tiwarie and that is all I can say”, Mr. Granger explained during the interview.

The appointment was made by Minister of State, Joe Harmon back in January. The President and the rest of the cabinet were unaware of the appointment until it was revealed in a Kaieteur News story on Sunday.

By Tuesday, the Ministry of the Presidency announced that the appointment had been rescinded.

The Minister of State, Joe Harmon, has since returned from China and is expected to soon meet with the President on the issue. He has attempt-

Businessman, Brian Tiwarie

ed to defend his decision, telling the Kaieteur News that the appointment by him was “honourific”.

On Thursday morning, he dodged questions by reporters. Harmon was accompanied to China by Brian Tiwarie.

Just after the May 11, 2015 elections, Brian Tiwarie, who owns a large contracting company and mining company, positioned himself close to the government and even provided assistance for various clean-up efforts.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

INTERNATIONAL To contact: Guyana Times International

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The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Guyana branch, commenced a twoday Post Election Training Seminar for Members of Parliament at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, on Thursday. Present at the opening ceremony were members of the Diplomatic Corps, Members of Parliament and a delegation from the Commonwealth.

Prisoner rehabilitation must Cross ethnic politics be seen in the larger context EDITORIAL

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ne of the pastimes of the Guyanese political class is evidently to concoct institutions of governance that promise to resolve our political impasse. The most recent has been the Local Government Elections (LGEs).

China's rise to superpower status without adopting the governance models of the West in toto reminds us that by simplistically restricting our choices to those presented by the West that is in the midst of social, political and economic meltdowns, we may be setting ourselves up for an inevitable failure. China has been holding LGEs since 1987 without any change in the status quo.

For most countries, their governance structures evolved organically in the course of their history. Britain, which once ruled us - and to which we have traditionally looked for our bearings - was once smaller kingdoms that gradually merged into four England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, and then into "one" through conquests. Through hundreds of years of economic development pushing political accommodation they arrived at their model that works for them and now even possible succession.

One does not have to be Marxist to acknowledge their broad movement of accommodation involved a gradual diffusion of political power.

Our challenge is that we have turned that process on its head.

We are seeking to engender equitable economic change through political structures that have worked for others which, almost inevitably, followed completely different historical trajectories.

In modern times - the last hundred years or so - we have had several countries in the Far East, including China - develop economically at increasingly faster rates. But if we were to examine their political development, in almost every instance, their political democratisation lagged significantly behind the economic growth.

But the other salient fact is that, just as uniformly, they adapted traditional institutions to the exigencies of the challenges presented by modernity. They did not imitate the West "wholesale".

In Japan, for instance, which was the first to experience the "economic miracle" in the Far East, they utilised their traditional close societal relationships to alter the Western business model, in which employment is much more precarious than in Japan. The concern for employees' welfare went a far way to dull criticisms of particular business families leading economic development through.

The point we wish to make is not that we should follow "the Far Eastern Model" because we would be repeating the same mistake they have made so far in following the West. We have to begin with an understanding and acceptance of the nature of our society and only then propose and craft institutions that can exploit our strengths and minimise our weaknesses in the development of our country. In both economics and politics.

Take the political question that is again open after the LGEs. For the last fifty years, the "experts" noted one group constituted an absolute majority of voters. But with the other group only a whisker away, it made rational choice for each to try to agglomerate their members but for the loser to deny legitimacy to the loser.

But what the "experts" have to now concede is the demographics have changed and so must the mobilisational tactics.

There is no one group with fifty per cent of the electorate, so for any group to win a majority, it must have "cross-ethnic" appeal which should confer legitimacy. There is no need for the crude resort to coalitions by self-appointed "racial" representatives like the AFC: this merely reifies the old schisms. And makes them appear to be "sell outs" that cannot "deliver the goods" The PPP is the only party in Guyana that has remained steadfast in its recognition and acceptance that a cross-ethnic ideology - represented in their case by appeals for "working class" unity. Ideologies such as this that transcend race and ethnicity must form the core of the parties' mobilisational efforts because of the nature of our society. When they obtain their majorities, legitimacy cannot be denied them.

Dear Editor, If there is one country in the Caribbean that needs a break from the epidemic of crime, it is Guyana. Prisoner rehabilitation then must be seen in a larger context than just benefiting the offender. The authorities must understand that they must engage the rehabilitation of prisoners with the safety of the wider community in mind. To view the benefits of a changed criminal as only applying to him or her is to be civilly and communally myopic.

For too long politicians have shrugged off prisoner rehabilitation because they naively attribute the benefits only to the offender. I read with much angst the recent lament from Justice Cecil Kennard as he expressed the long established fact that if the findings and recommendations of the last prison CoI were implemented, the latest tragedy and multiple deaths in the prison would not have happened.

I bet there is not one single, solitary soul who would step up and take responsibility for the lack of implementation of those findings, which cost taxpayers millions to compile.

What we all know for a fact, however, it that the responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of our politicians.

Editor, I am framing this discussion with this summarily slant, because at the end of the day, prisoner rehabilitation must first be the work of government; for they are the custodians of the prisoners.

However, what all politicians quickly find out is that short of a prison riot which sees many dead, there are little or no political benefits to rehabilitating prisoners.

A politician gets or loses no votes if he diverts monies to the rehabilitation of offenders.

Neither does a politician win or lose any set of constituents if he harps on what he is doing to change the behaviours of the incarcerated. Prisoner rehabilitation in actuality is a political zero sum undertaking.

The notion from the sceptics and cynics is that these guys are virtually irredeemable and monies spent to rehabilitate them could be best spent on prevention. Any nom-

inal politician knows of this baseline thinking, so for years on end and with billions spent or research and reports, a politician can get away with the lack of the implementation of common-sense, actionable prison reforms and yet feel no negative political consequence.

President Granger seems to be somewhat an out-of-thebox thinker in this regard.

However, his noble humanitarian acts of annually releasing convicted criminals are shrouded in political correctness. For indeed it cost his administration nothing to release prisoners. In fact when one looks at the hefty sum it takes to maintain an offender, President Granger might well receive accolades from those financially inclined.

So while the President wins the nod for his Godly and civil beneficence, this, however, does not solve the crime or recidivism problems. More has to be done. Actual monies need to be expended, not just on the repeated CoIs, surveys and reports but on practical pre- and post-release rehabilitation programmes.

Under the last administration there was a Superintendent who served as both Chaplain and Re-entry Coordinator for the prison. She was specifically employed for, and tasked with, envisioning and implementing programmes that should have reduced the rate at which the guys returned to prison and hence reduce the overcrowding.

It might be helpful for the powers that be to ascertain from the Superintendent what contributions she has made over the many years she served in that capacity. Except she was grossly inept or the then government completely nonchalant, there must have been practical suggestions and recommendations that she would have made that would have also reduced the likelihood of that tragic event.

Justice Kennard’s latest observation rings true. It bemoans the failure of the previous administration on the prison front. However, one could well argue that had there not been a massive riot with resultant deaths, it might well have

been likely that the atrocities now being addressed would still be the modus operandi of the Guyana Prison Service.

In other words, prison life is as such in Guyana that except the government is severely embarrassed, human rights and international best practices get thrown out the window.

This government, in this Golden Jubilee year, has a similarly golden opportunity to seize the moment. All the stars have been aligned to once and for all establish a normal, internationally acceptable prison service.

The inmates have spoken, the international community has vowed their support for prison officers’ training, the CoI is moving at a pace, the Minister of Public Security – VP Ramjattan is hands-on and just recently the IDB awarded the Guyana Government a grant of US$15 million, US$2.3 of which is directly for the purposes of prisoner rehabilitation and social integration services.

Through this IDB’s Citizen Security Strengthening Project (CSSP), there should be established a rehabilitation and reintegration service and delivery training plan. Part of the loan will also be used to address prison overcrowding and alternatives to incarceration.

If these are handled correctly, Guyana might well be on its way of no longer being known as a crime-ridden nation.

Guyana’s recidivism rate stands at 75 per cent (meaning that three out of every four persons in prison were there before). If the monies assigned are attributed to the rehabilitation of prisoners, and if those released from prison can be placed in a programme where they are helped with their criminogenic needs (drug addiction, job training, employment, education, etc), the residents and visitors can rest assured that crime would soon no longer be the order of the day in Guyana.

The ball of prisoner rehabilitation is in the hands of this Administration, history will say what they did with it.

Sincerely, Pastor WP Jeffrey, Practical Christianity Ministries

NEWS 5

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Relatives of slain Army rank accuse Police of working in collusion with gunmen

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n light of the gunning down of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Lance Corporal, Kevon Payne, his relatives are holding out that the Police and gunmen worked in collusion to kill him.

The 22-year-old Lance Corporal attached to the Coast Guard division of the GDF was shot at least five times on Tuesday evening at the corners of Lyng and Sussex Streets, Charlestown, Georgetown.

From reports received, two men on a CG Motorcycle rode up and opened fire on Payne, also called “Lil Boy” and “Scar” of Lot 36 Sussex Street, Charlestown.

A brother of the now dead coast guard, who requested his name not to be published, is accusing the Police of joining forces with the gunmen to kill Payne.

He recalled that on the night of the shooting, a few friends and family were “liming” at the corner when the two men appeared on a CG motorcycle and shot his brother twice before attempting to leave the scene.

Upon seeing this, he and a few friends ran behind the shooters but by

Kevon “Lil Boy” Payne

this time, a Police van which was reportedly in the vicinity blocked the roadway and the officers opened fire, forcing him to run to safety.

“As I run down the passageway to meh yard, I see them (the Police) walking towards meh brother who was on the ground and I run out back. One of the shooters went with the Police so when I see them going toward me brother, I turned back and fired a cuff at he. He pull out the gun and shoot me bother one more time,” he recalled.

He claimed that he grabbed the suspect but the Police opened fire

again resulting in him running to safety. At this point, he noted that one of the Policemen who was carrying a gun on his shoulder and a handgun walked up to his brother and shot him once.

The Police then ran behind one of the suspects pretending to give chase.

Soon after, the other Police ranks at the scene left in another vehicle.

The young man claimed that his brother was left on the street to die. He and other relatives subsequently picked him up and rushed him to hospital.

The man who asked to remain anonymous further stated that as soon

as the first bullet was fired, the Police arrived at the scene and did not intervene.

“The Police come with these people,” the brother reiterated. However, the young man is not afraid to identify the Police rank that shot his brother to higher authorities.

While he could not say the reason for someone wanting to kill his brother, he explained that about a week ago, he had a heated argument and ultimately a scuffle with another man and that might have led to the shooting incident.

“The man Clive who and me had a argument claim that he is a boss and that he could pay the Police to stop and search we to see if we got anything illegal… and if we nah get anything illegal, by the time we reach the next corner, we could get kill… he say that the Police on he pay roll and that he can use the Police to destroy we”.

Yvette Parris, mother of the dead Corporal told this newspaper that she was at home when she heard a hail of gunfire and immediately ran out to the road. On her way, she enquired about

Payne and later saw him lying on the roadway calling out for help but no one ran to his assistance.

The aggrieved mother claimed that she would have spent the day with her now dead son trying to repair his motorcar that was involved in an accident. After they returned, he reportedly left to join his friends and brothers on the road but not before running some errands.

Parris added that it was only on Tuesday he returned from training. When asked about the argument prior to the shooting incident,

the woman claimed that it was his other brother who was involved in the argument and not Payne.

She too noted that the man with whom her other son had the argument had said that he would pay Gy$10 million to get rid of the brothers.

“Lil boy don’t thief, he join this wuk and save he money and buy car”.

In light of the accusations made against the ranks, the Police Office of Professional Responsibility and ranks of the Criminal I n v e s t i g a t i o n Department have launched an investigation into the incident.

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Rather than engaging in witch-hunt Govt should focus on ensuring the economy grows Dear Editor, “The fear of the PPP’s cry of witch-hunt by the Government has backfired with the LGE [Local Government Elections] results. In what ways did the slow movement towards the prosecution of Jagdeo help the APNU/AFC regime?

PPP supporters went out and voted in a contest in which the PPP got 29,000 more ballots than the coalition in the total LGE. Did it occur to the coalition that if Jagdeo was in court with all the sordid revelations laid bare, then maybe the voters would have been disgusted?

The longer the Government takes to haul Mr Jagdeo before the courts, the easier it will become for PPP supporters to think that the regime is bluffing and that they haven’t got evidence against Jagdeo and that they are trying to intimidate the PPP. It is possible that kind of thinking was a factor in the LGE results? In most countries of the world, charges would have been laid against Jagdeo in the Pradoville 2 scandal. What is the Government waiting for? After 10 months in power, the evidence is still not there? Now a new twist has entered the radio licence scam."

The above is an extract from Freddie Kissoon's column in Tuesday's online edition of Kaieteur News headlined “Charge Jagdeo with Abuse of Power”.

This is yet another call for the Government to pursue legal action to satisfy a political end. Why should bringing charges have anything to do with election results? Many of these calls have come from political scientists who have never yet produced a single job for any Guyanese but who wax poetic about their concern for the plight of the poor.

How can these "opinion sharers" be allowed to continue publicly encouraging the Government to pursue legal action against persons in pursuit of political support rather than on the basis of strong evidence and sound legal advice. Let me make it clear. Those for whom there is solid evidence of corruption must be made to face the law. But it is not for a few political scientists to decide on the evidence and the timing of charges, if any are to be brought. That is for the Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide on. In fact, political operatives, including elected officials in Government, should and must have no say in who gets charged and when.

Rather than wax poetic continuously about charging "this and that body", these opinion sharers should focus some attention on how the Guyana economy can be improved, how we can create jobs for our young people, provide training in new and relevant skills for our workforce, attract investment and bring modern and appropriate technology to the country.

I am also tired of reading in the press what are apparently leaked reports of the findings of various audit reports, CoIs and SOCU and SARU investigations.

The President needs to bring the hammer down on those suspected of leaking these reports to the media. It makes a mockery of the Government when you read in the press that a Vice President says he learnt of the appointment of a business adviser to Government, by reading it in the press, a day or two after that same adviser was named among persons who may have illegally and profitably disposed of land acquired from the former Government for housing development.

I am tired of all these leaked media reports of findings of wrongdoing. The only announcements there should be are those that inform that "today the DPP has advised that charges be brought against X, Y and Z for A, B and C".

Any reports of findings should be of jobs for our young people.

Regards, Wesley Kirton

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

City Hall needs to be managed better

Dear Editor, As we look on in amazement as the Georgetown Municipality careens from one foolish initiative to another, we wonder if the officials there are answerable to no one but themselves?

The most recent fiasco was the hare-brained scheme to charge each and every kite flyer in Georgetown a fee to merely mount a kite in the sky on Easter Monday.

Thankfully, this idea was scrubbed.

Then there is the plan to establish petting zoos at the Promenade Gardens and at the Merriman Mall.

Isn’t that just off the chain? Aren’t there enough stray animals roaming the streets of the capital that one can easily pet?

Then there was the idea to commandeer open spaces in exclusive residential neighbourhoods and convert them into municipal housing schemes for the workers of the Georgetown City Council? Are there not enough housing schemes already under development that the Council’s workers could each acquire a house or house lot? Or they just prefer to become squatters on State land?

Now we are hearing of the development of a Presidential Park? Why

does the City want to get involved in this? This should be a national and not a municipal undertaking? Why is it that City Hall wants to get involved in everything these days? Are they looking for fame or fortune?

The real question I want answered is why the hierarchy at City Hall feels no need or obligation to have consultations with the citizens of Georgetown before implementing these grandiose plans. All over the world there are town hall meetings; there are surveys done; there are referendums undertaken before changes or new things are implemented.

But here in our capital one or two dreamers get an epiphany and that is all it takes. The next morning they begin implementing the most bizarre and lavish ideas unmindful of the concerns of others, the sustainability, relevance or the wisdom of the idea.

This madness must be stopped and stopped very soon. Georgetown is too significant to Guyanese and others from around the world to be the subject of an experiment by any one person or a small group of amateurs who obviously do not know what they are about.

One can only hope and pray that the new Council would stop this

march of folly which was encouraged by the previous Council, which is intended to line the pockets of a few on the backs of the earnest taxpayers and at the expense of real development of the city.

Digging a few drains and repairing a few buildings do not secure or maintain the competitiveness of our capital and the livelihoods of the people who live here. We need to find more sustainable, resource-efficient ways of managing Georgetown.

City Hall has to improve processes and services from urban planning to much better financial management. Georgetown as the President has said needs to be self-sustaining and managed like a corporation with a proper Chief Executive Officer who will secure all revenues due, explore investment partnerships, embrace technology, make organisational changes that eliminate overlapping roles, and manage expenses.

Also, if designed and executed well, private-public partnerships would be an essential element of smart growth, delivering lower-cost, higher-quality infrastructure and services.

Sincerely, Debra Gibson

Officials must learn to serve with humility Dear Editor, Former President Bharrat Jagdeo rightly condemned the arrogance of members of the former PPP Government. But their attitude has not changed some nine months after being removed from positions.

Dismissed (now former) Government officials (appointed by the PPP) are not showing remorse for their arrogance or blunders committed while in office; it was because of them PPP lost power. Some of them are not even prepared to say “sorry” for their unforced errors or even that they erred or that they have regrets in the way they did things (behaved) while acting on behalf of the State.

As I travelled around in recent weeks, several of them defended their actions while at the helm of various agencies, and worse, some of them remain contemptuous of the masses. There does not seem to be much remorse or an inkling that they learnt anything positive from their experience while in office or why they were replaced or why people despised them or why people voted against the PPP. They remain as

arrogant as ever.

As an example, in response to a missive I recently penned about his arrogance while the head of a Government agency, a former chair said he does not care how “I feel or what others feel or say about him” because “he getting his pension”. So pension is what matters to him – not the community he comes from or the people he was supposed to serve.

All along, in and out of office, this chap has been concerned only about self (benefits of office, not service), not about people. So while I laboured for over 45 years for a community and nation, he laboured for himself. That sums up the attitude of several of the appointees of the previous regime and even some of the new coalition Government as they have not shown to be any better than their predecessors.

While in office, this chap was getting a super salary and enjoying the perks of the position – duty-free vehicle, a driver, housing allowance, gratuity after being removed from job (with allegations of corruption hanging over his head), etc, and had power to insult and ignore us when

we visited his office.

And now, he gets a fat pension and still thinks nothing about the ordinary people. Imagine his response to a concern and my critique of his behaviour: “I still getting meh pension.” That is the kind of personality who was tending to the State’s business and that we had to deal with under the PPP (not that his replacement is any better – in fact, people working in the office said his replacement is more arrogant).

He, like several other ranking bureaucrats of the State, under PPP, previous PNC, and now the coalition, learn nothing about human relations and how to be humble. They never see faults in their actions or how to serve with humility even when getting fat salaries. I hope the nation does not see the likes of them again. They are not prone to reform or rehabilitation. Jagdeo has one hell of a tough job to clean up his party -- and cleaning up is the only option for a return to office.

Yours faithfully, Vishnu Bisram

news 7

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyanese born, NY woman on the run Former Chief Magistrate says Prison after suspected fake cancer diagnosis CoI is a waste of time and money

NY Daily photo

(New York Daily News) – A New York woman whose battle with leukemia united her community behind her is under investigation after skipping town, police said Saturday.

Residents around Ardsley village in Westchester County donated over $60,000 to Shivonie Deokaran and her family after learning in August she had only 18 months to live, The Journal News of the Lower Hudson Valley reported.

Deokaran’s boyfriend denies any allegation that she could be faking her terminal cancer.

Yet the couple moved with Deokaran’s two children to Florida last month after investigators work-

ing on a tip, asked for her medical records, a police source told WCBS-TV. Ardsley police, who have confirmed an investigation, didn’t immediately respond Tuesday night to requests for comment.

“I just really hope that she was honest with everybody because it will make it much harder to raise funds for other people who desperately need to be helped,” Paul Feiner, the town supervisor of Greenburgh, which includes Ardsley, told the News Journal. “I put her situation on the town website and, within 24 hours, we raised probably $12,000.”

Other efforts included a GoFundMe page called “Shivonie’s Fight Against

Leukemia” and a spaghetti dinner organized by her son’s Ardsley High School football team in November.

Deokaran, who was born in Guyana, and her boyfriend, Nikhlesh Parekh, ran a struggling restaurant called Samosa Cafe in nearby Dobbs Ferry.

“It’s unfortunate someone with cancer has to prove to anybody they have cancer,” Parekh told the News Journal.

He said the family moved because New York weather is too cold for Deokaran in her condition.

He said that she gave her medical records to people who had supported the family when rumors began swirling around the small town.

He told the newspaper a “legal process” prevented Deokaran from immediately giving the medical files to police. Neither Parekh nor Deokaran immediately responded Tuesday night to social media messages seeking comment.

Carrie Spiro, who lived next door to them on Virginia Street, called the rumors “pretty disgusting” in an interview with the newspaper.

Guyanese-Canadian charged with terror group participation

T

he 23-year-old Canadian former engineering student whose roots extend to Guyana, was officially charged Tuesday with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Kevin Omar Mohamed, a former student of the University of Waterloo and the J Clarke Richardson Collegiate in Ajax in 2010, was formally charged three days after he was detained over fears he might commit a terrorist act. Mohamed appeared briefly in a Toronto area court to face the charge that he participated in, or contributed to, the activities of a terrorist group over a two-year period.

Mohamed, of no fixed address, was remanded until April 19 for a bail hearing that Prosecutor Sarah Shaikh said could last two or three days.

In a statement after the new charge was laid Tuesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the arrest followed an “extensive” investigation dubbed “Project Swap” that began last August amid suspicion that Mohamed had travelled to Turkey in April 2014 to join Jabhat Al-Nusra, a listed terrorist entity in Canada.

Kevin Omar Mohamed

Mohamed returned to Canada a month later, Police allege.

“We were able to not only disrupt this threat to our country’s national security, but also to bring this individual before the Canadian justice system,” the Mounties said in the statement.

“At no time during the course of this investigation was there any risk to public safety.”

Mohamed was arrested last Friday in Waterloo, Ontario, under a recent law that essentially allows detention without charge.

Police also charged him with two minor weapons offences related to his alleged possession of a hunting knife.

He watched closely but said little during the five-minute appearance in which he appeared in handcuffs before being led

back to jail.

His lawyer, Anser Farooq, said his client had been brought to court Tuesday expecting to sign a peace bond and get released; his father had brought him fresh clothes.

Instead Mohamed found himself charged with a crime that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Farooq said he had little idea of what evidence Police might have to back up their allegations, but said he hoped to know more next week. He also said he saw little reason Mohamed should not be able to win bail.

Mohamed, on his Facebook page, listed himself as a Sunni Muslim.

Back in 2014 on his Facebook page, he had insisted: “Misguided groups like ISIS don’t represent me,” while adding: “I can’t understand how some Muslims legitimize attacking innocent non-combatants. Where did they learn that is fine?”

About 60 Canadians who travelled abroad to join terror groups are now back in the country, and another 180 are estimated to be overseas engaged with extremists, Canada’s spy chief Michel Coulombe told a newspaper last month. (newsamericasnow.com)

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ormer Chief M a g i s t r a t e and prominent Attorney KA JumanYassin is of the view that the ongoing Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the recent unrest at the Georgetown Prison, which resulted in the death of 17 inmates and several others injured, is an absolute waste of time and money, and has turned out to be a spectacle in the media.

In a lengthy Letter to the Editor on Wednesday, Juman-Yassin pointed out that the establishment of a new CoI was a huge mistake, noting that no new tangible recommendations will come out of it.

“The current Commission of Inquiry is a waste of time and money and that it was hurriedly set up in order to deflect from the Government, the horror of what took place and the perceived failure to maintain order at an institution where this is mandatory,” he stated.

ficials and the prisoners, and each side will want to cast blame on the other. He further opined that the evidence taken during the probe should not be publicised as it currently is.

“The evidence from the prisoners should not be in public as they will not want to give full disclosure as at the end of the day they will have to return to the prison and be controlled by the same prison officers or system that had caused the problems. The prisoners will also not want to snitch on other prisoners as they

According to the former Chief Magistrate, the truth of what transpired during the recent unrests will not come out of the evidence given in the Inquiry, since the major players in this incident are the prison of-

The Camp Street Prison

Former Chief Magistrate, K A Juman-Yassin

Prisoners vs prison officials

will then place their lives in jeopardy when they return to the prison,” he stated, adding that the situation is the same with the prison officials.

“The prison officers will be reluctant to state publicly any fault of any of their superior officers, fellow officers or the system in place because this may affect their promotion or may cause them be to be transferred to other locations. Even if their evidence is taken in camera, they will at the back of their minds see Dale Erskine (a former Director of Prisons) as the man who would have had some of these officers under his command, and think that what they say would get back to them,” he outlined.

Juman-Yassin is of the view that the former Director of Prisons should not have been a member of the Commission, as it is perceived that it may be difficult for him to disassociate himself from the system and some of the prison personnel.

8 NEWS

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Audit report “lays bare with lies and distortion” – Former GuyOil boss

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ormer Managing Director of the Guyana Oil Company (Guyoil) Badrie Persaud has rebuffed the report coming out of the forensic Audit into the operation of the oil company, claiming that it “lays bare with lies and distortion.”

Although the former official has not received a copy of the official report of the audit, he said he is making these “clarifications” based on what has been circulating in the media.

According to Persaud, the audits reek of great distortions and he needed to clear up those misrepresentations. The audit began back in July of last year. Persaud said he was sent on leave the same month to facilitate the investigation.

He explained that during the audit review period, the company was governed by a Board of Directors with two sub committees. They included the Tender Board Committee and the Finance and Audit Committee.

These Committees, he said, met once every month.

“At all these meetings, the business operations of the company were discussed in great detail.

Several managers of the company were interviewed by the auditors during the audit. However, I was not interviewed. Upon completion of the audit in February 2016, I requested a copy of the audit and my right to be interviewed on the findings. This was denied,” he told the media in a statement on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, delving into the specifics of the report, the former Managing Director sought to set the record straight on some specific matters.

According to him, the report found that purchases were frequently single-sourced from Power compu, breaching the Tender Board requirement.

Payment to Power compu was Gy$90 million.

“The accounting software

Director of Guyoil, Badrie Persaud

installed at the company is ACCPAC. Power compu is the local agent for ACCPAC. In order to harness the full benefits of ACCPAC and to network the company’s three terminals and eight service stations with the head office, Power compu was requested to make an IT/MIS submission,” Badrie said in his statement. He added that the bound document outlined the company’s IT/MIS Strategy over a three-year period at a cost of some Gy$90 million.

He said a presentation was made to the Board of Directors which was approved.

“The implementation process was not without hiccups but was largely successful. Monthly reports were submitted to the Board of Directors informing of progress made and constraints faced,” he said.

“Today, the company is fully computerised and networked compared to 10 years ago when I became the Managing Director – great contribution to improved levels of accuracy, productivity and efficiency in doing business.

Conflict of interest

He said some years ago, through the initiative of the Managing Director, about four acres of land were reclaimed from the river at the Providence terminal, on the East Bank of Demerara. The final works of levelling the reclaimed land was left to be done. Managers were asked to seek quotations from contractors to execute the work. Because the contract was not a large one, contractors were not inclined to take it on. One contractor responded with a price of Gy$4.5 million. This was considered very unreasonable. At about the same time, his brother Indarjeet “Avinash” Persaud was mobilising his equipment in Georgetown to go to the Linden Highway and Persaud told him about the work to be done at the terminal. He was asked to make contact with the Terminal Manager, visit the site and submit his price for the work. His price was Gy$860,000.

So management had two prices – Gy$4.5 million vs Gy$860,000.

The auditor, Persaud said, was intent on focusing on the contractor being a relative of the Managing Director rather than the cost saving of Gy$3,640,000 to the company. He added that for the 10 years he was the Managing Director of Guyoil, the paramountcy of the interest of the company was always observed.

During the years of high oil prices on the world market, Guyoil was selling fuel at very thin margins and sometimes at a loss, all because the Government’s policy was to keep the price at the pump below Gy$1000 per gallon. Given this scenario, management decided to review all the cost centres in the company’s operations and seek ways and means to reduce same. Operating the company’s Road Tank Wagons (RTW) stood out as a high cost centre.

The unit cost to the company to truck one litre of fuel from continued on page 21

Countrywide consultations needed regarding increasing age of consent – Former AG

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ormer Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall has posited that in light of recent calls for the age of consent to be raised to 18 years old, it is advisable that Government agencies embark on countrywide consultations before making a decision.

These sentiments come after a petition was launched by non-governmental organisation (NGO), “The Caribbean Voice” (TCV) on March 25 for the age of sexual consent to be raised to 18 years. Currently, the age of consent in Guyana is 16 years, while the age of majority is 18; and thus far, the petition for this amendment to the Sexual Offences Act has attracted significant support on social media, and over 100 signatories who support the call.

The petition states that the fact that the age of sexual consent is at such a young age – 16 years – is possibly a factor of the increased cases of teenage pregnancies, which incidentally can lead to higher suicide rates and more often than not, condemn young mothers and their children to lives of hardship.

The NGO is of the opinion that by increasing the age of sexual consent to 18, the Government will be one step closer to tackling the issues of teenage pregnancy and suicide in the country. However, the former Legal Affairs Minister stated that while the idea may seem feasible to the supporters and TCV, it is important that regard be paid to how the current age of consent was arrived at. “Our laws are similar to other Commonwealth jurisdictions, and in the

Former Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall

Commonwealth, generally the age of consent is fixed at 16 years,” he stated.

He explained that the Sexual Offences Act of Guyana was only drafted, passed and enacted in 2010, and this was done after meticulous consultation exercises. “That was a piece of legislation that enjoyed widespread consultation right across the length and breadth of our country. The consultation was spearheaded by the then Minister of Human Services Priya Manickchand, and as far as I can recall, those consultations yielded 16 years as the age of consent in Guyana. Those consultations yielded a majority view that the age of consent should be 16 years and that is how we arrived at the consensual age of 16. I see that there is a new call for the age to be increased to 18 years. I suppose that the relevant Government agencies may wish to embark on another bout of consultations to see whether the population’s view has changed,” he stated.

When contacted for a comment on the matter, Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence stated that she was unaware of such a petition, adding that she “is not permitted to respond” to it.

Sheriff Street hit-and-run

PI continues into death of teen biker

By Kizzy Coleman

T

he Preliminary Inquiry into the death of Travis Bollers who was killed during a hit-and-run accident late last year continued on Wednesday before Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Dellon Duncan was charged with causing Bollers’ death following the accident.

Taking the stand to

testify was Shaunette Brown, an eyewitness to the accident. She testified as to her recollection of what took place on the evening of November 26, 2015 when Bollers was killed at Pike and Sheriff Streets.

Brown was cross-examined by Duncan’s attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat. Also taking the stand to testify was the accused, who also related to the Court his recolcontinued on page 9

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Investigation launched into shooting of alleged rape suspect

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ollowing Tuesday night’s incident in which Police ranks in Berbice shot and injured a teenager who reportedly resist a search, the Office of Professional Responsibility has launched a probe into the incident.

Malcolm Henry, 18, of Lot 319 Welfare Street, Canefield, East Canje, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is currently a patient under guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital nursing a single gunshot injury to his left foot. The two Rural Constables reportedly injured during the incident were also treated at the New Amsterdam Hospital and sent away.

According to Police reports, Henry is a known character to officers in the area. Around 19:55h on Tuesday, ranks on patrol attempted to conduct a search on his person but he resisted and assaulted two unarmed Rural Constables. The Police said the teenager then pulled out a knife as he continued his assault, at which point he was shot to his left foot by an armed Policeman.

Furthermore, the Police Force said the young man was initially treated at the New Amsterdam Hospital and subsequently referred to the GPHC, where he was admitted.

However, Henry’s mother, Roxanne Prince, claimed that after her son was shot, the Police picked him up and instead of taking him to seek med-

Injured, Malcolm Henry

ical attention; they took him to the Reliance Police Station. She noted that the injured teen was in a vehicle for about 15 minutes, during which time officers threatened to arrest her when she tried to speak with the station Sergeant about her son’s condition.

Speaking about the incident, the woman recalled that the family was spending some time together on the bridge in front of their yard, when the Police arrived and targeted her son. She said the Police always targeted her son and Tuesday evening was no different.

According to

PI continues into death of teen...

from page 8

lection of events on the night in question.

Addressing the Court following Duncan’s testimony, Police Prosecutor Neville Jeffers disputed the accused’s testimony, pointing out it was contrary to what he told the Police in his statement.

It is alleged that Duncan, 34, of Lot 982 Block F Sophia, Greater Georgetown, on November 26, at Pike and Sheriff Streets, drove pick-up GHH 5201 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of 17-year-old Bollers.

He subsequently fled the scene and was arrested one week later.

Bollers and his cousin, Quacy McCalman, 22, of Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, were riding a motorcycle along Pike Street, Campbellville, headed towards Sheriff Street when they collided with the Toyota Tacoma pick-up that had turned into the street.

Bollers, who was controlling the bike, and McCalman, who was the pillion rider, were subsequently rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where the teen

Death: Travis Bollers

was pronounced dead on arrival while McCalman was admitted.

Following the teen’s death, his brother, Eon Bollers, had launched a Facebook campaign to find the driver of the pick-up who had fled the scene. His family also staged a protest at the Square of the Revolution to press authorities to bring the man to justice.

Duncan was identified as the driver of the vehicle, and his vehicle was found in a mechanic shop where it was being repaired.

He denied all allegations that he was involved in the accident.

The Inquiry will continue on April 6, 2016.

Prince, the Police might have been on a routine patrol and upon seeing Henry they decided to conduct a search on his person. She noted that in 2015, the Police had made out 13 charges against her son but they were all dismissed.

On the other hand, residents in the area accused the young man of being a menace, recalling that Henry and his girlfriend had a problem which escalated to the extent where he assaulted her.

One woman related that the young lady was screaming for help but was dragged on to the road and beaten by Henry.

This, she believes, might have prompted the arrest on Tuesday since after the assault, the young man went into hiding.

Additionally, the Police further revealed that Henry is presently before the courts on two charges of robbery under arms and is also under investigation for two incidents of alleged rape.

Albouystown businessman, wife commit suicide

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he proprietors of Shireen’s Grocery Store located at Lot 8 James Street, Albouystown, Georgetown, succumbed while receiving medical attention at a city hospital after they reportedly consumed a poisonous substance in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

Dead are Shireen Mohamed, 53; and Fazal Mohamed, 62.

According to reports received, the woman died just before noon on Wednesday, while her husband took his last breath at about 19:00h.

The death of the couple has definitely sent shockwaves through the community, leaving residents with more questions than answers.

According to information received, the couple lived in a separate apartment in the family house.

Their five children also reside at the said address.

When this newspaper visited the home of the dead couple, the premises was tightly secured and relatives who were on sight and questioned, did not offer a comment.

However, a worker who has been with the couple for the past four years recalled seeing the couple in good spirits on Tuesday when he left work. The man related that he was utterly surprised when he heard that they had consumed a poisonous substance.

He noted that the couple would have “petty” arguments but nothing that would warrant them taking their own lives. He recalled that the couple was very pleasant, offering assistance to anyone in time of need.

Post-mortem examinations on the bodies of Shireen and Fazal Mohamed are expected to be performed shortly.

10 NEWS

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3 , 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Teachers’ Union deciding Health Minister tours on further action to have Texila American University …impressed with modern concerns addressed

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s the ongoing conflict between the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) continues to intensify, a resolution seems to be far from reality.

Speaking with this publication on Tuesday, General Secretary of the GTU, Coretta McDonald, said the Union still has not decided on the way forward, outside of the discussions with the President and the Education Ministry.

She disclosed that the Union is currently having its Fifth Biennial Congress, and through this conference, she said the Union will have discussions on further actions with regards to the way forward with the TSC. She added that the Union will “for now” engage in these discussions before deciding on what can be done to effectively handle the situation.

Commenting on any further picketing actions by the Union, McDonald said that there might be such exercises but this is all dependent on what comes out from the conference.

Over the months, there has been tension existing between the TSC and GTU with regard to reports from the Union that the Commission had “blatantly” disregarded its injunction to halt the promotion of teachers.

Despite this, the Commission had promoted teachers, causing uproar within the Union.

As such, the GTU over the period of time had been doing everything in its power to have the matter resolved.

This included filing a case in the court of law against the TSC which is still an ongoing matter.

learning facilities

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GTU General Secretary, Coretta McDonald

The GTU has also been picketing in front of the TSC’s building over the past months, voicing its anguish at the actions.

In addition, letters had been sent to President David Granger to intervene in the matter and bring about justice, not for the Union but the teachers it represents across Guyana.

Earlier this month, President Granger had responded to the letters and promised to be active in discussions.

However, so far, the Union reported that they have not yet heard from the Ministry or the President on what these solutions would be.

The Union had been calling for the entire Commission to be removed or to abide by injunctions from the GTU. The Union indicated that this would not be for the benefit of the Union, but for the teachers who are facing adversities as a result of the Commissions’ decision.

ublic Health Minister, Dr George Norton has expressed his satisfaction with the work of the Texila American University (TAU) during a comprehensive tour of the tertiary institution on Tuesday.

Minister Norton was invited by officials from the institution to tour the University’s Campus at Goedverwagting, East Coast of Demerara, as well as the construction site of the University’s second campus at Providence, East Bank Demerara.

During the visit, Dr Norton was briefed on the practical and theoretical work done by students studying at the University. The Public Health Minister was highly impressed by the modern learning facilities at the Goedverwagting campus, which includes a digital library and an Information Technology centre, as well as modern and high-tech laboratories for healthcare education.

Minister Norton pointed out that with the Specialty Hospital coming on stream, the quality of training the University offers in Guyana will be improved, since that Hospital will have a teaching aspect.

Meanwhile, Dr

Minister Norton interacts with students in one of the Texila American University classrooms

Norton was also given a tour of the construction site of the University’s new modern campus at Providence, which is expected to be completed by August 2016.

The new campus will have learning facilities on par with international standards, modern classrooms, laboratories and a library equipped with modern technology, among other facilities.

Minister Norton was particularly impressed by the plan to have the new campus powered solely by solar panels, and assured officials from the University of the Government of Guyana’s support as they

improve and expand on the learning opportunities they provide.

Texila American University, which was established in Guyana in 2010, currently has 532 students from more than 35 countries studying at its Guyana campuses which are located at Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara; and Woolford Avenue, Thomas Lands, Georgetown.

The programmes offered by Texila American University in Guyana are the Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Dentistry, Bachelors in Nursing and Premedical Foundation Programme.

More lodgings needed to accommodate visitors for 50th Independence celebrations

…as most hotels are fully booked

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dvertisements for the Bed and Breakfast programme will continue as more lodgings are needed for visitors. Director General for the Department of Tourism, Donald Sinclair during an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), said that most hotels rooms are already reserved for May for the 50th celebrations.

Sinclair said the advertisements will encourage, property owners who are interested in using parts of their properties for Bed and Breakfast (B&B) purposes, to register with the Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority.

“More persons will be registering. In fact, all week they’ve been calling the Department of Tourism, calling the Tourism Authority, to find out how they can become registered with the Bed and Breakfast programme,” Sinclair said.

According to Sinclair, the Guyana Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism have been inspecting potential B&B properties and what they are seeing is very encouraging. He said some property owners have done quite

a lot to ensure that their property complies with the standards required.

The B&B programme is aimed at creating accommodation for visitors during the 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations. A large influx of visitors is expected for the 50th Jubilee Festival which will commence on May 19 and end on May 22.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 3 , 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Patricia Chase-Green Teixeira slams Phillips for “naked favourite to become insult” to Guyana’s indigenous peoples Mayor of Georgetown C …LGE Councillors to be sworn in this weekend

Patricia Chase-Green

BY SHEMUEL FANFAIR

A

fter some 22 odd years, Guyana observed its Local Government Elections (LGE) which signalled the return of elected members representing the various municipalities and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs), as opposed to the many Interim Management Committees (IMCs).

In the capital city and centre of commerce, there has been much discourse surrounding the proposals over Sherrod Duncan versus Patricia Chase-Green being the next Mayor of Georgetown.

According to reports, incumbent Deputy Mayor Chase-Green is likely to assume the post of Mayor; while Sherrod Duncan, the younger politician, is tipped for Deputy Mayor. Guyana Times International made several attempts to contact supposed front-runner ChaseGreen on Wednesday but to no avail.

This publication was however successful in garnering a comment from her main contender, Sherrod Duncan, who posited that he is “very optimistic” about his chances to lead City Council.

“I believe whatever happens when that time comes; the municipality of Georgetown has a lot to be proud of. The will of the people through their elected representatives will be expressed, whatever the final construct of the Council,” observed Duncan via a social media comment.

General Secretary of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Oscar Clarke when contacted declined to confirm which of the candidates the party is supporting to become Mayor.

“Wait until Friday; that is when the elections

[for Mayor] will be held,” the General Secretary noted on Wednesday.

It has been confirmed that successful constituency candidates as well as those drawn from the Proportional Representation lists of the various groupings will soon be sworn in from Thursday onwards.

Guyana Times International contacted several regional officials to ascertain when the Councillors will be sworn in. Region One (Barima-Waini) Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley told this newspaper on Wednesday that Councillors in the Matarkai NDC will be sworn in this Friday while it will occur in the municipality of Mabaruma on Saturday.

Region Six Chairman, Vickchand Ramphal

Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) Regional Executive Officer (REO) Rupert Hopkinson said Councillors for the NDCs and the town of Anna Regina will all be sworn in on Saturday.

In Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), these activities will be conducted from 07:00h on Friday, according to Regional Chairman Julius Faerber.

Meanwhile, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) Chairman Vickchand Ramphal explained that five NDCs will be sworn in today (Thursday) and the remaining five on Friday.

An official in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) related that while “official word” is yet to be garnered, it is likely that the swearing in of Councillors will occur on Friday.

Meanwhile, residents in the various communities are likely to breathe a sigh a relief since they have stated their hopefulness for the smooth functioning of the NDCs so that their needs can be addressed.

hief Whip of the parliamentary Opposition, Gail Teixeira has taken Chairman of the Guyana Reparations Committee (GRC), Eric Phillips to task over what she described as a “naked insult directed at Guyana’s indigenous peoples”.

Phillips, in his letter published in the media on March 14, 2016 titled “We slaved for Guyana; we must have our lands”, said, among other things, that Africans in Guyana were not enjoying lands that they were entitled to like what “others” enjoyed.

But, Teixeira said Phillips’ letter was replete with inaccuracies and contrived “facts”.

She added that Phillips seemed to be undermining reparations needed for indigenous genocide in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Region.

She reminded that reparation for indigenous genocide also formed part of the mandate of the Reparations Committee headed by Phillips, as outlined by Caricom Heads.

“Caricom Heads of Government made a decision in 2013 to pursue the former European colonial powers to make reparations for slavery and native (indigenous) genocide, since their economic advancement and growth was predicated on indigenous genocide and more than 200 years of slavery,” Teixeira said in a six-page letter to the press.

According to the former Governance adviser to the President, her People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)

Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira

continues to support Caricom in opening up constructive dialogue with the former European colonisers and their present-day Governments on reparations and compensation for slavery, indigenous genocide and indentureship.

“He should be aware that the argument for reparation for slavery could stand on its own merit without denying the right of Amerindian peoples to their lands, or any other people in Guyana who have made this country their home,” she stated.

Teixeira went on to say that, “It is absolutely disingenuous, dangerous and divisive to now use that very argument to opportunistically draw twisted conclusions in what appears to be an effort of dividing our country, and denying indigenous peoples what they rightfully deserve.”

She said that what was more disturbing about Phillips’ submission was that he chose to omit any aspect of the arguments being put forward on behalf of indigenous peoples by the

Caricom Reparations Commission.

Teixeira reminded that the People’s National Congress (PNC), the major partner in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), ruled for 28 years and failed to address the concerns over African land in the free villages/plantations purchased by the emancipated Africans.

She said as a matter of fact, the PNC passed the worst piece of legislation which took away the last vestiges of these lands, especially the communal lands in those villages and placed them under the control of the newly-formed Regional Democratic Councils.

“Mr Phillips’ utterly outrageous claim that Amerindian Land Titling will be completed by October this year becomes even more sinister, when he is fully cognisant that one of the first ethno-political acts of this new Granger-led Administration was the dismissal of the UNDP accredited staff of the Amerindian GRIF Land Titling project as soon as it took office in May 2015,” she stated.

Teixeira added that with one swoop of his pen, Phillips denied that indigenous genocide occurred in Guyana before the advent of slavery.

“Mr Phillips is disgustingly reckless by reducing to zero the contributions of indigenous peoples to Guyana – a country which they named. He is not only inaccurate, but worse, is basically saying Amerindians have not contributed anything to the development of Guyana and, as such,

Guyana Reparations Committee (GRC) Chairman, Eric Phillips

by implication that they should have nothing,” she stated.

She said that the PPP/C made no apologies for ensuring that Amerindian lands were and continued to be legally recognised.

Today, Guyana is one of few countries in the world where indigenous peoples have title to 14 per cent of the country’s land mass.

Teixeira also lambasted the Government over its silence following Philips’ letter which appeared in the press close to two weeks ago.

“It is also pellucid that Eric Phillips cannot represent the descendants of those who suffered indigenous genocide given his expressed opinions of negative bias against indigenous peoples. Further, he denigrates all ethnic groups in this multicultural and multi-ethnic nation with his jaundiced and prejudiced agenda to sow ethnic division and discord,” she stated.

Teixeira has since issued a call for President David Granger to remove Phillips “forthwith” from the Reparation Committee.

12 NEWS

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

NY-based support group calls for Govt to rescind “reckless” decision to close Wales Estate

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Wales Sugar Factory

New York movement on Tuesday called on Government to rescind its decision to close the Wales Sugar Estate, which it reminded, will have dire consequences for the people and the community.

The Guyana friends of sugar workers and the Guyanese Solidarity Movement-New York (GSM-NY) said it remains alarmed at the reckless and undemocratic decisions taken by Government geared at ruining the sugar industries and the rural communities.

It said it deems the announcement

by Government to close the Wales Sugar Factory by the end of 2016, without any specific viable alternative, and the eventual dismantling of the sugar industry, ‘mind boggling’.

The group reminded that as an employer, sugar is to Guyana what the John F Kennedy airport, the New York transit system and health aide and security employment agencies put together, are to South Queens, New York.

It said Guyana without sugar is a catastrophe of epic proportions.

Extreme poverty will envelope the estates and villages. The communities in the sugar belt will die a slow, painful death.

According to the group, in spite of the challenges, sugar remains a major contributor to foreign exchange earn-

ings; the largest employer in the country and provides vital services and linkages to rural communities and to other productive sectors. Moreover, it said, sugar has always been resilient and there is no doubt that it can and will make a comeback, given a chance and the support of the administration.

“The sugar industry has produced some of Guyana’s greatest sons and daughters and we are convinced that dismantling of the industry is not in the best interest of Guyana. We believe too, that this golden jubilee year of Independence is not the time to announce the demise of the most important agricultural enterprise in the country. On this occasion, we should proclaim our determination to overcome our difficulties not to announce our surrender”.

The group is therefore appealing to Government to listen to the cries of workers and the voice of reason and to commit to return the industry to its glory days for the benefit of all Guyanese.

“The group expresses solidarity and support for the struggle to save the sugar industry, the ongoing protest on the sugar estates, and the sugar workers and their unions defending their livelihoods. It has also suggested that May 26 be designated a ‘national day of solidarity with sugar’.

Local Govt Commission still to be operationalised

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ommunities Minister Ronald Bulkan is yet to announce when the Local Government Commission will be operational. Bulkan had announced previously that the body will be established and operational early in 2016.

The Local Government Commission would be tasked with oversight over all local authorities, rather than directives being issued by the Minister of Communities. This independence will allow the Commission to monitor and assess the performance of the local government organs and implement policies such as tax collection.

On March 19, Bulkan had said that the operationalisation of the Commission was expected to be “fairly imminent”. He had further posited that the appropriate Government property to house the Commission was identified, and explained that a rental fee may have to be paid.

Meanwhile, it has been nearly two weeks since the historic Local Government Elections (LGE) have been held and successful candidates from the vari-

Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkan

ous political parties are yet to be sworn in. In a telephone interview with this publication on Tuesday, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Tamara Rodney explained that swearing in of candidates fell within the responsibilities of the Communities Ministry.

“GECOM’s responsibility is the management of elections,” Rodney emphasised, adding that upon confirmation, the continuous registration process will resume.

“There are two things that we will be pursuing…the continuous registration and the doorto-door process; now that we completed the elections, [we are waiting] on the Guyana Elections Commissioners to de-

Govt mulling fuel subsidies for farmers

Canje man shot by Police G during arrest

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n East Canje man was on Tuesday evening shot in the leg by Police after he allegedly resisted arrest.

Reports reaching this newspaper stated that 18-year-old Malcolm Henry of Lot 319 Welfare Street, Canefield, East Canje, Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) is nursing a gunshot wound to his leg at the New Amsterdam Hospital.

According to information received, the shooting took place at about 20:00h.

The injured man’s mother, Roxanne Prince, told this publication that several members of the family were sitting on the bridge outside their Canefield home when the Police arrived and attempted to arrest her son. She said her son refused to allow the officers to search his pockets and

Injured, Malcolm Henry

an argument ensued.

“They carry him by the vehicle and got his hands in the air and search him but when the one Police go to put he han in he pocket, he tell dem that they can’t put nothing in he pocket… and he start to resist them,” the mother related.

According to her, the Police might have been on a routine patrol and upon seeing Henry,

they decided to search him. “The Police always targeting my son. Last year, is 13 charges they give my son and all the Magistrate discharge because they ent got no evidence against him.”

However, some residents in the area gave a different story. According to one resident, Henry had not been around the community for a while and he was the reason Police were in the area on Tuesday evening.

The resident, who requested not to be named, explained that Henry and his girlfriend had an issue earlier in the day which escalated into assault. “He beat she bad.

The girl deh hollering all the time. He pull she by she hair and get she on the road. Is that’s why we call the Police,” the resident said.

Investigations are continuing.

termine when those will be started,” Rodney explained.

Meanwhile, this newspaper made several attempts to contact Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan for a comment on this issue but to no avail.

On March 18, Guyanese headed to the polls in 62 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and nine Municipalities.

Voter turnout was said to be just over 47 per cent similar to that in 1994 when the polls were last held.

The ruling A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) coalition gained success in six of nine towns while the main Opposition People’s Progressive Party /Civic (PPP/C) has claimed 28,000 more overall votes than the ruling Administration.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo described this “massive win” as a “slaughter at the polls”.

Meanwhile, residents in the various communities are hopeful for the smooth functioning of the NDCs so that their needs are addressed as promised by the various political candidates.

overnment is currently in the process of ironing out arrangements with commercial banks to charge lower interest rates on loans taken by farmers and will soon be discussing the possibility of also granting them fuel subsidies.

During a meeting with members of the business community on March 26, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin appeared perplexed about the unfair playing field that prevails in the local business community, whereby the mining industry benefits from Government subsidies while the agricultural sector receives none.

As such, he told the businessmen that discussions will be held with Finance Minister Winston Jordan with regards to the granting of fuel subsidies to farmers. However, he made it clear that he is not making any promises.

The Minister also lamented the fact that there are no loans acces-

Business Minister, Dominic Gaskin

sible to assist farmers through the commercial banks, however, he disclosed that Government is working on the subsidisation of the interest charged by those commercial banks.

It was pointed out that a lot of analytical work still needs to be done in this regard and therefore, the Business Minister could not have expanded more on this initiative.

The urgent need for a reduction in several taxes was another pressing

matter discussed during the meeting.

Chief Executive Officer of Nand Persaud and Company Limited, Ragendra Persaud, pointed out that farmers in the United States receive nearly 40 per cent in subsidy, stating that the Government of Guyana should adopt similar practices in order to make rice more competitive.

He also pointed out that the Value Added Tax (VAT) being charged on byproducts of rice, such as bran and cone husks, pose a serious hindrance in being competitive on the international market.

In response, Minister Gaskin admitted that Government needs to look at long-term solutions to problems being faced by farmers.

Gaskin also stressed that the agriculture industry must lobby, as is done in the United States, in order to effectively allow their concerns to be ventilated.

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Bandits beat, rob two sisters in Corentyne home invasion

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andits continue to wreak havoc on the Corentyne, with their most recent attack being Monday evening when they forcefully entered the home of two sisters, robbing them of cash and jewellery before inflicting blows.

The attack took place at a house situated at the Estate Manager’s Quarters in Port Mourant, Corentyne.

Reports are that about 19:30h, the two women,

as he tried to get her ring off her finger. “He bite me first and I holler and he give me one slap. He put his hand on my eyes and bend down my head and then start hitting and tell me to keep quiet,” the 51-year-old woman said.

The sisters further related that the men ransacked the entire house, thoroughly searching each of the three bedrooms. “They pull us in one room as they search-

The house in which the two sisters reside

the only occupants of the house, returned home and had just entered the residence when four men forced their way inside. Three of the men were masked and one was armed with a gun.

Another was armed with a knife.

According to one of the women, the wife of a prominent businessman who passed away three years ago, the robbers put both she and her sister to lie on the floor. The intruders then asked for a safe.

“They put my hand at the back and ask ‘where is chest, where is the money, where is the money that Paul Singh left’, I say we don’t have a chest, we don’t have savings, I don’t work; my sister supports me from the States with a few dollars. I don’t have a business; it is three years now my husband died.

They start hitting us and say this big mansion and I told them, my husband died and the business is closed,” the traumatised woman related.

She said the men then removed a quantity of gold jewellery that she and her sister were wearing at the time, valued in excess of Gy$650,000, along with two cellular phones and two tablet devices, Gy$200,000 and US$40.

According to the widow’s sister, she was bitten by one of the bandits

ing. We had a knife; they gone with the knife and a brand new tool-kit and they tie us before they left,” the 54-yearold widow told Guyana Times International.

After the men left, one of the women made it to the veranda despite her hands being tied behind her back and her feet bound. She managed to get the attention of one of her neighbours.

Speaking with this newspaper, the neighbour said he heard the screams and saw the woman at her veranda.

He related that he, along with two others, jumped over the gate and went into the house to free the sisters.

“When we cut the thing that tie their hand and foot and go on the landing, they lock the door like they ain’t want talk to we. Well, we go out the yard till the Police come,” the man recounted.

One of the sisters indicated that it was possible that the three masked men who entered the house were known to her.

“The thing is they have to know me before they ask for a safe.

Because we actually had a safe in the shop, but that was long; since in the 80s we use to use it; the person knew that, that person know me that’s why they wear a mask,” she said.

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Govt backpedals on sole sourcing practices A

fter heavily criticising its predecessor for sole sourcing practices, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) Administration has backpedalled on its position, single sourcing over Gy$136.5 million in medical supplies.

This was revealed by Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman at the post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday last.

According to Trotman, Cabinet gave its no-objection through “single sourcing supplies for standard and technical services for the Ministry of Public Health”. The contract was awarded to a West Demerara company – Caribbean Medical Supplies Inc. Among the items to be procured are: Biohit Pipette Tips and Devices to the tune of Gy$34,400,000; Nova Express Test Strips valued Gy$16,200,000; and Beckman Coulter Reagents valued Gy$23,227,195; another set of Beckman Coulter Reagents at the same cost of Gy$23,227,195, and Becton Dickenson Syringes, needles and tubes valued at Gy$39,532,143.

In addition, a contract to the tune of Gy$40,552,000 was awarded to Eureka Medical Laboratories Inc for the supply of Eagle Reagents.

D e f e n d i n g Government’s decision, Minister Trotman pointed out that single sourcing is done when there is the possibility that tendering for supplies would inevita-

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum

Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman

bly cause delays which could be detrimental to patients who are in need of critical drugs to be supplied.

“The process of going out to tender – the time would cause delay in delivery and of course, the downside of that is people’s lives would be affected. So in an effort to avoid any complaint or any loss of life or injury to person as a result to the absence of critical drugs and equipment, we thought it best to approve this particular sourcing,” he stated.

While in Opposition, the APNU/AFC had castigated the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration for prequalifying NEW GPC INC for the supply of drugs to the Public Sector. However, only recently the coalition Government went back on its position when Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton said that Government could not eliminate this form of procurement of drugs and medical supplies.

Back in February, the Minister posited that no guarantee could be given that Government would not purchase drugs from one supplier. He was at the time responding to questions posed

by Opposition parliamentarian, Dr Frank Anthony during the consideration of the Budget Estimates.

“We cannot give that assurance… There was a case where we did invoice in sole sourcing, but that is a system we want to leave behind and go more towards equal opportunity,” the Health Minister had stated.

Dr Norton had pointed out that the aim was to shift away from the centralised procurement of drugs and supplies towards regional procurement. He noted that a costing exercise for each region has been completed to determine the types and amounts of drugs required based on the disease profiles and essential drug lists for each region.

Audit report “lays bare with lies and distortion” ...

from page 8

the Providence terminal to Georgetown was calculated. This was below $2.00/L. Most contractors offered a price of $2.00/L and above.

The price offered by Indarjeet Persaud, his brother, was $1.11/L, significantly below the company’s unit cost.

Tenders for trucking fuel were again requested in September 2015 and Indarjeet Persaud’s bid was competitive.

Again, no explanation was sought by the auditor. The Gy$62 million at caption was for fuel trucked over a four-year period.

Marcel Gaskin and

Police still conducting further investigations into Crum-Ewing’s murder, says Crime Chief

Associates Ltd were paid Gy$77.9 million during the review period to prepare engineering cost estimates, design specifications and monitor contracts; additional in-house personnel could have been hired at a substantially lower cost.

“I was appointed the Managing Director of Guyoil in July 2006.

Marcel Gaskin and Associates Ltd were engaged to work with Guyoil several years before that. The consultant reported in person and made submissions regularly to the management commit-

tee, the Tender Board Committee and the Board of Directors on the progress of capital projects. During the review period, there were capital projects well in excess of Gy$1.0 billion. All the projects were successfully completed in a timely manner. Both the Board and management were impressed with his professionalism and were satisfied that the company was getting value for money.”

Marcel Gaskin and Associates Ltd continues to provide consulting services to GuyOil in 2016.

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he Guyana Police Force’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is still conducting further investigations into the death of activist Courtney Crum-Ewing, as it relates to instituting charges against four new suspects.

Last month, CID ranks arrested People’s Progressive Party (PPP) employee Jason Abdulla, PPP Executive Member and former Press Officer Kwame McKoy, Okene Fraser and self-confessed death squad member Sean Hinds, whom Police believe had a role in the activist’s death, which occurred on March 10, 2015.

A file was prepared and sent to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice on whether charges should be instituted against the suspects. However, the DPP returned the files with instructions that further investigations be conducted. The four suspects were subsequently recalled to CID Headquarters and fur-

ther questioned immediately after.

However, when contacted on Tuesday, Head of the CID Wendell Blanhum told this newspaper that these ‘further’ investigations are still ongoing. “Investigations are still ongoing,” he said, without divulging much detail.

The Crime Chief had previously stated that these suspects were arrested in light of new information that had surfaced in relation to Crum-Ewing’s murder.

However, he explained that investigators were unable to complete the probe.

“The investigation would have been triggered due to some new developments, where we would have received further information and as a result of that, they arrested those guys. We had them in custody but because of the complex nature of that investigation, time did not permit us to complete that investigation,” he stated.

Following their arrests, the four suspects were released from Police custody on their own recognisance and have been reporting to the Police on a regular basis to assist with the investigation.

Crum-Ewing, a 40-year-old ex-soldier, was gunned down execution style on March 10, 2015, while urging residents of the Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara (EBD), to go out and cast their ballots during in the May 11, 2015 General and Regional Elections.

Dead: Courtney Crum-Ewing

An autopsy revealed that Crum-Ewing was shot five times – three bullets to the head, one to the back of the neck, while the fifth bullet entered under one of his arms. All the bullets were fired from behind and at close range, except the one that hit under his arm and exited his shoulder.

It was also reported that the bullet wound to the back of the man’s neck was fired at pointblank range, since gunpowder residue was found on the back of the collar of the shirt he was wearing. Two .38 war heads were removed from the dead man’s head, reports revealed.

Following the death of Crum-Ewing who rose to popularity after picketing former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall’s office, Reagan Rodrigues, also called “Grey Boy”, was arrested and charged.

Nandlall’s former bodyguard Rajput Narine was also arrested and questioned in relation to Crum-Ewing’s death.

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President meets with recently- Gunman opens appointed Guyana’s UK and fire in busy Canadian top diplomats Regent Street

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ess than a month after they were appointed to diplomatic posts, President David Granger on Tuesday met with Hamley Case and Clarissa Riehl who have been appointed to head Guyana's diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada respectively.

Riehl, who is scheduled to leave for Canada on April 1, said the Head of State has given clear guidelines of what he expects from this new cadre of diplomats, which essentially is to advance the country's economic interests internationally.

"This is my first time as a diplomat, but I intend to give this position my best shot and use my office to help push Guyana in every sense," Riehl said after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Case, who is scheduled to arrive in the United Kingdom in two weeks time, said the concept of economic diplomacy, which was lobbied by the President, is not new to him, since as a member of the Private Sector, he has always worked to at-

…two injured

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President Granger in meeting with the two Ambassadors Tuesday

tract foreign direct investments to Guyana.

"I plan to extend on my efforts in terms of contacting and befriending potential investors, trying to increase Guyana's potential as a good host for investment.

This is what I have been doing for myself and to be doing it for the nation is much more fulfilling and gratifying than just doing it for oneself as a businessman," Case said.

Government earlier this month released the names of six persons who would be appointed to the new posts. The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed that arrangements were being made to have the new appointees take up their respec-

tive postings in various countries.

Among the new appointees are several high-ranking strong men and women from the bosom of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and close associates of the Alliance For Change (AFC).

The release stated that Frederick Hamley Case has been appointed Guyana’s new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Case, a renowned businessman has replaced Laleshwar Singh. He is a former Executive Member of the PNC and held several high-ranking Opposition portfolios for the party.

Similarly, the Ministry reported that

prominent Attorney and former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Clarissa Sabita Riehl had been appointed as High Commissioner to Canada.

Riehl, who had various squabbles with the leadership of the party after President David Granger was parachuted into the post of leader, spoke out during the last PNC congress about the unfairness of the process and the undemocratic pathway that was being followed.

It was long speculated that she would have been given such a post. The former Deputy Speaker of the House now replaces Rajnarine Singh.

andemonium broke out in Georgetown on Thursday when a lone gunman began firing shots in the direction of a businessman on Regent Street which was populated with a number of shoppers at the time of the incident.

Reports are that an

injured during the ordeal.

After firing the shots, the perpetrator quickly got into the motor vehicle which he had exited and made good his escape as persons in the area were scampering for safety.

This newspaper understands that

armed man exited a motor vehicle around 12:30h and discharged several rounds at the businessman and another person.

Narine Samadeen, 30, of Parika Backdam and the 35-year-old businessman, Shazam Alli, of Tuschen village, were

Samadeen and Alli were subsequently rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

It is unclear at this point in time as to the motive of the shooter as well as the condition of the two men who appear to have been the targets in Thursday’s shooting.

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No more hassle for arriving Indian professor calls for passengers at CJIA T&T, Guyana Test matches …new barrier system now in place

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A diagram outlining the new arrangements under this initiative

n an effort to expand its customer service programme, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation (CJIA) has introduced a system which is designed to provide a hassle free experience for arriving passengers.

The new barrier system was implemented on March 12, 2016, and has received positive feedback from arriving passengers. According to the airport’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andre Kellman, this new system prevents any harassment or security threats to arriving passengers as they would be secured behind the barrier.

“When passengers leave Customs and enter the Greeters Hall, they could choose to remain in the enclosed area within the protection of the barriers and wait to be picked up. Additionally, it would prevent any solicitation from illegal taxi operatives,” he pointed out.

Kellman further stated that with this arrangement in place, “passengers would not be subjected to the harassment of illegal baggage handlers in the car park”.

Meanwhile, commencing from today (March 30), CJIA’s Customer Service Representatives will be distributing flyers to airport users and passengers in an effort to sensitise persons on this new initiative.

The flyer outlines how the system works, that is, it depicts how motorists could now leave the parking lot, gain entry through the designated barrier and collect their relatives and friends at the Greeters Hall kerbside. This will also serve to ensure that the arriving passengers are not subjected to the elements of the weather.

In addition, airport security officers will be stationed at the barriers to assist with crowd control and direct the flow of traffic. According to the Deputy CEO, the retractable stanchions currently used would be replaced shortly with “a more solid structure”.

“Our engineers are currently preparing some designs for management’s review and approval. I anticipate before May 2016 a more permanent structure would be in place,” Kellman added.

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enowned Indian writer and commentator Prof Ravi Chaturvedi is making a call for Test matches in the upcoming Indian tour of the West Indies, to be played in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.

As was exclusively reported on T&T's Guardian Media earlier this week, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has signed off on the 2016 Indian tour of the Caribbean and they will resume bi-lateral relations with the West Indies. This after they severed all bi-lateral relations after the 2014 aborted tour by the West Indies in India.

Guardian Media understands that the four Test matches will be played in Antigua, St Lucia, Jamaica and T&T, during the months of July and August. Chaturvedi, who toured the West Indies on five occasions doing cricket commentary and was awarded a Padma Shri national award in India, thinks that at least there should be one match in T&T and also Guyana given the Indian diaspora in those countries.

He said: “My 1976 commentary stint from the West Indies enabled me to understand all that can be done at various levels to foster stronger friendship with the fanciful Caribbean islands. The reciprocity in the areas of culture, commerce and politics need to be strengthened.

“In view of the ongoing ICC Twenty20 World Cup, my focus consequently will only be on cricket as a strong bond between the West Indies and India. With nearly 45 per cent of the population being people of Indian origin in Guyana and T&T, one feels

Prof Ravi Chaturvedi

while planning the West Indies tour, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago must get a match whenever the Indian team tours West Indies.

“In fact, the ideal situation would be to have both the Tests and ODIs in these two countries as permanent fixtures in the future Indian tours of the Caribbean. With Shashank Manohar and Anurag Thakur at the helm of the affairs of the BCCI and Dave Cameron in charge of the WICB, the point may be taken to its logical conclusion. The Indian High Commissions at Georgetown and Port-of-Spain may also chip in with their opinion to strengthen my point of view.

“My suggestion was favourably received by the two then presidents of the West Indies Board, the late Jeff Stollmeyer in 1976 and Wes Hall in 2002.” (T&T Guardian)

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Need for adequate regulations to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing activities – Attorney General

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s Guyana works to strengthen its AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) legislations and policies, stakeholders were told on Tuesday that these crimes are fast becoming less physical with the advancement of technology.

Finance Secretary within the Finance Ministry, Dr Hector Butts, pointed out that money laundering is no longer a physical effort.

He was at the time addressing stakeholders at a Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism National Risk Assessment Workshop held at the Princess Hotel on Tuesday.

Dr Butts noted that the Internet is increasingly becoming a key tool for these illegal activi-

From left: Financial Sector Specialist Stuart Yikona; Finance Secretary, Dr Hector Butts; Attorney General Basil Williams and Chairperson Eric Phillips at the opening of the workshop

ties, with the emergence of electronic modules such as credit cards, debit cards and online banking. However, the Finance Secretary noted that as these Internet services continue to proliferate, with efforts being made to implement the requisite measures to deter such illegal practices. He add-

ed that the Draft Cyber Crime Bill of 2016 is one such measure that will address money laundering in Guyana.

“We are putting measures in place to have a more comprehensive and efficient AntiMoney Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism regime with

appropriate controls. But we want to ensure that these controls meet with the country’s goals of financial inclusion and do not exclude, intentionally, legitimate businesses and individuals for the formal financial system,” Dr Butts stated.

Moreover, it was outlined that considerations

will also be given to other monetary services such as GTT’s Mobile Money, the sale of telephone cards and money changers on the streets, to combat these crimes given the fact that Guyana operates on a cash-based economy.

Meanwhile, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams underscored the importance of having adequate regulations in place to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing activities in the country. He posited that the significance of such a strong regulatory framework cannot be underestimated, as perpetrators of these crimes gravitate towards jurisdictions with weak regulatory framework where money can be easily moved undetected.

“A strong AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism regulatory framework will contribute to the protection of the in-

tegrity and economic stability of our financial institutions. It could also strengthen governance and financial administration. This is important, not only at the national level, but international level,” Minister Williams remarked.

The Attorney General further stated that his office is continuously looking at ways to enhance and strengthen the country’s regulatory regime.

Furthermore, Williams pointed out that through a thorough risk assessment, Guyana will be able to determine and better understand what problems exist, thus, more effectively target its resources to formulate plans and strategies aimed at mitigating money laundering and terrorism financial risks.

On this note, the Attorney General stressed the importance of having stakeholders onboard during the risk assessment.

Govt mulls Commander for each Region as part of transformation of Police Force

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he Guyana Police Force could undergo a radical transformation with a proposal to have Regional Commanders actively being considered.

Speaking to GINA, Minister of Public Security and third Vice President Khemraj Ramjattan cited the example of Police Division 'F'.

That Commander is responsible for Regions 1, 8 and 9, and the Minister noted the officer could eventually be responsible for one region. This change is as result of advice given by President David Granger, the Minister explained, “Each region will have a Police Division. We’ll have a Commander for each of those Regions which is going to be synchronized with Division”.

The exception, the minister added may be Region 4 which he said is so large that it may need two Divisions, “effectively though we have ten Regions, we’ll have eleven Police Divisions, Region 4 being divided into two Divisions”.

GINA, in a statement, said Ramjattan further explained that this move doesn’t mean that there will be Assistant Commissioners to head each Regional Division as Senior Superintendents or Superintendents could fill these positions:

Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

“For example, when they go to Lethem, there would be a Commander in that Region to take care of all the problems security wise, in that Region and that person will communicate with the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioners at Administration so we can help him or her execute the policies of the Government”.

Government is taking several measures to ensure that the Guyana Police Force can better serve and protect citizens. These include increased training for ranks, locally and overseas and better equipment, including transportation, for the execution of their duties.

Police stations and other facilities are also being built or rehabilitated as part of the effort to improve conditions of service for ranks.

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Brazil’s biggest party quits ruling coalition, Rousseff isolated

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R A S I L I A , (Reuters) – Brazil’s largest party announced on Wednesday it was leaving President Dilma Rousseff’s governing coalition and pulling its members from her government, a departure that sharply raises the odds she could be impeached in a matter of months.

The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) took just a few minutes to decide unanimously in a packed leadership meeting that its six ministers in Rousseff’s Cabinet and all other party members with government appointments must resign immediately.

Under Brazil’s presidential system, Rousseff will remain in office but the break cripples her fight against impeachment proceedings in Congress, which could

put Vice President Michel Temer, leader of the PMDB, in the presidential seat.

Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment efforts a coup to oust her ruling Workers’ Party (PT).

The opposition is pressing to impeach her for allegedly breaking budget laws to boost spending in the run-up to her 2014 reelection.

Their efforts gained steam as more than 1 million Brazilians took to the streets this month to protest at the worst recession in decades and a vast corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras that has reached the president’s inner circle.

“We’re going to try to change the country. The economic and social crisis is very serious,” Senator Romero Juca, the PMDB’s first vice-president, said

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff (L) talks to Vice President Michel Temer at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, in this March 2, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/Files

after the rowdy meeting in which party members chanted “Temer President” and “Out with the PT.” The loss of Rousseff’s main coalition partner may prompt smaller parties to abandon the government, leaving Brazil’s first female president increasingly isolated as the impeachment process

nears a vote in the lower house, expected in midApril.

It would be Brazil’s first impeachment since former President Fernando Collor de Mello was put on trial in the Senate in 1992 for corruption.

Rousseff’s struggles are just a part of a broad crisis in Brazil, which

was hailed until recently as one of the world’s most promising developing countries alongside China, India and Russia.

Brazil’s economy shrank 3.8 percent last year and is on track for the worst two-year recession in more than a century, according to economists. The government is also grappling with an epidemic of the mosquito-borne Zika virus as it scrambles to prepare for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Rousseff will seek new coalition allies and form a new government by the end of the week, her chief of staff Jaques Wagner told reporters.

Rousseff canceled a trip to a nuclear security summit in Washington because of the deepening political crisis, two government officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

She requires the backing of 171 members of congress – or one-third of the lower house – to block impeachment. The loss of the PMDB’s 68 votes, means the PT – which has 58 members – must rely heavily on its smaller coalition partners.

Including allies such as the Progressive Party (PP), the Republican Party (PR) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the government believes it can muster 180 votes.

However, the PP will meet soon to decide whether to

withdraw from the governing coalition.

If the lower house backs impeachment, the Senate must then decide by a simple majority whether to put Rousseff on trial, at which point she would be temporarily suspended and Temer would become acting president.

The Senate could vote on that as soon as early May. Investors weary of Rousseff’s interventionist economic policies and a deepening recession have cheered the prospect of her ouster, boosting Brazil’s currency 8 percent this year as the benchmark Bovespa stock index rose 19 percent.

However, many analysts warn that impeachment could usher in a period of political turmoil, with several senior PMDB figures also targeted by the graft investigation.

Temer aides said he was ready to lead Brazil with policies restoring business confidence.

Temer’s plan is expected to include drastic cuts in public spending to close a fiscal deficit that cost Brazil its investmentgrade credit rating.

Senator Aecio Neves, leader of the main opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party, said he and the leaders of five other opposition parties were ready to back a transitional government led by Temer.

Essequibo man killed in accident

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26-year-old resident of Maria's Lodge on the Essequibo Coast was killed in an accident late Monday night on the Johanna Cecelia Public Road.

Police, in a statement, said Lionel King was walking along the Johanna Cecelia Public Road in Essequibo, "when he was struck down by a motor car that

was driven away from the scene".

King was taken to the Suddie Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police said its investigations led to the motor car being located at a residence at Good Hope, also on the Essequibo Coast.

A man has been arrested and is in custody assisting with the investigations.

Sandals expanding in Barbados

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A N D A L S RESORT’S love affair with Barbados is about to blossom in a huge way.

The regional hotel group is now finalising plans with various Government agencies for an expansion of its Casuarina property in Dover, Christ Church, that will see it become by far the largest hotel operator on the island.

In fact, tourism sources disclosed on Monday that the Gordon “Butch”

Stewart-led Sandals chain would shortly begin adding 282 rooms to the 240 it opened just over a year ago in a $100 million-plus reconstruction of the former Casuarina Beach Hotel at Dover.

Given the popularity of the brand and its occupancy record, sources close to the project said the expanded property should accommodate between 1 000 and 1 200 guess on any given day.

(Barbados Nation)

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obbyist photographer, Marco Farouk Basir, captures amazing shots of his travels into some of Guyana’s remote areas.

The locations we feature this week are Puruni, a mining area found in Region Seven, and Bat Creek, a black-water tributary of

travel & tourism 29

the white waters of the Rupununi River.

Basir tries to not only capture the beauty of these scenic locations, but encourage Guyanese, via his photos, to explore their homeland.

Road to Puruni

Scenic Puruni River

Wading through trees on Bat Creek

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World Storytelling Day 2016 ‘Strong Women’

By Petamber Persaud

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here was a continuous buzz of appreciation from the audience witnessing World Storytelling Day 2016. From the first item, “Tacoma and the Old Witch Girl”, a Jamaican folktale in the trickster’s tradition of Anancy, to the climax of the programme, “Cinderani” – a Guyanese creole and East Indian version of the evergreen story of Cinderella. “Cinderani” was written by Marva Langevine and performed by Melina Sukhu (more in another article).

Any successful highquality storytelling session must have audience participation which is essential to the raconteur.

And this session gripped the audience throughout the afternoon moving into evening as the audience joined in chanting folksongs, doubling over with laughter, adding its two bits to the session, and were stumped at least on one occasion by an intended slip of the performer. The intended slip of the performer

is one of his/her best storytelling devices.

The first item was made more endearing to the audience because it was performed

by Jamaican-born, Al Creighton, who read the Jamaican creolese with ease.Performances in various non-English languages were a big part of this “evening of International, Regional and Guyanese stories”.

For instance, part of the “Story of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz” was rendered in Spanish by H. E. Luis Gabriel Ferrer Ortega and Ronesa McAdam of the Embassy of Mexico while the story of “Hua Mulan goes to War” was rendered by in Chinese by Guyanese Justin Gomes of the Confucius Institute, University of Guyana.

All the other pieces were also well crafted for the storytelling session, fitting aptly into the theme of ‘Strong Women’.

These pieces included “The Daredevil” by Maureen Rampertab performed by Joashaha Drakes;“The Homecoming” by Seeta

Shah Roath, performed by Jennifer Cumberbatch; “Netted”, written and performed

by Malcolm DeFreitas (Theatre Guild); “Oral Narratives”, performed by the Students of Oral Literature, University of Guyana;“How the first fruit trees were made” performed by Keon Heywood; an excerpt from “A brief history of seven killings” by Marlon James and read by Ruel Johnson;“Episodes of Love”, performed by members of Theatre Guild Workshop, which included Clinton Duncan, Godfrey Naughton and others; and “Samaan”

by Doris Harper-Wills, performed by Petamber Persaud, Abigail Brower and Donna Sargeant, National Library.

It was long after the performance of “Samaan”

that I remembered I was guilty of the sin of omission with respect to the collection from which the story was taken, especially since its source fitted the theme of the event, ‘Strong Women’.

The story was taken from “The Lure of the Mermaid and other Children’s Stories”edited

by Janet Jagan, a strong woman in many areas of endeavours. For the purpose of this article, I will just mention her involvement in the literature of Guyana.

Mrs. Jagan was a dedicated writer of children literature with the following titles to her name: “When Grandpa Cheddi was a Boy and Other Stories” (1993) “Children’s Stories of Guyana’s Freedom Struggles” (1995)

Al Creighton read "Tacoma and the old witch Girl" to start the day's activities

“Patricia the Baby Manatee and Other Stories” (1995) “Anastasia the Anteater and Other Stories” (1997) “The Dog who loved Flowers” (2000) “The Alligator Ferry Service and Other Stories from Guyana” (2001) In “The Lure of the Mermaid…”there are thirteen stories written by eleven Guyanese authors. Some of the stories were reprinted from other collections, namely “Iwokrami pantone: Stories about Iwokrama” edited by Janet Forte, 2001, and “Makonaima’s Children” by Henry Josiah.

However, most of the stories were taken from a slim volume, “Stories from Guyana”, which was printed by the Daily Chronicle Ltd. in the late

Janet Jagan

1960s or early 1970s.

It was the intention of the editor that the book “stimulate other writers to focus on children’s stories and it may, as well, result in the unearthing of children’s stories lost or neglected”.

This storytelling event was staged under the auspices of Ministry of Education, Department of Culture, and the National School of Theatre Arts &Drama on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in the Conference Room of the National Library.

World Storytelling Day is a manifestation of the new millennium which has its roots in several initiatives started at the end of the previous millennium. For instance, in the early 1990s, Sweden organised an event labelled, ‘All Storytellers Day’, falling on March 20. In the late 1990s, storytellers in Perth, Australia, coordinated a five-week long celebration of story, commemorating March 20 as the International Day of Oral Narrators. Nearer

to home (Guyana), it was discovered Mexico and other South American countries were already celebrating March 20 the National Day of Storytellers.

The first concerted and official effort by Guyana to celebrate World Storytelling Day was done in 2011. That first commemoration was an initiative of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and it was an honour and a pleasure for me to have coordinated and chaired that first World Storytelling Day in Guyana.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 2260065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com What’s happening: Coming soon: “Made in Guyana” a new book

by Petamber Persaud.

“Made in Guyana” is a pocketbook bursting with a wealth of information and pictures on people, places and events, and on things made in Guyana.

Doris Harper-Wills

FASHION 31

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

D

esigner Keisha Edwards, owner of ShaSha Designs label, offers statement ensembles for those who dare to be different.

For 2016, the designer said ShaSha Designs will “expand its operations to accommodate more clients and offer even more options under the brand”.

“I would like to say a big thank

you to all of my clients for their support during 2015. It was an emotional experience seeing so many people at various New Year’s parties wearing ShaSha designs. We hope to continue to provide customer satisfaction in 2016. I’m eagerly looking forward to creating designs for both new and returning clients,” the designer expressed.

Recently, Edwards was invit-

ed to display pieces at the Fashion Forward event held locally. Her designs were well-received at the fashion event.

Check out ShaSha Designs on Facebook for more fashionable outfits by Keisha Edwards.

(Photography by Brian Gomes Photography. Accessories by Pieces & Things)

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

The Second World War and Essequibo

When German ships reached the coast

By Isahak Basir, CCH

T

he industrial revolution began in the 1760sand spread rapidly across Europe;a t i m e when Germany excelled immensely. The Germans’ warlike leadership under the absolute dictator Adolph Hitler from 1933 expanded their military force much beyond England, Russia and China. Their expansionism ambition was to conquer the planet Earth and reproduce a master race.

The episode began when Germany invaded

Isahak Basir

An artist's illustration of the sea mine found in Essequibo during WWII

Poland in 1939 and Russia in 1941, and Japan bombed the American Pearl Harbour in 1941.

The war then extended to England, and the Atlantic Ocean was under siege. More than 400 ships were sunk in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. British Guiana was cut off from its mother country of Great Britain, leaving the colony in a state of political, economic and social disconnection. This started a time of hardship in Guiana.

At this period, the Atlantic was littered with ship debris; human survivors and dead bodies washed ashore on the

Guiana sea coast. The Germans staked out the Atlantic, destroying any ships they came in contact with; some were chased as far as Trinidad and Guyana.

Two German ships reached South America: one was scuttled in Suriname where the wreck is still seen, and the other in Guyana where it had a run-in with the MV Pomeroon - a passenger cargo vessel that plied the route from Stabroek to Charity.

To advance British Guiana security, two naval bases were constructed: one at Shell Beach in the North West District, and the other at Stampa in the Essequibo River. Additionally,the Atkinson Airport, now the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, was built.

Guiana was in suspense; many of our men were conscripted to go to the frontline as we were on the alert about the possibility that the Germans would take over. Our only radio station, known as ZFY, kept our nation on constant alert at that time. There were only about 30 radios

available for the citizens on the Essequibo Coast and about ten for those in the Pomeroon River.

Every evening, scores of people from surrounding areas would congregate where those radios were located, to listen to updates of the war.

World War II was supplemented with torpedoes, submarines, war planes, zeppelins, balloons with bombs and naval mines. One such naval mine drifted ashore in 1946 at the Hampton Court foreshore, about a half mile east of the Hampton Court Anglican School.

Fishermen pounced on this strange globeshaped object to possibly cut it in halves to make cooking pots. This metal sphere, about four feet in height and 12 feet around with several eight-inch metal springs, is an explosive device capable of blowing a huge ship in half when they collide with these mines at sea.

The fishermen were having great difficulty in splitting this huge metal ball. Two villagers from Devonshire Castle,Sewkumar and Bishop, heard of this mysterious metal ball and travelled to Danielstown Post Office to send a Morse code message to a war control centre in Georgetown to tell the individuals there about this object.

The British soldiers based in the city trav-

Basir (center) in Germany

ermen and their boats were ordered to stay a mile away; also, the residents of Hampton Court, Devonshire Castle and Walton Hall were advised to stay indoors and be ready for a detonation of this German mine at 10 am in the morning.

The colonial soldiers used the low tide while the sea was out to do the final and most dangerous part of the job. The low tide also allowed for less pressure on the proximity of the bomb to minimize damages and the slow initiating fuse allowed the soldiers to be far away after lighting.

It was about 10:30am

Betty, travelling about three miles out of at sea complained of the explosion. This blast was heard from five miles away.

The war ended with substantial human sacrifice from the Russian people and the action of the U.S.A., when theydropped two atomic bombs on German ally Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If the Germans had won this war, we would be speaking German, there would have been a superior race of humans and those people with round or wide faces would have been decimated from the

American B-18 Bolos of the 12th Bombardment Squadron in flight over British Guiana in 1943

elled to Essequibo Coast via the SS Oranjie ferry. They arrived at the Hampton Court foreshore and ordered everyone to leave the immediate area. It was a Tuesday when the soldiers removed some devices from this mine and placed it under guard.

The area police were called in to instruct the citizens of the area to keep indoors and close the school the following day.

On Wednesday the roads were blocked, fish-

on Wednesday when a huge explosion occurred, cutting down huge courida trees at the seashore, ripping zinc sheets from the Hampton Court Anglican School and showering mud and debris on the road and some nearby houses in Devonshire Castle.

The home glass windows of Mr McDoom,the Hampton Court sugar estate owner,were shattered when the mine was detonated. The next day a huge number of fishes were found dead at the sea shore and a ship, MV

planet.

I visited two Nazi concentration camps in Germany that were used during the war to hold and annihilate one particular race. This disaster triggered by World War II caused the death of more than 60 million people in Europe, which also resulted in the division of Berlin and Germany, and domination of Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Estonia by successive governments.

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Star of the week

T&T Cricketer, footballer in court on three charges

W

R

epresenting Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) at the Miss World Guyana 2016 pageant, 21-year-old Tiffany Bobb-Semple is using every opportunity to spread awareness on child and maternal health (her Beauty With A Purpose project). She hails from Linden, but currently resides in the US. Recently, Women Across Differences, a local organisation aimed at empowering women, named Tiffany as its spokesperson. Tiffany has become a force to reckon with in the pageant, not only because of her beauty, but for her intelligence. In the US, she serves as the president of Mec Model United Nations at Medgar Evers College; president of Campus Advocate at Medgar Evers College; freshman class representative for Medgar Evers College; environmental health and safety specialist at Amazon; actress with Mitchell Artist Management; real estate broker/agent at Upton Realty Group, Estate Agents and Property Stewards; former enterprise workplace safety, industrial hygiene and radiation protection intern at Boeing summer 2015 at Boeing Company; and former manufacturing intern at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Tiffany’s academic focus is environmental science with an emphasis in technology and management, which she is pursuing at the American Public University, US. Her goal for 2017 is to attend law school to pursue environmental law. The pageant contestant describes herself as a “young woman with a heart to serve”, and so the opportunities she would receive from the pageant will be used to do just that – serve – by giving back to her homeland.

Visit Upper Demerara-Berbice on Facebook for more information on Tiffany’s causes and experiences during the pageant.

est Indian cricketer Kevon Cooper and former national footballer Shane Calderon both pleaded not guilty to a string of charges arising out of their arrests in Woodbrook on Sunday.

According to a Trinidad Express report, the friends did so as they appeared before Magistrate Carl Quamina in the Port-ofSpain Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon on seven charges related to their alleged altercation with police.

Cooper was charged with using obscene language, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer, while Calderon was charged with using obscene language, two offences of obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty and assault to prevent lawful detention.

According to reports, around 3 am on Sunday, the pair were attempting to park along Baden Powell Street in Woodbrook when they were stopped by police.

The two men reportedly argued with the officers over whether their vehicle

National cricketer Kevon Cooper, left, enters the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday. (Photo: Rishi Ragoonath)

was parked in a no-parking zone.

The TT Express reported that during their brief court appearance, their attorney Christian Chandler informed Quamina that police prevented him from speaking to his clients for over five hours while they were being detained at the Woodbrook Police Station.

He also asked that the two sportsmen be allowed to remain on the $20,000 station bail they were granted after being arrested.

Quamina made note of the complaint and certified their bail as requested by Chandler.

Cooper and Calderon will reappear in court on May 10.

Ramsammy's Rumination

MPs take another vacation

By Dr Leslie Ramsammy

A

PNU/AFC announced that Parliament will go on hiatus for 56 days (eight weeks’ holiday).

This is on top of Members of Parliament vacationing in August and September. It means that in 2016, MPs will have four months’ time off with pay. For MPs who are used to work just about one day per week and often with many weeks in between with no sitting, this is really grabbing money without working.

Most of them work less than one month for 12 months’ pay.

MPs are going on another vacation at a time when sugar workers have been told they cannot get a wage increase for 2015 and with a hopeless 2016 before them and for public servants who have been told that they should not expect any meaningful salary increase. APNU/AFC stayed long enough in Parliament to impose 130 new taxes on the people. For struggling taxpayers, this is an unfair burden to ask them to carry, just so that APNU/AFC can jetset around the world.

APNU/AFC gave themselves a huge pay increase and imposed a large increase for MPs last year, worth over a billion dollars for the 11th Parliament. Now they are

also using the institution to suck blind Guyanese taxpayers by taking salaries and benefits they receive for "liming". While sugar workers, public servants and workers everywhere in Guyana will toil for wages and salaries that do not keep up with the rising standard of living, APNU/AFC is busy burdening Guyana with a jet-setting Government, intent on spending money while the country limps along.

Adding salt to the wound, they take time-off to consid-

er buying a fleet of airplanes to take jet-setting Ministers wherever they want to go.

Simultaneously, APNU/AFC has warned people that if the Government reduces VAT, as the coalition promised in its manifesto and on public platforms everywhere before the May 2015 General Elections, they would have to add VAT to water and electricity rates.

Worse yet, the Minister of Finance has told Guyanese that if they were to require the President and others to pay income tax which every

worker in Guyana has to pay, then the Government will have to give the President and those others a heavy topup on their salaries.

We have an obligation to end corporal punishment in schools, to stop the archaic practice of beating children in school and, instead of meeting to do this, we are going on a hiatus for 56 days. We have human rights obligations like updating the death penalty provision in our Constitution and laws, under national and global obligations to repeal the death penalty in Guyana.

Instead of completing this assignment, and at a time when 18 prisoners lost their lives extra-judicially, we decided that our under-worked MPs must get another 56 days’ time-off.

We need to ensure that we stop criminalising our LGBT sisters and brothers among us; our Parliament needs to act with haste to stop denying them their human rights. We have shamelessly procrastinated for years to repeal punitive laws that deny innocent people their God-given rights and have often told them "we are working on it".

How could we be working on it when we heap time-off on a bunch of MPs who already barely work?

APNU/AFC has made

a total mockery of our Parliament, the voice of the people, carrying on as if it has no obligation to the people and shamefully taking their monthly salaries without showing up to work. Even when they work, they prevent the Opposition from bringing the people's concerns to Parliament. For example, it stopped a motion on behalf of rice farmers, insisting that rice is not the business of the Government, doing so at a time when it has signed a rice deal with Jamaica that stands as one of the most corrupt deals in our country.

This is the same Parliament that has no time to discuss the crisis in the sugar industry, but has time to take an extended vacation, just after announcing closing Wales Sugar Estate and putting hundreds out of work.

The Parliament of every country must stand as a rock for democracy. The 11th Parliament of Guyana has descended into a prime example of authoritarianism.

As Guyana catapults towards dictatorship and economic chaos, the Parliament is a good gauge of how rapid this descent into dictatorship is.

It is shameless that APNU/ AFC has completely morphed Parliament into a dictatorial tentacle.

34 history

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

A vaquero roundup at the Rupununi Rodeo (theOrangeMango photo)

T

he Lethem Rodeo, or Rupununi Rodeo, is held each year over the Easter weekend, and many Guyanese from the coast and throughout the country descend on the otherwise quiet region to swell hotels and guesthouses to capacity.

The Rupununi Rodeo is said to have its origins in the mid-20th century, when vaqueros (what Rupununi cowboys are called) competed against each other in various skills relating to their line of work such as horseback riding, milking, roping and herding cattle. It also in-

cludes wild bull and wild horse riding.

The competition soon grew from a local event in the sleepy village of St. Ignatius, and was moved to the well-travelled border community of Lethem in 1985 – probably to accommodate its increasing audiences and competitors – to become a Guyanese Easter tradition.

The event begins on Easter Saturday and continues until Easter Monday, making it a wild weekend for rodeo enthusiasts and adventurers.

T

The popular Georgetown Sea Wall (Colourised picture. No date. NTG)

he newspaper, Afro American, on April 9, 1938, carried a feature by Basil and Dennis Lord of 194 Barr Street, Kitty, E.C. Demerara, titled ‘Easter Time in British Guiana’. Here is a reprint of that piece, revealing a reportedly first-hand look at Guyanese of the time celebrating the Easter season: “Easter is a gay and lively time in Demerara. The children dress in bright clothing and go to Easter services on Easter Sunday at all churches. The churches are beautifully dressed up with ferns, bamboo, palms, Easter lilies and bright flowers.

On the Sea Wall

Easter Monday the children go to the Sea Wall extending from the city of Georgetown along Kitty and for miles up the east coast of Demerara.

There are seats on the wall facing the big Atlantic Ocean, where one

can enjoy the lovely seabreeze.

Flying Kites

There is also a fine big beach.

Parents and children get down on the beach and fly kites of all colours and shapes. Some like aeroplanes, stars, singing engine, clocks, boxes, aerodromes etc., the whole live long day until night, when they wend their way home.

Some take excursions

They carry breakfast and lunch baskets when they go up to the wall and have an enjoyable time. Some go on picnics aback at the farms on excursions. Aback they go in for boating and fishing. Others go to the matinee at the theatres, 9 a.m., 2:30p.m., and 5 p.m. shows. At evening they go to sleep soundly after spending a fine Easter holiday.”

It almost seems like nothing has changed for a Guyanese Easter over the years.

Bourda Market circa 1970s (Andrew Jeffrey photo)

M

Racing on the #63 Beach on Easter Weekends in the 1950s (bryanmax.com photo)

Diamond sugar plantation, East Bank Demerara (1960)

otor racing is a popular sport in Guyana, and has been since the territory was a colony of Britain. Local racing enthusiasts have written at length of motor racing at Easter.

One such narration tells of the “discovery” of No. 63 Village in Corentyne, Berbice for its wide expanse of beach (which has become known simply as “No. 63 beach”) that led to racers enduring a 100-mile, pot-holed East Coast Demerara road just for

the chance to race on the beach they would come to refer to fondly as “Little Daytona”.

By 1952, annual races on Easter weekends developed, and racers would leave the city

by Easter Saturday to reach up to Corentyne on time to prepare the beach for the Easter Sunday event.

It has been mentioned too that the official starter at this event was the area’s Catholic priest, after Easter Sunday mass was over.

In 1955, the British

Guiana Motor-Cycle Club was established and although beach racing was fading, on Easter Sunday in April 1955 they held their first official motor racing event at the No. 63 Beach.

However, after the “discovery” of the South Dakota circuit, then an old, abandoned US Air Force Bomber Dispersal Area at Atkinson Field called South Dakota, and the clubs first official race meet in 1956, beach races seems to have stopped altogether.

FEATURE 35

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

A brief history of Guyanese women in civil unrest

By Hazel Woolford

I

n riots and disturbances, women tend to take the lead role. This is not unusual in Guyanese history.

Earlier, female slaves were often accused of “sowing seeds of discontent among the male slaves and of inciting them to rebel.”

Their behaviour was often condemned – the editor of the Demerara Courier once recommended that a house of correction, with a treadmill, be established. On November 9, 1833, sixty women on Plantation Hampton Court, Essequibo, agreed to strike or malinger.

They complained that they were given too much work and requested that the quantity be reduced.

In the meanwhile, they decided to do what they considered a sufficient day’s work.

The manager, Mr. McPherson, sent for the acting second, Fiscal Thomas Dougan, to speak to the striking women.

The Fiscal dismissed the

Labour protest in Georgetown, circa 1950s, which included women

complaint of the women as frivolous. He persuaded them to return quietly to their usual occupations and then Dougan ordered that the four ringleaders should be punished as an example to the others.

The onlookers attempted to rescue the four women. Dougan complained that the women refused to return to their jobs and used the “most violent, threatening and insolent gestures, accompanied with abusive and unintelligent words, with hideous uproar and shouting...”

In the opinion of the Fiscal, the slave women had misunderstood the

manager. Dougan observed that “men, generally speaking, give no cause for complaint.”

In the Angel Gabriel riots of 1856, a number of women, whom the colonists described as “those furies, falsely called women”, were among those persons convicted.

In order to deal with those women who “have incited the men, have stirred up the flagging spirits and indeed have done more relative mischief than the others and the other riots,” the old regulations were revived: the magistrates were empowered to execute any sentence without refer-

ence to the executive, and to inflict corporal punishment on the women and even to place them in the penal gang.

These powers were hastily withdrawn when the Colonial Secretary expressed disapproval of the measure.

In 1872, in the Devonshire Castle riots, about 50 women came to the front of the rioters and screamed and cursed. When an interpreter asked them to withdraw and leave the fray to the men, they cursed the interpreter in an East Indian dialect.

They said they would kill the magistrate and

the policemen or they would die with their husbands.

In the 1889 “Cent Bread” riots, the governor observed, “I must say that I hope the few words I have to say be published abroad...that I call upon them to use all the influence they have upon the few misguided creatures, many of them women and children, who are doing this damage and causing such pecuniary damage to the inhabitants of the colony...I earnestly hope...that the wellconducted men of the coloured population of the colony will use their influence to put a stop to this.”

In Agricola where the riots had spread, one woman attacked a rum shop with an axe. Ten women were arrested in Bourda for participation in the riots.

In the 1905 riots, all levels of women from the working class were involved. Of the 105 persons convicted in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court as a result of the riots, 41 were women.

In fact, Walter Rodney had suggested that at least one in every three rioters were women.

Several reasons have been suggested for the reason women participated in the 1905 riots: The depressed economic conditions of these working class women and an opportunity to give vent to their anger against policemen who had shot some of the rioters.

Undoubtedly, the women who sold food to the stevedores would have been in sympathy with the men. There were also unemployed women in the 1905 riots. They belonged to the centipede gang.

Governor Hodgson claimed that it was the women who were causing the trouble and they should be kept quiet.

Undeniably, a preliminary examination of the role of women in riots in Guyana has revealed that women either acted independently or sometimes with their men folk to draw attention to the indignities the working class suffered.

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What irony...

This week's Crossword S

This week's Puzzle

see solution on page 47

...on Brian Tiwari? omeone wrote it was ironic that on the same day Brian Tiwari was revealed to've bought 100 acres of land at Providence for US$2.2M and sold it to Bai Shan Lin for US$8M he was appointed as "Business Advisor to the Government". Well…good golly, Miss Molly...what in the world is "ironic" about that?? Isn't that the essence of what "business" is all about? Buy low and sell high??

From where this Eyewitness sits, Tiwari shouldn't only be getting a piece of paper and a firm handshake.

He should get a national award for showing this government – which boasts about business as its "engine of growth" – that it's completely clueless about how business actually works. Take the rice "deal" just signed by the Government with two Jamaican companies. Jamaica buys rice from the US at US$550/tonne, yet Hoyt's present "business advisors" – who no one's complaining about – sign on the dotted line for 80,000 tonnes @US$400/ tonne!!

And this after the same local business wizzes rolled over and played dead when the Venezuelans didn't renew their 200,000 tonne contract @ US$780/ tonne!! So we cut our rice farmers’ nose to spite Venezuela's face...What a bunch of jokers.

Now, these are the same people who're jumping up and down because Brian Tiwari doesn't have an MBA from Harvard...So how can he advise Government on business? they ask.

But this is part of the problem why Guyana's stuck just above Haiti on the development charts.

The last time the PNC was in Government, it was going to usher in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Under the "co-operative impetus", we were all going to work hand in hand, just taking what we needed for living and sharing the rest with our fellow citizens.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, maybe it does...but is it realistic?

What drives people is self-interest. It's built into our survival kit after a billion years of evolution.

Capitalism acknowledges self-interest and says let's harness it so that everybody gets a piece of the action. Not EQUALLY mind you...because you don't want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Somebody has to earn more than some...but once the society benefits overall, we shouldn't count their money.

Sure BK got rich...but our sea walls are OK, no?

That's the business advice that got Japan and the Far East out of poverty and into the big leagues.

It's not by accident Communist China today has more billionaires than America. And very few of them went to Harvard Business School. Say "Hey" to BK!! ...on APNU hogging LG posts?

Khemraj Ramjattan and Moses Nagamootoo are at it again about not getting their "fair share" of the spoils – this time on the LG spots. The last time around, they didn't even bring out their promised 11% but insisted on the Cummingsburg 40% split.

APNU outfoxed them on appointments by creating a slew of "Junior Ministers" – effectively diluting the real power of their 40%. Nagamootoo, of course, got a big, fat title – PRIME Minister! But as Prezzie explained – "no line responsibility". In other words, he got a big, fat "Larwah".

After the LGE, Ramjattan mouthed off that APNU huffed AFC not only in Georgetown but in all the other municipalities and NDCs. This time, Prezzie was ready for the whinging. Obviously remembering the AFC demanding their pound of flesh from Cummingsburg, he inquired as to what agreement Ramjattan might be alluding to?

Ramjattan was flummoxed. After meeting Prezzie, he referred all questions to Nagamootoo. He's the expert on getting "Larwah". ...on GT Mayor?

Some folks think it's ironic Patricia Chase-Green's been selected by APNU to be GT's next Mayor. Your Eyewitness wonders why? Something is ironic when the opposite happens to what's expected.

Did anyone really believe that Sherrod Duncan would've gotten the nod? He's not only young...but AFC!!

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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Scenes from the Phagwah Parade in New York

feature 39

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Dr Linda Wallace

F

ocused on empowering women, the Women’s Association for S u s t a i n a b l e Development, and the Sonia Noel Foundation for the Creative Arts, hosted a number of events during the month of March, including a visit to Berbice prison; appearing on “Oxygen with Nicole”, and hosting the “Women in Business Expo”.

According to Sonia Noel, veteran designer and advocate for women’s rights, the Woman in Business Expo, held at Pegasus, was “a resounding success”. She said that the massive turnout shows “the need for niche market activities, like the Expo”.

The wide range of business enterprises represented at the Expo attests to not only the determination of women, but proclaims the scope and range of women's entrepreneurial drive. From art and fashion to craft and confectionery, from makeup and hair needs to salon and spa services, from immigration services to janitorial services, from destination marketing

tours to business/financial services, from home decor options to culinary packages, the full spectrum of creative business alternatives were evident at the Expo.

“March will end with a bang with two events to mark the year after the first meeting of the Women’s Association for Sustainable Development. The first event will be on March 29, 2016 called the ‘Love Revolution’ this will be held at Pegasus Hotel. The featured speaker at the event is Dr Linda Wallace, a resident of California, United States, who

of every thriving society.

In accordance with this belief, Wallace has dedicated her life to mentoring, life coaching, empowerment and transition sessions; providing business and career planning modules, as well as forming alliances with others who can assist her mentees in accomplishing their life’s goals.

“I am excited to be part of the Love Revolution, which restores hope, release creativity and empowers a nation. This is the Love Revolution colouring our world in warm tones of sunrise yellow, sunset orange, terracotta soil

en its soul, in their everevolving hues, making us earthy, natural and above all, loving! What the world needs now is love, sweet love,” expressed Wallace.

The second event, to be held on March 30, is “An Evening with Anna Mc Coy”, which seeks to empower women in business. This event would be held at the Herdmanston Lodge.

Anna McCoy is a principal and Chief Strategy and Global Officer of Urban America, a private real estate equity and development firm. Her 25year unique background brings a multitude of

Power ladies of WASD

is an Empowerment Specialist, Global Solutionist and an advocate for women rights,” Noel outlined.

Noel described Wallace as a “revolutionary thinker and social activist, whose lifework has consisted of empowering women from all walks of life to be successful in their personal and professional lives.”

Additionally, Wallace’s core belief is that women are an integral part

and rain forest green.

The colour of love radiates from a much centred space and an omnipresent time! Grounded in the essence of the universe as all-providing, this natural vibe is transcendent, permeating all bigotry, bias, and barrier. Its ethos is rooted in liberation and liberty and its range of emancipating elements define our textured and triumphant existence.

Earth and Nature enliv-

different operating experiences. She is both a

creative thinker and influential collaborator.

McCoy is a global influencer and is responsible for managing global real estate partnerships, as well as sourcing strategic relationships with national and international governments, United Nations, NGOs, and numerous non-profit global women empowerment initiatives.

As a sought after thought-provoking inspirational speaker, McCoy’s passion for contributing to the excellence of others has privileged her to incite audiences in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, N i g e r i a , B r u s s e l s , U g a n d a , Zambia, and numerous cities in South Africa. She is a published author of three books: “Walk Powerful at Zero”, “Woman Act Now” and “Building Generational Wealth”.

McCoy is the recipient of the Women of Excellence A w a r d from Epitome Magazine, named “The Power Connector” by

Anna McCoy

Effectual Magazine, published in Nigeria.

She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from St. Thomas College, and appointed Ambassador at Large by WOLMI, an NGO furthering the goals of the United Nations to advance women empowerment globally.

The Women's Association for S u s t a i n a b l e Development and Sonia Noel Foundation for Creative Arts feel proud of these pioneering initiatives as they seek to empower women of all backgrounds in Guyana.

Visit Women's Association for S u s t a i n a b l e Development on Facebook for more information or call 226-6554.

40 feature

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Camp Street looking south circa 1900, before the canal was filled in

ook at a map of the coast of Guyana and the immediate features evident are the many straight lines seemingly scraped across the flat landscape that show the number of canals running through it.

Essential for the survival of its coastal inhabitants against flooding from rainfall, runoff from the highlands, and sea water from the Atlantic Ocean, Guyana’s coastal canals were constructed to protect the low-lying coast, which in some parts is below sea level by as much as eight feet during high tides.

The canals became necessary almost 300 years ago when the Dutch first moved their inland sugar estates to the coast in the mid- eighteen century and discovered that the low-lying coastal region meant that they were constantly facing the threat of flooding.

In his article, “The Dutch Legacy to Guyana”, Hemraj Maniram, writes, “[The Dutch] built a seadam at the front of their estates and a backdam behind the estates. To keep out water from the surrounding undrained lands

they built side-line dams.

They dug canals alongside the side-line dams to collect excess water from the estates through a network

Camp Street today

more than 550 kilometres of canals; Guyana itself has more than 8,000 kilometres.

Indeed, the city of

Main Street looking south circa 1900, before the lily-covered canal was filled in

of smaller trenches. These side-line canals flowed towards the sea-dam where kokers or sluices were erected to control the outflow. Today, kokers stand like sentinels at strategic points along Guyana's lowlying coastal plain, offering round-the-clock protection to people, animals, and property. The original seadams were later reinforced with concrete sea-walls.”

According to some estimates, these canals occupy nearly one-eighth of the surface area of the average sugarcane field. Some of the larger estates have

Georgetown began when the French arrived in 1782 and laid down two parallel canals running east of the Demerara River. The dirt from these canals was used to build a dam upon which the new settlers built their houses. The dam was later surfaced with burnt clay brick and became known as Brick dam before merging to today’s spelling of Brickdam. The canals were used then to ferry cargo.

While the “trench” as most Guyanese now know it, between Croal Street and South Road remains, the other canal on Hadfield

Street which once bordered the new town, has been filled in and is now an avenue.

In 1923, with the introduction of the pipe-line sewage system, many canals in the city of Georgetown were filled in and made into avenues like the present Main Street and Camp Street avenues.

In the outlying areas of the coast however, canals are an important feature of the landscape, since their drainage and irrigation protect large agricultural lands

One of the main drainage canals in East Coast (Amanda Richards photo)

Cutting a canal to take water to koker circa 1900

from flooding, and provides

water for crops.

Why lilies have become a tradition at Easter

F

lowers, palms, ivy and ferns are popular as homes and churches especially are decorated for Holy Week in Easter – but none more so than lilies. Why lilies in particular?

Old tradition states that lilies originated with Eve's tears when the first couple was banished from the Garden of Eden. Other legend says that they sprang up from the ground when drops of blood fell to the foot of the Cross.

In Christian tradition, introduced by the U.S., the Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum) is a symbol of resurrection.

It has also long stood for innocence, purity, hope and peace.

The lily is also considered a favourite flower of Christ as mentioned by him in Luke 12:27: Consider the lilies, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these.

Another Easter lore is the lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis). It is said to have sprung up under the tears of Mary the mother of Jesus, as she stood under the cross, crying.

Mary is symbolized also by another lily, lilium candidum, or the Madonna lily (or "Annunciation Lily").

According to Bettine Besier, who holds a master of divinity degree from Yale as well as a master's degree in botany, the Easter lily is a fairly recent addition to Easter traditions.

While some kinds of lilies were frequently shown in medieval religious paintings, she said, the flower recognized as the Easter lily was spotted in the 1880's in Bermuda by an enthusiastic gardener from Philadelphia.

After the gardener brought bulbs

home, a local florist began growing and showing the plants, and soon the lily was a hit at flower shows around the country. ''Within 10 years, it became the essential Easter flower in the United States,'' said Besier in an interview with the New York Times.

People considered the lily's whiteness to represent purity and felt that its trumpet shape was appropriate for announcing the Resurrection.

In short, she said, people who were about to greet the 20th century acted much the same way as medieval people: they assigned religious significance to a beautiful, available plant and fit it into their customs.

Bulb plants like daffodils, hyacinths and tulips have long been thought to ''tell the Resurrection story,'' Ms. Besier also said, because they lie in the ground, ''seemingly dead,'' before bursting forth in the spring. They have become plants that people ''love to have around'' at Easter, she noted.

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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Kidnapping of TT teacher: 15 year old pupil files report at police station T

here is now a new twist in the investigation into the kidnapping of Couva school teacher Keston Mahabir after a 15-year-old pupil of his, lodged a report at the Central Police Station in Port of Spain on Monday, alleging that she and Mahabir were sexu-

ally involved, according to a report in the Trinidad Express.

The girl, whose father is currently on trial for a 2005 kidnapping and murder, made the report in the presence of her attorney, Alexia Romero, after the information became known to officers on Friday while

she was being interviewed by detectives at the Couva Police Station.

According to the TT Express, her mother, her 23-yearold brother and his 23-year-old girlfriend had been in police custody since last week in connection with the kidnapping.

However, they were released on Tuesday morning, just hours after their attorney, Criston J Williams, filed for a writ of habeas corpus which was to be heard at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain yesterday, but which did not materialise as they were released.

Disappeared last week: Keston Mahabir (Photo: Facebook)

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Diplomatic... A ...banishments urnham was a slick political operator. In the PNC, he dealt with domestic political challengers not by sending them out to pasture – but through diplomatic postings which were really banishments "in style". In this way he didn't tee off the challengers' supporters but co-opted them inside his party. A good example is the case of John Carter.

He was head of the League of Coloured Peoples and the United Democratic Party, and saw himself as a senior figure to Burnham, both socially and politically.

So after their defeat by the PPP (Jagan) at the 1957 elections when the UDP merged with the PNC, Carter was a politician with a following with his Werken-Rust seat. He was also a social leader in his own right and with his socialite wife at his side. He refused to genuflect to Burnham and so in 1966, he was promptly appointed as Guyana's rep to the UN. Made Ambassador to Washington the following year, the UK in 1970 and onto China, Japan and finally Jamaica by 1981, he was never allowed to resume his political career in Guyana. Even as Burnham decimated the LCP crowd by forcing them to work in the fields of Hope Estate!

Desmond Hoyte followed his example when he purged the party of first; the Marxist pretenders and Burnhamites like Elvin Mc David. And we segue into the present where Prezzie's gone one better by banning his erstwhile challenger for leadership of the PNC – Carl Greenidge – as Foreign Minister.

He couldn't get away with banishing him as, say, Ambassador to the Court of St James, could he? It would've been too obvious a dissing.

No...with the Foreign Ministry being a SENIOR ministry and allowing Greenidge to sit on the front bench with the bigwigs in Parliament, Prezzie can say with a straight face he's giving his opponent his due. But exactly what does Greenidge get to do?

When he was made Foreign Minister rather than Finance Minister – where he has SOME expertise – the explanation was that he could focus on hocking our exports to foreign markets.

Well...quick now...tell this Eyewitness of one contract for one product Greenidge has snagged.

Even while Nagamootoo boasts about opening rice markets in Mexico!!

In the meantime, to rub salt into Greenidge's wounds, Jordan has stumbled so badly in the Finance Ministry, the fellas over at Forestry are carving some special crutches in greenheart for him!

But Prezzie should let Greenidge come in from the cold. Wandering about like some Ancient Mariner, he might just saddle Prezzie with that albatross ...banishment avoided One fella who was banished from the PNC without courtesy of a diplomatic banishment or a Foreign Service quarantine is Hamilton Green.

Desmond Hoyte just summarily kicked him out of the party when the old hatchet man tried to skewer him. And after 22 years of trying to bring Georgetown into the gutter, he's now been rewarded with the Chairmanship of the Central Housing & Planning Authority!

Where he immediately fell into his old ways. Who said you can teach an old dog new tricks? Inheriting the bustling "turnkey" housing schemes the previous Administration had bequeathed, he's just turned given them his "Green-slime touch". To allow the working poor – with salaries between $60-100K monthly – to finally own a home, the PPP Government contracted contractors to build 2-3 bedroom homes for almost half of what it'd cost folks separately. How? By supplying the contractors with materials bought cheaply because of bulk purchasing.

So Green's just thrown that arrangement out of the window and now has homeowners dealing directly with the contractors. His contractors!

Goodbye turnkey homes...welcome turkey homes!! ...posting The Mook of Saffon Street's kicking up a storm: Cousin Brian was made "Business Advisor to the Government".

He'll probably jump off the roof when he hears Cousin Bri's getting a diplomatic passport!!

While he has to fly "backtrack"!

B

s a child living in Agricola, on the East Coast of former British Guiana, there was a picture that hung for years on Arlington Weithers’ bedroom wall.

It was a printed reproduction showing a young black man with a towel wrapped turban-like around his head. Weithers never knew where his family got that picture, and never asked. It was just one of many familiar objects that seemed always there among everything else in his house - still, he would constantly study that image over the years.

One day, the boy was spanked in class for lying when he insisted to his teacher that he had not copied or traced a drawing. Later, with his mother present, he did another drawing on the spot for the teacher, who apologized for doubting him.

Impressed by her young son’s artistic talent his mother remarked, “... boy, this art thing must run in the family.” It was then the young Weithers learned that the familiar image of the man with the wrapped head was actually done by his cousin, Denis Williams, the well-known polymath and artist who, at the time, was painting and writing novels in Europe and Africa. The orig-

Arlington Weithers with one of his paintings

gree with honours in painting and photography from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

Although he has done innovative work using pioneering technological means and large-scale digital imaging as well as photography, Weithers’ focus has remained on his practice as a painter. He is totally committed to the act of creative image making using his own human resources to produce a vigorous and engaging abstract art.

Additionally, Weithers appreci-

Artwork by Arlington Weithers (Photo courtesy of Wilmer Jennings Gallery, NYC)

inal of “Self-portrait with a towel”, was in the collection of the British Guiana National Art Gallery in the local museum.

With his academic performance secure (he had been skipped ahead several classes at school) Weithers was allowed to study for a few years in Georgetown with famed art instructor, E.R. Burrowes’ ‘Working People’s Art Class’ at Queen’s College. But his most influential mentor was the brilliant, Barbadosborn, painter, Vivian Antrobus who lived in McDoom Village, just a few minutes away from Agricola.

Antrobus encouraged him to further his study abroad. Thus in 1969 Arlington Weithers found himself in the USA studying drawing and illustration for a year at the venerable Art Students League of New York. Later he earned a fine art de-

"Mazunte-Criaturas del Mar" (Creatures of the Sea)

ates the element of aesthetic surprise, which is an after effect of his intense relationship with the canvas or the equivocal colour spaces provided by the computer. His work in painting recognizes the history of art after Jackson Pollock, but is nothing like 'action painting', or some debilitated re-thread of classic international abstraction after mid-century; rather, it is about how colour can take cues from the vital life and various states of nature without referring at all to specific shapes and forms found there.

It is a messy formalism that emerges out of the plastic materials of painting itself. If one finds the work somehow evocative, or finds oneself having a personal relationship to these obdurately abstract objects, it is only because they come into exis-

"Mazunte-Erupciones" (Eruptions) - a private collection piece (Acrylic polymer emulsion, sand and pigments on canvas)

tence at the hands of a painter who is passionately interested in the world around him.

While his mural-sized abstract paintings are aggressive concerning their identity as art, what is their status as products of someone who originates from that cultural locale, that Caribbean space? The answer to that is multifaceted, and should be addressed elsewhere, but the short provisional answer lays perhaps in the way his large works, in a different manner to another Guyana-born abstractionist like Frank Bowling, manages to locate the viewer in the powerful presence of geological forces. The flux and flow of paint material within his open or articulated colour fields seem to find parallels in the sensual temperature and efflorescence of nature with its eruptions and upheavals.

The artist never needs to mirror the look of any specific landscape — certainly not the familiar coconut tree exoticisms or any hackneyed touristic devices; those are the stock in trade of the unimaginative.

Weithers has been artist-inresidence with the city of Dallas, Texas, and was awarded a yearlong private residency in Mazunte, Mexico. His art has been seen throughout Europe, including London, Finland, and Russia. In the US, he has exhibited at the New York State Museum and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, among others. Private and public institutions including the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Delaware Art Museum, and the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, Alaska, own paintings.

An Arlington Weithers’ work is now in the Guyana National Collection, joining his cousin, Denis Williams’, long loved self-portrait.

Text by US-based Guyanese artist Carl Hazlewood)

"Mazunte Montana Verde Gringo" (Green Mountain Gringo)

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D’Urban Park restoration project cost shrouded in secrecy

D

’Urban Park, once an overgrown area, continues to undergo its transformation into a major multipurpose recreational facility. However, many questions linger over the project cost, its financial allocations and the way in which the contract was awarded.

Guyana Times International was on Wednesday informed that project supervisors could not confirm whether the project was on schedule to meet the deadline of the next stage. However, it was revealed information would soon be disclosed to the public. Even so efforts to contact the contractor were unsuccessful.

This publication visited the site on Wednesday where construction works were seemingly afoot. The stands to hold persons were still being worked on while the framing for concrete drains was being done.

In an attempt to clarify the cost of the project, this newspaper contacted the Public Infrastructure Ministers David Patterson and Annette Ferguson on

Works in progress

Wednesday but to no avail.

Earlier in March, the parliamentary Opposition voiced concerns that the Party was waiting since November 2015 to receive “critical information” pertaining to the development of the D’Urban Park area.

Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira had pointed out that there was “a complete lack of transparency” on the initiative.

During one of the Party’s press conferences, Teixeira noted that there has been “absolutely no disclosure” on the undertaking, including the amount of taxpayers’ money being expended, how the contracts are being awarded, and

to whom they are being awarded.

Upon full completion, the Park is expected to have a capacity of 30,000 persons; both seated and unseated, and will be able to accommodate literary events, concerts, sporting activities and other public events.

A statement from the Ministry of the Presidency had noted that the Park was being developed mainly for the benefit of South Georgetown residents, but it is expected to have capacity to house major national events.

During a tour in January, President David Granger said that he looked forward to the commissioning of D’Urban Park.

David Hinds is playing a dangerous game

By Dr Baytoram Ramharack

O

ne of the more troublesome dispensations of the post-election reality in Guyana is the level of negativity with which people view the previous PPP regime. Let’s be clear. I am convinced PPP leaders took Guyana to a new low. They remain an untrustworthy and immoral lot. The PPP lacks the moral ground on which to condemn transgressions by the APNU/AFC coalition.

Defenders of the coalition will dismiss criticisms of the Government by pointing to the PPP’s own wrongdoing while in office.

However, the anti-PPP crowd would like us to believe that after 23 years in office, the PPP Government had nothing positive to show.

Dr David Hinds acknowledged that the Local Government Elections results reflected the racial divide between Indians and Africans. But it is no secret that every election since 1957 has been a racial referendum. The problem with both the PNC and PPP is that while the elections reflected racial bipolarity, the leadership of the two largest parties adamantly argued that they lead multi-racial organisations.

Both parties and their leadership have lived a lie since independence.

Former President Jagdeo’s recent acknowledgement that the PPP will work to consolidate its base should be seen as a step forward. Jagdeo did not say the PPP is an “Indian party” that will represent “Indians only”. There is a big difference.

In an ideal situation, a coalition that represents legitimate representatives from all ethnic groups would go a long way towards resolving our nagging racial problem.

Dr Hinds believes our history began with President Jagdeo, despite the fact that we are celebrating 50 years of independence.

Hinds has accused the PPP of being a racist party which deliberately concocted a grand scheme to disenfranchise African Guyanese. He concluded that this racist “mindset” ensured that “resources are disproportionately in the hands of one group [Indians]”. Hinds was more direct in a letter to KN…“African Guyanese … dispossessed of ancestral lands will not take very lightly the transfer of State lands into the private hands of the East Indian elite”. The “mindset” Hinds accused the PPP Indians of possessing seems to have been bought hook, line and sinker by other Africans. Perhaps this is a pretext of things to come. His threat must be taken seriously.

Our history is not a tabula rasa.

Guyanese history did not begin with Jagdeo, though this seems to be a fashionable acceptance today. Hinds conveniently ignores an important fact – Dr Clive Thomas reminded us the PNC controlled over 80 per cent of the economy. The PPP’s dismantling and privatisation of this stranglehold on the nation’s economy no doubt benefited a handful of its supporters. However, it should be emphasised that a small number of Indians benefited from this incestuous unofficial policy of the ruling PPP. The vast majority of Indians remain poor and powerless. The PPP did not seriously attempt to uplift this loyal constituency from its squalor, poverty and poor quality of life.

Either Dr Hinds is swayed by a nationalistic fervour or he is intentionally being intellectually dishonest. As a political scientist, he understands that the APNU/ AFC Government can create a new supportive elite class or co-opt members from this Indian elite class because they are economic opportunists.

If Hinds is concerned about who controls real power, he can rest assured that even while a small group of Indians remained wealthy, their wealth can easily be stripped away, as Burnham has shown.

He ignores the fact that throughout the PPP era, as is now, African dominance in the military and paramilitary forces, as well as the Civil Service, guarantees them a preponderance of national power and security. This dysfunction will not promote “balanced development” and “advance… joint nationhood in Guyana”.

Finally, given the nature of ethnic politics in Guyana, political leaders are selected by their own supporters, rather than being imposed from outside or lectured to by others outside their community. Hinds points to Freddie Kissoon as an Indian leader. Kissoon has been relentless in his attacks against Indian leaders who have shown a penchant for addressing issues that affect them.

Moving forward demands that the racial divide is addressed. I am not optimistic that President Granger and his Minister of Social Cohesion will bridge the racial gap. Blaming the PPP for not doing so, while pretending that the APNU/AFC can bring us together only preserves the status quo. We need to get down to the nitty gritty of creating a programme that will allow us to move forward.

Send comments to BRamharack60@ gmail.com.

news 47

WEEK ENDING APRIL 3, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Caribbean tourism officials to focus Sixth Zika on business, service excellence case confirmed S in Guyana

T

Dr. Shamdeo Persaud

here is confirmation that another person has contracted the Zika virus. The patient is from the Soesdyke area on the East Bank of Demerara.

According to Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, the other five persons have fully recovered.

Meanwhile, preventative measures continue with over 5000 chemically treated bed nets distributed country-wide. The Government Information Agency (GINA) reported that an additional 75,000 is available for distribution. In addition, the Vector Control Services (VCS) is fogging in many communities.

Port Health Officers are also present at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and all other ports of entry country-wide. These officers are monitoring for individuals travelling to Guyana who may exhibit signs of the illness.

Zika is a vector borne disease transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Signs of the illness include fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, rash and sometimes swelling of the limbs. Some persons may also experience vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. There has been no direct treatment developed for the illness, but patients are treated with basic pain killers.

Precautionary measures such as the use of insect repellants, mosquito treated nets and long sleeve clothing is recommended. Household insecticidal sprays, coils, candles, screening of windows, doors and other openings can also aid in reducing mosquitoes in the home.

Individuals should conduct systematic searches in and around their environment for any stored or exposed body of water and remove these sources of mosquito breeding grounds to control the spread of mosquitos.

Persons are asked to clear their environs of unnecessary materials such as tyres, punch holes in discarded containers, properly cover containers with stored and drinking water, pour a little oil in contained water for domestic use, and change water regularly in vases, pet containers and plant saucers, since these also attract vectors.

It is also advised that individuals use only insect repellents that are registered and approved by the Pesticides & Toxic Chemicals Control Board.

Persons who travel to Guyana should inform the Port Health Authority at the airport, seaport or land crossing or contact the nearest health facility, if they have had symptoms of fever within the last week. The necessary advice and follow up care would be provided by the Ministry of Public Health officers.

Individuals are reminded that denying Public Health Officers access to their compounds for spot checks is breaching the Laws of Guyana, and are advised to desist from doing so. Those who do not follow these regulations could face legal action.

T JOHN’S, Antigua -- As Caribbean tourism rebounds, tourism practitioners within the region are making their next strategic move by focusing on enhancing the quality of their product, and developing a strong culture of service excellence.

The secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Hugh Riley and other Caribbean tourism officials will meet in Antigua and Barbuda to address the theme ‘Making Excellence a Habit: Service Loyalty and Profitability in Caribbean Tourism’ at the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s eighth annual tourism human resources conference, from May 11 – 13, 2016.

Collaborators, the Antigua and Barbuda ministry of tourism, economic development, investment and energy, and the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, are voicing their support for the three day tourism gathering being held in Antigua for the first time.

Antigua and Barbuda minister of tourism, Asot Michael, said, “We are committed to ensuring the well-rounded development of the tourism sector.

“In today’s digital age of hi-speed internet, blogs and social media, ready access to information means travellers are more aware of their

Secretary General of CTO, Hugh Riley

options when it comes to selecting and booking a flight, hotel, cruise, tour or otherwise. They compare shop, view reviews and rely heavily on shared feedback from past travellers before confirming bookings.

“For our destinations to be successful, we must do more, to attract and meet the demands of the discerning traveller. While glitz attracts, more often than not, it is the quality of service that guests receive, that remains of paramount importance to serious tourism industry stakeholders aiming to deliver exceptional tourism experiences, increase revenues, and secure repeat visitors.”

The Caribbean Tourism Organisation, the industry’s leading body for Caribbean tourism development, has set out an intensive conference programme geared towards the pursuit of excellence in the region’s growing tourism and hospitality sector.

“Visitors to the

Caribbean, in their own quest for value for money and great experiences, have growing expectations of our businesses, and those businesses which provide excellent customer service in a constant and consistent manner are more likely to succeed. It is imperative, therefore, that we pursue a culture of excellence for our survival, growth, competitiveness and overall success; our customers demand it, our businesses require it and our success depends on it,” said Hugh Riley, CTO’s secretary general and chief executive officer.

International speakers, industry leaders and experts will cover topics such as ‘driving leadership and organisational excellence’, ‘making excellence a habit’ and ‘using metrics effectively to propel business performance’.

Tourism master classes led by John Burchell, director of Hospitality Assured, and Andre Bello, commercial manager, Virgin

Atlantic, will show senior management and technical staff how they can improve their product, generate, and retain loyal customers.

Detailed discussions will allow participants to gain hours of valuable insight in the areas of ‘seeking excellence through continuous improvement – a formula for business success’ and ‘increasing customer and brand loyalty’.

The Antigua and Barbuda tourism minister will present the feature address at the conference opening, while Colin C. James, CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority and Shirlene Nibbs, tourism consultant to the Antigua and Barbuda ministry of tourism and managing director of consultancy firm Nibbs & Associates, will join in leading panel discussions at the event.

Tourism practitioners, from both the public and private sectors, human resource professionals, tourism educators/trainers and consultants as well as tourism and hospitality students of tertiary institutions are expected to register for the conference where they will develop skills to meet the changing environment, and learn strategies and best practices from real Caribbean tourism industry experts, on areas and issues affecting the tourism and hospitality sectors. (Caribbean News Now)

Headless T&T woman buried …appeals by family members for her head to be returned went unheeded

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

T

Grief stricken: Relatives of Eden Neiksha Teesdale in grief, from right, Jeremiah Bapiste, Annessa Williams and Teesdale's daughter Aamayah at her funeral service at Guide's Funeral Chapel, Coffee Street, San Fernando, on Tuesday (Photo: Trevor Watson/ Trinidad Express).

he closed casket bearing the body of San Fernando mom Eden Neiksha Teesdale stood as a grisly reminder of the horrific end she suffered as her final rites were performed last Tuesday.

According to reports in the Trinidad Express, in the days before her

funeral, her family begged her killer or killers for her missing head, so they could give her a proper burial. The appeal went unheeded.

On the gold and white casket, a framed picture of a smiling Teesdale was placed, surrounded by wreaths.

The Express report-

ed that Bishop Norma Raymond, in opening the funeral at Guide’s Funeral Chapel in San Fernando, acknowledged the hurt and grief of the family over Teesdale’s gruesome end.

“It is a tedious time this evening. Normally we would be here to cel-

ebrate but this is something strange because of the way our dearly beloved was taken from us,” Raymond said.

“Sometimes these things happen for a purpose, for us to think different with one another. We are grieving, but Jesus will carry us,” he added.

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Always wondered why men are not sex symbols: Neha Dhupia A

ctress Neha Dhupia says when she stepped into showbiz, she used to “wonder” why men are not labelled as ‘sex symbols’. But she is glad that has changed over the years.

When she was asked about whether she was subjected to stereotypical notions when she stepped into showbiz, she said: “No, not really”.

“Everybody talked about how at that point my image was a sex symbol. I always wondered why men are not sex symbols. But it has all changed – John Abraham showing sneak peak of his bottom in ‘Dostana’ and then Shah Rukh Khan showing his abs in ‘Dard-e-disco’. So men also started becoming sex symbols and all that has changed now,” Neha

A told IANS over phone.

The actress, who is associated with a number of causes, has now joined detergent Ariel India’s Dads #ShareTheLoad Movement, to address the prejudice of household inequality along with her father – Commander (retd) Pradip Singh Dhupia.

The movement has over the past month, re-

ceived local and international support from the likes of Pankaj Kapur, Supriya Pathak and Tabu to Sheryl Sandberg and Melinda Gates.

And Neha, who has stepped into the non-fiction space on TV through the show “MTV Roadies 4″, says that acting with her father was a “fantastic” experience. (Indian Express)

Manish Malhotra designs dreams: Farah Khan

C

horeographerfilmmaker Farah Khan has complimented ace designer Manish Malhotra by saying the couturier doesn’t just design clothes, but he “designs dreams”.

Farah was present as a front row guest for

Malhotra’s show at the ongoing Summer-Resort edition of Lakme Fashion Week on Tuesday.

Lauding his show, the “Happy New Year” director tweeted: “What a magnificent show…

Manish Malhotra he doesn’t design just

clothes…He designs dreams.”

Malhotra, who is known to design for the who’s who of tinsel town, including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, “thanked” the “Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi” star.

“Farah Khan thank you Farah my dearest,” he tweeted on Wednesday. Malhotra’s show, whose showstoppers were actors Arjun Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez, saw actors such as Kareena, Bhumi Pednekar and Sooraj Pancholi in attendance.

(Indian Express)

ctor Ali Fazal, who has become a regular at fashion events of late, wants to find his place in Bollywood before focusing on any other arena of showbiz, including designing for a fashion brand.

Ali walked the runway for actor-

Fashion in films has changed, has become more real: Farhan Akhtar

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ollywood actorproducer Farhan Akhtar, whose association with contemporary menswear brand Code by Lifestyle was extended on Wednesday, says there’s a change in the fashion code in Bollywood movies as characters have moved towards “real and believable” looks.

“I think the biggest change that has happened in fashion in films is that now the characters really don’t look like they have made an effort to look a particular way,” Farhan told IANS. Elucidating on the same, Farhan, who has himself donned a mix of casual as well as formals on screen, said: “There was a time when everyone on screen looked like they were made up and made to wear clothes that they necessarily didn’t pull out of their own wardrobes – that has changed.”

“Now when you watch a movie, everyone looks like they belong to the character and even their clothes belong to that character. I think this is a very big change as this has made the experience of watching a movie feel more real and believable. You can say so much more about a person just by the way he/ she dresses, hence, costume plays a huge role in the viewing of a film. And yes, it has definitely changed a lot.”

The “Rock On!!” star, who also unveiled Code

by Lifestyle’s Spring Summer collection at an event here, believes that

‘Badlapur’ had strong chance to win National award: Himanshu Sharma

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i m a n s h u Sharma, who bagged the National award for his screenplay and dialogues in “Tanu Weds Manu Returns,” feels that Varun Dhawanstarrer “Badlapur” also had a “strong chance” to win the coveted honour.

Himanshu shared the award with writer Juhi Chaturvedi (‘Piku’) at the 63rd National Awards, which were announced recently.

“I am happy that after audience’s love, we have got this big honour as well. I was hoping and praying that we win it.

But I was blown away by ‘Badlapur’. I think even ‘Badlapur’ had a strong

chance of winning. I loved the story and I love Sriram Raghavan’s (‘Badlapur’ director) work,” Himanshu told PTI. The writer is known for his work on “Tanu Weds Manu” series and “Raanjhanaa”, both helmed by Aanand L Rai. On Kangana Ranuat winning the best actress award for her double role in “Tanu Weds Manu Returns”, he said, “Kangana deserved the

award. She is a brilliant actress. I did anticipate that she would win the national award. I congratulated her. We both were happy for each other”.

The writer feels that a National award does bring in a sense of responsibility.

“There is a pressure and responsibility to perform better. I would continue working hard and entertain audiences through my work.”

(Indian Express)

comedian Vir Das’s exclusive designer line at Lakme Fashion Week’s last edition, and he was again spotted at the opening day of the Summer-Resort edition here on Wednesday.

Asked if he plans to come up with his own fashion line in future, the “Fukrey” actor told IANS: “I walked in boxers last year for Vir, but yes may be one day I will think about designing.

“Currently, I don’t feel qualified to be a part of designing. I am still grappling with my films, my acting and celluloid and runways are very new experience for me. I am still trying to see and try my luck on the ramp.”

The actor was here to attend the Gen Next show that flagged off the ongoing edition of the fashion gala.

Talking of his own fashion quotient, Ali said: “I do have my own style but I like to follow trends and be inspired. I respect that.” (Indian Express)

S

he may have made it to film industry through her modeling career, but Iranian beauty Mandana Karimi says she will always give priority to acting.

Mandana, who became a household name after her stint at the last season of reality TV show “Bigg Boss,” said acting is what she always wanted to do.

“The experience of walking on ramp

the fashion market has opened for men.

As for his own code for a fit and fashionable life, he shared: “I think eating healthy and exercising is very important – both make one feel very optimistic and positive. Also, being true in terms of fashion, that is being true to who you are, is really important.”

He says while every person has an individual style and may “get inspired by a style and incorporate things that you are impressed by, but eventually you have to be comfortable with what you wear”. (Indian Express)

is amazing, but I have never been interested in runway. I always liked movies, visuals and commercials,” she said.

The actress made Bollywood debut with “Bhaag Johnny” and was last seen in “Kya Kool Hain Hum 3”.

Mandana was the showstopper for young designer Agrima Batra at Lakme Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2016’s Gen Next Show, and apart from movies she also opened up about her love for fashion.

“I love dressing up and coming to fashion weeks. It is amazing to see someone so young and doing so well with clothes. It is a great opportunity for them and I hope we will have more shows like this in future. Great to see young people getting a stage like this,” she said.

Mandana said she doesn’t believe in following trends and prefers to create her own style.

“I have my own style. I choose what I feel comfortable in. I don’t really go by trends,” she said. (Indian Express)

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I sobbed for 20 minutes after watching ‘Parenthood’: Helen Mirren

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eteran actress Helen Mirren says she does not regret her decision of missing being a mother but she cried after watching “Parenthood”.

The “Queen” actress, 70, has been with director Taylor Hackford since 1986 but married in 1997.

She has two stepchildren from husband Hackford’s previous relationship, reported Daily Mirror.

“I love children, they are so funny and so sweet, but I never wanted my own. I have never had a moment of regret about not having children. Well, I lie. When

I watched the movie, Parenthood, I sobbed for about 20 minutes.

“It was about the whole story of being a parent and how it never stops, even when you’re a grandparent. I realised I would never experience

that, and for about 20 minutes, I sobbed for the loss of that and the fact that I never experienced it,” she said.

She added, “Then I got over it and I was happy again.” (Indian Express)

“I’m not good at applying makeup” - Gwyneth Paltrow

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wyneth Paltrow says her makeup skills are really

poor.

She may be a head turner when it comes to red carpet appearances but Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow says her makeup skills are really poor.

The actress said she

relied on experts when it comes applying makeup, reported People magazine.

“I’m not very good at putting on makeup, which is, I think, a result of having had my makeup done for 20-plus years,” she said. (Indian Express)

Harrison Ford auctioning Han solo jacket for daughter

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arrison Ford is to auction off his iconic Han Solo costume to help an American medical centre treating his daughter find a cure for epilepsy.

The “Star Wars” hero has become synonymous with the brown jacket he has donned for the movie franchise, including a leather version he wore for the latest installment – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, reported Vanity Fair.

Now Harrison, 73, said the jacket is up for grabs at an upcoming auction, with proceeds going to the New York University’s Langone centre.

“I was wearing it throughout the film,” he said, confirming about the auction.

However, he admitted that he would have a difficult task getting it back off one of the doctors at the re-

search facility.

Ford’s daughter Georgia Ford, 25, has not had an epileptic seizure for the past eight years after being treated at the NYU Langone. Prior to that however, she was repeatedly misdiagnosed and was even prescribed migraine medicine for many years before getting a proper diagnosis as a teenager. (Indian Express)

Fatherhood has changed my priorities: Ashton Kutcher

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ctor Ashton Kutcher says becoming a father has changed his outlook towards life.

The 38-year-old “No Strings Attached” star, who has daughter Wyatt with Mila Kunis, said having a kid has switched all his priorities, reported Female First. “(Fatherhood) takes whatever table

you’re sitting at, flips it upside down and switches all your priorities around.

It’s unexplainable.

“I have a new number one priority.

Only parents understand the absolute awe of parenthood,” Kutcher said.

The actor has decided to make his social media presence less personal and is trying to “inspire and educate” through his posts.

“You know what’s interesting? I don’t really share personal things on my social media channels anymore.

I have pulled back… Now the things that I share on social media are stories that inspire ideas, that connect people, that educate people,” he said. (Indian Express)

Never aspired to be an actor: ‘The Jungle Book’ star Neel Sethi

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e never had starry dreams, but still found a vestibule to showbiz amid the wilderness of an Indian jungle with “The Jungle Book”. Indian-American child actor Neel Sethi, who will be essaying the role of Mowgli in the forthcoming Disney’s adventure fantasy film, says he “never really thought about acting” and wanted to follow his parents’ footsteps to dentistry.

Nevertheless, the world of acting has been a joyride for the youngster, who at 12 is at the cusp of teenagehood.

“I never really thought about acting although I tried it out.

Everybody thinks being famous would be really cool, but I think it’s fun and I enjoy doing this. I always wanted to

be a dentist because my parents are dentists and that’s a lot of fun,” Neel told IANS in an interview here.

“The Jungle Book”, which will release in India on April 8, a week before it releases in the US, promises to be an advanced version of the eponymous 1967 animated film, and brings the story of Rudyard Kipling’s 1864 timeless classic back on the big screen. The story has been re-imagined by Jon Favreau, who is known for “Iron Man” and “Chef”, and backed by superior technology.

Neel, with roots tracing back to the Indian state of Punjab, feels connected to Mowgli, and says that they both are similar in many ways.

Asked whether he underwent special training

for the character, he said: “I didn’t really do any special thing… Actually I was just myself because me and Mowgli are similar. We are both stubborn, free-spirited when we put our mind to something… And we will try to get it no matter what.

“Since we are very similar, it was not difficult for me, but I had to grow my hair, and the team also gave me hair extensions. It wasn’t that bad; it was pretty comfortable. It was all a lot of fun… I just went along with the flow,” Neel added.

The movie’s trailers have already made him popular, but Neel says he doesn’t get any special star treatment from his parents.

“My friends saw the trailer and they think it was cool but they still treat me like a normal person. I don’t get star treatment at home… they treat me the same,” said the young actor, who shared his inclination towards Bollywood and said he is fond of Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, who is famous in Hollywood now courtesy “Quantico”. (Indian Express)

Leonardo DiCaprio fights for Indonesian elephants’ future

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ctor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio took a trip to the jungles of Indonesia over the weekend in a bid to garner support for the creation of a nature sanctuary on the island of Sumatra.

DiCaprio, 41, took to Instagram to share a photo of himself standing alongside two fellow environmentalist and two endangered elephants.

“The lowland #rainforest of the Leuser Ecosystem is considered the world’s best remaining habitat for the critically endangered Sumatran #elephant,” wrote DiCaprio.

The actor, who has been a strong advocate for global environmental issues, explained that the elephants and other animals living in the Leuser rainforest habitat are under threat after plans were announced to destroy patches of the forest for commercial use.

“Ancient elephant migratory pat-

ters are still used by some of the last #wild herds of Sumatran elephants.

But the expansion of Palm Oil plantations is fragmenting the #forest and cutting off key elephant migratory corridors, making it more difficult for elephant families to find adequate sources of food and water.”

Not only does the Leuser Ecosystem provide habitat for animals, but it also supplies clean water to the citizens living in the area and its watersheds help protect from natural disasters. To help combat the problem, DiCaprio’s namesake organization, The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, is teaming up with local partners to establish a “mega-fauna sanctuary in the Leuser Ecosystem.”

Along with elephants, the Leuser Ecosystem is the “last place on Earth” where orangutans, tigers and rhinos coexist. (Indian Express)

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Barrett Jr in record form as Jamaica end Carifta with 86 medals

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amaica were dominant yet again at the Carifta Games with another masterclass rendition on yesterday’s final day of the 45th staging at the national stadium in St George’s Grenada, equalling last year’s record haul of 86 medals.

A preliminary count last night showed Jamaica winning 42 gold medals, 28 silver and 16 bronze, compared to 42 gold, 25 silver and 19 bronze earned last year in St Kitts.

The Bahamas were next with six gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze followed by Barbados

Dottin happy with role as death overs specialist

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O H A L I , India (CMC) — All-rounder Deandra Dottin says she is comfortable with her role as a death overs specialist after West Indies knocked out India on Sunday to reach the semi-finals of the Twenty20 (T20) World Cup. Dottin bowled an outstanding last over to spur West Indies to a nerve-racking three-

bring my team to victory. I like being in that position,” declared Dottin.

“The captain told me I have to limit the boundaries. Bowl yorkers. I said ‘It’s ok, we got this’. I still have my nerve. When I am bowling I don’t have nerve.

It is only when am batting I have nerves. So I am just calm when I am bowling.”

Dottin made 45 and

overs, to silence a nearcapacity crowd.

“The game plan was to stay there as long as possible,” said Dottin.

“Knock around the ball, get the singles, the twos and pounce on the bad balls. Try not to make rash shots. But the whole idea was to stay there until the last couple of overs.”

The result meant that the West Indies Women ended the group

Warren Barrett Jr. (Jamaica Observer photo)

with six gold, six silver and eight bronze, Grenada bagged three gold, four silver and six bronze, Trinidad and Tobago ended with three gold, two silver and nine bronze, while Guadeloupe gained three gold, one silver and one bronze.

Among the number of outstanding performances was the record in the Under-20 boys’ shot put

by Warren Barrett Jr as he smashed the fiveyear-old mark of 19.47m set in 2011 in Montego Bay by another Calabar thrower, Ashinia Miller.

Barrett, who was upset by his teammate Kyle

Mitchell at Champs last weekend, twice went over the old record, first with a put of 19.83m before setting a new personal best 19.97m.

Sanjae Lawrence made it gold and silver for Jamaica when he took second place with 18.89m, fouling several big throws, while Josh Hazzard of Grenada took the bronze with 17.18m.

After three consecutive silver medals, including one in the long jump earlier, Obrien Wasome finally landed gold when he won the triple jump in a personal best 16.09m (-0.9m/s) as continued on page 52

DOTTIN... it has become a trend for me having to bring my team to victory

run win over India in their Group B game at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.

She removed Ekta Bisht with a yorker, forced the run out of Shikha Pandey, and with the penultimate ball of the final over, dismissed Sushma Verma to restrict India to 111 for nine.

“My heart was very good. I am accustomed.

I love bowling last overs. It has become a trend for me having to

Stafanie Taylor, the Windies Women’s captain, led the way with 47, sharing a crucial fourth-wicket stand of 77 that anchored the Caribbean side to 114 for eight from their allocation of 20 overs, after they were put into bat.

Dottin, later named Player of the Match, returned to grab 3-16 from her allotted four overs, as India Women were restricted to 111 for nine from their 20

stage in second position with six points — two behind group winners England Women.

They will face New Zealand Women on Thursday in semi-final action at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

“We are looking forward to playing New Zealand,” said Dottin.

“We actually have the chance to be in the finals. So it’s just some work that needs to be done and this team will bring it home.”

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West Indies stun India to reach WT20 final W

responsibility of bowling the final over when only eight were needed. This time, there was too much even for Kohli to do as Russell heaved the winning maximum over midwicket.

(BBC)

est Indies will meet England in the final of the World Twenty20 on Sunday after stunning hosts India with a sevenwicket win in the semifinal.

India looked in complete control after Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 89 took them to 192-2 and Chris Gayle fell for five.

But Lendl Simmons, who was twice caught off no-balls and held on the boundary only for Ravindra Jadeja to step on the rope, clubbed 82 from 51 balls.

Then Andre Russell won it with a six with two balls to spare in Mumbai.

West Indies, champions in 2012, follow their women’s team into the final after they defeated New Zealand earlier on Thursday.

The meeting with 2010 winners England in Kolkata will see a twotime World T20 champion crowned for the first time, while India’s exit extends the wait for a host nation to lift the trophy.

Simmons, who had to pull out of the West Indies squad before the tournament began because of an injury, only arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday as a replace-

What they said

Simmons carried on to make a fifty of his own, keeping his side's asking rate under check. He eventually ended on 82 not out off 51 balls.

ment for Andre Fletcher.

When he got to the crease at the end of the third over, West Indies already looked out of the chase after opener Gayle was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah and Marlon Samuels was tamely caught at cover.

Three times he could have been out.

Ravichandran Ashwin overstepped when he was caught on 18 and Hardik Pandya did the same at 50, the latter being heaved for six from the resulting free hit.

Then, on 69, Simmons was held on the long-on

boundary, only for Jadeja to step on the rope as he was trying to offload the ball to Kohli.

Reprieved, Simmons slapped boundaries through the off side and clubbed five sixes straight and to the leg, sharing 97 with Johnson Charles and an unbroken 80 with Russell.

Windies blow through Mumbai

It was an astonishing chase by West Indies, their second highest in T20 internationals and the second largest by any side to defeat India.

While India grew their total by breathlessly scampering between the wickets, West Indies pummelled the boundary on the same run-filled Wankhede Stadium at which England made 230 to beat South Africa.

As West Indies crashed 20 fours and 11 sixes, the previously raucous Mumbai crowd fell increasingly silent.

India, the pre-tournament favourites, could have gone out in the group stageand, when the semi-final came, their bowlers wilted.

But Kohli, who should

have been run out by Dwayne Bravo when he was on only one, did not deserve to end up on the losing side.

The right-hander’s innings was another T20 masterclass, full of orthodox cricket strokes and brilliant running between the wickets, taking his tournament record to 273 runs at an average of 136.50.

Then, when India were being dismantled in the field, Kohli was thrown the ball and had Charles caught at longoff with his first delivery.

He was even given the

Man of the match Lendl Simmons: “I was under pressure, the team said I had to deliver and I guess I did tonight. We didn’t get the start we wanted and then I got three chances and I just cashed in.”

West Indies captain Darren Sammy: “I said they were 10 runs short. Even when we lost Gayle, we had Simmons just off the flight. We have two West Indies teams in final and I know that means a lot to the Caribbean.

“Yes Gayle is our best player but we have 15 match winners. Today Charles, Simmons and Russell took responsibility.”

India captain MS Dhoni: “The only thing I’m disappointed about was the two no-balls [to reprieve Lendl Simmons]. Other than that we did our best. I thought 190 was a good score. It’s a demanding format, it was draining because a few of our games were very close.”

Barrett Jr in record form as Jamaica.. defending champion and long jump winner Miguel Van Assen of Suriname failed to make a legal mark.

Wasome had just two legal jumps, while passing twice with Jordan Scott taking silver, also with a personal best 16.01m (0.2m/s), and Martinique’s Jordan Caraman took third with 15.68m (-0.8m/s).

Jamaicans swept the sprint hurdles gold medals, despite Dejour Russell’s disqualification from the Under-18 race after false-starting, while winds stronger than the allowable 2.0 metres per second denied Rushelle Burton a record in the Under-20 girls’ event.

Burton ran a windaided 13.36 seconds to beat Sidney Marshall (13.73m), who just edged Trinidad and Tobago’s Jeminise Parris, who was credited with the same time.

Rohan Cole won the Under-20 boys’ gold in 13.71 seconds (0.9m/s), finishing ahead of two runners from the

Bahamas as Timor Barrett failed to finish the race.

Tavonte Mott took the silver in 13.81 seconds and Shakeem Smith third in 14.12 seconds.

Dasazay Freeman won the Under-18 girls’ gold in a wind-aided 13.44 seconds (3.9m/s), Sasha Wells of the Bahamas took the silver with 13.48m and Jamaica’s Joda Campbell was third with 13.78 seconds.

Florida-based Damion Thomas made up for the loss of Russell in the boys’ Under-18 final as he won the gold in a personal best 13.32 seconds.

Branson Rolle of the Bahamas was second in 13.80 seconds and Rasheem Brown of Cayman third in 14.05 seconds.

Jamaica failed to medal in the Under-20 boys’ 200m that was won

by Trinidad’s Akanni Hislop in a wind-aided 20.89 seconds (4.5m/s), but Jamaican won two of the other three gold

medals, including the gold and silver in the Under-18 girls’.

Shaniel English retained the Under-18 girls’ title running 23.65 seconds, holding off teammate Britany Anderson (23.74 seconds) with Devine Parker of the Bahamas taking bronze in 23.86 seconds.

Michael Stephens won the Under-18 boys’ gold, running out of lane eight in 21.43 seconds into a head wind of -1.9m/ s, beating Trinidad’s Tyrell Edwards (21.56 seconds) and Barbados’ Matthew Clarke (21.75).

Kimone Hines was third in the Under-20 girls’ final in a wind-aided 23.85 seconds (2.4m/s) behind Barbados’ Sada Williams, who took the double, winning in 22.72 seconds and Jenae Ambrose of the Bahamas (23.39 seconds).

Jamaica also won three of the four 800m gold medals with only the outstanding Barbadian Jonathon Jones, who won the Under-18 boys’ gold medal in a big per-

sonal best 1:49.85 minutes, beating Jamaica’s Anthony Cox into second place, and Guadeloupe’s Lidji Mbaye taking the bronze.

Cemore Donald, the 1500m champion, won her second gold medal when she took the Under-18 girls’ gold medal in 2:10.66, leading home teammate Chrisanni May (2:13.90) and Bahamas’ Quanisha Marshall (2:14.64).

Junelle Bromfield ran the last 400m all by herself on her way to winning the Under-20 girls’ title in 2:06.21 minutes, well ahead of Tarika Moses of the British Virgin Islands (2:11.20) and Guyana’s Andrea Foster (2:12.43).

Shevon Parkes picked up a second gold medal with a strong performance in the Under-20 boys’ 800m, winning in 1:51.76 minutes, followed by teammate Nathan Brown (1:52.99), and Grenada’s Nathan Hood (1:53.61).

There was a bizarre finish to the boys’ 500m Open where it appeared

the official missed the count and Jamaicans Shane Buchanan and Garfield Gordon were declared the gold and silver medallists.

Long-time leader the Bahamas’ Benjamin Najman was declared ‘did not finish’.

Najman had just lapped a slower runner when the bell indicating the final lap was starting when he stopped and told the official that he had completed the event then walked away celebrating.

The two Jamaicans kept running and were later declared the top two, but the decision was later reversed and the Bahamian given the gold in 15:24.25 minutes, Buchanan took the silver in 16:51.76, and Gordon the bronze in 16:59.05.

Jamaica added the four-mile relay gold medals to the four they won in the 4x100m a day earlier.

The team of Shanoi Powell, Shiann Salmon, Stacey-Ann Williams, and Sanique Walker won the Under-18 girls’ 4x400m in 3:39.31

from page 50

minutes beating the Bahamas (3:43.08) and the British Virgin Islands third with 3:47.43.

The Under-18 boys’ team of Dashinelle Dyer, Anthony Cox, Jhevaughn Matherson, and Christopher Taylor ran 3:12.54 to beat Barbados 3:13.16 and Trinidad and Tobago in 3:15.33.

Satanya Wright, Semoy Hemmings, Junelle Bromfield — who ran a blistering leg to give the Jamaicans a big lead — and Tiffany James ran 3:34.84 to beat the Bahamas, who clocked 3:48.06 and Grenada 4:11.10.

The only real test came in the boys’ Under-20 race, where the Bahamas led going into the final leg, but 400m winner Akeem Bloomfield easily caught the anchor-leg runner and blew by him as they won in 3:10.55 minutes.

Jauavney James, Timor Barrett and Nathan Brown ran the first three legs. (Jamaica Observer)

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India tour of the Caribbean is on, says Cameron

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AGPUR, India, CMC President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Dave Cameron has confirmed that India will play four Test matches in the Caribbean later this year.

Dates have not been revealed but Cameron has announced that the Test series would be staged over July and August.

His announcement ends uncertainty surrounding the series ever since the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended bilateral engagements after West Indies abandoned their tour of India in 2014.

“The official word is that the tour is on,” Cameron told Cricket Radio in Nagpur on Sunday.

“We are just awaiting confirmation of the venues now. And once we have done that, we will send out a release with the dates, the venues and everything.”

The tour is expected to clash with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL)

set to begin late June and conclude early August.

However he said the WICB was left with no choice but to agree to the dates despite the clash.

“Yes, it will [clash with the CPL].

The unfortunate thing is that the international calendar is packed. And the only window for this tour to come off is during that time,” said Cameron.

“So, there will be a clash, but we are working with CPL to ensure there is no clash of venues so times of the matches won’t be hampered.”

In January the WICB had shortlisted 15 names for retainer contracts including Marlon Samuels, Jason Holder, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Bravo and Kemar Roach.

“The [CPL] draft did not include the Test players simply because it was always anticipated it would clash with the Test series,” Cameron told ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday.

“So the players are already aware of that”.

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