Guyana Times International

INTERNATIONAL

CWC 2015 to take game into next generation of digital coverage Page 51

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

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You can also read Guyana Times daily edition online at www.guyanatimesgy.com ISSUE NO. 230

week ending February 15, 2015

10% cut in power charges nothing to do with elections - says Brassington

See story on page 13

Indo-Caribbean group lobbies President Obama on Relief Programmes

Page 29

Rishi Singh and other activists from the South Asian Organizing Center and United We Dream Coalition in a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.

APNU promises ‘package of surprises’ at campaign launch Page 3

An interview with Page 42 Mahadeo Shivraj NY-based Guyanese actor and filmmaker

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NEWS 3

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Barbados monitoring two from Ebolaaffected states

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wo individuals who recently entered the island of Barbados from Ebolaaffected countries are being monitored by the Ministry of Health.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Joy St John said both individuals were low risk, which means they had no contact with the disease.

They were being monitored because of the country they came from. Dr St John did not disclose the name of the country.

The temperature of the two individuals will be monitored twice a day for the period of time they are on the island.

St John spoke to THE NATION on the sidelines of an Ebola Virus Disease Sensitisation Seminar held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre for stakeholders in the Ministry Of Tourism and International Transport.

(Barbados Nation)

APNU promises ‘package of surprises’ at campaign launch

February 20,” the APNU General Secretary disclosed.

He was, however, adamant on not revealing any names, saying “you will have to wait until February 20 to get the new names. It is a surprise”. Harmon expressed that APNU remained optimistic of winning a majority come May 11, since it has faith in its support base and Guyanese society.

By Gomatie Gangadin

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he main Opposition – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said it was excited and ready for the launching of its elections campaign later this month, promising a package of surprise new candidates and other major announcements.

This is according to General Secretary Joseph Harmon who on Wednesday told this publication that the party is in full swing with preparations for its February 20 elections campaign launch. He noted that even as he was speaking, the party was meeting and fine-tuning details so that the campaign can bring the desired results.

“The preparations are a work in progress.

There are several meetings taking place to ensure that everything is set and in order. We are excited by what is happening and we are prepared for the February 20 launch,” Harmon said. He noted that the party will be having its leadership meeting on Friday where the final discussions on the launch were expected to take place and any necessary changes will be made

Leadership

APNU Leader David Granger pays rapt attention to what is being said by a citizen at the party’s outreach in Berbice

so that the launch can be successful.

The General Secretary has promised that the coalition will be unveiling several surprise candidates at the launch on February 20, days before the country celebrates its Republican Anniversary.

He was at the time responding to the question

of whether Guyanese society can expect any surprises in terms of the party’s list of candidates.

“Oh definitely, definitely, we will be having lots of surprises. Last week, we had the Justice For All Party (JFAP) reaffirming their commitment with the party and since then they have been partici-

pating in every activity of the Partnership. We have had known PPP [People’s Progressive Party] supporters coming and telling us that they wish to get on board, since they are disenchanted by the current Administration. We have been getting lots of people coming on board, so we will have surprises on

M e a n w h i l e , APNU Chairman, retired Brigadier David Granger is said to be the Partnership’s Presidential Candidate. Harmon had previously told this newspaper that Dr Rupert Roopnaraine will remain as the Prime Ministerial Candidate for the grouping if current coalition talks were not successful.

Noting that Roopnaraine has enjoyed the confidence of the coalition, Harmon said he will not be replaced.

Asked whether APNU had any policy in choosing its Prime Ministerial Candidate based on ethnicity, Harmon answered in the negative. He further said that there are no plans to replace any of the party members in their respective posts.

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Tel no: (592) 227-0704, 227-0709.

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EDITORIAL

Opposition’s leadership legitimacy crisis More Guyanese women need to Visitors to the newly-opened Petting Zoo in Georgetown get up close and personal with the animals (Carl Croker photo)

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he upcoming elections have uncovered an intriguing contrast in the choice of Presidential Candidates by the parliamentary parties, leading to a dangerous disinformation campaign by the Opposition. In the People’s National Congress-Reform (PNCR), their leader, who is traditionally their Presidential Candidate, was to be elected last August at Congress Place in Sophia.

The Chairman of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), PNCR member Sharma Solomon described the rigging of the election.

Instructed to select delegates from Linden based on specified boundaries, Solomon complied.

However, as he later explained: “Subsequently and without consultation with leaders of the Linden groups and the regional leadership, the (PNCR) Secretariat, apparently aided by others, dismantled the original groups (i.e.) the groups formed on boundary lines.”

Linden was eventually allocated 54 delegates rather that the 120 originally calculated. The Linden delegation, including Aubrey Norton, who had challenged David Granger for the leader’s position, all walked out of the Congress, rather than rubber-stamping a fraudulent election.

The leadership of the PNCR thus fell into the lap of David Granger, but it has created a rift between him and one of the most critical regions with a significant bloc of traditional PNCR supporters. This rift has reverberated across the other PNC party groups in the country, compounding the alienation from 2011 when Granger brought in a phalanx of volunteers from the ex-army corps to mobilise.

While APNU has been locked in coalition talks with the Alliance For Change (AFC), that grouping has not unexpectedly confirmed that Granger is also their Presidential Candidate. APNU is basically a cover from the PNCR to convince the electorate they have changed their core PNC stripes. There exists, therefore an existential crisis of leadership legitimacy in the PNCR/APNU combine.

In the AFC, the leadership crisis presented by their putative Presidential Candidate is no less severe. That party had been founded

by Raphael Trotman from the PNCR and Khemraj Ramjattan of the PPP/C, after both could not get into the leadership sweepstakes of their party.

Their foundational principle to address what they identified as the fundamental contradiction of Guyanese politics – the racial/ ethnic schism between Indian and African Guyanese – was to alternate their Presidential Candidate at each election.

This year, however, when it was the African-Guyanese leader’s turn, Khemraj Ramjattan unilaterally and arbitrarily selected his Indian-Guyanese friend Moses Nagamootoo. While he has attempted to justify the choice as a pragmatic one – to “split” the Indian-Berbician vote that had traditionally gravitated to the PPP/C to deliver at least a plurality to APNU – the African-Guyanese members of the AFC were peeved.

By demanding that the AFC – read Nagamootoo – be the Presidential Candidate if the coalition emerges, the AFC is hoping that when Granger eventually emerges as the leader and candidate, the AFC’s supporters in Berbice will see they “tried”. They would have eaten their cake and had it too.

But it is clear that the AFC is taking a big gamble and, like the PNCR, their Presidential candidate has severe illegitimacy issues for the May elections. On the other hand, and in contradistinction, stands the PPP/C which has unanimously stood behind Donald Ramotar as their Presidential Candidate.

Unable to find a chink in the PPP/C’s leader’s legitimacy armour, and smarting from their deficit in this area, the Opposition has insidiously attempted to create a contretemps by suddenly invoking their chant from the past that “Jagdeo is trying for a third term”.

Because President Ramotar has built and furthered the successes of the predecessor Jagdeo regime, this was presented as “delegitimising” him. Most recently when independent actors challenged the legality of prior constitutional change, including the two-term Presidential limit, Jagdeo was accused of being behind it, even though he rubbished this claim and gave his unequivocal support to President Ramotar.

Guyanese voters should not be distracted by the Opposition’s desperate attempts to shift their leadership legitimacy woes.

become involved in decisionmaking – social activist

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ocial activist, Dr Dawn Stewart, who once worked side by side with the late Dr Faith Harding, will soon be launching a campaign called Guyanese Women Roundtable (GWR), with the aim of having more women involved in politics.

According to Dr Stewart, the campaign was designed to have more women involved in the welfare of Guyana’s electoral system.

It was pointed out that the 10th Parliament has only 20 female representatives.

“I often wonder who pushes the issues that affect the lives of women, thus affecting the life of children and men, because as you know women are highly committed to promoting national and local policies that address socio-economic and political challenges that face women, children and disadvantaged groups, typically, women are very focused on that,” Dr Stewart said.

She opined that if more women were actively involved in the decision-making process, many issues facing Guyana would have been prevented.

Issues surrounding healthcare, security, social services and education are linked to moral behaviours and guidelines, she further opined.

“What do we do to stop that type of behaviour and bring moral guidelines into our community? Those are real issues, maybe they are not issues that our campaign persons may look at as sound issues, but I believe that women of Guyana have the power to address those issues,” she added.

Dr Stewart highlighted that while cultural change is an individual development, the Government still has a critical role to play in fashioning the minds of Guyanese.

“There are no incentives for cultural change because there are no consequences for persons who break simple rules or laws,” she said, referring to persons who sell alcohol to underage children or minibus operators who create a hazardous roadway but are yet supported by passengers.

She added that many are still dying from preventable diseases, noting too that teenage pregnancy is still on the rise yet persons who rape young girls are still walking free. Fatal accidents, poor law enforcement, a defunct educational system were among other issues highlighted by the social activist.

Dr Stewart despondently pointed out the sad reality Guyanese are living in, noting that these serious issues have become so prevalent that they are referred to as the norm.

According to her, there is no order in the society, and as such the objective of the campaign is to advocate for those with authority to address these issues.

Dr Dawn Stewart

“We want to mobilise women to address the issues to change the entire landscape, cultural and social…”

Dr Stewart referred to the elderly woman that was recently raped and murdered and rhetorically asked what the consequences will be. She also pointed out other cases where persons were charged with rape, among other immoral charges, yet they are walking free.

“I know a lady who was raped when she was 13, now she’s 30, now she said how do I get over this if every day I see my rapist and I see him and I pass him every day and he acts as if nothing happened,” Dr Stewart related.

On that note, she said Guyana seriously needs to address the issue of paedophiles, possibly by creating a sex registry.

She pointed out that the nation records numerous underage girls giving birth, which counts for statutory rape, yet no action is being done to charge those persons who impregnated the young girls.

Dr Stewart noted that these prevailing issues are being neglected by the men in Parliament and as such, more women need to get involved to propel these changes.

“Five years from now, we must see more young women in Parliament and more women in key leadership positions making decisions, not accepting decisions but making decisions that affect the life and wellbeing of children, women and the elderly,” Dr Stewart said.

NEWS 5

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Petrobras Brazil A great quake is overdue, offshore explosion says UWI seismic expert kills 3, 6 missing T A

ccording to a report by Reuters news agency, at least three workers were killed and 10 injured on Wednesday by an explosion on an offshore oil and gas platform operated by staterun Petrobras , a disaster that could further hurt the reputation of a company struggling with a corruption scandal and safety concerns.

With six workers still missing, the death toll is likely to rise. Danger is constant aboard a converted oil tanker floating 50 kilometers off shore and loaded with complex oil and gas processing equipment and jet-engine powered generators.

“In our experience, it is difficult to imagine the missing surviving,” said Jose Maria Rangel, head of SindipetroNF, Brazil’s largest offshore oil union.

The toll of dead and injured was confirmed by the union, Petroleo Brasileira SA, as the company is known, and Brazil oil industry regulator ANP. The blast was caused by a gas leak on board the Cidade de Sao Mateus, a floating oil production, storage and offloading ship (FPSO), said Davidson Lomba, finance director of Sindepetro-ES, the union representing workers on the platform.

The ensuing fire was quickly contained, the vessel stabilized, and oil and gas output halted, ANP said in a statement, adding that no oil leaked into the ocean.

The FPSO, owned by Norway-listed ship leaser BW Offshore Ltd , also processes natural gas that is sent to shore by undersea pipeline.

The platform produces about 2.25 million cubic meters (88.3 million cubic feet) a day of natural gas and 350 cubic meters (2,200 barrels) a day of oil, according to ANP. While the platform accounts for less than 3 percent of gas production at Petrobras, and less than 1 percent of oil output, it comes as the company struggles through its worst crisis in history.

Security concerns had been mounting at Petrobras before the accident. Last month, three workers were seriously burned in a refinery explosion, one of several that have beset the company in the last two years.

Huge investments, money-losing fuel subsidies on imports and the largest debt of an oil company in the world have crimped cash and forced Petrobras to operate many facilities at full capacity for long periods without maintenance.

he Region—and possibly Trinidad and Tobago—are still “long overdue” for a “great earthquake” and the population must catch up on preparedness, Dr Joan Latchman, director of Seismic Research at the University of the West Indies, warned on Wednesday.

Though loath to be seen as attempting to predict a disaster, Latchman said historical patterns indicate earthquakes at and above the magnitude of eight on the Richter Scale have occurred every century or so in the region, and the probability of another event at that level is high.

This follows a series of smaller tremors felt in Trinidad in and around Port of Spain last week and earlier this week.

Those movements were not necessarily connected by nature to a series of up to eight small quakes felt last week in neigbouring St Lucia, which were thought to be volcanic in nature.

But here at home, the tectonic plates are moving and unlike the grinding of that other “earthquake”, Carnival, heavy movement could spell horror.

On average, the Eastern Caribbean has seen a holding pattern of quakes within seven to 7.9 every 20 to 30 years.

Dr Joan Latchman

That pattern has stayed true, Latchman said, and was last seen in an event north of Martinique in 2007.

In the greater pattern and based on data that began just a few hundred years ago in the region, monstrous events tend to cap the centuries.

Latchman said seismology at this time cannot predict the magnitude of an event, or the date and time, but can warn about the next event in these patterns.

While the weary population may feel these warnings have been sounded for decades and the event has failed to show, it is important to remembers nature’s

clock doesn’t always tick according to the human perception of time.

“The fact is that the major ones have been holding their patterns,” Latchman said.

“A great earthquake is overdue. Because of that and because of the nature of the seismic hazard, long-term preparation was required.

We need to build the kind of buildings that can withstand that kind of shaking.”

She believes this country (Trinidad) is yet to fully begin preparations to deal with a great quake—and with one of its devastating possible side-effects—the tsunami.

While the UWI Centre collaborates with the relevant state agencies, Latchman said citizens would do well to take personal preparation seriously and start with the implementing in the home of a hazard bag and disaster education.

Having a hazard bag, which should contain food and medicine, should be standard fare in all homes, not just as a precaution for earthquakes but also for all the other threats the region faces, such as tropical storms and hurricanes.

Citizens may also update themselves on earthquake survival by reading up on the UWI’s SRC website at uwiseismic.com or on its Facebook page. (Trinidad Express)

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Tribute to a cultural promoter Jagdeo remains who passed away in New York popular, but doesn’t Dear Editor, Ajit Praimsingh, a cultural (music) promoter of IndoCaribbean events passed away in New York where he was undergoing medical treatment.

Praimsingh lived in Trinidad, but he has been well known by the Guyanese community, especially singers, in New York.

Guyanese in New York have all expressed shock over his passing. I know him well and we would meet regularly in New York and Trinidad whenever I visit for Indian cultural celebrations, especially chutney finals, Indian Arrival celebrations and Classical Singing competitions. I saw him at the classical competition last July.

Praimsingh understood IndoGuyanese problems well and he reached out to them in Trinidad, New York and in Guyana.

When Indian foods and religious items were banned by the PNC, Praimsingh assisted IndoGuyanese with both so they could continue their religious practices and uphold their cultural diet.

Praimsingh has been a frequent visitor to New York attending Phagwah, Indian Arrival, and other Indo-Caribbean celebrations. Many described him as an unsung hero.

Praimsingh was the owner of Praimsingh’s Pooja Bhavan and Indian Music Store in Trinidad and he would visit New York regularly supplying Guyanese stores with his CD and pooja items.

He worked closely with Guyanese music producers, promoters, deejays, and radio announcers. He produced several recordings of Guyanese artistes. He launched Mere Desh (My Country)

a couple decades ago to educate the Indo-Trinidadian community about their culture. He sponsored various cultural events.

He was involved in the installation of the monument dedicated to popular chutney singer Sundar Popo, widely known as the Father of Chutney. He also did a lot to upgrade cremation sites in Trinidad.

In spite of all he has done to promote Indian culture, Praimsingh, himself, was never recognized by his Government. But in New York, Indo-Caribbean people recognized and saluted his work. Few have promoted and funded Indian culture like him in the Caribbean.

He was a cultural icon who will not be forgotten for his contributions to the Indo-Caribbean Diaspora.

Vishnu Bisram

As a UG student, I feel as though my rights are being affected Dear Editor, As a student, I feel as though my rights are being affected - my right to education and my right to benefit from the services I have paid for.

Both staff and Administration are directly benefiting from my tuition fee. I believe that they are therefore under a moral and legal obligation to ensure that I benefit from the services I have paid for.

As a law student, I am familiar with the cries of other law students. Some fellow law students share my view, that delay of the resumption of all classes will negatively affect their immediate ability to complete the programme on time, their careers

and future plans.

Every year in the law programme may be seriously affected. First year exams are set by UWI Cavehill Campus. The UG Administration has no say in the date of those exams.

Hypothetically, if the dispute takes a month to be resolved, that would mean that the first year students will have to learn three months material in two months because the date of exams cannot be postponed by the UG Administration. They are tied to the dates set by UWI Cavehill Campus.

Third year exam dates are set by UG Administration.

Hypothetically, if the dispute takes a month to be resolved,

the Administration could postpone the exams a month so the students have the full amount of time to prepare.

The issue is that those who wish to apply for entry to any regional law school need final semester grades to do so. They are therefore in danger of missing the deadline for submission of final semester grades.

Consequently, they would have to wait until the application period reopens next year.

Further, the 25 limited spaces that are offered will, in 2016, then be competed for by two batches of law students instead of one batch.

Nicholas Carryl Final Year Law Student, UG

want a third term

Dear Editor, The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has taken note of the challenge filed in the High Court against the two-term Presidential tenure as provided for in the Constitution of Guyana.

What is of interest is the timing at which this challenge is being raised and by whom.

Guyana is on the cusp of General and Regional Elections. Many challenges lie ahead, the most important being to ensure that the elections are free and fair.

Clearly, this new development is an attempt to throw a spanner in the works.

The sponsors of the legal challenge appear to have a hidden agenda in the real sense of the term other than invoking or blocking the ‘boogie’ of a third term for former President Bharrat Jagdeo.

The interest of those behind the challenge lies in the darkest and deepest crevices of a democracy comparable to the galleries of ‘Hades’.

The Party wishes to state unequivocally that Mr Jagdeo has publicly affirmed time and again his respect for the Constitution and that he has no interest whatsoever in any so called third term Presidency.

It has now become obvious that Mr Jagdeo’s assertions fell on deaf ears and that his expres-

sion of disinterest in returning to the Presidency notwithstanding, the modern-day ‘quislings’ working in close collaboration with the local satraps continue to generate and peddle this absolute nonsense, elevating it to useless legalistic twaddle.

Since 2011, Mr Jagdeo made clear his disinterest in this matter within the Party and beyond.

The Party wishes to state that while Mr Jagdeo remains a highly popular figure within and beyond the membership and supporters of the PPP/C, this popularity is in no way intended to be translated into a third term candidacy.

The PPP/C is aware of the fact that many of its members and supporters hold the former President in high esteem and would have liked to see his return to the Presidency.

While the other political parties are still dithering to name their Presidential Candidate, the PPP/C has already done so.

The PPP/C has confronted many subterfuges in and out of elections season. We fought off and overcame all of them.

This new subterfuge will be fought off too and consigned to the dustbin of history.

PPP/C Freedom House

‘Rogue’ cops are not sent to interior locations APNU (PNC)

Dear Editor, Cognisant of an article published earlier this week in another newspaper under the headline, “Stop sending rogue cops to interior locations – GWMO” [Guyana Women Miners Organisation], the Guyana Police Force observes with concern the efforts

by Simona Broomes, President of the GWMO, appealing for resources by using the distasteful strategy of telling lies on the Police.

It is totally untrue that “most Police ranks operating in remote locations are those that have been involved in something or the other that is not in keeping with the lawful expectations of a cop”, as stated in the article.

The Guyana Police Force over the years has a number of ranks who were disciplined, some of whom were interdicted from duty and reinstated based on the outcome of a criminal charge.

For example, in 2014 a total of 750 ranks were disciplined in the Police Force. These ranks are continuing as members of the Force and have to perform duties at some Police location, and at the moment they are perform-

ing duties in every Division and Department within the Police Force.

The policy of the Police Force is to transfer ranks who have committed breaches of discipline and are allowed to continue in the employment in the Force to locations where they could be properly supervised, and therefore, during 2014, no such person was transferred to remote areas.

We are aware that the level of supervision in the interior is not the same as on the coastland in view of the challenges with transportation and communication.

Conscious of the significant development that is being undertaken in the interior locations, the Guyana Police Force has been making every effort to ensure that its policing strategies are effective and that compatible ranks are transferred for duty in those remote areas.

The Guyana Police Force has trained 63 ranks of ‘F’ Division (Interior Locations), including all the Sub-Divisional Officers and ranks in charge of stations, in Trafficking in Persons, the Sexual Offences Act, the Mining Act, the Forestry Act,

the Environmental Protection Act, Domestic Violence, and the Protection of Children Act in order to build their capacity to operate in the Division.

In addition, another 13 ranks from Police Headquarters, including Policewomen, who are conducting roving patrols in partnership with Officers of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), have received similar training.

The Guyana Police Force, also in 2014, held a Stakeholders’ Consultation Forum where individuals, including Simona Broomes who represented the GWMO, Government and NonGovernment and Private Sector organizations, were represented, to develop the plan to police the interior that the Guyana Police Force is now implementing.

The plan is being implemented in partnership with many of the stakeholders inclusive of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA).

Ivelaw Whittaker Police Public Relations and Press Officer

has no intention to break from its authoritarian past

Dear Editor, I read with interest the decision taken by the APNU to officially launch its elections campaign on February 20, the birthday of Forbes Burnham, FounderLeader of the People’s National Congress.

The fact that APNU has chosen that date to launch its election campaign on the birthday of Burnham can be construed as a subtle hint to the electorate that it has no intention to break from its authoritarian past.

This is also an insult to the memory of Dr Walter Rodney whose party, the WPA, is now in an alliance with the

PNC under the umbrella of the APNU. Both the late Dr Walter Rodney and Dr Rupert Roopnarine, along with several other WPA leaders, were targeted under the Forbes Burnham regime for their opposition to dictatorial rule, as was revealed during the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry.

Politics, it is said, makes for strange bedfellows. One can hardly think of anything stranger where oppressor and the oppressed have now found common cause to subvert democracy in Guyana.

Hydar Ally

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Jamaican national Neesa Gopaul murder trial: Detective grilled over crime scene work remanded for trafficking T

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kesha Anderson was brought before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in the Georgetown

Marine Park, Portmore, Kingston, Jamaica. He said that the 34-yearold woman has no previous convictions in her homeland, and is a hair stylist by profession.

Prosecutor O s w a l d Massiah told the court that on the day in question, a Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) officer at the airport saw the woman acting in a suspicious manner.

Anderson was Akesha Anderson approached and she was Magistrates’ Courts on told of the suspicion. trafficking charges.

She was examined and Anderson plead- after an X-ray was taked not guilty to the en, it was revealed that charges which alleged there were some odd that on February 6 shaped objections in her at the Cheddi Jagan body.

International Airport, The defendant latshe had in her posses- er excreted 49 pellets of sion 606 grams of co- cocaine. She was chargcaine for the purpose of es and arrested for the trafficking. offence. Anderson was Attorney Mark remanded and the matConway told the court ter is said to resume that his client is a on February 13 at the Jamaican national Providence Magistrate’s and resides at Lot 177 Court.

he trial into the murder of former Queen’s College student Neesa Lalita Gopaul continues at the High Court with yet another investigator taking the stand.

Police Corporal Floyd Hosannah from the Crime Scene Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Eve Leary, testified on Tuesday that he was among the party of policemen who went to the scene on October 2, 2010, where they found the teen’s body in a suitcase partially submerged in the creek at Emerald Tower Resort, Madewini Creek.

He noted that there was a rope holding the suitcase in place and Lance Corporal Germaine Laundry managed to cut the rope and pulled the bag to the bank of the creek where they opened it and found the body of a female. He recalled that the face was unrecognisable, but there were some documents in the suitcase, including a Guyana Passport made out to one “Neesa Gopaul”. He added that they took the body out of the bag as well as the items found, and placed them into evidence bags. He said

Dead: Sixteen-yearold Neesa Gopaul

the evidence was later marked and lodged for safe keeping.

The trial began last week against the teenager’s mother, Bibi Sharima Gopaul, and her former lover Jarvis Small, called “Barry”.

The duo are indicted with the murder of the 16-year-old, which they allegedly committed between September 24 and October 2, 2010 at Madewini, SoesdykeLinden Highway. State Counsel Diana Kaulesar is prosecuting the case along with Mercedes Thompson and Stacy Gooding. The teen’s mother is being represented by Attorney George Thomas while Small is represented by Attorneys Glenn Hanoman, Lyndon Amsterdam and Senior

Murder accused: Bibi Sharima Gopaul

Counsel Santos.

Bernard

Omissions

Murder accused: Jarvis Small

De

Under cross-examination by Attorney Hanoman, the witness said that there were no signs at the scene that indicated that someone was recently there. The Attorney further asked Hosannah whether he had gone into any of the buildings nearby to investigate or had seen any of the other officers entering the buildings.

He responded in the negative to both questions and acknowledged that he should have gone into the buildings.

Additionally, the witness claimed that he did not question persons around the area at the time since it was late in the night when Hanoman asked why he

did not talk to persons living at the entrance to the trail leading to the creek. The officer explained that he was not sure whether persons were living there at the time and if he would have gotten any answer.

Nevertheless, when questioned by the Attorney if he was satisfied with the work done to process the scene before he left, the seasoned crime investigator said “to an extent”. In addition, the witness was asked whether he did anything specific to determine the identity of the remains since the face was unrecognisable and there was no way they could have known whether it was indeed the holder of the passport. He was specifically continued on page 9

8 NEWS

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

President reiterates commitment to hydropower project – says Amaila Falls Project remains number one priority

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eiterating that the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project remains the number one priority of his administration, President Donald Ramotar said he remains hopeful the megaproject would become a reality.

Speaking at the commissioning of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) power station at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara on Monday, the President said efforts are being made to restart work on the transformative project before year-end.

He said a lot of work has already been done on the project, and he pointed out that Norway has already transferred US$80 million to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in this regard.

“We have already identified another company to step into the shoes of Black Stone and Sithe Global. We are working feverishly to conclude this arrangement, so that, hopefully, we can

An artist's impression of the Amaila Falls Hydro-electric Project.

start construction very soon,” President Ramotar said.

He pointed out that, through the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) agreement with Norway, some US$150 million of the US$250 million have already

been disbursed to Guyana.

Contending that a report in one section of the media that the US$80 million is unlikely to be approved by the IDB until June 2016 is misleading, President Ramotar said, “We have the re-

sources to go in that direction [restarting work on the Amaila Project].” The President said Government is committed to seeing the Amaila Falls Project to fruition, as one of its foremost goals is to provide cheap electric-

ity to consumers.

He also warned that while Guyanese are enjoying the drop in fuel prices, it is not a situation that the country can control, and as such, it will not last forever.

“We have to take the opportunity available to try to ensure that, in the future, we have power at a cheap rate. That is why we are looking — more and more — at renewable energy; renewable energy not only in hydro, but in many other areas, harnessing the possibility in the sugar and rice industries to generate power.”

“I am committed towards the completion of the Amaila Falls Project, which will help us to produce electricity at a cheaper cost,” he declared.

With cheap electricity, he said, waste from agricultural products would be reduced, and Government would be in a better position to give more resources to farmers and workers generally.

Caricom stepping up efforts to increase awareness of CSME

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he Caribbean C o m m u n i t y ( C a r i c o m ) Secretariat is compiling a team to effectively inform others within the region on the details of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Representatives are being drawn from Guyana, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines. This project, which seeks to improve the flow of information within the six member states, is being executed by Right Angle Imaging Consultancy; a St Lucian-based organisation, and forms part of component 300 of the Caricom Trade and Competitiveness Project.

On Tuesday, rep-

resentatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Legal Affairs and Tourism, the National Accreditation Council, Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), and CXC level teachers concluded a Spokesperson Training Programme at the Cara Lodge Hotel.

Free Movement of Skills, Free Movement of Capital, the Caricom Complaints Procedure, Free Movement of Services, Free Movement of Goods and the Right of Establishment were among the areas covered during the two days of extensive training.

Additionally, the representatives were trained how to effectively deliver pertinent information on the Single Market and Economy while building

Right Angle Imagining Consultancy Consultant Carolyn Walcott engaging stakeholders during the Spokesperson Training Programme on Tuesday

a relationship with the media.

Joy Browne-Skeete, Head of Department at

Queen’s College told this publication that the programme was very beneficial. “Normally teachers

are put on the spot and we need to know how to deliver, we have to deliver the content and more so if we are going to be representing the CSME, we have to be knowledgeable of the content area before we can actually inform Caricom nationals on the whole”. BrowneSkeete said too that she was equipped with additional skills and knowledge on how to engage students while teaching on the CSME. Valini Kirton-Leitch, another teacher from the Guyana Education Trust College echoed similar sentiments. “It will now enable me to go back to my classroom to teach my kids about their rights and opportunities as a Caribbean person and as being a part of CSME.” During an interview with this newspaper, Right Angle Imagining Consultant Carolyn Walcott explained that national country reports conducted within the select Member States revealed “very low lev-

els of awareness” on the CSME. She said while the media have not played a leading role in the dissemination of information on the CSME, there is also a lack of skilled persons who can speak to CSME issues. “So today’s session is really meant to build a team of people who can expertly speak to the public through the media on CSME,” the consultant explained.

Prior to this S p o k e s p e r s o n Training Programme, a Communication for Development Workshop was held with stakeholders drawn from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), National Accreditation Council, and the Ministries of Tourism and Education among other organisations.

Additionally, work site meetings and training programmes for teachers were also conducted.

Next on the agenda is a media workshop set for next week. “The media are not sensitising the public, and the reason for the low awareness is because the media do not necessarily find CSME issues attractive, and this was what showed up in Guyana’s Country Report. It also revealed that although the Caricom Secretariat is here (in Guyana) physically they are not necessarily churning out the news to keep the media focused and attuned to CSME issues and so we feel this is very critical in this entire process”.

The Guyana leg of the Canadian funded project is expected to conclude in March after commencing on January 19, 2015.

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Neesa Gopaul murder trial: Detective grilled...

from page 7

asked about taking fingerprints from the remains and looking for any other foreign prints that might have been left on the body, but the officer explained that the water damage removed any possibility of retrieving such evidence.

Hosannah went on to tell the court that he was told by investigators who returned to the scene two days later that a pair of dumbbells used as an anchor to hold the suitcase down was found. He related that he did not see the dumbbells until he was giving evidence at the Magistrate’s Court for the case.

The witness added that while at the scene on October 2 after they cut the rope from the suitcase, he pulled it but it did not move from under the water, so he let it go. Asked by the Attorney if he or any of the other officers tried to find what was holding the rope down, he replied in the negative.

In response to questions posed about securing the scene, Hosannah disclosed that he cordoned off the area, noting that it was the first thing he did when he

got there. He explained that the area where the suitcase was found could not be cordoned off because they were not sure how deep the water was at the time. The witness was then shown photos of the scene and asked to identify where the cordon tape was but could not do this. He explained to the court that the cordon tape covered a wide area and, therefore, could not be seen in the photos, most of which were close-ups of the scene.

Meanwhile, during cross-examination

by Attorney Thomas, Hosannah admitted that he was unable to connect the evidence gathered at the scene to anyone specifically, more so, to the mother of the deceased.

The Attorney further asked the witness whether he could have determined the race of the body found, to which he responded in the negative. The witness said that he was trained in handling decomposed bodies and could not determine how long the body was submerged in the water. The trial into the gruesome murder of the 16-year-old continues.

New youth party to contest election – vows to end politics of allegation, race

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group of young Guyanese has been mobilised to form the Guyana Youth Movement which they said will be contesting the upcoming May 11 Elections, mainly aimed at encouraging youth involvement in the political sphere.

Administrator Robin Singh in an interview with this publication said the movement was initiated with the belief that Guyanese youth were not well represented or being mentored in any way to achieve success.

“They (young people) are being told your turn will come…They’re being taught that protest action is the only way to get something done, which is nonsense,” says Singh, who is currently the President of the Guyana Baseball League. He believes that there are other more effective means to seek change than a public protest. “I have worked with a lot of young people as a coach and I thought that I could show them how to win at the biggest game that’s being played in Guyana –politics,” Singh informed.

Principal among the issues of concern is the perception of social inequality within the coun-

GYM Administrator Robin Singh

try, he pointed out, lamenting that while there were “great policies” in Guyana, the implementation of these remain a challenge. “We’d like to see young people know that the system is fair and that the policies can work for them and you do not have to know somebody to get something done,” he added.

Singh pointed to the Government’s Remigrant Scheme as one such system that is unfair to young Guyanese. For him the inequity exists when persons coming back to Guyana receive certain benefits like duty-free concessions which are not available for many young people living within the country. “If it’s the birthright of someone living out of Guyana, it should be the birthright of someone liv-

ing here,” he added.

“These are the kind of things that we are going to press for; not wholesale changes where we are going to break up this and break up that. We want to move away from the politics of allegations, the politics of race, and the politics of not doing something because you didn’t think of it.”

He believes that for too long some in office have failed to see the potentially meaningful contributions of others that could be used to propel the nation.

The GYM is running for seats in Parliament where it believes its cause to push for improvement of issues affecting young people could be successful. Singh informed this publication that the party is working to finalise certain electoral requirements to ensure that it can compete in at least six of the 10 geographical constituencies before a campaign is officially launched. Not allowing the challenges of finances and distance to affect the movement, Singh said there was a team of smart young people who would come together with an effective campaign through the use of social media to reach their target audience.

According to the GYM Constitution, suitable candidates from the youth membership will be identified to stand for public office. It intends to support these candidates with briefings and training and by improving political campaigning methods. But there still is a role for members over 40. According to the GYM Constitution, “the role of older members is restricted to management and advice, as youth members grow past our threshold for electoral ability, they can choose to stay on in management or advisory roles.

The three main political parties all boast youth arms, but the criticism is that once in Parliament, the issues that affect this demographic are not holistically addressed.”

Singh, a Computer Science graduate from the School of Business and Management, has years of experience as a Video Analyst for West Indies Cricket. The CEO of Guyana Baseball League Incorporated and previously Cricket Operations at the Guyana Cricket Board, he boasts 14 years’ experience of delivering sporting excellence in multiple sports in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.

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Farmers warned that water in Abary Young people should exercise their right to vote conservancy `dangerously low’ for a party of their choice T … APNU Shadow Youth Minister

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s the political atmosphere intensifies in the face of general and regional elections slated for May 11, the importance of young people casting their ballots cannot be sufficiently emphasised.

Political parties, civil society groups, religious bodies and even the elections regulatory body, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) have continued their call for youths to be engaged politically by exercising their democratic right come Election Day. The person who most recently expressed these concerns was APNU Shadow Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport, Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher Jones.

In an exclusive interview with this publication, Jones, like those who have previously expressed similar concerns, underscored the need for eligible members of the youth population to cast their ballots on May 11.

He said: “I think the single most important thing in the life of a

APNU MP Christopher Jones

young person is the ability to cast a vote.”

Reflecting on what are considered taboo cultures, in which females are prohibited from exercising any form of democratic right through the election of a government, Jones said, “When one thinks of not only the young population, but woman in some parts of the world who have no right to vote, we should always place that at the back of our minds how important this single right is.”

Jones feels the most important effect of one vote is the ability to have the power to choose

the type of future one would want for oneself.

Attendant issues, he opined, include where you work, if you would be able to find a job, the type of job you would be engaged in based on your studies, how much you are paid, if you could afford a house lot, how secure would you and your family be, and the education you and your children will get, among other things. These, he added, were just some of the critical issues which depend on the younger generation voting.

Calls were also made last week by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Joseph Harmon to ensure that voters’ education was of top priority for GECOM, so as not to have a repeat of the last elections, when there was poor voter turnout.

However, GECOM last week expressed its intent to engage young people as it unveils a comprehensive civic and voter education campaign in the lead-up to General and Regional Elections.

he Mahaica, Mahaicony, A b a r y A g r i c u l t u r a l Development Authority (MMA-ADA) today advised farmers that the water level in the Abary Conservancy is “dangerously low”.

In a notice in today’s Guyana Chronicle, the MMA said that the water level was currently 58.42 GD (Georgetown Datum) whereas dead storage is 59.5 GD. It said that all persons in the Abary/ Berbice block of the MMA area must take immediate steps to conserve and prevent wastage of irrigation water.

The notice said that they must ensure that

regulators on the secondary irrigation canals are blocked, that all field drainage outlets are blocked, conserve on field/crop use and report any tampering with any structure to the authorities.

Farmers in the Mahaica and Mahaicony are to: regulate their pumping activities, avoid tampering or damaging any infrastructure and to conserve on crop use.

Farmers were warned that failure to comply could lead to prosecution and imprisonment under Section 34 of the MMA Act. The water shortage in the Abary conservancy underlines the ma-

jor problem Guyana faces regulating drainage and irrigation. The water shortage is occurring just at the end of what was supposed to be one of Guyana’s rainy periods. Amid all of this, the major government intervention was to build the Hope Canal on the east Coast to drain excess water from the East Demerara Water Conservancy. That longdelayed project is still to be commissioned.

Hydrologists and experts have warned that the government has not sought an overarching solution to the drainage and irrigation problems of the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary areas.

Speaker questions delay in dissolution of Parliament

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peaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman has questioned the objective of President Donald Ramotar’s refusal to dissolve Parliament after its prorogation late last year. Trotman noted that while there are no legal constraints, it has been the convention for three clear months of campaigning to be made available following the Parliament’s dissolution.

According to Trotman, Article 61 of the Constitution specifies that elections be held “within” three months of the dissolution of Parliament.

This publication reported on Wednesday that President Donald Ramotar is expected to dissolve Parliament by February 28. Trotman acknowledged that there

Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman

“may very well be a six week sprint” to elections, while outlining that some other Caribbean countries have had just over a month. “It is not uncommon,” he related.

Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs

Minister, Anil Nandlall had explained that the Head of State can dissolve Parliament any date after February 12 this year. He argued that the Constitution requires that Parliament “must continued on page 11

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Young Guyanese demanding more from political leaders

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s politicians gear up for fresh elections on May 11, several young Guyanese have expressed disappointment in the political campaigns and an expectation of “much more” than the everyday rhetoric to demand their votes.

They are also displeased about the state of politics and consequently its effects on the country but nonetheless remain optimistic of a better Guyana.

Mario Joseph is an Economics Major at the University of Guyana who believes that colonialism has left a stain that perpetuates division along racial and class lines noting that “politicians, ever since the country’s independence have maintained this division and opportunistically capitalised on this”.

He is saddened at the fact that such a culture is inherited by his generation.

“It is my belief that

Jennifer Smith

Mario Joseph

education is the only means by which this culture can be expunged, since our institutions of socialisation are designed to maintain the status quo, including the family and even school,” the young man opined, acknowledging that any such change would take time.

Adamant about being the change he wants to see, Joseph told this newspaper he would appreciate more face-toface interactions with politicians during their

campaigns.

“I’d like to have them be very specific about their policies and proposals, not just generalisations and wild promises,” he said.

“A political party can win my vote firstly by demonstrating the technical know-how and capacity of their party to manage the affairs of the country.

“The party must comprise academic and moral stalwarts with sufficient experience. Secondly, the party must have a clear,

Speaker questions delay in dissolution... from page 10

be dissolved within three months” of the date announced for elections.

Nandlall explained that legislation also adumbrates another requirement which states that political parties must present their lists of candidates some 32 days prior to the planned date for elections to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

The Attorney General said if one counts backwards and discounts the 32 days which must be available for the political parties to submit their lists, then the President can chose to dissolve Parliament any date before this time period expires. Thirty-two days before May 11 would be April 9.

Addressing concerns of the abuse of state resources for political campaigning, Trotman explained that this is one of the negative aspects of the Constitution, as a prorogued Parliament leaves the Government with a “watch dog”.

“There is no oversight, scrutiny or checks and balances and that is cause for concern,” he told this newspaper.

President Ramotar on November 10, 2014, issued a proclamation proroguing the National Assembly just before the Alliance For Change (AFC) moved a No-Confidence Motion against his Administration.

The Head of State insisted

that the move was intended to ensure that development is not curtailed at the hands of the Opposition and the parties could engage in meaningful talks. But after Parliament’s prorogation, the parliamentary political parties say they were not interested in any such engagement.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon had several weeks ago said that President Donald Ramotar intends to dissolve Parliament during the first week of February in keeping with Guyana’s constitutional requirements. Dr Luncheon had reiterated what he felt was a known fact – that Parliament has to be dissolved on or before three months prior to Election Day. This means, Dr Luncheon said, that Parliament will be dissolved on either February 8 or 9.

“Three months counting backwards from May provides the drop dead date for dissolution. So three months from the date you arrive at would take you back to when polling takes places,” Dr Luncheon explained.

Since his announcement that Guyanese will head to the polls on May 11, there has been criticism of Ramotar’s decision to not dissolve the National Assembly immediately after, or on the same day as he announced the date for General and

Regional Elections. The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) had said that the non-dissolution of Parliament widened the gap on any possible agreement by the National Assembly on disapproved major projects like the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project.

The human rights body had also called on the President to either dissolve Parliament at the earliest opportunity or adjust the election date to conform to the constitutional provision of three months.

demonstrable vision for Guyana for the next five years and beyond.

“Finally, individuals with tainted reputations and even criminal associations must have no part in the party.”

Joseph has an optimistic outlook on Guyana’s future, mostly because he intends to play an active role in the changes that will unfold.

“I am an individ-

ual, like many others who want to see Guyana thrive. I, like many others, believe in the potential of this resource rich nation.

“There are some rather simple measures that can be taken to improve much in Guyana’s national institutions and state of affairs in infrastructure, manufacturing and export, among other key components

of the economy,” he explained.

On the other hand, Grace Hutson, a student and Radio Broadcaster has noted that the importance of youths’ involvement in politics cannot be over emphasised. She believes that more needs to be done to encourage such participation.

Hutson opined that young people are often continued on page 12

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Guyana’s Health Ministry reports drastic reduction in malaria cases

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he number of malaria cases in Guyana has declined by more than half for 2014. Director of the Vector Control Unit, Ministry of Health, Dr Reyaud Rahman disclosed to this publication in an exclusive interview on Saturday.

Dr Rahman said malaria cases for the reporting year were well under 15,000, a significant decrease over the figures for the past two years, recorded around 30,000. In fact, he said the figure was the lowest for the past two decades. But this accomplishment came with its challenges.

“2014 was a really challenging year for us … We started to do a lot of work in 2013. We pretty much did a lot of field work; our men were in the fields quite a lot and we spent a lot of money doing so … we went out in the fields, in the hinterland regions and in the backdams looking for cases … we were doing that work actively but then Chikungunya came, so we’ve been going back and forth,” he explained.

Nonetheless, he is proud of the work that was accomplished and aims to further reduce the number of malaria cases in the next three to five years to below 1000.

Dr Rahman said the department intends to conduct more tests in the interior regions with the hope

Director of the Vector Control Unit, Dr Reyaud Rahman

of capturing cases of the illness before they become severe.

He pointed out that the survival rate of an infected individual relies on the early detection of the disease.

On that note, the Vector Control Unit Head revealed that less than 20 people have died as a result of malaria in 2014.

Persistent

“In this day and age, nobody should die from malaria. That is why we are so persistent when we try to get into the interior regions,” he said.

According to him, the department will continue to improve its strategies and train more personnel to provide better quality control to tackle malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

The Unit plans to set up sites at various locations in order to reach more peo-

ple. “All the health centres have the capacity to do malaria smears, but the sites are to build their capacity with other diseases,” Dr Rahman noted.

“We are trying to bring down the diseases by testing more people because the more people we find with the disease, we get to bring it down. Let’s say we go to a mining camp, our main activity would be to take off a smear from the persons because a lot of times, if they get sick, it may take days to get out from the areas to reach a health centre,” Dr Rahman explained.

He also acknowledged that their visits to the camps are not limited to malaria tests, but noted that the malaria virus was a priority. The doctor said teams would normally visit each region for three months, every six months.

In addition, regional staff would conduct similar activities in their absence.

There are three types of malaria in Guyana, P falciparum, P vivax and P malariae. The most severe and deadly type of malaria remains P falciparum and 90 per cent of persons with this type of malaria who do not access or use treatment will die.

For this reason, Dr Rahman said it was very important for persons to know which type of malaria they have contracted in order to be effectively treated.

Young Guyanese demanding more from political... from page 11

discouraged from politics out of fear of being victimised, among other reasons.

On a note of encouragement, the International Relations major believes it is important for young people to educate themselves on the issues and move beyond voting in an election.

“As youths we bring a different perspective and creative ideas; allowing us to voice our opinions would only see the advancement of politics in Guyana,” she added.

Hutson criticised what she said were “shallow” campaign adverts alluding to past and present Governments in office.

The rest of the team must be able to steer the country towards a just and humane society, and knows how to get the country there.

Entrepreneur Clayon Halley says he looks beyond campaigns to determine how to vote, since it is quite normal for politicians to make unrealistic promises. For him, a party’s work and accomplishments, whether in office or as an Opposition, are determinants of his support.

“My vote would be determined on the functionality of a party in the years/period leading up to an election, functionality in the sense of how well did a party represent the people, how effective they were in achieving the goals outlined in their manifesto or how well did they fight for that which they had promised,” he outlined.

But Andrew Hussain was very interested in what was taking place today. He subscribes to Aristotle’s conclusion that man is by nature a “political animal” who would ensure self preservation before all else.

He has listed several questions for the Government of the day that he would like answers to as a young Guyanese. These focused heavily on issues of accountability, the state of the University of Guyana and social progress. “I would like to urge people from all walks of Guyana to sit down before you cast your vote and analyse life in Guyana, it’s beyond your hair texture and skin colour. You have to vote for policies and how much/often can your next President reach out to critical aspects of livelihood,” he encouraged. “I would like to see a Government that can literally dance to the tunes of the people.”

Hussain expects the same level of accountability displayed by Trinidad and Tobago’s Kamla Persad-Bissesar of any Government he puts into office. “I am optimistic about Guyana’s future because we as citizens of this country hold change; we determine who our leaders of tomorrow can be.”

However, Jennifer Smith, a Teacher in the Rupununi is not very optimistic. She related that while she remains concerned mostly about corruption, the other political parties have failed to convince her that they can in fact do better. Constrained in her responses via Facebook, Smith added that “one (political party) came to the Rupununi recently to campaign and they did not impress me at all. They did not convince me that they are better than the ruling party.” Like Hussain, Smith perceives that politicians are largely concerned with addressing their own concerns and those of their families and friends. “I wish politicians would be honest, address the needs of the people and stop making false promises,” Smith lamented.

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10% cut in power charges nothing to do with elections, says Brassington

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he 10 percent reduction in electricity charges by Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company will result in its customers being able to hold on to an additional Gy$3B annually, in disposable income.

Head of State, President Donald Ramotar on Monday during the commissioning of the power company’s Vreeden-Hoop plant, its latest installation, announced that GPL will be reducing its rates by 10 percent.

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Winston Brassington and Chief Executive Officer Bharat Dindyal met with media operatives on Tuesday at the entity’s Duke Street, Kingston head office along with key directors, to offer clarity on how the power company proposes to effect the reduction.

It was revealed that in addition to the Gy$3B, which would be foregone in revenue this year as a result of the reduction in tariff, the power company, between 2003 and 2014, had already foregone an estimated Gy$29B, in order to stave off increases in charges.

He reminded those present that in recent years, when fuel prices had escalated, the power company did not seek to increase the amount passed on to consumers but rather opted to forego the revenue to be recouped in future.

“This tariff reduction,” according to Brassington, “reaf-

A Guyana Power and Light (GPL) engineer explaining the standard operating procedures of the newly commissioned Vreed-en-Hoop power generation plant to President Donald Ramotar and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds in the presence of GPL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bharat Dindyal. Also in photo are GPL Chairman Winston Brassington, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, Public Works Minister Robeson Benn, Regional Chairman Julius Faerber and other officials

firms GPL’s continued commitment in providing quality electricity supply at fair cost.”

Pressed on the company’s ability to sustain the reduction in tariffs, taking into account the volatility of the oil market, along with the fact that GPL has over the years been dependent on subsidies, Ash Deonarine, the power company’s Deputy CEO told media operatives that as long as oil prices stayed below US$70 a barrel, the reduction can be afforded.

Should the price of oil on the international market increase above US$70 per barrel, then the company would not be able to break even, and may very well have to restore its tariffs.

Brassington was quick to point out, however, that at present, the company can afford to make the reduction in tariffs charged, but this situation will be reviewed on a quarterly basis and adjusted, based on the prevailing circumstances at the time.

“We’re doing this on a quarterly basis, so in July, we will again review where fuel prices are and depending on that, adjustments to what we are doing may be made,” Brassington said.

Noting that Government’s strategy in the past has been to stave off any increases, Brassington said: “That strategy is likely to continue.”

The GPL Chairman did point out that the current

10 percent reduction will be applied to Residential, Commercial and Industrial Tariffs.

In fact, Brassington further noted that “consumers whose billing cycle begins in the latter part of February and ends in March will benefit from the reduction on their entire consumption for this period.”

Brassington was however quick to dismiss any notion that the revision downwards in the amount being charged by the power company for electricity had linkage to the May 11 General and Regional Elections.

According to Brassington, the decision to reduce the electricity tariff was one made by the Board of Directors and was

in response to the declining fuel prices over the past year.

He stated further that this year, the power company will not have to rely on Government for any subsidy to meet any of its operational expenses.

He said, however, that on the capital side, the power company, despite the reduction in tariffs, will have to still depend on Government for assistance in that regard.

According to Brassington, this year a substantial part of the European Union/InterAmerican Development Bank’s US$65M project, will continue and will see the money being channelled through Government.

He said that this would be in addition to Government funding some of its capital programmes directly, the details of which will be made public when the 2015 National Estimates are presented to the National Assembly.

In order to deliver on its mandate while foregoing revenue when there was high fuel prices, the power company was forced to seek assistance from Central Government in the form of subsidy and loans in order to ensure the tariffs were not increased.

According to Brassington, “when we faced high fuel prices GPL has not increased tariffs, instead we relied on Government to provide operating support both on the operating side and to fund our capital expansion programme.”

Guyana seeks US support for oil and gas development

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s Government continues to develop the framework for the nascent oil and gas sector, efforts to engage international partners and countries are proceeding apace.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud during the course of last week met with a mission from the Bureau of Energy Resources of the US Department of State, which was headed by Director Paul Hueper.

Hueper was accompanied by Nicole Gibson of the Office of Energy Programmes with the aim of further assisting Guyana in the development of its technical capacity in relation to the oil and gas sector.

Minister Persaud noted that the Government of Guyana has been working with the US Department of State since 2010 on human resources development for the hydrocarbon sector, through various workshops and seminars.

He stated that the Government of Guyana must now determine how it will manage the sector by looking at the

interagency effort to provide a wide range of technical and capacity building assistance to the host Governments of select countries that are on the verge of becoming the world’s next generation of oil and gas producers.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud

various models.

He pointed out that the first step must be to develop the governance and regulatory framework which will support the growth of the sector in the long term, since every country must have its own model for the development and management of this sector.

It is expected that the EGCI will work with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) on the implementation mechanism for addressing the various issues of capacity development.

The EGCI is a US State Department-led

The countries receiving EGCI assistance have world-class hydrocarbon resource potential and expect to receive sizable, near-term financial windfalls from the development of their oil and gas resources.

EGCI’s core objective is

to help these countries establish the capacity to manage their oil and gas sector resources responsibly.

Although EGCI’s goals are country-specific in nature, the programme broadly tries to ensure sound and trans-

parent energy sector governance for the benefit of national economic development.

Minister Persaud also noted that drilling in deepwater areas as well as test evaluation (productivity test) will continue.

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Energy sector can evolve into revenue earner, says President Ramotar

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he energy sector has the potential to be an important revenue earner for Guyana, as soon there will be enough capacity to export electricity, according to Head of State, Donald Ramotar.

Substantiating his statement, the President pointed to futuristic projects that are extremely feasible.

“When you look at the Upper Mazaruni with 4000 megawatts capacity in that area alone, you can see that we can become a powerhouse in exporting electricity to our neighbours,” the President stated. This has been recognised by stakeholders such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), he added.

The President made these statements as he was delivering an address at the commissioning of the country’s largest power plant, at Vreed-en-Hoop, Region Three, on Monday.

Solar and wind power can also be used, the President added, noting the exploration is currently underway for oil.

“We have to build an energy sector that is flexible and capable of switching from one source to another”. The creation of high pay-

President Donald Ramotar

ing technical jobs is dependent on the supply of cheap reliable energy, President Ramotar stated, as he noted that one of the current issues raised by disgruntled students and faculty members at the University of Guyana is that of high standards.

A lot of work has gone into the Amaila Falls Hydropower project, which will be located on the Kuribrong River, and under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), Norway has already transferred US$80 million to the IDB. Another firm has already been identified to replace Blackstone/Sithe Global, the President stated.

Sithe Global had initially been associat-

ed with the project, but withdrew after the political Opposition slashed allocations for its development.

At the end of 2014, the road works to the hydro project site was 95 per cent completed, and if all goes well, the road will be handed over by March of this year.

A total of US$28.9 million was spent on the project up to December 2014, since the project’s inception in 2010.

It has an overall cost of US$43.5 million.

Government is also examining other renewable energy sources, as well as the rice and sugar industries have huge possibilities of co-generating power using bagasse and rice husk.

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Walter Rodney CoI…

Rohee slams PNC’s Williams for “political grandstanding”

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee on the stand at the Rodney CoI

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s the inquiry into the death of Historian Dr Walter Rodney continues Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee has accused People’s National Congress (PNC) Attorney, Basil Williams, of “political grandstanding”.

The minister returned to the stand on Tuesday to be cross examined, during which he was asked by the PNC lawyer whether there were any instances under his watch where the Guyana Police Force would have had causes to open fire into a protesting crowd.

Rohee, in clear objection to the Attorney’s line of questioning, pointed out that at the beginning of his tes-

timony Williams had warned the Commission of “political grandstanding” in light of the upcoming elections but is now inciting such by trying to link events of the 1980s under the PNC regime to that of the 2012 Linden unrest, during which three persons were shot and killed.

“What is Mr. Williams seeking to do now is to establish a case to link what happen at Linden where the police shot into a crowd with what happened then… I have worked with you in Parliament for years, I know your style,” Rohee said.

However, the Attorney told the Minister that the Linden incident was not the only one where police had shot into a crowd under his tenure, referring to a protest on Brickdam in 2011 when members of the crowd were shot with rubber bullets. Chairman of the Commission, Sir Richard Cheltenham, interrupted the Attorney; enquiring about his questions on recent events rather than on events that occurred during the period under review. Commissioner continued on page 22

NIS still to verify 1 million plus contributions – Dr Luncheon

M

ore than one million contribution records could not have been verified at the end of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) digitalisation process.

The Scheme completed inputting all outstanding contribution records into its electronic database, but as of December 31, 2014, the incomplete records were not verified.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon explained that the final report emanating from the Data Entry and Verification Project indicated that more than 1.1 million of the records entered into NIS’s database have not been verified owing to the absence of critical data such as names and NIS numbers.

“Cabinet understood what this meant, it meant that little bit more than one million contributions had been received by the National Insurance Scheme … but its beneficiaries – an undisclosed number of contributors – they are the ones who are not receiving from those million plus unidentified contribution records,” he further explained.

Dr Luncheon, who was at the time addressing reporters at the Office of the President on Wednesday, said the final report confirmed that millions of dollars in contributions were owed to contributors and

The National Insurance Scheme (NIS)

pensioners.

Realising that the Scheme cannot correct the deficiencies within the system on its own, Cabinet has ordered NIS to engage the public. He explained that Cabinet has given instructions for the conduct of a public “mapping” exercise that would assist the scheme in identifying those contributors.

The Cabinet Secretary assured the press that all contributors who had encountered difficulties prior to the establishment of the Data Entry and Verification Project, will receive their benefits once eligible.

“Whenever those contributions are indeed found and entered onto the database, benefits associated would be computed from the date those contributions were made and not from the date the contribu-

Crime down in Agricola A

cting Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud on Sunday said that since the implementation of the Impact Agricola Project, the crime rate and general security in the community have been stable.

Speaking with reporters following the commissioning of a renovated community ground in the area, Persaud said that the Project, which was implemented under the Social Crime Prevention Programme, has been yielding positive results and many of the troubled youths have been channelling their energies into productive and constructive activities, leaving little or no room for “mischief”.

He noted that when the programme was launched in the community, they had to get the support and acceptance of residents and they have been seeing this over the months. “If the people don’t want you, there is nothing you can do for them,” he noted.

The Top Cop kicking off a friendly football match in Agricola on Sunday

Heading into the community for the commissioning of the playfield, which the Police recently rehabilitated as part of the programme, Persaud walked along the main access road in Agricola and spoke to some of the residents.

He enquired from them issues they were facing and while some took the opportunity to voice their concerns, others were not so vo-

cal. The Guyana Police Force commenced the programme in April last year. At the time, records showed that in March 2014, serious crime was higher than the figure for the same period in 2013; however, by the end of last year, the figure reflected a reduction of 15 per cent. According to the acting Police Commissioner, there are a lot of things that contributed to this result in-

cluding the Social Crime Prevention Programme.

Positive engagement

“You see when you engage people in a positive way, then they think positive and do positive things. And if you leave them alone, then they drift to take advice from anyone who offers and sometimes those advices are not necessarily productive advices,” he highlighted.

Persaud went on to

tions entered into the system,” he further explained.

Cabinet had mandated NIS to implement the Data Entry and Verification Project from June 2014 to December 2014 with the clear goal of putting all the outstanding paper records of contributions into the Scheme’s electronic database.

The mandate was given as a result of the criticisms the Scheme attracted from both contributors and pensioners about the deficient contribution records. For years, NIS has been unable to identify thousands of contributors and verify their contributions.

“Mixed picture”

Questioned about Cabinet’s perception of the Insurance Scheme, Dr Luncheon said “it’s a mixed picture”, but added that following a visit by the General Manager

and Senior Managers to Cabinet, there is a better “awareness of the performance”.

According to him, Cabinet has urged NIS to improve its performance in an effort to reduce the number of complaints levied by contributors and pensioners as a result of the delays in properly signing and computing their benefits.

While collection of debt and other matters have to be attended to, Dr Luncheon said on the front burner was the need to enhance the image of the Scheme.

Contrary to popular belief that NIS is a “cash strapped” institution that is struggling to keep its head above rough waters, the Head of the Presidential Secretariat said the “scheme is solvent and financially sound”.

…following Police community project say that the programme consisted of social programmes and work force development. He explained that while it was the Police who were offering the services, they recruit other skilled persons to teach life and vocational skills development. He added that they even channel persons into institutions to help them improve on their skills; for example, Carnegie and salons.

“So we go to communities and talk to people and whatever they want to do, we try help them to realise it in an organised way. We don’t just come up with ideas and force it on the communities. We talk to the community members or community leaders and find out what the people need and provide it for them,” he disclosed.

Persaud said that the programme has yielded much success since its implementation with most of the communities accepting it. He noted that only recently he visited Bath Settlement,

West Coast Berbice, and the response there was overwhelming.

While the Police Chief could not say how many communities the programme has been implemented in, he noted that there were a few in West Demerara, another set in A Division (Georgetown) and in Berbice. He added that the Force even conducted a medical outreach in Essequibo last year. There were eight doctors who conducted the exercise and did presentations on lifestyle diseases and how to treat them. Over 500 persons benefited from the exercise.

Persaud remarked that going forward this year, he has tasked the various Divisional Commanders to take charge of the programmes under their jurisdiction and expand into other communities. “We provide support to all those projects from Headquarters, but they themselves get a lot of support from the Divisions,” he stated.

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Iwokrama operating with US$1.3M shortfall – CEO says int’l donors drying up

By Svetlana Marshall

T

he Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development said it has been operating with a shortfall of US$1.3 million for the longest while and welcomed the US$100,000 lifeline from Government through the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Iwokrama, Dane Gobin, during an exclusive interview with this publication, said the Centre needed an average of US$2.5 million to effectively execute its mandate which is to promote the conservation and the sustainable use of tropical rainforests in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits for the people of Guyana.

With the drying up of financial support from international donors, Iwokrama last year managed to rake in a total income of US$1.2 million, with the Government of Guyana contributing US$600,000. In 2013 and 2014, the Government provided a total of US$1.5 million to relieve the centre of its financial burden. It has since indicated that this year, it will once again bail out the Centre using some US$100,000 from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).

Gobin pointed out that in 2013, the Iwokrama International Centre commissioned two financial reports which suggested that between US$750,000 and US$1.2 million was

needed annually to meet its core functions.

In addition to the payment of renting fees, telephone and electrical bills, the core functions include the conduct of research and science, forest management and monitoring, business development in the areas of timber production and tourism, community and stakeholder partnerships, information dissemination and outreach.

Funds are sourced from earned revenues and investments (from businesses and partners), donors, intellectual property and services including eco-system services.

However, Gobin said in recent years international donor priorities have shifted thereby putting conservation on the back burner. “A lot of the donor priorities are changing, donors are more interested in things like anti-terrorism, money laundering and global health issues. So conservation has taken a little hit in donor funding,” he explained.

The Centre’s total income of US$1.2 million in 2013 was down by 38 per cent over 2012 levels of US$1.9 million mainly as a result of a 40 per cent drop in grants income.

As a result, total expenditure fell in 2013 recording levels of US$1.1 million against US$2.1 million in 2012 – a decrease of approximately 44 per cent. This decrease was also as a result of the Centre’s austerity programme which included a reduction in staffing levels and operational expenditure together

Iwokrama International Centre CEO Dave Gobin

with a consolidation of activities. Financial records for the year ending 2014 are pending.

In addition to the Government of Guyana, Commonwealth Secretariat, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, NORAD, the Caribbean Development Bank and Chicago Zoo were among the main contributors for the previous financial years.

While the Iwokrama International Centre is managing to keep its ahead above rough waters on a minimum budget, Gobin said there was “so much” more the Centre has to offer.

“Iwokrama was the first institute to receive Forest Stewardship Council Certification, that is international certification in Europe which shows best practices in forest management; we are the first one in Guyana to develop a community monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system,

Iwokrama’s Community Partners

so while Government is moving ahead with a national MRV, Iwokrama is moving ahead with a community MRV which will then feed into the national MRV; we are the first ones to have done a climate change manual which is being used internationally, and is being translated into seven languages,” he pointed out.

However, if the Iwokrama International Centre is to maintain its effectiveness, it would require more than “bare minimum funding”.

Nevertheless, he said the Centre was reviewing its financial model with the intention of having donors match the core funds which were garnered mainly with the support of the

Government and revenues from its line of businesses.

“That will put us in a very good position …

Once the donors see that, they will come in and say that you have the administrative capacity to do it, what we will do now is come and fund special project. And that is what we really need.” continued on page 25

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Nagamootoo confident AFC can bring DPP recommends inquest in a large number of Indian votes into CJIA worker’s death

S

aying that A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) will easily win 40 per cent of the votes at the upcoming elections, the Alliance For Change (AFC) said it could give the David Granger-led coalition the other 11 per cent it needs to clinch a majority.

This was disclosed by AFC Presidential Candidate Moses Nagamootoo on Sunday as he tried to sell the proposed Pro Democracy Alliance between the two parties at a public meeting held in APNU’s stronghold – Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, Berbice.

At the last elections, the AFC under an Indian Guyanese leader Khemraj Ramjattan won 10.3% of the votes mainly from the Indian dominated Region 6 votes.

In 2006, the AFC had secured a similar percentage of votes but under the leadership of Raphael Trotman, most had come from the APNU African dominated constituency.

Conceding that the AFC cannot compare itself with APNU in terms of its electoral strength, Nagamootoo who was hand-selected as Presidential Candidate by AFC’s Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan said electoral alliance was the way to go.

Nagamootoo was deliberately selected by Ramjattan who arbitrarily jettisoned the “presidential candidate rotation principle” to select the Indian Guyanese AFC Vice

symbols. This publication was told the APNU has been holding out that it will not change its name and also does not want to give up its symbol.

Unsure about talks

AFC Presidential Candidate Moses Nagamootoo

Chairman Moses Nagamootoo over the Chairman Nigel Hughes.

The AFC has been afraid to coalesce with APNU fearing the backlash from its constituency who have not forgotten the muck and stain of the People’s National Congress track record in government.

Newly-minted executive member of the AFC Daizal Samad had also said that the coalition will not happen, deeming the talks as a “talent scouting” exercise.

A source also told this newspaper last week that the coalition talks have been bogged down by disagreements as to who will lead the alliance.

The parties have also not been able to agree on the name for their party and the

Nagamootoo, speaking at the political meeting said the two parties have been working in unity since the 10th Parliament convened. He said what happened in Parliament should send a signal that the party is serious when it talks about unity.

“We don’t know where the talks will go, we have stated our position but honestly speaking, this small seven seat party called the AFC, we cannot compare ourselves to a 26 seat party called APNU. APNU can always have 40 per cent of the votes.

“APNU is like a large umbrella that has attracted large numbers of people, particularly Afro Guyanese. But APNU cannot win an election alone, APNU needs to have a strategic alliance with the church and the trade unions and other groups and the AFC could bring in the eleven per cent,” Nagamootoo told the meeting which included senior members of APNU. Some 330 odd persons attended the meeting.

Nagamootoo said the AFC needed the support of APNU in order to get a No-Confidence Motion in the Parliament and all the other actions taken by the alliance, including cutting continued on page 26

D

irector of Public Prosecution (DPP), Shalimar Ali Hack has recommended that an inquest be held to determine the cause of death of 26-year-old Chris Andrew Jacob who was found dead in a reservoir in the Civil Aviation Compound, Timehri, East Bank Demerara.

A senior police rank told this publication that the DPP instructed the police to proceed with the inquest since the circumstances surrounding the young man’s demise remain unclear.

He added that the inquest, which will be done at the Magistracy level, will begin as soon as possible.

Such an investigation is only conducted when deaths are sudden or unexplained as in the case of the Haurauni, Soesdyke/ Linden Highway, East Bank Demerara man.

According to information received, Jacob was discovered “apparently drowned” in the reservoir after being involved in a reported altercation at 23.00hs on the night of November 24, 2014 in the Works Maintenance area.

The body was discovered at 13:30h the following day after repeated efforts to locate him the previous night.

It was reported that the young man had fondled a female worker resulting in him being slapped.

The internal security was subsequently called in but the young man left in a haste and

Dead: Chris Jacob

was followed by two other colleagues.

The colleagues claim that Jacob went in the direction of the reservoir and was not seen until his body was discovered the following day. Upon the discovery, Jacob’s wallet, phone and other personal belongings were intact.

However, it was later reported that the now dead man was assaulted by two staff members at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, who were reportedly upset about the incident involving the female worker.

The men were subsequently arrested and questioned by investigators at the Timehri Police Station but were released after the autopsy proved that the young man died as a result of drowning.

Jacob attended the Haurauni Secondary School where he wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CXC) and went on to study Electrical Engineering at the Georgetown Technical Institute.

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Region 9 has great potential for agriculture – President

Philadelphia tragedy:

Hundreds bid farewell to victims

President Donald Ramotar makes a point to one of the technical personnel at the Meriwau ranch, Region Nine in the presence of other officials

H

ead of State Donald Ramotar said that the communities in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) has great prospects in agriculture.

“It (the region) has huge agricultural potential; it has huge possibility for agro-industrial development and a big possibility within agriculture itself and in the livestock area,” Ramotar said following a visit to the region recently.

After visiting a cattle ranch in Meriwau, President Ramotar said that it was clear that people were becoming more aware of the needs and opportunities in that region.

Meriwau in July 2009 received a Presidential Grant from the Government for cattle rearing, and another grant from the President’s Youth Choice Initiative which was also used to purchase cattle.

While livestock initiatives seek to develop the economies of the villages, the President said the

Meriwau ranch had far more potential if the resources were utilised and marketed properly. The ranch has been aiding the development of the community, through the provision of beef to the Schools’ Hot Meal programme in the region at a subsidised cost.

The Meriwau cattle ranch, the President added, could also support a vibrant craft and leather operation once the necessary infrastructure was in place.

“Moreover, the cattle industry itself has possibility of not only producing beef, but leather and other things that can be targeted for producing handicraft, so there is huge possibility for development within this area,” Ramotar said.

The President said he visited another community in the Rupununi, which has a small restaurant, and this illustrated the services that were being developed in remote communities. This, the Head of State said, showed very clearly that services in that region

were developing well, and there was also the growing need for stock to meet the constant demand, as well as for other services.

The President noted that his Administration remained committed to providing the necessary infrastructure, which would aid in bridging the development gap between the coastland and hinterland.

However, while noting that there was much more to be done in the region, the Head of State observed that Lethem, which is the main population centre in the Rupununi, has drastically developed. “Lethem is comparable to many other parts of Guyana as far as services are concerned in shopping and different areas.”

The President said that bringing Rupununi communities on par with the coastland would take some time. However, in the interim, the Administration continued to put key infrastructural measures in place in all sectors.

The four bodies as they lay at the house during the funeral service on Sunday

T

he small community of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo last Saturday bade farewell to the four persons who mysteriously drowned on Tuesday evening near the koker.

Fifty-six-year-old Radhika Persaud; her son, Ravin Persaud, 15; her great niece Annatina “Tina” Persaud, 9, and her great nephew Billy “Amit” Narine,12, reportedly went to dispose of items from a Hindu ritual when the tragedy occurred. They were

found at the koker a few hours after.

Hundreds flocked the house at Lot 32 Vergenoegen Public Road to get a glimpse of the four bodies as they lay in colourful and well decorated dhoolies.

As mourners passed by the bodies, they offered their condolences to grieving family members and sprayed sweet fragrances.

Tributes poured in, including from Attorney General Anil Nandlall, Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber and

First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar who all spoke very briefly. They all expressed their sadness upon hearing about the tragic incident.

Nandlall spoke about karma in the Hindu context and wished the four eternal rest while encouraging the family to be strong, especially during this time of mourning.

A Leonora Secondary School teacher fondly reminisced about Ravin, a former student.

Scores of students from continued on page 23

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Private sector body slams GRA for settling multi-million dollar tax evasion case in ‘secret’

T

he Private Sector Commission (PSC) has expressed alarm over the settlement of a multi-million dollar tax evasion case between the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall, urging that the tax body come clean on the transaction and explain to the Guyanese public the full details of the deal.

The business umbrella body also said it will be writing the GRA on the issue as it raises serious doubts about the operations of the revenue body and its objectivity in applying the law. The GRA over the years has taken court action against several businesses and in some instances levied on their properties for defaulting on their tax payments.

Commissioner General of the GRA, Khurshid Sattaur has also been on a crusade against delinquent tax payers complaining about the many who do not remit Value Added Tax and was involved in smuggling activities.

In addition to Lall the multi-million dollar tax fraud case had embroiled Lall’s wife, Bhena Lall and a US-based couple, Narootandeo and Gharbassi Brijnanan. On Wednesday last the GRA Prosecutor Sandil Kissoon petitioned the court, on behalf of the GRA evidently at the request of Sattaur, with an application before Magistrate Judy Latchman requesting that the charges against the Lall’s and the US couple be withdrawn, noting that a resolution had been worked out. The next day the petition was granted and de-

sue and he should he explaining to the tax payers, explaining to the people on what grounds he has settled the matter,” the PSC official said. “But I think the question which should be asked is whether Glenn Lall has something on the GRA that they want hidden, that they are afraid will come out if they proceed that pushed them to drop the matter and settle it,” the official queried.

Sattaur backtrack

GRA Commissioner General, Khurshid Sattaur

Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall

spite issuing a statement announcing the deal, the GRA has failed to lay bare the facts of its settlement with Lall and the US couple.

Contacted on the issue on Sunday Chairman of the PSC, Ramesh Persaud said the dropping of the case in this particular instance and agreeing to a settlement raises doubt about the Guyana Revenue Authority within the PSC. “We will be writing and will be seeking to make contact with the Commissioner General with our clear expectations. These clear expectations will be for the grounds and basis of

the settlement to be made known, how does it affect other businesses and we would also want to know whether this settlement will be extended to the other persons who are in default. We will be asking for that,” Persaud declared.

Something to hide

Another senior official of the PSC said while the Commissioner General has the powers to settle matters of this nature, he has to do it in a transparent manner. “I am shocked that he is not saying or responding to reports on the matter. I am appalled that he has chosen to stay quiet. It is a very serious is-

The about turn decision by the GRA to settle the case had run counter to public statements made by Sattaur early January. He had told Guyana Times International that his agency will go through with the matter in Court, and was hoping it will be resolved in the judicial system within a timely manner.

Additionally, noting that while the matter is ongoing, Sattaur had said that “GRA will not be entering into any negotiations outside of the Courts unless directed by the Courts to do so.”

Not many days hence, Sattaur commented that he was anxious to settle the matter with Lall and the US couple because a close relative of the remigrants is allegedly threatening witnesses.

The two Lexuses caught up in the scandal were parked at the man’s house when they were seized. Sattaur had told GTI that since the matter was taken to court; the relative had been allegedly sending threats to the witnesses “that if they dare go on the witness stand they will face the worst exposure in their lives”.

Guyana’s Zoo undergoing major transformation G

uyana’s first ever Petting Zoo, which falls under the Three-Parks Initiative of the Protected Areas Commission (PAC), was officially declared open on Sunday by Natural Resources and the Environment Minister Robert Persaud.

Just before cutting the ribbon, Minister Persaud told the public to expect much more improvements and exciting additions to roll out in the months to come.

The public is quite impressed by the massive change with the local zoological experience through the addition of pathways leading through a few of the enclosures, a donkey cart which takes children on rides through the zoo, a fullyfunctioning playground with swings, seesaws, slides and trampoline, and the spanking new Petting Zoo, which cost in excess of Gy$35 million.

But, the improvements will not stop there. Minister Persaud disclosed that moves are afoot to bring in animals from other continents such Asia and Africa to further enhance the zoo.

According to the Commissioner of the PAC Damian Fernandes, the cages are currently being established to house these animals when they arrive.

Additionally, there are plans to develop the bird watching trail in the Botanical Gardens and provide better access to the famous kissing bridges.

Efforts are also under-

was called upon to assist with the funding for these projects.

Meanwhile, the Petting Zoo provides a friendly environment for children to admire the rich biodiversity Guyana has to offer while developing appreciation for animals. This section houses donkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs and ducks.

There is also a shop where visitors can purchase appropriate foods to feed the animals.

The Zoological Park came into existence in 1952, and affords both locals and tourists the chance to experience a diverse animal collection in a safe and accessible environment.

It occupies approximately four acres of land, and serves as a shelter for abandoned and abused animals.

Scores of persons join Natural Resources and the Environment Minister Robert Persaud in touring the Petting Zoo. The duck pond was just the first of many stops

way to develop an aquarium throughout the entire zoo.

“What we’re doing is taking the aquarium and spreading it throughout, there’s a caiman pond there, so what we’re doing is we’re buying a filtration system and installing a waterfall…so this caiman will be in clear water and in the water will be turtles and fishes and so on, so it’s almost like we’re bringing the aquarium to each of the cages,” Fernandes explained.

There are many more exciting ideas to realise the zoo’s full potential, but the challenge is accumulating finance

for such projects.

Fernandes disclosed that the maintenance cost is already very high and the zoo fees alone do not cover those expenses.

“Right now our maintenance cost is covered by a combination of the zoo entrance fees which really is US$0.50 for children and US$1.00 for adults, so it’s very, very small fees, as well as the annual subvention from the Government…we are still very dependent on the Government’s budget subvention”.

As such, corporate Guyana

This family was among the first set of persons to tour the zoo in a donkey cart on Sunday

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WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

GECOM to meet with youths in voter education process T

he Guyana E l e c t i o n s Commission (GECOM) has revealed its intent to engage young people as it unveils a comprehensive Civic and Voter Education campaign in the lead up to General and Regional Elections.

Deputy Chief Elections Officer of GECOM Vishnu Persaud told this publication that the body has already instructed its field officers to have initial engagements and to organise further discussions with youth groups. He stated that it is important for new voters to understand their roles and responsibilities as well as the voting procedures.

As per standard operating procedure, GECOM has initiated its campaign with the announcement of a date for elections. Already, there are advertisements in the electronic and print media on the upcoming Claims and Objections period.

“We are having panel discussions and interactive sessions, which people can follow,” the re-

cently appointed Deputy CEO informed.

According to him, the usual use of public announcement systems, banners and flyers will also be employed to ensure that voters are fully informed. According to Persaud, these activities will be heightened as May 11 draws nearer.

“Given the strategy that we have and the way in which it will be employed, I am confident that we will be reaching out to all categories of electors.”

Journalism workshop

GECOM said it will also be conducting a workshop for journalists covering elections.

In a statement, GECOM said in a deliberate strategy to promote comprehensive under-

standing about elections management procedures among media practitioners, the Commission will be conducting a oneday training exercise especially targeting journalists who would be responsible for covering election related issues, as well as the respective Editors from all media houses/agencies.

The primary objective of the training exercise is to improve understanding among media practitioners relative to pertinent electoral issues, as well as to promote accurate reporting.

The exercise is also aimed at enhancing GECOM’s media relations by establishing direct points of liaison in all of the media houses/ agencies.

Rohee slams PNC’s Williams...

from page 15

Cheltenham says the Attorney’s line of questioning “might be the subject of another inquiry”.

Earlier, the PNC Attorney had suggested to the Minister that all political operatives at the time were justifiably under surveillance within the remit of the Police’s Special Branch but he denied this. Williams continued asking Rohee whether the Special Branch was operating on the relevant rules and Standing Orders (SO). He replied that he was not aware of what SO the Special Branch was operating under but knew the SO of the Police Force as a whole.

Williams made reference to evidence the minister gave during his chief testimony that he would have been privy to certain information about earlier events after becoming the Home Affairs Minister.

“You could speak to 1970 to 80 because of your present position as Minister of Home Affairs, do you agree with that?” questioned Williams, to which Rohee responded saying “I could speak to it based on my association with the Guyana Police Force and the knowledge of how they re-

spond to policy issues”.

The Attorney pointed out that Rohee said he had “the knowledge” and did not specifically say he had knowledge of the operations but the Minister maintained that he was referring to the Police Force and its branches responding to policy issues.

At this point, the Attorney underscored that the witness, by saying this, has introduced into the Commission the present and has gone beyond the remit of the 1980. He further asked the Minister whether the police, in any of the demonstrations in June 1978 to 1980, ever shot into a crowd of demonstrators. Rohee responded in the affirmative, noting that many events occurred during that time, all of which could not be covered.

The Attorney further asked whether the police of the day in 1980 shot into the crowd of demonstrators during any of the public meetings killing them. The minister responded also in the positive. “It is almost impossible to document every single instance of police action at the time. I wrote down what I considered to be the cases and the situations and instances that I remember clear-

ly. But I do know of cases where the police shot teargas and fired bullets, not killing people in crowds but to scare people away. I do recall that.”

Additionally, the PNC lawyer pointed out to the witness that he is the Minister of Home Affairs and Head of Public Security before asking him again whether the police shot into any of the crowd of protestors. The chairman told the PNC lawyer he could not premise his question on the fact that the witness is the Home Affairs Minister since many of the police actions he is being questioned about would have happened at a time when he was not presiding as the Minister.

At this point, Williams highlighted that the witness had already established that he became privy to information about the events of 1980 after becoming the Home Affairs Minister.

Specially appointed State Counsel Latchmie Rahamat then interjected, outlining that Rohee had already answered the question when he said there were cases where tear gas and bullets were fired into the crowds but no one was killed.

NEWS 23

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Hundreds bid ERC to be fully functional for 2015 elections farewell to... T from page 20

The bereaved mother being consoled by friends and relatives

the secondary school attended the funeral and left with tears in their eyes knowing that one of their dear friends would not be seen anymore but his memories would live on.

More tears fell, as the mother of “Tina” stood over her daughter’s funeral dhoolie weeping unceasingly.

She periodically wiped her daughter’s and son’s faces.

After almost two

hours at the house, the bodies were then transported to the Khasi Dhaan (crematorium), Ruimzight, West Coast Demerara in two hearses and the final rites were read.

There again, scores of people turned up to get a glimpse of the bodies, forcing family members to uncover the dhoolies. The pyres were lit some time after 13:00h after all the rituals had ended.

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

he Ethnic R e l a t i o n s Commission (ERC) of Guyana is expected to become fully functional within the next two weeks with the swearing in of 10 new Commissioners and the election of a new Chairperson slated to take place.

President Donald Ramotar on Saturday told this publication that the Commission was “essential and important” during the upcoming election period.

He said it plays an integral role as a constitutional entity which serves to protect and preserve the interests of all stakeholders as far as creating an atmosphere of tolerance and harmony among the different races and ethnic groupings in Guyana’s diverse society.

Ramotar said that this and next week, he would be making several steps towards swearing in the Commissioners after consulting with the necessary officials within Government.

He expressed his commitment towards creating an atmosphere of calm, peace and cohesiveness in the lead up to the May 11 General and Regional Elections.

As a result, President Ramotar believes that the ERC would be vital in this respect and serve as a deterrent to those political interests and groups that may want to push the race card and make racially destructive statements during the election period.

President Ramotar has made it clear, time and time again, that as President, his sole interest is to create a society that exhibits higher levels of ethnic, religious and political tolerance given the pre and post independence history of Guyana.

Prorogation

Asked on Saturday whether the prorogation of Parliament would affect the swearing in of Commissioners or the election of the Chairperson, Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira responded in the negative.

She said that despite the prorogation, the role of the Speaker of the National Assembly remains intact.

Teixeira stated that once the Commissioners are sworn in by the President and they accept the oath of office, the next step would be for the Speaker to convene a meeting of the

Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira

new Commissioners where he will preside over the election of the ERC’s Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson.

“He (Speaker) functions like the presiding officer,” she explained, as she made it clear that Parliament has already approved the names of persons to be sworn in as Commissioners.

The Presidential Advisor on Governance said after this process is completed, the President would then be expected to swear in the two persons again.

Members

The ERC had comprised representatives from seven different constituencies. These included a representative each from the three main religions –

Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, labour, the Private Sector, youth and women’s affairs organisations.

However, a motion was moved and passed by the National Assembly to increase the number from seven to 10.

Among those chosen by the Appointments Committee are: Pastor John Smith who represents the Christian community; Rajkumarie Singh, the Hindu community; and Shaykh Moeenul Hack from the Muslim community; Norris Witter, Labour; Ravindra Dev, Private Sector organisations; Gomattie Kalicharran, youth organisations; Ruth Howard, women’s organisations; Peter Persaud, Amerindian groups; Barrington Braithwaite, African groups; and Neaz Subhan, Indian group.

It is likely that either Hack from the Muslim community, or Dev representing Private Sector organisations would be elected to the post of Chairman of the Commission and Deputy Chairman.

These Commissioners were expected to be sworn in since July 2014 according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon.

24 NEWS

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Two Guyanese named in Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards

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uyanese academics Dr Paloma Mohamed and Professor Suresh Narine have been named as two of the four awardees of Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence.

The announcement was made on Friday at the TATIL Building in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; when it was revealed that Dr Mohamed and Professor Narine were named laureates in the areas of Arts and Letters, and Science and Technology respectively.

The Guyanese professionals will be this year’s recipients alongside Herbert Samuel, an energy consultant and entrepreneur from St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Professor Patrick Hosein, a computer scientist from Trinidad.

Samuel was awarded in the area of Entrepreneurship while Professor Hosein was also recognised in the field of Science and Technology.

This year’s award ceremony is the tenth and saw the introduction of a new category, Entrepreneurship. The selection panel for the

Awards (The Eminent Persons Panel) did not find any nominees they felt appropriate to be given the award in Public and Civic Contributions for 2015, although a joint award was made in Science and Technology.

Professor Narine is a bio-technologist and Director of the Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (IAST) in Guyana and a Professor at Trent University in Canada. With the increase in scientific knowledge globally, the Caribbean still finds itself in the role of technology importer. Professor Narine is actively changing this with reference to the physical and chemical sciences. His work in Guyana and in Canada has created the rare bridge between scientific research and commercial application, and in many cases, lessened environmental impact.

Narine also holds the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair in Lipid Derived Biomaterials and the Ontario Research Chair in Green Chemistry and Engineering. His work

Professor Suresh Narine

Dr Paloma Mohamed

as a researcher has led to an enviable 138 peerreviewed publications, two books, 22 patents, and the creation of environmentally friendly economic activity in Guyana, Canada and beyond.

Though he lives and was educated in Canada, Professor Narine returns to Guyana on a monthly basis for his participation in its technological and scientific development.

He is credited for single-handedly reviving the IAST through persistent lobbying and attracting research funds, and turning it into a premier institution of its kind in the region in the field of research chem-

istry, materials science, environmental monitoring, and physical properties analysis.

On the other hand, Dr. Mohamed, Dean of the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Social Sciences (UG), is one of the most prolific academics in communication, behavioural studies and creative writers (playwright, script-writer and poet) in the region. A key figure in Guyana’s culture and academe, she has been producing creative work since the age of 13, and has won the Guyana Prize on three occasions 1998, 2000 and 2008.

She is recognized as one of the most influential figures in the Guyanese

and Caribbean cultural landscape.

Dr Mohamed has written and had performed in more than 30 plays, and published two collections of poetry with a third expected this year. She has also branched into film, and has been executive producer of 32 films.

She has published nine books of creative work and has been involved in 14 major arts projects, including Healing Arts, one which teaches children to write for other children. In 2010, she developed KIDSTAGE, the first and only televised children’s talent series in Guyana. She is the founder of Healing Arts Guyana Inc., a founding director of Moray House Trust and is chair of the Theatre Guild of Guyana.

In addition to contributing to the writing of the drama syllabus for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), her creative works have been placed on both the syllabi of the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and CAPE, as well being used as test pieces for stu-

dents at the Department of Creative and Festival Arts at the University of the West Indies and the University of Maryland.

She has been active in adjudicating drama competitions throughout the region, from the secondary school to the international levels.

As an arts advocate she has developed policy in conjunction with national and international agencies, like the Caribbean Community, the United Nations, and several national bodies such as the Ministry of Culture.

The Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards is the only programme in the Caribbean which seeks and rewards outstanding nominees in Arts and Letters, Public and Civic Contributions, and Science and Technology, and as of 2015, Entrepreneurship.

The programme has been in existence since 2005 and was a biennial award until 2010 when it became annual. The prizes are worth TT$500,000 each and all of the laureates will receive a medal and citation at a ceremony in April.

Canada working to reduce unfair trade with CARICOM

C

anada is carefully reviewing the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom) response to the proposals made by the North American Country

for a Free Trade Arrangement (FTA) between the two. This is according to Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Nicole Giles during an Interview

with this publication.

According to her, Canada remains committed to a modern trade agreement with CARICOM that will take into account dif-

fering levels of development, vulnerabilities associated with island states, and trade-related capacity challenges. While an FTA would generate economic benefits for both Canada and CARICOM, some economists say the most developed states usually walk away the winners. When asked, Dr Giles stated that “it is Canada’s position that the only way to ensure sustainable economic growth is to have mature and progressive trade agreements.” And according to the High Commissioner it is precisely the arrangement her country is offering the Region. Considering the implications of potentially unfair competition between infant industries in lesser developed countries to those of the developed world, Dr Giles indicated that through a separate CAD $600M assistance programme Ottawa has been able to provide trade support in capacity building.

“One example of that was in Guyana where we helped to set up a Credit Info Bureau which will increase access of Small and Medium Enterprises to credit so that they could grow their exports,” she

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Dr Nicole Giles

said.

Additionally, there is an ongoing trade facilitation programme to help Guyanese companies prepare for entering Canadian markets.

Similarly, as part of a Gy$20M Trade Competitiveness Program, Canada supports the implementation of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), facilitate internal trade within the region, and improve the region’s ability to negotiate and implement international trade agreements.

Other areas under the arrangement include Gy$14.5 million for the Caribbean Community Trade Competitiveness Program and Gy$20 mil-

lion for the Caribbean Institutional Leadership Development Program.

While these are not part of the FTA, the Canadian High Commissioner stated that they would result in a stronger structure.

“A house is never built on one pillar, you need multiple pillars to give it strength,” she said.

Discussions towards the negotiation of a possible Canada-Caricom Trade Agreement were announced at the Canada-Caricom Summit on January 19, 2001, in Jamaica.

Following four rounds of exploratory discussions, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced, on July 19, 2007, the launch of negotiations, which ended on June 30, 2014.

An FTA between the two would mean preferential access for goods and services in each other’s markets, and a more secure and predictable business environment.

This would also serve as an important tool in strengthening Canada’s commercial ties with the region and contributing to the shared goal of facilitating development through economic integration within the Western Hemisphere.

NEWS 25

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Sharma rejoins APNU coalition Iwokrama operating with... J from page 17

Gobin said with the assistance of its local and international trustees, the Iwokrama International Centre is aggressively pursuing several financial initiatives.

“We have made initiatives [bilaterally with] seven countries …., we have approached three financial institutions, and we are also looking at the European Union which has been a healthy donor to Iwokrama,” he explained.

Already, the centre has secured a grant of US$278,000 from Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) also referred to as the German Agency for International Cooperation. The grant will be used to support Iwokrama’s FSC certified timber business.

The first disbursement was made in January 2015 following the signing of the agreement in December 2014.

Additionally, the Centre is looking to rake in additional funds from its tourism activities which made approximately US$75,000 in 2014 from approximately 1200 visitors.

Its sustainable timber

programme made between US$200,000 and US$300, 000 to assist with its core functions for 2015.

“We expect about 40 per cent of our core money would be met from our earned revenues, which means that we still need some support from the Government of Guyana and from the Commonwealth Secretariat and other interested parties.”

The Iwokrama International Centre was established by Guyana and the Commonwealth through the donation of approximately 360,000 hectares (one million acres) of intact tropical rainforest by the Government and People of Guyana to the international community.

The responsibility for management, conservation and sustainable development of this forest area (the Iwokrama Forest) has been entrusted to the Iwokrama International Centre, through the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development Act of 1996, and an Agreement between the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth signed on November 9, 1995.

aipaul Sharma, of the Justice For All Party (JFAP), has returned to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), saying the move was intended to ensure that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is unseated on May 11.

Speaking at an APNU press conference held in the studios of CNS Channel 6 on Friday, Sharma said that he had returned to the party in full force and ready to do battle.

Questioned on what prompted his decision, the son of Chandra Narine Sharma, said he has an agenda and an objective to achieve, which is to ensure that the ruling party does not receive a victory in the upcoming elections.

“Well the reason is that we want to remove the PPP/C. That is the main reason, that is our main objective.

“We believe from our party’s humble beginnings many years ago that the PPP/C has not done anything much for the poor people of this country. After 22 years, nothing has really improved.

“And so we will put our trust in the APNU again and give this country an opportunity to make the right decision,”

an impassioned Sharma expressed.

According to him, he has returned stronger and the reasons he resigned earlier will no longer affect him or prompt a similar reaction.

“What Priya [Manickchand] was speaking about, that party is not acting on that platform.

“It is not protecting the rights of women and children in this country.

Only recently a senior Government official’s son was charged for raping an underage girl and they didn’t say anything.

And if they are going to bring the rape issue and point fingers, then I am going to point fingers too.

“Rape is not a big issue to me. I am okay with that. If they want to put Priya Manickchand morally against me, I can handle it,” he said.

He further stated that his return is reflective too of a desire to represent the interests of the poor. “I believe that the A Partnership for National Unity is good for Guyana and I believe that my voice will be heard here,” he justified.

“I do not want to put pressure on the APNU and Brigadier Granger.

Others may say in negotiations that they want

Jaipaul Sharma

this position and that position but we are making a sacrifice. We don’t need a seat or to be in position, we can contribute in other areas, other avenues.

“If everyone wants a piece of the steak, nobody will really get anything. Someone has to give. I will not take. We want a broader coalition and we will make the sacrifice. Let someone else be given the chance to represent the people in the National Assembly, let others get the chance.”

The former Member of Parliament (MP) had resigned on April 3, hours after Speaker Raphael Trotman had lifted the ban which was imposed on Education Minister Priya Manickchand from speaking during the 2014 budget debates.

Manickchand was banned from the de-

bates after refusing to apologise for heckling while APNU MP Volda Lawrence was advocating for stringent measures to be implemented to crack down on rapists and a pedophiles.

“Ask your member APNU Sharma,” the Education Minister had shouted from across the floor. But although Manickchand offered an apology to the House after the incident, Sharma demanded a personal apology.

Sharma had told reporters, the Speaker should not have lifted the ban until Manickchand offered an apology to him, contending that she is now trying to create a perception that he might be a rapist or a paedophile.

According to the APNU member, the PPP/C is using allegations against his father CN Sharma as a political tool to discredit the coalition as elections loom.

In 2010, CN Sharma faced the courts over rape allegations involving a 13-year-old. In April of that year, Chief Magistrate Melissa Ogle-Robertson remanded Sharma to prison following his first court appearance, but he was later placed on Gy$2 million bail after he collapsed in court.

26 NEWS

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

APNU not in favour of Ramkarran to lead Coalition

D

espite being bogged down by their inability to agree with the (Alliance for Change) (AFC) on who will lead a proposed ProDemocracy Alliance (PDA), A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on Sunday said that it would stick with David Granger and did not see former Speaker Ralph Ramkarran being their consensus candidate.

Observers say that Ramkarran has been preparing himself for the post since leaving the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

On Saturday, Ramkarran told this publication that he would seriously consider taking up the post if approached by the Opposition parties but noted that it is highly impossible for this to happen.

“If asked, it is a matter that I would give some consideration to,” the former House Speaker mentioned while stating that no such proposal has been brought to him as it is being reported that the two parties have met a deadlock in deciding a presidential candidate. A coalition between the two Opposition parties is necessary in their quest to unseat the ruling PPP/C. When contacted on Sunday, General Secretary of the APNU Joseph Harmon pointed out that the parties have not come to a point where they have any hurdles to overcome in selecting a presidential can-

Opposition Leader David Granger

AFC Presidential Candidate Moses Nagamootoo

Former Speaker Ralph Ramkarran

didate. He noted that the coalition talks are still ongoing.

Harmon further stated that he did not want to anticipate that there will be a situation where the parties will be faced with hurdles but added that if it comes to that, then they will deal with the matter at that time. “It is not something that we wish to consider or preempt,” Harmon told GTI. The APNU GS went on to point out his party believes Granger is the best candidate for the presidential position but will have to wait and see what comes out of the coalition talks with the Alliance For Change (AFC).

APNU would not want to accept a Ramkarran led-coalition because he is “an old PPP/C man”.

Gaskin explained that Ramkarran is not from either APNU or AFC; as such the parties would not want to pick such a candidate. Gaskin underscored that the APNU still sees Ramkarran as a former PPP/C man just as AFC’s Presidential Candidate, Moses Nagamootoo.

He further mentioned that he does not know what Ramkarran will bring to the table since he has been out of politics for a while, adding that he does not even have a constituency. “At least Nagamootoo has some votes in Berbice,” he noted.

Gaskin added that the former

National Assembly Speaker is an attorney and there are already too many attorneys in both the APNU and AFC parties.

Another political commentator Dr Henry Jeffrey, welcomed the idea of having a “consensus candidate” leading the APNU/AFC coalition.

“It is a good idea to have someone who is not attached to any of the parties to lead the coalition,” he said.

He highlighted that Ramkarran can get the two opposition parties “off the hook” in that there will not be a situation where one party is leading over another, which he noted may cause some complications.

Last week this newspaper reported that the two par-

“An old PPP/C man”

Meanwhile, Political Commentator Ramon Gaskin told this newspaper that the

Nagamootoo confident AFC can...

Police to monitor, analyse records of deportees

By Gomatie Gangadin

A

cting Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud last Thursday told media operatives that the Guyana Police Force will be monitoring the 26 persons who were deported from the United States of America on Tuesday.

According to Persaud, he will soon be able to access the information with regard to the type of crimes committed by the 26 deportees and then they will be monitored based on the nature and seriousness of the act.

“There is an assessment going on now on the need to monitor and for those whom the need arises, we will apply for monitoring orders.

Apart from that, Police would do the normal intelligence-led work…

“I have asked for a report and I will get that after they conduct their analysis and know who they need to monitor and what approach we will take,” the Police Commissioner said.

Persaud also indicated that though the deportees will be monitored and they will continue to be on the Police’s ra-

dar, the Police Force was willing to explore ways of assisting any of the individuals should the need arise, noting that the Force continues to spread its social change through community projects countrywide and as such, the deportees can utilise these projects as a reintegration method.

“We have a lot of community projects going on all over so if they live in those communities, they will be engaged. Outside of that, is if they come and ask for specific information or help that we can provide,” he said.

Guyana’s security officials have routinely blamed some of the more serious crimes, particularly during the 2002 to 2004 crime wave on criminal deportees, and Government had rushed to enact the 2002 amendment to the Crime Prevention Act, which stated that any deportee who poses a threat to public safety can be placed under Police surveillance. The amendment also states that all involuntary remigrants will not be considered first offenders.

Asked whether the Force has engaged any

non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to help reintegrate the persons back into society, he explained that no such systems were in place.

“There is nothing in place as far as I know. There used to be a few years ago when the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) was active, but I am not aware of anything happening right now so they are pretty much like they were before; on their own hoping to get help from relatives and community leaders.”

The US-backed IOM programme sought to assist in the resettlement of criminal deportees in Guyana, but the programme did not produce the desired results, former United States Ambassador to Guyana D Brent Hardt had told this newspaper. He had said that the programme took a while to begin and it just didn’t take root as the US would have liked it to.

Received by relatives

The Police Chief said that all of the deportees have been released from custody and collected by rela-

ties have fundamental issues with establishing the alliance with APNU refusing to change its name and give way to the AFC’s proposed PDA, well placed sources in the negotiating team said.

Well placed sources in the negotiation team also told GTI that the parties are also divided on the symbol for any coalition and a proposal for them to enter the elections on a compromise as APNU/AFC is being extensively discussed.

After more than a month of talks the parties have only agreed on a few policy positions and the need for a Government of national unity.

However, they are skirting around the elephant in the room: the issue of leadership, which AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan has declared must go to his party’s nominee, Moses Nagamootoo.

They are also yet to tackle the other problematic issue of governance, the highly-placed source disclosed.

The source disclosed that at the onset of the discussion between the two parties APNU has refused to concede to changing its name to PDA, insisting that it has worked extensively to sell the idea of APNU and was not willing to give it up.

Secondly, the source told this newspaper that APNU has also refused to accept the structure of a PDA as proposed by the AFC. from page 18

Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud

tives and friends at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters hours after they arrived on Tuesday.

The individuals, many of whom served time in US jails for serious criminal offences, arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) onboard a specially chartered World Atlantic MD-83 aircraft, and were transferred to a 30-seater bus under tight security.

The US Border security personnel handed over the deportees to local law enforcement before they were escorted to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters in Georgetown, for processing prior to being released.

of the National Budget in the tenth Parliament.

This he added was only successful because of a unity it developed with APNU. “And to be fair we need to hold out an appeal to people who once voted for the PPP/C [People's Progressive Party/Civic]; Guyanese of East Indian decent that they have nothing to fear and nothing to lose if they vote for a collation of parties at the next election which include APNU and the PNC,” Nagamootoo told the gathering.

“However if we cannot succeed in this short space of time to bring together a unity among the parties of civil society to have one block contesting the election as happened in Sri Lanka… then obviously we are prepared to go alone as sad and disappointing as that may be.” He said the AFC will like to share the Government with APNU and give three places to the PPP/C. According to the party Vice Chairman, if the nation has another minority Government and the PPP/C gets back into power with 35 per cent of the votes and 65

to the Opposition, no one can guarantee that Guyana will have stability or peace. “Thirtyfive per cent cannot rule 65 per cent it is not only immoral, it is mathematically wrong,” he shouted.

Speaking of plans the AFC has said if it is to be elected into Government, the party will ensure that no one earning a salary of below Gy$70,000 will be required to pay income tax.

Public servants will receive a 10 per cent across the board wage hike and the cost to cross the Berbice River Bridge will be reduced to Gy$1000 for a small vehicle.

Nagamootoo also said that under an AFCled Government, the current marijuana laws will be reviewed. Central Executive Member Michael Carrington while addressing the gathering said that if elected, the party will double the investments made in health and education.

This was the first time the eight-year-old alliance held a public meeting in that part of New Amsterdam.

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

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WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit…

Jagdeo says issue of climate finance remains a challenge

F

ormer President Bharrat Jagdeo said while momentum is building towards a global climate change agreement, the issue of climate finance remains a challenge.

Jagdeo made this declaration at the 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) which was held from February 5-7 in New Delhi, India under the theme “Sustainable Development Goals and Dealing with Climate Change”.

In delivering his keynote address, the former Head of State said there needs to be urgent action on climate finance, particularly on the part of the developed world. He added that early commitments and ambitious support is also needed from all countries.

Jagdeo highlighted that the pledges of US$10 billion to the Green Climate Fund, which was made at the Lima meeting in 2014, is not adequate to achieve the results that are needed.

Meanwhile, he emphasised that urgent action is required to raise the US$100 billion by 2020, the target that was agreed to in Copenhagen in 2009.

Referring to the United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Climate Finance, Jagdeo noted that options are available

From left to right: Former President Bharrat Jagdeo, Chair of the Session, Dr Prodipto Ghosh and Former Prime Minister of Norway Kjell Magne Bondevik

to mobilise the finance that is required, but it needs strong political will and commitment.

Additionally, Jagdeo expressed that a high level of ambition and determination should be maintained going into the Climate Change Conference in Paris this year.

Irrespective of the outcome of Paris, he said bilateral and other arrangements are needed to support a global agreement by helping to tackle some of the critical areas including moving to renewable energy; emissions from the transport sector and addressing deforestation.

Further, Jagdeo outlined

the progress that Guyana and Norway have made through the pioneering Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) model, which by the end of this year; Guyana would have received approximately US$250 million for avoided deforestation from Norway.

Additionally, that money would have been injected into a suite of low carbon investments which help to secure and maintain forests, support adaptation interventions and diversify the local economy by supporting green projects and initiatives and embracing renewable energy.

Jagdeo, who has become a global figure in climate change, was invited by the Chair of the UN Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Dr Rajendra Pachauri to join several world leaders and international experts at the Delhi Summit.

Other Leaders in attendance were former Prime Minister of Norway, Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, former President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, and former President of Ireland and UN Secretary General Special Envoy on Climate Change, Mary Robinson.

The annual event which is organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) since 2001, provides a platform for knowledge exchange and debate on all aspects of sustainable development.

Over the past 10 years, it has emerged as one of the most important fora on global sustainability issues, with a focus on developing world solutions.

Meanwhile, the international conference in Paris will be held at the Le Bourget site from November 30 to December 11.

The overarching goal of the convention is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase to two degrees Celsius about pre-industrial levels.

Negotiations are underway to develop a new international climate change agreement that will cover all countries.

The new agreement will take the form of a protocol, another legal instrument or ‘an agreed outcome with legal force’, and will be applicable to all Parties.

The 2015 agreement will have to bring together the current patchwork of binding and non-binding arrangements under the UN climate convention into a single comprehensive regime.

It is expected to be implemented from 2020.

UG strike action: Classes slowly resuming GECOM trains staff

S

everal students and lecturers at the University of Guyana Turkeyen Campus turned up on Monday to begin the new semester in the midst of industrial action by the workers’ unions.

Guyana Times International observed on Monday that students of the Health Sciences Faculty and Law Department were among the growing number who showed up to attend classes. Some found lecturers in their classrooms ready to teach at the allotted time.

Nicholas Carryl, a thirdyear law student, told this publication that he had a class as early as 08:00h.

Another student opined that while several full-time lecturers in the aforementioned departments have attended scheduled classes, the majority of those who showed up were part time.

The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) continued their strike and were gathered on the campus early Monday. They have refused an offer of 25 per cent increase from the administration which later called off negotiations.

Dr Melissa Ifill, President of the UGSSA, stated that lecturers still supported the protest actions for an increase in the

salaries of both supporting staff and lecturers.

A number of students had expressed their opinions that the Unions were quite unrealistic in their decision to not accept the administration’s offer.

Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor (VC) Jacob Opadeyi has responded to the University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) on a list of concerns that affect students at the Turkeyen Campus. But, according to him, while action has been taken immediately to address a few of the concerns, some will require time.

On February 3, the UGSS sent a 15-point list of concerns to Professor Opadeyi for him to address, expressing that the students would not return to classes until these aims were met.

Through the pen of Economics Major Mario Joseph, the UGSS outlined several concerns that are obstacles to the efficient delivery of education at the university.

The young man detailed that the physical condition of the University required the immediate attention of the administration. He listed that the University should be properly bordered, have adequate ancillary staff to clean the washrooms, the plumbing situation should be addressed to avoid backups of the toilets, stray an-

Vice Chancellor, Dr Jacob Opadeyi

imals gotten rid, the grass cut for students’ safety and to also bolster security.

The students were also demanding an updated library, proper teaching materials, tools for class practicals and among other things.

In a correspondence to the UGSS, the VC indicated that he was trying to ensure that some, if not all, of their concerns were addressed. Currently, the VC has been able to make the grades of some students available; the outstanding grades are with protesting lecturers. Also, he said that the fields have been weeded.

Additionally, he stated that three new classrooms have already been constructed for students.

Opadeyi said he planned to construct another auditorium for class delivery.

The VC stated too that he would immediately ensure the installation of toilet paper, dryers and other washroom amenities for students’ use. However, he stated that it would be a challenge to ensure that these necessities are not taken from the washrooms right after they have been put there.

With immediate effect also, VC Opadeyi stated that he will be ensuring that lecturers and students have adequate chalk, dry erasers, projectors, speakers and other needed teaching materials for classes and practical (labs).

On the UGSS’s other concerns, Opadeyi stated that he would need to consult with the administration, third parties on working with the cleaners for better washroom conditions and the security for a safer campus.

He said that by the end of February, he would be seeking the services of an electrician to evaluate the University’s wiring and thus would be able to cater for additional outlets and charging stations.

Also, by March, a plumber would be contracted by the University to evaluate the plumbing.

The Professor had stated this should establish what was needed to improve the use of the washrooms as well as avoid water issues.

for Disciplined Services balloting

T

he Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) continues to intensify its preparation for Elections 2015 with the training of persons to work either as Ballot Attendants or Ballot Clerks for the Disciplined Services balloting.

In a release, GECOM said the training exercise took place last Saturday at St Joseph’s High School and was attended by trainers currently utilised by GECOM to train Polling Day staff.

Participants were taught the important duties of the Ballot Officer, Ballot Attendants, as well as those of the Ballot Clerk.

Moreover, they were given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the relevant content and methodology required for the efficient and effective conduct of the Disciplined Services balloting.

As the training session progressed, participants acquainted themselves with the relevant forms and

envelopes required for the proper conduct of the Disciplined Services ballot.

In addition, they were given practice on how to accurately complete the relevant forms and records that are part of the Disciplined Services balloting process.

Participants were also able to develop a deep appreciation for the organisational structure that will be utilised to facilitate the efficient, effective and transparent conduct of the Disciplined Services balloting.

Additionally, participants further enlightened themselves on all the activities to be conducted before the day the Disciplined Services cast their ballots, on the very day of the balloting during the poll, and after the close of poll.

This one-day training session was facilitated by three of GECOM’s most experienced trainers in election processes: Joseph Gilgeous, Roxanne RamdyhanLewi, and Nardeo Persaud.

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WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

GECOM cannot guarantee next- Indo-Caribbean day declaration of official results group lobbies

T

he Guyana E l e c t i o n s Commission (GECOM) on Thursday signaled that it could not guarantee next-day declaration of official results for the upcoming May 11 general and regional elections, but would strive to do so in the shortest possible time with the priority being on accuracy.

Following is the full text of a statement issued by the Commission: The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) wishes to strongly assert that notwithstanding its greatest desire to provide accurate results of the upcoming May 11 elections at the earliest possible time, it remains exceedingly cognizant of the existing logistical and other challenges it faces in doing so.

In that regard, GECOM would like to encourage all Guyanese citizens to be very cautious and responsible and to carefully manage their expectations of the timely announcement of the May 11 elections result.

GECOM has noticed some reports in certain sections of the media suggesting that the 2015 elections results can mostly likely be de-

GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally

clared the day after the polls. Please be advised that there exists a number of logistical challenges directly related to the geographic peculiarities that exist particularly in the hinterland areas. Similarly, there are a number of unforeseen circumstances which can or may occur that can have an adverse effect on the timely delivery of the elections results. Therefore, while

GECOM will do its utmost to produce timely results, it will not do so at the expense of accuracy.

GECOM would like to lucidly state that the delivery of accurate elections results remains one of the priorities of the Commission, and it will not be sacrificing its ability to deliver true and accurate results on the altar of expediency.

The electoral sys-

tem to be used for the conduct of Elections 2015 will be the system of Proportional Representation, along with some elements of Geographical and Gender Representation.

Guyana is one single constituency consisting of hundreds of thousands of electors responsible for the election of the President and the 65 members of the National Assembly. This means that in order for GECOM to arrive at accurate results, all votes from all the polling stations across the length and breadth of Guyana must be counted.

GECOM would like reiterate that one of its main priorities is to manage elections in Guyana, effectively and efficiently, guaranteeing that they are free, fair and transparent. At the same time, we are committed to ensuring the timely delivery of accurate results to the public. GECOM’s success has been confirmed time and again in previous elections, and the Commission intends to further maintain its stellar record of prudent and professional elections management during the May 11 elections.

President Obama on Relief Programmes

O

n February 4, 2015, DRUM - South Asian Organizing Center organizer Rishi Singh and other activists from the United We Dream coalition met with President Obama to affirm the importance of relief programmes such as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents), their implementation, and also to push for relief for those who are currently excluded from the President’s Executive Action.

The programmes provide temporary relief from deportation (deferred action) and work authorization to unauthorized parents of U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), or to certain young people brought to the United States as children (DACA). The programmes benefit nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants.

DRUM, which organizes low-income South Asian and IndoCaribbean immigrants, workers, and youth, was the lead organiza-

tion in New York State for the campaign for Administrative Relief.

DRUM began to organize for Administrative Relief in late 2013, and publicly launched the campaign in April of 2014, which included actions targeting the President and DHS locally and nationally.

Rishi Singh, originally from Trinidad, has been an organizer with DRUM for 12 years, where he has led DRUM’s campaign for Administrative Relief for undocumented immigrants over the last year and a half. In his meeting with President Obama, he told the President that “over 6 million undocumented immigrants are excluded from the program, including those from LGBTQ communities, and those with prior criminal records.”

Rishi said that this meeting with the President is part of a broader struggle, “This is a testament to the power of organizing and our ability to win real change that will benefit the lives of our community.”

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WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Deaf youth to benefit from new chess club

T

Deaf students having fun playing chess

he game of chess is not just about the king, it is a tool to increase higher-level thinking skills, advance math and reading skills, and build self-confidence.

Cognisant of these benefits, the recently founded National Deaf Chess Club plans to help deaf youths develop strategic skills while fostering lasting friendships.

“The Deaf Chess Club was recently founded by those present at the Deaf Association of Guyana’s second chess workshop with national

coach Wendell Meusa,” Sabine McIntosh, president of DAG, said in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine “As such there is no formal structure as yet. The next step is to have discussions with the Guyana Chess Federation.”

McIntosh stated that the club aims to promote chess among deaf youths, in and out of school, and bring it to a level where the club can compete in matches organized by the International Chess Committee of the Deaf.

“At our recent Day of

Games, held annually for students and adults, approximately 16 persons participated, from ages 14 to 24. So far, DAG has held two competitions during Day of Games and two as part of two chess workshops. Deaf students learn to play like anybody else, but with an interpreter present. Chess has helped to build their self-esteem the same way accomplishments build self-esteem in youths generally,” McIntosh noted.

David Rose Special School’s Joel Humphrey emerged winner of the

recently held rapid minichess competition for deaf students and youths at the National Sports Resource Centre on Woolford Avenue. Asiyah Bacchus, from Tuschen Deaf Academy, collected the Diane Scoboria trophy for best female player. The tournament was organized by DAG in collaboration with the Royal Chess Academy, and was conducted by Meusa.

“Based on the results, a national team, with Robin Munilall from New Amsterdam as team captain, was selected and six team members were charged to be ambassadors of chess in general and deaf chess in particular. It was certainly the right time to launch a National Deaf Chess Club, which will allow for

structured training sessions and will bring more deaf players - especially the very young ones - into the game. I challenged the players to organize competitions in their respective schools and promised to provide incentives,” McIntosh mentioned.

The tournament was preceded by a workshop session during which Meusa introduced the participants to some of the fundamentals of chess. Facilitated through interpreting into GSL (Guyana Sign Language)

by Jenel Bishop, teacher of the deaf at David Rose Special School, and Mike Morgan, Peace Corps volunteer, the participants followed the presentation with rapt attention.

“Number one on our

list is the need for a deaf centre where we can have on-going activities, among them training sessions (in many areas) and competitions. This is very important for DAG and the deaf community. We also need sponsors to come onboard, so that we can organize more training sessions and competitions for the players, who so far come from Regions Three, Four and Six. Our focus is to get more deaf youths involved in chess, getting more exposure with other chess players (hearing), and taking part in national and regional school and open chess competitions,” McIntosh outlined.

For more information, contact McIntosh on 2254489 or Wendell Meusa on 672-6017. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Joel Humphrey (right) emerged as the winner of the recently held rapid mini chess competition for deaf students

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Aerial view of Brickdam and Hadfield Streets with Parliament Buildings in central view (Photo by Amanda Richards)

Continued from last week, Vincent Roth’s book “Roth’s Pepper-Pot” details the origins of the names of the streets of Georgetown.

C

harlestown was laid out on the front lands of Plantation Le Repentir and named after Charles, Duke of Brunswick, who commanded against the French and died in 1806. This district was laid out in two sections: the first about the year 1806 extending from

the river to Charles Street, and the second in 1820 extending eastwards to Charlestown Back Dam bordering the Le Repentir Cemetery and now called Adelaide Street.

Prince’s Street (not Princess Street as it is so often erroneously called) was on older maps shown as Clarence Street after the Duke of Clarence, subsequently King William IV, but its more comprehensive title was probably meant to embrace all the royal

Prince's Street, Georgetown

princes, sons of George III. Green Street was probably named after a member of the Green family, a popular family in the early 19th century. One of the family members, Gardner Green, was the proprietor of Plantation Greenfield on the East Coast.

Lyng Street was named after William Lyng, who was a clerk of markets and town superintendent in the 1800s.

He retired in 1852. He

was also a Major of militia and JP. Russell Street was named after the celebrated statesman, minister and premier of England Lord John Russell. He died in 1878.

Adelaide Street, formerly known as Charlestown Back Dam, was named after Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV, who died in 1849.

Light Street was named after Henry Light Esq., governor from 1840 to 1847.

Forshaw Street was named in memory of George Anderson Forshaw, a solicitor and many times Mayor of

Georgetown who died in 1889.

Peter Rose Street was named after Peter Rose, member of the Court Policy where he was one of British Guiana’s “strong men”.

When Albouystown was incorporated into the city on April 1, 1913, the district was known as Albouystown Village and, from this, it can be assumed that its settlement began within the living memory of its ownership by James H. Albuoy 18251832. James H. Albuoy was a local businessman, owner of the old coffee and sugar estate of La Penitence, and di-

rector of Messrs. Albuoy and Co. Note the correct spelling of the name is Albuoy and not Albouy as it is officially and incorrectly spelt.

Garnett, Campbell, Curtis and Barr streets commemorate the oldestablished firms once located in those streets, while Non Pariel, Bel Air and Hogg Streets commemorate Quintin Hogg and some of his estates.

Hill Street, in Albouystown, was named after either Jacobus C. R. Hill, once a town clerk, or Luke M. Hill, once a town superintendent. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

The Heritage Home of Cheddi and Janet Jagan (grey and white house) in Bel Air

32 News

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TT Gov’t takes aim at cybercrime P

ORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: Government is aggressively drafting effective legislation to combat cybercrime, says Cornell Buckradee, advisor to Science and Technology Minister Dr Rupert Griffith.

Speaking on behalf of the minister at the virtual launch of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union’s (CTU) headquarters in Port-ofSpain, Buckradee said the ministry is placing great priority on e-Legislative initiatives including amendments to the Telecommunications Act and the Electronic Transaction Act. He said the policy framework for TT’s information, communication and technology (ICT) sector was driven by an understanding that expanded connectivity would stimulate domestic growth and provide scope for greater participation by the population in the global information economy.

Buckradee said the state would adopt a set of underlying policy principles which included nurturing a sustainable and financially viable communications sector and developing a robust policy and regulatory framework that ensures com-

Barbados to preserve and build on tourism product, says PM

B Cornell Buckradee, left, advisor to the Minister of Science and Technology, with Kirk Sookram of the Telecommunication Authority of TT (TATT) and CTU consultant Gary Kalloo, at the virtual launch of the CTU’s new headquarters

petition and encourages growth.

“While we have achieved much, we are not complacent about our current position. Going forward, we have several initiatives including that of improvements in the ICT legislative environment encompassing the areas of e-commerce, e-banking and other online services. TT is also currently working on developing its cybercrime legislation to properly regulate and safeguard cyber-activities.”

He added: “We are now going further in eGovernment so as to transform how we create and deliver public service. In recognition that we have a more educated and technologicallysavvy citizenry that has higher expectations and

wants to play a more active role in national affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology, through its agency iGovtt has been bringing an increasing amount of Government services online.”

He said the ministry is collaborating with international research institutes, universities and others that are leaders to identify and develop the best concepts, ideas and strategies.

Buckradee said the ministry is rolling out its national ICT plan, SmarTT, a virtual road map with the aim of making the ICT sector a major contributor to GDP in the shortest possible time. SmarTT focuses on enhancing the quality of life, improving service delivery, increas-

ing national competitiveness and creating new opportunities for citizens and businesses.

“Our goal is to cultivate society in which our citizens are empowered and human imagination drives social transformation and economic growth. The government of TT has recognised that our education system must keep pace with the rapid growth of technology of the 21st century.

“In addition to our highly successful laptop initiative for every child within the secondary school system and the innovative Smart Classroom project, this Government has incorporated ICT within its education curricular at various levels,” he said.

(TT Guardian)

RIDGETOWN, BARBADOS: The government is committed to preserving, improving and diversifying Barbados’s tourism product so the country can continue to be on the cutting edge of the industry, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said last Wednesday night when he addressed the second 2015 reception for repeat visitors.

Stuart told the tourists that a number of stakeholders had contributed significantly to their visits being enjoyable and he highlighted the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) as one such organisation.

He continued: “I want to say thanks to the RBPF for continuing to do the excellent work which it has been doing in preserving and promoting this country’s security.

"I know that the Force maintains a regular connection with the tourism actors in Barbados, ensuring that like a sensitive seismograph, the Force registers all of those fluctuations taking place in the tourist

community and making sure that it responds creatively and decisively to those changes.

Stuart pointed out that visitors had identified the warmth and charm of Barbadians as the appealing qualities which lured them to these shores, and insisted that the development of those qualities was no accident. He stressed that the government had invested heavily in education, which he described as a form of empowerment, so citizens could exercise a greater degree of control over their lives.

Stuart thanked the visitors for showing confidence in the island and urged them to spread the word that Barbados is a slice of paradise.

Some of the visitors attending the reception included Elsie Manning from the United Kingdom, who was on her 67th visit; Paul Harmeier of the USA who has visited 54 times; and Canadians Jerry Pankhurst and his wife Margrit Fritschi, who have been to Barbados about 50 times.

(Caribbeannewsnow)

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Carnival in Humanitarian Trinidad Mission empowering women and children P

By Anu Dev

Everything being a constant carnival, there is no carnival left” – Victor Hugo

F

rom Victor Hugo’s comment above, you’d suppose he really knows Trinidad and Trinidadians. After a year and a half in Trinidad, I really think that the culture of Carnival has become the culture of Trinidad.

Ok…Ok…I might be guilty of exaggeration …but not by much! It has been said that of the 365 days in the year, Trinis celebrate Carnival for two days and spend the rest of the year preparing for it. Carnival’s going to be celebrated next Monday and Tuesday, and even in our very staid Med School, you can feel the excitement building to a crescendo which’ll soon explode.

But we all have to admit that Victor Hugo, the author of Les Miserables, knew a thing or two about man and society. The Carnival of Paris was the grandmother of all Carnivals and set the theme for those in New Orleans (Mardi Gras), Rio de Janeiro and of course, Trinidad.

So what’s with a French influence in Trinidad?? Aha! Once again I can justify taking Caribbean History at QC! After good old Toussaint launched the revolution that ended slavery in Haiti, a bunch of French planters fled to Trinidad and took their customs, including Carnival.

Today, they’re called the French Creole ― and still in the thick of Carnival 200 years later. In Paris, one of the characteristics of Carnival was the mixing of all classes in the streets in revelry, and in Trinidad, while slaves were banned from Carnival during slavery, this tradition of mixing gradually became accepted after the abolition of slavery.

I haven’t seen Carnival yet, but on my first trip to Trinidad ― to attend the CXC award ceremony in 2011, I had my first exposure to the preparation that goes into the extravaganza that we see in magazines and TV. We visited a “camp” where the costumes were made and steelpans tunes were being tuned and practiced.

And this was in December ― fully two months before Carnival was to be held! The costumes were so ornate and intricate that they really took my breath away! It really put our paltry efforts for Mashramani to shame.

From Christmas onwards, the Calypso tents and Soca competitions will be open to entertain massive crowds.

The steelpan rivalries between bands will culminate in the massive Panorama competition. Over the radio and the TV, even in Med School you can’t escape the fact that “Carnival is (literally) in the air”.

From what I’ve been told and read, Carnival in Trinidad begins early on Monday morning – and we’re talking 04:00h here! ― with J’Ouvert. Folks will pour into the streets covered in mud, oil, paint or whatever you can smear over your body to represent the underworld of demons and devils.

All inhibitions are thrown into the wind as one gyrates or “wines” to the beat of Soca music. I’m sure that whenever I work up the courage to look at Carnival, I’ll be missing J’Ouvert. If for nothing else, that I love my early morning sleep too much!

Then comes “dayclean” and the J’Ouvert revellers are replaced by the massive bands “Playing Mas”. This is what most of us know as “Playing Carnival” ― the costumes, the “jump up” the “wining” and the general “carrying on” in which everything goes. It’s still a time when all classes and strata take the opportunity to mix and more than “mingle” ― as in old, merry Paris.

Nowadays chutney music has joined Soca and Calypso.

But Tuesday is the real Carnival ― with the processions of the organized bands of masquerades doing their thing for the TV cameras and the judges.

Though I’m not planning on “Playing Carnival” this year, I’m definitely looking forward to the looong weekend!

resident of the Humanitarian Mission of New Jersey Arya Samaj Inc (HMNJAS), Pandit Suresh Sugrim is committed to working with troubled Guyanese to give them a new lease of life through empowerment. Additionally, he educates persons on the various social ills that are destroying core societal morals and values.

HMNJAS was established in New Jersey in 1986 and gave birth to the Humanitarian Society in Guyana in 2005. It is a nonprofit, charitable, religious, cultural and social organisation. Since its establishment in Guyana, Sugrim said the organisation has worked on several projects across the country including building houses for single mothers, empowering children by providing medical and school supplies, empowering women in abusive relationships or victims of gender-based violence by encouraging them to walk away.

“Most of the time when a woman is killed in a gender-based or domestic violence situation, at the end of the scenario we hear that they were in abusive relationships. As an organisation, we have journeyed to Guyana, reaching out to women who face such situations and asked them to leave. In the event they want to leave but do not have the finances for them to do so, we will finance them from time to time”.

According to the HMNJAS President, in 2013 the organisa-

Pandit Suresh Sugrim

to help themselves.

Education

Sugrim pointed out that Guyanese parents need to start educating their children not only on academics but also on social ills from a young age. He noted that many times parents send their children to school and expect teachers to do all the work.

The Pandit said parents ought to be reminded that they too have to take up their responsibilities as parents.

“We read the papers on a daily basis and see domestic violence, abuse, rapes, suicide which is clogging the nation at a high lev-

plagued with.

“We need to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers; unless we are not ready to face these challenges then we will be preparing ourselves for more and more problems within our community.

There is tremendous lawlessness that is being promoted and parents need to take control of their children”. He outlined that “charity begins at home,” noting that what starts at home is what the children will take outside.

Sugrim said Guyana is not the only country facing these problems but other countries around the world. He stated that while the Government and other agencies have implemented many programmes to curb the many ills that have been destroying the fabric of family foundation in the country; they cannot do so by themselves. He stressed that persons need to be educated on the various social issues before they can go ahead to fight them.

Meanwhile, the organisation is currently working on a skills development center in Berbice to educate and empower the less fortunate, particularly school dropouts. The building, which is located at Ankerville Port Mourant, Corentyne, began construction in 2012 and is almost completed.

“We will be creating jobs within the base of the foundation because in Berbice there are many young children who finish UG and High School and have qualifications but do not have the job

The Humanitarian Mission Village in Berbice

tion realised it had spent billions on local projects when in fact money and handouts are not the permanent solution to the problems. He explained that in order to break the cycle of poverty, which he believes is the root of all the problems, the organisation started to focus on education and empowerment.

“Our goal is to educate and empower all those who are willing to help themselves. We no longer believe in handouts because handouts are the temporary solutions to the problem”. Nevertheless, the organisation still distributes items to disabled persons and others who are physically unable

el right now. We talk about HIV; we talk about sexual abuse 12, 13-year-olds already becoming mothers. And if you look at the whole concept of all the ills in our society, it really goes back to education”.

The US-based Guyanese recalled growing up in Guyana when children were taught morals and values not only by their parents but the entire society. On this note, he implored both parents and the Guyanese society to accept that “it takes an entire village to raise a child.” He stressed that this is the only way that Guyanese can take back their society from all of the social ills it is

opportunities, so we will be looking at this. We want to mould back our society”.

The Pandit is calling on the corporate society to join with HMNJAS and donate funding, so that the organisation can be better able to serve troubled Guyanese and offer them a better life.

Persons interested in making donations to the organisation can contact Pandit Sugrim on 973-868-6163 or on ssugrim@aol. com. Contact can also be made with Pandit Dhanesar, the treasurer of the organisation based in Guyana, on 337-1427 or dhanesarkamal@gmail.com

34 feature

A

ccording to “The Guyana Story” by Odeen Ishmael, one of the major problems that Georgetown faced at one time was the availability of water for domestic use.

Ishmael writes that in 1825, one of the leading citizens, Dr Michael McTurk, proposed the construction of a canal to bring water from the Lamaha Creek, some distance south of Georgetown. The author added that the proposal won support from both the central government and the town council, and by 1829, a canal from Camuni Creek

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

to Georgetown was completed with the labour of hundreds of slaves.

In the town itself,smaller canals branching off from the Lamaha Canal were dug and these provided the supply of water to the residents. It was not until 1885 that the people of Georgetown began to get their water supply through pipes after mechanical pumps were purchased by the council.

In “The Story of Georgetown”, James Rodwaymentioned, “…it appears there was already a small canal at the back of

Cuming’s Lodge known as Ward’s Trench, dug

by Mr. Ward of Industry to connect with No. 3 Canal; this was to be enlarged and continued to the Lamaha Creek at the expense of the estates, and a connection made for the town by a trench 12 ft wide on the level, 6 ft at the bottom, and 5 ft deep...”

Rodway added that on “October 29, 1829, an Act for the better preservation of the Lamaha Fresh-Water Canal and Reservoir within the precincts of Georgetown recites that a canal and reservoir have been formed”.

The Canal under construction n.d.

Lamaha Canal 1870

Lamaha Canal, Georgetown n.d.

E A section of the Lamaha Canal today

Preserving our heritage through pictures

DEMERARA: STREET IN GEORGETOWN n.d

Who's Cowshid real bossman

very where yuh go in life, it always gotta boss man. At home, de boss man most times is de man. But some homes ain’t got no man, so de woman does have to be de boss man. Plus some homes got men who does only play men, so de women does have to tek over still.

Then it got some pickney who does wanna play boss fuh dem mammy and daddy. De one pun de East Coast de other day even thought he coulda also be boss fuh some body else pickney. He had to run back to de real boss, but this is one hole he daddy can’t tek he out from.

Not to mention some homes got two men and some got two women. That is a very popular ting nowadays, and both sides does be boss at de same time, regardless of who ever on top of tings or who ever wanna get to de bottom of every ting.

In de wuk place also got bosses. Some times it does have too many bosses and some times it don’t have no body to be de boss to tek responsibility fuh any ting, especially when tings go wrong. And some boss men does be boss fuh another man wuk place.

That is whah happening right now wid tings goin wrong at Gee-R-A. Cowshid de tax man suppose to know whah goin on because he is de boss man. But when yuh call de tax man to understand whah really happen, he tellin people to call de other other boss man.

Yet when it come de ordinary man who wanna bring in a small bus, de tax man does be a real boss man and stop dem from puttin it in ‘B’ or ‘G’. But another boss man bring in not one but two Lexus and he get it duty free.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! And Cowshid de tax man seh is not he fault, but he boss man. But Cowshid still not sayin who is he real boss man!

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Shanta and Ramsagar Singh grew up in earlier times but their love for each other remains strong even now

W

e find love sometimes in the most unexpected ways and unpredictable moments. That’s what happened to two persons many years ago.

It became a story of love, commitment and endurance; qualities Shanta Singh and her husband Ramsagar Singh now hold dear. This love story, recalled by Shanta, looks back at her arranged marriage to the most wonderful person.

It is a story of ‘like’ becoming love.

Shanta, 55, and Ramsagar, 65, grew up together in the village of Grove. They lived about a street away from each other and attended the same church. In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Shanta recalled that Ramsagar would visit her home regularly because her parents fa-

Shanta and Ramsagar Singh

was 25, we got engaged.

That made my mother very happy because she admired him for having all the qualities of a good husband. At first I didn’t agree to get married to him because I said I was too young and that he was way older. I didn’t know anything about love or relationships. But

Ramsagar and Shanta when they got married in 1977

voured him due to his maturity and esteem.

She recalled that he would take her to Sunday school on his bicycle and would carry her home in his arms when she slept away in church, but she had no idea he liked her.

“I had no clue, nor did my parents, that he liked me,” she reminisced. “Of course being ten years older than me, it didn’t occur he would like me.

I can remember when one of my sisters-in-law asked him when he was getting married, and he told her that the person wasn’t mature enough as yet and that he has to wait. I didn’t think he would want to marry me because he was more educated than I am. I only went to primary school and didn’t get to complete that level because my family was very poor.”

When Shanta got older, Ramsagar expressed his interest in her.

Shanta said her mother was overjoyed because she really admired his character and would always say he would make a wonderful husband.

“When I was 15, he

my mother sat me down and told me that he is a good person and he would take care of me. Of course, long ago, you had to listen to your parents, and so I eventually gave in. Ramsagar waited two more years, when I was 17, and we got married on February 19, 1977. He was a supervisor back then and later he became a teacher. He even taught me how to read.

I then realised that my mother’s decision for me to marry this wonderful man was right all along,” Shanta revealed.

Eventually, Shanta’s ‘like’ for Ramsagar turned into love, and their marriage was as if it was etched in heaven itself. She grew to love him completely, but Ramsagar’s love went as far back as when he took that peaceful, sleeping girl home from church in his arms.

There were challenges when they got married, but Shanta and Ramsagar’s mutual love for each other and for God helped pull them through. Shanta said they would read the bible and pray together, and

she credits that for solidifying their bond.

However, when the couple decided to move to Suriname, seeking better opportunities, life challenged the union.

“After we had two of our sons, we decided to go to Suriname to seek a better financial opportunity for my family,” she recalled, “When I got my third son, in Suriname, about 1986, was when my husband lost his job.

It was tough times. My two other sons were 5 and 6. My husband was doing menial work and although it was tough, we endured together. We had no other support, and many days would have nothing to eat. In the mornings I would drink sugar water just to get something in my stomach. My third son, who was breastfeeding, had to drink sugar water too because we didn’t have money to buy milk. We ensured that the two older sons get to eat and my husband and I would stay without. That’s when my front teeth began to rot and I had to pull them out. I was without four of my front teeth for about three years; of course I couldn’t afford dentures.

I felt ashamed of it, but my husband would tell me that God made me beautiful and that he [Ramsagar] loves me just as I am. Ramsagar would assure me that one day will come when I’ll get my teeth fixed and I’ll look more beautiful.

That really carried me through all those years.

My husband remained faithful for all the years we have been married and I’m truly lucky to have a great guy like him,” Shanta shared.

Ramsagar always commended Shanta for being a person of character and for her inner and outer beauty – reasons why he married her.

Additionally, he told this publication, he has never regretted marrying Shanta as she turned out

to be the perfect mother and wife – his perfect soul mate.

Looking back at the many years of an enjoyable marriage, Shanta said her advice to young wives like she was, is to be content with what their husbands can provide. Being contented, she pointed out, is one of the many factors that contributed to the peace of her marriage.

“Don’t look at what other women possess and what you lack, because then you may be inclined to pressure your husband and that can create problems. Being contented with what you have contributes to a peaceful marriage.

Communication and trust are also essential for a happy marriage.

Not forgetting having God in your marriage and praying together as a couple,” Shanta advised.

Now, Shanta and Ramsagar enjoy a beautiful marriage filled with love and memories of a wonderful life together.

They have five children and five grandchildren.

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

De wild west in Guyana

S

ome people right fuh seh that Guyana gettin from bad to worse. De country gettin like de wild west. Instead of law and order, people gettin outta order and de country gettin more outlaws.

A man get charge fuh murder in de interior and he get bail. And was only until people find out that dem change it. If no body didn’t find out, de man woulda be a free man on de road to kill another man. That was how de wild west was.

A big man knock down lil Johnny fuf life. Lil Johnny cry till dem even stop he from cryin. Now Lil Johnny start cryin all over again because de big man ain’t even had to answer why he knock down Lil Johnny. That is wild west style.

Another big man been gettin off over de years fuh a long time wid back track. Even he visa get tek way and he lie till he get it back from de very same embassy people who he tell de lies to.

Dis is de same man who call de tax man and cuss he up nasty just because de man was doin he tax wuk. When he done cuss de tax man he turn round and threaten to kill he. Eventually de tax man get friken like a lil gyal and seh he ain’t want nutten to do wid de matter.

To add insult to injury, de same man surface again before de court and de same ting happen all over again. De tax man who supposed to collect all de taxes suddenly seh he ain’t want no more taxes from this man. Cowshid musbe hope to collect cows instead. That coulda only happen in de wild west.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! A man in de market seh he goin and tell he uncle who was a watch man at Wal Mart to send two BMW fuh he and he wife. Never mind he uncle dead last week. After all is de wild wild Guyana!

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WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

This week's Crossword

This week's Puzzle

see solution on page 47

The art of the deal …between Jagan and Nagga Some people are really barefaced…but Nagamootoo takes the cake. Trying to justify hopping into bed with the PNC/APNU, he dares to compare himself with Dr Cheddi Jagan. As in: “Cheddi always tried to form a coalition with the PNC – so what’s the problem with me doing it??”

Well, it’ll take a book to describe “the problem” but it all boils down to the simple observation that not only is Nagamootoo NOT Jagan…he’s not even in the same universe!!

When it comes to forming partnerships and coalitions and other such joint ventures…there’s always the question of “why?” And in principled politics not, “What’s in it for me??” but, “Why is it for the greater good?”

Jagan’s position was always a principled one – he could bargain from a position of strength and magnanimity to be “inclusive”. And that’s because he knew that the cause of Guyana would’ve been furthered. What’s Nagamootoo’s motivation?? Spite and envy and lust for power, that’s what! What’s in it for me is his motto. Nagamootoo wants to be President soooo bad, it hurts.

The AFC began by promising principled politics that would lend their support to the PPP/C or PNC depending on what’s good for the country. Was Linden good for the country? Agricola?? AML/CFT and AFHEP nixed??

Amerindian Development Programme slashed?? NO!!

Nagamootoo and his buddy Ramjattan sacrificed principles on the altar of expediency. Anything for power!! And we come to the coalition negotiations with the PNC. Now the truth of the matter is there ain’t gonna be no coalition. Nagamootoo’s trying to convince Granger that the AFC can pry away some votes from the PPP/C’s traditional constituency. “Splitting” the Indian vote, so to speak. Enough to let the PNC slide in the Presidency with a plurality.

Joined at the hip with the PNC, the AFC is worth squat. It’ll be “dead meat” as Ramjattan confessed in a rare bout of candour.

It was for this reason that Ramjattan abrogated the “ethnic rotation” leadership principle of the AFC to exclude Nigel Hughes as its Presidential Candidate – and Hughes went along without a squeak! With Hughes at the helm – the AFC would’ve snagged the African Guyanese vote – as Trotman did in 2006 – and this wouldn’t have been in Hughes strategic interest.

These present negotiations are “secret” on the request of the AFC because they don’t want folks to see all their bargaining for is for positions in a PNC Government.

Jagan never sunk to this level of cynicism.

Nagamootoo should know that time longer than twine! …to the Burnham touch This paper carried a piece that by launching their campaign on Burnham’s birthday, February 20, PNC/ APNU’s wrapping themselves in the purple cloak of their Founder-Leader.

More to the point is their theme will be to claim they have the “Burnham Touch”. This Eyewitness wonders whether the young’uns out there know about this phenomenon – since it appears that the brain trust around Granger haven’t the foggiest!!

Back in the day, Burnham printed his picture on the exercise books of all schoolchildren. This was one of the main reasons why kids couldn’t focus and the educational system collapsed back then.

The megalomaniac also had one sycophant write a booklet about “The Burnham Stride” and printed and distributed thousands of copies countrywide.

When Rodney appeared, he spoofed Burnham’s vanity by comparing him to the legendary King Midas, who turned everything he touched to gold. With Burnham, however, everything he touched, turned to “sh*t”!! That’s the Burnham touch. …in names The coalition talks between the AFC and PNC/APNU crashed over the new name Ramjattan’s proposed – Pro Democracy Alliance (PDA). Granger prefers Ramjattan’s previous proposal – “Partnership Alliance for National Trust – Yes!” not because of the acronym “PANTY!” but because it has one word from each of the partners’ names.

We believe most AFC/PNC/APNU supporters also prefer PANTY!

feature 37

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Petamber Persaud

T

he third session in a five-part series titled “Race: A Guided Discussion” was staged at Moray House Trust, on Thurs Jan 29, 2015. Dr Paloma Mohamed, a social psychologist on sabbatical from the University of Guyana, facilitated the event.

That third forum shocked, shamed, mortified, brought degrees of elucidation and levity to the subject, and raised more questions than answers. It made the previous sessions, although significant to the whole idea, appear mundane and may very well be the high point of this series.

The previous two sessions were important introductions to the subject via the showing of two films: the screening of the prize winning National Geographic film, “Journey of Man”, and “Race: The Power of An Illusion”, and resulting discussions after.

The theme for the third session on race was “Representation of Race in Guyanese writing”. The participants for this session included academics, literary critics, poets, dramatists,

Vanda Radzik

Mosa Telford

Dr Juanita Cox

Barrington Braithwaite

graphic artists and writers.

The session started with Dr Mark Tumbridge who concentrated on the novel, “Lutchmee and Dilloo”, written by John Edward Jenkins, first published in 1877. The author treats Indians in sympathetic manner while other races like the “Negroes” (his word) Europeans and Chinese are treated as peripheral characters.

There are many reasons for this. One of the main reasons is (and the author makes note of this in his preface: “the field is a new one for fiction”) that it was the first time that Indians were a worthy subject of English literature.

Another reason could be found in the fact that

Jenkins came to British Guiana in 1870 acting on behalf of the AntiSlavery Society and the Aborigines Protection Society “to investigate the coolie condition”.

Tumbridge ended with the following verse from the poem “They came in ships” by Mahadai Das. Commissioners came, capital spectacles in British frames consulting managers about costs of immigration.

The commissioners left, fifty-dollar bounty remained.

Dr Joyce Jonas’ presentation was measured and flawless as usual, with her treatment of literary issues. Jonas focused on the novel, “Frangipani House” by

Beryl Gilroy and en passant made reference to “Palace of the Peacock”

by Wilson Harris. Jonas raised the issue of blurring of boundaries/identities especially in the makeup of the crewmembers in Harris’ book.

Sonia Yarde, teacher, actress and playwright, focused on her play, “The Colour of Race”, revealing some unsavoury displays of racial bigotry. Her intent was to use drama to get home her message of taking the positive elements of race in order to mend and fashion a better society.

Vanda Radzik, a rights activist and a supporter of the arts, focused on Martin Carter in order to break the cycle of the race folly. Radzik also made reference

to “The Hummingbird Tree”, by Ian McDonald, a novel set in Trinidad.

Yours truly focused on the autobiographical influence on all writing, begging the question of truth, half-truths, and selected memory in such writing. I touched on two novels of mine, “And So What?” and “Overtures”.

The theme of both was respect for each other, tolerance and working together.

B a r r i n g t o n Braithwaite, a graphic artist, displayed advertisements of soaps and detergents used in the past that defined race (between whites and blacks) in such a manner leading to self-hate (among blacks).

Ras. Michael Jeune’s dub poetry exponent

gave the audience a ride down the corridors of history in a sound performance of dub poetry.

Mosa Telford, one of the bold new voices in drama, focused on her prizewinning play “Sauda”, which brought out the autobiographical treatment of race in literature and shed light on the preference for lighter shaded people.

Dr Juanita Cox, expert on Mittelholzer, looked at the prizewinning novel, “Timepiece”,

by Janice Shinebourne, which also depicted how race and class are perceived from place to place – from a rural Guyana to an urban Guyana.

From the floor, the focus was usage of words like ‘negro’, the other ‘n’ word, and ‘coolie’. In the end, like the whole issue of race, it was left openended. However, it was of a general view that the context would decide whether usage was denigrating or acceptable/ vogue.

There are two other sessions in this series; date/s to be announced.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 2260065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

38 news

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

K

INGSTON, JAMAICA: Ziggy Marley's concept album, Fly Rasta, took home the Best Reggae Grammy at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, on Sunday.

The 10-track album, released on April 15, got the nod over SOJA's Amid the Noise; Sly & Robbie featuring Spicy Chocolate (The Reggae Power); Lee 'Scratch' Perry (Back on The Controls); Sean Paul (Full Frequency); and Shaggy (Out of Many, One Music).

The win makes it number three for Bob Marley's eldest child as a solo artiste. The 46-yearold's first solo Grammy came in 2007 for ‘Love is My Religion’, while his second came last year with 'In Concert'.

He also won three Best Reggae Album Grammys with the Melody Makers, a group that included his brother Stephen and sisters Sharon and Cedella. In 2010, he picked up another for Best Musical Album for Children with Family Time.

Co-produced by Dave Cooley, who is known for his work with independent rock bands, Fly Rasta fuses reggae with rock, soul, funk and

P

Ziggy Marley

punk. For the set, Marley reassembled his sisters, Sharon and Cedella, to provide background vocals.

"The Melody Makers have a sound. They added a whole lot to it. It was nice having them," Marley told the Jamaican media in an interview ahead of the album's release.

"Is a concept album. I took the arrangement seriously and had to educate myself, as I wanted emotions in the music. It is not linear, it has hills and valleys ... a melodic arc," he continued.

The album's title track features pioneer toaster U-Roy. Marley lists it as one of his favourites.

"Working with U-Roy is one of the greatest thing in my career. The man is a legend beyond legends. It was a privilege," he said.

Fly Rasta sold over 16,000 copies.

But Marley said he was not concerned about sales.

"Mi nuh watch sales.

Good music, a good music. Our music is spiritual and God music. So, if it come, it come," he said.

(Jamaican Observer)

ORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: achievements, its culture and values Past and present Massy and its journey in the 2014 Panorama Trinidad All Stars players, sup- competition, offering a multi-faceted porters of the band, cultural stake- look at the famed steel band.” holders and members of the local film, During the screening the audience entertainment and media fraternity were regaled with on-screen anecdotes were on hand last Monday for the pre- from players who reminisced on the miere of Souls of Steel: A Documentary band’s evolution over the last three deabout Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel cades, interviews with past and current members such as arrangOrchestra. er Leon “Smooth” Edwards, The launch and screening took place at the long-standing member Little Carib Theatre Dane Gulston, operations manager Jason in Woodbrook, Port“Stumps” Lewis and of-Spain and made founder Neville Jules, possible through and classic clips of the philanthropic arm of the the Massy Trinidad Massy Group, the All Stars’ past performances.

Massy Foundation.

The film’s content Trinidad All Stars also includes footage Steel Orchestra manfrom the band’s Panorama ager, Beresford Hunte, thanked all attendees for performance in 2014 - a contheir presence and Past and present Massy Trinidad All tentious year for the expressed his grat- Stars players, supporters of the band, band in which they second to itude to the Massy cultural stakeholders and members of placed Foundation for its the local film, entertainment and media Phase II Pan Groove steadfast support of fraternity were on hand last Monday in the Panorama fifor the premiere of Souls of Steel the band throughnals, missing the title (Trinidad All Star Steel Orchestra photo) by only one point. This out the years.

M a s s y production was timely Foundation chairman, Gaston as 2015 also marks the 80th anniverAguilera, shared his and the founda- sary of Trinidad All Stars. Guests at tion’s enthusiasm to be associated with the event were able to discuss the reSouls of Steel. Souls of Steel, which cent 2015 Panorama semi-finals, where was directed by regional film director Massy Trinidad All Stars topped the and producer, Dave Cropper of Cropper competition as well as have the first Media Limited, was commissioned in look at a “piece of history” about the 2013 by the Massy Group (then Neal eight time National Panorama chamand Massy) in honour of its 25th an- pions. niversary as the corporate sponsor of The launch and screening at Little Trinidad All Stars. A media release Carib Theatre was one of several activion the launch stated, “Cropper artful- ties planned by the band to commemly wove together a mix of perspectives orate its 80th anniversary throughout about Trinidad All Stars, its history, its the year. (TT Newsday)

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

arts & culture 39

The paintings of Cletus Henriques evoke nostalgia

C

letus Henriques is revered as one of Guyana’s late pioneer artists.

His paintings are part of a gifted second generation of Guyanese artists, which now form a significant part of the National Collection at Castellani House, Vlissengen Road.

One of his celebrated paintings, “Masquerade Dancers” (1969), which is part of the National Collection, serves the

best of both worlds – it creates a beautiful pattern, and it evokes the well-known masquerade dance which is a feature (though now sadly disappearing) of a good Guyanese Christmas.

Although apparently simple, this painting succeeds because the skilful use of colour, shape and line.

Henriques simplifies the masquerade to three representative figures.

"River's Edge" 1968

He does not try to include all performers – the drummer, flute-player and stilt-walker are missing – but he has the flouncers and the mad bull.

These figures he simplifies and treats as areas which are broken up into shapes that contain decorative patterns. The background too is simplified – there are no audience or trees or houses but a series of vertical shapes. The colours are also not the hot tropical colours one would expect but seem almost pastel. Taken all together, these elements create a rhythmic and endearing painting.

(Text on the paintings taken from “Panorama: A Portrait of Guyana” by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company. Photos courtesy of Castellani House) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

"Masquerade Dancers" 1969

"Kissing Bridge" 1965

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WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Link Show 31 promises more laughs

L

Star of the week

A few of the cast members in the last show who will be in Link Show 31

ink Show 31 will take to the National Cultural Centre stage on Feb 20 and promises an evening full of tear-generating, knee-slapping comedy.

The first Link Show was staged in November 1981. It followed that trend for three years, and then in 1985 the annual show moved to February where it has renamed for the past 27 years.

Link Show has become synonymous with Mashramani, and in keeping with the themes of the lyrics of calypso competitions, it represents the dramatic satire.

The highly anticipated show has been attracting large audiences over the years. It is the

longest and most popular satirical stage production in Guyana. It has done several tours overseas to countries with a heavy diaspora presence.

This year, with elections on the heels of opening dates, one can expect “an election link” and a lot of predictions on the outcome.

The annual satirical review is slated for February 20-21, 27-28 and March 1. There is no guarantee for repeat shows so patrons are asked to get their tickets early and secure their seats.

Tickets will be on sale at the National Cultural Centre, Nigel’s Supermaket, Giftland OfficeMax and Ashmin’s Trading.

Prices are

Gy$2500, Gy$2000 and Gy$1500.

Cast members include Henry Rodney, Rajan Tiwari, Mark Luke-Edwards, Randolph Critchlow, Mark Kazim, Paul Budnah, Sean Budnah, Michael Ignatius, Simone Dowding, Sonia Yarde, Leslyn Fraser, Nirmala Narine, Nicola Moonsammy, Tashandra Inniss and Nuriyyih Gerrad. It will be directed by Ron Robinson and produced by Gem Madhoo-Nascimento and presented by The Theatre Company and GEMS Theatre Productions.

Patrons are advised to observe the National Cultural Centre code and be punctual. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

S

parkling beauty Shameeza Wong, also known as Jasmine, is currently vying for the crown at the Miss West Indies pageant to be held Feb 14, 2015 in Galisbay, St Martin. Wong attended Carmelita Nursery, Redeemer Primary and Al-Ghazali Islamic Academy. She took the struggles of her childhood and made them a steppingstone to success when she graduated with a degree in Communication from the University of Guyana. She is passionate about drama and arts in general and received a certificate in directing stage play from Merundoi in 2012. She recently copped the best supporting actress in an open play in the National Drama Festival 2014.Nevertheless, Wong always contemplated modelling and pageantry. As a child, she admired pageant contestants and queens, and wished she could do the same. As she matured, her perspectives, stereotypes and prejudices on pageantry changed. She realised that as a beauty ambassador she can further her causes and be able to contribute to her community. As a humanitarian, Wong has volunteered in various charitable activities.

She has played an active role in planning the Volunteer Youth Corps’ children’s Christmas concerts and gift distribution. Wong’s hobbies include reading, cooking, volunteering for children’s projects, modelling and photography. Her goal is to become an established actress/model and TV producer/director. This, she claims, will give her “a voice to help showcase Guyana and help elevate and employ youths”. Her favourite quote is: “The ladder to success is never too crowded at the top.” For more info on the Miss West Indies pageant, visit http://misswestindies.org (Photo by Ronald Nandlall)

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Jihan Ramroop

Born and grew up in: Georgetown, Guyana Films: 83 Million Gees, Till I Find a Place, A Jasmine for a Gardener, Brown Sugar Too Bitter For Me 1. Where did you go to school?

In Georgetown. I went to Central Prep and then I went to South Georgetown Government Secondary School.

2. When did you realize you wanted to be an actor?

That is a question I get all the time and... I don’t know if the age is correct or not. But, I remember I used to go with my- I didn’t grow up with my parents my first fourteen years. I lived with my grandparents, and they weren’t really my grandparents either.

They were my...grandfather, his sister and her husband. I just ended up with them for some reason or the other. So even though my parents lived just a few blocks away, I lived there permanently.

These grandparents loved going to the movies, they loved the Indian movies. Empire Cinema showed Indian movies and Liberty Cinema showed a different movie. In the week they would go to one and then [go to] the other one later on. I saw so many movies and I don’t know if that was my inspiration.

Since at the age of five I could remember distinctly telling them, ‘I could

S

do that, I could do that.’

And that’s what I wanted to do. As I grew up, that feeling grew stronger in me.

3. Did you receive any formal training in acting?

Well in Guyana, we don’t really have an acting school...So whatever I’ve done, it’s like what I would’ve done on the jobtraining... It’s like you’re placed in a position, you get an opportunity to act and then you gotta do [it]. However, when I came to America, I realized that they weren’t satisfied with natural talent and stuff like thatexperience. They wanted to see that you were studying. So I did go to Herbert Berghof Studios in Manhattan, and I also went to NYU [New York University] where I did a few courses [at] both places.

4. Do you suffer from stage fright?

Oh yeah, when I was going to Herbert Berghof I had finished about sixty-something plays. But up to now, before I go onstage I’ll get nervous...I’m almost trembling.

I remember in a play at the Billie Holiday Theater [in Brooklyn, New York] that ran for five and a half months [with] eighty-four performances. Every night that I had to go up thereeven though I had done it so many times… I was nervous every night because it’s a different set of people coming there.

However…once I step up

atiricus felt sorry for GrainJa. But the General’s problem was an old one ― faced by all the old Sultans who had harems. Lots of folks thought it was easy having a harem…in fact they thought it was so much fun for the Sultans!!

“Little did THEY know!!” snorted Satiricus. Can you imagine having to “visit at nights” dozens – sometimes hundreds!! ― of women?? There’s only so much that “steel drops” could help. Remember there was no Viagra or Cialis back in the day.

And the nagging!! Satiricus took his hat off to the couple of his buddies who’d ended up with two wives ― their religion allowed that. That they spent most of their time at the back street bar spoke volumes!!

And here was GrainJa, who’d been trying to juggle the union between his Pee-an-See and four partners in APANU for three years now, trying to take on a fifth!!

“God bless the man!!” thought Satiricus fervently.

From the first set of partners, one had already cussed out poor GrainJa and bolted the Big Building. Shoorma of the Just Ice party complained as to how GrainJa hadn’t rushed to his defence when he was being cussed out by that big, bad

Mahadeo Shivraj

there and the lights hit me, within a few- I don’t even know when it happens, but in a few seconds it [stage fright] disappears.

5. How was it like auditioning for roles?

You have to find a way of getting an opportunity to audition. I have learned that if you can’t deal with rejection, you need to change and do something else. I think the ratio is out of fifty times, you’ll hear ‘yes’ once. The second thing I learnt is that it’s not about you. It’s not about your talent. It’s just that you’re not suited for what they want.

Recently I did, “The Americans.” The audition, I thought I messed up. I messed up once, twice. It was freezing.

A Sultan’s life Feral Lady of the PPCEE in the Big Building.

Why did he need GrainJa if he couldn’t defend his partners??. Even Pimps protect their girls when they were abused by Johns, no?

The Action Partner was the least trouble. They were from the Bush and they always seemed to be missing in action. No one, including GrainJa had heard a word from them for years. The problem was, of close, they could turn up anytime and demand their share of attention.

The WAPA were the worse of the bunch. All past 70, they were more crotchety and cantankerous than anything.

Taking their age into consideration, GrainJa had promised a rendezvous once a month.

But here was the one named Doubting Thomas, bitching and moaning that he wanted it more than once a month!

So Satiricus’s respect rose sky high when he heard GrainJa was courting the KFC fellas. How the heck was GrainJa going to satisfy that bunch? For them it wasn’t the nightly visits that WAPA was demanding. Their “thing” was to drink morning, noon, and night.

“But then if you want to become a Sultan,” thought Satiricus, “you gotta do what a Sultan’s gotta do!!”

When I went in there, I was real cold-like.

Maybe the casting director sensed that because I apologized the first time I slipped up. And she said, ‘No, no, you probably got brain-freeze. It’s very cold out there.’ She was making excuses for me and I was like what is this. And when I finished, I had written that off. I know I did great. I know I did my job eventually. But I wrote it

feature 41

off... And that one, it’s strange enough. I auditioned like 12:30, by five o’clock I got a call saying, ‘Oh, we want to offer you the role.’

I had two scenes with Tina Fey in one episode.

When I auditioned for that, they asked for a Pakistani hot dog vendor. When I went there I saw hundreds of guys that looked like me.

From their speech I know they’re all Pakistani and Middle Eastern. The casting director said, ‘By the way, you’re trying to do a Pakistani accent?’

I said, ‘Yes, because I’m not from Pakistani.’ She said, ‘Where are you from?’ I said ‘Guyana.’

She said, ‘Where on the map is that?’ And I said, ‘I get that all the time. I said Guyana is in South America and I...tell her the whole geography.

She said, ‘Okay. Do it the way you would do it.’ The next thing you know I got the part.

6. How did your next project emerge?

I called my friend. I said, ‘You know what?

Here’s what we’ll do.

We’re not gonna make a Guyanese movie. We’re gonna make an American

movie...trying to compete with Hollywood with $10,000 [US] dollars or $20,000, is like impossible. But, if you do something that is of quality, that is good, you never know who’s gonna see it and who’s attention it can attract. My friend wrote a script. Actually sent it to me 4 AM, New Year’s Day morning. So that was my New Year’s gift. And now we’re in pre-production for that movie. The working title- I don’t know if we’ll change the name yet- is Tangled Dreams.

7. Do you have a release date when the film will be out?

Oh no. My intention here is to submit it to the film festivals. So submitting it to the festival- I should say this.

5,000 movies are made every year and submitted to the film festivals.

Only 200 are screened at the festival. These are movies that have big names. So those names are the ones who actually get screened in the festival. With all those odds against me, I am still not giving up. I still feel confident that if I do continued on page 46

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WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

travel & tourism 43

A trip to the Iwokrama Forest is not complete without a hike to the top of Turtle Mountain

A

fter a 20-minute boat ride downstream from the Iwokrama River Lodge and Research Centre, you enter a magnificent Mora Forest, one of the many forest types in Guyana. This forest experiences seasonal flooding typical of this forest type, which is most often supported by an alluvium type soil.

If you look carefully, you will see watermarks on the trees that hint at the level the river can rise to during the long May/June rains – sometimes 20 feet or more.

At the beginning of the tour, you pass through the Turtle Mountain campsite where many researchers, university students and tourists who desire

a more intimate experience with the forest would stay.

This trail offers the chance to experience many birds: the Plumbeous Pigeon, Screaming Piha (a small bird with a beautiful call), Bat Falcon, Cocoi Heron, Little Blue Heron, Ring Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Great Black-Hawk, Red-Rumped Cacique, Anhinga, Neotropical Cormorant, Yellowbilled Tern and occasionally the Guianan Cockof-the-Rock, to name a few.

The beautiful one and a half-hour hike takes guests through various forest types and past large rock formations to the almost 300-metre (984 feet to be ex-

act) summit for a breathtaking, relaxing view of the Iwokrama Forest and Essequibo River.

Often, guests are treated to Spider and Howler monkeys in the treetops and Scarlet and other macaws in magnificent flight displays over the undulating forest canopy. One bird often spotted from the summit and sought after by seasoned bird watchers is the Orange Breasted Falcon.

To find out more about Iwokrama and the Turtle Mountain Trail, call 225-1504 or visit http://iwokramariverlodge.com, www.iwokrama.org or Iwokrama Canopy Walkway on Facebook. (Photos by Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

View from Turtle Mountain

Turtle Mountain camp

Trail to get to the mountain

Open hammock pod at the camp (Photo by Pete Oxford)

44 News

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Hundreds turn up for Marley’s b’day in Jamaica K INGSTON, JAMAICA: The life and legacy of reggae icon Bob Marley were celebrated at the late musician's hometurned-museum at 56 Hope Road in St Andrew on Friday.

The celebrations marked his 70th birthday.

Members of the Marley family, entertainment fraternity as well as locals and visitors alike streamed into the venue for the celebrations.

Speaking to the Jamaican media, Marley's daughter Cedella noted that it was a joy to see how many persons had come out to show love for her father.

She said it was important, especially for youngsters, to appreciate the way her father lived, which was reflected in the outpouring of love for him on his birthday.

Meanwhile, the Marley siblings are not ruling out the possibility of there being a collaboration among them to

Marley men - brothers (from left) Julian, Ky-Mani, and Rohan were on hand to greet guests

mark their father's milestone.

Sons Ky-Mani and

Julian noted that the idea has always been touted among the chil-

dren.

"That idea is still a seed, we have no concrete plans, but the fact that we have discussed it means the project could bear fruit in due season," said Julian.

Both Marleys are currently in studio working on albums which will be released later this year.

Julian's project is set to drop by spring and is yet untitled. He is just coming off a Brazillian tour with his father's band, The Wailers.

"It was great per-

forming in Brazil to soldout audiences and just watching the reaction of the people to my music and the music of my father," noted Julian.

The celebrations in observance of Marley's 70th birthday continue on Sunday with a concert on the Kingston Waterfront.

Among the acts to perform are some of the Marley children, Tessanne Chin, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, among others. (Jamaica Observer)

news 45

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

TT's Manning reign ends Nagaman aint got nutten leff

R

ejection is always a hard ting to handle. That is when yuh feel like no body ain’t want any ting to do wid yuh at all. Yuh does feel leff out and rejected. Old people seh it does mek yuh feel like leff leff.

Yuh does know yuh is a leff leff when yuh walk in some where and no body ain’t look at yuh. Or those who happen to look at yuh does look away right away. De problem is, leff leff ain’t got no cure.

When yuh is a leff leff, yuh does be a leff leff fuh life. As yuh look around GT, it got plenty, not just de garbage alone. And startin right at de S*ity Council, it got a big, old leff leff. No matter how much Green Ham talk politics, no party ain’t want he.

Not even dem ones with only one person like de play TUFF party, de Loosein party and de Bandara party.

Green Ham talk fuh APNU, but he own old time pardna in crime Green Jah ain’t want he. He try a ting a couple times and talk fuh de KFC, but neither Rum Jhaat nor Nagga Man ain’t want he.

When yuh consider that Rum Jhaat and Nagga man does tek any body and tek any ting from rope to soap to dope, and when yuh realise that dem ain’t tek Green Ham, yuh know fuh sure that Green Ham really deh bad. And that is serious leff leff.

But that not too far from wheh Nagga Man find he self right now. Nagga is a man who was leff leff from one party and he run to another. Plus he was leff leff fuh de House Speaker position and then he turn a leff leff lawyer.

And now de poor Nagga man was desperately hopin that some body woulda want he in de PANTY. Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! Well, when yuh get leff outta some ting like de PANTY, yuh know yuh ain’t got nutten leff!

P

ORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: Former People’s National Movement (PNM) leader and Prime Minister Patrick Manning is out. Young attorney Randall Mitchell is in.

Manning’s historymaking tenure as the longest serving Member of Parliament came to a premature end on Monday, when Mitchell, a 36-year old attorney, was named as his successor and the candidate for the 2015 general election following the screening of candidates at the PNM’s San Fernando East constituency.

But there was no rejoicing in the PNM camp, which remains divided between loyalty for the party and their former MP and political leader, who failed to show up for the screening in spite of requests for nomination extensions so he could throw his hat into the ring.

Long, unsmiling faces greeted the much anticipated news which came from Anthony Clarke, the constituency’s PRO, who was joined by general secretary Ashton Ford for the announcement after almost one-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

Ford first announced

People’s National Movement PRO Faris Al Rawi congratulates San Fernando East nominee Rondell Mitchell after Monday's screening

that the committee had taken a decision after deliberations and interviewing the four candidates.

“Mr Manning did not show up for screening,” he said.

Clarke then announced Mitchell as the prospective candidate for San Fernando East.

Asked about Manning’s decision to withdraw, Ford said they were told by the chairman of the San Fernando East constituency that he had a meeting with Manning earlier in the day and he decided to withdraw his candidacy. Ford said no

reason was given.

He said Rowley announced during the process that the party would pay due regard and honour to Manning at an appropriate time.

He said its focus at this time was on the hectic battle ahead and the selection of candidates for the 41 constituencies.

Twenty-six candidates have been selected thus far, he said. Screening will continue after Carnival he also noted.

Among the dissatisfied executive was Eber Steele, one of three nominees who were rejected at the last San Fernando

East screening exercise.

Steele joined the circle as prayers were said for Mitchell but earlier was very critical of the screening process, saying he was still waiting for an official response form the party’s executive that he was no longer eligible to be screened for another time.

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, who headed the screening committee, did not make an appearance before the media, which outnumbered the number of people who showed up to support the five candidates who were due to be screened: San Fernando Councillor Rondell Donowa, former Deputy Mayor of San Fernando Malaika Blair and former San Fernando West MP and present Deputy Mayor Junia Regrello.

Regrello, who also unsuccessfully screened for San Fernando West, was in and out before the screening committee in less than five minutes.

He did not wait around for the results.

Manning was the fifth candidate, but when former councillor Sharon Looney called his name to appear before the committee five times around 7 pm, he was a no show.

(TT Guardian)

46 feature

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Greene should apologise for referring to Guyana’s development as cosmetic

H

amilton Greene has always shamelessly defended the PNC and his own role in the underdevelopment of Guyana, the wicked dictatorship after Independence, and the terrorism on the Guyanese population throughout the 28 years they ruled with an iron fist.

He has a lot to say in boasting about the terrible under-achievement during the time he was a senior member of the ruling PNC when Guyana in 1992 was below its 1964 level. During this past week, Greene dismissed development in Guyana in the last 20 years as cosmetic.

Greene says that nine successive years and 18 out of 22 years of economic and social development, with per capita GDP moving from US$250 to almost US$4,000, is cosmetic. He should tell the nation why the PNC Government had not one year of development between 1985 and 1991.

The PPP/C transformed Guyana from one of the most indebted country in the world (the PNC legacy) to one with the most sustainable debt ratio. Guyana had to use its earnings to pay interest on the debt that the PNC accumulated and squandered, but today the PPP/C Government is ensuring that our earnings could help build roads, schools, hospitals, pay better wages, better pension, support more than 70,000 Guyanese families to build homes,

provide more water and electricity, provide school uniform vouchers and Gy$10,000 for every child that goes to school today, instead of paying interest on debt like the PNC chose to do.

Greene, a senior cabinet member of the then PNC Government, refuses to come forward to say what he knows about the Walter Rodney assassination in 1978. The man who fulminates on plenty subjects has nothing to say about the Rodney murder. He could also take the time then to tell the nation about the many other murders of political opponents and the brutal beatings of hundreds of political enemies, like the cruel attempted murder of Dr Joshua Ramsammy.

We are forced to ask if the Berbice River Bridge, a promise that the PPP/C made and delivered on, is cosmetic. For Berbicians and others who had to wait for many hours and sometimes for several days to cross the Berbice River during the 1980s, the Berbice River Bridge is a major development and has solved many problems.

Greene should tell us how many pump stations the PNC inherited from the PPP Government in 1964 and how many were functional in 1992.

What happened to pump stations like the ones at Lima, Rose Hall Town, Ogle, Number 28 Village, Buxton and many other places?

He should tell us why they closed down all five of the pump stations that served as discharged

Hamilton Greene

points into the Atlantic Ocean along the East Coast Demerara for the East Demerara Water Conservancy.

Greene should tell us why the Dawa and the Mibikuri irrigation pumps, established by Dr Cheddi Jagan and the PPP Government in the early 1960s, were less than 25 per cent functional in 1992.

Greene should tell us why production of more than 634,000 tons rice and almost one million tons of paddy are cosmetic development. He was Prime Minister of a PNC Government during which Guyana’s rice production collapsed and thousands of hectares of rice land laid abandoned as the PNC’s legacy. In 1989, Guyana’s rice export was less than 40,000 tons and in 2014, it was 503,000 tons.

Does Greene remember that Guyanese children not only ranked last in the Caribbean in CXC, but we stood by and celebrated the success of other Caribbean children as top performers at CXC? Can Greene tell us how many Guyanese children under the PNC topped the Caribbean at CXC, CAPE or GCE or GCE

Advanced Levels?

Guyanese students routinely win the top awards at CXC and these children have won more top awards than children from any other country in the last 10 years. Greene not only insults our farmers, he insults our children and our teachers.

The rich and powerful in the 1980s accessed services like brain surgery, heart surgery, kidney transplants, dialysis, radiation therapy for cancer, hip and knee replacements, glaucoma surgery and many others by going abroad.

Today, any Guyanese citizen can access these services right in Guyana.

The PPP/C Government has not only increased access to life-saving surgeries wherever they are possible, but they have ensured that young Guyanese professionals are trained to provide such services.

It is the silly season and we are aware that political rhetoric and political misrepresentation and misinformation will bombard us in the coming weeks. But no politician should be allowed to insult our citizens.

Greene must apologize for describing significant developments in Guyana as cosmetic, like the ones we mentioned above and the many others. He is shameless and will find an unforgiving population in the 2015 elections.

Readers are invited to send their comments by email or Facebook to times.notebook@gmail. com.

S

Reject cubed

atiricus felt very sorry for the Nagga Man. Here it was, the man was on his last lap and he had to beg fellas in the Pee-an-See he had cussed out his whole life – just for a squeeze on their ticket.

“Ahhh..how low has the mighty fallen!” thought Satiricus to himself. But then again, he realised, Nagga Man had never been that “mighty” to begin with.

Except in his own mind, of course. But Satiricus knew Nagga Man was prone to hallucinations. He remembered that time in the middle of a huge crowd in the Rupununi, Nagga Man swore he heard the Boss Man make him heir to the throne. No one else heard him. Of course, all his friends snickered that Nagga Man waited till the Boss Man passed away to make his claim!

But still, you would think they would have some respect for an old man who’d spent his whole life wanting to be the leader of something. Anything!

But GrainJa was dead set against him.

Nagga Man realised that GrainJa thought he was low class and would never let him be his leader.

“Wha de arse wrong wid picking me nose??” thought Nagga Man indignantly. “At least me na roll am between me finger like the Piss Doctor and dem bais in Whim.”

Nagga Man shoulda known RumJhaat had set him up. His whole life Rum Jhaat had also wanted to become leader, just like he Nagga Man. When he joined the KFC party, Rum Jhaat told him he had to wait his turn…he couldn’t be leader just like that.

Nagga Man had smelt something funny when suddenly – out of the blue – Rum Jhaat demanded that KFC had to be the leader of the APANU and KFC coalition. And that he, Nagga Man, had to be the Supreme Leader.

But Nagga Man didn’t follow up the funny smell.

He always became bassidy when his name and “leader” were in the same sentence. But now it dawned on him that Rum Jhaat knew how GrainJa looked down on him. It was confirmed when GrainJa told him he “could work with Rolf” but not he Nagga Man. Rolf also used to look down on him when they were both in the PePCEE. Rolf told him that he Nagga Man was a Chamaar. It was because of Rolf’s scorn that Nagga Man had gone to Law School with his daughter, when he was already drawing NIS pension.

Satiricus shook his head. It was a shaad, shaad shituation. Rejected by the PePCEE, KFC and now Pee-an-See, Nagga Man was “reject cubed”.

An interview with Mahadeo Shivraj - NY-based...

from page 41

something that is good, you never know who will chance upon it and [say] ‘hey, I like this movie.’

8. How did the idea for Brown Sugar Too Bitter For Me come about?

Brown Sugar was in the making, you gotta say, twenty-something years ago. It didn’t really happen that way. The writer and I knew each other as teenagers...

We used to talk about making something like Brown Sugar with these songs and all of that. We discussed it again and again. I reminded him at least about fifty times and he never did anything... So...I said, ‘Man, that project we talked about. Just write a play and I’ll do it for Indian Arrival [Day] in Guyana, how about that?’ And he

was like, ‘Alright.’ So he wrote it as a play and sent it to me.

I had enough time to do it as a play for Indian Arrival [Day] in Guyana when I read it. He put the songs that we’re gonna use and all of that. And I was like, ‘It wouldn’t look right for us to be talking Guyanese, and then sing with a Trini accent. It would be fine if we talk in English and do [it] in all Hindi songs. That would be acceptable.

So I said, ‘You know what, let’s do this. I’m not gonna do a play. I’m gonna make a movie out of it. But, I’m not gonna use these songs. I’m gonna create brand new songs.’ It took me fourteen months. No, it actually wasn’t the year itself of 150th [Indian Arrival Anniversary], it was the

year before. So, because I had that period, I had enough time. Fourteen months I had these guys writing songs, sending it back to me... He [Somnauth Narine, the writer] did a fantastic job because this movie is creating a tremendous stir for those who’ve seen it.

My friend who teaches at a school invited some teachers.

They saw the movie. Days after, they told him, ‘Why don’t you send this movie to the festivals?’ And he said, ‘Why do you say that?’ Their answer was, ‘When we see Hollywood movies, we forget them.

But when we see this movie, we can’t forget it.’

So it means that there is something that we have that has the ability to attract attention...it just needs the opportunity to be seen.

9. On piracy…

Imagine I only release Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me on DVD... the month before the last [November 2014]. But, in 2013, December, the movie was already out in Guyana. However, it wasn’t the real movie.

Because of the popularity that my first movie Till I Find a Place created in Guyana. …The pirates took Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me poster off the Internet [and] put it on a DVD jacket.

But, the actual DVD was a movie named Karma that I acted in years ago. So when you buy that you think you’re buying Brown Sugar.

Now, people are thinking that I’m cheating them.

Then, they took Jasmine for a Gardener, the same thing, and the

actual DVD is a movie named Truth that I was in years ago. Now, they’ve gone further, taking my picture off my Facebook page, putting it on a DVD, and saying how this is a new movie the guy came out with.

But…it’s an African movie or it’s a Jamaican movie. I’m not even in it.

Then, when I walk down the road people [say] ‘Oh man, I always support you...’ And I’m like, ‘Support me how?’ ‘I always buy your movies’. I said, ‘But I don’t sell any movie.’

It’s the pirates who are pirating. It’s good that the word spreads, but I’m not getting an opportunity to recover my costs.

10. What advice would you give to aspiring actors and film-

makers?

My advice would be that it’s difficult to make this as a career- to make a living out of it. So, after thinking about that if you still want to do it, go for it.

The important thing is homework. Like... when you read a script, it’s not the first idea that comes to mind [that] is the best. You have to study. Why am I saying this? You have to ask yourself a lot of questions because when you read it, something will come to your mind right away. And it’s the easiest one that will come.

But sometimes the one that would be more interesting, is in the background that you haven’t really explored. It’s not what you see first on the surface. It’s when you go below the surface.

feature 47

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Art of the deal …by Speaker Trotman Now that he’ll be thrown out of the Speaker’s Chair – into which he was foisted after Moses Nagamootoo’s rejection by Granger, Trotman’s fishing to get back into the AFC. Well…not just into the AFC but into his old co-leadership position.

Being a fella who quotes poems and all, he might’ve come across Tom Wolf’s advice that you can’t go back home. Home’s changed and so’ve you.

A couple of millennia ago, Zeno also advised that you can’t ever stick your toe into the SAME river, so we guess that bit of advice has stood the test of time.

Now does Trotman really think Nigel Hughes’ gonna step aside as the “African-Guyanese leader” of the AFC?? If he does, we have a bridge across the Essequibo River to sell Trotman!! The old AFC partisans’ve already roasted Trotman for for “selling out”. That happens quite frequently when you’re trying to ride two (political) horses at the same time.

Problem with Trotman is he showed you can take the man out of the PNC, but you can’t take the PNC out of the man.

Imagine Granger could publicly declare that Nagamootoo still has the mark of the PPP/C (beast) but Trotman – who’d quit the PNC rather acrimoniously (“the PNC should apologise for their sins”) – could get his nod. Had to’ve raised quite a few more eyebrows in the AFC than Nagamootoo’s.

What did Granger know about Trotman that assuaged whatever doubts he might’ve had about him as opposed to Nagamootoo? Couldn’t be about Nagamootoo’s race. Granger’s an honourable man – and he couldn’t possibly be racial, could he??

We know they have a common hero in Burnham and they come out of the same social stratum. Who knows, maybe they have the same secret handshake of their lodge or something? But it didn’t sit well with Nagamootoo and that’s why Trotman’s not going to get any warm welcome from that quarter.

Then what about his old co-founder Ramjattan??

Well, that worthy still hasn’t forgotten the stunt Trotman pulled in 2011 when he demanded that he be the Presidential Candidate once again. Why??

Because Ramjattan wasn’t as “good” as he, Trotman!!

Then of course, the clincher was when Trotman was suddenly struck with a life-threatening malady, when he couldn’t have his way.

He recovered after Sheila Holder moved aside, but claimed he couldn’t campaign “too strenuously”. But as Ramjattan saw to his chagrin, Trotman’s recovery after his accession to Speakerhood, superseded even that miracle.

So what makes Trotman think he can now do another “Lazarus” into the AFC?? Wanker!!

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

Ryan Chan, a TT artist with taste for fashion and design P O R T - O F S P A I N , TRINIDAD: Ryan Chan is an artist with a taste for fashion and design. One of the top three finalists at the Caribbean-wide Mission Catwalk competition in Jamaica in 2012, he’s heating up the Carnival Monday-wear scene this year with racy, theatrical presentations for the road and is one to watch (and wear) in 2015!

Where did this journey start for you?

It really started with Carnival – creating costumes namely. My big break was with Spice Carnival Band. I showed my portfolio and book of sketches to Anya Elias who was the bandleader and the Spice team liked what they saw. I didn’t do a section that year as it was too close to band launch, but I did end up doing some individual costumes.

And after that – you did actually get to design for a section?

I did two sections with Spice after that and then went right on to design for Carnivals in Miami, London, Antigua. It literally was an overnight difference from having no design work to doing all these Carnivals.

What sets your design work apart, that it would grow so quickly?

I think it’s my aesthetic. I always say that my work is a place where art meets fashion. I always draw on that theatrical inspiration for my looks.

You transitioned into fashion after that? Why the shift?

I was always an artist – always drawing, sketching and even did some graphic design work. I want people who wear what I design to feel as if they are wearing art. So fashion was just an extension due to the fact that Carnival work is seasonal. I had been designing my own clothing for my personal use for a while, so while I had experience with menswear it was women’s fashion that of course took off.

Along the way you got some expert advice, and took part in quite a Caribbean wide challenge in 2012 too right?

Yes. Before I had fully gotten into fashion, I was at a loss to figure out how to get into the game essentially. So one day I had a chance to ask Meiling and asked for some advice and to my surprise she asked me to come see her at

A piece from Ryan Chan’s Blood and Sand Collection (Ryan Chan photo)

her studio. On seeing my sketches and portfolio she was impressed and mentioned to me that Mission Catwalk (a Caribbean-wide ‘Project Runway-style’ competition) would be screening at her place soon. So I signed up and from what she says, the producers loved me! Only problem was, I couldn’t yet sew properly!

Jamaica has such an established environment for fashion.

What do you think of our current state of fashion in TT? I don’t think fashion is where it should be here. Jamaica is all about their fashion. Fashion Week is a BIG thing

over there. We should be on that same level.

We take it seriously (as designers) but we don’t have enough support from the government and the public aside from the fashion enthusiasts.

In Jamaica, they would take what is essentially like Independence Square here and turn it into a runway in the middle of the city. All very different and progressive.

What have you been up to since Mission Catwalk?

Many people know me now for my Monday wear collections. The 2015 collection is called Aurora Jones, most of which is inspired by my paintings

that I did in the past and also inspired by a certain individual. I like to do my things by myself.

Since Mission Catwalk I have had about six fashion shows – all my own shows from start to finish. And as crazy as it is to do your own show, I don’t think about it – I just start and get it done.

Some shows I have executed for less than five thousand dollars. I even create personal handdone invitations; yes it saves money too, but it’s also a personal keepsake that people can hold on to. Sometimes I’m doing a hundred and more of those personally.

Who would you dress, if given the opportunity?

It would be Rihanna without a doubt.

Angelina Jolie, Rita Ora and Jessie J. too. I just love that fierce female persona.

Where can we find Ryan Chan when he’s not working?

I like to party with my friends. The zoo is one of my favourite places to go – I love animals!

Apart from the zoo, you can also find Ryan on Instagram @rychan_ and on Facebook: Ryan Chan. (TT Express)

48 Hollywood

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Sony ties up with Marvel for next 'Spider-Man'

Scarlett Johansson opens up about 'so public life'

S

ony Pictures Entertainment, which owns the 'Spider-Man' franchise since 1999, has announced its partnership with Marvel Studios to bring a new version of the fictional character to life.

The next Spider-Man film will hit theatres on July 28, 2017, reports variety.com.

Sony has owned the feature rights to SpiderMan since last 15 years, when Marvel sold the comic book story for US$7 million. According to the announcement, Sony and Marvel will cast a new Spider-Man after Andrew Garfield starred in the last two films, "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" respectively.

Tobey Maguire

S played Peter Parker in the previous three instalments for Sony.

Marvel's Kevin Feige will produce the rebooted character with Amy Pascal, who recently stepped down as co-

chairman of Sony in a new producer deal.

However, Sony will continue to distribute, finance, own and have final creative control of the 'Spider-Man' films. They'll work with

A

M

Dakota Johnson's rough experience in 'Fifty Shades'

A

The American actress added that she refused to quit and kept on trying as she really wanted to be an actor, and at the end she stood by her dream and got famous.

The 30-year-old actress also gushed about her happy married life with husband Romain Dauriac and baby Rose and said that she was blessed to have such a lovely daughter and can't imagine her life without her. (TOI)

Michael Sheen, Steve Buscemi cast in Richard Gere starrer 'Oppenheimer Strategies'

ctress-singer Anna Kendrick, best known for her roles in 'Twilight' and 'Up in the Air', is all set to perform at the 87th Oscars.

The awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will take place on February 22.

"Out of the woods and on to the Oscar stage, Anna will be performing something special that is sure to be an 'Only on the Oscars' moment." said Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

Kendrick was nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role in the 2009 film 'Up in the Air'. Her other film credits include 'Into the Woods', 'Pitch Perfect' and the 'Twilight' film series (TOI)

ctress Dakota Johnson says one particular sex scene in her forthcoming movie 'Fifty Shades of Grey', was "rough" for her as her limbs were tied.

At a special screening of the highly anticipated erotica, an adaptation of the E.L. James book, here, Johnson and her co-star Jamie Dornan, shared what to expect from characters Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in the movie.

Disney-owned Marvel on how to weave SpiderMan's character into Marvel's upcoming superhero films, which includes the popular franchise 'The Avengers'.

(TOI)

carlett Johansson has opened up on her public life and joked about her breasts that almost everyone has seen.

The 'Lucy' actress, who will soon be gracing W Magazine's cover, told the magazine said that when she was a kid she used to give auditions for advertisements and faced failure, with which her mom suggested her to leave it, E! Online reported.

Johnson spoke about a naughty scene, which was the hardest to shoot for her.

"One of the sex scenes is when all of Ana's (her character) limbs are tied up, so all of my limbs were tied up. In situations like that, your senses sort of get taken away and you don't have all of your defence mechanisms, in a way, so it was difficult and just so exhausting because it's not like it just happens once. Obviously, when you're filming you do it over and over again, so that day was a little rough, but it turns out looking really, really extraordinary." she told eonline.com Dornan said: "I think it's sexy. I think it's erotic, but we stayed true to the love story above all, which is so important. Of course it's erotic, but you don't get a series of three books like that, a story that's spanned over three books, purely out of erotica. It's a hot movie, at it's core there's a lot of sex.

I'm not gonna stand here and say that I think I'm really hot in it or anything because that's not for me to say. But yeah, it's definitely sexy."

The film will hit theatres Feb 13.

(TOI)

ichael Sheen, Steve Buscemi, Josh Charles, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dan Stevens, Isaach De Bankole and Israeli actor Lior Ashkenazi have joined the cast of 'Oppenheimer Strategies'.

The Richard Gere starrer film, which has been penned and being helmed by Joseph Cedar, would start production in New York and Israel, and is being backed by Tadmor Entertainment, Deadline.com reported.

Gideon Tadmor, Miranda Bailey, Lawrence Inglee, David Mandil, Eyal Rimmon and Oren Moverman are producing, and Michal Graidy, Caroline Kaplan, Amanda Marshall, Jim Kaufman and Doug Mankoff are exec producers with Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel of The Solution as co-exec producers.

Gere would play the role of Norman Oppenheimer, whose life dramatically changes after the young politician he befriended during a dark period in his life becomes an influential world

leader. Moverman said that they were thrilled that the incredible cast would give life to Cedar's brilliant script.

(TOI)

Chris Pratt: It would be great to play Indiana Jones

G

uardians of the Galaxy' star Chris Pratt says he would love to play the lead role in 'Indiana Jones' franchise, reacting on a report suggest-

ing that he would star in its next instalment.

Pratt, 35, commented on the rumour during the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award, reported Aceshowbiz.

He said it would be an 'awesome opportunity' to portray the role of archaeologist Dr Henry 'Indiana' Jones, which was previously made famous by Harrison Ford.

It was reported last month that Pratt was wanted to play the character in 'Indiana Jones V'.

Pratt was at that time asked about the story at an airport, shortly after it broke out. "I don't know, I just got back from the woods killing a bunch of stuff," he said while gesturing to his luggage. (TOI)

bollywood 49

WEEK ENDING February 15, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Varun Dhawan avoided socialising to play the angstridden character in 'Badlapur'

A

fter playing romantic roles in his first three films, Varun Dhawan is foraying into the dark realm with Sriram Raghavan's Badlapur.

Said to be a special film for the actor, the revenge drama sees him play the intense and angst-ridden Raghu. The trailer of the Dinesh Vijan-produced movie has become a talking point.

Varun, whose character ages up to 40 in the course of the film, had apparently become so involved in his part that it influenced his equation with his family and friends in the industry. At a press conference, his mother revealed that she had noticed the transformation in him and used to be scared of him.

We also heard that while shooting for this movie, Varun had cut down on socialising. More often than not, he'd keep to himself and it was on the rarest of occasions that he ventured out to

A

nushka Sharma's maiden production venture 'NH10', featuring the actress, Neil Bhoopalam and Darshan Kumar, is a gritty, edgeof-the-seat thriller.

Says Anushka, "As a producer, I want to back projects, talents and scripts that speak to me not just as someone from the industry, but as an audience. It is a bold experiment that aims to break all stereotypes — it's a thriller at heart and essentially, a story of survival and courage."

W

e have learnt from reliable sources that film producer Madhu Mantena is dating well-known fashion designer Masaba Gupta.

Madhu was earlier dating the gorgeous Nandana Sen. Madhu and Masaba were recently seen together at the Queen success party hosted by the Phantom boys. (TOI) meet his friends. 'Badlapur', presented

by Eros International and produced by Maddock Films, releases February 20.

(TOI)

The project marks director Navdeep Singh's second film post Manorama Six Feet Under. He says, "It's the story of a young upper middle class couple driving to a weekend getaway, not realising what's in store for them. I think it'll stay with the audience much after the film ends."

Producer Vikramaditya Motwane adds, "When I read the script, I found it to be taut and thrilling. The film has turned out even better."

Says producer Krishika Lulla, "With a compelling script and great performances, the movie promises to be an interesting journey and we're happy to support such strong contentdriven films."

The film's trailer, which was launched recently, received praise from the film fraternity. Karan Johar wrote on a micro-blogging site, "Kickass promo. Dying to watch it!" Alia Bhatt posted, "#NH10Trailer killllleeeddddddddd it! Loved the trailer." Arjun Kapoor wrote, "Hell hath no fury than Anushka scorned! Super trailer."

'NH10', produced by Eros International, Phantom Films and Clean Slate Films, releases 2015. (TOI)

Kunal Kapoor married Naina Bachchan privately in Seychelles

W

e have learnt from confirmed sources that

Kunal Kapoor and Naina Bachchan married each other on Monday in a

very private way in the presence of their family at the idyllic island of Seychelles.

We learnt that they had a beach ceremony.

They had also got engaged earlier in a very private way and thus this comes as no surprise. We learnt that they were introduced to each other by Naina's first cousin, the lovely Shweta Bachchan Nanda and we believe that they are likely to host a reception in Delhi when they return. Wishing Kunal and Naina a happy married life. (TOI)

Abhishek Bachchan welcomes arrival of Dhoni's 'angel'

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ctor Abhishek B a c h c h a n has welcomed Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to 'the club' of fatherhood.

Dhoni's wife Sakshi gave birth to a daughter at a private hospital in Gurgaon on Friday.

"Congratulations to

@msdhoni and Sakshi on the arrival of their angel. Welcome to the club guys. Good bless," Abhishek tweeted.

The son of Bollywood 'Shahenshah' Amitabh, Abhishek is married to actress Aishwarya Rai and together they have a three-year-old daughter Aaradhya.

(TOI)

R Balki a big fan of wife's movies

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ilmmaker R Balakrishnan aka Balki says he is impressed with the way his wife Gauri Shinde uses real emotions to convey a message through her films.

The director also feels his wife is one of the finest filmmakers in India.

"She is very good and sensitive. She is one of the finest filmmakers in our country because her sensitivity is very real, it comes from real life," he said.

Gauri's directorial debut with Sridevistarrer 'English Vinglish' garnered plaudits from every quarters for telling story of a housewife, who doesn't know

English and how an overseas trip helps her to bring out the best in her. Meanwhile, Balki's 'Shamitabh', which released February 6, was appreciated by the crit-

ics for its original plot and charm of the actors -- Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and debutante Akshara Haasan - in the three principal characters. (TOI)

T

here were many who were surprised by Anurag Kashyap's casting of Karan Johar as his main antagonist in his dream project 'Bombay Velvet'.

Recently, Ranbir Kapoor told us how amazing Karan is in the film and now we bring you his first exclusive look as Kaizad Khambatta, Johnny

Balraj's (played by Ranbir Kapoor) arch enemy in the film. A deviously manipulating man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Talking about his role, Karan said, "As wild as my imagination can be... playing an antagonist in an Anurag Kashyap film was nowhere in my thought radar. Now it's done and I hope I don't have to leave the city and hide when it releases." Karan, going by your look, it doesn't seem that you will need to run from the city. But, it does seem that you may give the villains in our industry a run for their money. (TOI)

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TT beat out Dubai for CPL semis, final P

O R T - O F S P A I N , TRINIDAD: Trinidad and Tobago won the right to host the semi-final and the final of the 2015 Limacol Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 competition ahead of the United States and Dubai.

This was revealed by CPL chief executive officer Damien O’Donohoe during a press conference held at the Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday when he also announced that TT, home to the Red Steel franchise, will host seven matches, including the “Super Bowl of the Caribbean”, the CPL final.

“We actually had bids from outside of the Caribbean to host the finals but Gerry (TT Minister of Tourism Gerald Hadeed) was insistent that we brought it back here to Trinidad

Leaders meet: Minister of Tourism, Gerald Hadeed, second from left, and Caribbean Premier League CEO Damien O’Donohoe, second from right, shake hands while Communications Minister Vasant Bharath, left, Minister of Sports Brent Sancho, right, and Digicel’s COO Sacha Thompson look on during a media conference at the Ministry of Tourism in Port of Spain on Monday

and Tobago,” said O’Donohoe.

“It was actually two countries (that bid to host the semifinals and final). One was going to

be the United States and the next one was going to be in Dubai,” he added, saying that taking the CPL to markets outside of the Caribbean has al-

ways been his plan.

“We were in discussions to take some games over there...that is the future,” he explained.

“I have always said and it was always part of the plan to take the CPL into the US because we believe we have the best platform and we all know if you can make any traction in the US, the scale that they have changes things considerably.

“It would absolutely brilliant if we could bring a Caribbean game there. If we could bring everything great about the Caribbean into the US it could be great,” O’Donohoe added.

He also noted that the CPL was drawing up plans to see how best it could make an impact in communities, which newly appointed Minister of Sport Brent Sancho was eager to see take place.

“He (Sancho) was all about what CPL could do for the community and for the children and it is great when a Minister of

Sport is thinking about the communities.

“We are going to have the top West Indies and international stars in Trinidad for two weeks, so we have to come up with initiatives to make sure they get into the schools, into the summer camps and in any way possible where they could work with the children of the country to inspire them that if they is anything they want to achieve in life, it is actually possible,” O’Donohoe explained.

“The CPL final is the Super Bowl of the Caribbean and you are going to have the biggest stars from the world of cricket and the biggest entertainers, and big celebrity names,” he added.

The CPL CEO also noted that the tournament is turning heads around the world. (TT Express)

ICC & Twitter join forces to launch first ever Cricket World Cup experience for fans worldwide

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fter their partnership at the ICC World T20 in 2014, the ICC & Twitter are ready to launch a host of innovative and interactive features for the ICC Cricket World

Cup 2015 that will flow seamlessly for fans onair, on ground and online.

Here are a few experiences that cricket fans globally can look forward to.

ICC Cricket World Cup Timeline A special ICC Cricket World Cup Timeline has been designed within all of Twitter’s platforms, from iOS to Android and also twitter.com.

Some of the Twitter Mirror photos from earlier this week

There are two timelines, Tournament and Match, which will give fans an instant snapshot of the match with commentary, expert and fan Tweets all coming through to a central point.

Users will also be able to tweet with the official tournament and match hashtags from right within this timeline. In a first for global cricket, there will also be a dedicated tab for photos, consumer video and Vine videos to give fans inside access to the year’s biggest sporting event. For mobile, this experience is available to all users who have updated to the latest version of the Twitter app. #AskTheCaptain In addition to showcasing relevant Tweets during the game, ICC is giving cricket fans around the world a chance to make dreams

come true in each of the 49 World Cup matches. By Tweeting to @ ICC with the hashtag #AskTheCaptain, Twitter users across the world can participate in the post-match interviews and get closer to the action than ever before.

At every match, one Tweet containing a question will be picked up by the commentators and asked to the winning captain live on global Television feed during the post-match presentation.

The ICC is producing a special digital wrapup of every single match day throughout the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and @ICC will Tweet this #CWCDaily recap of the day via Twitter Video to ensure that fans don’t miss out on any Cricket World Cup story. It’s a five minute show that will go out each evening

with news and views from right across every element of #CWC15.

Fans can get involved by sharing their views using #CWCDaily and interacting with the show.

Twitter Voting Card: #PlayOfTheDay At the end of each match day, users can get involved to decide which moment was the #PlayOfTheDay based on a shortlist by ICC. To make the choice, users will simply have to click on a special Twitter Voting Card that @ICC will Tweet out giving a daily winning ‘Play of the Day’ on all 36 match days during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. @ICC Twitter Account Phone Number Tweets from the ICC are now just a missed call away for fans in India. They can dial 0113049 6049 and get up to three Tweets from @ICC as SMSes every day.

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Cricket World Cup 2015 to take game into next generation of digital coverage

T

he International Cricket Council on Thursday announced a series of exciting and innovative digital activations for cricket’s flagship event, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will give fans some unique opportunities to engage with the event, the legends of the game and the players.

At the core of all these activations is the rebranded official website www.icc-cricket.com.

The website, which is fully responsive in design, adapting to all devices, includes features like the brand new ICC CWC 2015 Match Centre. The Match Centre, powered

by SAP’s HANA and Analytics tool, will have the fastest live scores available anywhere online and will also provide real time statistics and insights using live and historical ICC Cricket World Cup data to deliver in-depth match anal-

ysis to fans around the world. The Match Centre will also be available on the official tournament app.

A newly launched video section will contain short-form highlights of each match, including all action latest match clips - the dismissals, the magic moments, the best innings and the biggest hits, all available within a matter of minutes of the action happening on the pitch.

The website will also feature previews, reviews, daily match reports, special features and regular columns from ICC Cricket World Cup legends like Andy Bichel, Paul Collingwood, Inzamamul-Haq, Muttiah Muralidaran, Stephen Fleming, Sir Vivian Richards, Graeme Smith and many more.

Other exclusive features on the official website are the ‘100 Greatest World Cup Moments’, an

On computer, tablet or their smartphone, everyone can get closer to the Cricket World Cup than ever before

audio-visual countdown from 100 days to go to the ICC CWC 2015, powered by LG, where fans get to vote on their favourite ‘Greatest World Cup Moment’, the Greatest XI, where fans get to pick their ‘Greatest World Cup XI’ and share it with their friends via social

media and the Cricket World Cup Quiz.

Another hugely popular digital offering is the official ICC CWC 2015 Fantasy League, which already has more than 150,000 registered managers.

For those on the go, the official ICC Cricket

World Cup 2015 App, launched in partnership with Reliance Communications, offers live scores, in-match clips, exclusive videos, fixtures, real time statistics and analysis and much more. The app, which is currently rated the No.1 sports app in

close to 20 countries, is available for free download on the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) store.

Further strengthening its video offering, ICC will be providing fans with a unique behindthe-scenes insight into the second biggest single sports event in the world via the #CWCDaily, a 5-minute daily video show capturing all the news, clips and off-thefield excitement. This will be available to fans via the various ICC digital and social media platforms.

To complement the digital activations, the ICC has lined up exciting tie-ups with key social media platforms to launch some worldfirst innovations across its Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channels.

These innovations will be announced in due course, ahead of the first match of the tournament. (ICC)

TT’s Lee Ahye, Lendore capture gold

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Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad & Tobago

O R T - O F S P A I N , TRINIDAD: National Track sprinters, Michelle Lee Ahye and Deon Lendore, had an inspiring start to the 2015 competitive season when the pair powered to gold in the 60-metre and 400m events respectively, in separate meets throughout the United States on Saturday.

Ahye, who dominated globally in 2014, blasted to victory in the women’s 60m at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, Boston, in a blistering time of 7.15 seconds. On her way to gold, the slimbuilt speedster successfully held off eventual runner-up and Olympic 4x100m gold medallist Tianna Bartoletta of the USA (7.19) and bronze receiver, Flings Owusu-Agyapong (7.26) of Ghana.

Meanwhile, Olympic bronze medallist Lendore sprinted to the rung of the podium in the men’s indoor 400m at the Aggie Invitational in 45.68 on his home track at the University of Texas A&M. Still the reigning National Collegiate Athletic

Association (NCAA) Indoor and Outdoor champion, Lendore crossed the finish line ahead of silver medallist George Baylor’s Caddick (46.54) and Michael Cheeks of Clemson (46.74) respectively.

Additionally, track athletes Jarrin Solomon, national 110m hurdles record holder Mikel Thomas and 2012 World Indoor bronze medallist Jereem Richards, settled for silver in their respective events on Saturday.

Solomon was runner up in the men’s 600m at the New Mexico Classic in one minute, 17.80 seconds. Thomas also bagged silver in the men’s 60m hurdles in 7.72 behind Olympic gold medalist and world 110m hurdles record holder, Aries Merritt of the USA (7.57). Richards took second spot in the men’s 200m at the New Mexico Classic in a per-

Deon Lendore

sonal best time of 21.06.

And World Junior sliver medallist Jeneil Bellille placed third in the women’s 400m at

the Aggie Invitational in 53.25. Last week, double Olympic medallist Lalonde Gordon sped to victory in the men’s

300m the Armory Track Invitiational, New York in 32.57, just short of his national record mark of 32.47. (TT Newsday)

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WICB’s management of cricket…

Culture change needed, says Holding

By Avenash Ramzan

A

culture change is what is needed to lift West Indies out of the leadership quandary that the Region’s game has found itself. This is the view of legendary fast bowler Michael Holding, who shared those sentiments in a column published on ESPNCricinfo earlier this week.

Holding’s assertion comes weeks ahead of the highly-anticipated Annual General Meeting of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on March 7, when the position of President will be contested by two candidates.

The WICB confirmed on Tuesday last that the incumbent Dave Cameron will be challenged by Holding’s former teammate and Barbados Cricket Association head, Joel Garner, while Vice

President Emmanuel Nanthan is being challenged by Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board Director Baldath Mahabir.

Holding pointed out that whoever heads the regional governing body after the elections, the focus should be on making changes to the constitution and the culture of the Board.

“I am looking beyond whoever gets to be the next President of the WICB,” Holding, who turns 61 on February 16, said.

“I believe that changing the constitution and the culture of the board is very important if we’re going to be able to make any progress with the governance of our game.

So many people have made reference to the Patterson and Wilkins report that I won’t go over that ground again.

But everyone ought to see that something has to

Dave Cameron

be done.”

Holding referred to the recently-abandoned tour of India as a “fresh” example of the problems facing West Indies cricket. He also alluded to the WICB’s management of that saga, even after a Task Force had found the Board partly to be blamed for the tour being cut short.

“The WICB is answerable to no one at the moment. It does as it likes, with no accountability, as it has done over the

Joel Garner

years. This recent problem in India is fresh in the mind. The WICB’s own Task Force found it guilty of being part of the problem that caused the abandonment of the tour.

What has happened?

What have the repercussions been? So far nothing,” the former cricketer, who has become one of the game’s most candid commentators, posited.

Checks and balances

“How can any organisation operate effective-

Michael Holding

ly if there are no checks and balances, no repercussions for bad management? All the WICB does is take it out on those it has power over – the players.”

The Jamaican, who took 249 wickets in 60 Tests, also took a swipe at the selection panel, which is currently led by a former captain of his, Clive Lloyd.

“Just today [earlier in the week], the current captain [Jason Holder], in an interview in Australia

leading up to the World Cup, has said the West Indies team is weaker without Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, but he is not a selector and so has no control. What does it say when the Chairman of Selectors and the WICB keep saying that the team was selected on merit?

Again, I leave it to the public to decide,” Holding concluded.

The upcoming elections are shaping up to be a keen tussle between Cameron and Garner and a major high point of the WICB’s Annual General Meeting.

Guyana, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands have already declared their support for Cameron’s re-election, while Garner appears to be receiving the backing of Jamaica, as well as Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

Each of the six WICB associations is entitled to two votes each.

Nascimento preaches fitness at Ruggers’ training

By Avenash Ramzan

T

he national Men’s rugby squad is intensifying preparations for participation in several major tour-

naments this year, but Patron of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), Christopher “Kit” Nascimento believes the players have a far way to go in terms of

getting in peak condition for high-quality competition.

The Ruggers are currently whipping themselves into shape for a successful defence of

the Sevens and 15s titles they won last year in a clean sweep of the North American Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Championships.

By winning the NACRA Sevens, the national Men’s team are now at the beginning of a pathway to greater things like attendance at the Pan Am Games next year and possible qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil.

The team have also qualified to attend the Hong Kong Sevens next month.

Nascimento said the players had “improved substantially in the past two weeks”, but noted that they were “only halfway there” with regard to their preparations and fitness. At the conclusion of a Beep Test on Tuesday afternoon at the National Park Rugby Field, the squad had an

Christopher “Kit” Nascimento

average of 12.9 per player.

“We want to put a team on the Park that is averaging 14 and we can do it; we definitely can do it. We just have to work a little harder,” Nascimento said.

He added, “You can’t do it on the official practice session and the game session, it won’t get you there fast enough, so those of you who are really determined to make

that team, remember no one is picked, no one is selected, no one is guaranteed a place.”

Nascimento reminded the players of the numerous opportunities that would be available for selection during the year, with Guyana set to attend several competitions. He urged the players to fight hard for the spots that would be up for grabs.

“So, there are a lot of opportunities; a lot of national pride at stake and a lot of personal pride at stake. I’m very happy to see you guys are committed, you’re coming out, but you have to put in some extra time, in the evenings and the mornings,” the former GRFU President suggested.

Nascimento said the GRFU will place added emphasis on the fitness of the players as a key criterion for selection.

The national rugby players pose with the NACRA 15s title

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GVF to focus on developing female, schools volleyball

G

uyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) President, Captain John Flores disclosed that the development of the sport among females and schools will be the Federation’s primary focus this year.

The announcement was made during the GVF first executive meeting held last Saturday at the Port Mourant Community Centre Ground, where several decisions were taken to move the sport forward.

Prior to the commencement of the meeting, the members inspected ongoing works being done on the construction of an outdoor court that was donated by the South American Volleyball Confederation (CSV) to the GVF. While several recommendations were made, the facility is scheduled to be up and ready before the month-end.

Meanwhile, the

various committees were resuscitated. The Committees formed are: Selection – Levi Nedd (Chairman); Trevor Smith; Godwyn Allicock; Captain John Flores and Leota Langford.

Competitions – Mark Bradford (Chairman); Godwyn Allicock and Raymond Archer.

Finance – Leota Langford (Chairperson); Nicholas Fraser; Captain John Flores and Rashaad Razak.

Fundraising – Mark Bradford (Chairman); Alana Bose; Andrea Flores; Mahesh Motiepersaud and Shauntel Maloney.

Medical/Legal – Arianne Mangar; Jason Johnny and others to be named.

T e c h n i c a l / Development – Nicholas Fraser (Chairman); Levi Nedd; Rashaad Razak; Odile Broomes; Marlon Pearson and Niketa Samaroo.

Disciplinary

Gregory Rambarran of the BVA receiving from GVF President John Flores

BCB launches historic schools U-15 cricket tournament

Deonarine Rambharose hands over the sponsorship cheque to BCB President Anil Beharry in the presence of BCB Secretary Angela Haniff, BCB Chairman of Competitions, Carl Moore and Region Six Education Officer Volaika Jaikishun

By Rajiv Bisnauth

I

n a bid to revive secondary school cricket at the Under-15 level, the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) and an overseas-based Guyanese launched a historic partnership on Wednesday.

The tournament targets 30 secondary schools in Regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), and is expected to commence in mid-March.

As the latest hope for the revitalisation of the game was launched in grand style, BCB President Anil Beharry believes that this is one of the best things that have happened to secondary school cricket in the County in a very long time.

“This initiative was part of the BCB new executives’ when we took office last month. We want to have cricket

played at the schools level. So I believe that this is something tremendous that a bright future can be built upon,” adds Beharry.

He continued: “The nursery level is important so as to bring back interest to the youngsters and at the same time give the clubs an opportunity to do talent spotting. I believe that Berbice cricket is going to be even more successful, [given] the fact that more cricket is being played.”

Beharry, who replaced Keith Foster when the BCB held its elections last month, trusts that more international players will be born out of this tournament, since according to him the school system in the past had produced outstanding cricketers.

He challenged the cricketers who will take part in the tournament to make their respective

schools proud, and at the same time aim for personal goals.

Beharry thanked the sponsor for investing in such an important tournament that was missing for so many years. He also thanked the Regional Education Department for their ready support.

Speaking on behalf of the sponsor, Deonarine Rambharose, a former resident of Cumberland Village, East Canje, Berbice, said tournaments of such nature create an opportunity for young aspiring cricketers to further develop their skills.

Rambharose added that he was always impressed with the work of the BCB, despite the limited resources.

He added that the BCB is the shining light in an otherwise chaotic situation in Guyana and West Indies cricket.

– President, Vice President and Presidents of the three associations (Berbice Volleyball Association (BVA); Demerara Volleyball Association (DVA) and Essequibo Volleyball Association

GVF Secretary Nicholas Fraser hands over the donation to Godwyn Allicock, a representative from BVA

(EVA) Media – Gregory Rambarran, Mark Bradford and Alana Bose.

After the conclusion of the meeting, three presentations were made. Mikasa balls and

a net were presented to the Albion Volleyball Club; nets and Mikasa Kids balls were presented to the BVA for its Primary Schools “Cool Volley” Programme; and 330 balls and nets were donated to the BVA.

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