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Guptill, Simmons fetch biggest bids at CPL draft Page 52

You can also read Guyana Times daily edition online at www.guyanatimesgy.com WEEK ENDING mARCH 4, 2018

ISSUE NO. 386

Press body roasts Ramjattan over ‘hostile behaviour’ …says he should apologise for recent outburst

See story on page 3

‘I did nothing wrong’ …says Top Cop on Govt’s revocation of gun licence

Page 8

Outgoing Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud arrives for his farewell parade on Wednesday at the Police Sports Club Ground in Georgetown

Mother of 5 killed while attempting to cross road

Page 8

Preparations in full swing for Guyana’s Independence celebrations in New York Page 23

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Press body roasts Ramjattan over ‘hostile behaviour’ against journalists

…says he should apologise for recent outburst

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he Guyana Press Association (GPA), which is now headed by Nazima Ragubir, has strongly condemned what it described as 'verbal abuse' against one of its Executive Members and other media operatives by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan.

According to the Association it received two formal complaints of Minister Ramjattan’s hostile behaviour and is calling on the said Minister to issue an apology.

The GPA said its Executive member Denis Chabrol was verbally abused on the phone and in person by Ramjattan.

"The verbal abuse continued later on

Outgoing Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan.

Wednesday, February 28th 2018, in the presence of members of the media. This is as members of the media

sought to interview Mr Ramjattan on a topical issue at the farewell parade of the outgoing Commissioner of Police"

said the GPA. In response to the questions posed Ramjattan responded with “haul yuh ass.”

The “haul ya ass” comment from the Minister came as he was walking away from journalists after telling them

he would not be taking any questions from them.

This is not the first time that the minister has used the “haul ya ass” phrase to a reporter.

The GPA said it is also calling on President David Granger to remind his Cabinet that "journalists play a major role in this growing democracy of ours and should be allowed to do their jobs without fear or hindrance."

Moreover, the Association said it remains committed to ensuring that its members remain respectful in their trade "but this is becoming increasingly difficult when dealing with some Ministers of Government and public officials."

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INTERNATIONAL To contact: Guyana Times International

New York Office 106-15 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica NY 11435 Email: guyanatimesnyint@gmail.com Tel no: 718-658-6804 Fax no: 718-849-2286 Preferred method of contact via EMAIL Guyana Office Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana.

Tel no: (592) 223-7230/1, 225-7761.

Fax (592) 225-8696 Email: guyanatimesint@gmail.com

EDITORIAL Aishalton is an Amerindian village that is situated in the Rupununi Savannah of southern Guyana, in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Region (Region 9) of the country. It is the administrative centre for the southern sub-district of Region 9. (Girendra Persaud photo)

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he Hindu community is being joined by most of the rest of the country to celebrate the festival of Holi, or Phagwah.

Holi, as we all know, is celebrated very boisterously, with gaiety and abandon as revellers douse each other first with water, then, in the afternoon, with powders of all hues, the scarlet liquid “abeer,” and FINALLY, a sharing of sweets.

But we should know, too, the reason for the celebration; because while each Hindu festival generally emphasises the theme of “good overcoming evil,” they are grounded in narratives that are intended to educate us to act in our present circumstances. So, before we celebrate Holi, we are exhorted to perform in the here and now the actions that can later be celebrated.

In the case of Holi, it all began with that old trope – the ruler who begins well, but is seduced by the trappings of power and then begins to rule tyrannically and oppress the people. So, it was in this particular instance that the ruler Hiranyakashipu had been conferred with great powers that he thought made him beyond the reach of even God, the highest power; and thought he could do anything, no matter how dictatorial. In modern times, he was like those rulers who are elected to office but believe they are above the highest laws as encapsulated in the Constitution.

Against Hiranyakashipu, the resistance came from an unexpected quarter – his own son, Prahalad; who defied the dictatorial father, who then retaliated with his own sharper steel. He asked his sister Holika, who was unaffected by fire, to immolate herself with Prahalad, expecting his own son would be assassinated. But it was Holika who perished in the flames.

Later, Prahalad would educate his young friends not to bow down to his dictatorial father; but to stand up to him and do the right thing and follow the path represented by Lord Vishnu.

In the end, due to the steadfastness of young Prahalad, Vishnu himself adopts a special form and materialises to destroy Hiranyakashipu.

It was this event of good overcoming evil that was then celebrated by the people in the kingdom so boisterously, because the yoke of oppression had been removed from their necks.

In Guyana, therefore, it would be a travesty to simply celebrate if evil is roaming the land. For instance, this Holi, there are 5700 sugar workers who were fired by Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and are on the breadlines.

They are joined there by over 2000 workers who laboured for private cane farmers who lost their GuySuCo markets for their sugar cane with the closure of the factories. These 7700 workers have families, so at least thirty thousand men, women and children have nothing to celebrate and everything to mourn.

The highhandedness of those who made this astounding decision to shutter the sugar estates ignored their own advisors, and one can only conclude that they were motivated by reasons other than the social perspective that guides the running of a state.

This year, Holi is also significantly preceded by Republic Day, which is commemorated with the festival of Mashramani.

Republic Day demands that citizens reflect on the sacrifice it took for our forefathers to throw off the yoke of oppression of the foreign, tyrannical rulers in the form of the British. That is an act worthy of celebration, but not if the ideals of sacrifice that guided our forefathers – just as those of Prahalad’s — are sacrificed on the altar of expediency for self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment.

This Holi, we call upon all Guyanese to rise up to the true meaning of the festival, and take a vow to do the right thing: to rid the land of oppression in all its myriad forms. Whether it occurs in our homes; our villages; our regions; and yes, our country, it is our duty to do the right thing. Only then we would have earned the right to celebrate boisterously in the streets. shout, “Holi re!!”

Guyana’s Health Minister announces improvement in TB treatment T

he recently-concluded Andean Group of countries forum held in Lima, Peru heard that Guyana was currently winning the war against tuberculosis (TB).

This announcement was made by Minister within the Public Health Ministry, Dr Karen Cummings.

The forum heard that in spite of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causing a spike in the number of TB cases dealt with last year, the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) and the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) were working round the clock to heighten the Isoniazid Preventative Therapy in citizens living with the deadly disease.

Minister Cummings also informed the Andean forum that the best initiative implemented has been the provision of nutritious drink and food hampers. This is since the NTP began effecting a number of enablers and incentive initiatives in 2005. These initiatives seek to not only boost the health of patients suffering from the disease but to foster adherence to treatment.

“The case notification rate over the past five years decreased from 92 per 100,000 in 2012 to 70 per 100,000 in 2017. This is a good indication as TB has been on the decline significantly in key populations, namely the prisoners, children and elderly,” Dr Cummings stated.

She highlighted the improvement of the TB treatment success rates since 2005. The rates, which were just under 50 per cent in 2005, have skyrocketed to 78 per cent, according to the most recently available national figures. This improvement is as a result of the implementation of the Directly Observed Short Course Treatment (DOTS) in Guyana. However, the national rate is still below the target for the World Health Organisation (WHO) END TB Strategy 2025 of 90 per cent.

Dr Cummings said while the country’s strategy was to addresses social protection, poverty alleviation and actions on other determinants of the contagious TB disease, “Guyana will continue exploring ways to enhance the socioeconomic conditions of less fortunate TB patients by implementing ‘more robust initiatives’, which will target Pillar 2 of the country’s “END TB STRATEGY”, which are Bold Policies and Supportive Systems.”

The event, which was organised to help complement the functioning of, and assist in capacity building among national TB laboratories, also focused on strengthening the technical and administrative capacity of the three supranational reference laboratories in the Americas located in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, and fortify the na-

Dr Karen Cummings

tional laboratory networks of the 20 countries of the Americas through technical and managerial skills-building.

While addressing the meeting, Dr Nila Heredia, Executive Secretary of the Andean Health Organisation ORAS-CONHU, noted that resistance to first and second level treatment of tuberculosis continued to be a major public health concern around the world.

“This space will give routes that allow us as integration agencies to contribute to this struggle,” he said, stressing the importance of having the presidency of MERCOSUR Health; the Executive Secretariat of Council of Ministers of Health of Central America (COMISCA) and the General Directorate of South American Institute of Government in Health (ISAGS) of UNASUR which are integrating mechanisms together with the ORAS-CONHU, which are expected to work with the same mandate of the presidents and contribute to the elimination of tuberculosis globally.

Also speaking on the need to strengthen the laboratory network and integration of the ORAS–CONHU was Vice Minister of Health of Peru, Dr Percy Montes. “This meeting means a stop along the way to see how far we have progressed on the issue of tuberculosis, what we are going to do together, what are the challenges and challenges that we as a State have to face in the future,” he noted while expressing that the forum would bear many results in the field of improving diagnostic capacity for laboratories.

NEWS 5

WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Jagdeo challenges Granger to give ‘real reason’ for Trotman’s ‘demotion’ A decision taken by the Government to strip Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman of his responsibility for the oil and gas sector has raised many eyebrows, but Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo believes that there might be a specific reason why such a move was taken.

Jagdeo told Guyana Times International on Wednesday that President David Granger should “come clean” and state what exactly caused him to make such a decision to have the responsibility for the oil and gas sector placed under the Ministry of the Presidency instead, which is headed by Minister of State Joseph Harmon.

“What did he (David Granger) discover that caused him to take away the portfolio from (Raphael) Trotman and he needs to come clean with the

country. Don’t cover it up!” Jagdeo stated.

The announcement of Trotman being stripped of his responsibilities for oil was made in a taped interview with the Department of Public Information, where he said, “Government will, in the coming months, establish the Department of Energy which will be housed in the Ministry of the Presidency.”

Trotman said also that the department will be “focused only on the development of the petroleum sector,” based on a proposal that he made to President David Granger last year.

“Eventually, the expectation is that the Ministry of Natural Resources will hand over responsibility of the function of petroleum to this department and we will see a more direct and focused mandate from this Department of Energy and we will, of

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

course, as a Cabinet be supporting the Department.”

This decision was handed down at Cabinet’s meeting on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, Trotman has been appointed head of the task force which will be responsible for submitting to Cabinet a proposal on how the Department of Energy is to be structured and staffed.

“This task force will be meeting and will make a proposal to Cabinet as to how

the new department of energy will be comprised, staff and what its mandate will be,” Trotman said.

Besides this, there have been calls in the past to have Trotman removed from his position as Minister, especially when it was discovered that Government stashed US$18 million in a private account in the Central Bank, which it received from ExxonMobil as a signing bonus.

Though this discovery was made

since last year, the Government has made no attempts to have the money placed into the Consolidated Fund.

Many have argued that Article 216 of the Guyana Constitution dictates that all public revenue be placed in the Consolidated Fund with the exception being where a specific law allows for the money to be placed in a special account.

Trotman was also criticised for his handling of the oil

contracts between Government and ExxonMobil. Even the Government’s own adviser on petroleum, Dr Jan Mangal has criticised Guyana’s two per cent royalty on earnings from ExxonMobil’s oil sales, which he said is low, compared to global standards.

While Dr Mangal is not in disagreement with 50-50 per cent profit share Guyana will receive, he does believe that the zero tax, and two per cent royalty is nothing to boast about.

Others have also come out criticising Trotman, including outspoken political commentator and Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram, who believes that Trotman’s handling of the oil sector could lead to future disaster. He has said repeatedly that the Minister is not competent for the job.

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Guyana not equipped to deal with the socioeconomic consequences due to closure of sugar industry Dear Editor, In view of our economic challenges, it is clear that Guyana cannot finance sugar production forever. The industry was floundering with the loss of the EU preferential market price extended to us. This was compounded by the fact that we have no authority to set prices, as producers of sugar and agricultural products. This is totally unfair, but the stark reality is that developed countries that buy our products have the bargaining power to dictate what they will pay.

Despite this, closing the factories, especially without viable replacements, is not a reasonable solution, because Guyana is clearly not equipped to deal with the destructive socio-economic consequences.

Closing the factories will create tremendous devastating and negative impacts that will ripple across Guyana on personal, family, community and national levels.

Here are a few points to take into consideration: 1. Many of our dedicated and professional GuySuCo workers of various trades — from cane cutters to mechanics, factory hands that produce sugar, lab technicians and others – will be forced to move to nearby Suriname or French Guiana, and parts of the Caribbean such as Antigua, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. Once those good citizens move, they will not return to Guyana, and we would have lost some quality people possibly forever.

Consider this in light of the fact that our population is already small.

2. Having a large group of non-working menfolk could result in serious social consequences, with some resorting to indulging in alcohol, drugs and domestic violence due to frustration and depression, all of which could, in the long term, affect their families and communities. One man has already reportedly taken his own life because he felt the future for him and his family was bleak with the shutdown of the estate where he was engaged.

I have a few recommendations to make, as it certainly isn’t my style to critique without suggestions.

Very soon, oil monies will come into our

country. We will receive our partnership percentage and royalties. Subsidiaries of ExxonMobil and other major companies are coming to Guyana.

Money will be coming in, and some of those funds could be used to subsidize GuySuCo, the rice industry and our bauxite industry. This will keep workers in those industries gainfully employed, so that their standard of living and family life would be maintained, and their children’s education secured. Using oil money to help other sectors would also help to maintain industrial diversity in Guyana’s economy.

While the oil money is not flowing now, we should subsidise GuySuCo from our tax dollars and our Treasury.

This should be viewed as an investment, as we would secure our factories and our mass extent of top-quality arable lands which comprise a major part of Guyana.

Lifestyles and families will be preserved, as we would be keeping our people employed and gainfully occupied through spinoff industries, providing direct and indirect employment.

Here is a thought: Could the factories and lands be used for mass fish, dairy, cattle, sheep and goat and aquaculture production for local and international exports?

How about turning an obsolete factory into a meat-packing centre and fish-processing facility? How about using the shuttered factories for the manufacturing of soaps and detergents, or the processing of coconut oil? Could we not become a major producer of coconuts, and develop a vibrant and dynamic coconut industry?

On another note, I seriously believe it is wrong for only Government to be responsible for the management of oil production and exploration in this country. A good Government would include the private sector and organizations like the Chamber of Commerce in such massive undertakings.

Government should also show good intent and respect — which would create wholesome communication — by including the Opposition.

Yours truly, Roshan Khan (Snr)

APNU/AFC Govt hardly concerned about the welfare of Guyanese Dear Editor, The officials of the German penal system have acknowledged that the reason for allowing murderers and other extreme anti-social criminals to live quite normal lives which include access to television, books etc, is that they recognise that man’s behaviour is to a very large extent influenced by his environment. As such, the crimes committed by these offenders were a result of societal conditioning and influence, versus an overt, deliberate attempt by these persons to commit a crime, or do ‘evil’.

I could credit them with influencing my own thoughts on this subject, as I have come to the conclusion that man is first an animal.

He is then given education and religion and conditioned in order to exist in society. Behaviours expected of him are therefore largely influenced by society’s norms, but sometimes much more so by his immediate environment.

A quick check of any economics textbook would show that one of the major responsibilities of governments, even in socialist economies, is to adopt policies which support job creation and liveable incomes. One of the obvious reasons for this is the maintenance of societal stability, or an environment where citizens can adequately provide for themselves and their families without recourse to anti-social behaviours which seek to extract such means of existence.

The existing and more sophisticated illegal forms of income generation, along with the recent surge in robberies, therefore require little explanation as successive administrations of the former Government consistently maintained an oppressive income policy, and the current People’s National Congress-led (PNC) coalition, continuing along with this policy, has further established it is not its responsibility to provide jobs for citizens. As a quick reminder, Granger had advocated that we all become entrepreneurs.

Recent attempts to address se-

curity are a weak public relations gimmick, as it should be clear that the coalition’s policies have very likely stimulated the upsurge in robberies. African Guyanese youths become the fall guys to a political system intent on victimising them as part of Government’s wider policy of economic control, while Ministers enjoy their salaries and their CoI buddies get bountiful handouts. It would seem obvious to move in the direction of creating more jobs and better incomes for citizens, but one would imagine that a satisfied and educated population is immensely more difficult to govern because then incidents of corruption and incompetence would be more easily exposed.

As we continue to search for common ground against the clearly anti-welfare policies of the coalition Administration, we could do well to look abroad today.

Although there is much about which to fault America’s President Donald Trump, the one thing Americans can salute him for is his America First policy. We could consider the adoption of a Guyana First policy, where our main focus is increasing our national wealth and the incomes of our citizens. Ask the woman selling egg-ball, puri and pickle mango, or the youths selling on the corner what they’re doing, and they’ll tell you: hustling, trying to make a dollar. It’s all about the money.

Apparently the coalition hasn’t realised it has a country to run and citizens’ welfare issues to address.

Guyanese have to start asking the coalition, “Where’s the money?”

We also have to ask them, “What are you doing for me today?”

GAWU has on more than one occasion pointed out that the Administration’s non-payment of sugar workers’ severance benefits is unlawful. Yet the coalition continues to break the law and disregard the sugar workers’ union and the welfare of sugar workers. It has been suggested that immediately before executing an ex-

tremely violent act, individuals briefly descend to a state of lunacy. The decision to withhold sugar workers’ severance is an act of economic oppression bordering on violence. The recent move to seize lands of distressed rice farmers without consultation constitutes an act of economic oppression. The continued denial of Public Sector workers their demands for a living wage constitutes an act of economic oppression. The coalition is guilty of all of these. We should seriously consider that the policy makers in the PNC-led coalition are mad, just as Lenin was.

The Minister of State’s recent observation of the apparent finality of the Exxon agreement should emphasise to everyone this Government is hardly concerned with the welfare of Guyanese, as it wilfully proceeds to forfeit potentially hundreds of millions, even billions of United States dollars in revenues, if lost tax revenues are considered, under the existing contracts. The arrogance of this position demonstrates that the now authoritarian stance of the coalition. The Administration considers itself unaccountable for its actions.

This stiffed-neck attitude is not unsurprising, and was one of the reasons the coalition was engineered to include the Alliance For Change. I have asserted in my book, a preview of which is available on Amazon, that the incessant bumbling of the coalition should be considered a great opportunity. It took less than three years to dislodge the People’s Progressive Party which had been in power for close to 23 years. It should be much easier to form a new government to get rid what is clearly an incapacitated Administration in its less than three years’ existence. Let us look forward to and create the dawn of a new era.

Yours faithfully, Craig Sylvester

Indian Cinema has lost someone special and unique Dear Editor, Julie’s little sister, Sredevi; an iconic and irreplaceable Indian actress has just transitioned.

I honestly thought it was fake news when it first surfaced until it was confirmed from the press reports in India. I became speechless and took a very deep breath and exhaled.

Being exposed to both Indian and English movies from an early age, Sredevi became an instant interest. Perhaps it’s from dancing skills which she is professed as a classical dancer, her beauty and acting. She was a diva of an actress and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be

missed by her many fans globally.

She has some amazing and classic movies to her credit and I will not take up much space to name the many, but I

will say that “Lamhe” is a killer with the hit song “Kabhi Main kahoon” and as a child actress in the famous movie “Julie” which featured the hit song “My heart is beat-

ing” which she was seen.

Pradeep Samtani, we have lost someone special and unique from the Indian cinemas globally.

Yours faithfully, T Pemberton

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

New Demerara River crossing not in keeping with 21st Century infrastructure – Chinese Ambassador

Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Cui Jianchun

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fter delivering the University of Guyana’s Vice Chancellor’s seventh Renaissance Lecture, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Cui Jianchun, said that his country has no interest in the current design of the new Demerara Bridge, adding that it was far from a 21st Century design.

He made the statement while responding to questions after delivering the Renaissance Lecture on the topic “A new era for China and China-Guyana Relations.” He noted that infrastructure was a critical part of any country’s development, adding that the Chinese Government was committed to investing

in the development of Guyana.

“Frankly speaking, I am not interested in the current design of the Demerara Bridge, because I think that if we were building the bridge in the 1970, at that time, a bridge like that is okay, but now is the 21st century. We have modern design, modern technology, I know there is constraint for this bridge, but I think that really we need a 21st Century design,” the Ambassador said.

“I cannot interfere and say what kind of bridge you can build, but I think that from my perspective that really it is the 21st Century, so how can we build another floating bridge?” he

questioned.

Ambassador Cui said that he related this to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson at an earlier meeting, adding that no Chinese contractors have expressed any interest in the project yet.

“I am really concerned about Demerara Bridge…so frankly speaking, I have talked to the Minister of Public Infrastructure, but I cannot tell you the details, but I told them if we are still building a floating bridge, this is not 21st Century,” he reiterated.

“I once asked him: “How can we help?”

This bridge is very important for developing the western part of the Demerara, so you just mentioned really the infrastructure is meaningful,” the Ambassador said in response to a question from the audience.

The diplomat urged the audience to do some research on the 55-kilometre Hong KongZhuhai-Macau Bridge, adding that the current design for the new Demerara Bridge was in no way 21st Century infrastructure. The Hong

Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge is described as the longest cross-sea bridge, which consists of a series of three cable-stayed bridges and one undersea tunnel, as well as three artificial islands, spanning the Lingdingyang channel that connects Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai, three major cities on the Pearl River Delta in China.

Meanwhile, the proposed Demerara River bridge is approximately two kilometres north of the existing floating bridge, spanning Houston on the eastern

An artist’s impression of the new Demerara crossing

bank of the Demerara River and Versailles on the western bank of the Demerara River. The new bridge will be an essential part of the road network and will also have a significant impact on marine traffic passing under the structure.

The project will see the construction of an approximately 1500-metre fixed bridge with a movable span and two approach roads of a total length of 600m. It is envisaged that the project will commence in 2018 and will be delivered in 2020.

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‘I did nothing wrong’

…says Top Cop on Govt’s revocation of gun licence

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he coalition Government has forced outgoing Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud to revoke the approval of a firearm dealer licence, which he granted himself last month, a move which the Top Cop says is now unprecedented.

A section of the State media on Wednesday reported in a staged fashion exclusively on the story which was the same day the Police Force held a farewell parade for Persaud, who goes off on pre-retirement leave next Monday ahead of his April retirement.

When asked about the matter following the farewell, the outgoing Top Cop told reporters that there was nothing wrong with him applying to himself and then granting approval for a licence to set up the dealership.

In fact, he noted that this was done before.

“In the 1980s, there was a Commissioner who granted himself dealership licence … There is precedence for it … something is wrong with this Commissioner that they tell the public that it was wrong,” the outgoing Top Cop asserted.

Asked whether it was ethical for him to make this move just a few weeks before his retirement, the outgoing Commissioner pointed out that the business would have only become operationalised in May, after his retirement.

“There was precedence, it’s a business and I can’t do business on the job, so it would have only been operational after I retire,” Persaud said.

He went on to point out that almost all past Commissioners of Police applied for and grant gun licences to themselves.

“If you look historically over the past 25 years, all the past Commissioners, maybe with the exception of one, granted themselves firearm licences. So it’s not anything new but you know we live in a society today where one set of circumstances is good for one person, but not good for the other,” he posited.

Nonetheless, Persaud said he

Outgoing Top Cop Seelall Persaud

would not be challenging the decision to revoke his licence, as he has since become discouraged with the idea of opening his own firearms dealership.

“It doesn’t matter; it was one line of business I was contemplating and that won’t happen any longer. But I have a lot of experience; I have a lot of credibility and I’m very confident in my next phase in life,” the outgoing Top Cop stated.

It was reported in the State’s newspaper that Persaud on January 29, 2018 responded to an application previously made in his name, approving his business – Professional Outdoors Supplies – as a registered firearms dealer.

Reports revealed that the outgoing Top Cop three days earlier granted approval for two gun licences for a 9mm Pistol and a 12, 16 or 20-Gauge Pump Action Shotgun.

However, it was reported that the matter reached and engaged Cabinet’s attention and Persaud was since instructed by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan to revoke the dealership licence.

The authority of granting firearm licences and licences for gun dealers falls under the remit of the Commissioner of Police, who, upon receiving an application, forwards it to the relevant Policing Division for an investigation into the back-

ground and character of the applicant. Based on the findings of the probe, the Commissioner makes a recommendation to the Minister, who then forwards it to the Firearms Licensing Approval Board for review. The Board will then make its own recommendations to the Minister, and based on that or his own deliberate judgement, the Minister grants the licence.

When approached following the farewell parade on Wednesday afternoon for a comment on the matter, Ramjattan was hostile towards the media, telling reporters to have ‘time and place’.

He then pointed out that he spoke with online news site Demerara Waves earlier and was promptly reminded that he “cursed” in that conversation, to which he responded, “Yes, there are times when I could use expletives.”

Further pressed on the matter, Ramjattan, who is also performing duties as acting Prime Minister, declared: “I am not dodging no issue.” He then proceeded to walk away, heading to his vehicle and uttered over his shoulder, “haul yuh ass”.

Nevertheless, this most recent scandal involving the outgoing Police Commissioner comes on the heels of the damning report from the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Police Force’s handling of the probe into the alleged assassination plot against President David Granger.

The CoI, headed by Retired Police Commissioner Paul Slowe, recommended that disciplinary actions be taken against Persaud and that he be made to resign or be removed for misbehaviour and investigated for perjury.

The Commissioner subsequently proceeded on four months of vacation leave and a few days prior to his November return, he was sent on two months “special leave”. That move was translated by social commentators as Persaud getting the boot. However, he resumed duties in mid-January.

Mother of 5 killed while attempting to cross road

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mother of five was on Tuesday evening killed by a speeding car as she attempted to cross the Affiance Public Road, Essequibo Coast.

Dead is 55-year-old Nandranie Singh, a housewife, of Lot 74 Queenstown, Essequibo Coast.

Based on reports received, the 23-year-old driver of the motor car, HB 5965, was reportedly on his mobile phone when the accident occurred. The pedestrian was about to cross that road when she was struck by the young man, who was also speeding at the time.

The injured woman was rushed to the Suddie Regional Hospital in an unconscious state and succumbed while receiving medical attention. The driver, who cleared a breathalyser test, was arrested and was now assisting traffic ranks with their investigations.

One of Singh’s sisters, Tara, told Guyana Times International

that on the night of the accident, her sister and one of her daughters went to purchase some items at the supermarket while her grandchildren were left at a play park, which is a stone’s throw away.

After purchasing the items, the grieving sister explained, her niece was left in the supermarket while her sister made her way back to the play park. “She was on the pedestrian crossing going to the park when the car with loud music hit her down… he was also on his phone,” she noted.

The woman further stated that she received the news about 20:30h and immediately went to her sister’s home. She noted that her sister received severe head injuries and from all indications, her arms and legs might have been broken as a result of the impact.

“After she was taken to the hospital, the doctors tried with her, but she couldn’t make it,” the

Dead: Nandranie Singh

sister cried. Singh leaves to mourn her five children, grandchildren, and siblings.

A post-mortem is expected to be performed on Friday.

Carjacking ‘mastermind’ granted G$1M bail

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Accused carjacking mastermind: Ex- Policeman Jason Harry

s the carjacking probe deepens, ex-policeman Jason Harry was on Tuesday again brought before city Magistrate Judy Latchman, this time to answer five additional charges of allegedly receiving stolen cars.

These fresh charges come three weeks after Harry had allegedly been found with suspected stolen vehicles and parts in his possession.

A resident of Monument Hill, at Kuru, Kururu on the Linden/ Soesdyke Highway, Harry was granted G$200,000 bail on each allegation of feloniously or unlawfully obtaining five Toyota motorcars.

When he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, Harry denied multiple allegations detailing that between August 2017 and February 2018, at Georgetown, he committed the fraudulent acts. Police, however, allege that Harry stole Elizabeth Martin’s G$2 million Fielder motorcar, HC 6999; Delon Skelky’s Spacio, PVV 9742, valued G$2.5 million; Saravety Narine’s Allion, PNN 1871, worth G$1.7 million; Samuel Monroe’s Spacio, PMM 7517, worth G$2.9 million; and Treshel Powers’ Allion motorcar, PVV 6791, valued at G$2.3 million.

Police Prosecutor Arvin Moore objected to Harry being placed on bail, articulating a fear that Harry, if granted bail, could tamper with another accused who is yet to be found. This objection was, however, overruled.

However, Harry, a 26-year-old father of one, who is being represented in these matters by Attorney Dexter Todd, will remain in custody, since he is currently remanded on a robbery charge.

Harry’s cases regarding the carjacking matters are slated for recall at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on April 12.

Earlier this month, he was apprehended at Monument Hill, Kuru Kururu when “A” Division ranks swooped down on a property and discovered vehicle parts.

Harry, who proclaims himself a taxi service owner, had on February 16 denied that, while being armed and in the company of others, he had robbed Phillip King of his Toyota Premio motor car valued at G$3.2 million, along with other items.

Police have disclosed that Harry, when placed on an identification parade after being apprehended, was positively identified by King. Thus Police suspect that their former colleague is part of the carjacking ring.

Several persons have so far being charged in connection with these matters.

Shawn Archibald and Timothy Waldron have also been accused of carrying out a series of carjackings.

Police ranks from the Major Crimes Investigation Unit had swooped down on a house at North Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara and found several car mirrors with engraved licence plate numbers; doors, lights, wipers and other vehicle parts for Toyota Allion, Spacio and Premio motor cars.

Those premises were occupied by a 29-yearold taxi driver and his 25-year-old wife.

Only last Monday, the father-and-son duo of Nigel and Ricky Chung, both welders, were arraigned in court on accusations of welding on false chassis numbers to a Spacio and an Allion motorcar.

NEWS 9

WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Economic analyst believes huge loan ‘Not me’ – Police rank denies sexually required by GuySuCo could trigger assaulting teen at Ogle financial crisis in Guyana

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lans to borrow US$15 billion to pay off the liabilities of two sugar factories belonging to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) will trigger a local financial crisis the likes of which have never been seen domestically.

This is the view of economic advisor to the Opposition, Peter Ramsaroop, who advised that Government not get this loan, as it would be a huge debt to repay.

Ramsaroop said this decision could lead to the treasury swelling tenfold or more in the near future.

The economic advisor said this large debt could place even more pressure on the country to repay its current loans to bilateral partners like China and India, and financial institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank.

Ramsaroop views this decision as taking a backward step to the 1980s, when Guyana had most of its revenues servicing debt. He said that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) managed to reduce the debt-toGross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio to 47.9 per cent and it should be maintained rather than burdened. “(Finance Minister Winston) Jordan is banking on oil, but the contract signed by Minister

Advisor to the Opposition, Peter Ramsaroop

of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman is so lopsided, Guyana, at current world market prices, will only earn about US$400 million per year.”

According to him, the price of oil on the world market is currently US$64 per barrel, which at 120,000 barrels per day gives US$2.8 billion a year. Under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed by the Guyana Government and ExxonMobil, of the US$2.8 billion earned on oil sold, ExxonMobil gets US$2.4 billion, while Guyana gets a paltry US$400 million. The US$400 million includes profit and royalty.

Government has said it hoped to repay the loan over the next three to five years. Finance Minister Jordan explained that

the money would be used specifically to fund the operations of the Skeldon and Enmore Sugar Estates, which were likely to reemploy some workers.

The Minister said the idea was to keep the Estates operational as it searched for buyers.

He said opening the Estates stood a better chance of being sold to a private company, as opposed to being closed. He noted that the idea was to close deals in another six to nine months to have these Estates sold in full.

Jordan said revenues generated from the sale of Estates and other assets would be used to repay the loan. The Government will be turning to commercials banks for this syndicated bond.

But Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has since warned the nation that Guyanese taxpayers may ultimately foot the bill for the repayment of this loan while the “handpicked” investors would reap the gains and maximise their profitability.

Jagdeo has said he was not buying the economic and financial arguments put forward by the Finance Ministry and the Government to justify this move.

He has said it defied logic that Government wanted to borrow G$15 billion to keep these Estates open for a few months, when that sum could have assisted the reopening for close to one year.

Doctor’s son remanded over fatal beating of ECD businessman

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Dead: Hazrat Shaffie

he son of an Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD) doctor was remanded to prison on Tuesday morning over the fatal beating of one of his father’s patients.

Neilson Sinclair, 29, of Lot 8 Temple Street, Ogle, appeared before Magistrate Alisha George at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court and was not required to plead to the indictable murder charge, which states that he killed Hazrat Shaffie.

The accused will make his next court appearance on March 23, 2018 for report.

Shaffie, 46, of Lot 114 Fifth Street, Industry, ECD, was last Friday beaten unconscious by the defendant, who is an alleged

drug addict, and succumbed on Monday morning at the Georgetown Public Hospital from the injuries sustained without regaining consciousness.

The father of four had travelled to Ogle, to collect his medication from Dr Nelson Sinclair’s Clinic, when he was attacked while leaving.

Asif Shaffie, one of the dead man’s brothers, explained that when he heard about his brother’s beating on Friday evening, he went to the home of the doctor to enquire, and was told who attacked his now dead brother.

“The father told me that his son violently dealt some blows in my brother head on the road, and although he tried to intervene, he was attacked by his son,” the grieving man stated.

It is believed that as the late Shaffie was proceeding towards his car some time about 20:00h af-

ter collecting the medication, he was grabbed, dragged along the roadway, and beaten.

An eyewitness had related that the drug addict was shouting, “Me want back me money!”

Efforts to restrain Sinclair were futile as Shaffie was already slipping into unconsciousness. continued on page 24

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he female officer at the centre of the alleged sexual assault perpetrated on a teenager at the Ogle International Airport (OAI) on Sunday morning has denied committing the act.

“A statement has been obtained from the female rank (implicated in the allegation), who has denied to have done a cavity search of the passenger,” the Guyana Police Force said on Tuesday.

The Force also confirmed that the rank is attached to its Narcotics Branch.

Since the incident, there has been a blame game played out between the Police Force and the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) as to which agency the implicated rank was from. However, in a statement on Tuesday, the Force “…acknowledge that the search of the 17-yearold…was conducted by a female rank of the Force’s Narcotics Branch”.

An investigation into the matter has since been launched by the GPF’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

The teenage girl was alleged to have been cavity-searched over the weekend, as she was about to depart Guyana for Barbados.

In the process, she was sexually assaulted.

It has been reported that the teen, who was on her way to visit relatives, was allegedly subjected to a “strip search” by officers at the airport, before being placed in a room where a female officer allegedly inserted her finger in the girl’s private parts. The law enforcement rank had reportedly asked the teen to “spread out and cough”.

A close relative of the young lady has said the family is seeking professional/

legal advice on the matter, and has accordingly declined to comment further on the alleged incident.

CANU Head, Michael Atherly, had initially condemned the act, telling the Guyana Times International on Sunday afternoon that the search done on the teenager had been improperly carried out. “…the officers had a right to take the person to the hospital and have a certified doctor carry out that search.

The action that was taken was incorrect, and they had no right (to do what they had allegedly done),” Atherly had stated.

If the Policewoman is found culpable, she stands to be demoted, fined, or dismissed from the GPF. Two weeks ago, while addressing the Annual Police Officers Conference, President David Granger had stated that the practice of transferring and demoting rogue elements would not end rogue behaviours in the GPF. This “cavity search” allegation is being seen as a serious incident, given that Jamaican national Shanique Myrie had to be compensated US$38,000 by the Barbados Government after she was allegedly sexually assaulted and raped by a female immigration officer at the Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados during a cavity search.

Myrie was awarded the sum as damages by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) after she had filed a lawsuit claiming she had been subjected to a dehumanising cavity search by a female immigration officer whilst being locked in a filthy room overnight, and deported to Jamaica in March 2011.

10 news

WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Broken promises! …Agriculture Minister dodges questions on promised diversification plans for Wales Estate

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ome two years ago, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder made several announcements about wide-ranging diversification plans for the Wales Sugar Estate, signalling that many workers from that entity could be retained under the new venture.

However, the initiatives never materialised – so much so that land that was to be converted into rice cultivation has been overtaken by weeds and bushes.

On Monday, the Agriculture Minister was questioned by Guyana Times International on the status of the conversion plans, but he declined to provide an update on the basis that management of the sugar industry was transferred to the Finance Ministry. The Minister similarly avoided responding to the assertion that he broke promises to sugar workers and to the public concerning the plans for diversification announced in 2016.

“How can I offer a comment when it’s not under my purview?

of Finance.

In short, GuySuCo has been removed from the ambit of agriculture to the Ministry of Finance,” Minister Holder had stated.

However, it is not clear whether or not the Minister’s disclosure of GuySuCo coming under NICIL was ever legally stipulated, as it was the closed estates that were transferred Former Wales Estate under the Stateworker Alex Paul Singh owned company. The January It would be wrong,” 7, 2018 edition of this Minister Holder told this newspaper published publication on Monday. that the divested esLast Wednesday, the tates were transferred to Minister pointed out NICIL as guided by the that the Guyana Sugar Public Corporations Act, Corporation (GuySuCo) Chapter 19:05. The eswas no longer under the tates included Skeldon, Agriculture Ministry. He East Demerara and made these comments Wales. There was no around the time that mention that GuySuCo dismissed workers from in its entirety was ever Wales were protesting transferred to NICIL. in front of the Ministry, In February 2017, calling for his removal. the Minister told the “GuySuCo is vested in National Assembly that National Industrial and the Wales Sugar Factory Commercial Investments would be converted into Limited (NICIL). NICIL a business establishfalls under the Ministry ment that would see the

rearing of poultry and livestock. Prior to that, Minister Holder had announced in May 2016 that Government was examining the feasibility of converting the factory into plants that would have processed dairy products and fruit juices, among other products.

M e a n w h i l e , as Governmentrecruited international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers continues to evaluate GuySuCo’s assets for privatisation and divestment, former Wales workers are asking when they will receive their severance pay. Guyana Times International understands that even some of the workers who were transferred to Uitvlugt want termination benefits from their years of service at Wales.

This newspaper was told that many opted against receiving severance, because they were under the impression that they would continue working at Wales under the diversification plans, namely rice cultivation.

Former Wales worker Alex Paul Singh told this newspaper that during 2017 he worked on the rice field in the backdam, but he stressed that this was not his field of work as he was a “bull man”, that is a worker who pulls punts along the estate canals.

“Me ah bull man and me wuk come redundant and as such, me like to get severance,” Singh stressed, claiming that his colleagues in that department have not received their termination benefits.

Speaking in December 2016, GuySuCo’s Finance Director and now acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Paul Bhim had told reporters that some 100 of the 1000 Wales dismissed workers were identified for the rice conversion plans, including husbandry practices.

This came in light of the promises by GuySuCo that it intended to convert some 485 acres of land at Wales Estate to rice cultivation.

It was during a visit to Wales earlier this month that this publication was shown sections of the land that were being overtaken by weeds. Workers who live in Vriesland, West Bank Demerara had expressed much dismay that, to date, no rice has been reaped.

T&T teacher slain by relative during quarrel

Margaret Ragoobar-Guevarra with her husband, Dominic Guevarra. (Trinidad Express photo) (Trinidad Guardian)

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illagers of Jairsingh Village in Coalmine, Sangre Grande, were in mourning last night, following the murder of school teacher Margaret Diaz-Guevara by a close relative who also attempted suicide.

Diaz-Guevara, 44, a teacher at St Francis RC School in Sangre Grande and mother of five, was reportedly dressing for work when she and her relative had an altercation. During the quarrel the relative grabbed his shotgun and firing upon her. She was hit in chest and abdomen and died on the spot. The relative then placed the gun to his forehead and pulled the trigger.

Relatives, who arrived on the scene before the police, said they found Diaz-Guevara covered with a sheet on her bed and the relative in the corner of the bedroom leaning against a wall covered in blood.

The relative survived but sustained massive injuries to his face. He was warded in serious condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, last night under police guard.

When the T&T Guardian visited the scene yesterday (Monday) DiazGuevara’s children and family were grief-stricken and being comforted by those around them.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said two of DiazGuevara’s children came running to her house

around 9 am. She said they begged her to call the police because their mother was being beaten. She said she called the Sangre Grande police, but by the time they arrived Diaz-Guevara had already been killed.

The neighbour said she had heard the two arguing from early morning, adding that she believed the killing could have been prevented if the police had responded immediately.

Another villager told T&T Guardian that Diaz-Guevara, who is the sister of a police officer, was in an abuse relationship. He said although she left the home several times due to abuse, she would always return and often did not make any reports to the police.

“She returned to get her death. I am so sad on hearing the news, but it is said cats and dogs does run away, and why this good lady had to endure all the abuse until her life ends?”

St Francis RC teachers rushed to DiazGuevara’s home on hearing of the incident. Some wept and embraced each other at the scene and all of them were said to be in shock. The students in her class reportedly all screamed when they got the news of her death.

District Medical Officer Cortice viewed the body and ordered its removal to Sangre Grande mortuary, from where it will be taken to the Forensic Sciences Centre, St James, for an autopsy.

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana’s millers still to be paid for rice exported to Panama two years ago

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ver two years have passed and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) is yet to deliver on its obligation to pay rice millers and operators for rice exported to Panama since 2015.

There also seems to be no clear indication as to whether any concrete move would be made to ensure that the millers and operators were given their payments any time soon.

Guyana Times spoke with GRDB General Manager Nizam Hassan last week and was told to call back, but several

calls went unanswered.

On Tuesday, another call was made to Hassan, who referred this newspaper to the Guyana Rice Millers Association (GRMA).

The GRDB Head was reluctant to provide any information regarding the issue and insisted that the GRMA would have information about payments, even though the GRDB was the entity responsible for such arrangements.

Contact was also made with GRMA Head Leekha Rambrich, who told this newspaper that a meeting was held a few

weeks ago and a promise was made to start delivering on payment.

Rambrich, who also happens to be the GRDB Vice Chairman, said that no payment has been made so far. He could not say when these payments would be made, but hinted that it may be soon.

The official also referred this publication to Hassan, stating that as chairman, he would have readily available information on all payments to rice millers and operators.

“GRDB signed a contract with Panama to

A rice shipment leaving a local wharf

supply this rice and not the millers. And GRDB is responsible for paying the millers. So that question has to be referred right back to him (Hassan),” he stated.

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder told Guyana Times International recently that while he was not familiar with the specific issue, most of the international sales of rice were done between buyers and sellers.

The GRDB, he said, has an important role to ensure that certification is in place, and in the case of the financial arrangements between the two countries for these shipments, it would involve the boards.

“And in these things, Governments are not necessarily the quickest payers. Why? Not because they don’t have money, but because the system has to go through a certain way and regulations and what GRDB tends to do is if millers are in stress, they try to advance monies to these millers,” he explained.

However, this is clearly not the case in this particular incident.

In most cases, once the millers are not paid, payment to rice farmers themselves was also af-

GRDB General Manager Nizam Hassan

fected.

Broken promise

Meanwhile, Guyana Rice Producers Association (RPA) Head Dharamkumar Seeraj reiterated that the Government has failed to honour its promises of betterment for rice millers and exporters. He also explained that it has been over two years since these rice millers have been awaiting payment.

Previously, the RPA had said that it believed the GRDB was in a sound financial position based on the amount of levies collected from exports over the years to

pay these millers either fully or at least a substantial amount of the total due.

The rice farmers’ representative body noted that the sector was severely affected by the amount owed to the millers/exporters, adding that some of them were on the verge of bankruptcy while others could not invest in the further development of their facilities. The body explained that the failure to pay the millers/exporters would affect the efficiency of the industry as well as profitability.

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

The end nears for King …debate on no-confidence motion set for next statutory meeting

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Up for dethronement, Town Clerk Royston King

t Monday’s statutory meeting of the Georgetown City Council, Alliance For Change (AFC) Councillor Sherod Duncan submitted a motion of no-confidence against Town Clerk Royston King, following several instances of him attempting to usurp the power of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).

In his motion, submitted to the office of the Town Clerk, Duncan cited provisions in the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chap 28:01 that placed the responsibility and duty of ensuring that the Municipality is managed in a “professional and competent way by a qualified Town Clerk” on Councillors. He noted that from that provision, his vote of no confidence against King stemmed.

awarding of contracts without Council’s knowledge and the gross disrespect meted out to Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan were all raised.

“NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Council hereby moves and declares a vote of no confidence in Town Clerk Royston King,” the motion concluded.

Now that notice of the motion has been given, it is slated for the March 12 Statutory Meeting, where it will be debated in full. It is expected that most of the Councillors would vote in favour of the motion as they all have been complaining about the conduct of King since his ascension to office.

The royal attack

After giving notice of the motion, Duncan left the Chambers of the M&CC about 16:10h and was approached by reporters for a copy, since he publicly stated that it would be tabled at Monday’s statutory meeting. In what can only be described as a state of paranoia, King

Gross disrespect

The motion stated that King acted outside the interests of the citizens of Georgetown and showed gross disrespect for the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chap 28:01. Duncan cited several instances of the Town Clerk disregarding Chap 28:01.

“The removal of the vendors from the Stabroek Market and Robb Street environs in 2016/2017 without the authorisation of Council, which action brought great distress and hardship on said vendors and which situation saw Central Government intervening, reiterating that vendors ought to be treated with sensitivity; President David Granger describing the latter action as ‘reckless’,” the motion stated.

Additionally, the document identified the issues that stemmed from the controversial parking meter project outlining procurement issues and Government’s response.

“Councillors have made several enquiries/requests of the Town Clerk for specific information relating to the business of Council and have no responses; in particular, Councillor Gregory Fraser’s request for the Minutes showing where the former Council is alleged to have agreed to the metered parking system for Georgetown,” the motion added.

Unilateral decision

The implementation of container fees and the subsequent unilateral decision to block certain businesses for failing to comply; failure to account for G$300 million allocated for the Georgetown Restoration Programme resulting in the Auditor General announcing a forensic audit of the city’s books; disrespect for the tendering process; non-payment of contractors and the inaccuracy in the financial reporting were all reasons that led to Duncan submitting the motion and fellow AFC Councillor and Deputy Mayor, Lionel Jaikaran seconding it.

Bel Air Playground

In addition, the issue of the leasing of the Farnum Play Ground and the conversion of the Bel Air Playground area; the

Dethroning Councillor, Sherod Duncan

instructed his Public Relations Officer, Debra Lewis, to seek a copy of the motion from reporters, which she did and reported back to him.

Armed with this information, King gave Duncan a tongue bashing in his absence. He called the move unethical and offensive while accusing the Councillor, without any evidence, of leaking confidential information to the press corps.

“I just received a motion and that unethically, and with emphasis on the word unethically, was shared with the press so long before Councillors had a chance to look at the motion and to decide on the motion. I am just bringing this to the attention of Council so that they are aware where the press got it from,” King said.

“In the letter I saw the officer sent to your Office (Mayor Patricia Chase Green), the officers spoke about the misconduct of Councillors. That (sharing of the motion) is misconduct; in the law, there are sanctions against misconduct of Councillors and this is a misconduct… we have seen the leaking of information, even confidential information in the press by Duncan and it is damaging the reputation of this council; it is eroding public confidence and trust because the Honourable Councillor is undermining the very authority of the Council he is a part of. This is completely unethical,” King said, visibly upset.

In the end, after his rant, Mayor Chase Green assured King that the motion would be debated at the next statutory meeting.

Over the past months, dissatisfaction with King’s performance has grown and pressure has mounted for his removal since the hierarchy of the People’s National Congress Reform has expressed no confidence in his ability to function.

(Lakhram Bhagirat)

Cotonou Agreement, regional transportation among concerns for Guyana at CARICOM meeting

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oreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge said there are several issues of interest to Guyana, during the 29th Intersessional Heads of Government Meeting, which it will pursue.

This annual meeting of the Caribbean C o m m u n i t y ’ s (CARICOM) leaders is being held in Portau-Prince, Haiti from February 26-27. Minister Greenridge spoke to the Department of Public Information (DPI) following the opening ceremony at the Marriott Hotel today.

The minister, who is leading Guyana’s delegation, noted that the impact of ‘blacklisting’, an agenda item, is of special interest to this country. Last December the European Union (EU) included four member states on a list of countries it deemed, non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.

This issue was raised by both Grenada (which was blacklisted) and CARICOM’s SecretaryGeneral, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque during the opening of the inter-sessional meeting.

“These are issues which place an unfair burden on small countries which don’t have a voice, or at least whose

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge (centre) at the Opening Session of the 29th Inter-sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government at the Marriott Hotel, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

voice is in the main forum, and are not taken into account,” Minister Greenidge said, adding that “of course, it’s a long list of items…I would single those out for consideration by the meeting as having special interest to Guyana”.

The future of the region in the context of Cotonou, ensuring the region’s aviation industry can meet the needs of the region, the movement of skills within CARICOM is also of special interest to Guyana.

The minister further noted that border issues will be discussed during the caucus of the heads of government and advisors. Guyana and Belize are member states whose territorial integrity re-

main under claims from their neighbours.

“In that caucus, they will be receiving reports on what has happened in relation to this problem since Guyana’s was last examined and what is happening in the case of Belize and Guatemala as regards plans to send their case also to the ICJ”, Minister Greenidge noted.

CARICOM has been in support of Guyana’s call for the resolution of the Guyana/Venezuela territorial controversy via the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The United Nation’s Secretary-General has made a decision for the World Court to adjudicate on the issue.

T&T warns against 'digital currency' T

he Trinidad and Tobago government says it has not endorsed the use of “BarterCoin Exchange nor an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) here and warned the public to be extremely careful.

In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said it has noted the recent international trend “of what is termed 'digital currency' and locally, the proposed launch of a BarterCoin Exchange and an Initial Coin Offering in Trinidad and Tobago.

“The Ministry of Finance advises the public that, it is not associated with, nor has it endorsed a BarterCoin Exchange nor an Initial Coin Offering (ICO).”

It said that the regulatory body for investments in Trinidad and Tobago, The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recently stated it has “not as of this date” approved any ICO. “The ongoing offerings are unregulated and speculative investments, with considerable risk to the investor,” the Ministry of Finance said, quoting the SEC as indicating that further risks include heightened potential for fraud and “the fact that the products and those selling them may in some cases not be subject to regulation, [may] expose the investors to fraud;” The SEC has also warned of

cross-border distribution risks, “where the issuer may be operating the ICO from outside of the investor's jurisdiction, therefore, following the money in the event of a collapse of the ICO as well as recovering invested funds, may prove extremely difficult [for the investor”.

It is also making reference to information asymmetry where 'investors may not be able to understand the risks, costs and expired returns… arising from their investment” as well as “liquidity risks “ where “in some jurisdictions, cryptocurrency exchanges may also be unregulated and operate without oversight.

“Thus leaving investors vulnerable to dramatic price changes and possibility that they may not be able to exit their holdings (funds invested).”

The Ministry of Finance said that it should also be noted that the proposed BarterCoin Exchange, has not received the approval of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.

“Based on the foregoing, the Ministry of Finance advises members of the public to exercise caution when engaging in any form of investment and when in doubt, seek the advice of the Regulatory Bodies — The Securities and Exchange Commission and/or the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago,” the statement added. (CMC)

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Exxon strikes more oil offshore Guyana …President’s office to take over oil portfolio from Trotman

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xxonMobil has discovered oil in a new well offshore Guyana. This announcement was made during Cabinet’s discussions on Tuesday when it was also disclosed that Government planned to strip away the responsibility for the oil sector from Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman.

Immediately following the conclusion of Cabinet discussions, Trotman informed the media that he would, in the coming months, no longer have responsibility for the oil sector, a role he has faced much criticism about.

Instead, he revealed that based on a proposal he made – a Department of Energy would be created under the Ministry of the Presidency to manage the sector. While he will ultimately no longer have responsibility for the sector, he will still oversee the staffing of the unit.

“Minister Trotman has been appointed head of the Task Force, which will be responsible for submitting to Cabinet a proposal on how the Department of Energy is to be structured and staffed. The

Task Force will also comprise other Ministers of Government,” a release from the Department of Information later stated.

Since the revelation of a secret signing bonus, the emerging sector has been mired in controversy. When it renegotiated an agreement with oil giant ExxonMobil, Government collected a US$18 million signing bonus from the company.

However, the Government failed to disclose this transaction to the nation, despite several officials, including Trotman, being questioned about it by the media.

This continued until the document was leaked to the media.

Proof of the bonus came to light when the letter dated September 2016 and addressed to Bank of Guyana Governor, Dr Gobind Ganga was leaked last year. The letter had instructed him to set up a special account for the money This forced Government to admit to receiving the money, and there has since been much criticism of the subterfuge, with Government explaining that the money was to be used to procure law-

Exxon’s oil operations in the Stabroek Block

yers for Guyana’s border controversy case when it is heard at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

More oil

M e a n w h i l e , ExxonMobil’s Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs, Kimberly Brasington confirmed that there has been another oil find – this time in the Pacora-1 well. She assured stakeholders that further information would be provided soon.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres.

Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is the operator and hold a 45 per cent

interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds a 30 per cent interest, and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds a 25 per cent interest.

In May 2015, Exxon confirmed that more than 295 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs was encountered at its Liza 1 exploration well.

In late June 2016, Exxon’s drilling results at Liza 2 revealed more than 58 metres of oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs in Upper Cretaceous formations.

The well was drilled to 5475 metres at 1692 me-

tres water depth. Drilling results confirmed recoverable resources to be between 800 million and 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

The company had announced that it made its third significant discovery in its drilling explorations offshore Guyana.

Its partner, Hess Corporation, had noted that the Liza 3 exploratory well’s net value could be US$6.2 billion based on calculations from the Bank of Montreal (BMO) Capital Markets.

Drilling on Payara began on November 12, 2016, with initial total depth reached on December 2, 2016. In

January of 2017, the oil giant had announced it had struck some 95 feet of oil reservoirs in its Payara-1 well, targeting the same type of reservoirs as the well’s Liza counterpart.

Oil was discovered in the Turbot-1 well in October of 2017.

According to the oil company following the discovery, the well reservoir was 75 feet deep. Drilling has been ongoing at the Turbot well since August 2017.

Then, in what is actually its second biggest single oil reservoir find to date in Guyana’s waters, ExxonMobil had announced the discovery of 230 feet of high-quality oil in its Ranger-1 well recently. This means that there is potentially 3.2 million recoverable barrels of oil in the block.

It had been understood that following the completion of the Ranger-1 well, the Stena Carron drillship would move to the Pacora prospect, four miles from the Payara discovery.

Additional exploration drilling is planned on the Stabroek Block for 2018, including potential appraisal drilling at the Ranger discovery.

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President instructs Army to brief parliamentary committee on border security

P

resident David Granger, ahead of his visit to Baramita, Region One (Barima-Waini) has announced that he has instructed the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to brief the parliamentary committee on security on the steps that were be-

ing taken to secure communities located along the 800-kilometre border with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as a result of the unstable situation in that country, as well as the ongoing border controversy.

The Head of State also indicated that he expected

that even as Government continued to work at the central and regional levels to ensure security in the border regions, that civil society will continue to be fully briefed.

Speaking during a brief interview on Tuesday, he assured Guyanese that

President David Granger

Government was concerned about security and was deeply involved in ensuring their safety. “At the Defence Board meeting that was held last Thursday, I instructed that the Guyana Defence Force should brief the parliamentary committee on security to let them know what preparations are taking place and I expect that there will be full participation, both by members of the Government side and the Opposition side.

If necessary, we will take this to civil society and I have already briefed the Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force that civil society must be aware of what is taking place. So, we are operating at different levels; we are operating at a local

level in the villages, in the frontline villages themselves,� the Head of State is quoted by the Ministry of the Presidency as saying.

President Granger referenced the Frontline Village Policy that was announced during his visit to Whitewater, also in Region One, earlier this month, which includes the setting up of military patrol bases and heightened 24-hour security by the GDF and the Guyana Police Force. The Commander-in-Chief, who chairs the Defence Board, has taken the lead in conducting outreaches to the frontline communities, to interact with residents and assure them of the Government’s commitment to their safety.

The President explained

that the unstable situation in Venezuela has resulted in a surge in illegal migration, which in itself, has the potential to open avenues for illegal activities such as gun-running and narco-trafficking.

Reassuring that Government is fully engaged in ensuring that security and all other public services are adequately provided to residents living in border communities, the Head of State noted that Government was taking a total approach to protecting the country.

Expressing satisfaction with the role Region One Chairman Brentnol Ashley has been playing and the participation of Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) Chairman Gordon Bradford through the regional security mechanisms, the Head of State described the work in the Regions as non-partisan.

Last Thursday, at his post-Cabinet press briefing, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon informed that Cabinet has adopted a concept note on a Frontline Village Policy, which is aimed at greater inclusion of all communities on our national borders in the body politic.

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Guyana Govt begins stakeholder consultations on code of conduct for miners

By Jarryl Bryan

T

he Government has begun consultations with key stakeholders in the mining industry, even as it prepares to officially publish an extensive code of conduct aimed at holding miners accountable for unsafe operations and de-

struction of the environment.

On Tuesday, the Natural Resources Ministry-hosted consultations began at the Marriott Hotel. In her address to attendees, Minister within the Natural Resources Ministry, Simona Broomes informed them that Government was

toughening its stance against delinquent miners.

Claiming that the mining sector had been run like the “Wild West”, she urged participants to get themselves familiar with the code. The code constituted the dos and don’ts of mining, aimed at mitigating the environ-

mental damage mining caused.

“Moving into a green economy and green mining, it’s very important that all of us hold ourselves accountable and responsible for what we do.

The code of practice can only be a code of practice if it is agreed upon, and that is why you are here,

Minister within the Natural Resources Ministry, Simona Broomes

and if it is being enforced.

And when it is enforced, you practise it.”

Legal Advisor to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Kara Duff Yehudah, explained that the codes were a simplified version of the Mining Amendment Act of 2005. But in this Act, the GGMC is mandated by law to publish the codes.

“Regulation 248 states that the commission shall approve or publish a code of practise for environmental mining which shall specify the requirements for mining activities on private and public lands,” she said.

“The codes include provisions for waste management and disposal systems, mechanisms for sediment losses, effluent and contaminated drain-

age and emergency response plans, mine reclamation and closure plan, environment effects monitoring plans, sand and loam mining, quarrying and control flows from lower dams less than six metres in height.”

The codes also address the need for miners to have contingency and response plans.

Among those present were representatives of the mining syndicates. Mining syndicates were developed after the Natural Resources Ministers met with miners in January 2016. The decision was made to cluster small miners across the mining districts for them to benefit from concessions and support each other, something they were unable to achieve mining on their own.

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Probe launched into sexual assault allegations at juvenile facility The New Opportunity Corps

F

ollowing a report appearing in Sunday’s edition of the Guyana Times, highlighting a cover-up of sexual activities between staffers and female inmates at the New Opportunity Corps, the Social Protection Ministry (MSP) has launched an investigation to determine the veracity of the accusa-

tions.

According to MSP Deputy Director of Social Services, Abike BenjaminSamuels, a letter has been written to the Permanent Secretary recommending an investigative team be assembled and dispatched to the NOC. “I saw it yesterday (Sunday) online, so we will be starting an investigation into the matter. It will be up to the investigators to deal with the issues of what needs to be done to prevent that,” BenjaminSamuels told this publication on Monday.

Asked about systems to be put in place to deal with allegations of this nature, this official explained that this is the first time she is dealing with an issue of this nature, and that measures would have to be put in place to prevent a recurrence of incidents of this nature.

However, this is the third time such allegations have been made in regard to this juvenile facility.

A staff member at Guyana’s largest juvenile detention centre — the New Opportunity Corps at Onderneeming on the Essequibo Coast — has accused a certain senior official of orchestrating the cover-up to protect his friends.

The inside source told this newspaper that more than six female inmates have reported instances of having been forced to participate in sexual activities, and of being subjected to inappropriate behaviours from two particular staff members; but those complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

The source further stated that the senior official would even make sexual advances towards the female staff members, and when they refuse his advances, they would be subjected to undue pressure and other acts of victimisation.

The source added that there currently are two other members of staff — a driver and the agriculture instructor — who are in active relationships with female minors, but no action is being taken against them.

The New Opportunity

Corps houses youths between the ages of 10 and 18 who have been sentenced by the courts to participate in this correctional facility’s programmes, lasting up to three years.

Most of them are sentenced there for petty offences, such as wandering, minor assault and theft.

More than 50 percent of the more than 100 inmates are at the NOC for wandering.

Since the Coalition Government came into power, responsibility for the NOC has been assigned to the Social Protection Ministry.

Ministerial denial

However, even as the MSP’s Deputy Director of Social Services has committed to launching an investigation into the allegations, subject Minister Amna Ally immediately shot down the claims.

“I don’t know of any sex allegations (going on there), because I have found out and there is no such thing going on there. It is not true!” Ally said in an invited comment.

Despite the gravity of the allegations, the minister repeatedly reiterated that an investigation is not necessary since the MSP had never received such reports. However, this newspaper was told that an administrative staff from the minister’s office called NOC Administrator Mark Dover in regard to the allegations, and he denied that any report was made to him.

Several accusations of rape have in the past been levelled against both MSP officials and NOC staffers.

This is the third reported allegation of incidents of this kind ongoing at the NOC. In 2014, the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) was asked to investigate an allegation of sexual molestation of females at the NOC, after a senior Government official from the then Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry had been accused of being a participant in this transgression.

One year earlier, authorities had launched a major investigation into the circumstances that had led to at least three female NOC inmates becoming pregnant.

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Witness Protection Law takes effect in Guyana

F

ollowing passage in the National Assembly last month, the Witness Protection Act is now in full effect after being assented to by President David Granger. This legislation is geared to safeguard persons – who have information on and/ or are witnesses to criminal activity – from violent retaliation or persecution from the offending party.

According to information reaching Guyana Times International, the Head of State assented to the legislation on February 12, some three weeks after it was passed.

One of the key provisions under the Act is for the establishment of a Witness Protection Programme, wherein persons can be protected while they are attending court. Additionally, it was outlined that such witnesses can obtain new identities. The law also allows for Judges and Magistrates to be informed in chambers about “relevant information” relating to the witnesses. However, those judicial officers are prohibited from disclosing this information. Added to that, during criminal proceedings, parts that relate the witnesses’ identity may be held in camera.

It was outlined that an administrative centre will be responsible for the register of persons under the Witness Protection Programme.

This Centre will handle identity changes and it can withdraw this protection and restore the identity of the former participant, in which case he or she is allowed 28 days to apply to the President of Guyana for a review of the centre’s decision.

Some offences under which witnesses could seek protection are murder, manslaughter, treason, sedition, piracy or hijacking, gun-related crimes, trafficking, sexual and domestic violence related offences and offences under the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism and AntiTerrorism laws.

Part VI of the Act prevents anyone, including participants or former participants, from disclosing information in relation to the programme.

The penalty for breaching this provision is a G$1 million fine and 10 years in prison. According to Section 20 (1), this law applies to anyone who, without lawful authority, reveals information about the identity or location of

Guyana Govt seeking G$30B to keep GuySuCo alive …despite firing thousands, downsizing

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman

someone who had participated in the witness protection programme which can compromise that person’s safety.

Section 20 (2) stipulates that someone who had undergone assessment to be considered for inclusion in the programme is barred from revealing their participation.

When the Witness Protection Bill was debated in the National Assembly earlier this year, Opposition parliamentarian Odinga Lumumba had questioned if there were provisions to fund the relocated witnesses, or to facilitate the integration of juvenile participants of the programme into the school system. Lumumba based his argument on the belief that Guyana does not have the capacity to support the bill’s provisions.

However, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman while acknowledging the concerns had countered that with the impending oil industry, new threats would arise and the Government could not wait. At that time, Trotman noted cross-referenced witness protection programmes in the United States and other jurisdictions.

The original bill was drafted under the former Administration since 2006 but when it came up for discussion in the House after some 11 years, Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira had contended that it came back with little to no changes and that it was another work of “copy and paste”.

The Police have for years complained about difficulties they experience with regard to certain crimes, owing to the lack of witnesses. Some have posited that crimes are recorded as unsolved or remain a mystery possibly because witnesses are not brave enough to testify, or they are afraid of being held accountable for someone’s sentencing.

NICIL Chairman, Dr Maurice Odle

I

t has emerged that the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited’s (NICIL) Special Purpose Unit (SPU) is seeking some G$30 billion in loans and investments to support its new ward – the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

It is understood that this funding will cover a four-year period and will provide capital, support infrastructure maintenance and upgrades at Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt. The funds are also expected to go towards developing new cogeneration capacity for the estate operations and the national electric grid.

GuySuCo has a history of debt;

Public Relations Consultant, Alex Graham, instructions have also been handed down to not renew any employee contracts that are in the process of expiring.

“NICIL has begun working with the management team at the Corporation to implement management changes, some of these changes are already being implemented and more are expected to follow in the coming weeks,” Graham related on Sunday, in one of the clearest statements yet on the plans for GuySuCo. All of this, Graham related, is being done with the full cooperation of the management team of GuySuCo. He related that SPU head Colvin Heath-London, speaking after a meeting between the two teams, had stressed that profitability depended on the teamwork between NICIL and GuySuCo.

DDL

In January, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) had submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the purchase of one of the estates. This was even as the SPU was seeking interested buyers for the Skeldon and Enmore estates.

The company, which produces the international award-winning El Dorado Rum, has raised concerns over Government’s plans to downsize the sugar sector. The company heavily depends on mo-

PR Consultant, Alex Graham

ommendations.

Government had moved to close the Enmore and Rose Hall Sugar Estates, as well as to sell the Skeldon Sugar Factory.

Government’s explanation for downsizing the industry has always been to cut costs.

There has been persistent criticism, however, that the decision is political in nature. Severance payments for these workers also became a sore issue. So when the decision to reopen was first made known, it did not help to dispel this perception.

It was announced that Enmore and Skeldon would see a temporary and limited reopening for a

The estates are being reopened on the premise of increasing their attractiveness to investors

at the end of 2015, the Corporation owed G$78.6 billion. In January of last year, the National Assembly’s Economic Services Committee was informed that the debt showed a marginal decrease to G$77 billion. This money was owed to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and others.

One of NICIL’s first acts since assuming responsibility for GuySuCo has also been to abruptly end the life of the old Board of Directors. Coming out of a special Board meeting, a decision was taken to have a new Board installed as of February 14, 2018.

But that’s not all, the NICIL Board has also handed down instructions to GuySuCo to freeze all hiring. According to NICIL’s

lasses for its production.

According to Graham, both the Unit and DDL have been exploring the company investing in the current crops at Enmore through advance payments on the molasses. In addition, talks are also ongoing for DDL to participate in the management of the estate.

Graham also noted that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the firm blacklisted in India that has been valuating GuySuCo’s assets, had raised concerns about the need to have the estates seen as “fully functioning operations and facilities”.

This, it is understood, is because the company felt that closed estates would not attract the best of investors and prices. According to Graham, the DDL deal, if approved, by the NICIL Board would allow the SPU to meet PwC’s rec-

twofold purpose; to save cane currently in the ground and to render the operations more attractive to potential investors.

While the parliamentary Opposition had welcomed the move taken by Government to have at least two sugar estates reopened soon, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had said this now proves Government’s move to close sugar estates was purely political.

However, the Opposition Leader had noted that President David Granger and his entire Cabinet must take full responsibility for the flip-flop policy choice, which also now indicates that the Government’s decision to close sugar estates and downsize the industry was political.

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Thousands take to streets to celebrate Guyana’s 48th Republic Anniversary

By Lakhram Bhagirat

M

usic trucks blasting sweet soca music and revellers gyrating their well-oiled hips is just one representation of the weaving of varying threads of cultures into the fabric that pays homage to Guyana’s diversity, as thousands of Guyanese took to the streets of Georgetown to celebrate the country’s 48th republic anniversary.

The streets of the city came alive as a sea of vibrantly coloured and glittering roisters snaked their way through, rejuvenating the cauldron of harmony known as Mashramani. The representation of various threads of the Guyanese fabric was much evident as the soca-drunk revellers made their way to D’Urban Park as part of the annual Mashramani Costume and Float Parade 2018.

This year, Guyana celebrates its 48th Republic anniversary under the theme “Let us Cooperate and Celebrate Republic 48.” In addition, the thousands of glitter-bathed revellers formed part of the 24plus bands that partici-

One of the floats during the parade in celebration of Mashramani 2018

pated in the annual parade.

The Public Telecommunications Ministry used their band to celebrate their achievements and identify their plans to bridge the telecommunications gap within Guyana and beyond.

Minister Cathy Hughes said she is ready to lead her band and conquer the crown once again as they prepared to smoke the competition.

“We are highlighting the vision of this Ministry.

(On our float) We got our fibre optic cable and you see our panels and we

are going through the length and breadth of Guyana and we are providing Internet and connectivity,” Hughes said.

The Minister, who was leading her band, noted that her wish for Guyana is uninterrupted unity and positive prospects.

“My message is unity. There are so many great things happening in Guyana and Guyana is a great place to be today. I want people to not so much have a conversation about all that is not working and start looking at the glass as being half full, take the positives and let’s look at the positives this great country has to offer,” Hughes said.

Several other Government Ministers and Permanent Secretaries joined their bands as they palanced their way to D’Urban Park for the final showcase. Along the route beginning from the junction of Camp and Thomas Road, the revellers partied all the way into D’Urban Park where they have the last opportunity to impress the judges and spectators.

The Communities Ministry used their band to highlight solid waste

management, promoting the practice of reusing, recycling and reducing. They also used the opportunity to distribute garbage receptacles to the patrons that lined the streets to promote their anti-littering policy.

It was observed that Guyana Telephone Telegraph (GTT) was the only major Private Sector organisation participating in the annual float parade. With over 200 revellers and three sections – “Emerald Bliss”, “Tanzanite Flame” and “Lapis Lazu” – GTT was one of the biggest bands on the road, during the

annual Mashramani and Float Parade.

This year, the telephone company collaborated with Pulse Entertainment to create its band, Amazon Gems and GTT’s Marketing Consultant Samantha Gooden said it was a smooth partnership. She noted that the collaboration happened because of the reputation Pulse Entertainment has but added that they pushed them to work harder.

Local designer Olympia Small-Sonaram designed the telephone giant’s band and joining the revellers was continued on page 28

NEWS 23

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Preparations in full swing for Guyana’s Independence celebrations in New York

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he Guyanese Diaspora in the Tri-state New York area will once again be able to celebrate Guyana’s independence in full pomp and splendor.

The Guyana Independence Anniversary Celebration Committee (New York) has announced their calendar of events which will take place from June 3–10 in Brooklyn.

This year’s event will be themed ‘Celebrate Guyana To the World.’

The annual celebra-

tion is the largest independence commemoration outside of Guyana’s shores.

The ceremonial honours at the commemorative event will once again feature collaborations between members of the Disciplined Services of Guyana and their Guyanese-American counterparts in the United States Armed Forces. The Committee disclosed that this move is part of their patriotic duty.

Director of the

Committee,

Nevlon

“B” Division Commander denies blocking of Corriverton flag-raising ceremony

Social Protection Minister Amna Ally

T

he event was organised by the Corriverton Town Council with the blessings of the Region Democratic Council and the National Events Committee.

On the night of the event, Police officers seized the public address system, the drummers were instructed not to perform, and the children who had prepared their cultural presentations were prevented from stepping onto the stage.

The Police reportedly instructed the organising committee to proceed with the event with only prayers, the recital of the National Pledge, and the hoisting of the Golden Arrowhead.

In an attempt to start the proceedings, the former mayor of the town, Ganesh Gangadin, walked onto the stage, but was allegedly told by the Police that they were given stern instruction by the Commander not to allow the ceremony to go on. The former mayor was escorted from the stage, but in the process, he pleaded with the officers to at least allow one cultural presentation.

In an invited comment, the former mayor said, “This is what democracy is coming to…

Amna Ally is instructing the Police to shut down a national event.

We are not doing any-

thing wrong, we are not breaching any laws; we are simply trying to have a programme run as it has been for the past 48 years, and now you have a minister instructing the Police to stop it.

What are we coming to as a country?”

Corriverton Mayor Krishnand Jaichand explained that the event is held annually, and the committee had received the full support of the Police in the past, and was thus not sure had gone wrong this time around.

“The Guyana Police Force, students from various schools, the (town) constables and the GuySuCo security personnel all take part. It is normally planned and discussed at a pre-planning meeting with National Events Chairman Winston Roberts,” the confused mayor explained.

Further, he said that prior to the flag-raising ceremony, Minister Ronald Bulkan had indicated that Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan would attend the ceremony.

“The minister wanted Minister Ramjattan to give a feature address, so I told them that I will inform the committee.

I did, but they (committee members) held on to the decision that Adrian Anamayah and Minister Ramjattan would bring greetings”, Jaichand explained.

Mayor Jaichand said the council previously never had to seek permission to stage a flag raising ceremony.

“It was a dark night in the history of Corriverton, when the Police and Government attempted to undermine the will of the people and our right to local de-

Corriverton Mayor Krishnand Jaichand

mocracy. In all of our 48 years of hosting flag-raising events, this has never happened. I am not only upset, but I am concerned about the embarrassment that we faced; but the people were on our side,” Jaichand said.

“B” Division Commander, Assistant Police Commissioner Lyndon Alves, has denied that he instructed his ranks to halt the flag-raising ceremony at Corriverton, East Berbice on Thursday evening.

In a telephone interview with Guyana Times International, the commander said he received information about the halting of the ceremony only late Thursday evening, and as such, he could not have given such an instruction.

When this publication attempted to question him further on whose instruction the ceremony was halted, the commander declined to comment further on the issue, saying only that he would speak to the officers who had been designated to provide security at the event.

The stopping of the event has raised eyebrows, since it had reportedly stemmed from the organising committee rejecting the request for Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan to be the feature speaker at the event.

Duguid, has disclosed that the New Yorkbased committee had first organised a successful Jubilee celebration which garnered the attendance of over 20,000 Guyanese nationals.

Meanwhile, the 2017 celebration attracted over 10,000 nationals. Duguid expressed the hope of attracting even larger numbers of Guyanese for the 2018 celebrations, referencing the great feedback the Committee has received.

The Committee’s website has since received over four million hits. He urged the Guyanese population in the Tri-State area to come out and ‘Celebrate Guyana to the world’.

This year’s festivities will kick off with

the flag-raising ceremony on June 3, the annual Guyana Independence Parade (Mashramani in New York) and the annual Guyanese Unity Concert following on the same day. On June 9 there will be a Guyana Independence Festival and the celebration will culminate with the Independence Cup Soccer Tournament on June 10.

The Guyana Independence celebration has become the second largest West Indian celebration in New York, second only to the annual Labour Day parade.

Duguid stated that organizsations, businesses, groups, or individuals who are interested in participating in the celebration, placing a truck

or float on the parade, or in vending, should contact the Committee as soon as possible.

Last year’s Unity Concert was graced with performances by Jamaican Dancehall star Charlie Black; Guyana’s own, Jumo “Rubber Waist” Primo; Adrian Dutchin; Lisa Punch; and various other artistes. They were accompanied by the Queensbased, Guyanese owned Angel’s Caribbean Band.

It was hinted that a surprise international artiste will headline this year’s Unity Concert and patrons were urged to get their tickets as early as possible.

Tickets will go on sale on May 1.

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Guyana to benefit from hosting 1st Inter-American Tourism Congress

G

Minister Dominic Gaskin

uyana is expected to benefit significantly from the hosting of the 24th Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR) Congress of Ministers and high-level officials of tourism next month.

This is according to Business and Tourism Development Minister Dominic Gaskin, who underscored the importance of the event and the benefits to be realised from staging it in Guyana.

Minister Gaskin was speaking at the launching of the Congress in January. He maintained that the Congress would raise the country’s tourism and business profiles and would also contribute to Guyana’s economic growth in several other ways.

Gaskin noted that it was an opportunity for the country to demonstrate its capacity to host high-level events and to develop international ties with other countries.

The Inter-American Congress

will see discussions related to tourism in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals, the importance of product innovation in the connected Americas, and multi-destination travel as a strategy for connecting the Americas and building resilience in the tourism sector among others.

Held under the theme “Connecting the Americas through Sustainable Tourism”, the conference will have several cultural presentations, tourism booths, replicas of Indigenous benabs, and also the vending of local craft.

Furthermore, special sessions will be devoted to Guyana to address tourism in a green economy. This will serve as an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to sell and market products within Guyana.

The event is slated for March 21-22, 2018 at the Marriott Hotel.

This will be the first time that Guyana will host an Organisation of American States (OAS) ministerial conference of this nature. Ministers from 34 countries that are part of the OAS will meet for the CITUR. Ambassador Riyad Insanally, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the OAS, and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro in December last signed a Memorandum of Understanding at OAS Headquarters in Washington, DC. The Secretary General congratulated the Government of Guyana on its offer to host the Congress and reiterated the support of the OAS Secretariat to ensure the success of the event.

The hosting of the Congress is being coordinated by the Business Ministry’s Department of Tourism, led by Director General Donald Sinclair.

Heath-London tipped to lead new GuySuCo board

Colvin Heath-London

By Samuel Sukhnandan

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overnment has given its nod to the appointment of a new Board of Directors for the troubled and debt burdened Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) after booting Economist Clive Thomas from its chairmanship and replacing him with newcomer and head of the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited’s (NICIL), Colvin Heath-London .

A source close to Guyana Times International said Wednesday that the decision was taken by Cabinet recently and the names of the other new Board members could be released soon.

According to the source, the decision was made as a means of unifying the leadership of the sugar industry.

At present, NICIL has direct responsibility for GuySuCo and that agency falls under the Finance Ministry.

NICIL’s takeover was made official by a publication contained in an extra-ordinary issue of the Official Gazette dated December 30, 2017, which has responsibility for the divested sugar estates.

However, it was made clear that the takeover does not include any assets, lands or property for the Berbice estates of Albion and Blairmont and the Uitvlugt Estate on the West Coast of Demerara, as those entities will remain under GuySuCo for the foreseeable future.

This newspaper was told that Professor Clive Thomas, who served as Chairman, has been booted after first being appointed to the position in 2015, a few months after the new coalition Government took office.

Heath-London was appointed head of the SPU back in October 2017, after a decision was made by the Government to process the selling of GuySuCo assets, including a number of estates.

Professor Clive Thomas

No changes

When contacted on Wednesday for a comment, Professor Thomas was at first hesitant to speak but later denied that there were any changes made to the GuySuCo Board.

He said, “I don’t know of any changes. I have not been officially informed.

The only way the Board could be changed is if the Cabinet has deiced to change it. That’s a Cabinet decision.”

Guyana Times International also spoke with Agriculture Minister Noel Holder on Wednesday who also denied that any such decision was taken. “Not as far as I am aware, I don’t know of any decision. There is no appointment that has been made, at least not at Cabinet’s approval.”

Already, international consultant, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, has been hired to value the assets of the four estates, before the vetting of proposals of potvential investors start.

Only recently, it was announced that a list for new directors was submitted to Government for approval.

The idea was to have a 12-member Board constituted with diverse team members that will lead the industry in its new form and guide decisions going forward as it relates to sugar.

Government had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the old Board headed by Professor Thomas which oversaw the closure of the four estates in the last 14 months.

On Monday, SPU announced plans to obtain G$30 billion in loans and investments to support GuySuCo. According to the Unit, the funding will cover a four-year period and will provide capital, support infrastructure maintenance and upgrades at Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt. The funds are also expected to go towards developing new cogeneration capacity for the estate operations and the electric grid.

Doctor’s son remanded ...

from page 9

After some time, the perpetrator reportedly walked away from the scene briefly, but returned and continued to thrash the defenceless man. Upon hearing the commotion, Dr Sinclair came out and attempted to block his son, but he, too, the eyewitness said, was attacked.

Guyana Times International understands that no one went to the aid of the injured man, since the residents were all afraid of the perpetrator.

This publication also understands

that the violent behaviour exhibited by the suspect is a norm, and it was not the first time he has physically assaulted someone.

Meanwhile, a post-mortem performed on the victim’s body has determined that his demise was a result of shock and haemorrhage due to the blows he had received to his head.

Hazrat Shaffie was laid to rest on Monday afternoon, in accordance with Muslim rites.

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Thousands take to streets...

Chief Executive Officer of GTT, Justin Nedd, who said the band is a representation of the celebration after the hard work, truly embodying the essence of Mashramani.

“This is about GTT getting into the hearts and minds of Guyana and really supporting culture because we believe it is important for companies like GTT to show that we are for Guyana and we are for Guyanese…this is us giving back to Guyana,” Need noted.

Guyana Times International caught up with

Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton who dubbed the parade a success, noting that the turnout is much larger. While leading his band, he expressed gratitude to the Guyanese people for turning out in their numbers to celebrate Republic Day. As usual, thousands of spectators lined the streets of Georgetown to get a glimpse of the floats as the revellers put on a show for them. Spectator Cassandra Nauth related that she is proud of her Guyanese heritage and harmonious spirit.

“I just wish that we all could come together like

President David Granger greets the costume judges at D’Urban Park where the float parade ended

from page 22

this on a daily basis and celebrate each other. We all need love and harmony. I am amazed by the bright colours and the costumes are amazing,” she said.

Another spectator, Mellisa Persaud, said she is happy to be back home from New York, adding that she is extremely proud to introduce her culture to her friends.

Over at D’Urban Park, the bleachers were packed to capacity as the floats made their way into the arena during the late afternoon hours.

Photos by Carl Croker and Lakhram Bhagirat

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo among the crowd on Vlissengen Road

GTT revelers soaking in the parade from a double decker truck

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T&T musician jailed for Tradition of Holika Dahan 20 years for raping child H over five-year period olika Dahan or the burning of Holika will take place across Guyana on the night before the Phagwah celebrations.

The festival of Holi gets its name from this very ritual of Holika Dahan. The phrase Holika Dahan literally means burning Holika.

The day when Holika is burnt is also known as Choti Holi or small Holi. The people create a bonfire on this day and celebrate the triumph of good over evil.

A

musician who was charged with sexual offences against a girl from when she was nine years old to the age of 14 years has been sentenced to 74 years in prison.

Alvin Rodriguez’s sentence was 20 years hard labour for the charge of grievous sexual assault against the child and 18 years hard labour for rape and each of the two charges of sexual intercourse with a female under the age of 14 years.

The sentences, which were passed by Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas last Tuesday, are to run concurrently. Rodriguez, 52, will spend 20 years behind bars.

The assaults began in 2000. St Clair-Douglas said during this encounter, Rodriguez treated the child as a “fully grown, adult female”.

In 2003, when the victim was 12 years old and in Form Two, Rodriguez offered her $1,000 to lie in bed with him before he raped her.

In 2005 when the girl was 14, he interrupted her while she was doing homework and raped her.

On this occasion, her mother saw him in the act

Story of Holika

Alvin Rodriguez is led from the San Fernando High Court after he was sentenced to a total of 74 years in prison for sexual offences against a child.

but did not report the incident to the police.

When the girl was 17 years old, in 2008, she waited until all the pupils alighted from the school bus before she spoke to the driver about the incidents.

He took her to school officials who then carried her to the police.

Rodriguez who denied the four allegations testified during the trial at the San Fernando Second Criminal Court.

He also called his wife as a witness during the proceedings.

A jury found him guilty last November on all the

charges.

The case was prosecuted by attorney Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal.

Rodriguez was represented by attorney Ramesh Deena.

During his mitigation plea on his client’s behalf last month, the attorney said Rodriguez maintained his denial of the offences.

He also said that Rodriguez worked as a watchman but had a musical career.

Rodriquez told St ClairDouglas “Thank you my lord” after the sentences were passed. (Trinidad Express)

Once there was a demon king named Hiranyakashipu who was against the worship of Gods.

Hiranyakashipu had a boon that he would neither be killed by a human nor an animal, neither at night nor at day, neither in his house nor outside, neither by any arms nor ammunition.

After he received this boon, Hiranyakashipu became arrogant and started believing that he was invincible. He started treating everyone cruelly and banned the worship of Gods and Goddesses in his kingdom.

Hiranyakashipu had

a son named Prahlad.

Prahlad was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu.

Hiranyakashipu tortured him in every way so that he would stop worshipping Lord Vishnu. But Prahlad was adamant.

So, as a last resort Hiranyakashipu summoned his sister Holika to kill Prahlad. Holika had a boon that she would never be harmed by fire. So, Holika took Prahlad on her lap and sat on a burning pyre.

As she committed an act so sinful, her boon became unfruitful. She was consumed by the fire and Prahlad came out safely. Thus, the evil was destroyed and faith of the people on God was restored.

Tradition of Holika Dahan

It is stated in the Vedas that one day before the Holikotsav a sacred fire was burnt and specific mantras to ward off evil were recited during the burning ritual. The fire was burnt with the objective to destroy the demonic forces. Some texts also mention a different version of Holika Dahan. According the texts, the parched cereals and grains are collectively called 'Holka' in Sanskrit. It is be-

lieved that the word Holi or Holika is derived from Holka or grains. These parched grains were used to perform 'hawana' or sacred fire . The sacred ash obtained from this fire ritual was known as the Bhumi Hari.

This ash was smeared on the forehead of the person participating in the ritual to keep away evil spirits. Till date, this ritual of offering food grains to the bonfire is followed.

Significance Of Holika Dahan The preparations of Holika Dahan start 40 days before the festival. People gather twigs, logs, dry leaves etc. Then on the night of Phalgun Purnima, the bonfire is set alight amidst chanting of the Rakshogana mantras which help to ward off evil spirits. Next morning the ashes of the fire are collected and smeared on the body before taking a bath.

The burning of Holika signifies the triumph of good over evil and that the bad forces around you can never win if you have a strong will.

Holika represents the negative forces which get burnt against the strong will of human which is denoted by Prahlad.

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Holi is a community’s exuberant expression of joy to welcome the warmth of spring.

In a refl ection of nature’s abundance, Hindus celebrate with bursts of colour, camaraderie and shared abandon. It begins on Purnima, full moon day, in the Hindu month of Phalguni (February/March) and lasts for as long as 16 days.

How does the festival start?

Many communities create a central bonfire on the night before Holi, starting with kindling and logs and adding organic debris as they clean up their property. The fire symbolizes the torching of negative or troublesome experiences and memories. An effigy of Holika, a demoness personifying negativity, is consigned to the flames, and freshly harvested barley and oats are offered. The embers are collected to light sacred fires, and the ashes are used to mark

When does the colour fun begin?

On the day of Holi, people celebrate by playing, dancing and running in the streets. Water pistols are filled with colored water and squirted on family, friends and strangers alike. Dye powders and water balloons are a big part of the play. The wise wear old clothes, usually white, in anticipation of the mess! Virtually anything goes, including ribald humor, practical jokes and sexual teasing—all excused with the saying, “Don’t mind, it’s Holi!” (Hindi: Bura na mano, Holi hai.)

Etiquette on Holi requires that one accept all overtures with an open heart, burying grievances to begin relationships afresh. People of all walks of life mingle and greet, applying vermilion on each other’s foreheads in an uninhibited exchange of goodwill.

What are the delicacies of this festival?

Special sweet and savory treats including mathri, puran poli and vadai are made. In India many communities make a, cooling drink, called thandai, made of purified water, sugar, seeds of watermelon, muskmelon and lotus, along with nuts,cardamom, fennel, white pepper, saffron and rose petals.

Tidbits About Holi

Love, positive values and goodness are celebrated on Holi. Their triumphs over divisiveness and negative forces have been reinforced in legends, such as that of Holika and her brother Prahlad.

The famous king Hiranyakashipu had earned a boon that made him virtually indestructible.

Blinded by this power, he thought he was God, the only being worthy of worship. His young son Prahlad was devoted to Lord Vishnu and refused to obey his father.

Infuriated, the king devised the cruellest punishments. In one attempt, Prahlad’s evil aunt Holika, who possessed the power to withstand fi re, tricked him into climbing a burning pyre with her. Prahlad’s love for true Divinity protected him from the flames. Holika burned while Prahlad lived. The bonfire of Holi is symbolic of this victory of good over evil.

Coinciding with the advent of spring, the festival symbolises growth and fertility of the land for many Indians. Some Jains and Sikhs also partake in the festivities. The vibrant pigments used were traditionally made of ground vermillion, turmeric and neem, but synthetic pigments are common now.

How did the frolicking with colour originate?

Legend has it that Krishna noticed one day how much lighter Radha’s complexion was than His own. His mother playfully suggested that He smear Radha’s cheeks with color to make Her look like Him, which Krishna did. The strong-willed Radha gleefully retaliated, and a merry chaos ensued.

Another legend has it that Krishna celebrated this festival with His friends and the gopis.

They danced and frolicked, filling the air with colour in a joyous welcome of spring.

34 Feature

O

ur East Indian ancestors came to British Guiana in 1838, bringing with them their culture, customs and religions. Consequently, our ancestors built mandirs and mosques to fulfil congregational worship.

Located in Ankerville, Corentyne, Berbice, deep in the canfields, is an ancient mandir (only the top is visible). The Ankerville residents explained that this mandir was built by the first batch of East Indians who came to Guyana. One villager recalled her grandparents told her the British took care of the mandir, cleaning the surroundings and lime-washing the lingam (representation of Lord Shiva), which was housed in the manMandir located at Bath Backdam

dir. Legend has it that when parsad is offered at the mandir, an alligator, with a gold ‘galihaar’ (necklace), comes out and eats the offering.

Bath Estate, West Berbice, boasts another longstanding mandir. This mandir is said to be over 100 years old and was built by our East Indian ancestors, who also lived on the plantation. It housed logies, schools, hospitals and the masters’ living quarters. The lingam, which is in the mandir, was said to be the size of an egg when the mandir was first built. Today, it has increased in size. Villagers have recognised the value of this mandir and have maintained it throughout the years.

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Versailles Hindu temple circa 1900s

Additional works were done at the mandir and a shed was built.

Another age-old mandir, which dates back to indentureship times, is located in Bath backdam. This mandir is very small and houses a lingam. Some villagers offer their prayers at the mandir when they are passing daily to go about their work.

Around 1920, a group of Hindus living in Versailles approached the Versailles Sugar Estate management for a plot of land to build a temple.

Versailles Plantation had bought the Malgre Tout Plantation, which was established in the 1800s, and operated it as a sugar estate well into the 1900s.

However, by 1920, the factory was in ruins, so

the request was granted and a wooden structure with a mud floor was built on the abandoned Malgre Tout Plantation.

At the same time, a tall conical shaped concrete structure called a Shivala (temple of Lord Shiva) was constructed from the bricks of the abandoned Malgre Tout Sugar Estate. It was plastered with cement, painted in white and a stone lingam was placed nearby, surrounded by a jasmine hedge where devotees threw ‘dhar’ early in the morning to Lord Shiva. The main temple was painted in a dark maroon colour, while the inside was whitewashed with lime given by the Versailles Estate management.

The Versailles Shivala was one of three such structures built in the colony - the

other two were located on the East Coast of Demerara and West Coast of Berbice – and were all designed by the same architect who hailed from Lucknow, India. However, the chief builder supervising the construction was a holy man from Varanasi (Benares), in India, fondly called ‘Banana Sadhu’. The name was given since he brought bananas from the local growers as far as Canal No. 1 and rewarded every person with one banana for each brick brought to the construction site. When the bananas ran out, legend has it, he carefully collected the bricks, recorded the names of those who brought them and ensured that the person received their allotted share of bananas.

Several sacred trees to the Hindus were planted at the same mandir: the papal (peepal) tree, bael tree, neem tree, several types of mango trees, kowa (jack fruit), jack nut (katahar) and bread fruit.

The first official priest, at the ‘matya’, was Pandit Loknauth from Lucknow, India.

He arrived to the colony in the early 1900s and was assigned to Plantation Versailles.

Years have passed, but the places of worship built by our ancestors still remain as sanctuaries for many and as a testimony to their faith in the ‘supreme’ (God) during their years of hardship.

(Excerpts from story

by Deomattie Seeram) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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F

amilies across the country are in preparation mode for the highly anticipated Phagwah/ Holi 2018 festivities. While the occasion is marked by many traditions, this celebration also includes the preparation, and consumption, of traditional foods including; sweet rice, pera, polourie and much more. There are many well established eateries in Guyana which make these delectable goodies for sale and they are quite popular around this time. This would be ideal if you are on the go. However, there are many traditionalists, like myself, who count the days leading up to this cherished holiday anticipating the great food to come and wishing that I could grow a second stomach for that day.

As far back as I can remember, Phagwah has been an exciting occasion to cook up some bestloved family recipes, to connect with friends and

in

fami-

the

Sweet Treats

ly and revel in the colourful traditions associated with occasion. A typical Guyanese family would celebrate all the local traditions and holidays, and Phagwah was no exception and while my family were primarily Christian, the traditions of this holiday were embraced nonetheless.

My earliest memories of Phagwah involved seeing my grandmother in the kitchen very early

morning, mixing and chopping and measuring the ingredients for all the goodies to come later that day. She would rise before anyone else and I would be quick on her heels, as the grating of the coconut would be my alarm clock. For me, this sound held the promise of sweet Gujiyas to come. Of course I did not know the names of these delicacies then, the only thing that reso-

Gujiyas

nated with me were the smells and the mouthwatering flavours.

Preparation of the sweet treats could last for hours! At times I could tell that my grandmother grew weary, but she kept baking and frying well past lunch time, never disappointing the eager mouths waiting.

Another fond memory was helping her to roll the pera into their delicious mounds (most ended up in my mouth). It was also customary to make sweet rice at this time and the smells of the boiling sweetened rice, garnished with nuts, sultanas, and cardamom would waft through the house making everyone feel happy.

While I enjoyed being Grandmother’s helper, the other children would be busy smearing colours on each other's faces. When the preparation was over, I would watch as she lovingly placed small parcels of the treats in special packages to give to the neighbours.

Those days have long past, but the tradition of preparing the family’s sweet treats continues.

These days, my mother in law has taken up where my grandmother left off. It has now become a tradition to travel to her home, in Soesdyke, the night before to assist in the preparation process. The smells emanating from her kitchen still bring back fond childhood memories of the cornucopia of flavours during Phagwah time.

Most of the day is still taken up in the kitchen but I still enjoy the process and the opportuni-

ty it provides to carry on the Phagwah traditions.

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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A view of the majestic River which leads to the village of Moraikobai (Samuel Maughn photos)

Mahaicony River (Flicr)

T

he Maraikobai community is located some 95 miles up the Mahaicony River and is home to 1000 residents. The area is accessible both by river and land; logging and small scale agriculture are the primary economic activities here. In an effort to promote domestic tourism and to increase the opportunity of experiencing indigenous culture and history, Rainforest Tours has coordinated the Maraikobai Safari which is now in its second year. According to the Safari Coordinator Frank Singh the Maraikobai off road village safari kicked off on February 23rd and will end today, Sunday 25th.

“I would term Moraikobai a home away from home. We are (a) very quiet, peaceful people, and somebody has something to offer to you. The hospitality, I can say, is very nice.�

Toshao Colin Adrian The Pakaraima Mountain Safari Club, Rainforest Tours, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and Sonic Hunters Motorcycle Club, are collaborating to host the safari expedition for 2018.

The Maraikobai offroad safari offers the unique opportunity to explore what is the only Arawak village in Region 5 (Demerara-Mahaica).

Back in 2016, a team including representatives from from the Guyana Tourism Authority, Rainforest Tours, Wilderness Explorers, and birding Expert Leon Moore ventured to the community on a fact finding mission to gauge the tourism potential of the area.

According to Coordinators, the journey from Georgetown to Moraikobai through the sand trail begins at the Linden/highway junction and allows participants the chance to enjoy an adventurous ride and amazing scenery along the way. Frank Singh also pointed out that the overland trek (the trail) presents an opportunity for tourists to experience a different atmosphere from that of the Rupununi Safaris.

Another option for accessing the community is to enjoy a two-hour boat ride down the calm Mahaicony River, connecting to the Francois Creek, which then leads visitors straight to the landing at Moraikobai.

Moraikobai’s very special delicacy is the tocuma worm.

There are plans to construct an ecotourism lodge which would introduce community-based tourism in the village. Visitors to the community can expect spectacular sightseeing, including the possibilities of seeing the elusive Giant Anteater. There are also other exciting activities, like fishing, canoeing, and bird watching while experiencing the lifestyle of the villagers. During the safari, villagers will demonstrate how cassava bread, pepper-pot and craft items are made. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Mahaicony creek

Villagers pose with members of the visiting team during the visit in 2016.

Cultural performance by members of the Arawak Community

Grating Cassava: the ladies in the village thrilling onlookers with their cassava grating skills

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Republic Day…

Y

…spite and bile

our Eyewitness isn’t surprised any longer at how far these AFC windbags can sink. The moment they accepted the PNC’s degutting of the Cummingsburg Accord when Nagamootoo was made into a glorified “gossip monger” rather than a power sharing Prime Minister like in France, you knew they were castrated. Which meant they then had to dance to “do wha’ yuh want wid me!!”

But that only goes for the AFC relations with the PNC. To their erstwhile supporters who’ve now deserted them like folks jumping off the Titanic, the emasculated AFC “leaders’ are driven to show they’re “maan”!! They’ve been driven into a kind of schizophrenia in which they swing from the cringing sycophancy of Ramjattan – supposed to be “Public Security” Minister – looking on from the sidelines as the entire security apparatus is reorganised by the PNC; to him ordering the Police to shut down the Republic Day flag-raising ceremony at Corriverton because they didn’t allow him to speak!!

Now for any self-respecting man with all his equipment intact, he would’ve at a minimum raised a stink when the Crime Chief, who he personally declared wouldn’t be removed, was axed! Not a word, was uttered. That’s what happens to those cocks who used to make a lot of noise, after they’re caponed – they can’t even croak!! For the reorganisation of the Security Forces to be taken away – along with immigration – what’s he left with? Controlling his 2am curfew? If he had a pair he would’ve resigned long before now.

But it’s precisely his ineffectualness when it comes to exercising real power that impels him to throw his weight around. Not on PNC supporters, mind you, just on hapless folks who look like him!!

And so it was this disgrace to Berbice, could instruct Police to show he has “power”! But the Divisional Commander has already declared that the order to shut down the flag-raising ceremony didn’t come from him. So an investigation must immediately be launched to find the smoking gun, or, in this case, the spiteful, petulant mouth!

The Security Minister cannot get involved in operational matters – and this was definitely an operation!! Remember how Ramjattan went after Rohee after the Linden protest killings? He demanded Rohee be fired since he claimed the latter passed on instructions in that operation. Well, what is sauce for the hen is sauce for the (caponed) cock! And the Opposition must immediately introduce a motion in Parliament to have Ramjattan step down.

After all, they might actually be doing him a favour since it looks like his castration by the PNC has pushed him over the edge! …origins “You live and you learn”! Your Eyewitness always accepted this bit of folk wisdom. And lo and behold he learnt something from an unlikely source – Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge, about Mashramani. He was quoted by the authoritative voice of the Government – the Chronic: “Mash is a distinctive product of West Africa… but we have made Mashramani something special because we have added all the different cultures.”

Now here your Eyewitness had learnt in school that Mash was invented in Linden. And while that township became almost exclusively populated by people of African descent after the ethnic cleansing of 1964, he wasn’t aware it was in West Africa!!

But of course, for a man with all that exposure to European culture, Greenidge could’ve been speaking metaphorically – to wit, that ELEMENTS of Mash were of West African origin.

But then wouldn’t it have been better to name it something like “Homowo Festival” of the Ga people – of which plenty came here?

That meant “jeering at hunger” – after hard work and a good harvest! …Jubilee stands So what’ll it be? We’ll be spending millions every year to stave off the wood ants from feasting on Jubilee stadium?

And yet the Auditor General is not supposed to enquire into the “Private Company” that built it from donations.

And the Education Minister was a member of the Board.

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The legacy of terror

here are increasing signs that we are fast descending into a repeat of the widespread terror unleashed on the populace during the Burnham dictatorship.

Maybe it is part of the project to continue his “legacy”, so we should continue to examine that legacy.

The terror in Burnham’s state was generated essentially from two sources. First, there was the physical violence meted

out by organised bands of thugs and the rapes and murders of the ‘kick down the door’ bandits.

Secondly, there was the psychic violence emanating from the breakdown in the legal order; the destruction of societal values, and the pervasive lawlessness which the regime extended into every facet of the lives of the citizens.

Organised Terror In a bifurcated state (ethnic or otherwise), where the governing party has

decided to maintain its rule by subjugating the excluded group, violence against this group is inevitable; and from the perspective of the rulers, salutary. The message is inculcated into the dominated group: the wages of rebellion is extermination.

Violence as a political tactic was introduced into Guyanese politics during 1962-63 by the C.I.A/T.U.C/ P.N.C./U.F. alliance against the P.P.P. Government, and is the variable that

distinguishes us from TT and Suriname. It quickly escalated into a racial civil war due to the racial support base of each political party. The P.P.P. attempted to reciprocate in 1964, but soon learned that the success of the tactic of violence depended on whose group controlled the coercive apparatus of the state, and it was not the P.P.P.’s.

Burnham was fond of informing his audiences: “The P.N.C. brought peace to Guyana”, and that if they were removed violence would return.

The Guyanese people understood his message.

During the seventies, the House of Israel (H.O.I.), comprised of young African Guyanese, was Burnham’s personal “goon squad,” and was used indiscriminately against Indians and other opposition figures. In 1979, the group was provided with automatic rifles and other weapons.

“Kick-down-the-door” bandits were small bands of armed hoodlums (some claimed they included members of the H.O.I. and members of the Disciplined Forces) who viciously preyed on the population, inflicting gratuitious violence during their robberies.

Eusi Kwayana said their directed depredations against Indians “had the flavour of racial genocide”. Their terroristic actions, which

have evidently been revived, were so pervasive into the 80s that few Indians families did not “keep watch” during the night.

The Pervasive Lawlessness Even more insidious than the direct violence was the feeling of helplessness and a belief that nothing and no one could change the situation.

This “atomisation” and fatalism of the excluded group is the goal of the maximum leader. The impoverisation of the population, seen today in the sugar belt, further contributes to the atomisation. As Aristotle observed, when the people have to scavenge for food all day, they have very little time or inclination to plot rebellion or revolution against the dictator.

They are impelled towards individual solutions which are the “fight, flight or submit” responses of cornered animals. The individual who elects to fight the system is easily contained and defeated by the bureaucracy, the Police, the judiciary and other state forces arrayed against him.

The conflict is not allowed to escalate to higher levels.

This existential reality has forced Guyanese to opt for the other two solutions of “flight” (emigration) and “submission”.

These options have provided the dictatorship with its major safety valves.

By Ravi Dev

Emigration increased steadily from the early sixties, and at this point, it is estimated that as many Guyanese are “outside” as are “inside”… These emigrants include the majority of the middle class and intelligentsia – the groups from which most revolutionary movements have sprung. Most Guyanese remaining in the country are either “waiting for their papers” (visas) or “hoping for their papers”. All eyes are cast aboard. Submission to the system in Guyana and surviving implies acceptance of corruption as a way of life.

Corruption becomes institutionalized: the maximum leader understands that corruption can be a substitute for violence: when the citizen offers the bribe and the official accepts, both satisfy their immediate wants; but, more importantly, the citizen tacitly accepts the status quo. The Citizen boasts of having ‘lines’connections.

He who corrupts a system’s officer is more likely to identify with the system than he who storms the system’s Police stations.

fEATURE 39

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S

hasha Designs participated in the first ever Commonwealth Fashion Exchange programme, which saw designers and artisans from 52 commonwealth countries producing a fashion ‘look’ using principles of sustainable excellence.

The design was unveiled

at a special reception at Buckingham Palace for London Fashion Week on February 19, 2018.

The design then moves to a public exhibition at Australia House, and other locations in London where the exhibition will be open to the public, it then moves to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit, April 2018.

Later in the year, the design will be showcased at The UN House in New York for the UN General Assembly Meeting.

Shasha Designs is a ready to wear brand that creates day and night clothing and specialises in unconventional wedding gowns. They are a blend of Guyanese and

Caribbean culture, with a luxe finish. Their mission is to create quality clothing that is unique, elegant, and stylish from concept to completion. Keisha Edwards is the Owner and Creative Director of Shasha Designs; she launched her career in fashion by participating in the Guyana Fashion Week in 2008, where her designs

received rave reviews, motivating her to launch her first fashion show in 2010 under the name Fierce Expressions.

The Commonwealth Fashion Exchange, managed by Eco-Age, and supported by The Commonwealth Fashion Council and The British Fashion Council encouraged the creation of a custom-made gown for the exhibition, using Principles of Sustainable Excellence, relating to the environment and social justice. In relation to the exchange aspect of the project, designers were required to work with artisans from other countries in order to create and design the look.

Shasha Designs was matched with Launesha Barnes from Antigua and Barbuda, and the designers ‘exchanged’ information about traditional heritage, skills, craftsmanship and culture in order to create the custom-made gown which represents fashion from the Commonwealth.

Launesha supplied most of the materials used to create the garment, and she explained the cultural significance of the materials used for Antigua and Barbuda.

According to the principal designer, Keisha Edwards, she feels excited, honoured and humbled to have been selected to participate in this project and was elated to have represented Guyana at this event. “The event at Buckingham Palace was emotional to experience. The Palace itself is gorgeous (I had to take a moment to take in the décor), and the designs from the commonwealth, showcased at the event were each unique and special. I was in the presence of the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton), Editor in Chief of Vogue (Anna Wintour), and British model Naomi Campbell,” she explained.

Ms. Edwards happily shared her experiences, she continued, “I had a very long conversation with Princess Beatrice of York, who was intrigued by how the gown I designed merged Antiguan and Guyanese aesthetics. We spoke at lengths about the textile aspect of the design and about the weaving which was used at the bodice of the garment and at the bottom of the dress.”

and the concept of the piece, the Guyanese Designer noted that the “look” was inspired by Antigua and Barbuda’s National Costume and the Indigenous peoples of both Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, fusing elements of the Arawak tradition with Antigua’s National wear.

The neck of the dress is made with Burlap and is covered with seeds from the shac shac (flamboyant) tree. It is in the shape of a stick figure which represents one of the creatures that the Arawak shaman transforms into. The bodice is made with hand dyed Madrass, which is Antigua and Barbuda’s national fabric for their National costume. The centre of the bodice is made with palm leaves and fibres woven into a plain weave. Shac Shac seeds, jumbie seeds and buck beads create a triangular form the front bodice of the design.

The architecture of the Arawak Ajoupa (home) specifically the roof, inspired the full skirt of the dress, which is made with brown cotton and dyed burlap. The centre of the skirt is tie-dyed using onion skin and beetroot. Buck beads were sewn on the red panels of the skirt. Tibiseri straw (a fibre extracted from a Mauritia flexuosa found in Guyana) was woven with the palm leaves from Antigua (date palm) to create the plain weave used along the bodice of the dress as well as the front panel of the skirt.

“I chose to do weaving because unlike Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana does not have a nation-

al fabric or a traditional garment, and what is known about

Guyana’s indigenous peoples is that w e have n i n e tribes and they use a particular style of weaving when creating crafts,” Ms, Edwards explained.

She explained that the desire was to incorporate this idea into her style.

She continued, “It was an opportunity to highlight this as part of our heritage as Guyanese. The natural dyeing was something I had never done before, but since the exchange was about sustainability I wanted to use an environmentally friendly method by using onion skins and beet roots as natural dyes. Designer Sydney Francois from Guyana assisted me with this aspect of the design process. He learned this dyeing technique from Selana Gental, an Arawak.”

The Designer

Keisha has showcased collections and designs in Guyana, Haiti, Curaçao, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Washington DC,

Keisha Edwards

Maryland, and now, the Buckingham Palace. Her designs have also been featured in Shabeau Magazine, Lady, Posh 592, She Caribbean Magazine and LIAT ZiNG inflight magazine.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from the University of Guyana and has completed a certificate program in Fabric Selection and Design Style at The New School – Parsons School of Designs in the USA. She is currently enrolled at the Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design, pursuing her Bachelor's Degree in Fashion Design.

In 2016, Shasha Designs received the Award for Excellence and Fashion Innovation from the Caribbean, Style and Culture Committee, Washington DC., which speaks to her drive for quality and impeccability. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

The look and concept

In expounding on the creative process

Shasha Designs in Buckingham Palace

40 news

WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Homeless persons in Georgetown posing serious problems for City officials I

t is a rare occasion when all serving on the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown (M&CC) agree on an issue, but at Monday’s statutory meeting one such occasion arose — when there was unilateral agreement that the homeless people lining the City’s streets are causing an eyesore.

The issue was raised

by Councillor Ivelaw Henry, who reported that between 06:00hrs and 18:00hrs on any day, the “social rejects” could be seen lining the pavement in front of the Bourda Market and the

pavement leading to the Bourda Post Office, hindering patrons’ free access.

“Between 6am and 6pm, no social reject should be sitting on the pavement, because visitors — foreign and local — walk to the Post Office; and we need to look at (this issue) because (persons) cannot (enjoy free access to these pavements). I hope that we can get that policy decision,” Henry stated.

This Councillor lives a stone’s throw from the Bourda Market. He related that he would receive complaints on a

daily basis from the vendors, and he blasted the City Constabulary for not effectively aiding in the removal of the homeless people.

Town Clerk Royston King related that this issue has been in the public domain for a while, and that it requires an inter-agency approach, as opposed to the Municipality tackling it alone.

“This is not a problem for the City Council alone; it requires an inter-agency approach. If you remove those people from that particular stretch, (they then) move to another area. They

Homeless people crowding the Bourda Market pavement

Vagrants reposed in front of the Bourda Cemetery

used to live in Cummings and Charlotte Streets under a shed. That shed was taken down, and then they went across the road to a portion of land owned by Gandhi; and after it was cleared up, they went over to Bourda Market,” King explained.

“We saw a whole community of people with mattresses and saucepans etc… We have to have an inter-agency approach to help us deal with this issue in a holistic manner…there are people who are afraid of these people,” he added.

Addressing the issue, Mayor Patricia ChaseGreen said interim plans could be put in place while meetings are held

with other agencies to discuss a permanent solution to the issue.

“I saw 21 persons lying along that area, and it is a cause of concern for vendors in the area.

We need to look at a way we can temporarily address (this problem), then we can look at what we can do with them,” she said.

The mayor suggested that the M&CC “clean and water bathe” the pavements every morning before the homeless persons return there from the Night Shelter.

She added that another shelter should be built to tackle the issue.

“They do not want to go to the shelters, because they are separated

and cannot be with their partners… It is a social problem, but we cannot encourage them around our markets, because we offer for sale food and other items…,” the Mayor related.

It was decided that the Council take temporary action to prevent those persons from being around the markets while a search be initiated to find a permanent solution to the problem.

The Social Cohesion Ministry’s strategic plan for promoting and enhancing social cohesion in Guyana (2017-2021) has identified homeless and indigent persons as a group to be treated as socially unequal.

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A breath-taking view of the Kamuni Creek (Martei Korley photo)

By Chevon Lim

T

he Kamuni Creek (Kamuni Creek) is a stream found in in Demerara River. It is located at an elevation of 2 meters above sea level. Kamuni Creek is also known as Kamuni River, which cuts across the left bank of the Demerara River and is flanked on both sides by amazing greenery and rich vegetation .

The Hopetown settlement at Kamuni Creek (a creek more well-known for the present-day Santa Mission and Santa Aratak villages) began in 1865 as an effort by colonial authorities to induce Chinese indentured labourers to remain in British Guiana after their contracts were up.

Many had heard of the Chinese in Trinidad accumulating wealth from engaging in rice cultivation and commerce there, and saw no prospects for this in British Guiana. A Christian missionary in British Guiana known as O Tye Kim (Wu-Tai-Kam), recognised the dissatisfaction among them and devised a plan to encourage them to stay.

O Tye Kim’s solution was to establish a “Christian Chinese settlement” not only to spread Christianity but also to create a place where the former indentured labourers could work and live independently to accumulate their wealth and improve their future prospects.

He petitioned then Governor Hincks for a free land grant at Camoonie (Kamuni) Creek- approximately 30 miles up the Demerara River, and a small loan to establish the settlement on the left bank of the creek, a tributary of the Demerara River.

Enthusiastic about the idea, Governor Hincks granted the request and the petition was carried in 1865.

Immediately, some 25 settlers were taken to the area, and by the end of the year there were about 70 Chinese settlers. Some historians put the original settlers at 12, with about 170 by year end.

The decline of the settlement came soon after. In 1866, just a year after the settlement was created, allegations of improprieties by O Tye Kim arose with regard to the settlement’s accounts and his own financial enterprises.

In 1972 it was agreed by Dr. Alan John Knight, then Bishop of Guyana, who was also the Archbishop of the West Indies, that the land should be leased for 99 years to the Chinese Association.

At its peak in 1874, Hopetown is said to have a population of about 800 Chinese. By 1891 that number was reduced to 240; by 1901 it had dwindled to 198, mostly the old and infirm. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

A Chinese immigrant family (no date). The Chinese immigrants are said to have originated mainly from areas such as Hong Kong, Canton, Amoy and Whampoa

Travelling up the Kamuni Creek

Sky at Kamuni Creek (Girendra Persaud Photo)

An early Chinese Settlement

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

PM Mitchell wants new action on Governance Report

P

ORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) – Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, has urged CARICOM to revisit the recommendations of the dormant Governance Report, and has also called on leaders to abandon “entrenched polarised positions”, in order to rescue West Indies cricket from its current crisis.

Addressing the twoday inter-sessional summit which started here Monday, the out-spoken leader said West Indies cricket required an effective governance framework in order to flourish and warned unless this was done, the game would continue to “wallow in the land of under-performance and mismanagement.” “[Cricket] is a regional public good and must therefore be the subject of a regulatory framework recognising its public good character,” Mitchell said, referencing the 2015 report which assessed West Indies cricket as a public good managed by a private company.

“Colleagues, I was heartened by the recommendations of the Prime Ministerial sub-committee on cricket which among other things, recognised that the public good nature

of West Indies cricket, requires a forging of a governance framework that respects the rules and independence mandated by the [International Cricket Council] but which also provides a proper framework for all stakeholders in the governance of West Indies cricket.”

The CARICOMcommissioned Governance Review Panel, headed

by UWI Cave Hill principal Professor Eudine Barriteau, authored the controversial report which as its main recommendation called for the “immediate dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board and the appointment of an Interim Board whose structure and composition will be radically different from the now proven, obsolete governance framework.”

Dissolution, the panel said was a “fundamental and foundational requirement.”

The recommendations were rejected by the WICB (now Cricket West Indies), headed by president Dave Cameron, and slammed as an “impractical” and an “unnecessary and intrusive demand”.

Further, the board described the panel’s investigations as “limited in scope” and argued that had

“triggered findings and recommendations … which are not supported by the facts.”

CWI, which is based in Antigua, received backing from the country’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne who said he “categorically rejected” the call for dissolution, contending it would plunge West Indies cricket into “further chaos and confusion.”

Browne’s apparent split with CARICOM on the matter subsequently led Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to warn last year that West Indies cricket was “threatening to destroy CARICOM itself”, especially after Mitchell’s criticisms of leaders who “agree on positions behind closed doors, only to return home and in the glare of the public, push a different agenda.”

A former head of CARICOM’s Prime Ministerial sub-committee on cricket, Mitchell yesterday called for unity among the regional heads while urging his successor, Vincentian Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, to ensure the overhaul of West Indies cricket remained on the front burner.

“Colleagues, we must move beyond entrenched polarised positions which

Dr Keith Mitchell

have not been helpful to the re-emergence of West Indies cricket supremacy,” Mitchell told the gathering.

“I urge the chairman of the sub-committee and my very good friend Ralph Gonsalves to seriously reexamine the recommendations and champion our approach to addressing these issues, so that West Indies cricket does not continue to wallow in the land of under-performance and mismanagement.”

He added: “Colleagues of necessity, this community must also address the lack of internal cooperation on significant issues.”

As evidence of the crisis in which West Indies cricket found itself, Mitchell pointed to the team’s participation in an ICC qualifying tournament starting in Zimabwe next week, in order to secure one of the two remaining places at the World Cup in England next year.

Two-time former champions, the Windies failed in their bid for automatic qualification after winning just three of 23 One-Day Internationals last year, to be ninth in the ICC rankings at the September 30 cut-off date.

Hosts England, along with the remaining top seven ranked team, gained direct qualification.

“We note they are now involved in a playoff for a place in a game that we were at the highest level not long ago,” Mitchell lamented.

Republic Fete

S

atiricus was smiling all the way to the Back Street Bar. He and the fellas had looked at the Mash Float Parade on TV this year at their individual homes, and he knew they would be comparing notes. In previous years, they’d all taken their families to look at the jump up and wining, but this year the wives had drawn a line: There were too many robberies taking place, and they weren’t going to take any chances in the hyena’s den!

“Budday, wha’ yuh tink?” called out Cappo to Satiricus as he spied him coming. “Abee prappa gat nuff big skin ‘oman, na?”

“Me hope yuh notice none a dem na canecutta wife,” butted in Bungi. “Dem tu’n prappa maaga since dem husban’ get knack aff.”

“Bungi, why you have to look at the glass halfempty again?” complained Satiricus. “We are just celebrating the birth of our Republic, man!

Loosen up, nuh!”

“But Bungi has a point, Sato,” said Hari as he sipped his beer slowly. “What do we really have to celebrate this year?”

“Budday, we became a Republic!” said Satiricus exasperatedly. “What else do you want?”

“Yes Hari,” smirked Cappo. “Abee gat plenty big skin ‘oman apart fram cane cutta wife! Wha’ mo yuh want de Republic gat?”

“Me want de Republic get jab fuh all dem canecuttah de guvment fyaah,” said Bungi doggedly as he disagreed with his friend for once.

“Bungi, jobs will come,” said Satiricus with certainty. “We found oil, you know!”

“Oil? Oil?” interjected Cappo who stopped skinning his teeth. “Venezuela gat mo ile dan anybaddy in de worl’, an’ all dem big skin ‘oman get fine, fine!!”

“That’s what I’m trying to say, fellas,” said Hari patiently. “Venezuela was the first Republic in South America! What has it done for them?”

“Dem a come heah in Guyana fuh look fuh jab!” said Bungi triumphantly. “Yuh t’ink dem a flounce about like dem head na good?”

“Dem na flounce about beca’se dem na gat any mo big skin ‘oman!” said Cappo triumphantly.

“Dem tu’n maaga like abee cane cuttah wife!”

Satiricus gave up and started to sip his beer.

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WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Several jobs to be created as G$10M ground coffee project launched at Santa Rosa

Hapless…

T

…in agriculture

he agony at Wales continue, as the severance payments of the 1400 who received them run out. The picketing exercise by the 300+, who are still fighting being treated like slaves and indentured servants who had no labour agreement, brought this out clearly from their placards and cries.

How many “pointer brooms” can they sell to survive, when there is no other alternative?

The workers’ call for the dismissal of Agriculture Minister Noel Holder is not just because of the spiteful withholding of their severance. This is the man who, back in December 2016, did not even have the decency to show up and tell the workers face-toface that Wales would be shuttered and they would be fired. But it would seem that the workers are too late with their calls for Holder’s head; another section of the press has stated that GuySuCo has been removed from his portfolio and placed with NICIL. Now, the Special Purposes Unit (SPU) within NICIL had already been given responsibility for disposing of the four estates that were closed by the Government. Does this wholesale dumping of the entire sugar industry into their arms translate into a confirmation of your Eyewitness’s prediction that sugar is kaput?? If Holder was universally adjudged to be totally unqualified to run agriculture, what can one say about the SPU, which was specifically cobbled together to do nothing but sell off the closed estates?? To a hammer, everything is a nail; and we can just see the SPU recommending hammering the last nail in the coffin of sugar.

As your Eyewitness bemoaned, the fact that the Finance Minister (who’s in charge of NICIL) can talk about re-opening Skeldon and Enmore to produce only molasses shows how hapless he and the rest of his accountants are about the nitty-gritty of sugar production. To these fellas it’s all about the numbers, and to hell with the human lives that hang in the balance by those numbers.

Your Eyewitness doesn’t think this Government would listen; they obviously intend to make their political point, and punish 17,000 workers whom they see as “PPP supporters”. If that were not the case, they would have long solved the challenge in the sugar industry. The sugar factories were not the problem – with the exception of Skeldon – the problem was producing sugar cane efficiently. But private farmers showed that was not a problem, since they were able to consistently deliver twice the yields of GuySuCo. Maybe the accountants may be the ones to say the emperor has no clothes.

And lease the lands to workers while selling off the factories! …in oil negotiation Your Eyewitness wants to make one thing clear on our oil revenue prospect against the background of his criticism of “Nassau” Trotman’s (mis)handling of the oil contract: He’ll have no truck with those who say that “oil don’t spoil”; implying that “Nassau” could’ve walked away from the negotiation table with Exxon. Oil mightn’t spoil, but its price can plummet to levels that Exxon could walk away from.

With the coming age of renewables and electric cars, our oil will take several decades to be exhausted, and can easily face a glut that’ll force prices below US$40/bl. The head of British Petroleum just the other day predicted reaching Peak Oil Demand by 2030. It’s best to take as much as we can get up front.

The point is this: Trotman was so out of his league that he wasn’t even playing in the same game with Exxon. He was a softball player in a hardball league!

What has to be done is to renegotiate with Exxon: they know they have to make as much profits RIGHT NOW. They don’t want to be held up in litigation. …in rice shell game Poor rice farmers: they’re no match for the slick operator Doerga, who always plays the angles. Right now he’s playing a shell game – perfected by the offshore bankers – with front companies to avoid paying for paddy. Now you see it…now you don’t!!

A

Some of the villagers at the launch

10-million-dollar initiative to produce ground coffee has been launched at Santa Rosa in the Moruca sub-region of Region One (BarimaWaini).

The project has been launched as one of the green sustainable initiatives to be implemented within the hinterland for this year, and it is intended to boost the region’s economy.

Members of the village are required to select 12 farmers who would each be required

to plant an acre of coffee, which would be used to produce Robusta Coffee.

Each acre will host six hundred coffee plants.

Addressing those gathered at the launch of the project, Minister within the Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, said Santa Rosa coffee must be known for its special blend. She added that demand for the product will grow, and employment opportunities would increase accordingly.

The area chosen,

Moruca, used to produce coffee, and Minister Garrido-Lowe revealed that Santa Rosa was chosen because of the presence of knowledgeable persons who can assist in reviving the coffee industry.

This initiative is expected to support sustainable income generation and environmentally friendly projects from which villagers can benefit.

The aim of this project is to make Guyana a coffee-producing nation, and partnerships

have been forged with the Social Protection Ministry; the Business Ministry; and the Agriculture Ministry, through the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC).

There also are plans to visit Brazil, the world’s top coffee-producing nation, to acquire firsthand information on the production and quality of the coffee being grown.

The seeds will be set and nurtured with assistance from NAREI. Farmers would be educated on the correct planting methods of the seedlings. The Business Ministry would be responsible for packaging and production. Minister Garrido-Lowe is positive that this brand would be as successful as the Pakaraima Flavours brand.

Bandits snatch over G$2M from Georgetown businessman T hree gunmen on Monday afternoon relieved a Drysdale Street, Charlestown, Georgetown businessman and his worker of over G$2 million in cash and other items.

The victims, Jonathan Alli, 30, of Drysdale Street, Charlestown and 35-year-old Dexter Cyrus, a salesman of La Grange, West Bank Demerara, were held at gunpoint by the three men about 14:20h and relieved of G$2 million in cash, one Samsung Galaxy S5 mobile phone and a Samsung Galaxy A3 cellphone.

Reports are Alli owns and operates a grocery and confectionery business in Section A, Block X, Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) and about 12:10h, they left the business place in a bus, bearing registration number GVV 7960.

They proceeded to a bank at Diamond, where they reportedly changed two cheques – one amounted to G$1.5 million. After that transaction, the duo proceeded to Demerara Bank branch, which is a stone’s throw away and changed another cheque totalling G$500,000.

The businessman then drove to his home at Drysdale Street, where he parked his bus in front of the yard and as he exited, a silver-grey motor car bearing registration number HC 4682 pulled up on the other side of the road and stopped.

As the car came to a halt, three men exited the car and held Alli at gunpoint demanding that he hand

satiricus

Just desserts

S

atiricus was in a feisty mood.

He’d just read the WAPA representative saying his party KFC had gotten more than its fair share after the elections, from the Pee-an-See. “What a crock!” he fumed to himself as he stalked into the Back Street Bar. He downed his beer without even as much as a “hello” to the fellas.

“If you want the truth, it is WAPA that got more than it deserved!” he blurted out firmly, as he put down his bottle rather abruptly.

“Tek am easy, Sato,” said Cappo who knew his friend very well. “Ah wha’ deh pan yuh min’?”

“These WAPA people don’t have any shame!” Satiricus exploded.

over the money that he had collected from the bank.

The money, which was reportedly in a black plastic bag that Alli was carrying in his hands, was taken away by one of the men while another relieved Cyrus of his Samsung Galaxy A3 cellphone.

The gunmen then walked back to their car, and drove off. The matter was immediately reported to the Police and an investigation was launched.

Over the past week, at least four persons were relieved of large sums of money by armed men who trailed them after they left commercial banks primarily on the East Coast of Demerara. In two instances, the victims were injured – one was shot to the head while the other was shot to the left leg.

As the Police continue to probe these robberies, no arrests have been made.

“Pot calling kettle black!”

“Slow dong, ole fr’en,” interjected Bungi. “A wha’ WAPA do yuh?”

“Imagine this WAPA fella said we got too much after the election!”

Satiricus said indignantly as he tried to calm down. “It’s they who got too much!”

“Oh, now I see what you’re upset about,” said Hari mildly. “But the man right!”

“What stupidness you talking?” said Satiricus angrily. “We brought in our 11% that put the Pee-an-See over the tape!”

“But de WAPA people bring back all dem Region 4 vote, who na bin like Pee-an-See,” said Cappo.

“Yes, Sato,” said Hari. “The increase in Reg 4 votes for the coalition was just as much as all the vote they got from Reg 6!”

“Suh WAPA shoulda get jus’ as much as KFC!” said Bungi gleefully.

“But you guys miss the point,” said Satiricus grimly. “Even if it was one vote we brought in, we put them over the tape!!”

“But WAPA cou’d seh dem vote fram Region 4 put dem ovah de tape too!” smiled Cappo.

“But WAPA never brought in big votes!” Satiricus almost screamed.

“KFC did!!”

“But how do you know KFC repeated what it did in 2011?” demanded Hari.

“An’ even if dem bring in 11%, wha’ mek dem get 40% a de Cabinet?” Bungi wanted to know.

“Yes!” smiled Bungi. “De WAPA fella wan’ fuh know how KFC get ovas!”

Satiricus was silent.

48 Bollywood

WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Sridevi cremated with state honours, fans from across the country mourn

S

ridevi, 54, passed away on Saturday in Dubai.

Her mortal remains were brought to the actor’s residence at Green Acres on Tuesday night.

Her condolence meet at Celebration Sports Club at Lokhandwala Complex was attended by fans from all across the country and Sridevi’s colleagues from the film industry.

The Kapoor family stood by the actor’s mortal remains including husband Boney Kapoor, daughters Jahnvi and Khushi and the members of the Kapoor clan.

Bollywood celebrities like Rekha, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Akshaye Khanna, Farah Khan, Vidya Balan, Sushmita Sen, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Madhur Bhandarkar, Deepika Padukone, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Farhan Akhtar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, John Abraham, Ajay Devgn, Kajol and many others were in attendance. Her co-stars from the South Indian film industry also came to pay their last respects. The condolence

meet in Lokhandwala lasted for over three hours.

Sridevi was dressed in a red saree as per customs. She was given a state funeral and her body was wrapped in tricolour. There was also a gun salute before the cremation. The mortal remains of the late actor were in a glass clasket on a truck which was decked up in white flowers as it made way to the crematorium. Boney Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Mohit Marwah and Anil Kapoor were seen on the truck alongside the glass casket. ‘Sridevi Amar Rahe’ was chanted through the streets as

R

ani Mukerji on Tuesday spoke to media persons about her memories of Sridevi, and how she was like a ‘maasi’ (aunty) to her daughter Adira. The actor was as shell-shocked as the rest of the country when she heard about the legendary actor’s sudden demise.

“The day, the time I got to know about her demise, it was the most shocking and tragic thing for me to hear. I still can’t believe that we are

talking about her demise. I feel surreal to talk about her in the past tense,” she said.

Sridevi was quite excited to watch Hichki as it was Rani’s comeback film after embracing motherhood. “I was looking forward to show her my film Hichki. She called me after seeing the trailer and said ‘Laddoo, I have to see this movie’. I told her, ‘yes maa as soon as the movie is ready, I can show it you’,” said the Hichki actor.

The Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna actor also opened up about her rapport with the late actor.

“Since I had a child, she was very

the truck made its way towards the crematorium.

The truck left from Celebration Sports Club shortly after 2 pm and made its way towards Vile Parle Seva Samaj Crematorium and Hindu Cemetery on S.V. Road.

With fans swarming the streets of Mumbai, the truck reached the crematorium at around 3:50 pm.

As the truck made its way inside the crematorium, Shah Rukh Khan, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Anil Ambani, Swanand Kirkire, Randhir Kapoor, Prasoon Joshi, Lara Dutta, Mahesh Bhupathi, Dia

supportive these last two years. The kind of love that she has given to me and Adira has been phenomenal. She was literally like an elder sister, elder ‘maasi’. A pillar of support to me in the last two years. It is extremely sad that two people who loved me immensely are no longer in my life,” Mukerji mourned.

Rani Mukerji was just like any other Indian girl who grew up watching Sridevi on-screen. Speaking about her memories of Sridevi during her childh o o d , Mukerji s a i d , “For me, Srideviji has been my favourite from childhood. She knew me as a kid because I used to go in my school uniform to see her shooting. She worked in my uncle Shomu Mukherjee’s film. She remembers me as that kid I’ve connected with in a very different way when I grew up. She called me ‘Laddoo’. I’m going to miss that. For us to even fathom something like this happened is too difficult to digest. What I went through with my dad, three months back is something very difficult to accept. But that is what life is. It tells you the most important truth, you have to accept it even if you don’t want to.”

Rani’s Hichki will hit screens on March 23, 2018. (Indian Express)

Mirza, Farhan Akhtar and others also reached the crematorium to bid adieu to the icon.

As per IANS, the late actor’s daughters Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor performed the final rituals before the cremation with husband Boney standing close by.

The sea of fans travelling alongside the truck showed the large fan following Sridevi enjoyed for almost five decades of her career. Her untimely demise came as a shock and it truly is a difficult time for the family of the deceased actor. (Indian Express)

I

t is vacation time for little Taimur Ali Khan and mother Kareena Kapoor Khan.

They have joined Saif Ali Khan in Desuri, Rajasthan. The actor is shooting for his next untitled film in Desuri village, which is two hours away from Udaipur.

A number of photos and videos have emerged on the Pataudi family’s fan clubs. Kareena, Saif and Taimur arrived in an open-top car and fans were happy to see them.

Several photos and videos of the family having a good time in Rajasthan are doing the rounds on the internet.

While in one video, we see Saif Ali Khan

playing gully cricket with some local boys and Kareena Kapoor and son Taimur Ali Khan are watching him, in another video, Saif is seen meeting some local fans holding Taimur in his arms.

The last time Taimur got the feel of a village was when the family recently celebrated Taimur’s first birthday at Saif’s ancestral home, the Pataudi Palace.

Then too Kareena and Saif were seen taking Taimur for a ride on a tractor.

Parents Kareena and Saif are making sure to give an experience of all kinds to baby Taimur.

(Indian Express)

a sort of mix of different kinds of films.

“I think versatility for me is very important,” she added.

The Wazir actress stresses that cinema is a director’s vision. “And I completely surrender to the director’s vision and I am like putty in their hands and they mould me. So, that’s the way I work and I like to be challenged,” she added.

Aditi has also worked in the south Indian film industry. She was seen in Prajapathi, Sringaram and Kaatru Veliyidai.

Talking about working in the south Indian

film industry, she said, “Films are about feelings… Feelings don’t have a language… they are universal. So, I consider myself blessed that pan-Indian audiences are watching my films and I am being given these opportunities to work with some of the greatest directors of our country.”

The Murder 3 actress considers herself blessed for getting all the opportunities as an “actor who does not have any backing and who has come into the industry just because I love being in front of the camera”. (Indian Express)

H

aving done films as different as chalk and cheese like London, Paris, New York, Bhoomi and Padmaavat, actress Aditi Rao Hydari says versatility is very important for her.

Asked why she’s majorly done multi-starrer projects, Aditi told IANS in a recorded response: “I have done a mix of different kinds of cinema. I have done films like ‘London, Paris, New York’ or ‘Murder 3’ where it’s just about one person or two people or ‘Bhoomi’ for that matter… I have done lots of those and I have also not shied away from films which are multistarrers because for me a film is all about the director and the team that makes a film and about the script and character I am playing.”

Aditi says she is inspired by the way international artists work.

“Like people in the West, such as Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman or Brad Pitt and all the amazing actors… they also do a mix of different kinds of cinema. So, here even I am inspired with that way of working and I also do

Hollywood 49

WEEK ENDING MARCH 4, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Jennifer Lawrence: ‘Red Sparrow’ scared me because of nude scenes

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ctor Jennifer Lawrence has defended her decision to do nude scenes for Red Sparrow, saying she felt it fit in the narrative of the film. The 27-year-old actor plays the Russian prima ballerina turned Soviet operative Dominika Egorova in the Francis Lawrencedirected film, which is based on a best-selling novel by former C. I. A. agent J a s o n Matthews.

“Red Sparrow really scared the hell out of me because I get nude. I tried to do the movie without nudity but realized it just wouldn’t be right to put the character through something that I, myself, am not willing to go through,” Lawrence said.

The Mother! actor, who was a victim of the 2014 phone hack in which her private nude photos were leaked to the internet, said she feared backlash for her choice. “My biggest fear was

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nglish actor Emma Chambers, popular for her roles in The Vicar of Dibley and Notting Hill, has passed away at the age of 53. She died of natural causes on February 21, the actor’s agent, John Grant, The Guardian reported.

“We are very sad to announce the untimely death, from natural causes, of the acclaimed actress Emma Chambers. Over the years, Emma created a wealth of characters and an immense body of work. She brought laughter and joy to many, and will be greatly missed.

“At this difficult time we ask that the privacy of the family and loved ones be respected,” he said in a statement.

Chambers is survived by her husband actor Ian Dunn. Best known for playing Alice Tinker in The Vicar of Dibley, the

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that people would say, ‘Oh, how can you complain about the hack if you’re going to get nude anyway?’” Lawrence told Vanity Fair.

Lawrence said that the movie presented her an opportunity to reclaim her sexual empowerment as she made a contrast between the hack and her choice to bare all for a film. “One is my choice. I got something back that was taken from me, and it also felt normal,” Lawrence added.

While talking about her experience of shooting X-Men, Lawrence said, “I signed onto X-Men thinking that it was only one movie, it turned out to be three.

All of the people on that movie were amazing, I met [Michael] Fassbender and Nick [Hoult] on X-Men. We lived in London, and I fell in love with Nick, and those are some of the best years of my life.” (Indian Express)

actor also worked in the 1 9 9 9 f i l m Notting Hill, in which s h e played H u g h Grant’s eccentric younger sis-

ter, Honey.

Dawn French, the star of The Vicar of Dibley, described her as “a unique and beautiful spark. I was regularly humped like this by the unique and beautiful spark that was Emma Chambers. I never minded. I loved her. A lot,” she posted along with a still with the actor.

Hugh Grant also expressed his condolences

ctor Laverne Cox believes she has often been overlooked for certain roles but says things have started to improve for the better. The Orange Is The New Black star said that being a black transgender woman has limited her opportunities as an actor.

“Two years ago … I was in the waiting room with actresses who were like, ‘Oh my God, this is my fourth audition today. And I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve never auditioned that much.’ There have never been that many parts as a black, openly transgender woman,” Cox said, according to Femalefirst.

“Because I am who I am, there probably have been fewer opportunities for

on social media. “ E m m a Chambers was a hilarious and very warm person and of course a brilliant actress. Very sad news,” he tweet-

ed. Broadcaster Emma Freud, who was Chambers’ friend, tweeted, “We’re very, very sad.

She was a great, great comedy performer, and a truly fine actress. And a tender, sweet, funny, unusual, loving human being. How could you not love this girl,” she added while sharing a video with the actor’s work.

(Indian Express)

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ctor-comedienne Amy Schumer is enjoying every second of her marriage to chef Chris Fischer, which she said ‘feels good’. The 36-yearold actor admitted that she has been misusing the wife moniker and said that it feels like a “novelty”.

In an interview with SiriusXM show You Up with Nikki Glaser, Schumer said her marriage feels “f**king good”.

“I’m a wife as hell. But it’s still like, a novelty. Somebody went to sit next to (Chris) and he’s like, ‘My wife is sitting here,’ and then I got back and he was excited to tell me that he said that.

“I just have been really overusing it to a degree that’s insane. Like, when it’s completely uncalled for,” Schumer

said.

The Trainwreck star also said that she is happy to have married Fischer early in their relationship. “Part of the thing that’s good about us getting married so quickly is that we’re so in love.

Every girl I know, if they get proposed to they’re like, ‘Oh now? Now that I can’t have kids!'” she said.

Schumer and Fischer had sparked dating rumours after they were spotted dining together in New York City in early November 2017. The I Feel Pretty actor was earlier in a relationship with Ben Hanisch. They broke up in May last year after dating for two years. (Indian Express)

I was delusional about my acting abilities: Karen Gillan

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ctor Karen Gillan has said that she was ”delusional” about her acting abilities as she thought she was better than her contemporaries.

The 30-year-old actor gained success after starring in three series of ‘Doctor Who’ as the sidekick of Amy Pond. She has since starred in Hollywood hits like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’.

Gillan, who is now preparing for her directorial debut film “The Party’s Just Beginning”, told Guardian that she soon realised that she had a lot of personal work to do in order to improve her acting skills. ”I was delusional about my own acting abilities. When I was acting, I was really confident that I was good at it.

I had suffered so many rejections, but it’s like it has never phased me,” Gillan said.

“Then I had an awakening when I realised I wasn’t as good as I thought I was – I watched myself in something and thought, ‘Oh my God, this is terrible, I need to get back to work on this me to work. I feel like we’ve made the very most of what we have been given

and figure out how this is done.”’ she added.

Gillan, who co-starred Tom Hanks and Emma Watson in “The Circle”, said it was Hanks who reassured her about her acting prowess.

“There was a moment recently when Tom Hanks and I did this film called ‘The Circle’ and he came up to me and told me I was good. And it was one of those life moments. Maybe I’ve achieved some of what I wanted to, after realising how s**t I was,” Gillan said. (Indian Express) …

I feel very blessed now,” she added.

Cox said she is now determined to make the most of her platform and will campaign for better representation of certain demographics in Hollywood.

“Certainly there are fewer opportunities for someone like me being black and being trans and being a woman. In the face of that, it’s not bad. The truth is I’m one of the lucky ones. The question for me becomes … as I produce, how to bring other people along for the ride,” Cox said.

Laverne Cox has been a part of some films and many popular TV shows that include Orange Is the New Black, Faking It, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, The Mindy Project among others.

(Indian Express)

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Yonex extends deal with Guyana’s Ramdhani

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uyana’s Top Badminton P l a y e r Narayan Ramdhani was again endorsed by the Team Yonex to become their ambassador for 2018.

The signing means that Ramdhani will be exclusively using Yonex equipment including racquets, bags, shoes, apparel and accessories for the second consecutive year.

Yonex USA was very pleased with Ramdhani’s performance in 2017-2018 when he managed a medal in every event he participated in on the Canadian Circuit where he is based for the last 18 months.

H e bagged two golds in the VCR Jack Under-Hill Open Singles & Doubles tournament, gold in the BC Under-23 CircuitVRC Remembrance Day Open 2017, bronze in the BC Senior Circuit 2-Shuttlesport Open

2017, bronze in the BC Under-23 Championships 2017 and bronze in the BC Senior Circuit 1-VRC Jack Underhill 2017.

Narayan is also stepping up his training for the Commonwealth Games which will take place in Gold Coast Australia in April 2018.

Yonex Company Ltd manufactures golf, tennis and badminton equipment and offers racquets, shoes, clothing, bags, strings, stringing machines and putters. The company also provides accessories, such as over grips, replacement grips, vibration stoppers, towels and bands, umbrellas, and travel covers.

The products are distributed in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and America. Yonex was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Yonex has managed to become the dominant corporate player in badminton. Yonex sponsors the All England Open Badminton Championships and is a partner of the Badminton World Federation which organizes the World Championships. Upwards of 80% of competitive playGuyana’s ers use their racquets, as world rated it is the preferred choice badminton amongst professionals. player, Yonex is significant in Narayan both the tennis and golf Ramdhani industry and is a major sponsor of professional athletes in all three sport.

‘I’m ready for battle’ ……Britton expresses confidence in securing CAC spot

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ineteen-year-old national racket-wilder Shemar Britton knows a tough task is on the cards but is by no means fazed as he participates in the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Table Tennis qualifiers which got underway Wednesday and concludes Sunday in Cuba.

“I am not nervous at all; to be the best you have to beat the best so I am looking forward to defeating the best players Central and Latin America has to offer” he told this newspaper prior to departure on Tuesday.

He added, “My technique is sharper, I am sharper, I am psychically fitter; I am ready for the battle.”

Britton forms part of a contingent that includes Christopher Franklin, Joel Alleyene and Nigel Bryan, Natalie Cummings, JodyAnn Blake and Trenace Lowe. Given only the top eight of the 13 male teams make the cut and the top four for singles, he expressed confidence they can accomplish those requirements for the July 19 to August 3 CAC Games in Colombia.

“We have earned a top five in the CAC but we are still looking to move from there and break into the top three.

We are building a bond since we train with each other and are all friends, so it’s now about executing our tactics.”

Immediately after these qualifiers Britton and Allyene will stay on in Havana for the Latin American championships from March 4-9 after which his attention turns to the Commonwealth Games from April 4-15 in Gold Coast, Australia.

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Scotland, the senior Caribbean Bronze medallist was the youngest of the lot with the likes of Franklin, Paul David and Idi Lewis as company.

“It was a great tour for me, I was able to go with the senior guys and I learnt a lot that tour, being able to just watch on and soak up as much information as possible. Now I am more seasoned and ready to give a better account of myself”, the fore-arm dominant player posited. (Akeem Greene)

Fleming shows interest in New Zealand T20 role

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ormer New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming would be keen to work with the national T20 side if there was a push to restructure the coaching set-up to reduce Mike Hesson's workload.

Fleming, who coaches in the IPL and Big Bash League, also put forward the name of Daniel Vettori - another who now works in the T20 format but made clear he remained impressed by Hesson's achievements.

However, he believes that the packed international schedule will eventually lead to more specialised coach appointments.

Simon Doull, the former New Zealand paceman, recently suggested that Hesson - and captain Kane Williamson should move aside from the T20 international game, while England coach Trevor Bayliss said he would not have a problem if the coaching roles in his team were split.

"It's based on my passion and love for New Zealand cricket," Fleming told Trackside Radio. "I've got a very good relationship with Craig McMillan [the current batting coach] and spend a lot of time talking to him about where the game is going and what he sees.

So I enjoy passing on that knowledge and it

comes back to wanting the New Zealand team to be strong.

"I enjoy going away and having a strong New Zealand team performing well around the world, it helps my job and I enjoy getting the New Zealand players in the sides that I've got.

"At some stage, who knows and I think Daniel would be the same. I'd love to help, but I certainly appreciate and admire the work Mike has done."

At the conclusion of the England series in early April, Hesson will be able to have some downtime as New Zealand do not play again until a series against Pakistan in October, but Fleming still thinks that being in charge of all three formats could become too great a task for one man.

"You've got to think for a modern day coach these days, to be spending 250-300 days away, or involved in the job, travelling and hotels and being away from the family, that's unsustainable," he said.

"So Simon [Doull] makes some good points there about looking after your coaches and maybe T20 is one form of the game where there's an opportunity for the head coach to have some time off.

"Whether you develop a Craig McMillan or another young coach

coming forward, or you get an old dog in and maybe Vettori or myself come in to spend a bit of time there?

"It's whether it keeps Mike Hesson fresh, it's whether it falls into line with what Mike wants. But I think it's worth discussing going forward as the schedule gets more cluttered.

What I've heard from NZ Cricket and Mike right now is that the balance is pretty good, so he's pretty happy to continue what he's doing. But it needs to be explored."

New Zealand's T20 form took a dive after a strong start earlier in the season. Pakistan came from 1-0 down to take the three-match series in January, when New Zealand conceded their No. 1 ranking, then they managed just a single victory - against England in Wellington during the T20 tri-series. The next World T20 will take place in Australia in 2020.

"If you're bouncing from each form, sometimes you can miss the subtleties of the game that are developing behind closed doors, because you're so focused on a Test or one-day series," Fleming said.

"We've got to make sure we're relevant in all forms and have got the selectors, coaches and personnel looking at the right things."

(ESPNCricinfo)

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'About time we win a World Cup' – Holder J

ason Holder has sounded the call for fans to rally round the West Indies as they begin their campaign to earn a place in the 2019 World Cup. A team which was an automatic pick in each of the past 11 editions, back-to-back champions in 1975 and 1979, now has to go through a qualifying tournament to even take part in the ICC event. But, after expressing disappointment at such a turn of events, Holder invoked the rich history of West Indies cricket and announced that they were putting things in place to win a third world title.

"All the guys are motivated and we know what's at stake," he said. "I see it as an opportunity for us to grab some momentum heading into next year's World Cup, get some games under our belt, finalise our combinations, get things right and hopefully turn things around in terms of the ODI format. It's probably one of our weaker formats and no doubt that we've been incon-

sistent. Obviously it's something we've addressed and moving forward I think hopefully we should see some good performances."

West Indies made it to the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup, but since then they have won only 8 out of 42 ODIs. Their win-loss ratio of 0.2 is the poorest out of all the teams that have played the format over the past three years.

"We have put ourselves in this situation," he told ESPNcricinfo. "We have got only ourselves to blame. We are here for a reason. Our form of late hasn't been the best. It is a matter for us to put that behind and make things right.

It is something new for us. We never had to qualify for the World Cup. It will be a new challenge. All these Associates teams tend to play fearless cricket, play quite aggressive cricket, trying to taking down the bigger nations."

Considering they are going into a qualifying tournament that entertains 10 competitors but allows only two to prog-

Jason Holder

ress, West Indies would be pleased to have some of the big players back. Chris Gayle has come off a two-year ODI hiatus in 2017. Marlon Samuels, who has a history of saving his best for World Cups, is also back in the squad having missed their most recent 50-over assignment in New Zealand.

"I must commend a guy like

Chris, also a guys like Marlon, who've come here with that motivation to do well for West Indies and give us a chance to play another World Cup. As I said to the ground, it's an opportunity to finish their careers well. It's also an opportunity for guys to make a spark in their career and start their careers in the World Cup."

West Indies will be facing teams that have done well against them in the recent past. In 2017, they suffered a colossal loss to Afghanistan. In 2016, with a place in a tri-series final on the line, they were beaten by Zimbabwe. And Ireland knocked them over with ease in the last World Cup. Nevertheless Holder was confident his players will place their best foot forward.

"I think everybody understands the importance of being in a World Cup," he said. "We've obviously won the World Cup on two occasions and I think we're trying to formulate our plans in terms of getting a third. We've done well in T20 cricket, we've done well in women's cricket, Under-19 cricket, so now I think it's about time we win another World Cup in the ODI format."

West Indies play their first match against UAE on March 6, but they have a warm-up game against Afghanistan on Tuesday. (ESPNCricinfo)

Softball champs find form World Cup without Windies in Republic Cup warm-ups unthinkable — Lara (CMC)

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atting legend Brian Lara believes two-time former ICC World Cup champions West Indies have “no choice” but to qualify for the showpiece in England next year.

The Caribbean side won the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 under iconic Captain Clive Lloyd, and also reached the final of the 1983 edition before losing to India.

Lara, who led the Windies at the 1999 and 2007 editions, said their

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September 30 cut-off date.

Only hosts England, along with the remaining top seven teams in the ICC rankings, achieved automatic qualification.

West Indies will now face a plethora of lower-ranked sides in a 10-team qualification tournament in Zimbabwe running from March 4-25, in order to secure one of the two remaining spots for the World Cup. Lara, regarded by many as the finest batsman of the contemporary era,

The powerful Regal Masters continue to rule the softball circuit with another clinical performance

ome of the country’s top softball teams returned to form when action in the Regal Sports softball tournament continued last Sunday at the Malteenoes Sports Club ground, Thomas Lands.

Regal Masters defeated Fisherman by 30 runs in a feature over-45 years old clash. The victors took first strike and posted 153-5 off their allocated 15 overs. Opener Mahase Chunilall (1×4; 6×6) hit the top score of 46 and got good support from Rudolph Baker who made 40 (1×4; 5×6) and Mohendra Arjune 23 (1×4; 2×6).

Chunilall added 63 for the fourth wicket with David Harper who was dismissed for 14. D. Thomas claimed 2-15 and Zameer Hassan 2-22 bowling for Fishermen Masters who were restricted to 123-7 in 15 overs. Ramo Malone scored 18 while Unnis Yusuf and Dennis Mangra 16 a-piece. Parsram Persaud captured 2-14 and Fazleem Mohamed 2-17.

In the second Master’s match of the day, Mike’s Wellman overcame Ariel by 42 runs in another one-sided affair. Batting first, Mike’s Wellman managed 114-4 in 15 overs with Lloyd Ruplall stroking two fours and a similar number of sixes in a fluent 57 while Nadram Samlall weighed in with 24 and Greg De Franca 18.

In reply, Ariel were bowled out 72 in 14 overs with only R. Ramdin threatening with 27 runs; Sheldon Perch snared 3-9 and Hardat Heeranandan 2-11.

Mike’s Wellman maintained their

winning ways when they beat HS Masters by seven wickets. HS Masters took first strike and got to 69-6 in 10 overs. Rudy Rodrigues made 32 (2×6; 4×4); Latchman Kallicharran took 2-30. Mike’s Wellman replied with 72-3 in 9.1 overs. Greg De Franca made 36 including two fours and one six.

In the lone Open match on the sunny day, Regal All Stars defeated Success by a nail-biting five runs.

Regal All Stars had the first use of the crease and scored 120-9 in 15 overs.

Kumar Bishundyal made 25 with two fours and two sixes while Sachin Singh made 20 (3×6) and Amir Nizamudeen 13. D. Ramnauth captured 3-27, Chien Gittens 2-4, N. Boodhoo 2-12 and D. Deonarine 2-23.

Success threatened momentarily but fell for 115 in 15 overs in response.

N. Boodhoo clobbered five fours and two sixes in 40 while Anand Rooplall made 14; the duo added 57 for the third wicket. Sachin Singh grabbed 3-18, Fazal Rafiek 2-16 and Amir Nizamudeen 2-27.

The matches were used as useful preparation ahead of the annual Republic Cup which goes down Saturday and Sunday at the Malteenoes Sports Club ground. The competition which is organized by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League Inc (GSCL Inc) will see action in three categories; Male Open, Male Over 40-years old and Male Over 50-Years old.

Brian Lara

prestigious history in the competition underlined the urgency of the need to qualify.

“We have a very good record in the Champions Trophy and we didn't have the opportunity to play (last year). The World Cup is a different story, obviously,” Lara told the Melbourne Age on Monday.

“It is something much more important. History in that particular tournament is very strong, especially in the early part of it, the first three or four World Cups. It's a situation where I think the boys have no choice, we have to pull it through.

“It (ICC rankings) is set up in such a way that we were out of that place (automatic qualification), so we have to qualify. But it doesn't mean we can't get there; we have to get there.”

West Indies began 2017 with hopes of direct qualification but lost three of 23 One-Day Internationals throughout the year to be ranked ninth at the

said the Windies' failure to qualify was unthinkable.

“It would be a huge disappointment … I don't want to think beyond that,” said the 48-year-old, who retired from international cricket following the historic 2007 World Cup staged in the Caribbean.

“The tournament is in front of the boys in Zimbabwe at present, and they have got to pull it through.”

West Indies, led by all-rounder Jason Holder, will open their qualification campaign on March 6 when they face ICC World Cricket League Division Two winners, United Arab Emirates in Group A. The top three from each group will advance to the Super Sixes, where each team will play three matches against sides they did not meet in the preliminaries.

The top two sides will qualify for the final and secure berths at the World Cup from May 30 to July 15 next year.

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Guptill, Simmons fetch biggest bids at CPL draft

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endl Simmons and Martin Guptill fetched the biggest bids while Kieron Pollard was the biggest transfer in the CPL draft on Thursday in London. Simmons and Guptill, along with the quartet of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo and Sohail Tanvir, were paid the maximum price of USD 160,000 by their franchises.

Having been released by the Jamaica Tallawahs, Simmons put himself up for a base price of USD 70,000 in the draft.

He ended up as the first pick of this year's draft after the St Lucia Stars, who finished bottom last season, picked the hardhitting Trinidadian opener. Guptill, who smashed a 49-ball century in a T20I against Australia recently, had set his base price at USD 90,000. The New Zealand opening batsman had represented the Guyana Amazon Warriors last season, and was bagged by the Jamaica Tallawahs this time around.

The Tallawahs also

retained Russell, who missed last year's CPL since he was serving a one-year doping ban.

Also retained were Gayle (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots) and Bravo (Trinbago Knight Riders). Tanvir, the highest-wicket taker in the previous edition of the CPL, was retained by the Amazon Warriors.

This CPL draft saw the maximum transfers in the tournament's five-year existence. None was bigger than that of Pollard.

The Trinidadian had led the Barbados Tridents for the past four seasons, but this year asked the franchise, which is owned by the Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, to release him. The Stars were quick to grab Pollard in the marquee round, which has a price point of $130,000.

The pre-decided marquee set of players did not enter the draft - the franchises directly negotiated contracts with them.

Former Pakistan captains Shahid Afridi (Tallawahs) and

Martin Guptill

Shoaib Malik (Amazon Warriors), explosive openers Evin Lewis (Patriots) and Chris Lynn (Knight Riders) completed the marquee set.

While Afridi welcomed the news of being retained by the Tallawahs on his 38th birthday, Malik moved on from the Tridents.

The Patriots retained Lewis with Lynn returning to the CPL having last played in the 2016 final for the Amazon Warriors.

All six teams had

to fill a total of 108 slots with squads limited to 18 players each.

Having retained a total of 61 players, franchises had to pick 47 new names from the draft.

Incidentally the first seven new picks were all batsmen: D'Arcy Short, Simmons, Hashim Amla, Guptill, Ross Taylor, David Miller and Cameron Delport.

Pakistan quick Rumman Raees was the solitary fast bowler among the first 10 new picks, signed

by St Lucia Stars for

USD 70,000.

Lack of availability was the key reason behind franchises not opting for England and Afghanistan players.

Alex Hales, Adil Rashid and Tymal Mills (along with Ashar Zaidi and Ricardo Gordon) had put their names up for the draft despite the CPL running parallel to the Twenty20 Blast, with the finals of both tournaments separated by a day. Mills had set a base price of USD 70,000, Hales USD 40,000, and Rashid

USD 30,000.

With Afghanistan scheduled to play in the Asia Cup in September, the CPL had cautioned the franchises that the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman would only be available for the start and end phases of the tournament. Rashid, who had represented the Amazon Warriors last season, did not put himself up for the draft. Nabi, who played for the Patriots last year, set his base price at USD 60,000.

Mujeeb, a first-timer, sett his base price at USD 30,000.

In January Sandeep Lamichhane made history by becoming the first Nepal player in the IPL when he was signed

by Delhi Daredevils.

Lamichhane, a legspinner, also became the first Nepal player in the CPL, after the Patriots signed him for USD 5,000.

Incidentally, Lamichanne did not set any base price before entering the draft.

(ESPNCricinfo)

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