Guyanatime 20 april 2018

Tesouro Resources P16 donates to orphanages Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 3539

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Friday, April 20, 2018

PRICE

Sovereignty of the people appeal case

Credibility of CCJ ruling could be undermined by Govt’s “loose talk” – Jagdeo Page 9

2 Govt Ministers facing misconduct, corruption charges

See stories on pages 7 and 16

…ordered to appear in court within 2 weeks

…Govt claps back as Jagdeo promises more actions to be filed against APNU/AFC officials

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Mahaica P12 fisherman stabs reputed wife to death, drinks poison

Pensioner, P10 daughter robbed on Vlissengen Road

Murder accused remanded

P8

Guyanese urged to preserve, protect monuments NA man P10 arrested as Police destroy 30,000 ganja plants

Dip in gold reserves is strategic P11 trading – Central Bank Students and other Guyanese on Wednesday attended the launch of International Day for Monuments and Sites, which was held at Damon Square, Anna Regina, in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and saw the National Trust of Guyana unveiling the publication “Places of Interest in Guyana” and the mounting of an exhibition

200 RUSAL jobs in jeopardy as US sanctions hit home

Page 17

Govt moving Page 3 to tax manufacturing exports

– Opposition says move ‘misguided’, will harm economy

MAPM continues protest against “illegal” parking meters P14 …willing to end demonstrations if court rules in its favour

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3 Govt moving to tax manufacturing exports news

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BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Friday, April 20 – 05:00h-06:30h and Saturday, April 21 – 08:30h-10:00h.

– Opposition says move ‘misguided’, will harm economy

By Samuel Sukhnandan

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The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Friday, April 20 – 06:50h-08:20h and Saturday, April 21 – 07:35h-09:05h.

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

WEATHER TODAY Light rain and light cloudy skies can be expected during the day and into the early evening hours. Thundery showers can be expected later. Temperatures will range between 22 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East North-easterly to North-easterly between 2.23 metres and 5.36 metres.

High Tide: 07:20h and 19:56h reaching maximum heights of 2.69 metres and 2.49 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 00:54h and 13:25h reaching minimum heights of 0.65 metre and 0.53 metre respectively.

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

ocal Guyanese exporters are next in line to be taxed by the current Government, as serious consideration is being given to have the zero rating of exports for Value Added Tax (VAT) purposes removed.

This was revealed by Opposition Leader and General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, who said Thursday that this new development was brought to his attention recently.

Jagdeo said exporters were shocked to learn of the coalition Government’s plans to implement this new taxation initiative. He said it is a misguided approach to collect more taxes.

“Almost every country in the world where VAT is in place, they have a zero rating of the exports. So, it allows the producers to claim back their input VAT on their imports, so they can be internationally competitive. In our case, this will change,” Jagdeo told a media conference.

He said this decision could destroy the entire local export sector, where goods are going to become internationally uncompetitive, factories will have to close, and more people could lose their jobs.

The PPP General Secretary said this matter has been engaging the attention of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), where there are “serious worries in those quarters.”

Jagdeo said he hopes the organisation will take some urgent action to represent people in this regard, and to call on the minister to reverse this decision forthwith. He

omy, he then makes excuses.”

There is no positive indication that Guyana has so far managed to manoeuvre its way out of the economic slow lane in which it has been stuck for the past three years due to the minimal GDP growth.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan made this admission during a press conference last week. Revealing that the 2017 end-of-year economic report has been completed, he linked the dismal figures to sectors, including sugar.

said, “It will harm our economy and damage all our exports the way it is now being treated.”

GMSA President Shyam Nokta previously blasted the Government’s tax measures and lack of an economic plan, saying Government’s policies were harming, rather than helping, the manufacturing sector.

Nokta had, during last year, raised concerns about issues affecting manufacturers, including an unstable Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

electricity supply; access to finance on reasonable terms; high freight costs, and market access.

He said while Government has made commitment to create an enabling environment, its removal of items from VAT exemption and implementation of other negative tax measures and policies belie these utterances.

Shifting his attention to the meagre 2.1 percent economic growth recorded for 2017, the Opposition Leader described this figure as anaemic. According to him, it gives a clear picture of how incompetent the current

Government is at managing the financial and economic affairs of the country.

Jagdeo said the economic growth figure is low by all standards, and is no way lending to the growth and development that is required in the country. He also reminded that the Government had to revise the growth projection three times, and it calls into question its presentations to Parliament regarding the economy.

“So now that it is low, all of the ratios they spoke to us about in the last budget in November would have to be recalibrated. And so the size of our fiscal deficit would climb, our balance of payment in relation to GDP will climb et cetera,” he explained.

Jagdeo, a trained economist, says it is not as simple as revising a number downwards, especially when that number is used as the denominator to calculate a range of macroeconomic issues and variables.

“Rather than the Minister of Finance (Winston Jordan) seriously addressing the issues to say what policy-wise can I do to stimulate the econ-

GMSA President Shyam Nokta

Initially, Government had projected that Guyana’s economy would have grown by a 3.8 per cent growth rate for 2017. This projection was reduced to 3.1 per cent, and then again to 2.9 per cent.

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

Tough words for law enforcement

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t the recent launch of a two-week training programme intended to assist local investigators in the fight against bribery and corruption, a high-level official had some tough words for officers of the various security agencies here. He was quoted in this newspaper as saying: “There is no place for corruption within the security agencies in Guyana. If officials or individuals cannot work with honesty and integrity, then they should be prosecuted and imprisoned as necessary.”

The training is being conducted by two UK experts, who are experienced in anti-money laundering and white-collar crime investigations. Officers from the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), the Customs Anti- Narcotics Unit (CANU), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) are participating in the programme.

The UK’s collaborative security reform project began in 2007, but was scrapped in 2009 after the British Government had requested to have oversight of the programme to ensure that there was ‘value for money’. It could be recalled that the former Government had disagreed with the manner in which the British Government had wanted the programme to be run, claiming that Britain had sought to intrude upon Guyana’s sovereignty.

For many years now, we have been hearing about corruption at all levels of the Guyana Police Force (GPF); sometimes with the involvement of senior officers themselves. It is therefore no wonder why citizens have very little trust in the ability of the security agencies to carry out professional investigations and to ensure that justice is served.

When certain cases are brought to the fore, either by private citizens complaining or by way of media reports, nothing much comes out of these cases even after investigations are carried out. Very often, it comes down to officers simply being transferred or demoted or put to perform ‘administrative duties’.

During his presentation at a recent officers’ conference, the President himself made his views clear when he stated that the practice of transferring and demoting rogue elements will not bring an end to the scourge of corruption within the GPF. He correctly stated that a Force contaminated by corruption cannot ensure the security of citizens. Hence, the service provided must be based on values in commitment, competence and incorruptibility.

High Commissioner Quinn’s comments therefore echo local concerns and it is hoped that they will be taken seriously by those involved because of the affirmation. We had stated before that the Police and other law enforcement agencies must lead by example. If they want to win the public’s trust, they must be seen as having integrity and decency.

They must engage in serious introspection and monitor themselves to ensure they too are held to higher standards.

It is well accepted that the success of any organisation depends on the integrity of its officials.

Notwithstanding that, this training programme is indeed very much needed as it seeks to build the capacity of the GPF and other law enforcement agencies to investigate all forms of criminal acts and other high-level forms of corruption within the various agencies in Guyana.

There is certainly need to strengthen the capacity of the Police Force and other law enforcement agencies here especially as it relates to investigating financial crimes. To successfully fight against corruption and other forms of white collar crimes, there has to be effective detection, investigation, analysis of evidence, and prosecution of crime, ultimately leading to convictions. Any effort aimed at ensuring our security agencies are better equipped with all tools necessary to function effectively is welcomed.

That said, the ongoing security reforms must also take into consideration other issues which impact the performance of officers such as remuneration and benefits etc. If we are going to hold law enforcement officers to higher standards and expect them to remain honest and be professional at all times, they should also be fairly compensated.

Jaguars in Brazil, imperilled by hunters, ranchers and destruction of their habitat, have learn to survive at least one menace – flooding in the Amazon. They take to the trees. Although they can be six feet long and 200 pounds, the largest South American cats nimbly navigate treetops where they stay from April to July when the rainforest floor is under metres-deep water (Reuters)

Hardships after closure of sugar estates

Dear Editor, From what I have seen in the media and during my visits, the people in the community of Wales and its environs are suffering untold hardships because of the shutdown of the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) operations there simply because it was done without proper structure.

The suffering and hardships are mirrored in every facet of the sugar-producing district where GuySuCo has slammed the doors shut on sugar workers. This is precisely why I wrote, before and after the closure of our major sugar estates, that there will be serious repercussions for the entire country if sugar production is cut and the factories closed.

Sugar workers are not the only ones suffering.

What about the sudden decline of spin-off businesses?

What about the drastic drop in spending power among jobless sugar workers? What about farmers and grocers whose income depended largely on sales to sugar workers and their families; the people who produce or who are vendors of milk, chicken, fish, vegetables etc?

What if many of the unemployed former sugar workers turn to producing cash crops and cause a glut in the market? Prices will fall, sales will dry up and there will be more widespread hardships. This will affect other cash crop growers and, inevitably, lead to more theft and other crimes.

I am very sad that Government apparently did not do due diligence studies before closing the sugar estates. This failure has unleashed a multitude of ter-

rible penalties and crushed the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in Guyana.

In my opinion, those who pushed hard for the closure of the estates might have had sinister motives. For instance, we saw the son-in law of a senior member of the Alliance For Change trying vigorously to sell off Skeldon and other sugar estates via business connections he made in the Caribbean and further afield.

I believe Government made a tremendous mistake by closing the estates.

Even Government officials and supporters are admitting that they cannot sell non-functioning estates at the sale prices they had expected, so the rewards or compensation will be too small. Why didn’t they think of this before?

It is common knowledge that if one has to sell something like a car; it must be working properly before one can get the best price. Why didn’t the sellers of our sugar estates use the ordinary man’s marketing technique, called common sense, instead of just closing the estates and putting them up for sale?

It seems that some of our politicians want to do the same thing that was done back in the post-colonial era when former (then) Prime Minister Forbes Burnham sold out our train system to a British company that later sold it to an African nation for many times what Guyana was paid for it.

It is known that PM Burnham regretted that decision. Imagine the great benefits of a local train system today; think of the mod-

ernisation and expansion.

Trains (street cars) would have been traversing the city streets, like they do in Amsterdam, San Francisco, Toronto, Germany and all across Guyana. Motor cars would not have been necessary within the city and the air pollution, the glut and the smog would not have been an issue. Our people would not have been so dependent on unreliable, unregulated minibuses.

Now I am seeing the same dilemma with the closure of the GuySuCo estates.

Reactivating the abundant lands to make them ready for sugar planting once more will call for a tremendous financial investment. That is why I was saying: If you wish to sell, keep the estates alive and churning while looking for a market.

Otherwise, diversify using former sugar factories for milk production, milk processing, converting milk to powdered milk or evaporated or condensed milk. Let’s learn from countries with flat lands like our coastal plane, like the Dutch. Unlike the Dutch, we are lucky in that we do not have winter here.

What will happen to the non-functioning estates?

Are we going to leave the machinery and equipment to grind to a complete halt so that they rot and are torn apart by vagrants?

Why not use the non-functioning estates to produce powdered and canned coconut milk or canned and bottled coconut jelly and water; canned fruits like jack fruit and cane pieces steeped in cane juice; soaps and detergents? We had a golden opportunity to partner with

the same countries and people who were and are interested in buying us out for nothing. I know it’s hard because maybe the people in the Government are not business-oriented.

Since, we were being hit by big losses in the sugar industry, it would have been far more worthwhile for us to invest in exploring different diversification options to keep our people employed, rather than close the estates and throwing workers to the wolves.

Also, if you have to sell, wouldn’t it be easier to sell fully operational estates rather than defunct factories? Didn’t they learn from Burnham? He did not intend to do a bad thing when he closed the railway and nationalised industries. But look what happened?

Burnham thought he was doing a good thing.

But we were not mature; we were not ready for nationalisation. The MarxistLeninist system had heavily influenced both he and the late President Cheddi Jagan and they thought we had the ability to manage our resources.

We lacked and still lack proper managerial skills for such vast industries.

They did not take into consideration that our people are not accustomed to that kind of administration, so the communities and the people of the nation suffered.

The people will continue to suffer even more if we do not act wisely and reverse what is happening with the closed sugar estates.

Sincerely, Roshan Khan Sr

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You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Guyana must unite in order to progress Dear Editor, The French author and philosopher Mr Antoine de SaintExupery wrote in his astonishing book , Wind, Sand and Stars: “Nothing, in truth, can ever replace a lost companion.

Old comrades cannot be manufactured. There is nothing that can equal the treasure of so many shared memories, so many bad times endured together, so many quarrels, reconciliations, heartfelt impulses. Friendships like that cannot be reconstructed. If you plant an oak, you will hope in vain to sit soon under its shade.

“For such is life. We grow rich as we plant through the early years, but then come the years when time undoes our work and cuts down our trees.

One by one our comrades deprive us of their shade, and within our mourning we always feel now the secret grief of growing old.

“If I search among my memories for those whose taste is lasting, if I write the balance sheet of the moments that truly counted, I surely find those that no fortune could have bought me. You cannot buy the friendship of a companion bound to you forever by ordeals endured together.”

While we remember the passing of our great leaders, or not so great to some, the splendid words of Saint-Exupery will

bring obvious comforts to the mind of many. The human being tends to focus more on the mistake of men and deliberately forgets the numerous good that came from these very men.

When the companions of Jesus (May peace be upon him) complained about the excess that was committed by the woman, Jesus (May peace be upon him) said to his companions, “who among us will cast the first stone”. Today, we are casting mountains of stones, totally forgetting our own imperfections.

As a young public servant, I had the privilege to work and dine with President Forbes Burnham. I must admit that this gentleman had a magnetic communication skill to captivate anyone. He made some fundamental mistakes, but he will remain a hero in the hearts of many. Same can be said of Dr Cheddi Jagan, Mrs Janet Jagan, Mr Hugh Desmond Hoyte, Mr Bharrat Jagdeo, Mr Donald Ramotar and President David Granger. They all have their one unique style and their support base is strong.

Respected Editor, the balance of life for these remaining gentlemen is getting shorter as the days go by. Are they comfortable to continue on the same antagonistic path? What is the purpose of lauding beautiful speeches when one departs? Dr

Rupert Roopnaraine’s speech given when Dr Jagan died was the best I ever heard. Wouldn’t it be better to say those words while they are alive!

This country needs the support and expertise of all and sundry – competent Chairmen; brilliant, talented, multifaceted individuals and Chief Executive Officers are needed for the rapid advancement of this country.

During the financial crisis, Wall Street had to make drastic reforms. Many Chief Executive Officers were fired and some were brought before Congress while others ended up in prison. With oil’s enormous wealth approaching, Guyana is poised for take-off.

A very senior official from Halliburton told me that 20 competent, knowledgeable Chairmen, Chief Executive Officers and Managers can take Guyana to enormous heights in the next 15 years, but the key issue is non-interference from the political class.

He concluded by saying that the Gulf States did it and look at the massive development they have earned, so too can Guyana.

Respected Editor, I urge the politicians to harbour the example of the iconic President, Nelson Mandela who moved from prisoner to President, who left his hatred behind the

We must be careful about how we use the signing bonus Dear Editor, Please allow me to share my thoughts on the actions of the Government of Guyana to convert the ExxonMobil signing bonus into US and Canadian Treasury Bonds. The Guyanese populace will draw their own conclusions based on the denial of the existence of the ‘bonus’ and its eventual disclosure.

My issue is, however, with this new policy direction of investing in the US and Canadian economies. US$18 million is not an enormous sum by our economic standard; there can be no need to stash this paltry sum for ‘safe-keeping’: this sum is less than two per cent of our annual budget. Surely, we could put this money towards our own development. I can assure all Guyanese that we will be able to afford lawyers for the Guyana-Venezuela ICJ case without this ‘bonus’ to

assist us. US$3 million of this amount has been earmarked for ‘capacity building’; how is this being achieved with the funds otherwise invested? Are we going to use the interest generated for the capacity-building programme? Guyana recently borrowed US$900 million for unspecified projects, will some of this also be ‘invested’ surreptitiously in US and Canadian bonds? Government needs to revisit this policy direction as a matter of great urgency.

Editor, many see low-yield bonds as a very secure investment; however, these bonds are by no means infallible and Governments do default from time to time. US Treasury Bonds must be deemed a risky investment by any yardstick as that country continues to borrow heavily to maintain a quality of life beyond its means, continuously raising its debt ceiling

and other risk factors. A fitting analogy would be of a poor man lending to his ostentatiously rich neighbour; sure, he has all the trappings of wealth – mansion, cars, flashy lifestyle that seems unreachable to the poor man, but underneath all the flash, he is mortgaged to the hilt, in debt beyond his ability to repay and playing a Ponzi scheme to keep himself afloat.

Many a man has fallen for these schemes, should Guyana be investing in such a country?

What place in line would we be if they default? Let us invest in ourselves and build our own nation before we prop up an ailing economic power.

A timely reminder to the Government of Guyana that ‘Charity begins at home’ may be in order.

Sincerely, Robin Singh

Do not promote alcohol at upcoming IAC events Dear Editor, The Indian Action Committee (IAC) wishes to advise against the promotion and sale of alcohol during upcoming events to commemorate the 180th anniversary of the arrival of the first batch of East Indian indentured immigrants from India to Guyana.

While the official anniversary will be on the 5th of May, 2018, countrywide events are scheduled before and after.

Since its establishment in 2003, the IAC has, from its first event to commemorate Indian Arrival in Guyana, advocated that no alcohol be allowed at these functions and implemented measures to prevent promotion and consumption. It was heartened that other organisations promoting

similar activities subsequently joined the advocacy, which has now become a fixture in related advertisements.

The IAC strongly believes that the Indian Arrival commemoration events, which promote family values, must be free from the impact of alcohol consumption and promotion. Corporate entities which, over the years, have partnered with the IAC to promote these events and which are known for the production of alcohol must be commended for promoting non-alcoholic beverages and similar products.

The IAC feels compelled to reiterate that alcohol should not be promoted and consumed at the upcoming events since some promotions which have already begun openly ad-

vertised its sale.

The IAC, therefore, urges those involved to be mindful of the negative impact these promotions would have not only on the events and the family values intended to be fostered, but the additional challenges it poses socially.

The IAC takes this opportunity to invite the general public to celebrate with us our 15th Grand Annual Cultural Mela (free admission) slated for Saturday, April 28, 2018, at the Anna Regina Community Ground, Essequibo, and Saturday, May 5, 2018, at the Albion Sports Complex, Berbice.

Regards, Indian Action Committee Guyana

prison walls and reconciled with his oppressors. His words and his work are left for us to emulate. He left us with these astonishing words, “no one is born hating another person

just because of the colour of their skin, or his background or his religion. People have to learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, then they can be taught to love, for love comes

more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”.

Yours truly, Nazar Mohamed

Clarifying Kissoon's misconceptions Dear Editor, Not all those who shout “dialectics, dialectics,” shall enter into the kingdom of philosophy.

Mr Kissoon revealed the dialectical interconnection with his observation on Mr Deon Abrams, asking the question, “Was Freud at work there, Mr Kanhai?”

Absolutely, Mr Kissoon.

Freud was/is at work, here, there, and everywhere, even though he is no longer physically present. That is the nature of the dialectic, which also is at work, here, there, and everywhere. Like gravity, nothing escapes its grip, even when we are free-floating in outer space, imagining ourselves to be weightless – we are still caught in the iron grip of gravity, despite gravity being the weakest of the fundamental forces of nature.

Albert Einstein gave us an explanation for gravity as being the geometry of space in his General Theory of Relativity. It is not an external force as propounded in Newtonian physics, but manifests itself in the nature of matter. It cannot be separated from matter, being part of the definition of matter itself. As Einstein claimed, Space, Time, and Matter were a Holy Trinity.

I make this fundamental point in response to Mr Kissoon’s quote: “If Mr Kanhai claims to understand Marxism, then he must be familiar with how Hegelian dialectics work.

Thus, he would know the dialectics have left his idol, Roopnaraine behind, or to put it another way, Roopnaraine chose to leave the dialect behind. After all, as a Marxist, Kanhai should remember one of the most profound observations by one of history’s most profound Marxists, Jean Paul Sarte – “Man makes the dialectic just as the dialectic makes him.”

Mr Kissoon treats philosophy as ahistorical or supra-historical, raising himself above the crowd. He ties in “Hegelian dialectics” to Sarte’s dialectic, oblivious that the two dialectical moments cannot be the same, because one is historically located within the other, sublimating it. Secondly, to claim that anyone can choose to leave dialectics behind is similar to the claim that one can escape the effects of gravity.

Several years ago, Mr Kissoon had a eureka moment when he claimed that he had found a fundamental flaw in Marx’s thesis that “being determines consciousness”. Mr Kissoon claimed that it was “consciousness that determines being”, standing Marx on his head. Mr Kissoon had confused the “ontological being” with the “epistemological consciousness”, an error in his argument to which he remains oblivious.

Mr Kissoon, in recent times, claimed that the German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s book, Being and Time was one of the greatest works of philosophy, a view shared by many philosophers. Heidegger is ac-

credited with restoring the human content of philosophy, as compared to the philosophy of Marx and Hegel which dealt with world systems, supposedly reducing the individual to the will of the world spirit. Heidegger’s philosophy had its roots in Edmund Husserl, his teacher, and is closely linked to Phenomenology and Existentialism. Sartre is located somewhere between the Marxian/Hegelian camp and the Phenomenological/ Existentialist one, having written his philosophical treatise, “Being and Nothingness” in response to Heidegger’s “Being and Time.” The role of the individual is given primacy over the system. I would leave it to Kissoon to locate himself in the realm of philosophy.

Mr Kissoon’s attempt to label me is sterile, since he displays a profound ignorance of my philosophical groundings. His attempt to brand me a Marxist/Leninist reveals a dogmatic understanding of the word on his part. For his elucidation, let me “Ponty-ficate” on one ‘adventure of the dialectic (Merleau-Ponty),’ taken from a Marxist web-site.

“Lenin’s work Materialism and Empirio-criticism played a decisive part in combating the Machist revision of Marxism. It enabled the philosophical ideas of Marxism to spread widely among the mass of party members and helped the party activists and progressive workers to master dialectical and historical materialism.”

Ernst Mach was a brilliant scientist, whose name is immortalised in the “Mach’s Principle”. The term Mach speed/number is named after him. To ascribe to me an ideological label that does not grasp the immense scholarship noted above is rather misleading on the part of Mr Kissoon.

Furthermore, it was Lenin who read Hegel during the revolutionary days to grasp the meaning of events unfolding around him, in order to formulate Government policies.

Henri Poincare’s name is associated with Einstein’s theories of relativity. Professor Peter Galison noted that Poincare never understood his own theory, even though it was explained by Einstein with greater clarity. Poincare treated relativity as a quirk of nature, unlike Einstein who treated it as a fundamental law of nature, and this proved to be the critical difference.

Einstein did the same with Max Planck who studied black body radiation, a stumbling block in physics which was resolved with “Planck law”.

Einstein convinced Planck that the constant was a fundamental law of nature, enabling it to usher in the era of Quantum Dynamics.

My point is that sometimes even the founders of scientific knowledge do not grasp their own theories. It is amusing when lesser mortals claim to understand them, casting names of philosophers and

theories around like pearls to swine, with the intent not to enlighten but to obfuscate.

Archimedes said, “Give me a place to stand, and I will move the earth.” He was defining the law of the lever. In philosophy, where we stand define the view of the world that we see. A slave sees the world very different from the master, a point Hegel noted in his chapter on the master/slave dialectic. Both views describe the realities as experienced by each individual. Like a chess game, objectivity is defined not from any single player’s point of view, but from a point of view that encompasses both players, defined as a god’s eye view. The problem is that it is an individual who claims this role of being the embodiment of a trinity.

Hegel noted that just as the possession of hands does not make us artists, likewise having a brain does not make us thinkers. He also informed us that the man and the boy both utter the same prayers to God, the former on the basis of his life’s experience, the other mere rote. This was not a condemnation of the boy, but an understanding of the stages of development, of both individuals and society. It is a natural law that “nature abhors a vacuum.” The human mind is not an empty vessel to be filled by knowledge. It is always filled with one set of knowledge, only to be replaced by another set in an ever-recurring process.

The movies – “The Time Machine”, “Back To The Future”, The Butterfly Effect” and “Sound of Thunder”, etc, remind us that time is irreversible. Were we able to make one change with the past, the future would be fundamentally altered, sometimes beyond recognition. The problem is that we have no way of knowing it.

The “What If” scenario is speculative in a meaningful sense of the word, in that it makes us conscious of the immense power we have in the present to determine the future. Use it or lose it!

Kissoon only understands the present because it is the direct result of actions taken in the past. This is how life unfolds, even though we try to “reverse engineer” things. We are the architects of our destiny. To quote Marx, “men make history, not as they please, but dependent upon historical circumstances directly transmitted from the past… we wear the costume of the past…the dead weighs like a nightmare upon the living…” etc. We fail to recognise our handiwork when confronted by it.

Let me close by asking Mr Kissoon which event in the history of the WPA helped or hindered the removal of the PNC in 1992? Which event in the history of the WPA helped or hindered the removal of the PPP in 2015?

Finally, would Mr Kissoon kindly tell us what is his philosophical standing?

Sincerely, Rohit Kanhai

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H

ow did you learn how to ride your bike? Someone probably gave you a few lessons and then you practised a lot. You can learn how to study in much the same way.

No one is born knowing how to study.

You need to learn a few study skills and then practise them.

Why work on your study skills? It will make it easier for you to learn and do well in class, especially as you move up to middle school and high school.

Here are six steps to smarter studying: Pay attention in class.

Take good notes.

Plan ahead for tests and projects.

Break it down. (If you have a bunch of stuff to learn, break it into smaller chunks.)

Ask for help if you get stuck.

Get a good night’s sleep!

Pay attention: good studying starts in class

Here’s a riddle for you: Did you know that before you even begin studying, you’ve already started? Huh? Here’s what we mean. When you pay attention in class and take good notes, you are starting the process of learning and studying.

Do you have trouble paying attention in class? Are you sitting next to a loud person? Is it hard to see the board?

Make sure you’re sitting in a good seat that lets you pay attention. Tell your teacher or parents about any problems that are preventing you from paying attention and taking good notes.

Good notes = easier studying

Not sure how to take notes? Start by writing down facts that your teacher mentions or writes on the board during

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Foundation

class. Try your best to use good handwriting so you can read your notes later. It’s also a good idea to keep your notes, quizzes, and papers organised by subject.

Plan ahead and you’ll be glad you did

Waiting until Thursday night to study for Friday’s test will make for a homework night that’s no fun! It also makes it hard to do your best. We’re all guilty of putting things off sometimes.

One of the best ways to make sure that doesn’t happen is to plan ahead.

Ask for a cool calendar (something you like and can keep by your desk or study area) and write down your test and assignment due dates. You can then plan how much to do after school each day, and how much time to spend on each topic. Are lessons or extracurricular activities making it hard to find time to study? Ask your mom or dad how to make a schedule of what to do when.

Break it up!

When there’s a lot to study, it can help to break things into chunks. Let’s say you have a test on 20 spelling words. Instead of thinking about all of the words at once, try breaking them down into five-word chunks and working on one or two different chunks each night.

Don’t worry if you can’t remember something on the first try. That’s where practice comes in. The more days you spend reviewing something, the more likely it is to stick in your brain. There are also tricks called mnemonic (say: new-MON-ik) devices that can help you remember stuff. When you’re trying to memorise a list of things, make up a phrase that uses the first letter of each.

For example, are you trying to learn

the eight planets and their order from the sun? Think: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos to remember Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Your teacher can give you ideas, too.

Another way to break it up is to study regularly instead of just the night before. You can always review your notes and read over the chapters you’re working on. Or, if you’re studying Maths or science, do some practice problems.

How much studying should you do each night? Your teacher can help you figure it out. Most brains can only pay attention for about 45 minutes. So if you’ve been working for a while and find it hard to pay attention, try taking a break for some water or a walk around the house. Just fight the temptation to turn on the TV or stop working!

Lose the confusion — ask for help

You can’t study effectively if you don’t understand the material. Be sure to ask your teacher for help if you’re confused about something. You can check yourself by reading through your notes. Does it all make sense? If not, ask your teacher to go over it with you.

If you’re at home when the confusion occurs, your mom or dad might be able to help.

Sleep tight!

So the test is tomorrow and you’ve followed your study plan — but suddenly you can’t remember anything, not even 2+2! Don’t panic. Your brain needs time to digest all the information you’ve given it. Try to get a good night’s sleep and you’ll be surprised by what comes back to you in the morning. (kidshealth.org)

By David Ludden, PhD

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he methods that students learned for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing are fairly straightforward to perform. Furthermore, the reasons why they work are easy to demonstrate with objects – such as blocks or buttons –that children can manipulate and count. But the methods for fractional arithmetic are complex, and the reasons for them are opaque. Why do you need to find the lowest common denominator when adding or subtracting fractions but not when multiplying them? And why do you have to invert the second fraction and multiply when dividing? Dunno, just the way it’s done. With such a shallow understanding of rational number arithmetic, no wonder so many people have difficulty with it.

Although these inherent complexities plague all of us, other sources of difficulty with rational number arithmetic are cultural in original. It’s these “culturally contingent sources of difficulty” that account for the better performance among East Asian students compared with their North American counterparts.

Specifically, these include: Teacher knowledge. Grade school Maths teachers in China, Japan, and Korea receive better instruction in rational number arithmetic than do teachers in the US or Canada. When asked what is meant by the expression 7/4 ÷ 1/2, most US teachers could not provide an explanation, but most Chinese teachers could. It’s hard to provide quality instruction to your students when you only half understand the concepts yourself.

Textbook quality.

A comparison of grade-school Maths textbooks shows that Korean textbooks devote far more space to rational number arithmetic and provide more practice problems than US textbooks. To the extent that practice makes perfect, Korean schoolchildren have a decided advantage over their American peers.

Language.

The Chinese number system is much easier to learn than European systems because it’s strictly base ten.

There are no irregular number names, such as “eleven”, “twelve”, or “twenty”. These are rendered

instead as “ten-one,” “tentwo,” “two-ten,” and so on. As a result, Chinese children learn to count at a much earlier age than North American or European children. Fractional expressions are also more straightforward.

For example, the fraction 1/3 is expressed as “one third” in English but as “one of three parts” in Chinese. In other words, the meaning of the fraction is explicit.

Both Japan and Korea adopted the Chinese number system many centuries ago, and so they also reap the benefits of this highly logical system.

One reason why so many people experience Maths phobia is because they don’t see the relevance of mathematics in their daily lives. Traditionally, algebra has been the standard Maths course in high school – and it’s often repeated at the college level. But many people protest – and I think rightly so – that they never use algebra in their daily lives.

In higher education, there’s an ongoing debate about whether algebra or elementary statistics is a more appropriate math course for non-STEM majors. After all, students in the liberal arts will never need to solve a quadratic equation, but they will need to deal with statistical information, such as polls, surveys, census data, and economic reports.

And these kinds of data are frequently presented as rational numbers –fractions, decimals, and percentages.

A recent survey found that 82 per cent of white-collar workers, 70 per cent of bluecollar workers, and 40 per cent of service workers used fractions in their work. (And you just used fractions as you interpreted these statistics.) Clearly, rational number arithmetic does have relevance in people’s lives, and so we need to do a better job teaching it.

However, improvements are going to have to start at the very top, with better education for our teachers. We can also benefit by looking at how rational number arithmetic is taught in East Asia. After all, such an exercise can provide valuable lessons in how to improve our own Maths instruction. (Excerpt from psychologytoday.

com)

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

2 Govt Ministers facing misconduct, corruption charges …ordered to appear in court within 2 weeks

By Yanalla Dalrymple

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wo senior People’s National Congress officials and A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change Government Ministers serving on President David Granger’s Cabinet are now facing financial misconduct and corruption charges which were filed privately on Thursday, by sitting Opposition legislators.

The Ministers facing the private action are Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence and Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton, who also served as Guyana’s Health Minister after Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs), Juan Edghill and Vickram Bharrat on Thursday morning filed a criminal case at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The matter which was heard before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan saw former Attorney General Anil Nandlall representing the People’s

Former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall and Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Bishop Juan Edghill

Progressive Party (PPP) parliamentarians.

The two Ministers are being accused of “misconduct in public office” by parliamentarians Vickram Bharrat and Juan Edghill.

The court heard that Minister Volda Lawrence, while being and performing the duties of Public Health Minister of the Government of Guyana, between January 16, 2017 and February 16, 2017, wilfully misconducted herself in a way which

amounted to an abuse of public trust without reasonable excuse or justification.

Moreover, Lawrence is accused of authorising the unapproved single sourcing and purchase of drugs and medical supplies for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation from ANSA McAL Trading Limited, for the excessive sum of $605,962,200.

Norton, on the other hand, is also accused of wilfully misconducting himself

in a way which amounted to an abuse of public trust without reasonable excuse or justification, when he authorised or caused the rental, of the property known as and situated at 29 Sussex Street Albouystown, in the city of Georgetown from Linden Holdings Incorporated, a Limited Liability Company, for the sum of $12,500,000, exclusive of VAT, per month, by way of a written Agreement of Tenancy at an excessive rate of rental.”

Chief Magistrate McLennan has since granted two summonses for the respective Ministers, ordering them to appear before the court on April 24.

On April 12, Government instituted legal proceedings

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton

against Dr Ashni Singh and Winston Brassington for what it says is “misconduct in public office: contrary to common law” as it pertains to the sale of three plots of State land.

However, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has since labelled the charges “frivolous,” while defending his party’s members who he claims are men of integrity.

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Teen committed to stand High Court trial for $440 killing

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eventeen-year-old Andrew Gittens, who allegedly murdered his cousin Leon Anthony Ritchie over a $440 loan to buy bread in January 2017, was committed to stand trial at the Demerara High Court by Magistrate Rushell Liverpool at the Wales Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. He was represented by Attorney Ravindra Mohabir during the Preliminary Inquiry (PI).

Magistrate Liverpool at the conclusion of the PI ruled that the prosecution has made out a case against the accused. She informed the defendant and his attorney that it will be left for a 12-member jury to deter-

Deceased: Leon Ritchie

mine the accuracy of the evidence in the caution statement.

Gittens remained silent as he was not legally bound to make a statement or a plea at this stage. His plea will be made when the matter comes up in the High Court.

Ritchie, who was 17 at the time of his death, was killed at his Lot 20 L’Oratoire, Canal Number One Polder, West Bank Demerara residence after the accused reportedly came up to him and demanded that he repay the money. Reports were that an argument ensued between the two over the $440 Ritchie had borrowed two weeks prior.

It was stated that after a scuffle, Gittens, who was

only 16, allegedly stabbed his cousin to the chest. An injured Ritchie reportedly collapsed and upon realising what he had done, the alleged perpetrator raised an alarm and the injured teen was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

When interviewed back in January 2017, Gittens’ father said his son lived at his grandparent’s house along with his other cousins. Their grandfather, who had supervised the boys, passed away in 2016 and ever since then, the young family members had lived alone.

Canal No 1 bus driver charged for dangerous driving

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inibus operator Aubrey Sealey of Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara (WBD) was on Thursday

placed on $10,000 bail by Magistrate Rushell Liverpool on a dangerous driving charge.

The prosecution’s case

Man fined $ 15,000 for narcotics possession

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injindra Kayman was on Thursday fined $15,000 for narcotics possession after he admitted to the Wales magistrate that Police, on Wednesday, found him with 2 grams of cannabis at Bell West, Canal Number Two, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

The 43-year-old was also charged with having a pipe that is used to smoke the prohibited substance. He pleaded not guilty to this offence by simply saying that he did have the pipe to smoke marijuana. Kayman’s fine carries an alternative of one month’s jail.

is built on the evidence of an investigating rank who claimed that Sealey was speeding at the time his minibus, BRR 6909, suffered a blowout and collided with motorcar HB 9113 on the Nismes Public Road, WBD on February 11, 2018.

Sealey had initially entered a guilty plea, but after the magistrate had heard the prosecution’s contention and enquired from the 45-year-old accused if he was indeed speeding, Sealey contended otherwise and a

not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

Sealey’s contention is that he was driving at a normal rate when he suffered the blowout.

Magistrate Liverpool disclosed that the prosecution has to establish that the accused had driven dangerously at the time he suffered the mechanical defect.

The matter continues at the Wales Magistrate’s Court, where report and fixtures are set for June 7, 2018.

Murder accused remanded

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old miner Bryan Green was remanded to prison

by Chief Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan after he appeared in her court yesterday in relation to an indictable charge stating that on April 15th, 2018, while at a shop at Quartz Stone Backdam, Cuyuni, he fatally chopped Brazilian citizen Adrin Sousa Santos.

According to facts presented in the court, Santos went to a shop where he met Green drinking with a woman. Santos and Green became involved in a ‘talking’ about the female,

and the 33-year-old Green departed the premises.

He later returned, armed with a cutlass, and dealt Santos two chops on his right hand. Santos reportedly collapsed, and bled to death before he was transported to the hospital.

According to Acting ‘F’ Division Commander Kevin Adonis, ranks were sent to the scene on Sunday afternoon to investigate the matter. They returned on Monday evening.

Green is expected to appear before the Bartica magistrate on May 10.

Playing the fool…

“P

…on GuySuCo laying the fool” in Guyanese lingo doesn’t mean you’re funny – it means you’re being deliberately stupid. “Playing the ass” expresses the sentence even pithier. Right now – with the farce playing out on the GuySuCo Board – all your Eyewitness can say is this PNCled Government’s REALLY playing the ass with sugar. And it certainly ain’t funny to the 10,000 sugar workers left after the firing of 5700, who’re living from day to day.

Trying to justify the unjustifiable, the PNC claimed the amputation of three factories was the only way to “save the industry”!! Tough love!! So what did they do?? They transferred the stock ownership of GuySuCo to NICIL so that its SPU could borrow $30 billion. But we could tell all wasn’t kosher when it took a week to announce what they’ll do with the money – fix the rump GuySuCo or the “closed” estates.

From then onwards the story really becomes a farce. Heath-London, the head of the SPU, placed an ad in the dailies at the beginning of March announcing a new GuySuCo Board with him at the head of a bevy of mostly neophytes to sugar. Seems letters of appointment were sent out to these worthies – but as to who sent out the letters we still don’t know. Had to be on some kind of official letterhead at the least, no?? We also don’t know if letters on non-renewal of contracts were sent to the “old” Board – including its Chairman, Clive Thomas.

Now we know that Thomas, as Chair, was just treading water at best – but your Eyewitness hoped, at least for the sake of sugar’s survival, the Government’s left hand was being coordinated with the right hand. But it was not to be. Up came the inimitable Minister of Finance Winston Jordan – who certainly doesn’t LOOK like a comedian – but is certainly doing his best to sound like one with his “now you see it…now you don’t” routine about the Board. Was it real butter or was it margarine?? Who was the Chair…

Heath-London or Thomas?? Or both?

Does the “owner” of GuySuCo’s shares get to pick its Board – Heath-London…or does the Government make a mockery of GuySuCo’s “autonomous” status and keep Thomas?? Now whatever happens now – after the totally clueless Minister of Agri Holder says HE’S setting up his own Board – we know that Heath-London and Jordan have ABSOLUTELY NO FAITH IN THOMAS!! And more to the point, they don’t want him anywhere near that $30 billion the SPU borrowed.

And like the grass that gets trampled when the elephants (Jordan and Holder!) fight, the remaining sugar workers can only see their jobs disappearing.

It’s a shad, shad story!! …with correspondent banking The old folks say smart flies always end up on the (nasty) nether regions of the bovine species!! And this is just where this PNC-led Government’s at when it comes to international banks intermediating our funds. When in Opposition, the PNC and AFC played ducks and drakes with the AML/CFT Bill and had us placed on the international bankers’ blacklist. The AFC even said they’d sign on if the Procurement Commission were appointed. Meaning they had no substantive problems with the Bill – they just wanted to play to the gallery!!

And that’s all they were doing, weren’t they?? But the damage was already done to our international banking credentials. And we still haven’t recovered – as Minister of Finance Jordan conceded yesterday. After those banks “derisked” themselves by cutting off ties with our local banks – did he expect they would just reverse themselves just like that?? Is he living in la la land??

It’ll take at least the injection of real oil money –- from a renegotiated contract – to get a second look. …on drivers’ licences Quick now!! Which Guyanese is surprised at the news that half of the written drivers’ exams were FAKE?? This is only the start of the scams the Police pull with licences, fitness, road stops, etc…etc…

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

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Sovereignty of the people appeal case

Credibility of CCJ ruling could be undermined by Govt’s “loose talk” – Jagdeo

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s public concern continues to mount as to the authenticity of statements made by two senior Government Ministers in relation to their alleged insight into how the sovereignty of the people appeal case will be decided at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), and new information that there are close ties between local public officials, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo was asked whether the public’s concerns could be seen as justifiable and reasonable in light of Government’s utterances.

Jagdeo during his weekly press conference at his Church Street, Georgetown office said, during an invited comment, while the Ministers’ statements could be totally inaccurate, it was something to take note of, just in case there were any developments.

At a recent political meeting held in Berbice, Vice President and National Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan alleged that the CCJ would rule against the case. The Minister told his party supporters that Jagdeo would never be allowed the opportunity to run for another term in office as President.

“I don’t know whether it’s loose talk or they do have inside information as they say, but either way this could affect the credibility of the court.

If they claim they have inside knowledge, it could also be entirely false,” Jagdeo stated. But according to him, this could cause Guyanese to believe their statements and if the ruling was contrary to that, then it has the potential to create some concern in sec-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

tions of society.

Meanwhile, information reaching Guyana Times has suggested that the judicial assistant to the current CCJ President Sir Dennis Byron is the grandson of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and former advisor to the President, Justice James Patterson.

Asked whether he was concerned about this, Jagdeo responded in the affirmative.

He said, “It does bother me for the same reasons I gave about Ramjattan and Basil Williams who claim they know how the court will rule on this matter.

It goes back to the credibility of the court.”

He was also pressed on the difference in the dissenting opinion proffered by Acting Chancellor, which is reportedly different in the written form. Jagdeo said he is unsure of the accuracy of such a report. If it is true, he added that it would be an issue of concern since it would be seen

as “strange”.

Pressed a bit further to state whether he would be willing to run for President if the CCJ ruled in the Opposition’s favour, Jagdeo told the media that “Having to go to cocktail receptions and accrediting ambassadors and having courtesy calls and a whole range of those things that goes with the presidency like cutting ribbons and so, don’t attract me. I don’t have any desire to be part of them. What I have great desire to do is to ensure that people’s lives, their welfare change...You figure out for yourself what I just said”.

Jagdeo went on to state that his current and most important function was General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

His main objective in that position is to prepare the Party for Government, while broadening its ethnic composition, which is predominantly Amerindian and IndoGuyanese.

In 2014, private citizen Cedric Richardson had filed the challenge, arguing that Act 17 of 2001, which was passed by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly, unconstitutionally curtailed and restricted his sovereign and democratic right and freedom as a qualified elector to elect a former President as the Executive President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

Contending that the limit was unconstitutional and illegal, Richardson also wanted the court to determine whether the amendment with a referendum should not have been held, instead of the two-thirds ma-

jority in the National Assembly having the power to decide to limit the number of terms.

The other restrictions were: to also declare unqualified to run for the presidency citizens of Guyana not resident in Guyana on Nomination Day; citizens of Guyana resident in Guyana on Nomination Day but who have not been continuously resident in Guyana for seven years prior to that date; and citizens of Guyana by registration.

After several months in the courts, former Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang ruled in favour of Richardson’s argument, saying that the term

limit on presidents was unconstitutional without the approval of the people through a referendum.

However, the decision did not sit well with Attorney General Basil Williams and former Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, both of whom were named respondents in the court action.

They asked that the ruling be “wholly set aside”, but then Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), Justice Carl Singh, also upheld the High Court’s decision, arguing in the Appeal Court ruling that a decision on the term limit rested with the people via a referendum, and not the National Assembly.

He had sought to impress the point that people should choose whom they “please to govern them”, and noted that this was essential to all other rights.

During the February 2017 decision, Justice Singh was supported by Justice of Appeal BS Roy in upholding Justice Chang’s decision. Current Chief Justice (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who also sat on the panel, had given a dissenting judgement.

The matter was then taken to the Trinidad-based CCJ, which heard the case on Monday, March 12. A decision could be made at some point during this year.

Govt converts Skeldon Estate Staff Compound into “Heritage Resort”

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he National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and its Special Purposes Unit (SPU) on Thursday announced that the Skeldon Estate Staff Compound has been converted into the ‘Skeldon Heritage Resort’.

In a release to the media, NICIL/SPU said this significant development at Skeldon helps to preserve some of the history and culture of the sugarcane industry in Guyana.

Head of the NICIL-SPU/ Chairman of the GuySuCo Board of Directors, Colvin Heath-London, had this to say: “Sugarcane has been a major part of Guyana’s culture for decades. It is vital that we preserve the history

and culture of the sugarcane industry, as it plays a necessary role in enabling us to learn from our past, and prepares us for greater future achievements.”

He added, “The sugarcane industry is not just a part of our economic history, it is a part of who we are. It is ingrained in us. The preservation of our cultural heritage can provide a sense of unity and belonging within the sugarcane community and the Guyanese society in general.

“Situated in the heart of the community, the Skeldon Heritage Resort can provide a boost to the tourism sector, both local and foreign”, a GuySuCo release has stated.

Estate Manager Rama Persaud has been quoted as

saying, “The facilities are wide ranging. From facilities that are ideal for corporate retreats, to camping facilities for kids, and vacation facilities for all, guests who are seeking peace and quiet can enjoy a relaxing environment and take in the sights of this historic sugar plantation.”

Persaud added, “The heritage resort has educational benefits. Conducted tours of the factory can be arranged for high school children and visitors from near and far.

We are providing a unique opportunity to learn about the sugarcane industry of Guyana.”

The Skeldon Heritage Resort aims to provide comfortable facilities, unique experiences, and warm service.

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Education Ministry, GTU relations improve Pensioner, daughter robbed

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resident of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) Mark Lyte on Thursday said the relationship between his union and the Education Ministry (MoE) has improved tremendously and has credited the leadership of the MoE for this new disposition.

Lyte noted that although the relationship has improved, there are still issues to be addressed by the Union and the MoE. It is against this backdrop that he advocated for a closer cordial relationship between the MoE and the GTU. The union President said the union remains committed as a partner in the education process. “We understand our role here in Guyana. Our children’s future lies squarely at the feet of the teachers and the MoE”.

During a presentation at the Regional Education Officers retreat in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) in Madhia, Lyte said that being invited to present at the

on Vlissengen Road

A Deputy Chief Education Officer (Administration) Ingrid Trotman seated next to GTU President Mark Lyte, who participated in the REDOs retreat

forum is testimony to the improved relationship between his body and the Education Ministry.

During his presentation to REDOs, an educator himself, Lyte said “your goals for education in the various regions/education districts cannot be achieved without the teachers you manage”.

It was at this juncture that the GTU President said the ‘we vs you’ relationship that previously existed between the GTU and the MoE has no business in the education system.

Meanwhile, the Deputy

Chief Education Officer (Administration) Ingrid Trotman said that it is now a policy of the MoE to have GTU officers present at functions hosted by the Ministry.

She said this is important since the GTU plays a very important role in the education delivery process.

Trotman also revealed that her Ministry will ensure that monthly meetings with the GTU and her body are held so that there can be information sharing between the two parties so that the children benefit in a meaningful way.

60-year-old pensioner and his 29-yearold daughter are now counting their losses after their Toyota Auris motorcar, parked opposite Survival Supermarket on Vlissengen Road Georgetown, was broken into on Thursday afternoon.

The young lady explained to Guyana Times that her father, who was driving, parked and locked the vehicle at the said location at about 17:00hrs, and the duo went shopping at the super-

market.

She recalled she had left her handbag containing cash and valuables amounting to in excess of $30,000 in the front passenger seat of the motor car.

When the two returned to their vehicle fifteen minutes later, they immediately observed that the front passenger side window had been shattered and the handbag had gone missing.

Police, immediately informed, proceeded to inspect the location. This newspa-

per was told that the CCTV footage nearby displayed a black motorcar with unrecognizable licence plates driving and stopping alongside the pensioner’s vehicle.

However, no one exited that car.

It is suspected that the perpetrator stretched over from his vehicle, broke the window, and grabbed the handbag, which was in plain sight, before fleeing the scene.

Investigations are in progress.

NA man arrested as Police destroy 30,000 ganja plants

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team of law enforcement officers on Thursday destroyed a field containing some 30,000 cannabis plants at Ebuni, Upper Berbice River.

This was done during a drug eradication exercise that was led by a Superintendent of Police.

According to Police reports, the ranks discovered one and half acres of land containing cultivated cannabis sativa plants, ranging from one to six feet in height, as well as a quantity of seeds.

In addition, the officers found a Honda water

This one and a half acres of ganja plants were destroyed by fire

pump and one spray can at a nearby camp site. Both the camp and the fields were destroyed by fire.

A 25-year-old resident

from Angoys Avenue, New Amsterdam, Berbice, has since been arrested and is assisting with the investigation.

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Dip in gold reserves is strategic trading – Central Bank

Guyana needs working people, not lazy politicians

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f one reflects on the state of our population in Guyana, one can understand why we are still stuck with an output per person of below US$5000 per year. In 1960, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of Guyana was US$307 per year, while that of Singapore was US$427, a mere US$120 apart. Today, Singapore produces some US$53,000 per person while Guyana is stuck in the dregs at US$4456.

Much of the world rewards leadership that knows where they are going and this is exactly what has not happened in Guyana.

Singapore nurtured their education systems and their people. The strategy was educating their people in the right field of study, at the right time, at the right levels and used socially intrusive initiatives such as housing to ensure that the people can focus on improving their productivity. Today, almost 98 per cent of Singaporeans own their own homes. Compared to the Granger tenure, they have built less than 200 houses in three years in a population that has a demand for 20,000 homes today.

Singapore ensured that ethnic balance is reflected in all State institutions, unlike this Granger regime that appointed 16 of the 17 Permanent Secretaries from one race and over 85 per cent of the newly appointed heads of agencies from the same race.

A multiracial, multi-religious nation cannot develop in such a manner. President Granger is wrong.

Guyana faced this tragic developmental model for 28 years under the People’s National Congress and the results were tragic for Guyana; we became uncreditworthy and financially bankrupt by the time Desmond Hoyte changed the model. Today, under Granger, we are back to square one, doing the same thing again, and expecting a different outcome. That is developmental insanity!

Not only the world but also some 550,000 Guyanese saw this developmental insanity and rejected it by voting with their feet.

This situation has led to stagnation in the population. Meanwhile, in a place like Singapore, they empowered their entrepreneurs causing a dire shortage of skilled workers. By 2017, there were some 1.6 million foreign workers in Singapore on a work permit.

Guyana, on the other hand, is firing 6000 sugar workers.

The table below illustrates what has been happening on the population front in Guyana compared to Singapore. That city-state has expanded its population six times over in 57 years, meanwhile, in Guyana, we have chased so many of our people out the country that we have not even doubled our population in this period.

SINGAPORE

GUYANA

POPULATION IN 1950

1,022,000

406,000

POPULATION IN 2017

7,260,000 (including 777,000 1.65M migrants on work permits)

PERCENTAGE INCREASE (over 67 years)

610%

91%

In Singapore, their construction sector, seafood sector, shipping sector, engineering sector and hi-tech sector are all booming and it did not happen by magic. It took leadership! When LFS Burnham was playing political strong man travelling the world selling his bankrupt ideas, Singapore was building their nation brick by brick. The end result is a testament to who was the developmental thoroughbred and who was the developmental “kangalang”.

As an example, Singapore does not have one drop of crude oil but has one of the largest petroleum industries in Asia. Guyana by 2022 will be pumping about 500,000 bpd of crude oil but will not have even a 40,000 bpd refinery thanks to the bankrupt ideas of President Granger, if we are to believe the words of Minister Raphael Trotman.

Progressive nations are focused on revenue and the valueadded elements of the value chain. This Granger model is focused on spending and more spending. Even the African leaders have moved away from this “Mugabian philosophy”. If the people are to reflect on the nation’s gold reserves and foreign reserves, they will find that since President Granger arrived in 2015, we have lost 85 per cent of our gold reserves and the stock of foreign reserves have evaporated by more than US$200 million. And there is no concrete plan to refill the coffers.

Today we spend some GY$30 billion of taxpayers’ dollars per year on an education system that produces a 38 per cent pass rate in Mathematics (2016) and that includes a Grade III, which in my books is not a passing grade. I was advised that it has declined to 35 per cent in 2017. If a nation cannot get its Mathematics right, it cannot compete in the new global world order. SIMPLE! The outcome of this lackadaisical style of governance from Granger is most destructive. The Guyanese people are waking up to a 1.9 per cent growth rate in 2018, a far cry from the 5.4 per cent of 2013. When will this gobbledygook style of leadership end inPlease Guyana?share your thoughts at sasesin1@yahoo.com.

he Bank of Guyana (BoG) has defended its decision to sell off portions of Guyana’s gold reserves, saying the move was reflective of “strategic trading”.

In a statement on Thursday, Central Bank clarified that it trades gold and replenishes the stock based on market opportunities. The bank noted that gold is not managed as an exclusive reserve asset for holding, but as part of a portfolio of assets.

“Gold may be sold for a number of reasons; including maximising profits, rebalancing of the portfolio, meeting liquidity needs, or optimising opportunities in other asset classes. With the price of gold as high as US$1364 recently, the bank has been trading gold as any bank worth its salt will do,” BoG posited.

To this end, it added that “Dips in the reserves therefore, reflect strategic trading rather than any involuntary

disposal of gold.”

As such, the Central Bank assured that the benchmark for the holdings of international reserves are vigilantly adhered to and upheld. It further stated that the domestic market has an excess supply of foreign currency to meet domestic demand while maintaining a stable foreign currency exchange rate.

On Wednesday, <Guyana Times reported that the bank’s latest Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflecting that the bank’s total assets are on a slide, with several indices ranging from the bank’s gold holdings to

its market securities showing reductions when compared to previous years.

According to the recently released bank document, its total assets as of March 28, 2018, were $206.4 billion.

This includes $1.9 billion in gold reserves, $82.1 billion in capital market securities and $5.6 billion in money market securities.

This is a reduction from the gold reserves the bank recorded in June 2017.

According to the bank’s Half Year Report last year, it had $4.8 billion worth of gold in its foreign holdings as assets.

Indeed, the gold reserves

have steadily been declining with each passing year.

At the end of 2016, the bank had $7.4 billion in gold, while at the end of 2015 the gold reserves stood at $14.2 billion. At the end of 2014 the bank of Guyana had $25 billion in gold as assets.

In the case of total assets, that has also seen a marked decrease. At the end of 2014, total assets were $207.9 billion. It reduced in 2015, being recorded at $188.7 billion in December of that year, before recovering by 2016 year end and being recorded at $220 billion.

At June 2017, total assets were $221.8 billion, before the drop recorded in this year’s figures. While the practise of countries selling the gold it held in reserves is not uncommon, observers are worried whether the State received the best price the world market could offer. At present, gold prices are approximately US$1350 per ounce.

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Mahaica fisherman stabs reputed wife to death, drinks poison

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eomattie "Kalvina" Persaud, a 23-yearold mother of two, was on Thursday morning stabbed to death by her reputed husband, 43-yearold fisherman/farmer Bishwanie Maraj, who is now in critical condition at the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital after ingesting a poisonous substance.

This incident occurred just outside the couple's Lot 34 Third Street, Belmonte Mahaica home on the East Coast of Demerara at some time around 09:30h.

Guyana Times under-

stands that the couple have been living together for the past eight years, and would usually have disagreements. However, about a month ago, Persaud abandoned the home and took their two children – aged seven and six. Maraj collected the kids from Persaud’s mother about a week ago, and when the young woman turned up on Thursday morning, reportedly to take the children to school, she was dragged out of the taxi and stabbed several times by her reputed husband.

A neighbour, Aubrey

Dead: Deomattie Persaud

Mayers, told reporters that when he became aware of

what was happening, he rushed to the woman’s assistance.

“When [the wife] come, the husband come and meet she out on the dam, and the encounter happen… When I go there, she lay down on the dam, gapping… Then I go and try to hold he [back, but] he pull way and go [in the yard and] lean down a bottle,” Mayers related.

The neighbour claimed the couple would usually have disagreements and Persaud would leave, but would always return a few days later.

“I try my best as neighbour [to help them]. He grow up here, she from Cane Grove, and they live together long, but you know does get lil normal family problem. Is only couple days now I talk to he and tell he things like this does happen,” the man related.

Asked, Mayers noted that while he never saw Maraj physically abuse his young, common-law wife, they would often be heard quarrelling.

This newspaper understands that the Police were summoned to the scene, but had to break a window to get to Maraj, who locked himself in the bottom flat of the house after consuming

Suspect: Bishwanie Maraj

Bestox – a highly active insecticide.

He was rushed to the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital, where he was admitted in critical condition.

Persaud’s mother, Shamdai Punu, told reporters she was at work on Thursday morning when she received a phone call about her daughter’s death.

The woman said she did not believe, but still went to the scene, where her worst fears were confirmed.

According to the grieving woman, her daughter had been abused by Maraj, who would often fail to provide for their small family.

She claimed the man would at times not work for two to three weeks.

Punu said her young daughter, frustrated over the situation, decided to permanently leave Maraj about a month ago. She had been staying with her sister in Leonora while her two children were with her mother, from whom Maraj had taken the kids about a week ago.

However, Maraj’s sister gave a different account of the couple’s relationship.

She said Persaud would be home all day and not do any of the household chores.

“She does be on she phone and watch TV whole day, and don’t do no work, sometimes she don’t even cook. I does gotta be cooking for my brother for weeks sometimes, when he come out from sea,” the tearful woman related.

This sister went on to claim that after moving out, Persaud had allegedly moved in with another man, but would still call Maraj and talk to him almost daily.

However, the mother of the young woman denied knowing about any new relationship involving her daughter.

Persaud’s body is currently at the Lyken Funeral Parlour awaiting a post mortem examination.

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Uitvlugt Estate surpasses first-crop target

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fter recently slumping to its lowest level in over two decades, the sugar industry is seemingly encountering a turnaround albeit at the Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara Estate which surpassed its target for the first crop.

According to a release on Thursday, the Estate produced a total of 7011 tonnes, beating the 6671 tonnes tar-

get. The first crop tonnage was garnered from crushing some 84,295 tonnes of sugarcane. According to Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), private sugarcane farmers produced about 42 per cent (35,176 tonnes) of the crushed sugarcane.

Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited’s Special Purpose Unit (SPU)

Colvin Heath-London expressed that “the performance of the Uitvlugt Estate is very encouraging, especially at this time when the SPU is securing funding for the operations of GuySuCo. The funding has been predicated on improved production performance from GuySuCo’s three estates.”

Acting GuySuCo Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Paul

UG to expand Technology Faculty programmes

UG representatives meeting with PPDI executives Wednesday

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n keeping with the Government’s push for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) development in Guyana, the University of Guyana (UG) will see the expansion of programmes within the Faculty of Technology. In addition to the new Aviation programme, other courses are slated to soon be added to the Faculty’s purview.

Speaking at the signing of a collaborative academic agreement with Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated (PPDI) Wednesday, at the Vice-Chancellery, Deputy Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for academic engage-

ment, Professor Michael E. Scott told the Department of Public Information (DPI), “There will be at least one additional department for sure, that is the Department of Mining, which will be included in the general department’s structure, at the same time they’ve already instituted new programmes in aviation and other things as well.”

Professor Scott further added that UG has noticed the changes in the economy and aims to be proactive in responding to those changes.

“The important thing is that any university, any institution of learning is dynamic…and knowledge changes.

Stray animal causes WCD accident

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horse suddenly dashed across the Leonora Public Road, WCD as a bus was proceeding along thereon in the vicinity of the market, at about 21:00h on Wednesday.

It reportedly ran into the path of the vehicle, which al-

legedly was speeding, and was killed instantly.

Several passengers from the bus sustained varying injuries and had to be taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital to receive medical attention.

Knowledge is not limited domestically it’s a global product and therefore for our students when they leave here and go anywhere they ought to be able to have some understanding of what the knowledge environment is.”

As the oil and gas sector is scheduled to be fully operational within two years (2020), the University will continue to promote and offer its programmes in chemical engineering.

Bhim was quoted as saying that the Estate’s performance was the “first validation of the new strategy to downsize the company and focus its best talent on making the estates more efficient and ultimately profitable”.

He added that “given the developments at the other two GuySuCo Estates, Albion and Blairmont, we expect the same improved performance to become a trend.”

The downsizing that Bhim mentioned referred to the thousands of jobs that workers lost when their employment was severed. To date, many of these workers are still awaiting half or all of their severance pay as in the case of some Wales

Sugar Estate workers. Many of those former employees opted against travelling to Uitvulgt to retain their jobs because it was beyond 10 miles from their original place of work.

Nevertheless, the joint SPU and GuySuCo statement noted that the Uitvlugt Estate was so far leading the way for the crop by achieving four Weekly Production Targets.

“In keeping with GuySuCo’s agreements, employees were rewarded with four days’ pay as incentive for their hard work, commitment and outstanding achievements during the crop,” the statement added.

It was pointed out that

Uitvlugt surpassed the production target after grinding for seven weeks despite “severe mechanical and processing challenges” affecting efficiency at the onset of the crop. It was further disclosed that the Factory Engineering Services Unit worked in collaboration with the Uitvlugt Factory team to ensure that those defects were quickly corrected.

“Surpassing the production target is a significant achievement for the Uitvlugt Estate, and a testimony of the team work and leadership at the Estate. In addition to leadership, the rehabilitation of the cultivation, which was started two years ago, and revised harvesting procedures in the crop assisted immensely in the Estate achieving its target,” the State bodies observed.

At the end of 2016, sugar production dropped to 183,652 tonnes after 231,000 tonnes was produced in 2015. For 2017, Government had forecasted sugar production in its budget at 208,000 tonnes, but only 137,307 tonnes was recorded.

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

MAPM continues protest against “illegal” parking meters …willing to end demonstrations if court rules in its favour

13, 2016, for parking meters to be implemented in Georgetown. The renegotiated contract with Smart City Solutions and the restructured fees come in light of a recent High Court ruling quashing the by-laws needed

A

A section of Thursday’s picketers

t yet another picket exercise on Thursday, several members and supporters of the Movement Against Parking Meters (MAPM) showed up to protest the reintroduction of what they described as an illegal initiative. It was related that they were willing to end this action, once the court ruled in their favour.

One of the MAPM supporters said, “The legality of the contract is in the court and instead of the City Council waiting to see the results of that court case, they are trying to go ahead and force us to accept the parking meters…if the court deems the parking meter [contract] is legal, that’s the end of our protest.”

He added that there would be no need for the parking meters in Georgetown, if the Guyana Police Force did its job of enforcing the laws.

Explaining why she believes the parking meter project is illegal was Renata

Chuck-A-Sang. “The thing never went to tender even though the value of it is in excess of the required ceiling. We contend that the contract is illegal and, therefore, it should not be enforced… they have to go back to the drawing board, go through the process, do the feasibility study, you do the tender process and we start afresh and that wasn’t done,” she noted.

Added to that, ChuckA-Sang told Guyana Times that City Hall should take into consideration building a five to six-storey parking lot, which should minimise the massive build-up of traffic and at the same time generate an income.

She posited that City Hall could have parking meters, but not everywhere in the city as that would make drivers feel like they were being penalised for being in the country’s capital city.

Opposing that statement was Marcel Gaskin, yet another supporter of MAPM,

who said that he would like to see the parking meter project scrapped in its entirety. He said he found the project to be “questionable” since no feasibility studies or impact assessments were done and lastly, the contract was awarded to a company named Smart City Solutions without first going to National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).

A prominent businessman in Georgetown said, “The last time this (parking meter project) was enforced, business dropped like about 60 per cent, because people just didn’t want to pay for the parking and the entire street was empty.” The businessman, who is the manager of the Outdoor Store, said he tried to let his customers park on his bridge, but this effort was unable to float his business.

The M&CC had entered into a contract with Smart City Solutions Inc on May

to activate the controversial project. The city, through its lawyers, has filed an appeal to the ruling.

Drivers will be made to pay $150 per hour and $800 for eight hours of parking in the city, while residents

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

Region 2 Chairman decries continued blackouts

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s the country’s students prepare for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) Devanand Ramdatt is complaining that blackouts continue to adversely affect residents, particularly these students.

The Regional Chairman made this statement to Guyana Times on Thursday.

He said that despite several complaints being reported in the media about the Guyana Power and Light Inc’s failure to provide the necessary advisories, which it committed to provide, it was still not being done.

Ramdatt explained that a recent article in this publication prompted the power company to make contact with the Region. He noted that a meeting between the two parties was promised

by GPL; however, no official date was given.

The Regional Chairman explained that blackouts continued to plague the Region, citing as an example the fact that just on Wednesday during an executive meeting, the Region experienced about three blackouts within a very short time frame, and that too without any notice.

He said that the Region received a notice that there would be a power outage on Tuesday, but nothing for

Region Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt

Wednesday.

With the secondary exams soon approaching, Chairman Ramdatt said, “We cannot have our children write exams under these conditions, especially the Information Technology exam.”

Just recently, Ramdatt told this newspaper that the power company had made a commitment to inform residents of the Region about power outages via text message and local media (RCA TV), before the power failures, but this has not been honoured. However, GPL has refuted his claim, saying residents were being informed.

The Chairman informed that during a special meeting regional officials had with the utility’s executives back in June 2017, GPL gave its word to send out advisories of power outag-

es, but within a mere few months, the power company started “slacking off”.

In a much frustrated tone, the Regional Chairman stated that the past month has been the most difficult for residents in Region Two. Ramdatt said he could provide all the dates that GPL sent out advisories.

He explained that an email from Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, dated July 9, 2017, stated, ‘“I will ask GPL to provide advance notice on any load-shedding activities; on the long term, a new set for Anna Regina has been procured already, it is expected to be on site by October. However, we have to complete ground works and other infrastructure issues before we can connect it and have it in full service; it is anticipated all to be completed by November.”’

“We are now in April 2018 and the Region is still suffering from constant blackouts which is causing disruption to all GTT landline phones, GWI water flow and Internet service, just to name a few,” the Region Two Regional Democratic Council (RDC) said in a statement.

As such, the RDC added, residents, especially the business community, are calling on the Government and GPL to speed up the process at the Anna Regina Power Plant and bring some relief to the Region.

Dynamic to honour obligation …airline hoping to return to Guyana

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ountless aggrieved passengers may soon be reimbursed of monies that they paid to Dynamic Airlines, as talks are underway on how the company will compensate passengers for its untimely departure in 2017.

This disclosure was made

by Head of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Captain Egbert Field, in a telephone interview with Guyana Times.

Field explained that the Authority has since been consulting with the airline on how it would go about repaying the monies. “We are in contact with Dynamic and we’re trying to arrive at a final point,” Field revealed.

When questioned about who would reimburse the monies that are owed to the Guyanese passengers since 2017, Field stated that the

company would have to take on that responsibility. “They gave an outline to us that they will honour their obligation,” he stated.

Meanwhile, it has been disclosed that the embattled airline has intentions of returning to the Guyanese market. In response to this, Field noted that the company would have to come with all the necessary documentation intact. “I have not seen any application from them neither have they approached the Authority directly.”

He explained that when that was done, the Authority would then make a decision as to whether or not the airline would be allowed to operate in Guyana again.

Dynamic Airways abruptly ended services in Guyana in October of 2017 owing to bankruptcy, leaving local travel agents in hot water,

with them having to relate to passengers that their flights were cancelled and their monies were lost. The onus of reimbursing passengers then fell on the Government and the decision was made to utilise the company’s US$200,000 (G$40 million) bond to repay all the passengers. However, the bond proved to be inadequate to repay the 609 customers.

The company moved out of its bankruptcy status in March of this year, stating that it would be providing charter flights until it has reconstructed its finances. At that point, it will begin to provide services to its previous markets. The company has changed its legal name to Eastern Airlines.

Additionally, the airline is hoping to expand its fleet of planes from five to ten.

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Diamond/Herstelling Head in bucket trial Accused freely gave caution NDC workers paid statement – Officer testifies

The Little Diamond Herstelling NDC

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he Herstelling/ Little Diamond Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) has confirmed that the 13 workers who were unpaid for the Easter season received their payments some time ago.

When Guyana Times contacted the NDC on Thursday, a member of the Council explained that the fortnight payments were issued to the persons after their wait to be paid surpassed the Easter holiday.

The matter arose during the monthly Regional Committee meeting whereby the Vice Chairman of the RDC, Earl Lambert and Assistant Regional Executive Officer (AREO), Ramnarine Singh highlighted that the employees had not received payments which were due.

In light of this inci-

dent, it was reported that the Regional Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Genevieve Allen had called for an investigation to be launched into the matter, which stemmed from the NDC Chairman, Madan Singh refusing to sign the vouchers in order for the workers to receive their monies.

“These persons have worked and by law, they are to be paid, paid not when the Chairman feels ready and happy to, but paid within the stipulated time frame of when salaries are due,” the RDC Chairman stated.

In recent times, several NDCs in Region Four were under investigation by the Council in respect to financial mismanagements.

The NDC Chairman of the Herstelling/Little

Diamond NDC reportedly made a unilateral decision to increase his monthly stipend by 150 per cent, which was once $10,000. However, Singh waived all of the accusations as “misguided statements” in his defence. His stipend was increased from $10,000 to $25,000.

Meanwhile, a former employee of the Grove/ Diamond NDC was allegedly involved in the disappearance of some $56 million that was reportedly missing. As such, an in depth investigation was called for by the Chairman of the NDC, Bharrat Narine, in which he requested that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Auditor General take up the responsibility of the investigation since the ground work was done by his Councillors and the Police have not been very helpful thus far.

Additionally, a few days ago, the spotlight was focused on the Enmore/Hope NDC when a fundraiser hosted by the Council was said to stage a loss although it was noted that a profit was made. This, according to the AREO, was due to allocation of the profit to the Council’s Chairman for payment for his contribution towards the event.

As such, this incident had raised eyebrows and the RDC Chairman had completed an investigation for which actions are likely to be taken by the Council.

T

he High Court trial of Vindra Siriram who is accused of murdering the mother of his three children, Shelly Ann Persaud at their Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) home on June 10, 2014, continued before Justice James Bovell-Drakes on Thursday.

At the latest hearing, Police Corporal, Detective Cofey Robinson took the stand where he maintained that the caution statement of the defendant was freely and voluntarily given.

Corporal Robinson told the 12-member jury that Siriram appeared normal, was not intoxicated nor was he handcuffed when he gave the statement. Robinson denied that he gave the accused a blank paper to sign and that a black plastic bag was placed over his head.

All this he maintained under cross-examination by de-

Murder accused Vindra Siriram

fence Attorney Damien Da Silva who suggested that the Police made several amendments to the statement.

The Police witness admitted that there were changes but claimed that the accused read over the statement.

However, Robinson admitted that he never sought to find out if the accused

could read or write whilst he was under caution. Justice Bovell-Drakes adjourned the matter to Monday when other key witnesses will take the stand as the prosecution seeks to wrap up the case.

According to reports back then, Persaud was found with her head submerged inside a five-gallon bucket of water. It was stated that Siriram and Persaud were heard arguing prior to the woman’s death. A post-mortem examination later revealed that Persaud died as a result of drowning and manual strangulation.

The State’s indictment alleges that between June 9 and June 10, 2014, he committed the capital offence. Prosecutors appearing for the State are Shawnette Austin and Seeta Bishundial.

Owner of car rental service charged

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he owner of a car rental business was on Wednesday placed on $300,000 after he appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Magistrate Fabayo Azore to answer to three counts of forged chassis numbers on Toyota Premio motorcars.

The court heard that Osafo Yarde, between March 19 and 21, at Georgetown, used fake chassis numbers

on three Toyota Premio motor cars.

Yarde however denied the allegations after the facts were read to him.

Defence Attorney Glen Hanoman told the court that his client is the owner of K&O Car Rental, and he usually purchases used cars.

He further noted that he bought the vehicles from a man for $2,500,000 each.

Hanoman stated that

there were witnesses present when an agreement of sale contract was signed with the seller of the motorcars.

The Police Prosecutor objected to bail being granted, stating that additional charges are to be instituted against the accused. However, Yarde was released on $300,000 bail.

He is expected to return to court on May 30.

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FriDAY, april 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Jagdeo says Move shows legal shenanigans private charges of PPP – State Minister against Ministers M not tit for tat Private charges against Lawrence, Dr Norton

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pposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has debunked claims that the private charges filed against Government Ministers, Dr George Norton and Volda Lawrence by two Opposition Members of Parliament is not a tit for tat, but rather is the first step in trying to end Government corruption at all levels.

“We have been for ages trying to get redress on these matters,” Jagdeo said, explaining that the Government is engaged in talks about corruption but has not made any concerted effort to address it from its root.

He made reference to

Government officials talking about the issue at several major conferences, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. In other cases, experts were brought here to conduct sessions with law enforcement officers to address corruption.

“But on these matters where they have real instances of corruption, they are unwilling to take any action in spite of the work done by the media on these matters to expose them and the calls by civil society and the Opposition for the Government to respond to them,” he observed.

He said more actions would be filed in the coming weeks.

inister of State Joseph Harmon issued scathing criticisms against the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) for its move to file private criminal charges against two Government Ministers, claiming that Thursday’s move will make “a mockery” of the legal system. The Guyana Police Force’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) instituted charges against former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL), Winston Brassington for misconduct in public office under the PPP’s Administration.

Likewise, the PPP filed charges against the coalition Government’s former Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton and current Public Health Minister

Volda Lawrence for similar charges.

However, Minister Harmon feels that the Opposition’s move is a “clear attempt” to draw attention away from the malfeasance charges, calling the move “cowardly” sordid record of corruption while in office, further claiming that the party had a “sordid record of corruption while in office.”

“The PPP is aware that more charges are soon to be filed against high public officials who served under the Jagdeo and Ramotar Administrations.

These

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

charges are a result of months of intense investiga,tion by Commissions of Inquiries and evidence gath-

ered by SOCU. The PPP is aware that investigations have revealed that during its tenure the nation was losing billions of dollars each year through procurement fraud and other corrupt activities by senior public officials,” the statement attributed to Harmon observed.

He said his Government will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that those who held public office and engaged in malfeasance while in office are brought to justice. Harmon is adamant that the actions of the Ministers will be vindicated.

Tesouro Resources donates to orphanages

Dean Hassan presenting the cheque to one of the recipients, Shaheed’s Orphanage

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esouro Resources, as part of its constant contributions to society, on Thursday made four substantial donations to four organisations that were in need of the assistance, through the The Dean Hassan Giving Voices Grants (DHGVG) fund.

The institutions, which included John Bosco Orphanage, St Anne’s Orphanage, Shaheed’s Orphanage and Joshua House, were the recipients of varying services and support which were necessary.

Resources Office Manager of the company, Jaswick Williams highlighted that the donations would

be made by the company at specific periods during the year, where toys and meals would be provided to children, animals and the elderly. However, this initiative was targeted at the direct needs of the orphanages. As such, a grant committee was established whereby the organisations would get an opportunity to send their request of their proposals which would later be sanctioned, followed by the materialisation of the idea.

Also speaking at the event was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesouro, Dean Hassan, who noted that the company has been making these contribu-

tions for a number of years and will continue to do so in the future adding, “I’m here, willing and able to assist when called upon”.

This year, St John’s Bosco Orphanage received the assistance of 20 beds while psychological support was given for the girls of St Anne’s Orphanage, a computer lab to Shaheed’s Orphanage and Johsua House is expected to see the refurbishment of their kitchen and outdoor facilities.

The aim of the DHGVG funding is to provide a grant of a minimum of $1,000,000 each to five orphanages in Georgetown.

Police awaiting GRA list to tackle drivers with expired road licences

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he Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is about to go after thousands of drivers found with expired road service licences.

Police Traffic Chief Ramesh Ashram told Guyana Times on Wednesday the GRA recently made contact with the GPF for assistance in locating those drivers who would have breached the road laws.

Ashram said the Force is awaiting from GRA the official list of the drivers’ registration numbers before it launches its campaign.

He also said it’s a process whereby the tax agency would first try to contact

Traffic Chief Ramesh Ashram

those drivers before handing the matter over to the GPF. The Traffic Chief has said there are just about 4000 drivers involved, and not 41,000 as was previously reported.

A senior official within the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) confirmed

earlier this week that the tax agency is soon expected to make contact with the top brass of the Guyana Police Force in an effort to find drivers who are holders of expired road service licences.

It has been reported that while staff members of the GRA were running the usual checks on drivers, the discovery of numerous drivers with expired road service licences was made.

Drivers are required to renew those licences, which expire yearly, around the owner’s birthday. The Traffic Chief has said motor vehicle registration numbers can be used to locate those errant drivers.

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friDAY, april 20, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

200 RUSAL jobs in jeopardy 300 accounts and US$18M bonus cannot be compared – Jagdeo as US sanctions hit home

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ome 200 Guyanese jobs have been threatened following a decision taken by Oldendorff Carriers, a Germanheadquartered bauxite transshipment company, to close its operations in Guyana.

This move comes in light of a recent choice taken by the United States (US) Government to impose severe sanctions against Russian Aluminium (RUSAL), which has a large operations base here.

RUSAL majority-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) operates in Linden and Berbice.

According to media reports, this matter was discussed at Cabinet on Tuesday with hope that discussions could be held with RUSAL with the aim of finding a replacement company.

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman told sections of the media on Thursday that he has planned to meet with the two unions representing RUSAL and Oldendorff workers.

Both the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GBGWU) and the People United and General Workers Union were unaware of this move, but raised concerns over whether workers will be paid severance.

Ever since the US sanctions against Russian business tycoon Oleg Deripaska, main owner of the EN+ conglomerate -- co-owner of Rusal -- begins to sink in, the local operation in Guyana has significantly scaled back on its exportation of bauxite.

Rusal is one of the largest aluminum producers in the world, and has operations here in Guyana in the form of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI), employing over 500 persons.

According to reports, the sanctions against Rusal

Oldendorff’s transshipment operations in Guyana

have caused aluminum prices to surge, since the sanctions freeze all of the company’s assets under the US jurisdiction.

BCGI said recently that it has continuously been monitoring the situation. A senior management official at the company had said that since the news broke, there has not been any change to operations here.

However, while reiterating that it is still too early to make an assessment, the official noted that, over the past three weeks or so, the company has being making “huge investments” to purchase equipment.

The US Treasury Department recently announced sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, 12 companies they either own or control, and 17 senior Government officials who Washington said were profiting from the Russian Government’s engagement in “a range of malign activities” around the world.

“Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government’s destabilizing activities,” the US statement added.

The Treasury Department warned that US entities would be “generally prohibited” from dealings with the persons and firms on the sanctions list, while added that companies outside the United States could

face sanctions for “knowingly facilitating significant transactions for, or on behalf of,” the sanctioned entities.

A report published by Reuters on Friday said the US Government’s decision to include Deripaska on its sanctions blacklist will reverberate around the world, because his business empire has a global footprint and counts major multinationals as partners.

Deripaska, estimated by Forbes magazine to have a net worth of $6.7 billion, is the main owner of the conglomerate EN+, co-owner of some of the world’s biggest metals producers, Rusal and Nornickel.

According to the international news agency, Deripaska’s inclusion on the U.S. sanctions list could potentially create complications for companies with which he does business.

They include German car giant Volkswagen and commodities trader Glencore.

Rusal, Reuters reported, had said it regretted its inclusion on the U.S. sanctions list, adding that its advisors were studying the situation.

Hong Kong-listed Rusal is one of the world’s biggest aluminium producers. It says exports to the United States account for over 10 percent of its output.

Rusal owns assets in Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Nigeria, Guyana, Guinea.

It also owns a stake in Australian QAL, the world’s top alumina refinery.

Linden riverfront to see massive development

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he riverfront areas of Mackenzie and Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) are expected to benefit from massive development projects which will enhance and beautify the areas.

Minister within the Natural Resources Ministry, Simona Broomes who has responsibility for the projects, paid a visit to the sites on Wednesday where she met with local engineers and a designer to develop a blueprint, as she pointed out that the aim is to immediately put into action the vision of President David Granger

on both the Mackenzie and Wismar shores.

The designer and engineers are expected to look at the riverfront space on both sides and provide feedback and advice.

“After this is done, the blueprint of course will be shared with the Town Council, the RDC, consultation with the residents around Linden to ask them if this is what they want us to do...”, Broomes explained as she noted that the projects will be designed and implemented with input from residents and the community’s officials.

The Head of State during a recent visit to the commu-

nity had urged the development of such sites as tourist attractions. The projects on both shores are expected to have two different designs which will complement each other, Broomes said.

Additionally, the Minister said she has been meeting weekly with the regional and town officials to develop projects for the people of the region. Broomes added that the team will continue to visit all communities in Region 10 to listen to residents’ concerns. On Wednesday, the Minister also provided various communities with tools to perform self-help activities.

overnment’s attempt to try to compare the US$18 million which was deposited in an account outside of the Consolidated Fund and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) opening over 300 bank accounts while in Government are not comparable and the comparison was only raised to divert attention from the illegal move.

This is the firm view expressed by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo who said that the two issues were completely different in that the US$18 million signing bonus paid to Guyana by ExxonMobil was placed into an account at the Central Bank, which does not fall under the remit of the Auditor General.

Speaking about the 300 accounts, Jagdeo said these were opened at the Central Bank for transactional purposes and all monies were placed in the Consolidated Fund and were subject to audits by the Auditor General’s office. And in addition to that, there has been no move to charge anyone over theft.

Government disclosed that examination of the books of accounts and records held at the Bank of Guyana revealed that the previous Government prior to May 2015 followed the practice of opening official and other bank accounts for Government business.

This is an established lawful practice in accordance with the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act 2003 and the Constitution of Guyana.

But Jagdeo said aside from that, Finance Minister Winston Jordan should be questioned in greater detail about the issue. Among the questions, Jagdeo said,

that should be asked is how many of the 300 accounts were closed by the current Government? How many are still active? And how many are project related?

“Why hasn’t anyone been charged for misconduct related to the operation of these accounts? Why has Government been silent about the Lotto Fund, the Guyana Forestry Commission account or the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) account, despite the claims of corruption prior to May 2015?” he further questioned.

Jagdeo added that while Minister Jordan has boasted that interest was being accrued on the US$18 million, none of that goes into the Consolidated Fund.

However, he explained, in the case of the 300 accounts, which were all opened for transactional purposes, interest went to the Consolidated Fund.

Government had insisted that no laws were broken.

Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge had referred to the fact that Section 37 (2) of the FMA Act provides for public monies to be held in extra-budgetary funds and deposit funds that is, until they are credited to the Consolidated Fund.

But Jagdeo pointed out that the FMA Act in fact contradicts Greenidge, who is a former Minister of Finance.

Section 42 mandates that after a deposit fund is esthe Minister tablished, has to inform the National Assembly of the fund’s existence.

According to Section 42 (2) of the Act, the Minister also has to specify “the source or sources of the monies in the deposit fund; the purpose or purposes for which monies may be expended from the deposit

fund; the banking arrangements for the deposit fund, and the intended investment strategy for the monies deposited in the deposit fund”.

The account for the signing bonus was set up at the Central Bank not by an Act of Parliament or legislation, but by request from the Finance Ministry. The transaction first came to light after Guyana Times published a leaked correspondence dated September 20, 2016 and addressed to the Governor of the Bank of Guyana with this subject line: “Signing bonus granted

by ExxonMobil – Request to open bank account”.

In the letter, Finance Secretary at the Finance Ministry, Hector Butts, had requested that a foreign currency account be opened at the Bank, in order to receive a deposit in the form of a ‘signing bonus’ to be given

by ExxonMobil.

Amid criticism, Government officials had defended the secrecy by saying the money would be used to pay legal fees in defence of Guyana’s sovereignty, should its case with Venezuela reach the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

When asked whether he accepted that placing the US$18 million outside of the Consolidated Fund was illegal, President David Granger himself had professed ignorance of anything illegal with the transaction.

The Government has recently committed to having the money transferred to the Consolidated Fund.

The Opposition has filed a legal challenge against Government to ensure that it does.

The case is pending.

North Korea wants total denuclearisation, says Seoul

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orth Korea has expressed a desire for the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula without attaching preconditions such as the withdrawal of US troops, the South Korean President has said.

The statement, unconfirmed by North Korea, comes before a summit between the leaders of the two countries on April 27, to be followed in May or June by a meeting between Kim Jongun, the North Korean leader, and Donald Trump.

The US President on Wednesday pledged to meet Kim “in the coming weeks” but said he was prepared to walk away if the talks were not fruitful.

The key question at any summit between Trump and Kim is whether the North Korean leader is serious about dismantling his regime’s nuclear weapons, and

An unidentified missile and mobile launcher pass through Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang

what he would demand from the US in return.

The South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, told reporters that North Korea had not “attached any conditions that the US cannot accept, such as the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea. All they are expressing is the end of hostile policies against North Korea, followed by a guarantee of security.”

Robert Wood, the top US envoy to the UN-hosted conference on disarmament, said the country would maintain a “maximum pressure campaign” to convince North Korea to denuclearise, even as preparations for the summit continued, adding that it “has had an important impact in the North’s decision to return to the table”. (Excerpt from The Guardian)

guyanatimesgy.com

T

he inaugural Guyana Carnival was officially launched at the Guyana Marriott Hotel on Wednesday and from all indications, Guyanese here and abroad are eagerly awaiting

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to “Mash up de place”. The Guyana Carnival activities will commence on May 18 and conclude on May 27.

During this time, there are tons of events that are planned to make sure

rom “Big man don’t go outta style”, Gomoseley Entertainment presents another interesting concept party title “Big woman cud never done” on Thursday, April 26, at the Mackenzie Band Stand, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

The event is planned to coincide with Linden Town Week which gets underway on April 22 and will culminate on May 2. The event, “Big woman cud never done” is defined as “De fit and proppa edition”.

The highly anticipated party will feature Super Ray One Man Band and Bola and Busta One Man Band. The event is aimed at bringing out all the good looking big women in Linden to have a night of fun and excitement.

It is a night which allows them to party and have a grand time, with no children and grandchildren to take care of.

Advance tickets to the event cost $1000 but more at the gate which opens at 19:00h. The fun however, gets underway at 21:00h and rest assured, there will be no curfew.

Music will be provided by Supreme Light and Sound.

“Big woman cud never done” is sponsored by Banks DIH, Fly Jamaica and GTT.

Guyanese and tourists have the most exciting experience of a lifetime. On May 18, Guyana Carnival opens with 4TM, which will see local and international deejays battling for supremacy. That event is followed by the “Come out to play” boat cruise on May 19 featuring local and international deejays.

On Saturday May 20, there will be the “Feteland” boat cruise aback the Marriott Hotel while on the same day, there will be a concept party titled “Touchdown” at a venue to be announced. On Monday, May 21, “Shelldown” will take place with top local and international deejays.

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friday, april 20, 2018

The action continues on May 22, with “Skins Pool Party” to be hosted at Tower Hotel poolside featuring the best deejays in town. On the same day, soca junkies will be treated to live performances by Kees and friends out of Trinidad and Tobago.

On May 23, the boating experience continues with “Friends at Sea” following by “Wet Wednesday” with popular deejays on the consoles.

On Thursday, May 24, there will be “Mawning Breakfast” at the Marriott Hotel featuring local and international deejays. As the sun sets on Thursday evening, the parking lot of the Marriott Hotel will come alive with

wenty-year-old Aaron Daniels, also referred to as “Mr Daniels”, was born to Paula and Patrick Daniels and resides in B Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown. He was not fed with a golden spoon but rather had a difficult upbringing; nevertheless, he became a serving member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

While growing up, like many children, things got rough. His mother fell ill and could not work and his farther abandoned them; this left his mother to pay for his private schooling with her medical pension.

Growing up in a musical family – his uncle, Clyde Smith, was a gospel singer – Daniels was introduced to music at an early age. He performed at school and other events and was even a member of the

“Tribe Ignite” which will see live performances by Shal Marshall and KI, accompanied by deejays.

On the night before Independence, all roads will lead to the National Park for the J’Ouvert experience, following by the Guyana National Stadium for one of the biggest soca shows called “Revelnation” featuring Bungi Garlin and the King of Soca, Machel Montano.

Also on May 25, there will be another concept party titled, “Scorch Duck Work” at a venue to be announced.

On the big day, Independence, the streets of Georgetown are expected to be jammed with people as

Cynderela music recording studio.

As time passes, he had to choose between music and what he wanted to achieve in life; and as such, he gave up his musical ambitions and joined the GPF. He participated in the 2013 Jingle and Song Competition and was fortunate to be introduced to Adrian Johnson, the founder of AJ Records.

Ever since, he has been recording music and has over 20 songs under his belt. These songs are in the genre of reggae and dancehall, fused with R&B. In the next few years, he sees himself as a voice that the world will look up to.

His favourite colour is sky blue and he loves to eat okra and chicken.

the Genesis Parade is held with several bands taking to the streets. After a day in the sun, the wash down will take place at “Soca Rave”, featuring Kerwin Dubios, Nilah Blackman, Blaxx, Patrice Roberts and Timeka Marshall.

On the last day of Guyana Carnival, those who want a cool wash down and revive will do so at HJ Water World, Providence, East Bank Demerara. Also, those who wish to suite-up and go on a cruise, can do so as a form of relaxation. Tickets for the various events will be released shortly, so those who wish to get on board can get those tickets early.

guyanatimesgy.com

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n Saturday, April 21, at 19:00h, the Aracari Resort, Plantation Versailles, West Bank Demerara, will be graced with the presence of seven dazzling delegates who are vying for the title of Miss Earth Guyana, as they compete in the talent and costume preliminaries.

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hristopher Yuvraj Ramphal is an upcoming Berbician singer who has a passion for music and hopes one day to make it on the international stage. He is 19 years old and is the only child for his parents, Fiona and Rico. This talented youngster was born in Adelphi Village, East Canje, Berbice.

He grew up in Gangaram Settlement, East Canje, and attended the Gangaram Primary School.

He then moved to Skeldon on the Corentyne at the age of seven where he attended the Number 68 Primary School. There, he wrote the National Grade Six Assessment and was awarded a place at Tagore Memorial Secondary School.

After completing his secondary education, he worked as a welder for approximately eight months. He then landed a job at Nand Persaud and Company Limited where he is

friDAY, April 20, 2018

Set for the Aracari Resort poolside auditorium, this segment of the pageant will see delegates showcasing their superhero themed costumes and their various talents before a panel of much esteemed judges.

Word is out that during the talent presentations, the audience can

currently employed.

“Chrissy” as he is commonly called, started to sing gospel music in church at the age of 10. Being raised

by East Indian parents, he always loved Indian music and regularly sang for himself. He even sang out load thus drawing people to his talent.

He was heard by a friend, Jesh Ramnannan, who motivated him to take up singing as a career.

After a few conversations and motivational talks, he recorded his first song titled, “Tere Bin” at the BKVJ Studio. That song went viral on Youtube.

It was based on that video and his underlying talent, that MC Drew contacted and contracted him to perform at ‘Bacchanal in Berbice’ – a show which was held at the Number 6 Village, West Coast Berbice Play Park.

The experience was amazing and the young man plans to build on his solo performance.

He nevertheless, hopes to be among the big stars both regionally and internationally. In doing so, he plans to work harder in realising his dreams.

On that note, he urged young people to follow their dreams “no matter how hard it might seem and when you reach your goal, try to help others to achieve theirs”. On a lighter note, Ramphal’s favourite colour is purple and he enjoys playing volleyball and swimming during his leisure time.

The young man who indicated that he is single, thanked his mother, best friend Omesh along with Jesh Ramnanan, Avinash Sookraj and others who have been the driving forces behind him pursuing a musical career.

expect some electric dancing, drama and vocal performances like never before. Fans can gather at the Aracari Resort from Friday, April 20, to see the delegates in their rehearsals and mini-poolside presentations.

On Sunday, April 22, the delegates will set the Aracari Resort poolside ablaze as they showcase

their sizzling “Swimsuit Fantasia”.

This is an open show to the general public. Meanwhile, the entrance fee for the April 21 event at poolside has been set at $1000.

Girls have been selected this time around from across the length and breadth of Guyana, inclusive of West Coast Berbice, represented

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by former Miss Mahaicony Queen, Anasa Williams, a former President’s College graduate.

Those competing for the coveted crown and title this year are Xamiera Kippins, Garbiella Chapman, Akisha Payne, Oriana Castello, Anita Baker, Luan Pellew and Anasa Williams.

entrepreneurship. While meeting the young man, she reminisced that as a young girl, she sold plantain chips, sugar cake and pastries to assist her mother due to financial constraints.

During the visits at the schools, the children were very interactive and receptive. In addition, Noel met with the students of six secondary schools who assembled at the Lichas Hall.

Vanessa Kissoon, a former parliamentarian, introduced Noel and also read an excerpt from the

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he mining town of Linden welcomed the Living with Intention motivational tour with great enthusiasm.

The four-time bestselling author/ Impresario, Sonia Noel was right in her element doing what she does best, which is to inspire.

On Sunday last, she was asked by Pastor Selwyn Sills to give brief remarks at his church Praise Tabernacle AOG. Later in the afternoon, Francine Major hosted a book signing ceremony for Living with Intention at Major’s banquet hall. Mayor of Linden, Waneka Arrindell and former Mayor Carwyn Holland were present at the event.

In addition, Holland read an excerpt from the book while sharing how much he has been personally inspired over the years by the work of the Guyanese fashion icon.

The highlight of the tour were visits to schools in the mining town. Noel visited the St Aiden’s, Christianburg and

Amelia’s Ward Primary schools.

While there, she encouraged the children to be intentional about their next move and even if they do not get into one of the top schools, they all possess greatness.

S h e was also thrilled to meet Stephon Campbell, a young child who has an icicle business and shows a strong sense of

book in the chapter titled Conviction.

It was a very animated session with lots of humour.

There, Noel urged the students to give the world the best version of themselves, as she shared her personal triumphs and failures. She further encouraged the secondary school students to use their 24-hour day wisely because the decisions they make today will affect their future tomorrow.

The students won themselves complimentary copies of the book.

The book is available on Amazon; at Makin Style Boutique in Robb Street, Georgetown; and at Francine Major in Linden.

Noel is expected to be back in Linden on Saturday for a march to stamp out violence against women.

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GUYANATIMESgy.COM

friDAY, april 20, 2018

Gayle’s blazing ton hands Sunrisers first loss

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rior to the start of IPL 2018, Kings XI Punjab's director Virender Sehwag said Chris Gayle would be worth the money spent on him if he were to win his team two or three games. Gayle has now played two match-winning innings in two matches.

Four days after his 33-ball 63 against Chennai Super Kings, Gayle shellacked his sixth IPL hundred and 21st overall in T20s to consign Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first defeat of the season.

On Sunday, Gayle linedup CSK's medium-pacers, but adopted a different approach against a formidable Sunrisers attack. He saw off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's first spell and later unleashed a brutal assault on Rashid Khan's legspin. All told, Gayle smashed 42 off 16 balls from Rashid at a strike-rate of 262.50.

Gayle batted through the innings for his 104 not out off 63 balls, which also included four twos. In pursuit of 194, Sunrisers lost early wickets as well as Shikhar

Dhawan to an elbow inju- was dropped on 14 by wickry, and there was no way etkeeper Wriddhiman Saha back for them, despite fif- off Rashid's first ball - a difties from their captain Kane ficult chance off the toe end Williamson and Manish when he looked to cut.

Pandey.

Rahul, at the other end, After becoming the first had an early scare when he captain to opt to bat this was given out lbw on 5, but season, R Ashwin reckoned he survived after a review Kings XI would be better off thanks to a thin inside edge. setting a target as opposed to Rahul moved to 18 chasing one against the best off 20 beattack in the tournament f o r e at one of India's larger grounds. Gayle and KL Rahul began cautiously against the swing and change-ups of Bhuvneshwar and Chris Jordan, and played out 12 dots in the first three overs.

Gayle then launched Kings XI's innings when he hit four boundaries in seven balls, being including pinned in front three leg-side by a Rashid Chris Gayle hit sixes off Jordan skidder.

Rahul's 11 sixes in his and Rashid. In Karnataka team21st T20 century between, he mate Mayank of 104 not out

Agarwal flickered briefly before slicing Siddarth Kaul to backward point for 18 off 9; by then Kings XI were 83 for 2 in the 11th over.

With two wickets falling in quick succession, Gayle slowed down and brought up his fifty off 39 balls. He then kicked into top gear and became only the second batsman, after AB de Villiers, to take Rashid for four sixes in an over. Gayle did so off successive balls, in the 14th over, which cost 27 runs.

When Rashid erred too full, Gayle simply opened up hips and put the sightscreen in danger, and when Rashid dragged his length back he mowed the ball over the leg side. The visual moment of the over, though, came when he hared back

for a second run off the last ball and wore a wry smile.

With their premier spinner leaking runs, Sunrisers were forced to look beyond

Road to Mecca V…

Ravens spring into

Just two semifinal spots remain after Wednesday evening's games

G

uardians, Kobras and Ravens recorded victories when action in the GABF Mecca V continued on Wednesday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Kobras defeated Jets 7060 to top Group Two and

earn a sport in the playoff round scheduled for Sunday, April 22.

With that win, they now join defending champions Bounty Colts in the semifinals, with two more places to be secured by the remaining teams in the tourna-

playoffs

ment.

Ravens, meanwhile, have inched closer to a semifinal berth in a must-win game against Raiders that had both sides with their backs against the wall.

Ravens prevailed 53-52 in the nail-biter, and there is one more game to play in the group.

In the other match, Plaisance Guardians defeated Half Mile Bulls 90 – 80 to stay in contention for a spot in the playoffs.

Action continues today with two more games: Eagles oppose Royals and Bulls take on Canje Knights.

The Prize Money for MECCA V will see the the top finishers pocketing $600,000 and $400,000 respectively, while third place carts off $200,000.

Individual prizes totalling $200,000 will be shared among the MVP, the player scoring the most points, and the player with the most rebounds.

their frontline options.

Deepak Hooda, however, could not do much with his part-time offspin.

After raising his first fifty off 39 balls, Gayle surged to his second off only 19 balls. He moved to 99 with his 11th six - the most by a batsman this season - and raised the landmark by guiding one past backward point in the 19th over. He brought out the 'cradle celebration' and later dedicated the innings to his daughter, who will turn two on Friday.

Gayle found supporting hands from Karun Nair (31) and Aaron Finch (14*) as Kings XI finished strongly at 193 for 3. Rashid was left nursing his worst T20 figures of 4-0-55-1.

Sunrisers received a big blow in the first over when

Dhawan retired hurt after taking a blow to the elbow, and he did not return to bat. Mohit Sharma varied his pace excellently and bowled both Wriddhiman Saha and Yusuf Pathan to leave Sunrisers 37 for 2 in five overs.

Williamson and Pandey worked past the early blows with a 76-run stand for the third wicket, but they struggled to keep in touch with the soaring asking rate.

Mujeeb Zadran's mystery spin, Andrew Tye's control, and the bigger boundaries in Mohali did not help Sunrisers' cause either.

When Williamson holed out for 54 off 41 balls in the 15th over, Sunrisers were left needing 81 off 34 balls. It was just too much for a middle order lacking muscle.

SCOREBOARD Kings XI Punjab Innings (20 overs maximum) KL Rahul † lbw b Rashid Khan 18 CH Gayle not out 104 MA Agarwal c Hooda b Kaul 18 KK Nair c Dhawan b Kumar 31 AJ Finch not out 14 Extras 8 (lb 5, w 3) TOTAL 193-3 (20 Overs, RR: 9.65) Did not bat: Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin (c), AJ Tye, BB Sran, MM Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman Fall of wickets: 1-53 (KL Rahul, 7.5 ov), 2-83 (MA Agarwal, 10.2 ov), 3-168 (KK Nair, 17.4 ov) Bowling: B Kumar (4-0-25-1), CJ Jordan (4-0-31-0), Rashid Khan (4-0-55-1), S Kaul (4-033-1), DJ Hooda (2-0-16-0), Shakib Al Hasan (2-0-28-0) Sunrisers Hyderabad Innings

(target: 194 from 20 overs) WP Saha † b Sharma 6 S Dhawan retired hurt 0 KS Williamson (c) c Finch b Ty e 54 YK Pathan b Sharma 19 MK Pandey not out 57 DJ Hooda c sub (MK Tiwary) b Ty e 5 Shakib Al Hasan not out 24 Extras 13 (lb 2, nb 1, w 10) TOTAL 178-4 (20 Overs, RR: 8.9) Yet to bat: CJ Jordan, B Kumar, Rashid Khan, S Kaul Fall of wickets: 1-14 (WP Saha, 1.5 ov), 2-37 (YK Pathan, 4.6 ov), 3-113 (KS Williamson, 14.2 ov), 4-133 (DJ Hooda, 16.4 ov) Bowling: BB Sran (4-0-22-0), MM Sharma (4-0-51-2), AJ Tye (4-0-23-2), R Ashwin (4-0-53-0), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (4-0-27-0)

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Wales thrash Malvern in reduced game – Shun slams unbeaten 203

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he West Demerara Cricket Association (WDCA) President’s Cup 50-Over tournament continued last Sunday with three matches despite the inclement weather.

At the Wales Community Centre ground, there was a late start due to overnight and early morning rain, which forced the game to be reduced to 32 overs per side.

The hosts had first strike, and finished on a mammoth 308 for 1 from their 32 overs.

Ryan Shun hit a pugnacious 203 not out, and featured in a massive 277-run unbroken second wicket partnership with Mahase Persaud, who ended on 51 not out. The pair got together with the score on 31 for 1.

In the onslaught, only Charwine McPherson with 1 for 40 got in the wickets’ column bowling for Malvern Sports Club. The visitors’ fortune never improved, and with the bat they were shot out for a paltry 104 in just 19 overs, falling short by a whopping 204 runs.

Only Ghamsham Hardyal showed some batting pedigree with 45, as Brian Puran picked up three wickets for no run, while Kevin Lindo supported with 2 for 5.

Over at the Zeeburg Sports Club ground, the home team made 219 all out in 29 overs against MetenMeer-Zorg ‘A’ in another game that was reduced due to rain. Mark Jeffers hit the top score of 76, and gained valuable support from Ricardo Poloram, who made 56.

Bowling for the visitors, Emmanuel Crishnauth snared 4 for 36, while Martin Reynolds bagged 2 for 31.

In reply, Meten-MeerZorg scored 124 from 25 overs, falling short by 95 runs. The only batsman to make it to double figures was Shawin Jairaj, with 13.

Jeffers came back with the ball to grab 4 for 18, and got useful support from Malcolm Hubbard with 2 for 39.

The other match of the

Ryan Shun and Mahase Persaud after their brilliant unbroken 277-run partnership

day saw All Youths Sports Club ‘A’ defeating Sawpit at the Canal Number One ground.

The tournament continues this Sunday with five matches. At Wales, C. Ambass Sports Club take on Malvern SC, All Youths Sports Club ‘B’ battle All Stars at Canal Number

Two ground, Independence Sports Club battle Sawpit at Joe Vieira Park, Cornelia Ida come up against MetenMeer-Zorg ‘B’ at the MetenMeer-Zorg Sports Club ground, and Meten-MeerZorg ‘A’ battle Windsor Forest at the Zeeburg Sports Club ground.

Muneshwers 10th Annual Golf Tourney tees off Saturday

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Club PRO Guy Griffith (with hat) receiving the cheque from Director Robert Hanoman in the presence of President Aleem Hussain (fourth from left) and staff during Tuesday’s launching

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223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

olf action continues this weekend at the Lusignan Course, where the 10th edition of the Muneshwers Travel Agency Golf Open tees off a competitive day’s action from 12:30h.

Veteran golfer and winner of several tournaments, Mr. Robert Hanoman, a Director of Muneshwers Travel Agency, recently indicated -- during Tuesday’s launching at the company’s Water Street location -- that the Open, which marks a decade-long relationship between the two entities, will be a

special occasion.

Hanoman further noted that Muneshwers has always had the desire to contribute to improving the standard of Golf in Guyana, and the current shape of the course at Lusignan is of North American standards.

Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) President, Aleem Hussain, expressed gratitude to the company, which for the last decade has been one of the main sponsors and contributors to the development of golf in Guyana.

With golfers in top form, thanks to

the large number of tournaments held in the last few months, LGC PRO Guy Griffith has said this Saturday’s tournament, which is expected to be littered with the best golfers in Guyana, will certainly breed stiff competition.

Meanwhile, prizes will be awarded for golfers 1st to 3rd, Best Net scores, Best Gross and the Nearest to a Pin. The LGC is also preparing to host a double-header this weekend with the Ganesh Spare Parts-sponsored tournament complimenting Saturday’s Open.

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GUYANATIMESgy.COM

friDAY, april 20, 2018

T

he local martial arts arena will be abuzz with activity in the upcoming months, as the Korean International Martial Arts Guyana (KIMAG) entity prepares to host its third installment of the ‘Guyana, South America Undiscovered’ martial arts competition.

The three-day event will see participation of martial artists from several countries, among which are Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Barbados, Canada, USA and Uganda.

A wide array of prizes will be up for grabs.

“Martial arts can contribute to the social and economic development of our country, while improving the lives of youths,” President of KIMAG, Roland Eudoxie, stated at the launching.

Star-studded martial arts competition launched

The second dan martial artist noted that the competition would create a platform for marketing of the discipline. It is his hope that martial arts can be developed through this competition.

“KIMAG anticipates that the ‘Guyana, South America Undiscovered’ will serve as a hub for the development of martial arts in Guyana, and….attract martial arts family and friends from across the globe,” Eudoxie stated.

The competition will be hosted during July 20-22, and is opened to martial artists as young as five years old. “There will be divisions in both traditional and freestyle from five years and up for both males and females,” Eudoxie has said.

The participants will compete in the following categories: empty hand kata, weapon kata, grappling, points sparring, team kata,

Tourism Ministry’s Donald Sinclair(left); Roland Eudoxie; Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton (centre); a Hand-in-Hand Marketing Rep, and Assistant Director of Sport Brian Smith pose for a photo at the launching

and team sparring.

Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. George Norton, was present at the launch to give his blessing to the event. The minister spoke extensively on the introduction and publicity of other

sports that are not mainstream in Guyana. “We want to know about other sports.

We might have sportsmen and women who could excel in the sporting fraternity that we might not have at this point in time here in Guyana,” Dr. Norton stated.

Aside from the compe-

tition, Eudoxie announced that the organization is working on a special project. “KIMAG is proud to announce that we’re presently working on filming a professional action movie right here in Guyana,” he declared. Popular martial artists such as action Film

Director Art Camacho, Tae Bo, Instructor Billy Banks and Martial Arts Expert KJN Eric Kovaleski have all confirmed that they will travel to Guyana to participate in the event, he announced.

Within the months leading up to the event, KIMAG is urging the public to support its fundraising venture, the proceeds of which will go directly to the hosting of the event. The organization has said it is planning on hosting a bar-b-que, cake sale and a walk-a-thon among other fund-raising activities.

Additionally, the competition has already received sponsorship from Hand-inHand Group of Insurance Companies and the National Sports Commission.

Established in 2015 by Roland Eudoxie, KIMAG is currently located in Georgetown and at Port Kaituma, and has a total of 78 students.

Edward "Screw" Richmond U-18 Tournament…

Will today’s final be a repeat?

T

he 10th Edward ‘Screw’ Richmond Memorial Linden secondary schools Under- 18 Football Championship final will be a repeat of last year’s championship game, as reigning champions Christianburg Wismar ‘Multi’ Secondary and New Silvercity Secondary prevailed by identical 1-0 wins over their respective rivals, Wisburg Secondary and Mackenzie High, in their respective semifinal matches on Wednesday at the Wisburg Secondary School ground.

New

Silvercity Secondary were able to qualify for the rematch after they scored a tense win, courtesy of their leading scorer in the tournament, Emanuel Atkins, whose left footer which came after a corner was taken by teammate Ojai Whittington.

That goal evolved after the defence sent the corner away from the goal, but Atkins was there to receive, and did the honours of slapping it past the flailing hands of the Mackenzie High School goal keeper in the 48th the minute.

It proved to be the lone goal of the encounter, as New Silvercity placed themselves to capture their first crown at this level.

Their opponents in the finals, Christinaburg Wismar Secondary, came through a tough game against the home side, but were able to prevail after Omar Brewley planted a robust shot towards the goal from a free kick which was taken on the left side edge of the 18-yard box. The ball zoomed over the wall to the high rising substitute

Raul Semple for the match-winning header in the 57th minute.

That did not deter the Wisburg side from mounting a number of raids, but stout defending by the Multi guys was enough to get them this important win and enable them to reach another final.

The Dellon Peterscoached Multi side will see Omar Brewley leading their attack, with fellow forward Randy Pickering being ably assisted from the midfield by Andre Mayers and Brinsley Allicock; while defenders Oshia Prince and Randy Douglas would be doing duty protecting Decklan Lee, who would be in goal.

New Silvercity is coached

by Dwalon Farrell, and this time around, there is the feeling that things can take some mysterious turns, says Farrell. He has the leading scorer in Emanuel Atkins, who, with seven goals to his credit, was able to get his team into the final; and with other inform strikers in Ojai Whittington and Shane Haynes, New Silvercity have their best chance of carting off the championship.

Turning the tables on this Multi side will also depend on the schemer Donovan Alsopp, while Chad Henry and Seon Allicock will be taking care of the back line, as Deuel Thomas squats in the citadel.

Among the top prizes on offer are awards for the Best Defence Player, Top Goal Scorer, Best Goalkeeper,

and the Most Valuable Player.

It is expected that officials from the Regional Education Office of Region 10 (Upper Demerara/ Upper Berice) and the

Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) will be there to witness this year’s final.

The championship game this afternoon will be played at the Wisburg Secondary

ground at 16.15hrs, prior to which the third place playoff game featuring Wisburg Secondary and Mackenzie High would be played at 14.145hrs.

Female volleyball team shortlisted ahead of Bolivia Invitational F

ourteen ladies were, on Sunday, April 15, 2018, shortlisted for the Women’s team ahead of the upcoming Bolivian Volleyball Senior Invitational tournament, which spikes off on May 26, 2018 -- Guyana’s Independence Day. National Coach and selector, Levi Nedd, confirmed to Guyana Times Sport on Wednesday that the ladies are among the best he has seen, and he is confident they will ‘carry on’ as they move forward.

The ladies who have been shortlisted are Alicia Davis, Kelshine Griffith, Danielle Samaroo, Daniella Collier, Kirenia Ballard, Olivia Welcome, Odile Broomes, Philana Simpson, Candacy Mentore, Hannah Hicks, Famke David, Mercedes Forde, Cherry-Ann Fraser and Abbigail Humphrey.

These ladies have been undergoing numerous simulation and training exercises over the past few months, in preparation for this upcoming international fixture.

Their shortlisting was done at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue. Final shortlisting for the male team will be held on Sunday, April 22, at the same venue.

Just like the females, the males -- who will play a key role in the competition -- will have their current squad further trimmed this Sunday, according to Nedd. The coach is call-

ing on all players who were shortlisted from the previous trials to attend this Sunday’s session at the Gymnasium.

The 14 ladies who have been shortlisted: Alicia Davis, Kelshine Griffith, Danielle Samaroo, Daniella Collier, Kirenia Ballard, Olivia Welcome, Odile Broomes, Philana Simpson, Candacy Mentore, Hannah Hicks, Famke David, Mercedes Forde, Cherry-Ann Fraser and Abbigail Humphrey.

friDAY, april 20, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

23

GCB/Hand-in-Hand 3-Day U-19 Inter-County

All-round Essequibo hand Demerara 6-wicket thumping

E

ssequibo wrapped up a dominant third round performance against Demerara, whipping the defending champs by 6 wickets at the Tuschen Ground on Thursday.

Failing to assert themselves as they did in round one, Demerara folded for a paltry first innings total of 40 in a mere 20.2 overs, after electing to bat.

The sole representative of their batting was Kennard Moonsammy, who sadly was the only batsman to reach double-figures with 11; all his teammates were routed by the Essequibo bowlers.

The mesmerizing spells which wrecked Demerara were courtesy of Joshua Jones and Joel Fortune, who bagged 3-10 and 3-9 respec-

Joshua Jones

tively; with adequate support coming from Quintin Sampson, who picked up 2-9.

Essequibo, in reply,

made 143 in 41.3 overs in their first innings, with Vice-Captain Kurt Lovell continuing his form with 43, while Sampson supported

Berbice, U-17s

B

erbice and the U-17 Select wrapped up day two of their match with the situation likely to swing either way heading into the final day at Everest.

Trevon Stanislaus and Leon Swamy both scored 47 to rescue Berbice from a position of 88-5 to 176 all out in their first innings.

Stanislaus struck six fours and two sixes, while Swamy

thumped three sixes and a single four. Captain Kevin Sinclair fell for 21.

National youth player (U-17) Sheldon Charles snared 3-20 in an impressive spell of bowling, while leg-spinner Niron Bissu took 2-12.

The U-17 XI resumed on 76-4, trailing by 100 runs with hopes resting in the clutches of Andre Seepersaud.

Ashmead Nedd

locked in heated battle

Kevlon Anderson

PMTC 1, Jets bag Aswell Mohabir Volleyball titles P

Winners of the Aswell Mohabir Volleyball tournament pose with their spoils

well with 43.

Jones flexed his muscles with a fiery 21 before the combination of Saadiq Khan and Ashmead Nedd slayed the Essequibo attack with returns of 5-42 and 5-43 respectively. Batting a second time, Demerara, 91 for 5 at stumps, were knocked over for 136 thanks, to opening knocks from West Indies U-19 player Joshua Persaud and the in-form Adrian Hinds, who both made 31.

It was then a simple task for the Cinderella County boys, who sped to 36-4 to win the match, with Lovell again “the man” with 14, as Nedd wrapped up another brilliant skin bowling exhibition to end with 8 wickets, after claiming 3 in the second innings.

ort Mourant Training Centre (PMTC) 1 and the Corriverton Jets took first place honours as respective male and female winner in last weekend’s Aswell Mohabir Volleyball tournament, played at the Blairmont Community Centre.

Sanctioned by the Berbice Volleyball Association (BVA), heavy rainfall sought to curtail action, but play fortunately enabled the two respective sides to dish out convincing wins against their opponents.

Corriverton jets, squaring off against the ladies of Port Mourant, completed a 30-28 win following one game. Best spiker award went to Candacy Mentore of Port Mourant, while the award for Best Setter went to Ameshia Mohabir, as Telissa Williams copped MVP award to cap of a resounding performance by the Corriverton females.

The male category saw some intense action as

Spinner Kelvin Umrao was again a menace with the ball, bagging 5-34, while the all-rounder Kevin Sinclair chipped in with 3-15, which restricted the U-17 lads to 111 all out in their first innings, with Seepersaud ending on 26.

Not much could be done to combat the class of Umrao and Sinclair, who shared 8 wickets during their spell, although notable players

PMTC 1 and their riv a l s PMTC 2, locked horns in a three-match affair. The results saw PMTC 1 emerging winners of two out of the three sets after disposing of their comrades 25-22, 25-19.

Port Mourant Jaguars then edged past the Blairmont Vikings to cop the 3rd place trophy, as the Corriverton Jets’ males and GuySuCo Training Centre Port Mourant (GTCPM) were each eliminated in the first round of their respective zones.

Meanwhile, trophies were presented for first place to PMTC, while PMTC 2 grabbed the runners-up spoils. Awards for outstanding individual perfromances saw Shemroy Ross copping Best Spiker award, Dayimon Al Ahamad copping Best Libero Award, and national player Devendra Latchman grabbing dual awards for Best Setter and MVP.

Niran Bissu in the middle of a good spell against Berbice U-19 at Everest

like Sachin Singh (15) and Nigel Deodat (14) briefly resisted.

Batting again, Berbice looked a bit better at the crease, as their batsmen took the score at the end of day two to 198-4, with Alex Algoo hitting 62 and skipper Kevlon Anderson carving an

unbeaten 73.

Anderson was classy as usual, but was seemingly looking set for a century when he resumed his innings. Meanwhile, Bissu and Deodat were the two successful bowlers for the U-17 side, with 2-44 and 2-46 respectively.

friDAY, april 20, 2018

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Pg 23

Berbice,

U-17s locked

in heated battle

Niran Bissu and teammates celebrate the dismissal of Alex Algoo at Everest on Thursday (John Ramsingh photo)

Road to Mecca V…

Ravens spring into

playoffs

Pg 20

Preliminary round action continued on Wednesday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall

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