Guyanatime 26 february 2018

Region 8 must get maximised benefits from its resources P10

–Minister Bulkan tells Kurukubaru residents Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Monday, February 26, 2018

Issue No. 3486

PRICE

Minister Ally admits to blocking Corriverton flag-raising ceremony

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Page 3

– says it's Govt's way or no way while denying personally instructing Police

“Otisha” likely CANU probing officer to be arrested as who allegedly sexually CC&PA completes Page molested teenager Page 8 investigation 12 Ogle Airport alleged sexual assault

Indonesians, P7 security guards robbed in Barama Compound Family believes no foul play involved in Montrose man’s P12 death

GTC designs 4-week programme for retrenched sugar P11 workers

The Life in Leggings march for justice

A grassroots revolution in the making

Ming’s Optical opens new multimillion-dollar Parika branch Page 7

P13

Ming’s Optical on Sunday morning opened a branch, in Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE). First Lady Sandra Granger, Dr Michelle and Stanley Ming, staffers and other officials posed for a photograph after the First Lady cut the ceremonial ribbon to declare open the multimillion-dollar branch, located in the Lotus Mall

Govt needs $30B to keep Teen on life support after Parfaite GuySuCo going Page 9

…despite firing thousands, downsizing – as NICIL orders halt to all hiring, contract renewals

Page 14

Harmonie accident

Man drowns after boat mishap …another at Makari Backdam feared dead Page 11

P10 $50M 'Green Farm' initiative to renew interest in home, school gardening

2 NEWS

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Oil and gas development

Guyana must use depletion policy to avoid Dutch Disease – says former BP executive

A

s Guyana prepares for first oil in 2020, experts from across the world have been advising Government to make all the necessary preparations to avoid an oil curse or “Dutch Disease”.

Former Vice President for Strategy and Policy Development at BP, London and visiting professor at King’s College, Nick Butler, said one way to do that is by setting the pace of growth in this new sector with a depletion policy.

Butler was speaking on KBIA’s Global Journalist, a radio and podcast channel out of the University of Missouri, School of Journalism, which is aired on Missouri and California radio channels.

The former oil executive was joined by analyst at Control Risks; Raul Gallegos, from Bogota, Colombia; senior fellow at the Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies; St Augustine, Anthony Bryan; and senior journalist at Guyana Times and TVG’s Evening News, Samuel Sukhnandan.

He said the idea behind this is to phase production over a long period, avoiding a gold rush and allowing local companies to build up their capabilities to enable them to win a share of any oil-related activity.

“They don’t need to develop it all at once. I would support a depletion policy where you limit what you produce year by year to manage the inflow of money so that the exchange rate is not destroyed by this one single, successful industry,” he said.

That covers everything from the development of a new port, infrastructure, engineering support and all the other essential onshore services from food to accommodation for the oil workers.

Butler noted that if Guyana is to get this wrong, it would have devastating effects for agriculture and local businesses. It would also mean employment will become less.

In other words, if there is a huge wave of foreign currency, the exchange rate here could get “out of balance” and it becomes cheaper to import commodities that are already produced in Guyana.”

The former BP Vice President also said Guyana’s oil discovery seems promising because there is potential for more massive discoveries to be made. However, he noted that based on how things will play out here, he said it could take years before Guyana starts to benefit from the revenues.

“It will take at least three years before any production and I would imagine that it would take another three

Former Vice President for Strategy and Policy Development at BP, Nick Butler

years or maybe five years before the companies involved would recover their investment. So, there isn’t going to be a massive inflow of revenue into Guyana for five years or more,” he added.

Although there are some plans already being made to have locals trained to take up employment in this new sector, Butler said there is still a need for more training programmes for locals. He said while the more specialised oil jobs will go to Americans and other foreign nationals with the expertise and skills, he said there will be a lot of other jobs and interest in the sector.

Meanwhile, Bryan spoke to the need for Guyana to develop sound environmental policies when it comes to the oil sector, noting that the country should use Trinidad as an example of what could go wrong. He said with most oil producing countries, oil spills are inevitable and broken pipelines are a major concern.

Gallegos, on the other hand, told the programme that Guyana is no different from other countries that have found oil, but their finances are poorly managed.

He said it is therefore a huge responsibility that would require great efficiency. He used Venezuela as an example of one of those countries that did not manage its oil resources and revenues properly that did not work out well in the end.

Adding his take from a journalist point of view, Sukhnandan in his contribution to the discussion stated that the relatively new Guyana Government has been taking steps to prepare for this sector.

He noted that the Government has been looking at various models and polices in major oil producing countries that have been successful like Norway, among others. However, he did point out that the Government made a huge blunder when it kept secret a signing bonus worth US$18 million in the Central Bank.

news

3

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, February 26 – a night retraction at 02:00h and a day retraction from 13:00h-14:30h and Tuesday, February 27 – a night retraction at 03:00h and a day retraction from 14:30h-16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Monday, February 26 – 13:15h-14:45h and Tuesday, February 27 – 14:10h-15:40h.

Minister Ally admits to blocking Corriverton flag-raising ceremony – says it's Govt's way or no way while denying personally instructing Police

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

WEATHER TODAY

Weather: Partly cloudy to lightly cloudy skies are expected throughout the day, with partly cloudy skies returning in the evening. Overall temperatures are expected to range between 21 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

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

High Tide: 01:23h and 13:47h reaching maximum heights of 2.28 metres and 2.42 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 07:16h and 19:56h reaching minimum heights of 0.94 metre and 0.73 metre respectively.

SATURDAY, february 24, 2018

LOTTERY NUMBERS A

03

05

09

12

17

10 Bonus Ball

FREE TICKET

DAILY MILLIONS 02 06 15 19 LUCKY 3 7 5 7

06

12

21 6

Afternoon Draw DRAW DE LINE

02

24

13

7

1

Evening Draw

16

18

19

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

Social Protection Minister Amna Ally

By Samuel Sukhnandan

O

ne day after the coalition Government was accused of blocking and sabotaging the annual flag-raising ceremony of the Corriverton Town Council, Minister Amna Ally has admitted that she was responsible for causing this event to be cancelled even while preparations were already made.

The senior Government Minister told Guyana Times on Sunday that flag-raising ceremonies are national events organised by the Government.

She noted that there are also committees set up in the various regions which hold responsibility for planning and executing these events.

However, in making finalising preparations for this event in Corriverton, Ally recalled that she spoke with the town’s Mayor, Krishnand Jaichand, about the order of the programme. She said Jaichand told her that an Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) will deliver the feature address.

“I said to him I have no difficulty with the MP speaking at the forum but the Government will be fielding a speaker also who will be Vice President (Khemraj) Ramjattan. He said that they didn’t want Ramjattan there and that the rally will be addressed by the PPP MP,” the Minister recalled.

But Ally said she was opposed to the Mayor’s alleged refusal to have the Vice President address the gathering last. As such, the Minister

claimed that she made it clear that if the event cannot be addressed by Ramjattan, then it would have to be cancelled and there would be no flag-raising ceremony.

The Mayor has insisted that his Town Council had formally invited Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan to deliver remarks at the flag-raising event, but it had not received any response from his office even as the time drew near to confirm the programme and speakers for the event.

The Council then decided to invite Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) MP Adrian Anamayah who happens to be a resident of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) to speak at the event. Jaichand claimed that after the decision was made, Minister Bulkan called and pleaded with him

Corriverton Mayor Krishnand Jaichand

response to that issue was, “Well this is not the PPP Government, this is APNU/ AFC Government and things are being done differently. The law requires us to seek permis-

ence, but simply with the fact that they attempted to break the law. “Why then we had flag raising in New Amsterdam, Linden, and Mabaruma. All of them complied with the law,” she said, adding that if the Mayor has a taped recording of anyone passing instructions he should produce it.

A meeting is scheduled to take place today with members of the Corriverton Town Council and it is expected to discuss the issue and to see what action could be taken to prevent a reoccurrence.

The Mayor is questioning if Ramjattan was given the opportunity to speak at the event, would the Police have still taken a decision to stop the flag-raising ceremony, even though permission wasn’t sought.

Jaichand described the

“I can’t be in Government and allow somebody to dictate what must happen at a national Government event… I told him that well if that can’t happen, the rally has to be cancelled because we are not going to have people to rag us for political reasons. This is a national event and not a political event,” she said. to change the programme to allow the Vice President to be the feature speaker at the event. However, the Town Council refused.

The Mayor further alleged that the Springlands Police Station informed the Council that they should not go ahead with the event, as no permission had been granted. He claimed that the Police informed him that they were acting on instructions from “higher up.”

Asked whether she instructed the Police to make such a decision, Minister Ally denied this allegation. “I can’t instruct the Police. My understanding from the Police is that they [Town Council] haven’t sought permission. They didn’t do that. And they only acted based on what was presented to them.”

While Jaichand has admitted that no permission was sought from the Police, he said this has never caused the POLIce to stop any such events, especially one that has such significance. Ally’s

sion for public meetings. So to come and tell us that is a whole set of garbage. You can’t break the law and tell us who must be sent to be the speaker.”

Questioned further as to whether she thinks her call to the Mayor could be dubbed as interference in the work of a local organ that was elected to serve the people of Corriverton, Ally said it has nothing to do with interfer-

event as a “dark night in the history of Corriverton when the Police and Government attempted to undermine the will of the people and our right to local democracy. In all of our 48 years of hosting flag-raising events, this has never happened. I am not only upset, but I am concerned about the embarrassment that we faced; but the people were on our side.”

4

guyanatimesgy.com

monDAY, February 26, 2018

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

Black Panther, history and rectification

A

nyone who thought comic books were not important should consider the seismic impact the movie on the comic book character “Black Panther” has had on people of African origin across the globe. It has sparked nothing short of a mass revival of African cultural identity.

As the African-American intellectual Ta Nehesi Coates – who wrote an eleven-issue series for Marvel on the character, the heroes in the comics defined the horizons of most youths but what was missing from them were heroes of African origin who he could identify on a level of his own identity.

And if “Black Panther” is about anything, it is about identity. The entire colonial enterprise was based not just on the exploitation of the resources of the worlds Europe “discovered”, but the categorisation of the people in those worlds as resources for exploitation. “Racism” was invented as an ideology to “justify” the exploitation of people of African origin as slaves, and that has left the unfortunate scars that still haunt their descendants to this day. On the exploitation of the economic resources, Walter Rodney wrote the paradigmatic account in his How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.

“Black Panther”, the movie, at its most fundamental level is about an Africa that was not “underdeveloped” by Europe and its people not the object of Europe’s project of racism. Wakanda, the mythical Kingdom ruled by “T’Challa, is an African-futurist vision of what could have been – but at the same time of maybe what can be. The unique resource of Wakanda, the sound absorbing “strongest metal in the world”, vibranium was utilised by the Wakandans to develop their country to surpass the civilisational/technological level of any in the present “First World”.

One can only hope that not only in Africa, but in other Third World nations such as Guyana, their resources can be deployed for their own development and not that of the countries that underdeveloped them in the first place.

Not so incidentally, Wakanda does not accept any foreign aid. The hero, T’Challa, who is the alter-ego for the Black Panther, is a prince who succeeds his father in ruling the Kingdom in the day and fighting evil at night.

The power of popular culture to shape the mind of societies has long been studied by the “Cultural Studies” school and “Black Panther” might just be the fillip to reinvigorate the discussion on “national culture” to re-present all the various cultures that exist in every multicultural country. Cultural Studies demonstrated the myriad “ways in which “culture” creates and transforms individual experiences, everyday life, social relations and power.”

That people of African-origin from all classes and strata could spontaneously come out in their numbers to the cinemas dressed in “traditional” African Garb from Trinidad to Zimbabwe also tells about how their story needed to be told at the popular level. It is rather ironic that in in Guyana and Trinidad which are both governed by parties with majority support in the African-descended communities, there have been persistent complaints from other groups of being peripheralised from the expressions of popular culture and so oppressed at that level.

The African in the Diaspora is brought in the person of the antagonist Erik Killmonger who is of Wakandan ancestry but grew up in Oakland. It is not a coincidence that the Black Panther debuted in 1966 in the Fantastic Four comic at the same time that the Black Panthers of Oakland were launching their frontal attack on the racist structures in the US. Killmonger brings to the fore all the contradictions in the person of African origin who was forced to the margins for centuries.

What is also ironic is that all in all, the celebration of the success of “Black Panther”, there has not been much comment that it took what is still a white conceived Marvel Comics owned by Disney Pictures to offer a product to validate our “worth”. We still have a ways to go.

Several Christ Church Secondary School students displayed a wide array of African print outfits as they participated in their annual Culture Day activities. The Culture Day event is held annually on February 22 as the school’s way of commemorating Guyana’s Republic anniversary

Delivery of health services is poor in Region 6 Dear Editor, I would like to bring to the attention of the subject Public Health Minister of services, some cases in less than a few days, which are the actual reflections of the health system in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

I was approach by an individual from New Amsterdam a few days ago and he said on February 18, 2018, he visit the New Amsterdam Hospital emergency section with serious abdominal aches. The doctor on duty prescribed two Hytorix injections – that were not available at the hospital – and as such, had to be purchased at a local pharmacy.

After the person purchased the Hytorix, he was told to return the next day for an ultra sound. Unfortunately, when he returned the next day, he

was told that he had to wait until March 12. The person was forced to paid $6000 privately to receive this service. He was then diagnosed with kidney stones and was treated for the ailment privately with a sum attach. The patient’s medical condition was diagnosed and solved – and today [Sunday] is only the February 25.

This incident in question is the actually everyday situation of the health system in Region Six. Another recent incident is a 13-year-old who was in an accident since January 1, 2018, and is still waiting on a date to correct his dislocated shoulder. The reason for not going to a private hospital was because his family does not have the resource to do so .The young man is not presently going to school and

is awaiting surgery. Millions in taxpayers’ money is being spent and the health system continues to deteriorate rapidly. Let me congratulate these young men who have come forward and who have exposed the deficiencies in the public health sector. The national ophthalmology hospital is not functioning; to date, it cannot perform a single cataract surgery and Government is not making any attempt to fix it.

What is more worrying is when these issues are raised, the excuses are so many that we remain the same way and the people continue to suffer.

The excuses for not having drugs at all Government hospitals is that the Materials Management Unit (MMU) is only supplying essential drugs and when a drug is

short, irrespective of what drug it is, it is not an essential drug. We are demanding the Public health Minister make the list of essential drugs public so that residents could be aware of the drugs available and what should be purchased. It must be concluded that health care services are not free anymore for residents while Ministers are being given foreign insurances to look after their health.

It is time to hold these Government officials responsible for mismanagement of taxpayers’ money.

Respectfully, Zamal Hussain Regional Councillor Region Six Chairman of the Regional Health Committee

What about Rose Hall?

Dear Editor, At this time, too, we recognise there is a deafening silence regarding Rose Hall Estate, where the people are very hard pressed and are contending with several challenges and difficulties.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) noted that Special Purpose Unit (SPU) spokesperson, Alex Graham, is reported in the February 19, 2018 Guyana Times as saying that if certain conditions are present at Rose Hall, the estate would also operate.

Graham, Guyana Times reported, said the availability of canes was one of those condi-

tions. We are aware that Rose Hall has canes available for harvest. A booklet prepared by the SPU, and which was shared with our Union during our January 19, 2018 engagement with the Government, advised that Rose Hall has the possibility of producing 5740 tonnes of sugar in the first crop and a further 8545 tonnes during the second crop.

We would be eager to know of the other conditions, using Graham’s term, that East Demerara and Skeldon have satisfied, and Rose Hall has not.

From the developments that are taking place, it seems to us that there is no

clear, coherent plan to deal with the terrible situation brought about by the closure of sugar estates. The GAWU wishes to reiterate that the Government has not truly and fully considered all the ramification of its decisions to close estates and put thousands on the breadline. This, as we see, is clearly illustrated by the confusion that we are now seeing.

While Government has belaboured the support the State provided to the sugar industry, we see, in effect, possibly billions of State subsidies being provided to the potential owners and the industry’s customers. The best

approach, it seems, was to keep the estates opened and invest the billions being paid as severance to improve production and productivity, as the GAWU suggested and reiterated time and time again.

This would be the least costly option before the Administration, rather than the foolhardy approach of closing the estates and then, like Rip Van Winkle, wake up to the realisation that the estates should have remained operable.

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine General Secretary, GAWU

Indian cinema has lost an icon

Dear Editor, Julie’s little sister, Sredevi; an iconic and irreplaceable Indian actress has just transitioned. I honestly thought it was fake news when it first surfaced until it was confirmed from the press reports in India. I became speechless and took a very

deep breath and exhaled.

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

will be missed by her many fans globally.

She has some amazing and classic movies to her credit and I will not take up much space to name the many, but I will say that “Lamhe” is a killer with the hit song “Kabhi Main kahoon” and as a child actress in the famous mov-

ie “Julie” which featured the hit song “My heart is beating” which she was seen.

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

Yours faithfully, T Pemberton

guyanatimesgy.com

monDAY, February 26, 2018

5

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recent attempts to address security are a weak public relations gimmick, as it should be clear that the coalition’s policies have very likely stimulated the upsurge in robberies. African

Guyanese youths become the fall guys to a political system intent on victimising them as part of Government’s wider policy of economic control, while Ministers enjoy their salaries and their CoI buddies get bountiful handouts. It would seem obvious to move in the direction of creating more jobs and better incomes for citizens, but one would imagine that a satisfied and education population is immensely more difficult to govern because then incidents of corruption and incompetence would be more easily exposed.

As we continue to search for common ground against the clearly anti-welfare policies of the coalition Administration, we could do well to look abroad today. Although there is much about which to fault America’s President Donald Trump, the one thing Americans can salute him for is his America First policy. We could consider the adoption of a Guyana First policy, where our main focus is increasing our national wealth and the incomes of our citizens. Ask the woman selling egg-ball, puri and pickle mango, or the youths selling on the corner what they’re doing, and they’ll tell you: hustling, trying to make a dollar. It’s all about the money. Apparently the coalition hasn’t realised it has a country to run and citizens’ welfare issues to address. Guyanese have to start asking the coalition, “Where’s the money?”

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

GAWU has on more than one occasion pointed out that the Administration’s non-payment of sugar workers’ severance benefits is unlawful. Yet the coalition continues to break the law and disregard the sugar workers’ union and the welfare of sugar workers. It has been suggested that immediately before executing an extremely violent act, individuals briefly descend to a state of lunacy. The decision to withhold sugar workers’ severance is an act of economic oppression bordering on violence.

The recent move to seize lands of distressed rice farmers without consultation constitutes an act of economic oppression. The continued denial of Public Sector workers their demands for a living wage constitutes an act

of economic oppression. The coalition is guilty of all of these. We should seriously consider that the policy makers in the PNC-led coalition are mad, just as Lenin was.

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

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

Yours faithfully, Craig Sylvester

Introspection for the Guyana Police Force Dear Editor, In a report appearing in another section of the media on February, 19, 2018, Crime Chief Paul Williams was quoted as stating that the main suspect in the recent series of carjackings was a Policeman.

However, he was very quick to point out that the suspect was dismissed while he was a recruit because of his unacceptable behaviour. Sometimes I wonder why accused or suspects who served as career Policemen or who spent a very short time in the Force are quickly labelled as ex or former members of the Force by the media.

On occasions when ex or former members of the Force excel on matters not related to crime, that label disappears.

The senior crime fighter who was a Force Recruitment and Training Officer also explained some steps to be taken before applicants are recruited into the Force. Generally they are: Successful in the completion of written examination, passed medical tests and received acceptable background reports (3). So, to put it another way, as long as the applicants successfully completed the three steps mentioned above, they have an automatic entry into the Guyana Police Force. This system appeared to be geared to produce quantity rather than quality when it should be the other way around.

Examination of the recruitment system revealed that the Final Interview for Selection conducted by the Police is very limited and is not designed to address behaviour, particularly psychological behaviour.

Psychological behaviour is a major phenomenon that the Policeman must deal with in the execution of his duties.

A Policeman must not only

deal with the behaviour of the criminals, he must deal with the behaviour of his superiors, his peers, his subordinates, members of the public, his family, friends and his own behaviour. According to Ho (2002), “Undoubtedly, psychological testing has become a crucial element in the Police Officer recruitment process.”

In their effort to recruit suitable persons for the Force, the Police should establish what is known as Assessment Centres. They are nothing new.

During World War 11 both the Allies and Axis used them to train their spies. An Assessment Centre is a place where a series of events or exercises occur. The candidates are put in situations where among other things behaviour, particularly psychological can be observed by trained assessors. This process can identify applicants who display unacceptable behaviour for the job although they may have satisfied all other entry level requirements. It can prevent undesirables from becoming members of the Force. Tinsley (2002) posits “The Assessment Centre was – and still is – one of the best methods available for selecting suitable candidates for either employment or advancement in law enforcement agencies.”

I clearly recall several years ago during my groundings in Jamaica with my brothers from the Jamaica Constabulary Force I attended a few Assessment Centres.

I found them to be very interesting. On one occasion, a candidate with a degree from the University of the West Indies participated. During the assessment he displayed some amount of psychopatic behaviour. He was not selected for enlistment in the JCF.

After the assessment Francis Forbes, the Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Staff College who later became a Commissioner of Police said to me, “Him can come from Mona with honours degree, but if him ah wan psycho, him can’t be a Police.” On the other hand applicants for the GPF who passed the Police written examination, are medically fit, are cleared by background checks, are highly qualified academically but has abnormal traits which are not picked up because of flawed recruitment procedure can easily slip into the GPF. Even if there are slippages and abnormal behaviour is detected after recruitment, there should be a department in the Force to deal with such behaviour. The department should not only deal with recruit behaviour but the behaviour of all the ranks at the various levels of the Force.

Hence, I again make a clarion call for the establishment of a behavioural science unit in the Guyana Police Force. Among the subject areas it should cover are: effective communication, anger management, conflict resolution – do you resolve conflict by resorting to the 3Bs – boots, baton or bayonet or through the barrel of a gun? Self-esteem, effectively dealing with people, policing multicultural and diverse society, effective investigation, problem-solving, people skills, cultural awareness and sensitivity, critical thinking, capacity to act, ability to apply knowledge and emotional intelligence.

Yours faithfully, Clinton Conway Assistant Commissioner of Police (Retired)

6

monDAY, February 26, 2018

Page

By Marilyn PriceMitchell, PhD

A

merica Rice, age 11, recently expressed her views about hard work and perseverance: “If you want something,” she said, “you have to earn it.

Everything is not going to come to you just when you want it.”

How do children grow up to think and feel like America Rice? How do they internalize the value of hard work and the rewards of perseverance? Regardless of income, these are questions that perplex many parents as children grow from childhood to adolescence.

Recently, CBS Sunday Morning ran a video segment called “In NJ, some kids learn there is no free ride.”

This weekly news programme is on my DVR record list because of their focus on positive news and true human interest stories.

Watch the video and be inspired!

This could have been a simple story about the important work done by Second Life Bikes, a non-profit in New Jersey that takes used bikes and makes them new again. A biking community in Asbury Park, it is a place where people come together, build skills, create bike art, and generally re-purpose old bikes so they don’t have to be discarded. What a great mission!

But what Second Life

guyanatimesgy.com

Foundation

Bikes is doing for young people is even more powerful.

They are instilling the meaning of hard work and perseverance, one bike at a time.

They are teaching skills that nurture life-long learning and initiative development.

What makes the work of refurbishing bikes so perfect for kids? How can you help children and teens learn perseverance and the value of hard work through experiences in your own local communi-

ty? Based on research in youth development, look for programs that have the following characteristics.

Six programme characteristics that pay big dividends for children

1.

Goal and results-driven Programmes with specific missions that are easy for kids to understand can help them “buy in” to the work of the group. Seeing quick results of their labour helps

children and teens keep engaged as they learn new skills and overcome obstacles.

2. Skill-building Children want to work when new learning is involved. They thrive on challenge. When programs offer children the opportunity to build skills, meet new challenges, and observe the results of their efforts, they

instil the value of hard work. Perseverance is learned through practice, by working consistently on one project over many months or years.

3. Adult mentors As children learn skills, they need adult mentors who 1) support and encourage them, 2) listen, 3) set high expectations, 4) show interest in them as individuals, 5) foster self-decision making, and 6) provide another perspective during problem-solving.

4. Teamwork Environments that en-

courage collaboration with adults and peers help children experience the connection between individual work and teamwork. These environments not only give them the opportunity to be learners but also invite them to become mentors and leaders themselves.

5. Fun Work is fun for children and adults when we believe in what we are doing, learn from others, grow as individuals, and nurture new friendships in an environment where humour is cherished.

6. Giving back There is no better way to teach perseverance and the value of hard work than through programs that give back to the community. When children experience the joy of accomplishment through the eyes of those in need, they move beyond a focus on me to a focus on us.

They learn that social good can be derived from individual and team efforts.

The results of perseverance and hard work

Research shows that kids who work in programmes like Second Life Bikes develop positive attitudes toward work and life. They learn to believe in themselves and what they can accomplish.

“It made me feel more mature,” said America Rice, “because I worked for a very long time and I got something out of it, so it made me feel like I could do it.”

Sylvester, another child

who works for Second Life Bikes, said, “I felt accomplished. Like if I put my mind to anything I could just do it!”

What opportunities exist

in your community for kids to learn perseverance and the value of hard work? Planting trees to replenish the environment? (Excerpted from rootsofaction.com)

The importance of perseverance in pursuing your goals

By Mike Marko

A

re you struggling to achieve your goals?

The key is persever-

ance.

You never fail until you give up.

Nothing is more important in achieving your goals than perseverance; not talent, intelligence or resources.

The importance of perseverance

It’s easy to think that anyone who has achieved a degree of success in life has some kind of natural ability, but in reality to be successful you have to persevere through daunting obstacles. You have to consistently work harder than they thought possible with no guarantee of success. No degree of talent can give you this ability.

Have you ever wanted to quit at something? What kept you going?

Whether you were motivated by a strong vision or someone y o u love, it comes down to making a decision, everyday making a decision not to give up. In anything worth achieving there will be setbacks and frustrations.

Here are three of my reasons to keep going: 1) You could be three feet from gold You never know when your biggest breakthrough is right around the corner and It’s usually darkest before the dawn.

You don’t want to give up on an opportunity for your big-

gest growth just because it’s uncomfortable.

2) In order to succeed you will need to change You will need to be willing to go through the process of being formed into someone who is able to handle that degree of success. You will be pressed and formed into another person and that can be uncomfortable.

But if you are willing to go through the rough spots you will move into your best life.

3) You will learn skills You will learn skills that you can use in any area of your life. You will be forced to overcome crippling selfdoubt and frustration. These are tools have in your back pocket for use in any situation.

4) You will learn patience If you work long enough you will see results.

Persistence doesn’t mean that you can never change course in life, however, so If after doing some soul searching you realize it’s better to shift gears this doesn’t make you a failure or a quitter.

Final thoughts on the importance of perseverance

* No matter what happens in life, learn from every experience to become a stronger and wiser person. * Reach out for help and support when you need it. * Stay in gratitude and appreciation for everything. * Decide to hold your vision and take daily action steps. * Look for alternative approaches if need be and just keep going.

Here’s to your success! (www.mikemarko. com)

news

7

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ming’s Optical opens new multimillion-dollar Parika branch

The new Parika branch

T

he most affordable eyecare enterprise in Guyana, Ming’s Optical on Sunday morning opened yet another multimillion-dollar branch, this time in Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE).

Located at Lot 1997 Parika Highway in the Lotus Mall, the ophthalmic centre will cater for a number of eyecare needs.

The spacious, ultramodern location is fully equipped with all of the latest optical equipment and amenities offering residents of the East Bank of Essequibo, the Essequibo Islands and West Demerara increased convenience and state-of-the-art optical services.

These include comprehensive eye testing for both spectacles and contact lens-

es.

Additionally, there is a wide selection of fashionable frames to suit every personality at affordable prices.

Visual field testing for glaucoma and retinal conditions will also now be available.

The owner, Optometrist Michelle Ming noted that since the economic activities in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) were now improving, she felt that there was a need for the new branch.

Dr Ming added that as such, she and her team began working to provide eye care for not only those in Essequibo but also in the interior locations.

“We felt like there was a need to expand our eyecare services here. We have

a team of qualified optometrists working with me. We have 100 of frames for all.

We will continue to provide quality eye care to the best of our ability and to ensure that to our fellow Guyanese, we will strive to provide care with the best technologies available,” Dr Ming said.

Speaking on behalf of the Public Health Ministry, John Adams made clear his confidence in Ming’s providing quality eye care services.

“I know that Ming’s will render great service to these communities. I want to congratulate the owners for expanding eye care in Guyana, and it is the Government’s desire to encourage businesses to take the initiative in moving such enterprises forward. I am happy that this business is in Region Three and that Region Three will be going places because of this,” the Public Health Advisor said.

Delivering a brief keynote address, First Lady Sandra Granger endorsed the opening of the new branch.

According to the First Lady, she is appreciative of the Ming family for using what they achieved through studies to give back to the Guyanese public.

She applauded Michelle Ming for not only the opening of the branch but also for her years of service at the Georgetown Public Hospital

First Lady Sandra Granger cuts the ribbon to open the branch flanked by Dr Michelle and Stanley Ming

Corporation (GPHC).

Granger gave a brief history of the Parika Branch, which was first opened in 2011, “This new improved branch of optical service was opened in Parika back in 2011, and the branch was moved to the new location in

order for the brand and service to be improved. Those people in Cuyuni-Mazaruni who would not want to cross another river, to journey to Georgetown for eye care will now be able to receive care right here.”

The First Lady fur-

ther applauded Ming, stating “Guyanese girls rock!

Michelle not only helped to established the first low-vision care clinic in the Caribbean at the GPHC, but also volunteered her service for five years by providing care for persons whose eye could not be repaired with a spectacles. Additionally, she is the Coordinator of joint eye care missions in the University of the West Indies who is currently training local optometrists at the GPHC to use retinal cameras for laser treatment which is now available in Guyana”.

Since its inception in 1990, Ming’s Optical has extended its reach throughout the country and this, its third location complements its head office in Urquhart and New Market Streets and Williamsburg branch in Rose Hall, Berbice.

Indonesians, security guard robbed in Barama Compound

T

wo Indonesians and two security guards are now counting their losses after they were on Saturday night attacked and robbed of their valuables in the Barama Compound, Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

According to reports, the robbery occurred around 23:45h when five armed men pounced on the security guard of the company and

invaded the yard.

Guyana Times understands that the men attacked the guard and relieved him of his shotgun along with five cartridges.

The perpetrators then took possession of the man’s cellphone, duct-taped his mouth and bound his hands and feet.

They then proceeded to the living quarters of the Indonesians, who

are reportedly the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Supervisor of the company, forced their way in via the doors and relieved them, along with a female who is the fiancée of the CEO, of their valuables before escaping.

Investigators have since processed the scene, obtained statements and are making stringent efforts to apprehend the suspects.

8 news

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ogle Airport alleged sexual assault

CANU probing officer who allegedly sexually molested teenager

T

he Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) says that it is probing a report which was lodged against one of its female ranks alleging that a sexual assault incident took place at the Ogle International Airport on Sunday morning.

The entity’s Head, Michael Atherly, who spoke to Guyana Times via telephone on Sunday afternoon, confirmed that a report was made about an incident.

While he did not have any specific details, he did say that if the reports carried in the press were accurate and a true picture of what transpired, then the CANU rank at the centre of the controversy would be probed for her actions.

Atherly’s comments came in light of concerns raised over the alleged incident which saw a 17-yearold girl being sexually assaulted over the weekend as she was about to depart Guyana for Barbados.

The girl was expected to visit her relatives on Sunday when she was al-

legedly subjected to a “strip search” by CANU officers at the Airport, before being placed in a room.

It was there that a female officer allegedly inserted her “finger” in the girl’s private parts. The CANU rank reportedly asked her to “spread out and cough”.

But Atherly has already condemned the officers’ actions as he stated that the search on the teenager was carried out in an improper manner. “…the officers had a right to take the person to the hospital and have a certified doctor carry out that search. The action that was taken was incorrect and they had no right,” Atherly stated.

The young lady is said to be working along with Police and CANU officials as the probe continues.

This incident is being seen as important given the Shanique Myrie case which saw her being paid US$38,000 by the Barbadian Government after she alleged that she

was sexually assaulted and raped by a female immigration officer in Barbados after being subjected to a cavity search.

Myrie was awarded damages by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) after she filed a lawsuit claiming she was subjected to a dehumanising cavity search by the female immigration officer at Grantley Adams International Airport, locked in a filthy room overnight and deported to Jamaica in March 2011.

The CCJ had also ruled that Barbados should foot Myrie’s legal costs and said the action was a serious breach of her right of entry into that country.

Her plight was brought to international attention after the Jamaica Observer reported her ordeal. She had also complained that she was subjected to derogatory remarks from the female official who told her she was her ‘worst nightmare’.

“The lady took me into a bathroom and told me to take off my clothes. I did

as requested. After searching me and my clothes she found no contraband or narcotics. She then asked me to bend over, open my legs and spread (my private parts). She said that if I did not comply, then she would see that I end up in prison in Barbados,” Myrie said.

“When I bent over and spread my (private parts) I felt something enter my (private parts) and when I looked between my legs I saw her gloved hand in my (private parts). I screamed and stood up. She then told me if I obstructed her doing a cavity search, she would have me locked up. I bent over again and spread. She again inserted her fingers and poked around. I felt like I was being raped. I was so hurt and ashamed.

I felt dirty and defiled,” she said.

“I asked her who she was and she said ‘I am your worst nightmare’. She then said ‘All you (expletive) Jamaicans come here to do is either steal people’s man or bring drugs here’,” Myrie recounted.

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

G

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

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

Minister Gaskin was speaking at the launching of the Congress in January.

He maintained that the Congress would raise the country’s tourism and business profiles and would also contribute to Guyana’s economic growth in several other ways.

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

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

Held under the theme “Connecting the Americas through Sustainable Tourism”, the conference

will have several cultural presentations, tourism booths, replicas of Indigenous benabs, and also the vending of local craft.

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

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

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

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

Republic Day…

Y

…spite and bile our Eyewitness isn’t surprised any longer at how far these AFC windbags can sink. The moment they accepted the PNC’s degutting of the Cummingsburg Accord when Nagamootoo was made into a glorified “gossip monger” rather than a power sharing Prime Minister like in France, you knew they were castrated.

Which meant they then had to dance to “do wha’ yuh want wid me!!”

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

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

But it’s precisely his ineffectualness when it comes to exercising real power that impels him to throw his weight around. Not on PNC supporters, mind you, just on hapless folks who look like him!! And so it was this disgrace to Berbice, could instruct Police to show he has “power”!

But the Divisional Commander has already declared that the order to shut down the flag-raising ceremony didn’t come from him. So an investigation must immediately be launched to find the smoking gun, or, in this case, the spiteful, petulant mouth!

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

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

Now here your Eyewitness had learnt in school that Mash was invented in Linden. And while that township became almost exclusively populated by people of African descent after the ethnic cleansing of 1964, he wasn’t aware it was in West Africa!! But of course, for a man with all that exposure to European culture, Greenidge could’ve been speaking metaphorically – to wit, that ELEMENTS of Mash were of West African origin.

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

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

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

And the Education Minister was a member of the Board.

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

News

9

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Govt needs $30B to keep GuySuCo going …despite firing thousands, downsizing – as NICIL orders halt to all hiring, contract renewals

NICIL Chairman, Dr Maurice Odle

I

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

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

GuySuCo has a history of debt; at the end of 2015, the Corporation owed $78.6 bil-

lion. In January of last year, the National Assembly’s Economic Services Committee was informed that the debt showed a marginal decrease to $77 billion.

This money was owed to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and others.

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

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

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

“NICIL has begun working with the management team at the Corporation to implement management changes, some of these changes are already being implemented and more are expected to follow in the coming weeks,” Graham related on Sunday, in one of the clearest statements yet

PR Consultant, Alex Graham

on the plans for GuySuCo. All of this, Graham related, is being done with the full cooperation of the management team of GuySuCo. He related that SPU head Colvin Heath-London, speaking after a meeting between the two teams, had stressed that profitability depended on the teamwork between NICIL and GuySuCo.

DDL

In January, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) had submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the purchase of one of the estates.

This was even as the SPU was seeking interested buyers for the Skeldon and Enmore estates.

The company, which produces the international

2-year-old drowns in Pomeroon River

A

Pomeroon family was on Saturday afternoon thrown into mourning after the body of a two-year-old girl was discovered floating in the Pomeroon River.

The toddler has been identified as Tia Contest of Monka Estate, Upper Pomeroon River.

According to reports, the child was last seen alive by her mother, Marcia Contest

playing in their yard.

However the woman relayed that around 12:30h, she left little Tia playing in the yard which was not fenced and went into her house to do chores.

At around 13:00h, she made inspections but Tia was nowhere to be found.

The 28-year-old mother decided to search in the river which is some 50 feet away from their home where she

saw the toddler lying in the river facedown.

An alarm was raised and Tia’s body was taken out of the water; however by that time she was already deceased.

The body was examined but no marks of violence were found; as such, foul play was ruled out.

The mother was taken to the Charity Police Station where she was questioned and later sent away.

award-winning El Dorado Rum, has raised concerns over Government’s plans to downsize the sugar sector. The company heavily depends on molasses for its production.

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

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

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

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

tions.

Government had moved to close the Enmore and Rose Hall Sugar Estates, as well as to sell the Skeldon Sugar Factory. Government’s explanation for downsizing the industry has always been to cut costs.

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

It was announced that Enmore and Skeldon would see a temporary and limited reopening for a twofold purpose; to save cane currently

in the ground and to render the operations more attractive to potential investors.

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

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

10 news

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Region 8 must get maximised benefits from its resources – Minister Bulkan tells Kurukubaru residents

gions would have greater need to cooperate with each other.

An example of Government’s commitment to regionalism is the establishment of the Regional Public Broadcasting Service, which will see each region having its own radio station,

the Minister pointed out.

“There is the need for this, because Guyana is so large that many citizens are out of range of national radio. Also, citizens need to have access to news about what is taking place in their own regions and you need to be aware of what

Government is doing to help you to improve your lives.”

He reminded the citizens that they had the power to improve their lives and assured that as they sought to build better futures, the Administration stood ready to support their efforts.

$50M ‘Green Farm’ initiative to renew interest in home, school gardening

T

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan being greeted by a student at the Kurukubaru flag-raising ceremony

C

ommunities Minister Ronald Bulkan has reaffirmed the Administration’s commitment to democratic governance and to honouring constitutional provisions to ensure democracy for all.

The Minister was at the time delivering the feature address at the flag raising ceremony held at Kurukubaru, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).

He told those gathered that Republic Day represents the moment in history that the people received the power to make their own decisions, through their elected representatives.

Central Government’s policy of local empowerment, the Communities Minister said, stems from respect for the role of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) as the organ possessing the constitutional responsibility to manage and develop the

region.

“The Administration is committed to a strategic policy of regionalism, and of reducing the inequality between conditions on the coastland and those here in the heartland,” he noted.

Minister Bulkan said the Government was aware that the road network linking villages and communities in the North Pakaraimas needed major upgrading and that citizens faced other daily challenges.

He assured the gathering: “This awareness will eventually become a reality. We won’t achieve all our goals overnight. We know that you need well-paying jobs, we know that your senior citizens need high-quality healthcare, we know that your children should have a good education.”

Citizens were guaranteed that the Kato Secondary School Complex will be com-

pleted satisfactorily, representing an almost $1 billion investment in education.

As the Government moves forward with its efforts towards regionalism, the Minister said each region would be further empowered. Mahdia, he said, will soon formally become a capital town.

“Each capital town will be equipped to deliver essential services to the citizens of the Region. Services such as land registration, issuing of licences and passports, and obtaining NIS and pension books, among many other services, no longer will you have to travel to the city for basic services,” he pointed out.

Minister Bulkan noted that as the regions became further empowered and as the Central Government helped to build regional capacity, it is expected that the resulting stronger re-

he ‘Green Farm’ project initiative, which is being implemented by the Guyana Association of Municipalities (GAM), is expected to renew interest in home and school gardening, while promoting a Green Economy through agriculture, with the aim of achieving food security across the 10 administrative regions, poverty reduction and rural development.

According to information from the project’s concept document, prepared by GAM President and outgoing Linden Mayor Carwyn Holland, interest in home and school gardening has been on a decline and with the introduction of the ‘Green Farm’ project, this is expected to be arrested.

GAM is currently partnering with the Ministry of the Presidency – Department of Environment; the Ministries of Public Health, Communities, Agriculture, Education; the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI); Regional Democratic Councils and the Private Sector, among others, to undertake the initiative, which will be implemented over the period February 2018 to February 2021.

It has a budget of $50 million. Apart from reignit-

ing the love for domestic and commercial farming in communities as a means of promoting a Green Economy through agriculture, the Green Farm project also aims at achieving food security, through domestic and commercial farming. Its other goals include championing the cause of Guyana’s agriculture by embracing

wards a career in agriculture or to simply express a greater love and appreciation for domestic farming.

Residents will also be challenged to contribute to the initiative by way of kitchen gardens and biogas systems across constituencies, and rewards will be offered through a competitive process with winners being

home-grown organic produce, promoting farming interests, reducing poverty, improving the health of Guyanese by reducing consumption of inorganic foods and reviving agricultural education and practice in schools.

Under the initiative, schools across Guyana will be encouraged to start or resuscitate farms and develop designated agriculture streams to gear children to-

awarded.

The concept document outlines that agriculture is the basis of economic development and according to the sector’s performance, it could contribute significantly to the nation’s green growth. “...while the national trajectory takes aim at a green pathway, there is still a dire need for the ordinary citizens to get on board with this development,” it states.

NEWS

11

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GTC designs 4-week programme for retrenched sugar workers

T

he Guyana Sugar Corporation Training Centre (GTC) has developed a 120-hour training programme for retrenched sugar workers.

At a recent meeting with Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, School Programme Coordinator Zamin Ally said the programme would be split between the New Amsterdam Technical Institute, GTC and the Upper Corentyne Training Centre.

The meeting forms part of a needs assessment evaluation to determine how the GTC can train local content for the oil and gas industry.

The technical training programme is part of GuySuCo’s Alternative Livelihood Programme for the more than 4000 sugar

workers who have been retrenched in the downsizing of the sugar industry.

“I know the Communications Officer at GuySuCo, she is actually working to engage the community and to see how much persons will be interested. What we are doing here is preparing ourselves to accommodate them,” Ally explained.

The GTC, which is located in Port Mourant, Berbice, will be providing courses on mechanics, refrigeration, agriculture mechanics, motor vehicles, welding and fabrication, and electrical installation.

Minister Trotman indicated the Ministry’s willingness to sponsor some of the workers who would be part of the programme.

Preserving GTC’s apprenticeship programme

The GTC is considered the first technical training school in Guyana. It has been around for some 62 years, training staff for GuySuCo. The institute provides a four-year apprenticeship programme for persons who will eventually be hired to work on GuySuCo’s estates in fields such as industrial electrical insulation, instrumentation, automation, agriculture mechanics and welding and fabrication.

With the downsizing of the sugar industry, the school will not have any students in June, leaving much staff uncertain of the school’s future. Currently, there are 65 apprentices being trained by the GTC.

Man drowns after boat mishap at Makari Backdam …another feared dead

T

he body of a man was on Sunday afternoon recovered from the Cuyuni River and a search is ongoing to locate the body of another after the boat in which the two were travelling sunk in Makari Backdam, Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) on Saturday.

The body of “Dougla” (only name given) was discovered at around 17:00h on Sunday following a search.

Guyana Times understands that “Dougla” and the other missing man, identified only as “Fineman”, were employed to assist with the transporting of a dredge belonging to a man named “Tony” from the said backdam.

The body of “Dougla” being recovered from the Cuyuni River

However, 37-year-old Suban Hussain of Bidrabu, Bartica, reported that he and the missing men along with two others left the backdam in a small boat headed to the landing in Bartica.

The 15 horsepowered boat encountered technical difficulties and sunk.

Hussain and two others were able to swim to shore; however, “Dougla” and “Fineman” could not be found.

After the matter was reported, a massive search was launched. The search is still ongoing to located “Fineman”.

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman engages persons present at the GTC function

“We found that the three estates remaining in sugar, they would have already had their quota of apprentices based on their stats and projected target,” Ally pointed out. He said the institution has devised several proposals to ensure that the programme was sustained and has presented them to GuySuCo’s Director of Human Resources, Earl John.

The proposals intended to secure attendance for the institution and ensure that instructors and oth-

er staff remain employed will include training persons from the hinterland regions.

This suggestion seeks to address a need for trainers to work at technical institutions that the Government plans to establish in hinterland communities, Ally indicated. The GTC has dormitory facilities that can accommodate approximately 120 persons.

According to Ally, the training centre also proposed to offer its services to Private Sector compa-

nies and even to have its highly-qualified instructors provide “redressal programmes for current staff whose work needs updating”.

The GTC is awaiting a decision from GuySuCo’s Board.

The proposals, which have since been ratified, are awaiting a decision from the GuySuCo Board at its next meeting.

The institution has also been in talks with the University of Guyana to see how it can be sustained through collaboration.

Meanwhile, Minister Trotman gave assurances that the Government would like to see the apprenticeship programme maintained at the school.

“Government wouldn’t wish everything to come to one school, but I certainly believe this school has a special place in the history of technical education in Guyana and has to be preserved,” Minister Trotman said.

The apprenticeship programme remains the core of the GTC’s operations despite it having diversified to offer evening classes through the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).

12 news

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Family believes no foul play involved in Montrose man’s death

By Jemima Holmes

T

he family of a recently deceased ex-fisherman has indicated that they do not believe the man died as a result of foul play.

This statement comes after questions were raised as to the circumstances surrounding the elderly man’s death.

Dead is Sanchara Kawall, also known as “Basil” of Seawall Road Montrose, East Coast Demerara.

Reports are the man may have been intoxicated when he slipped and fell into the trench that is just outside the shack in which he resided. Guyana Times spoke with the man’s daughter, Samantha Mahabal, who expressed that the dead man’s relatives do not suspect foul play as they are not aware of any valuables that he might have had, nor was anything missing from the man’s home.

Dead: Sanchara “Basil” Kawall

“I don’t know is what, but like he de drunk and fall in the trench,” the distraught woman shared. Mahabal noted that she has known her father to be a drinker for as long as she can remember but the habit worsened when his wife passed away some three decades ago.

The elderly man who was

once a fisherman had stopped working a number of years ago but would usually assist a friend of his with vending at the Plaisance Market.

The man who was described as “quiet” and “good” was known for his hefty drinking habits. Relatives of Kawall told Guyana Times that the man would get by on food from his daughter and monies that he received from a son living overseas.

Mahabal noted that suspicions were raised when a neighbour went to take food for the man on Friday morning. However, the neighbour was greeted by the man’s radio and a hat on the ground.

“It was very strange that it left so cause he really like listening to the radio. He does sit down and listen to the radio all the time,” she told this publication. The woman went on to say that she was subsequently informed of the man’s disappearance

“Otisha” likely to be arrested as CC&PA completes investigation

T

he Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) on Sunday closed its investigation into the alleged misconduct by Otis “Otisha” Pearson, a popular member of the transgender community, and he is likely to be arrested shortly.

According to CC&PA’s Director, Ann Green, the Agency has gathered statements from a number of persons, including the young man in the middle of the controversy, and as such, it is expected to move ahead with the arrest of Pearson.

The public became enraged when Pearson was heard in an interview reporting that “he has a little boy for every day of the week”.

However, after he was bashed on social media, the transgender personality quickly defended himself, explaining that the term “little boys” was taken out of context.

He attempted to cover up his transgressions stating that the term is actually refer-

Otis “Otisha” Pearson

ring to persons above the legal age of consent and is also used when referring to his colleagues.

The statement quickly became a serious matter when a photo of Pearson and a young man was leaked on social media site Facebook.

Many users of the site were of the opinion that the young man was underage; the age of consent in Guyana being 16.

Investigations revealed

that the boy was indeed below the age of 16 and was being bullied after the photos were leaked.

One newscast that visited the area where the young boy lives reported that Pearson was previously involved in a relationship with the boy’s older brother, but Pearson quickly started a relationship with the underage teen.

He would reportedly purchase gadgets for the boy who is reportedly 15 years old and was seen with him on several occasions.

As such, the CC&PA had announced that a formal investigation will follow and based on findings, the matter would be turned over to the Guyana Police Force.

The entire fiasco began after Pearson was arrested and locked up for questioning in relation to the murder of Hemchand Dalchand whose body was discovered lying on the East Coast roadway in the vicinity of Cummings Lodge after a night out with friends.

and the search began.

At around 13:00h, those in search of the man noticed a piece of fabric floating in the trench near his home and his daughter was summoned to identify the body.

“Is just a piece of fabric they see and they call me to confirm is he,” she stated.

Mahabal mentioned that the last time she saw her father was on Thursday.

However, reports are that neighbours saw the man sitting on the bank of the trench outside of his home at around 19:00h on Thursday night. These reports are what led persons to believe

the man was intoxicated when he fell into the trench and subsequently drowned.

The Police have visited the family in order to collect statements and a post-mortem examination is expected to be conducted during the upcoming week.

Witness Protection Law takes effect

F

ollowing passage in the National Assembly last month, the Witness Protection Act is now in full effect after being assented to

by President David Granger.

This legislation is geared to safeguard persons – who have information on and/or are witnesses to criminal activity – from violent retaliation or persecution from the offending party. According to information reaching Guyana Times, the Head of State assented to the legislation on February 12, some three weeks after it was passed.

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

Added to that, during criminal proceedings, parts that relate the witnesses’ identity may be held in camera.

It was outlined that an administrative centre will be responsible for the register of persons under the Witness Protection Programme. This Centre will handle identity changes and it can withdraw this protection and restore the identity of the former participant, in which case he or she is allowed 28 days to apply to the President of Guyana for a review of the centre’s decision.

Some offences under

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

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

The penalty for breaching this provision is a $1 million fine and 10 years in prison.

According to Section 20 (1), this law applies to anyone who, without lawful authority, reveals information about the identity or location of someone who had participated in the witness protection programme which can compromise that person’s safety.

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

When the Witness Protection Bill was debated in the National Assembly earlier this year, Opposition parliamentarian Odinga Lumumba had questioned if there were provisions to fund the relocated witnesses, or to facilitate the integration of juvenile participants of the

programme into the school system. Lumumba based his argument on the belief that Guyana does not have the capacity to support the bill’s provisions.

However, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman while acknowledging the concerns had countered that with the impending oil industry, new threats would arise and the Government could not wait.

At that time, Trotman noted cross-referenced witness protection programmes in the United States and other jurisdictions.

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

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

NEWS

13

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

The “Life in Leggings” march for justice – a grassroots revolution in the making

By Jarryl Bryan

T

he “Life in Leggings” march is back. This time around, the event dubbed ‘A march for justice’ is expected to receive support from a number of Government and non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) as organisers hope to challenge abuse in society.

One such organiser is social activist Akola Thompson, who related to this publication that the march is being organised by the Student Society against Human Rights Violations (SAHRV) in collaboration with the Life in Leggings: Caribbean Alliance against Genderbased Violence.

It is understood that the March 10 march will begin at 15:00h at Square of the Revolution. The route heads down Brickdam and ends at Stabroek Market Square. A number of organisations have come together to support the march.

According to Thompson, these organisations include Help & Shelter,

Scenes from the 2017 march

the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA), ASPIRE Youth Network, Guyana Women Miners Association (GWMA), the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), GuyBow, Guyana Trans United, ChildLink, Red Thread, and the Guyana Karate College.

In addition, the President’s Youth Award Republic of Guyana and the University of Guyana Student Society will be involved. She further informed that RED Entertainment is currently assisting the SAHRV to coordinate the march.

Thompson also addressed

any misconceptions that may surround the march.

Stressing that the march is not an exclusionist event but rather can benefit from the input of persons regardless of gender, she described it as making a political statement.

“Not political in the sense of governmental politics, but political in the sense of challenging dominant ideas and narratives and mobilising to achieve our collective goals of safety, equality and justice,” Thompson clarified. “This year, our march is one against people in positions of trust and power whose acts constitute violence against women and children.”

Plans moving apace for Diaspora independence event

T

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

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

This year’s event will be themed ‘Celebrate Guyana To the World.’ The annual celebration is the largest independence commemoration outside of Guyana’s shores.

The ceremonial honours at the commemorative event will once again feature collaborations between members of the Disciplined Services of Guyana and their GuyaneseAmerican counterparts in the United States Armed Forces.

The Committee disclosed that this move is part of their patriotic duty.

Director of the Committee, Nevlon Duguid, has disclosed that the New York-based committee had first organised a successful Jubilee celebration which garnered the attendance of over 20,000 Guyanese nationals.

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

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

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

The Guyana Independence celebration has become the second largest West Indian celebration in New York, second only to the annual Labour Day parade. Duguid stated that organizsations, businesses, groups, or individuals who are interested in participating in the celebration, placing a truck or float on the parade, or in vending, should contact the Committee as soon as possible.

Last year’s Unity Concert was graced with performances by Jamaican Dancehall star Charlie Black; Guyana’s own, Jumo “Rubber Waist” Primo; Adrian Dutchin; Lisa Punch; and various other artistes. They were accompa-

nied by the Queens-based, Guyanese owned Angel’s Caribbean Band. It was hinted that a surprise international artiste will headline this year’s Unity Concert and patrons were urged to get their tickets as early as possible.

Tickets will go on sale on May 1.

“When we speak about positions of trust, we are speaking about those teachers, pastors, family members who use their positions to sexually groom and violate. When we speak about those in positions of power, we’re speaking about the employers; we’re talking about the big politicians and their children who use their positions of power to send women to psychiatric institutions with no due process.”

She also made it clear that marches against gender-based violence are not only for women. Thompson clarified that the men also have a role to play in coming and standing up in solidarity against injustices.

“It’s not only women who are victims of [gender-based violence] GBV. We definitely are the targeted sex but GBV is not something that is specific to sex or gender. Our aim is a safer country for all Guyanese. We all have a part to play.”

Advances

Since last year’s march, a number of specific initiatives targeting GBV have been launched. This includes Women’s Wednesdays Guyana; a platform on social media where Thompson invites guests to address mis-

Activist Akola Thompson

conceptions about violence and harassment.

Topics have ranged from preventing the sexual abuse of minors to effective family planning. Some, however, have questioned whether the programme is on a hiatus. According to Thompson, the programme is currently being revamped and she has high expectations for the programme’s future.

“With regards to Women’s Wednesdays Guyana [WWG], I’m currently working out plans to make it more sustainable. It really started as a short experiment and was not meant to be long-term,” she said.

“Seeing the overwhelming response and interest in it however, I realised that this was something I would need to continue because it

was important. Our hope for WWG in five years’ time is for it to become an informational hub not only to Guyanese but across the Region.”

In recent times a website, reportabuse.com was launched to receive reports from victims of abuse who may not want to directly approach the authorities. The website has a form that has to be filled with details such as the names of the victim and perpetrator, as well as the desired outcome.

The information is reviewed by the site administrators and forwarded to the relevant authorities; the Child Care and Protection Agency if it is a minor and the Guyana Police Force if it is an adult, for action. According to Thompson, also one of the site’s facilitators, there are plans to add counselling services to the website.

“With regards to the website, in five years it will be doing exactly what it is doing.

That is, it will still be a reporting system platform where crimes of sexual violence can be reported and forwarded to the relevant agencies and support services through our various partners. In five years, it is the hope that we will have partners in every region to handle cases quickly and efficiently when reports come in.”

14 news

monDAY, February 26, 2018 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Teen on life support after Parfaite Union to file an action at CCJ Harmonie accident Closures of Rose Hall, East Demerara Estates

over lack of consultations

A

A

NDIA, West Berbice to upgrade drainage system

s possible legal action hovers over Government’s half-payment to several categories of sugar workers earlier this year, separate action by the workers’ representative body, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) is likely to be filed in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) regarding the “lack of consultations” before workers of the Rose Hall and East Demerara estates were terminated. A senior GAWU official indicated on Sunday that the Union’s legal team is in the process of filing action to take the case to the CCJ after the Court of Appeal upheld the decision made in the High Court.

“Our lawyers in November were trying to stay the closure of estates – Rose Hall and East Demerara – as our lawyers were arguing that there was not consultation with the Union as is required [in that] the proposals and ideas of the Union were not taken into account,” the official pointed out.

Acting Chief Justice Roxane George on November 10, 2017, had ruled against an application by GAWU and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) to quash Government’s move to close

the East Demerara and Rose Hall Estates. Guyana Times was told that Justice George was of the view that there were no grounds for granting a stay because there was consultation. As such, the Union filed action in the Appeal Court but this publication was told that the Appeal Court recently upheld the Chief Justice’s decision which has prompted GAWU to take the matter to the highest court in the Caribbean.

This latest action by GAWU comes against the backdrop of the CCJ having denied its efforts in December 2017 to have the local Court of Appeal “urgently” adjudicate its application to prevent the closure of the two sugar estate.

The CCJ indicated to GAWU then that it must exhaust all local avenues before it can bring a matter at that level.

Union leaders had contended that the acting Chief Justice “erred” in denying the application.

Nevertheless, Government went through with plans to close the said estates, which led to the dismissals of over 3000 workers which affected many families and the local business economies. It was in May 2017 that Government announced plans to close the Enmore and Rose Hall Sugar Estates, sell the Skeldon Sugar

Factory, reduce the annual production of sugar, and take on the responsibility of managing the drainage and irrigation services offered by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). However, the Special Purposes Unit (SPU) which was mandated to handle the divestment of the closed estates noted that East Demerara and Skeldon will be temporarily re-opened to attract private investors.

International accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, was recruited by Government to evaluate GuySuCo’s assets for privatisation and divestment. The firm commenced its works in January 2018. The Private Sector, civil society and other interest groups have long decried the closures of estates, with many saying that the country’s overall economy and the village economies declined, putting social strain on families. It was also noted that in many instances, multiple members of the same household, including some husbands and wives, were employed within the sugar industry.

Another Estate, Wales, was closed in December 2016 as this saw over 1000 workers being displaced. To date, many workers are still to receive their severance payments.

13-year-old girl is now on life support at the Georgetown Public Hospital after she was struck down on the Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD) access road on Sunday afternoon.

Battling for her life is Nandraine Budram, of Lot 250 Parfaite Harmonie, who was struck down around 15:30h.

Reports are that the teen was riding a bicycle in the op-

posite direction of minibus BWW 1663 being driven by Troy Allen of Bagotville, WBD, when the accident occurred.

According to reports, the minibus was proceeding north along the eastern side of the road while the cyclist who was proceeding in the opposite direction on the said eastern side, allegedly rode across the road from east to west into the path of the bus.

Budram was subsequent-

The soon-to-be commissioned Region Five office of the NDIA

W

ork on the office to house the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) at Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) which began last year, has been completed.

The NDIA office, which is situated alongside the Headquarters of the Mahaica/Mahaicony/AbaryAgricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA), will seek to upgrade the drainage system and make better provisions for drought in the Region.

Acting NDIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Hicks said recently, “The NDIA knows that farmers anywhere, who have a 50 per cent fear of losing their crops or livestock to floods or drought, will not bother to farm. So the NDIA in Region Five, in particular, will work and support the agencies in doing whatever is necessary to boost farmers’ confidence in the D&I system and have them feel encouraged to cultivate and even expand their production of crops and livestock within the Region.”

According to Hicks, all that is required to get the office up and running is the installation of connections for electricity to the building.

The office will be manned by a senior engineer of the NDIA assisted by ancillary staff and he will support the MMA/ADA; the Regional Democratic Council and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in the Region to implement and monitor projects aimed at increasing the discharge capacity of rain-flood waters and the provision of irrigation for agricultural purposes during El Niño (drought) weather conditions.

NDIA projects for 2018

Among the projects the Region Five NDIA office will spearhead and support in 2018 are the upgrading of resuscitated sea sluices along the West Berbice Coast; the establishment of additional sluices and the provision of another electrical pump for drainage of West Berbice at Trafalgar. The NDIA will also look to increase the hydraulic efficiency of the tertiary and secondary drainage

ly hit and received injuries to her head.

She was quickly picked up and rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH), where she was treated and later transferred to Georgetown Public Hospital, where she was placed on life support.

Allen was taken into Police custody as investigations continue.

systems in Region Five with the provision of nine excavators. These machines will be at the disposal of the Regional Administration for routine remedial and emergency works along the Region Five coast.

The NDIA’s office will also seek to boost the efficiency of drainage in the riverine areas. Projects to be undertaken in this area this year will include extending the polder behind Pine Ground to Gordon Table along the right bank of the Mahaicony River to protect cultivation plots from water coming in from the backlands; and installing a dual purpose pump at Mora Point, Mahaicony River, to provide either drainage or irrigation when necessary. The pump is to be acquired from India.

Other projects include infrastructural upgrades for replenishment of the Abary Conservancy with water from the Berbice River and the drawing down of water from the upper reaches of the Mahaica River at Kuliserabo to supply the Perth/Biaboo Main Canal for the benefit of low-risk rice production aback Mahaicony.

The NDIA will also fund the replacement of tail regulators for all the high-level irrigation canals within the MMA/ADA project area in West Berbice. This is to ensure better management of irrigation water supplies and less stress on the drainage system from free-flowing water into canals without tail gates.

Hicks said the NDIA was assisting the MMA/ADA since that agency did not have the financial resources at the moment.

Region 9 rape investigations still ongoing

T

he investigations into a rape allegation in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) are said to still be ongoing, weeks after the report was made. The particulars of the case state the Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO) of Region Nine had allegedly sexually assaulted a senior official attached to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

Since the allegation surfaced a few weeks ago, authorities have been quiet on the issue since the report was allegedly made at the Lethem Police Station. The Regional Chairman was first to speak out on the issue after the victim lodged her report.

In a telephone interview with Guyana times, Regional Chairman Bryan Allicock stated that he has not heard anything further on the investigation since the initial complaint.

However, he assured that the matter is with the Police.

It was alleged that Sherwin Wellington, the region’s DREO, had raped one of his female colleagues while they were on a business trip to a Region Nine community.

They had travelled to the village of Karasabai on behalf of the RDC to be a part of an outreach programme.

Wellington had subsequently denied knowledge of any event of the sort, also noting that he had never been in-

formed of a report being made against him.

“We don’t know about that.

No, I am not aware of that. If someone makes an allegation, it has to be reported to the station. There’s a procedure. I’m not aware of a report being made, and (I’m not aware of) the incident. If anything, the Police would have called me; they have not called me,” the man had said.

This is the second time that such an allegation has risen out of the region. In 2016, then Regional Executive Officer, Carl Parker was accused of raping a female colleague who was serving on the Regional Democratic Council.

15

monDAY, febrUARY 26, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

VOX POPULI

What the people say

I SAY...

What are your thoughts on the swift action taken by members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to tackle the carjacking ring?

Grace Hutson

Theodore Adams

Personally, I think that the Guyana Police Force is being more efficient when it comes to tackling such incidents. The job they’ve been doing is admirable and I expect more from them in the future.

I applaud them for a thorough investigation and the successful action to quash the carjacking ring.

I was puzzled with why it took so long to get leads on so many cars disappearing for months, but I guess they took their time to ensure they caught the right people. Sorry for the losses of the victims and kudos to the Crime Chief and Police Force.

Tandita Archer

Avril Samuels

“Firstly we must say thank you to the members of the Guyana Police Force for their stance and efforts towards tackling this crucial matter. It’s pleasing to see they are taking this matter by the horns and being on top of it so that car owners can feel much safer. However, us as car owners should be more on the alert and also properly lock up our vehicles. Also prompt reports to the Police stations and the Police must also be ready to respond at a rapid pace to apprehend these criminals.”

Lester Glenn

“It’s about time. Well these things have been going on for quite a while, but finally the Police are doing their job. I believe that this action taken will ease or stop the carjacking.”

Hartley Marks

The previous Administration was in cahoots with the underworld enterprise from 2002 straight up to the demise of that Administration, but now the status quo is totally different, not in its entirety but definitely more effective and unfettered by corrupt politician in that Administration.

Not saying they are no saints in this admin but pretty much more transparent when being criticised.

Automatically a tentacle of effectiveness has been created with all the other agencies, particularly the one that your rubric base on.

Corruption is like cancer; when the head is cancerous, metastasis take place. That used too happen vastly within the previous admin but hopefully we are seeing some erosion with this Administration.

Althea Bidder

I thought of commending them on their adamancy and persistence towards putting a dent on the carjacking spree. It’s the kind of persistence that each unit within the Force should put into every crime, which would moreover decrease the crime rate in Guyana, so kudos to the Guyana Police Force.

The Guyana Police Force must be given praise where praise is due. It is sad though that former members of the said Force were the ones committing the acts of carjackings, thus staining the Force’s name. They must be punished. I congratulate the Force and hope they can work just as swiftly to carryout out their duties in other aspects.

Shaunell Wilson

I must commend them for a job well done. The only heartbreaking thing is that the victims are now left without their vehicles but at least they will get justice.

Prakash Harricharran

It’s great that the Guyana Police Force has tackled the carjacking ring and is trying to bring the perpetrators to justice now. I’m happy with the swift actions taken by the Force and hopefully, they can keep up the good work they’re doing.

Natasha Azeez

“I’m pleased that the Police Force is retrieving the motor vehicles which were allegedly stolen. I wish the Police Force the best in continuing to bring a sense of relief and justice to the victims. The perpetrators should pay if they are found guilty. When an individual is robbed, the traumatic experience lives within them forever. Some victims go through great turmoil after such a tragedy and sometimes they just endure it. Some people may have lost confidence in Guyana’s Police Force because of all the negativity portrayed; however with continuous revelations and prompt response and discoveries, i would like to think that some amount of confidence is being restored.”

16

guyanatimesgy.com

monDAY, February 26, 2018

Regional

Grenada’s PM poised to win Russian spy ship in T&T waters an unprecedented 5th term T

P

olling data and reports on the ground are suggesting that Dr Keith Mitchell, now in his fourth term as Prime Minister of Grenada, is poised to win his fifth term as Head of State.

Mitchell, in a series of well attended rallies, with throngs of supporters, is confident in his campaign to lead the small island nation into another political term.

In a series of releases that dealt with relating to an ongoing dispute with the local utility Grenlec, and also the announcement of a deal struck with the civil service over a long standing issue regarding to pensions, Mitchell claims to be pressing ahead with the development of Grenada for the people of Grenada.

Mitchell also announced at a recent rally that a priority of his party, should it be re-elected to government in the March 13 polls, will be

Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell

the setting up of a national health insurance scheme.

While the owners of a 50 per cent shareholding in Grenlec have again denied claims by Mitchell alleging interference in local politics, no details or documents have been released to the public on the matter of the civil service pension’s agreement.

The Grenadian

National Health Insurance Secretariat was launched in November 2017 and, while registration was reported to have started in August 2017, no further indicators have been presented to the public as to the number of registrants and no further update on the National Health Strategy 2016-2025 has been made public. (Excerpt

from Caribbean News Now)

Japan strengthens Barbados’ emergency efforts

E

quipment and vehicles valued at Bds$1.8 million donated by the Government of Japan will help Barbados enhance its disaster management and relief efforts.

On Friday, His Excellency Teruhiko Shinada, Ambassador of Japan to Barbados, presented Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite with two rescue vehicles, one fire service vehicle, one ambulance as well as tents, tarpaulin sheets, waterproof footwear known as waders, megaphones, lighting apparatus and generators. Storage

bins for these tools were also provided for each of the island’s 11 parishes.

During the handing over ceremony held at the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), Ambassador Shinada said that this aid is intended to reinforce disaster preparedness in Barbados and to strengthen the resilience of Barbadian society in the face of natural disasters.

“My country Japan, having suffered for centuries from the onslaught of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, tsunamis and other coastal hazards, has developed significant

know-how and technology to overcome the challenges which natural disasters are sure to bring. This time we are eager to share our long-standing experience and knowledge with our friends, the people of Barbados.

Expressing his gratitude to the Government of Japan, Brathwaite noted that the relationship between the two countries has accelerated in recent years. He emphasised that the $1.8 million donation is significant and will be put to good use across the various ministries, including the parishes. (Excerpt from Barbados Advocate)

PAHO, OAS renew agreement to cooperate on drug problem in the Caribbean

T

he Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the Organisation of American States (OAS) have renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which they will work together – employing a public health perspective – to improve the capacity of the Caribbean and other countries to respond to the needs of people affected by the drug problem.

An estimated one in 20 people, ages 15 to 64 – some 250 million people – consumed at least one drug (opiates, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine-type stimulants or psychoactive substances not prescribed by a physician) in 2014, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s World Drug Report 2016.

The use of psychoactive substances has been recognized as an important pub-

he Russian intelligence-gathering vessel Viktor Leonov returned to Trinidad for a second time this year and was docked near the Hyatt on Saturday. The vessel was expected to depart on Sunday.

When the Sunday Guardian visited the dock before noon, about 15 of the ship’s crew in brown uniforms were at the stern of the ship on their down time, smoking and using their cellphones. An officer in camouflaged fatigues was talking with one of the ship’s officers while another interacted with the crew.

There were also two T&T Coast Guard vessels – the TTS Gaspar Grande and the TTS Carli Bay – moored near the Femmes du Chalet Breakfast Shed area.

The Viktor Leonov departed T&T on the morning of January 15 after spending five days. Many people have been asking what the ship is doing in Trinidad and its purpose. The 300 foot-long ship is armed with anti-aircraft missiles. The Vishnya or Meridian-class intelligence ship, which has a crew of around 200, went into service in the Black Sea in 1988 before it was transferred seven years later to

A rear view of the Russian intelligence-gathering vessel Viktor Leonov docked near the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain on Saturday

the Northern Fleet, according to Russian media.

Meanwhile, Marc De Verteuil who tracks American military aircraft in T&T said that a US military C-32B special ops aircraft, call sign NaRK73, landed at Piarco Airport on Saturday.

De Verteuil said there was a USAF C146A Wolfhound (military deriva-

tive of the Do 328) that regularly made visits to Piarco and that plane is used primarily by special ops. He said it was clear that foreign intelligence services were operating here because of what he can only presume was a very serious threat.

The US armed forces usually deploy ships and aircraft to shadow the Russian spy ship. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

Washington Prado Álava: Colombia extradites top drug suspect to US

A

man accused of smuggling more than 250 tonnes of cocaine over the past decade has been extradited to the US from Colombia.

Prosecutors say Washington Prado Álava, an Ecuadorean national, was a drug lord with operations across the Americas.

He is also accused of ordering the murders of judges, prosecutors and police officers in Ecuador.

Prado Álava was known in Colombia as Ecuador’s Pablo Escobar, the infamous Medellín Cartel leader

killed in 1993.

In Colombia, he tried to join the ranks of the FARC leftist rebel group before it signed a peace agreement in 2016. The Colombian prosecutors say his intention was to take advantage of a transitional justice system, which was agreed between the Government and the FARC to deal with crimes committed by the rebels during five decades of conflict.

Prado Álava allegedly operated in Ecuador and on Colombia’s Pacific coast.

Prosecutors said his fleet

of speedboats was used to make regular cocaine deliveries to Central America and Mexico, and, from there, the drugs were shipped over the border into the US. Prado Álava was arrested in April 2017 as he travelled to visit family in the Colombian city of Cali.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency provided the Colombian authorities with key intelligence that led to his arrest and that of three other alleged gang members. (Excerpt from BBC

News)

Trinidad Govt files lawsuit as sea bridge controversy continues lic health problem in the Americas, including the Caribbean, contributing significantly to the burden of premature deaths and disability, PAHO said.

It said the agreement lays out collaboration on policies and programs as part of a comprehensive approach to drug problems, including promotion of structured information systems, facilitation of access to integrated healthcare services, training of human resources, promotion of research, and diffusion of sci-

entific knowledge on the subject.

Under the agreement, PAHO and the OAS will also support countries in the Americas in complying with the recommendations of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 2016), which highlight the need for prevention and treatment programs, strengthening human resources, and ensuring respect for rights and access to controlled medications. (Excerpt from

Jamaica Observer)

T

he Trinidad and Tobago Government has filed a lawsuit against the broker for Super-Fast Galicia Intercontinental Shipping alleging that it broke a contract to provide services on the sea bridge between the two islands.

Minister in the Office of the Attorney General, Stuart Young, told Parliament on Friday that the Keith Rowley Government would be seeking damages as a result of the decision to pull the vessel.

“I want them to tell the population again, how the

Galicia was procured, who is it that procured the Galicia who was paid for procurement of the Galicia,” Young told legislators, adding that Attorney General Faris Al Rawai, who filed the lawsuit earlier this week, has indicated that there is further action to come out of the Galicia transactions.

Last April, the owners of the Galicia withdrew its service on the sea bridge which it had operated since 2014.

Young told Parliament that the Government had discovered a “secret room” at a state-agency where people employed by the former

Administration were working on laptops overtime to “backfill” documentation.

He said that investigators there were being assisted foreign allies and that legal actions had commenced in New York and Miami.

But former Housing Minister, Dr Roodal Moonilal said while Government has spoken of extortion and bacchanal with the Galicia, there were still many unanswered questions regarding a replacement and predicted that taxpayers would have to meet legal bills of up to TT$100 million. (Excerpt from

Nation News)

monDAY, February 26, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

17

Around the World

China sets stage for Xi to Boy, 12, dies after falling from cliff in French stay in office indefinitely ski resort of Avoriaz

C

hina’s ruling Communist Party on Sunday set the stage for President Xi Jinping to stay in office indefinitely, with a proposal to remove a constitutional clause limiting presidential service to just two terms in office.

Since taking office more than five years ago, Xi has overseen a radical shake-up of the party, including taking down top leaders once thought untouchable as part of his popular war on deep-rooted corruption.

Sunday’s announcement, carried by state news agency Xinhua, gave few details. It said the proposal had been made by the party’s Central

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the first meeting of the French-Chinese business council in Beijing, China, January 9, 2018

Committee, the largest of its elite ruling bodies. The proposal also covers the vice president position.

Xi, 64, is currently re-

quired by China’s constitution to step down as president after two five-year terms. Nearing the end of his first term, he will be formal-

ly elected to a second at the annual meeting of China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament opening on March 5.

There is no limit on his tenure as the party and military chief, though a maximum 10-year term is the norm. He began his second term as head of the party and military in October at the end of a party congress held once every five years.

There has been persistent speculation that Xi wants to stay on in office past the customary two fiveyear terms.

The October party congress ended without appointing a clear eventual successor for Xi. (Excerpt from Reuters)

A

12-year-old boy has died after falling off a cliff near the ski resort of Avoriaz in the French Alps. The boy and his 10-year-old brother, who were on a skiing holiday, went down a mountain and strayed off-piste for an unknown reason on Saturday.

They appear to have got lost, removed their skis and entered a forest, before falling off a 150 metre (500 foot) cliff.

The two were found by rescuers overnight. The elder boy died but his younger brother survived. According to LCI news website, the two French boys went up a ski lift with their father and sister on Saturday afternoon.

The father decided to take his six-year-old daughter down a slope and allowed the boys to return on their own, it added. When they failed to return to the resort, the father alerted Police.

Rescuers eventually found the boys’ skis by the side of a mountain road.

Footsteps in the snow led them to a nearby forest, and a cliff hidden by the trees.

The two boys were found at the bottom, around 04:00 local time. The elder died of his injuries. His brother’s fall was slowed by tree branches, Stéphane Bozon of the Police mountain unit told Le Parisien newspaper.

The boy is being treated for shock and a broken pelvis.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Villagers flee as India, Pakistan Iraq court sentences 16 Turkish trade heavy border fire women to death for joining IS

H

undreds of residents have fled their homes along the border following an escalation of cross-border attacks between India and Pakistan.

Nasir Ahmad Naqash, Deputy Commissioner of northern Baramulla district, told Al Jazeera ceasefire violations have intensified in Uri sector first time in 15 years, as the area has been largely peaceful since the 2003 truce signed by the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals.

“More than 1000 villagers have fled their homes due to the shelling. Many people have been provided shelter in the campus by the government while others have gone to live with their relatives,” Naqash said.

Residents said Churunda, Silikot, and Tilawari villages

A

Border residents in India-administered Kashmir have migrated to makeshift shelters as India and Pakistan trade heavy fire

along the border have been most affected by the latest violence. Tension between India and Pakistan intensified after an attack on an army base in Sunjuwan area in Jammu city.

In the attack, that took place earlier this month, seven soldiers were killed as India blamed Pakistan for the assault.

Following the attack, Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, warned Pakistan it “will pay” for its “misadventure”.

The 2003 ceasefire agreement between the two archrivals is in tatters as nearly 100 people, including security forces, have been killed in the past three years on the Indian side. (Excerpt from Al

Jazeera)

Nigeria says 110 girls unaccounted for after Boko Haram attack

O

ne hundred and ten girls are missing after an attack on a school in northeast Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram insurgents, the information ministry said on Sunday, in what may be one of the largest abductions since the Chibok kidnappings of 2014.

The Islamist militant group attained international notoriety after abducting more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok.

That case drew global atten-

tion to the insurgency and spawned high profile social media campaign Bring Back Our Girls.

Boko Haram, whose name translates as “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language widely spoken in northern Nigeria, has killed more than 20,000 people and forced two million to flee their homes in a violent insurgency that began in 2009.

President Muhammadu Buhari, the 75-year-old former military ruler elected in

2015 after vowing to crush Boko Haram, has described the disappearance of the girls after Monday’s attack in the town of Dapchi, Yobe state, as a “national disaster”.

The insurgents drove into the town of Dapchi on Monday and attacked the girls’ school, sending hundreds of students fleeing.

Some of the attackers were camouflaged, with witnesses stating that a number of students thought they were soldiers. (Excerpt from Reuters)

n Iraqi court has sentenced 16 Turkish women to death by hanging for joining Islamic State, a judiciary spokesman said on Sunday.

Iraq is conducting the trials of hundreds of foreign women who have been detained, with hundreds of their children, since August

by Iraqi forces as Islamic State strongholds crumbled.

The central criminal court issued the sentences “after it was proven they belong to the Daesh terror-

N

The US state department responded by saying nuclear disarmament must be the end goal of “any dialogue”.

“We will see if Pyongyang’s message today, that it is willing to hold talks, represents the first steps,” it said in a statement.

Pyongyang has not confirmed the offer, but it has often said it is willing to talk without any preconditions. US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka also attended the closing ceremony, but she is not expected to talk with any

en came – or were brought – from overseas to join the militants.

More than 1300 women and children surrendered to Kurdish Peshmerga in August, after Government forces expelled the jihadist group from the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar. Their numbers have since swelled to about 1700 as more foreign nationals surrendered or were captured during operations to root out the militants, according to aid officials. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Syria war: Air strikes resume hours after UN approves ceasefire

A

ir strikes by the Syrian government on a rebel-held enclave have continued despite a ceasefire resolution passed by the UN Security Council on Saturday.

Hundreds of people have died in a week of bombardment of the Eastern Ghouta enclave near the capital, Damascus.

The latest attacks include a ground offensive that began hours after the UN urged a 30-day truce “without delay”. On Sunday, France and Germany called on Russia to put pressure on the Syrian government to honour the ceasefire.

Speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a joint telephone conver-

North Korea willing to hold talks with US, says South Korea orth Korea is willing to hold talks with the US, South Korea says. The announcement came after Gen Kim Yongchol met South Korean President Moon Jae-in before the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

ist group and after they confessed to marrying Daesh elements or providing members of the group with logistical aid or helping them carry out terrorist attacks,” said Judge Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, referring to the militant group using an Arabic acronym.

All the verdicts are subject to appeal, he told Reuters. Thousands of foreigners have fought on behalf of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since at least 2014. Many foreign wom-

North Koreans, even though she sat a few feet from Gen Kim at the Olympic Stadium.

The Korean peninsula has been divided since the 1950-53 war and the two sides have never signed a peace treaty. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Barrel bombs and shells have been dropped on the area, where some 393,000 people remain trapped

sation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have asked for help with implementing the UN resolution.

The UN resolution was agreed to allow for aid deliveries and medical evacuations, but operations against the biggest jihadist rebel groups are not covered by the truce.

The region is the last major rebel-held area near the capital Damascus.

Government air strikes took place in the rebel enclave soon after the resolution

was agreed in New York, although at far lower level than in previous days.

At least three people are reported to have died in the latest attacks, while one rebel group in the Eastern Ghouta said it had killed a number of government soldiers.

The Syrian American Medical Society, a relief organisation, told the BBC that one of its hospitals in the area has received patients suffering from symptoms that indicate a chemical attack. It said one child has died. (Excerpt from BBC News)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

monDAY, February 26, 2018

ARCHIE

Put responsibilities you took on behind you and cover (March 21your back when dealing with April 19) a critical or negative person looking for an excuse to make you look bad.

ARIES

Take on only what you TAURUS can handle. If someone tries (April 20- to intervene or put too many May 20) demands on you, push back.

Learn from experience and say no to controlling individuals.

dilbert

Stay on top of technology GEMINI (May 21- and other breakthroughs that June 20) can help you advance. Make changes that will give you an edge and keep you ahead of any competition you encounter.

Keep tabs on personal records and documentation.

(June 21- Enforce updates before licensJuly 22) es or benefits have a chance to lapse. Staying on top of matters will be necessary.

CANCER

Peanuts

Take hold of any situation LEO you face and do your best to (July 23- make changes that will enAug. 22) courage success. A positive attitude and willingness to change will put you in a leadership position.

Taking care of other peoVIRGO ple’s affairs can be taxing, but (Aug. 23if you do so out of love, you Sept. 22) will get something very special in return for your time and effort.

Calvin and Hobbes

Charm and diplomacy will LIBRA (Sept. 23- help you deal with a difficult Oct. 23) individual who tends to use aggressive and demanding behavior. Offer incentives, but don’t give in.

WORD GAME

SUDOKU

TODAY’S WORD – IMMERSES (IMMERSES: ih-MERS-ez: Covers completely in liquid; submerges.)

Average mark 16 words Time limit 30 minutes Can you find 21 or more words in IMMERSES? The list will be published tomorrow.

You’ll own the moment SAGITTARIUS and stand out if you follow (Nov. 23through with your plans and Dec. 21) promises. Engage in talks that will generate positive changes. A personal or physical change is encouraged.

SATURDAY’S WORD – BLUNDERS bend bled blend bluer blues blur bred bund bundle bundler burden burl burn

burse bused lend lens lues lune lure under used user nude nurse drub

druse duel dues dulse dune rebus rend ruble rude rued rule rune ruse

send sled slub slue slur snub sued suer surd sure sunder

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” is not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. To contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe, write to Word Game, Kathleen Saxe, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

An exaggerated version SCORPIO of what’s going on can be ex(Oct. 24pected.

Listen to what othNov. 22) ers have to say, and decide whether to use or pass along the information you receive.

solution for Puzzle

Emotional matters will CAPRICORN (Dec. 22- escalate, pushing you to Jan. 19) make a premature change or decision. Stop and consider the people involved or the consequences of your actions before moving forward.

An emotional leap of faith AQUARIUS can lead to trouble. Question (Jan. 20what’s being asked of you Feb. 19) before you agree to get involved, or someone will take advantage of you.

PISCES A suggestion will grab (Feb. 20- your attention. Find out more March 20) before you sign up for something that sounds too good to be true. Don’t spend money you don’t have.

monDAY, february 26, 2018

19

Lukaku, Lingard too much for Chelsea F

ormer Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku scored and then created the winning goal against his old team at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The win put United back in second place in the Premier League, still 13 points behind neighbours Manchester City, while Chelsea drop below Tottenham into fifth place.

The win was just about merited after a much improved second- half performance by Jose Mourinho’s side.

Chelsea were the brighter team early on and Alvaro Morata, brought back into the side, volleyed against the bar after only four min-

utes.

The Londoners deserved the lead that Willian gave them after 31 minutes, taking Eden Hazard’s pass and beating David de Gea at his near post.

As United improved, Lukaku belied his reputation for not scoring against the big clubs by equalising before halftime, then crossed perfectly for substitute Jesse Lingard to head the winner in the 75th minute.

Each manager had brought an expensive signing back into their starting XI with Morata replacing Pedro for Chelsea and United’s record signing Paul Pogba picked, al-

though youngster Scott McTominay kept his place.

Morata was more influential initially, hitting the crossbar from Marcos Alonso’s volleyed cross.

Alexis Sanchez failed to convert a good chance for United, who fell behind four minutes later.

Willian, the scorer against Barcelona in midweek, led a break from his own half and took Hazard’s pass before a shot that De Gea should have done better with.

In the second half the goalkeeper was also troubled by drives from Danny Drinkwater and Willian that bounced in front of him.

Jesse Lingard headed the winner in the 75th minute

Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois was more impressive in saving a spectacular effort from Lukaku from a pass by Sanchez.

United were getting on top and Lingard had been

on for only a few minutes when he headed in a perfect curling cross from the right

by Lukaku, whose performance added to Chelsea’s frustration at not having secured his return from

Everton in the close-season.

Their mood was not improved when Hazard had to come off and Morata’s late effort was ruled out for offside by the narrowest of margins. (Reuters)

South Korea brings curtain Korda wins title down on “Peace Games” on return from jaw surgery

S

outh Korea brought the curtain down on its “Peace Games” on Sunday, with winter sports athletes dancing and singing together at a vibrant closing ceremony, though there was little warmth between dignitaries from the United States and North Korea. South Korea President Moon Jae-in, who hopes to use these Games as an opportunity to engage with the North, warmly greeted U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka before offering a brief handshake to North Korean delegation leader Kim Yong Chol.

Despite the cool body language, Moon’s efforts may be bearing fruit. The South’s presidential office said on Sunday that members of the North Korean delegation had expressed the North’s openness to talks with the United States.

Trump sat front and center, beside Moon’s wife, while North Korea’s Kim was seated a row behind, decked out in a long black jacket and furry hat. Sitting two seats along from him was General Vincent Brooks, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea.

Kim’s appearance at the closing ceremony has been greeted with outrage by some in South Korea. The former North Korean intelligence chief is accused of having been behind a deadly 2010 attack on a South Korean warship.

South Korean protesters tried to block Kim’s motorcade to the closing ceremony earlier in the day.

Despite the divisions and distrust between the two Koreas, they agreed to have their athletes march together at both the opening and closing ceremonies under a banner of unification. They also fielded a unified women’s ice hockey team.

International Olympic Committee (IOC)

Fireworks explode as artistes perform during the closing ceremony

President Thomas Bach paid tribute to the athletes, saying they were an example to the world.

“You have shown how sport brings people together in our fragile world; you have shown how sport builds bridges”, he said. ”The IOC will continue this Olympic dialogue, even after we extinguish the Olympic flame.

“In this, we are driven by our faith in the future.”

During his speech, Bach invited several athletes to join him on stage, including South Korea’s gold medalist skeleton rider Yun Sung-bin, North Korean figure skater Ryom Tae Ok, American skier Lindsey Vonn and Tongan flag carrier Pita Taufatofua.

Bach signed off by calling upon the youth of the world to gather in Beijing in four years’ time for the 2022 Winter Games.

With the ceremony showcasing cutting-

edge South Korean technology and a remarkable drone show that dotted out the image of the Games mascot Soohorang, a white tiger, in the night sky, athletes marched into the stadium, many wearing their medals.

The Russian flag, absent at the opening ceremony, was again nowhere to be seen after the IOC decided not to lift the suspension on their country.

It was a bitter-sweet day for Russian athletes, who after savoring the high of winning a nail-biting men’s ice hockey final on Sunday then had to march without their flag.

Russians were forced to compete as neutral athletes at Pyeongchang, an IOC punishment for years of drug scandals involving allegations that Russia ran a systematic, state-backed drug-cheating program. (Reuters)

A

Jessica Korda had corrective surgery on her jaw in December

merican Jessica Korda shot a five-under-par 67 in the final round to win the LPGA Thailand and complete a remarkable recovery from jaw surgery.

The 24-year-old had an operation in December that involved breaking her nose and jaw in five places to correct an overbite which had caused headaches.

She led from the first round, finishing four shots ahead of Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn and the USA’s Lexi Thompson.

England’s Charley Hull carded a 66 to finish on 13 under.

According to reports, Korda still has 27 screws in her face

after a three-hour operation that meant she had to eat via a syringe for weeks.

But despite suffering with some numbness in her face, she completed her season debut with a cumulative course record 25 under to cruise to a fifth LPGA Tour title.

The six birdies sunk in her final round also included a 25foot putt on the 17th.

“I can’t believe it. Today was such a blur - I was just trying to make birdies. I tried to relax, but I was nervous,” Korda told the LPGA website.

“This tournament was my first event in my rookie year.

I played really, really well this week.” (BBC)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

monDAY, february 26, 2018

Taylor, Santner spoil Stokes' comeback

B

to give Woakes a September.

Jason Roy smashed Ish Sodhi the returning Stokes top-edged s e c o n d Taylor, who passed the 7,000- for a huge six two balls after being Santner to Taylor after Root wicket, but run mark for the Black Caps with dropped by the spinner, but the brought up his half-century by the composed Taylor his 18th ODI hundred, and Tom dangerous opener fell for 49 when guiding Colin de Grandhomme and Latham got them Latham (79) came to the rescue Santner (2-54) cleaned him up with to the third- m a n out of the mire. as the pair produced a stand an arm ball to end a second-wicket A cut for four took of 178 after New Taylor to another halfZealand were century and Latham reduced to 27-3. was also raising his bat England New Zealand innings England innings after being put down boundary. looked set to (target 285 from 50 overs) J Roy b Santner 49 T h e

by Buttler down the leg end the hosts' J Bairstow c Taylor b Boult 4 M Guptill c Stokes b Woakes 13 side off Adil Rashid on b r u t a l run of eight J Root b Munro 71 C Munro c Buttler b Woakes 6 47.

B u t t l e r consecutive E Morgan c Southee b Sodhi 8 K Williamson c Buttler d i s h e d ODI wins 8 B Stokes c Taylor b Santner 12 b Willey out more w h e n J Buttler run out Southee 79 R Taylor st Buttler b Rashid 113 treatment Taylor fell 79 M Ali c Guptill b Sodhi 28 T Latham c Root b Stokes for 113 Mitchell Santner struck H Nicholls c Roy b Curran 0 C Woakes c&b Trent Boult 11 after Stokes Adil Rashid for consecutive C de Grandhomme c Buttler D Willey not out 11 (2-43) struck sixes (© Getty Images) 2 Extras (1b 4lb 0nb 0pen 6w) 11 b Stokes twice, but M Santner not out 45 Total (50 overs) 284-8 to Sodhi, hitting him for Stokes ended the long T Southee not out 8 Fall of Wickets : 1-10 Bairstow, three consecutive sixes, partnership by drawing a false shot Extras (0b 5lb 0nb 0pen 8w) 13 2-89 Roy, 3-104 Morgan, 4-139 and added another two from Latham and struck again to Stokes, 5-181 Root, 6-228 Ali, Total (49.2 overs) 287-7 maximums late in the remove de Grandhomme, leaving 7-253 Woakes, 8-284 Buttler Fall of Wickets: 1-6 Munro, innings after Colin Munro New Zealand on 215-6 in the 42nd Did Not Bat: T Curran, A Rashid 2-27 Williamson, 3-27 bowled Root, while over.

Guptill, 4-205 Latham, Bowling: Southee 10-1-47-0, Taylor had yet another hundred Moeen Ali added a brisk 5-206 Nicholls, 6-215 de Boult 10-0-64-2, Santner 1028. off 109 balls, but was stumped Santner Grandhomme, 7-244 Taylor 0-54-2, C de Grandhomme 4-0-20-0, Sodhi 10-0Munro was gone charging at Rashid in an excellent (45 not out Did Not Bat : I Sodhi,T Boult 63-2, Munro 6-031-1 in Woakes' first over 46th over and with the game in from 27) hit Chris Bowling: Willey 6-1-26-1, when he charged down the balance, Santner hit England's Woakes for his Woakes 8.2-0-47-2, Curran 10-0-65-1, Stokes 8-0-43the track and edged leg-spinner for back-to-back sixes fourth six to seal the 2, Ali 5-0-30-0, Rashid 10behind, then David Willey in the 48th over to swing it in New win with four balls 0-55-1, Root 2-0-16-0 was rewarded for an Zealand's favour. to spare in a thrilling With only nine needed from the impressive opening spell start to the fivewith the big wicket of the last over, Santner eased the nerves match series. with a streaky boundary and the leftstand of 79 with Root after Jonny captain Williamson for only eight.

Ben Stokes broke the fourthThe Black Caps were in all sorts hander hit another towering six off Bairstow fell early on. wicket stand between Ross Taylor Captain Eoin Morgan failed of trouble at 27-3 after Stokes took a Woakes to finish it in style. (Sportsmax) and Tom Latham (© Getty Images) and England were 139-4 when sharp catch offered by Martin Guptill

en Stokes took two wickets on his England comeback, but Ross Taylor's hundred and a Mitchell Santner blitz gave New Zealand victory.

Mitchell Santner blasted New Zealand to a three-wicket victory in the first one-day international after Ross Taylor crafted a magnificent century to spoil Ben Stokes' England comeback at Seddon Park.

Joe Root made 71 and Jos Butter's brilliant 79 from only 65 balls got England up to 284-8 in Hamilton, Stokes falling for only 12 in his first international appearance since being arrested following a n incident i n Bristol last

SCOREBOARD

Test cricket has ‘a lot to worry about’ – Morgan E oin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, believes the time has passed to do something significant to secure the future of Test cricket particularly in those nations where the format is already a tougher sell.

Debates around the relevance of the longest format have become a regular occurrence, mirroring the rise of T20 leagues around the world, with the latest example of changing priorities being the decisions of Adil Rashid and Alex Hales to effectively end their Test careers by signing whiteball only contracts for their counties. Although both were outside the current England Test setup it was not beyond them, especially in Rashid’s case, to earn a recall but he admitted his heart was no longer in the first-class game.

While the decisions of two players who see their future in the white-ball g a m e don’t have to mean doom for Test cricket, it feels as though t h e game has come to a tipping

point with the global calendar reaching meltdown and a club v country battle starting to emerge.

Morgan played the last of his 16 Test six years ago and has long-since put the format out of his mind as he has focused on forging his whiteball career, firstly in T20 and latterly pioneering England’s one-day resurgence, but as an international captain his views will carry weight.

“Test match cricket has had a lot to worry about for quite a while now,” he said. “If something was going to be done about it, it probably should have been done already. There are still, I suppose, different ideas being thrown around but actually giving priority to Test matches is sort of a luxury now for the bigger countries around the world. For o t h er countries T20 franchise cricket takes priority.”

Morgan’s comments follow on from Moeen Ali voicing his concerns

about the future of Tests, although the evidence he cited of poor crowds in the recent Ashes didn’t stack up against the reality o f

the numbers which attended the matches.

There have been attempts to breathe new life into Tests with the advent of floodlit matches, in an effort to entice crowds back at more viewing-friendly hours outside of the working day, and the Test Championship - part of the new Future Tours Programme - which has finally come to fruition in a bid to provide context and will begin in 2019, although there is still plenty of time for cracks to emerge in that plan. Morgan, however, said that ultimately the survival of Test cricket will come down to one thing: money.

“The best ideas probably being bandied around are putting most revenue behind the match appearances or actual prize money towards Test match cricket so there’s no [influence] in what format people choose simply because of the money they might make. It’s all down to how good they are at that particular format.”

On the decision taken by Hales and Rashid, Morgan was unsurprisingly supportive. “I think it’s a really good decision for those individuals.

Every individual is different, they see their future and their pathway changing all the time, and it’s okay to be able to change it.

“A lot of people actually are forced into a position to play one or two formats, which I think is wrong because it’s their own career, it’s their own future, they need to take hold of it and make the most of it while they can. And at the moment that’s taking a backward step from red-ball cricket and putting white-ball cricket at the forefront of their career path for now, I think is the right one because they believe it’s the right one.” (Cricinfo)

Eoin Morgan believes the time has passed to do something significant to secure the future of Test cricket

Rashid Khan rises to the top of the T20 charts

Rashid Khan

A

fghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan has risen to the top of the ICC’s rankings for T20I bowlers, to go with his joint No. 1 status in the ODI charts.

Rashid claimed top spot in the T20 lists after taking five wickets at an average of 8.40 and economy of 5.25 in two matches against Zimbabwe in Sharjah.

New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi is in second place, 59 points behind Rashid’s tally of 759.

There were changes at the top of the charts for T20I batsmen and all-rounders as well. New Zealand’s Colin Munro became the top ranked T20I batsman once again, after scoring 176 runs at a strike rate of nearly 210 in the Trans-Tasman Tri-nation Series against Australia and England. And Australia’s Glenn Maxwell became the No. 1 T20I all-rounder for the third time after scoring 233 runs and taking three wickets in the same tournament. (Cricinfo)

CLASSIFIED ADS monDAY, february 26, 2018 | www.guyanatimesgy.com

ACCOMMODATIONS COSMETOLOGY – FULL COURSE $100,000. TECHNICIAN $40,000.

Aracari Salon & Spa, WBD 264-3312, 600-3927 Conferences & Retreats – Full Service: Hotel, Catering & Facilities. Aracari Resort WBD – 264-2946 Alex Wayne Weddings & Anniversaries: Rental or Full Service: Banquet Hall & Catering.

Aracari Resort WBD – 264-2946 Alex Wayne Aracari Hotel, WBD (Near Harbor Bridge) – All Modern Amenities – Rates from $25. Phone 264-2946-8

EDUCATION Electronic classes beginning 6th March. Register early, limited spaces. Abdul Electronics. Tel: 226-6551/ 225-0391.

Jean offers courses in dress-making, curtain designs, floral arrangement, cake decorating 670-2653/ 638-8449

FOR SALE For Sale 1 Honda Pc 50 motorcycle 4-stroke engine. Good condition Come see and offer. Call: 609-0741

JOB OPENING Administrative Assistant for Pro business Builders, we are looking for a highly motivated person to assist a corporate executive and be a part of our team. Your spoken and written English are superb. Send resume to jannessa. kalloo@probusinessbuilders.com

property for sale Lot 15 Public Road, #2 Village, West Coast Berbice. 49ft x 10,314ft Length. $20M Neg. Contact # 6487109 or 686-4818

SERVICES Shalom Enterprise. Lot 2 Croal Street, Stabroek. Obtain an international driving permit covering 131 countries.

Tel: 227-3835, 644-2052. Join us on Facebook FIRST AID/CPR AND HOME NURSING TRAINING COURSES. To enroll: St. John Ambulance Brigade. Call 2259082 or visit 110 Cowan Street Computer Services. Brian Moe @6423543. Computer technician: FB/Brian.

Moe.165/Home and office visits are your comfort!!

A reputable businessman requests the sum of 5million dollars for the period of 6mths.better interest than the bank guarateed..safe and trustworthy..call or text 641-7074

spirituality & ASTROLOGY Spiritual healing: remove blockages, voodoo, excurse, black magic, spell, business, upliftment, pregnancy, love & marriage problems, clearance, etc.

Contact: 694-9569 or 683-5228 Sri Guru Raghavendra Astrology.

Master: VEERA BHADRA. Specialized in: PALM, FACE, PATRA READING & HOROSCOPE BOOK OPENING. An expert in clearing negativity in life by using ancient prayer methods. Gives complete solution to your problems like: love, children, finance, job, marriage, finance and education. Meet him once to get guidance. All religions are welcome. Private and confidential. Tel: 695-9805 & 652-6427.

taxi services GR Taxi, 24 hours. Phone: 225-7878, 219-5000 or 227-2100

VACANCIES VACANCIES. House Keeper 624-0033 - Cook 624-0033 - Customer Service Assistant 624-0033 - Porter 680-3863 - Pump Attendant 680-3863

WANTED One Bartender to work at a hotel and bar on the Essequibo Coast.

Accommodation provided. Contact# 500-5923 or 646-3676.

Hotel Manager to work at a hotel and bar on the Essequibo Coast.

Must have experience in hotel management. Accommodation provided. Contact# 500-5923 or 646-3676.

Reggae Boyz head coach gives JFF a month to sort salary issue

J

amaica Football Federation President Michael Ricketts said he has no beef with Reggae Boyz head coach Theodore Whitmore over how much the coach is being paid. The president said that contrary to some reports in the local media, he and the head coach are on good terms and that the Reggae Boyz head coach has given him a month to resolve the salary situation.

There have been reports that Whitmore and the JFF president have been at loggerheads over how much the former was being paid when compared to previous head coaches who were hired from overseas. Some media outlets have suggested that the disparity between wage packages has led to disharmony between the coach and the JFF. However, Ricketts said those reports are simply not true.

We had an extended discussion yesterday (Thursday) and I want to make it clear that the very first words that Mr Whitmore said were that ‘my meeting with you Mr President has nothing to do with money.’

“For the media persons who have been getting it all wrong, we have a wonderful relationship with Whitmore,” Ricketts said.

sports

21

“Like I said, we had a meeting that lasted for close to three hours and at the end of it, his pronouncements were, ‘I am giving you, Mr President, another month to source where my increase in salary will be coming from. I know you have been having discussions with some agencies and some private sector companies, I will speak with you again as it relates to me salary one month from now.’” Ricketts disclosed, concluding that despite the salary issue, the relationship between the two has remained solid.

“I want to make it clear and for those persons who have misled the Jamaican people about issues with Whitmore and the JFF, this president and this new JFF, we have no issue at all with Coach W h i t m o r e .”

(Sportsmax)

Reggae Boyz head coach Theodore Whitmore

Barca lose Semedo

for 5 weeks B

arcelona will be without full back Nelson Semedo until the start of April after the Portuguese was diagnosed with a hamstring injury, the La Liga leaders said in a statement on Sunday. Semedo, a 30.5-million-euro (27 million pounds) signing from Benfica last July, has been in and out of the team due to competition from Sergi Roberto and made his 11th league start in the 6-1 thrashing of Girona on Saturday but was forced off in the 86th minute.

“The club’s medical services department has confirmed that first-team player Nelson Semedo has suffered an injury to his left hamstring. Further testing carried out has indicated that he will be out for approximately five

weeks,” said a statement released by

Barcelona.

Semedo has been ruled out of the team’s next Liga games against Las Palmas, second-placed Atletico Madrid, Malaga and Athletic Bilbao as well as their Champions League last-16 second-leg game with Chelsea on March 14. (Reuters)

Kohli rested for T20 tri-nation series V irat Kohli and MS Dhoni have been rested from the Nidahas Trophy, a T20I tri-nation series in Sri Lanka in March, also involving Bangladesh.

Rohit Sharma was named stand-in captain of India’s 15-man squad, with Shikhar Dhawan his deputy.

India also rested several other limited-overs regulars in fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav and allrounder Hardik Pandya.

Kuldeep had missed the three T20Is in South Africa with an injury.

The five new inclusions in the squad were wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, allrounders Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar, batsman Deepak Hooda and fast bowler Mohammad Siraj. “We’ve kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalising the team for Nidahas Trophy,” chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said. “The high-performance team has suggested that adequate rest should be given to our fast bowlers to help improve athletic performance, maximise rest and prevent injury. MS Dhoni was not available for selection as he had requested for rest.”

India have only just fin-

ished their first tour of a long away season. Some of the rested players had extremely heavy workloads in South Africa. Pandya played every game on the tour three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is - while Kohli and Bumrah missed only one T20I each. India’s next tour is in July, when they travel to England, but their players will play the IPL in April and May, and a home Test against Afghanistan in June.

Pant returned to the side after enjoying success in India’s domestic limited-overs tournaments. He was joint top-scorer during Delhi’s title-winning campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament - in January, he smashed the second fastest T20 hundred - and made a 93ball 135 against Himachal Pradesh in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Pant had last played for India in July 2017, when he made a laboured 38 against West Indies.

Baroda’s Hooda and Tamil Nadu’s Shankar have been regulars in India A teams over the last few years. Hooda was among the top-scorers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season, making 352 runs at 50.28, while Shankar is fresh off

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have been rested from the Nidahas Trophy, a T20I tri-nation series in Sri Lanka

scores of 84 and 100. Both Hooda and Shankar have been part of India squads in the past, but neither of them is capped. Sundar and Siraj were both part of India’s team for the limited-overs games against Sri Lanka just before the South Africa tour. Siraj has had particularly good form since,

picking up three five-wicket hauls in seven 50-over matches for Hyderabad and topping the bowling chartswith 23 wickets.

The tri-nation series involves Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and begins on March 6. Each team will play the other twice, before the final on March 18.

Squad Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant (Cricinfo)

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

monDAY, february 26, 2018

Under-15 Inter-county Tournament

Malta Supreme Table Tennis Tournament

Khan, Ramraj seal emphatic win for Berbice

Bissu keeps stranglehold on Van Lange

N

Part of the intense action between Jonathon Van Lange (right) and Niron Bissu

iron Bissu for second weekend running defeated Jonathon Van Lange in a boys’ under-15 final, this time it was at the Malta Supreme Table Tennis Tournament which concluded at the Queen’s

began pressuring Bissu’s forearm and was quick to pounce and any looping balls presented.

The duo waded racquets relentlessly reaching deuce in their second set. Fitness and concentration made the

Clarkson making a return to competitive action got the better of McRae 11-4, 15-13 and 15-13 in the girls’ under-15 final.

The under-11 spoils were shared by Collin Wong who defeated Persaud 11-7 and

The winning Berbice Under-15 team along with the sponsor Dave Narine and the Vice President of GCB Fizul Bacchus (far left) and PRO of the GCB, Andy Ramnarine (far right)

D

efending U15 inter county champs Berbice produced a brilliant all round display to retain their title in Sunday’s rain-affected final versus a spirited Demerara team who went down by 35 runs.

Cricket lovers, staff and Executives of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), witnessed a thrilling finals in a reduced 25 overs game due to the weather in the GCB/ Dave West Indian Imports Under-15 Inter County tournament.

Demerara won the toss and chose to field. Shafake khan and Chandrapaul Ramraj rocked through the Berbice team bowling them out for 88 in their allotted 25 overs.

Star player Jonathan Rampersaud top scored and was looking aggressive un-

til he was caught by Taddus Lovell off of Khan’s bowling for 19, while Captain Zeynul Ramsammy and Mahendra Gopilall scored 15 each and Antwone Alexandra chipped in with 14.

Khan, who destroyed the Berbice side grabbed 4-14 while Ramraj took 3-15 and Zackary Jodah picked up 1-5.

In reply, Demerara struggle after losing two quick wickets in the first two overs with the score on 3 for 2 where both openers were bowled for without adding a score to the total.

Nicholas Rajpat came in at number three and took control of the game but could not manage with the Berbice bowling and lost his wicket to Jonathan Rampersaud who bowled him for 8 after which Romel Datterdeen

was caught for 2, while Chandrapaul Ramraj top scored with 9 trying to bring his team back into the game but failed to do so.

Isia Thorne was the leading wicket taker grabbing 3 for 18 while Jonathon Rampersaud and Budhram Lakeram took 2 -15 and 2-5 respectively, taking their team to victory retaining their title once again.

The tournament saw the leading runs scorer award going to winning skipper Ramsammy with 63 runs.

Meanwhile, Rampersaud walked away with both the Man of the Match and Most Valuable Player awards with a total of 15 wickets in the tournament, a best of 5-12 in his bowling innings and a total score of 42 runs in the tournament.

Milo Schools Football Tournament 2018

Buxton steamroll South Ruimveldt 5-0

Nevaeh Clarkson (right) looked impressive on her return to competitive action

College Auditorium on Sunday.

Their last bout at the national championships went 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-13 and 11-8.Once again there was not a difference in the proceedings as Bissu took an early lead by winning the first set 11-4 comfortably.

Van Lange with family members present and loud encouragement and advice from senior national star Shemar Britton, waged what looked to be an impressive comeback. Van Lange

difference on the final hurdle as Bissu kept his shaped and finessed his way to consecutive 15-13 sets to win the match.

Earlier, joy came for Van Lange after being pushed by the diminutive Dhanesh Persaud in the under-13 final; he overcame those challenges to win 11-13, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4 and 11-8. Under-13 girls went to Thuria Thomas who defeated the improving Nkechi McRae 9-11, 11-3, 11-9 and 11-7.

National player Nevaeh

12-10 while Jasmin Billingy won the girls’ 11-3 and 11-6 over Samara Sukhai.

Billingy and Malachi Moore had won the under-9 titles on Saturday.

The well-organised competition which came under the auspices of the Titans Table Tennis Club will have the under doubles and mixed doubles on Saturday which will be the precursor for the two-day Scotiabank tournament which caters for u-15, u-18, u-21 and B-class open.

B

uxton Youth Developers booked their spot in the roundof-sixteen by hammering South Ruimveldt Secondary 5-0 when the sixth annual Milo Schools Football Tournament continued on Sunday at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue.

Shemar Kingston smashed a hat-trick with goals in the 15th, 25th and 32nd while Shemar Singh supported with goals in the 24th and 42nd.

Queenstown Secondary motored pass inaugural winners St George’s High 4-1 on the back of braces by Joseph Hickenson (11th & 17th) and Carl Chisholm (30th &54th); Stephan Daniels scored for the Church Street unit in the 48th.

Likewise, Masters Academy continued their perfect run by edging former Champions Lodge Secondary 2-1 with the help of Calvin Peters in the 40th and an own goal ten minutes later while Nicholas Trotman netted for Lodge in the 58th.

The other match of the day saw Friendship Secondary win via walkover against Carmel Secondary.

The under-18 tournament which is a collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health under the theme “there is no excuse for violence” will continue this weekend as more teams seek to solidify their spot in the knock out stages.

Part of the action between Queenstown Secondary and St George’s High on Sunday at the Ministry of Education Ground, Carifesta Avenue

monDAY, february 26, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Green remains head of GRFU

P

23

After struggling for a quorum at the initial date on January 28, members turned up on Sunday to voice their concerns

eter Green will continue his tenure at the helm of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) for another two years after he was re-elected unopposed at the body’s Annual General Meeting and election of officer bearers on Sunday at the National Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue.

Green who in a recent interview with Guyana Times Sport had stated he was willing to step

aside from the position after being at the helm since 2013 saw no name nominated to pose a challenge.

Speaking after the election, Green explained the union will be working steadfast to improve their finances and prepare their players for upcoming engagements in August. He also warned that fellow elected members who consistently fail to attend monthly meetings will be expelled.

Meanwhile, Major Earl Edghill with 20 votes defeated Joshua Griffith (8 votes) for the position of senior vice-present, a position Griffith previously held.

Rawle Toney was elected Junior Vice-president by defeating Troy Yhip 17 votes to 10.

Petal Adams returned as General Secretary ahead of Terrance Grant after she received 24 votes compared to Grant’s four.

Ryan Gonslaves and Peter Campain will occupy the position of Treasurer and Assistant Secretary/Treasurer respectively after being unopposed; likewise was Esan Griffith for the position of Public Relations Officer.

The committee members voted in were Treiston Joseph, Telay McAlmont, Sherlock Solomon and Kevon Davids.

The new union is expected to meet next week and it understood

they will be having a fun-day at the National Park on March 4.

The retuning officer was Marcel Adonis and total of 36 members were present from active clubs Police Falcons, Yamaha Caribs, Guyana Defence Force, Pepsi Hornets and Panthers.

Notably, a motion was passed for the deliberations of the financial report be held on May 6 after the audited reported is presented. (Akeem Greene)

Solomon captures Sanjay’s Golf Classic title L Tiger Bay stun Sparta on riveting opening night

Corona Futsal Tournament

ocal pro Maurice Solomon was crowned winner of last Saturday’s Sanjay’s Jewellery Classic Golf, following his supremacy on the Lusignan Greens.

Solomon ended with a

with 36 against Persaud’s 38 on the count-back while other top performers on Saturday included: Mohanlall Dinanauth 71/6 and Parmanand Persaud 71/11. Next were Patrick Prashad 72/9, Shanella

the day’s fierce competitiveness, this tournament was won, for the first time, by a senior member of the Club”.

He ended.

Sponsor of the Classic Sanjay Persaud, owner of Sanjay’s Jewellery Store,

Back Circle kept a tight lock on Broad Street throughout the evening

S

parta Boss suffered an early upset in their title retention endeavours by suffering a painstaking loss to Tiger Bay on the high octane opening night of the Corona Futsal tournament which is collaboration with NAMILCO Wheat Gem and Hero Motorcycle.

The sizeable audience which decked the National Gymnasium on Saturday evening had to wait until the final match for their favourites Sparta to take the floor but to much disappointment the youthful Tiger Bay had edged ahead 3-2 when the final whistle was blown.

New recruit Jeremy Garrett placed the defending champions ahead in the just the first minute of the match and Sheldon Shepherd followed two minutes later to have their team coasting but Alpha Fletchman had plans of this own and equalised the proceedings in the space of two minutes, netting in the 6th and 7th while Deon Alfred scored the match changing goal in the 19th.

Likewise, Back Circle ran rings around Broad Street in their 6-3 route which was orchestrated by Selwin Williams and Jermaine Beckles. Williams made his inroads in the 3rd and 13th while Beckles netted in the 8th and 9th minute. Additional

goals came from Stephon McClean in the 5th and Runnel Gordon in the 19th.

The opposition tried to make a desperate come back with goals from Akeem Sam (14th), Shawn Mohammed (15th) and Jamaal Williams (16th).

Another close match occurred when Leopold Street and Alexander Village had to share points due to a 3-3 stalemate. Eon Allyene started the goal exchange in the 2nd for Leopold after which Trevon Thomas equalised in the 9th minute.

Leopold star player Okeenie Fraser made his mark in the 11th but was match by Shem Porter just seconds after. Omalo Williams then returned the lead to the former in the 17th but only briefly as Porter scored two minute later.

More so, Wendell St Hill’s strike for YMCA in the first minute was the only joy they gathered as they slumped to 1-3 defeat to Albouystown as Moses Griffin (3rd), Andre Webber (5th) and Melvin Rose (11th) made merry after.

The biggest margin of victory came via Future Stars who sent Campbellville Extreme back in the past with 6-0 drubbing. Goals were shared allaround as Kareem knights (7th

& 9th), Curtze Kellman (9th) Akeem Anthony (11th), William Europe (13th) and Marvin Carter inflicted the route.

Another thriller for the evening came between Plaisance and Mocha and with the latter winning 5-34led by double by Steffon Ramsey (3rd & 17th) followed by Teon Jones (15th), Dellon John (3rd) and Kevin Agard (17th); on the mark for opposition were Akeem Thomas (16th & 18th), Kevin Liverpool (4th) and Denzil King (18th).

At stake for team is the winning purse of $600,000 and the championship trophy.

Second to fourth will take home $300,000, $150,000 and $75,000 along with the corresponding accolades. More so, with 24 of the top teams being split into six groups of four, the battle will not be just to progress to the knock-out stages but cop the group prizes; $40,000 for first place team, $30,000, $20,000 and $10,000 will be awarded to second to fourth-place group teams.

Additionally, two Hero motor cycles will be awarded to the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the other to a lucky spectator.

The tournament will continue on Tuesday evening with six more matches commencing from 19:00h.

Representatives of Sanjay’s Jewellery and Golf Club President. From left to right: Aasrodeen Shaw, President Aleem Hussain, Mike Mangal, Maurice Solomon, Sanjay Persaud, Pavita Ramkissoon, Richard Haniff and Brian Hackett

Gross 65/Net 25, beating second place Mike Mangal who had G67/N8. The 3rd and 4th places were decided on a Back 9 count-back since three golfers; Brian Hackett, Assrodeen Shaw and Richard Haniff tied for Net 70.

From that count-back; places awarded were Brian Hackett 3rd 70/19 and Aasrodeen Shaw 70/18.

Other major winners included: Nearest to The Pin, Mohanlall Dinanauth, Best Gross was also decided on a Back 9 Count-back since Mangal tied with 8 time Cup champ Avinash Persaud for Gross 75.

In the end, Mangal won

Webster 72/17 and Joaan Deo 72/18, Persaud 73/2, Kassim Khan 73/8 and Munaf Arjune 73/10.

Unfortunately, no one could sink the Hole-in-One prize and win the $100,000 prize which was up to be won for a charity. Following the day’s play, Solomon said “In this tournament I particularly kept my head down during play - a regular fault being that I would lift my head. This discipline paid off well, and was enhanced by a quite reasonable short game, causing me to bring in a good net score”.

“Mr Sanjay Persaud indicated specifically how happy he was to note that in all

expressed appreciation also for the involvement of the golfers in this tournament, pointing out that club executive Brian Hackett was the one who introduced him to sponsoring golf tournaments.

Persaud revealed that he was going to sponsor a larger tournament in October for his birthday and urged golfers to look forward for it.

Meanwhile, Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) President Aleem Hussain voiced his delight at Sanjay’s continued sponsorship, thanking the business entity for their continued support and was upbeat about the plans going forward for the sport.

MonDAY, february 26, 2018

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Green remains head of GRFU Pg 23

The Guyana Rugby Football Union Executive: Seated: Treasurer Ryan Gonsalves, Junior Vice President Rawle Toney, President Peter Green, Senior Vice President Major Earl Edghill and General Secretary Petal Adams. Standing: Committee Members Treiston Joesph, Sherlock Solomon, Kevon Davids, Telay McAlmont and PRO Esan Griffith. Absent was Assistant Secretary/Treasurer Peter Campain

Corona Futsal Tournament

Tiger Bay stun Sparta on riveting opening night

Pg 23

Sparta Boss’ Jeremy Garrett on the defence against Tiger Bay during their action-packed match on Saturday night at the National Gymnasium

GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, News Hotliine: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230,223-7231,231-0544, 225-7761 Sport: sport@guyanatimesgy.com Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 SALES AND MARKETING - lezas@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.