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Attack on elderly couple “brutal and barbaric” ISSUE NO. 291

WEEK ENDING April 24, 2016

- Police hoping to make breakthrough Baroness soon as 4 persons remain in custody Valerie

See stories and photos inside

Amos to grace Guyana’s Jubilee celebrations in New York

Baroness Valerie Amos

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Guyanese crowned Mrs. New York Page 38 International 2016 Mrs. New York International 2016 Faudia Ali-Silletta

Breathtaking: Sunset at Hague Backdam, West Coast Demerara (WCD), Guyana. (Photo by Girendra Persaud)

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Baroness Valerie Amos to grace Guyana’s Jubilee celebrations in New York

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ormer Leader of the British House of Lords and Director of The School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Baroness Valerie Amos will be a Guest of Honor at the Guyana Independence Celebration in New York.

The Celebration which takes place from June 4 – 12, 2016 is being held to commemorate Guyana’s 50th Anniversary of Independence.

Baroness Amos

Baroness Valerie Amos

hails from Wakenaam Island, Guyana. She was the first black woman to serve in the British Cabinet as Secretary for International

Development in 2003.

Baroness Amos was subsequently appointed Leader of the House of Lords by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003, a

position she held until 2007. She also served as United Nations Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs 2010 to 2015, as British High Commissioner to Austria from 2009 to 2010, and Chief Executive of the British Equal Opportunities Commission from 1989 to 1994.

Guyana’s President David Granger, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, several cabinet Ministers, Guyanese-American Actress CCH Pounder, British-Guyanese singer and winner of “The Voice UK”, Jermaine Jackman, will also participate in the New York celebrations.

Guyana Jubilee NYC festivities will take place throughout the New York metropolitan area, and New Jersey.

Committee Chairman Rickford Burke said that the highlight of the week long program is a Black Tie, star-studded, State Dinner on June 11, at the Sheraton New York Time Square Hotel & Towers at which President David Granger will deliver the keynote address.

New York Governor,

Andrew Cuomo; Mayor of New York City, Bill deBlasio; Mayor of the City of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka, Guyanese American Actor Sean Patrick Thomas, BritishGuyanese singer, songwriter, Leona Lewis, are among the invitees.

Award winning Actress CCH Pounder will be Mistress Of Ceremonies at the State Dinner.

The Jubilee Week NYC celebration include an Inter-County President’s Cup Cricket Match at Idiewild Park Springfield Blvd & 149th Ave., in Queens; a President’s Cup Soccer Tournament & Youth Fun Day at South Shore High School Park, Flatlands & Ralph Avenues in Brooklyn; an Interfaith Service at York College Performing Arts Center: 94-45 Guy R Brewer Blvd, Queens; a Symposium on the history and development of Guyana at York College Large Lecture Theater 94-20 Guy Brewer Blvd Queens; and an Exhibition of Guyanese Art, at Aljira Center for Contemporary Art: 591 Broad St, Newark, New Jersey.

June 8 is “Guyanese Volunteer Day.”

Guyanese medical doctors, other healthcare providers and Lawyers will give back to local communities by conducting free medical clinics and providing free legal services at various locations in Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. A Flag Raising Ceremony will take place at Newark City Hall Square, 920 Broad St, Newark, NJ 07102 on June 9.

A Business & Investment Conference will be held on June 10, at the Harvard Club of New York: 35 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036.

Speakers will include Guyana’s Ministers of Business, Finance, Natural Resources, Public Infrastructure, Public Security, Tourism & Agriculture.

The Grand Finale of the Celebrations is a Guyanese Unity & Independence Parade (Mashramani), will take place on June 12 at 11:00 A.M.; commencing at Church & Bedford Aves and ending at South Shore High School Park at Flatlands & Ralph Aves, Brooklyn, culminating in a Unity Concert.

Bai-Shan-Lin not allowed to do what it wants in Guyana – Trotman

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he Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has already begun seizing company assets belonging to Chinese logging company, Bai-Shan-Lin over taxes owed to the State.

During a post-cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman stated that the Chinese company is no longer being given the privilege of doing what it wants in Guyana.

According to Minister Trotman, there has been no shipment of logs out of the country by Bai-Shan-Lin and GRA has already written an assessment and made a demand for the taxes which it owes.

“The GRA has gone ahead to take what equipment they could find.”

In relation to whether the APNU+AFC coalition is maintaining a relationship with the logging company regardless of it not delivering on its end of the contract that it had inked while the former administration was in power, Trotman stated, “I can’t agree that it is a business as normal arrangement. That is not the case.”

It should be noted that a state-owned Chinese company has bought 51 per cent of the shares in Bai-Shan-Lin and it is expected fully take over operations of the logging company within a few months.

Meanwhile, a team from the Chinese company is expected in Guyana sometime next month to meet with Guyanese government officials.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Investigators grilling ex-boyfriend of murdered Sophia woman

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he ex-boyfriend of the m u r d e r e d Sophia woman, Simone Hackett, whose slashed body was found in a trench at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD), has finally been arrested.

He is presently being grilled by investigators as to his alleged involvement in the crime since the dead woman’s relatives are of the view that he may have played a role in her gruesome murder.

Hackett and the man were having disputes stemming from custody issues over their son. The two shared one child to-

gether.

Reports are that the father of her child had contacted the young woman around 18:00h Saturday night to notify her that he had sent a package for her and their son who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, last.

She left her home around 20:00h that fateful night and never returned home.

The parents of the deceased woman stated that their other daughter (Hackett’s sister) was scheduled to get married on Sunday and Hackett was supposed to be her Maid of Honor.

When she did

Dead: Simone Hackett

not return home Saturday night they knew something terrible had happened since it is not like her to miss her sister's wedding or her son’s birthday, which was also on the same date, a relative had stated.

On Tuesday morning, the young mother’s partly decomposed body was found in a trench by two children who were en route to school.

Her body had been chopped multiple times and there was a slash on her throat.

A cutlass was also found at the scene of the crime near the woman’s body.

Commander of

“C” Division, Marlon Chapman, told this newspaper on Thursday that at present it is too early to declare whether or not the woman’s exboyfriend is indeed guilty of this heinous crime. However, investigators are continuing to probe the matter and question him with hopes of closing the case soon.

Chapman noted that should the 72-hr ‘holding’ period for questioning expire, and if there is need to have him detained further to assist with investigations, then this request will be made by those conducting the investigation.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

INTERNATIONAL To contact: Guyana Times International

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

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

Fax (592) 225-8696, 227-0685 Email: guyanatimesint@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

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The Prime Minister and the media

his newspaper has noted Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s objection to its article of 4-19-16 headlined, “US media censorship observation – PM claims US wants to damage image of coalition”.

The day before, on 4-18-16, the newspaper had received the US State Department’s 2016 Human Rights Report that was issued by Secretary of State John Kerry just days before. As it related to Press Freedom in Guyana, the Report stated: “Censorship or Content Restrictions: In August, the Prime Minister issued a directive that all headlines in the State-owned print media be first scrutinised and approved by his office before they are published. The directive was a response to a headline criticising the Government. The Prime Minister also serves as Minister of Information.”

On the same day, the Director of Public Information (DPI) issued a statement condemning “in the strongest terms” what it said were irresponsible allegations repeated in the media, alleging censorship in State media. It said such claims “are wholly false and baseless and (are) attempt to damage the image of the Coalition Government, which is trying to repair democratic institutions, including State media, that had been left in a shambolic state under the previous Administration.”

The DPI did not elaborate as to what and by whom the “allegations in the media” were made. The Times stated this in assuming the statement was in response to the US Report leading to the objected-to headline and story.

On April 19, the Prime Minister, to whom the DPI reports, said the “irresponsible allegations” statement above was directed not at the US State Department’s Report but to two columnists, Dr David Hinds and Freddie Kissoon. He then issued a condemnatory statement on the Guyana Times article cited above: it was “calculatedly wicked, false and mischievous”.

But what is most instructive is the following day, the Office of the Prime Minister did issue the following statement explicitly on the US statement on the Prime Minister censoring the State media: “The Office of the Prime Minister makes it clear that at no time was any directive issued by the Prime Minister, the Office of the Prime Minister, or any other Government entity that headlines in any State media be scrutinised or approved before publication or broadcast.

Any such claim is false, baseless, and without any merit whatsoever.”

It then went on to enumerate a number of harsh denunciations against the previous Administration in previous US Human Rights Reports.

So it appears that when Dr Hinds accuses the Prime Minister of censorship of the State media, Mr Nagamootoo conclusively discerns in him a desire to “damage the image of the coalition”.

But when the US Dept of State makes the identical observation, which the PM dubbed “false, baseless, and without any merit whatsoever”, it somehow is not “intended” to do the same “damage”.

But the fact of the matter is Dr Hinds was very specific with his accusations of “censorship” and they go far beyond the demand

by Mr Nagamootoo to screen stories in the Chronicle, which he described as a “government” rather than a “state” entity.

The Guyana Press Association took him severely to task for that assertion and described the move to intimidate and censor the Chronicle as “a retrograde and intolerable step”. Dr Hinds pointed out, “As a columnist, I have had my experiences of censorship.

On two occasions, my column was not carried because they were critical of the Government. In other instances, sections of my columns which criticised the Government have been deleted.”

Last September, the respected veteran Caribbean journalist Rickey Singh, resigning as a columnist also as a result of censorship

by Mr Nagamootoo stated, “The surprising non-publication of my regular column in last Sunday’s Chronicle had a special focus on the misuse of powers by the “down-sized” Prime Minister Nagamootoo who seems anxious to ensure compliance with ministerial edicts.”

Could it be Mr Nagamootoo’s accusations of the PPP being “Stalinist” might be projections of his own state of mind?

Students of Carnegie School of Home Economics in Georgetown demonstrating how to make pan-cakes during a public exhibition on Thursday at the school.

The challenges Guyana’s sugar workers face Dear Editor, I make reference to the article captioned “One Berbice factory produces more than two Demerara estates….GAWU was aware of LBI closure since 2011” that was carried in another section of the media on April 16. The article, in its entirety, described the positions of GAWU and GuySuCo on the closure of all remaining operations at LBI and integrating them with similar operations at Enmore Estate.

The Union’s position is that “when the factory was closed in 2011 and the workers were transferred to Enmore, both Unions (GAWU and NAACIE) were assured by a member of the current interim management that there will be no closure of any other department after the closure of the factory”.

The company, on the other hand, is contending that the “integration process was not completed, since there are still two mill docks, two field workshops, two field laboratories, two field offices and two stores within the East Demerara Estates (EDE) operations at LBI”, and “that the full integration process should have been completed since 2011, but was not done, to the further detriment of the economics of EDE”.

The foregoing illustrates an obvious gridlock between the two parties, which could easily be diffused by a process underscored with trust. The common denominator is the member of the interim management. The interim management comprises just two persons, Errol Hanoman and Paul Bhim; the latter was at GuySuCo’s helm as the acting CEO in 2011.

Hanoman was not in the company’s employ at the time.

Bhim needs to clarify whether he gave an assurance to the two unions that “there will be no closure of any other department after the closure of the factory”, and further if there was no such assurance, what stymied the “integration process to the detriment of the

economics of EDE”, bearing in mind that under his stewardship as the CEO, GuySuCo incurred a huge debt of G$58 billion. The completion of the integration process then would have most likely salvaged the “economics of the EDE”, and reduced somewhat the company’s overall debt.

Reference is also made to the statement, “This state of affairs must be compared with Albion Estate which produces more than twice the amount of sugar as produced by the East Demerara Estates and operates efficiently with one mill dock, one field workshop and one field laboratory”.

Before venturing further, it must be observed that in the entire article GuySuCo keeps referring to East Demerara ESTATES, which means that the company at this point in time is recognising that the entity is not a single operating unit. One then presumes that when the “integration process” is completed, it will be East Demerara estate, but why should it be East Demerara Estate, and not Enmore Estate, when LBI will no longer exist? LBI cultivation will be consolidated, integrated (all words used interchangeably by the company) with Enmore.

Editor, Albion Estate has approximately 9100 ha under cane, whilst EDE has 7200, 1900 ha less than Albion.

Albion could process 168 tonnes of cane per hour, whilst EDE is 105. Under these two production capacity factors, it’s misleading to compare Albion with EDE on sugar production capabilities.

What should have been stated by the company is that whilst Albion is a larger operating unit, it has one of each of those contentious operating sub-departments.

Reference is also made to article captioned “125 workers of 846 likely to be fired – operations to close by May monthend” that was carried in your April 19 edition. In this article, the sugar company stated that there were 846 workers at-

tached to LBI, and 125 were at risk of losing their jobs through redundancy. This public disclosure by the company has certainly prejudiced and compromised the ongoing discussion with the unions. The company has disclosed its plans to the public before engaging the unions.

The company further disclosed that the East Demerara Estates’ cost of production increased from US$0.26US$0.30 per pound prior to the closure of the LBI factory to US$0.41 per pound after the closure, peaking at US$0.54 in 2013. By the company’s own admission, the average cost of production increased from US$0.28 before the factory’s closure to US$0.48 after closure, an increase of US$0.20 or US$400 per tonne of sugar.

What sort of evaluation was done by the company to close the factory in 2011? Are the 125 persons who will most likely be made redundant responsible for the US$0.20 increase in the cost of production? It’s highly dubious. Seven hundred and twenty-one workers, from the company’s statement, are engaged in productive work, so they cannot be part of that US$0.20.

Further, the company is advancing that it is incumbent on the “current management to expedite the completion of the integration of the Enmore and LBI Estates to try and prevent sugar production in East Demerara from going out of existence in the near future”.

First, it’s clearly a subtle threat that there is a thought to close the East Demerara Estates. However, that existence is contingent on the “completion of the integration of the Enmore and LBI Estates”.

Editor, I trust the unions will insist on a Memorandum of Understanding that once it agrees to the completion of the integration process that the future existence of the East Demerara Estate and all its employees and operations will be assured. This would remove continued on page 6

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Teixeira accuses Govt of pressuring businesses for “donations”

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usinessmen are being pressured into making donations to the Government to undertake national projects, including the D’urban Park development initiative and the construction of several wells in the Rupununi, according to People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive Gail Teixeira.

Following confirmations from the Guyana Water Incorporation (GWI) that indeed monies totalling Gy$12 million were solicited from contractors, Teixeira contended that businessmen are being indirectly forced to make contributions out of fear of being blacklisted or becoming victims of politically-motivated boycotts.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Teixeira pointed out that businesses being approached by the Government for donations will obviously be stuck between a rock and a hard place since the implication of not abiding is rather obvious.

“There is always the impression given to the person who is being called to ask to donate, especially when a Minister or head of agency is doing that… if you don’t comply, abide,

Woman who jumped off Harbour Bridge receiving psychiatric treatment

T PPP/C MP, Gail Teixeira

or behave a good boy or don’t contribute, you will obviously not be on the list of priorities and you won’t be considered (for projects). And every contractor or businessman in this country is saying that; this is not Gail Teixeira’s fiction or the PPP/C’s fiction,” she argued.

Initially, the PPP/C disclosed that “a certain” Government agency collected monies from contractors amounting to Gy$12 million to carry out “certain works” and had expressed concerns about this development.

Shortly after, GWI Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Richard Van West Charles called a news conference to confirm that the agency to which the PPP/C was referring is the GWI. However, Dr Charles

had accused the Party of being reckless and malicious for making such insinuations and insisted that businesses were not threatened to donate monies.

“Two weeks ago I appealed to contractors and I appealed to them as citizens… I appealed to them to make donations for the drilling of wells in the Rupununi,” he said adding that there was “no threat of them being blacklisted.”

According to reports, GWI pledged its intention to return all funds that were donated.

Nonetheless, Teixeira also expressed concerns that Government had to resort to raising funds for construction of the wells instead of using monies that were allocated in the recently approved Budget 2016.

he 38-year-old woman who was rescued yesterday after she plunged into the Demerara River in an attempt to end her life due to “spiritual problems” is presently receiving psychiatric treatment.

However, at this point in time it is unclear as to whether or not charges will be laid against her for committing an act which would have harmed/killed her.

Meanwhile, police officials are yet to determine in which jurisdiction this incident took place and who is responsible for deciding whether or not charges should be laid.

Reports are that the woman, who resides in Georgetown, jumped off the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) around midday on Tuesday and was saved by some public spirited drivers who witnessed her plunging into the river.

She is said to have been walking across the DHB in the Western direction when she suddenly climbed onto the rail and jumped.

Parsram Ramchand, one of her rescuers, stat-

ed that he was driving over the Bridge from the West Bank when he observed the woman walking in the opposite direc-

hind me and we rescue her and bring her up on the river bank,” Ramchand stated.

The man noted that

The woman being rescued

tion on the right-hand side of the bridge.

“When I reach closer, I see this woman climb up on the rail and jump over. I stop my vehicle and run out,” he said, recalling that he immediately took off his boots and pants, and jumped in the water to save the woman.

“A next guy jump be-

the woman was unconscious when they brought her out of the water and so they took her to the Police Outpost on the eastern side of the Bridge.

Meanwhile, the woman’s mother who was summoned by police officers stated that this was the first time her adult daughter has committed such an act.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Rice farmers’ death An inquiry should could only be described be launched into all as barbaric and beyond “honorific appointments” comprehension Dear Editor, It is with a deep sense of sadness that Bibi Jamila Munir and Mohammed Munir met their end. The circumstances can only be described as barbaric and beyond human comprehension.

Those responsible for this dastardly act cannot be considered to be humans. These two persons have made significant contributions to community and the country. Their lost is a tremendous blow to the Muslim commu-

nity, rice community all across Guyana and more specifically those of Region Three.

I pray that those responsible for this act face the full blunt of the law and are brought to justice speedily. We cannot continue to lose outstanding and remarkable assets like these to the hands of barbaric animals. I pray that God grant the families and friends and wider community compassion and love.

Yours sincerely, Irfaan Ali

Bullyism in education sector

Dear Editor, The Minister of Education is designing a new layout for exam papers.

What the Minister of Education does not know is the world of computer programming, its joys, and drawbacks.

He may be wallowing in forgetfulness.

He is not like the President who summons all Cabinet Ministers to argue something he wants to implement within the society. The Minister of Education, I am sure failed to call his Head of Departments and discuss his Cabinet demand of his colleague’s moves or motives to be implemented in the Guyanese society.

Such a decision is backward and defies democracy. The MoE is dictatorial or the Minister may have used a few persons to dictate his views on Grade 6 Exams in Guyana.

I want to agree with Priya Manickchand

that the view expressed by the Ministry of Education is studded with subjectivity, victimisation, profiling and insecurity of students.

Such an explanation released by the MoE should be divulged to parents beforehand.

Incidentally, I can vividly remember when the Minister of Education clamoured for parents to form a PTA in keeping with consultative democracy to consult with teachers on issues affecting them in order to promulgate the process of democracy.

The real advice would have been to spend money to implement a massive project which requires people consultation to explain the new examination structure. This empirical research could have been used to get the nation’s views on education and other issues.

But to just come out from the blues and dic-

tate this new feature for students putting their names on test papers is called ‘bullyism in education’. This never happened in Guyana.

This kind of administration by the APNU/ AFC reflects a more Burnham, a dictator who was the President.

I am calling on the nation to vigorously protest and reject the views of the Ministry of Education and stymie government fruitless ideas.

I am of the view that asking students to put their names on the examination papers is disrespecting students by exposing them to a database for further verification and to reveal their secrecy.

Will there be a reverse in this situation, I ask?

Sincerely, Chandradat Deonandan, Canada

The challenges Guyana’s sugar... any future disagreement like the one now where the unions are maintaining that a member of the interim management had assured them in 2011 that there will be no further closure after the factory’s closure.

Editor, this nation, on whose taxes this company survives, cannot continue to witness day in day out unending disputes and deep-seat-

ed polarisation between the sugar unions and GuySuCo. This issue of “completing an integration process” is obviously beset by lack of trust.

There needs to be trust, openness and honouring of words and deeds, so that the virtues of good office and better judgement could prevail. The show of one-upmanship must be over.

Like Wales, where

from page 4

the lives of 1700 workers are on tenterhooks due to a drought of information on their future, the workers at LBI will be equally apprehensive of going to Enmore as they look at the uncertain fate of their West Demerara colleagues.

Yours faithfully, C h a n d i m a l Rambudhan Hope West Enmore

Dear Editor, I refer to Guyana Times article (Fri, April 15th, 2016) under the caption “Harmon clears air on media attacks – says 34 political advisers appointed by APNU/AFC…” I have been following the ongoing discussion in the local media on the matter of appointments of advisers to Ministers. It is an interesting discussion with relevant questions such as who should appoint the advisers whether it should be the President or the concerned Minister? Should the advisers be paid or their services be pro bono (honorific)? Should a transparent process be undertaken if taxpayers’ money is used to pay the advisers especially if these advisers are akin to public servants?

But much has been said about only one of the 34 appointed advisers, BK Tiwari who was appointed by Minister Joseph Harmon. There is a startling hypocrisy about this entire situation whereby it seems like the new darling of the Government, Minister Raphael Trotman is given the favoured treatment for doing the exact thing and even worse without even getting a slap on the wrist, and certainly nothing like the public attack that is being unfairly meted out to Minister Harmon.

I make reference to the adviser of Minister Trotman, a person by the name of Clayton Hall. For those who have not been following the news, a few years ago in the early days of the AFC as a party, Mr Hall had been the campaign/Finance Manager of the AFC. The records are there for anyone to peruse.

Mr Hall was hired by Minister Trotman (not the President) to be the adviser to him first when he was Minister of Governance, and now automatically transferred now that he is Minister of Natural Resources.

Hall is being paid handsomely as well – any quick check into the budget of the Natural Resources Ministry will show that he is being paid with benefits close to G$1 million a month when one adds up his salary, gratuity and other benefits. These all come from Guyanese taxpayers’ dollars. He regularly goes out on overseas travel to represent the Ministry and is paid again from taxpayers’ dollars.

All of this currently prevails and yet with the deafening silence from the transparency watchdogs (groups and individuals alike), no one seems to care. What hypocrisy. The Government should decide on one position and not varying positions based on the specific individual. As an immediate action, I call for the immediate investigation into the appointment and future retaining of Clayton Hall as adviser to the Minister of Natural Resources and while this is being done, there should be an immediate suspension of his duties awaiting the outcome of the investigation.

This matter of advisers and appointments of such persons in positions like these is worthy of a Commission of Inquiry. If the results of the investigation show that there has been a double standard and there is a misfit either for purposes of lack of qualifications, experience or overall lack of competence, then there should be an immediate revocation of Hall’s appointment as adviser to Minister Trotman.

If the APNU/AFC Government is really serious about correcting the ills of the previous Administration, it should start by immediately ceasing the payment of advisers with taxpayers’ dollars and have them work pro bono or paid with other non-taxpayers’ financing.

Yours sincerely, Carl Lucas

Vitally important to Guyana diplomatic posture Dear Editor, I take serious offence with the headlines in the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News of Friday, 15 April 2016, deeming Minister Harmon’s recent issue with GRA as interference.

It seems that both of these dailies have lost their balance and are both bent on character assassination of Minister Joseph Harmon.

One also gets the impression that neither of these newspapers is conscious of what is vitally important to Guyana’s strategic/diplomatic posture.

Harmon, in responding to the request from the Chinese Embassy, clearly had in his mind Guyana’s strategic interest, and acted in that regard for the benefit of the country.

But like the typical Ostrich, these newspapers buried their heads

Minister Joseph Harmon

in the sand and continue to deem Harmon’s action as interference.

I am certain the Minister of Finance and the GRA, having been made aware of the circumstances, are now more conscious that strategic considerations will always over shadow local tactical measures.

Using the words, “strategic intervention”,

instead of “interference”, in the headlines, would have been more appropriate.

Now that you have been given the facts, it is expected that you would cease to operate in the realm of speculation. It’s never too late to learn.

George Gomes Lieutenant Colonel (retired)

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

GuySuCo made the Thousands pay last respects to decision to close LBI, murdered Good Hope rice farmers not Govt - Trotman - calls made for perpetrators to be brought to justice

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he decision to close operations at the La Bonne Intention (LBI) Sugar Estate was not made by Government but by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

This is according to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Raphael Trotman who said on Wednesday that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change Government inherited a plan that was already laid out by the previous Administration.

“As it relates to LBI, it must be reminded that the new Government inherited a plan that was already in place by the for-

East Demerara from going out of existence in the near future.

“It was also pointed out that the closure of the LBI Factory in 2011 resulted in the retention of many workers who were rendered redundant. For example, GuySuCo has been paying 58 workers to operate a mill dock facility at LBI for the past five years while the facility is no longer being required,” Minister Trotman explained.

The Minister disclosed that at the LBI facility, of the 846 employees, approximately 125 of them are carrying out duplicate functions that are being undertak-

mer Administration and it is not Government’s plan that is being executed but the management of GuySuCo,” Trotman said.

He was responding to questions by Journalists on Wednesday as he chaired this week’s postCabinet press briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency.

GuySuCo recently announced that the gates of the LBI Estate would be closed by May month-end.

Some 125 of the 846 workers are set to lose their jobs with this move to shut down LBI, the second sugar estate within a year.

Trotman, however, said that Agriculture Minister Noel Holder could soon meet with the affected workers. He said every effort would be made to ensure every person was transitioned into the Enmore operations – a plan that has been rejected by some workers.

Trotman added that the integration of the LBI and Enmore Sugar Estates was to rationalise the duplication of activities of staff, thus lowering the cost of production.

He advised the media that Cabinet was briefed at its last meeting by the Agriculture Minister on the merger of the Sugar Estates into one production entity. Holder, outlining the rationale for the merger to the Cabinet, pointed out that it was necessary to prevent sugar production in

en by employees at the Enmore Estate. These include mill dock operators and workers at the field workshop, field laboratory, field office and stores.

“The integration of the two Estates will therefore rationalise the duplicated activities, thus rendering the cost of production lower,” the Minister stated.

Providing an update on the Wales Sugar Estate closure, Minister Trotman said that Cabinet was advised that the management of GuySuCo had a number of meetings with the various stakeholders, including staff and cane farmers to explain the situation and plans for the location.

The most recent consultations were held on April 4 and 6, 2016 and included the high-level managers of GuySuCo as well as other managers, senior staff, foremen and other relevant stakeholders.

“Discussions were held on the non-viability of the Estate, the necessity of allocating funds to a more viable location and the arrangements to utilise the more expanded facility at the Uitvlugt Estate,” Minister Trotman said.

During the meeting, the vision for the future and related projects for the Estate such as aquaculture projects were discussed. Issues such as retention, training, pension, severance pay and transferability of staff were also discussed.

BY RAMONA LUTHI

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he elderly couple that was burnt to death in their East Bank Essequibo home by bandits was on Wednesday laid to rest.

Bibi Jamila Munir and her husband, Mohamed Munir were killed on Sunday last when bandits invaded their Lot 17 Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo home and set it on fire during a botched robbery.

At the funeral on Wednesday, hundreds turned out to pay their last respects to the couple.

Paying tribute to the couple, their granddaughter said the family has suffered a shocking blow and are still trying to come to grips with the death of their loved ones. She described her grandfather, Mohamed Munir, as the “kindest, most hard-working, most compassionate and gentle person” she has ever known and her grandmother Bibi Jamila Munir, as the “bravest woman in the world.” She added that her grandmother was a driving force in their lives and the lives of everyone in the community.

Munirs’ granddaughter noted that her grandparents loved Guyana, and the family is praying that they get the justice they deserve.

She also recited a poem during which she broke down in tears.

The children of Bibi and Mohamed Munir conveyed gratitude to all those who supported them in this time of their grief, noting that the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), friends and neighbours played an integral part in assisting the family.

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder who was also present at the funeral expressed condolences on behalf of himself and the Government of Guyana to the family.

People’s Progressive Party’s Member of Parliament and cousin of the late Bibi Munir, Bibi Shaddick, in her tribute said the couple would “forever be remembered by everyone as persons who cared for the community and wanted it to be better than it was.”

She added that the fate the Munirs met on Sunday last was one that she cannot accept. ‘’We have to stand up for what is right and we have to demand that there should be security for lives and livelihood. What we work for, we should be allowed to use and we should be allowed to give when we want to give and somebody should not come and snatch it from us. Then when they don’t get it, kill us,” she la-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo paying his respects at the funeral of the murdered rice farmers

mented.

Shaddick said that her cousin was “not just a farmer” but she was also a “social worker, mother, sister, daughter and everything to everyone that needed her.”

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo who also paid his respect to the couple, conveyed his condolences to the family.

He described their departure as being “tragic and horrendous.”

Jagdeo relayed that from what he gathered from persons that knew the couple, it seemed as though the lives of these wonderful people epitomised hard work and commitment to cause. He said that Bibi Jamila Munir was an executive member of the Rice Producers Association

(RPA) and knew what struggle was.

He added that “it is a pity that hard work is not recognised in this country, today since people can come in such a callous manner and try to snatch away one’s fruits of hard work, possibly killing them in the process.”

According to Jagdeo, the State should not be held responsible for every criminal act but they should indicate where their sentiments are directed as they should be on the victim’s side and not the perpetrator’s. ”We don’t see them (APNU/AFC) go to places where tragedies occur, right across this country, where people are grieving and they are sorrowful and they have their lives knocked

out in callous manners. But we see negotiations in the prison with criminals and we heard about how many people were released from prison… We are still asking until today to see the records of those people who were released from prison and until now there is no attempt on the part of the Government to make those records public.”

According to reports, at around 23:15h on Sunday, several armed bandits invaded the couple’s premises but they managed to secure themselves in one of the bedrooms.

After not being able to gain access to the couple, the angered bandits then doused the house with gasoline and set it alight.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Not Guilty! Man accused of murdering toddler freed T

he man who was accused of sodomising his twoyear-old niece which led to her death was yesterday set free at the Georgetown High Court when a mixed 12 member jury declared him not guilty of the murder charge.

Justice Priya Sewnarine–Beharry dismissed the charge against Kevin Rankin after the jury unanimously agreed that he was not guilty of the act.

When the verdict was handed down Ranking shouted “yes!” as he threw both of his hands in the air then quickly exited the Court as members of the dead toddlers’ family rushed behind him.

Three years ago, on October 21, the man’s two-year-old niece was alleged to have been sodomised at the Haslington village, East Coast Demerara (ECD) while she had been left in his care.

At that time Rankin was only 16-years-old and had been at a relative’s home with the toddler while the child’s mother left to conduct some errands.

It was during the period between when the woman left her child with Rankin and the time she returned home that the toddler had passed away.

The two-year-old had been rushed by her mother and other relatives to the CC Nicholson Health Centre at Nabaclis, ECD, before being taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where she was

Freed of murder: Kevin Rankin

pronounced dead.

Defence Attorney Sandil Kissoon had argued that the Prosecution’s case against his client (Rankin) had flaws since there were no photographs produced to the Court that had been taken of the scene where the crime allegedly occurred or even the house in which the alleged crime had taken place.

He also posited that the investigators did not take any statement from any neighbour or eyewitness with regards to the matter.

Meanwhile, State Witness, Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, declared that an autopsy which had been performed on the body of the toddler indicates that she had suffered sexual penetration to her anus.

In testifying, he stated that the two-year-old at that time, when the post mortem examination was conducted, had fresh blood in her rectal area as well as suffered abdominal trauma which included internal bleeding to her liver and spleen.

Dr Singh revealed

that the child had also suffered from concussions to both her head and neck which are consistent with a hit or fall.

He said that the twoyear-old could have been pressed down, which would have prevented her from breathing and allowing blood to flow in her chest cavity.

However, under intense cross examination by defence counsel, Dr Singh acknowledged that injury to the toddler’s chest cavity could have been also caused during administration of Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) by someone who did not have experience in administering CPR. It should be noted that Rankin had initially told the Court that he did not harm his niece on the day in question but had taken her to a relative’s home for her “to play”.

That is when she became sick; complaining about chest pains, then subsequently became unresponsive.

In light of the child not breathing, his cousin had tried to administer CPR, Rankin added.

Police arrest one in connection with murder of Wakenaam businessman

A

n Alberttown, Georgetown resident was on Wednesday morning arrested and is being interrogated for the murder of Wakenaam b u s i n e s s m a n , Mahendra Persaud who was gunned down on Alexander Street, Bourda on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old suspect was arrested at about 03:50h by Police ranks. A Police source stated that the man is a known character to the Police and was seen in the CCTV footage of the shooting incident after it was reviewed by investigators.

Guyana Times International understands that the Police uplifted and reviewed several pieces of surveillance footage from nearby businesses in the area where the incident took place. With the arrest of Alexander, the Police are on the hunt for one other man suspected to be the shooter.

The 26-year-old businessman was shot about three times on Tuesday by a lone gunman who attacked him seconds after he exited a motorcar to transact

Murdered: Mahendra Persaud

business at a wholesale store. He reportedly collapsed and was run over by a heavily tinted motorcar.

A man, who was seen changing the licence plates of the vehicle after the incident was arrested. He is said to be assisting with investigations.

It was reported that after the young businessman was shot, licensed firearm holders who witnessed the incident discharged several rounds in the direction of the gunman who managed to escape on a

motorcycle ridden by an accomplice.

The injured businessman was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The gunman was not successful in relieving Persaud of the bag containing the money he was carrying.

It was during him resisting the gunman that he was shot to the neck and stomach. The now dead man was described as friendly, non-confrontational, funny and helpful. He only recently got married.

APNU/AFC to hold retreat to review performance of Govt

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n less than a month, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change coalition (APNU/AFC) will commemorate its first year in governance, as

such, the coalition is expected to host a seminar to review its performance over the past 12 months.

This was revealed

by Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman on Wednesday at the post Cabinet briefing which was held at the Ministry of the Presidency.

“As we approach the first year in Government, there will be such a gathering where you can look at the triumphs and the hills and the valleys, the lows and the highs of the coalition Government and the relationship between the parties,” he stated.

However, Trotman noted that no date has been set aside for the hosting of such a forum but assured that this event will take place within the coming weeks. He did not say whether it will on or before May 16 – the date last year when the coalition was sworn into governance after being announced the winners at the May 11, 2015

General and Regional Elections.

Tensions rising

Meanwhile, tension seems to be building within the APNU/AFC Government after the AFC, the smaller party in the coalition, recently raised concerns about the amount of authority being vested to Minister of State Joseph Harmon.

Harmon has recently found himself in the midst of controversies following a recent trip to China. In this regard, the AFC had called for Harmon’s powers to be trimmed. The party had explained that the concentration of the powers of the office of the Cabinet Secretary, the Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency and the effective Head of the Presidential Secretariat in a single person is a matter of concern and that in fact, the powers should be separated.

However, President David Granger had subsequently stated that Harmon’s duties and continued on page 10

NEWS 9

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

No trace of US$5M payment for GT&T shares – Govt – former President denies any payment was made

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recent visit to China by Minister of State Joseph Harmon has revealed that Chinese company, Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Group, has already repaid the outstanding US$5 million for Government’s shares in GTT, however, local authorities are yet to find a record of the payment.

In 2012, the Chinese company purchased Government’s 20 per cent shares in the local telephone company at the cost of US$30 million from the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL).

However, based on an agreement with the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, the company paid off US$25 million and had to two years to make the outstanding

payment.

Datang failed to repay the outstanding amount within the agreed time and as such, upon its assumption to office, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) regime undertook to recoup the monies; hence Minister of State Joseph Harmon’s recent trip to China. During the trip, Harmon was accompanied by NICIL’s Legal Counsel, Natalia Seepersaud.

At the post-Cabinet briefing on Wednesday, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman was asked about the outcome of the visit to which he responded by making the disclosure.

“What I can say is that Mr Harmon has been able to retrieve some documents which tell a different story. That story being, of

Underage pregnancies on the rise in St Lucia

S

t Lucia: Former MP for Micoud North, Jeannine ComptonAntoine, expressing concern about under-age pregnancies here, has asserted that the case of a pregnant eleven year old represents the tip of the iceberg.

“This is a problem in Saint Lucia,” Compton-Antoine told the Times.

The former MP said that Saint Lucia is listed online as one of the countries with a number of young mothers, including a ten year old who became pregnant some years ago.

Compton-Antoine felt it was a matter that Saint Lucia has to deal with as a country, recognizing that the national social fabric is being eroded.

“We need to stop paying lip service to it and stop using it for platform rhetoric and other things,” the former MP, who has declared her intention to run as an Independent in Micoud North at the next elections, told the Times.

She noted that the government, the opposition and every Saint Lucian have to work together, since the issue of under-age pregnancies cannot be politicized or be dealt with by means of a partisan approach.

“We all need to recognize there is something wrong happening

in our country and we all need to work together to deal with it,” ComptonAntoine declared, adding that there must be a strategic plan to address the problem.

Just yesterday Education Minister, Doctor Robert Lewis, announced that the pregnant pre-teen will sit the Common Entrance Examination.

Lewis said that while his Ministry would allow the police and the Department of Human Services to deal with the pregnancy issue, it would seek to ensure that the child’s education is not affected.

“We must not terminate the child’s education in any way,” Lewis told reporters.

The child is reported to have alleged that she had sex with a seventeen year old male.

Media reports have indicated that the Micoud resident is some five months pregnant.

(Taken from St Lucia Times)

Former President, Donald Ramotar

course, that the five million was paid so we are trying to track down to whom, how, where and when,” Trotman revealed to reporters.

While the Government spokesperson did not provide much details in relation to the information found on the payment by the Chinese company, he did hint it was made under the previous

Administration when he said “that was before May 16, 2015”.

Nevertheless, Trotman noted that the Minister of State has provided Cabinet with a full report on the matter while NICIL is also looking into it. “The NICIL board, as far as I know, is considering the findings and that will be made public shortly,” he remarked.

It was reported that Datang had refused to make the payments within the stipulated time after it requested to have an additional Director on GTT’s Board. However, the local telephone company rejected the request, saying that based on the amount of shares the Chinese company had, it is only entitled to one Director on the Board.

The PPP/C Administration had long

maintained that the US$5 million was still outstanding to Guyana.

In fact, when contacted on Wednesday evening, former President Donald Ramotar, under whose leadership the transaction was conducted, told Guyana Times International that he is not aware of Datang making a payment on the outstanding amount.

However, he noted that if any such payment was made, it would have been paid to NICIL, with whom they had the transaction.

Meanwhile, at a press conference late last year, former Head of NICIL, Winston Brassington stated that efforts were afoot to recoup the monies.

Brassington had even defended selling the shares to the Chinese

company, explaining that the share-offer was advertised more than 40 times locally and close to 30 times overseas. He added that Government had even written all the embassies and consulates and in the end, the highest offer received was US$7 million.

“We did consider the shares to be worth a lot more [than US$7M],” he said. So the sale of US$25 million upfront and US$5 million later was considered a good deal. We had other options from the Chinese which offered less money upfront and more money later. However, the Privatisation Board and the Cabinet accepted the position that maximised the payment up front. It was a good price, we believe,” the former NICIL Head stated.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24 , 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Attack on elderly couple “brutal and barbaric”

-Police hoping to make breakthrough soon as 4 persons remain in custody

By Kristen Macklingam

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n employee of the elderly couple who were burnt to death in their Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) home on Sunday night, along with a resident of the same village, is among the four suspects being detained by the police in relation to what many have described as the most “brutal and barbaric” act.

Meanwhile, the two other persons in police custody hail from villages close to the home of the dead couple, Mohamed and Jamila Munir. These two suspects are characters known to the police since they have been fingered and implicated in a number of ‘break and enter’ reports on previous occasions.

This publication understands that all four suspects are relatively young, none of them

reaching their 30thbirthday, and from information gathered thus far by investigators, there is enough evidence for them to be further detained or possibly charged later.

The 72-hour detention and questioning period (three days) for the four individuals expires sometime today (Thursday) and investigators are said to be presently applying for an extension to keep the suspects in custody.

This is what is left of the Munir's home

Thousands turned out to pay their last respects at the rice farmers' funeral on Wednesday

This publication was told that while the four persons are co-operating, they are “not admitting to certain facts” but of the group, one particular suspect, is said to be “co-operating quite well.”

Investigators are still grilling these suspects with hopes of getting a solid breakthrough in the case to determine those involved in committing the brutal act and the motive for doing so. However, from all accounts so far, it appears to have been a “planned robbery” gone haywire, said one police source.

On Sunday night, residents of the quiet, close knitted community of Good Hope, EBE, were left in a state of disbelief and distress after they

witnessed the Munir’s home go up in flames with the elderly couple trapped inside.

Persons rushed out to save the husband and wife who were screaming for help as the heat and the blaze intensified, but despite their efforts, the neighbours and others who ran to offer their assistance did not succeed.

The trapped couple could not have been saved since their house which was engulfed in flames had been heavily grilled. It is believed that the duo locked themselves in a room in their bid to hide from the gunmen.

Reports are around 23:00h on that fateful night an unidentified number of armed men

entered the home of the elderly couple and shortly after gunshots rang out.

According to one neighbour, he heard the gunshots ringing out, and he looked out of his house to see what was transpiring. That was when he noticed smoke and fire coming from the house. He also heard the elderly couple screaming for help.

According to him, ranks of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) took between 30mins to 45mins to arrive at the scene of the fire, and by the time they got to the burning house there was little that could have been done to save the house or those trapped inside.

APNU/AFC to hold retreat to review performance ...

from page 8

APNU/AFC coalition to review past year's performance

responsibilities are not too burdensome. “I don’t think that they are so burdensome that he cannot take all three responsibilities. I am standing by the duties which were assigned to him last May and this is what we have been working with for the last 11 months,” the Head of State told re-

porters last week.

Nevertheless, Minister Trotman revealed on Wednesday that the matter was brought up before Cabinet during which President Granger encouraged the AFC Leader and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, and the

party’s Vice Chairman, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, to voice their concerns.

“They gave their opinions, their views (and) were not hindered in anyway… The AFC as a constituent member or a partner in a coalition may give its views and it has done so,” he stated.

NEWS 11

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24 , 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

New NCN boss defends ability to manage State broadcaster

Ram walks out of Prison inquiry - says "purpose and objective of Commission is being seriously compromised"

BY SHEMUEL FANFAIR

“I N

NCN CEO, Lennox Cornette

ewly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Communications Network (NCN) Lennox Cornette has sought to defend his name against rising media reports against him, that he was appointed although he had committed a criminal act 17 years ago, while an employee of the then Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T).

Cornette was appointed last week as the new CEO of the Stateowned entity, replacing Molly Hassan, who held the post for two years. Since his appointment, online news outfits have reported that Cornette, while serving as Public Relations Officer of the telephone giant, had forged the signature of the company’s then Deputy General Manager Terry Holder; an offence for which he was immediately fired.

But on Tuesday, Cornette in a media release, sought to clear his name, defending that the “signature issue” occurring at GT&T had nothing to do with any financial improprieties.

According to him, it was an in-house matter which was dealt with internally by GT&T. This, he said, could be attested to by the company.

“Since my departure from GT&T at the end of 1999, the company and I have maintained cordial relations. In May 2011, the company asked me to chair the 16th Tele Gathering Meeting that it was hosting in Guyana over the Easter weekend.

Tele Gathering is an annual event of telecos in the Caribbean. Stabroek News’ report on that meeting mentioned my name as chairing the proceedings,” Cornette said.

He said since the announcement by the NCN Board that he had emerged the best candidate among those interviewed for the post, numerous attacks have been fired on his person from online news sources. Apart from his issue

with GT&T, Cornette said the attacks also questioned his ability to manage the broadcasting company. This he sought to also defend.

“In relation to my ability to manage the national broadcaster, I have more than 20 years’ experience in management and executive management positions, I have successfully fulfilled several consultancies for national and international organisations, and I have done my Masters research on Strategic Marketing with focus on corporate identity,” the new CEO stated.

He said from the leaked emails from the NCN Board discussion to what is being said in media reports, it seems obvious that someone was pre-selected outside of the Board for the CEO’s position.

“However, it is now public knowledge that my submissions to the Board (all applicants were required to submit with their applications an outline of what they perceive as the mandate of NCN and how they will enhance that mandate), as well as my performance at the interview, came closest to what the Board required.”

“It is my interest and deep desire to serve my country and to turn the fortunes of NCN around.

NCN is a veritable well that has been blocked up by inefficient operations, lack of strategic vision and direction, inconsistencies between corporate strategies and departmental goals, inappropriate allocation of resources, lack of attendance to best practices, and staff who are not adequately motivated to pursue targets and goals,” he reasoned.

He said as CEO of NCN, he intends to revolutionise the entity by ensuring that a good strategic plan is developed. This plan, he said, is aimed at operational efficiency through effective coordination of the technical, administrative, programming, and marketing components of the organisation.

mproper, unethical” and “unprofessional” were the words Attorney and President of the Guyana Bar Association Christopher Ram uttered, as he marched out of Wednesday afternoon’s session of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the deadly Camp Street Prison riots.

This walk-out occurred during the crossexamination of Deputy Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels who prisoners claimed gave the orders to lock the prison door.

The Attorney sought to make the correlation that Attorney Selwyn Pieters, who is representing the Joint Services and appointed by the State, is also representing Deputy Director Samuels.

Ram grilled the witness over the supposition that Pieters’ counsel representation of Samuels is “a private arrangement” – a line of questioning that was discontinued by Commission Chairman James Patterson, who noted that divulging those details would violate lawyer-client privilege.

This did not however sit well Attorney Ram who pointed out a conflict of interest.

“Here it is we have an entity that is subject of this enquiry, set up by the President and the same Government providing legal counsel,” the Bar Association President ex-

Attorney Christopher Ram walks out of Wednesday’s session of the CoI

pressed.

At this point, it was Attorney representing the Disciplined Services, Pieters who now attempted to object to Ram’s continued line of questioning.

This however prompted the Bar Association to interject before Pieters could raise any of his concerns.

“Mr Chairman, I am not going to take this interruption from the other side unless it’s a proper point of objection, we had enough from that side,” he noted.

As Ram was subsequently allowed to proceed, he then asked Samuels if he was aware of any prisoner or survivor of the prison fire being provided with legal counsel by the State. Samuels responded in the negative.

When Ram attempted to ascertain the reasons behind Samuels being sent on leave, Attorney Pieters was swift in disallowing a response from his witness.

“Any personnel issues between Senior Superintendent Samuels

and the Ministry of Public Security and the Director of the Prison are matters that are private,” Pieters opined.

Ram then responded “The Bar Association will not sit down here and be interrupted; we have a serious problem in that we are not being allowed full opportunity to cross-examine. This is a matter that is in the press. A statement made by the Minister of Public Security, he says that ‘him going on leave’, that is, Mr Samuels is a necessity at this stage.”

As he was not allowed to pursue this line of questioning, Ram then opted to withdraw from the CoI and reiterated that the decision has been taken since the Bar Association was not provided with a proper opportunity to examine the witnesses.

“We believe that the purpose and objective of this Commission is being seriously compromised,” he stressed.

Justice Patterson told Ram that if he decides to withdraw, he may not be allowed to return. At this

point, Attorney Pieters in cross-talk questioned Ram if he had consulted with the Bar Association’s Board or if he “unilaterally” made the decision to withdraw. In a show of frustration, Ram uttered: “You give me a break” and departed from the room, shutting the door behind him.

Earlier this week, questions over the lack of transparency were raised after the media and members of the public were barred from hearing the testimonies of Prison Service members Cleveland Hudson and another whose name was only give as “Officer Lyken.”

“Officer Lyken” was reportedly ordered by his superiors to take video footage of the prison riots, while it is being floated that it was Hudson who gave the orders to lock the prison doors.

Public Security Minister Kemraj Ramjattan when questioned on Monday, opined that the closed door setting is within the authority of the Chairman.

“The CoI is controlled by the CoI members… he has authority to do that. I suppose under the Terms of Reference and if he thinks it is a matter for security reasons, why not,” the Minister had noted.

Following a period of rioting at the Camp Street penitentiary, 17 inmates lost their lives as a result of fire.

12 NEWS

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

IAC urges Govt to address security concerns of citizens urgently

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n light of the most recent brutal attacks on Guyana citizens, particularly businesspersons, the Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) today urged the Government to immediately implement effective security measures to address the situation.

The IAC earlier today issued a press statement condemning the most recent attack on the elderly East Bank Essequibo couple, seventy-five year-old Mohammed Munir, and his wife, sixty-nine year-old Jamila Munir, who perished after they were burnt to death by bandits who stormed their home last Sunday night.

“The IAC urges the authorities to ensure that the security of the populace is given utmost priority as promised and believes that the fear that continues to be instilled into the hearts of the citizenry can no longer be tolerated”, the statement added.

The following is the full statement: The Indian Action Committee (IAC), like all Guyanese, is horrified at the deaths of the elderly East Bank Essequibo couple, seventy-five year-old Mohammed Munir, and his wife, sixty-nine year-old Jamila Munir, who perished after their home was allegedly set ablaze.

The IAC understands that the unsuspecting rice-farming couple was attacked by bandits just before their home was on fire. Reports suggest that the home was deliberately set ablaze by bandits.

The Deputy Prisons Director, Gladwin Samuels, testifying at the CoI hearings on Tuesday

Mohammed Munir and Jamila Munir were burnt to death by bandits last Sunday night

This horrific incident is yet another example of heinous crimes that continue to be meted out to innocent Guyanese at the hands of merciless bandits. These incidents which seemingly appear unabated continue to drive fear into the hearts of Guyanese.

The IAC has also learnt that a twenty-six year-old businessman, MahendraPersaud, of Wakenaam, Essequibo, lost his life earlier today in Georgetown after being attacked and robbed by an armed bandit.

These are just the most recent incidents of attacks in a continuous spate of crimes against Guyanese.

The IAC cannot help in noticing that these attacks, some of which results in deaths, are perpetrated largely against Indo-Guyanese. In this regard, the IAC believes that it would not be unreasonable to suggest that Indo-Guyanese appear to be targeted by heartless criminals.

The IAC, in forthrightly condemning these latest incidents, calls on the authorities to immediately implement effective security measures to curb these attacks on Guyanese.

Also, the IAC urges the authorities to ensure that the security of the populace is given utmost priority as promised and believes that the fear that continues to be instilled into the hearts of the citizenry can no longer be tolerated.

The IAC, having expressed these sentiments in the past, can only hope, like all Guyanese, the counter measures would be implemented as swiftly as possible so as to cease the hemorrhaging of innocent lives.

The IAC takes this opportunity to express its deepest condolences to the immediate family and relatives of the victims and calls on civil society to join in its call.

UK £300M Caribbean Development Fund

CDB delegation visits Guyana

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United Kingdom/ C a r i b b e a n Development Bank (UK/CDB) delegation visited Guyana last week to discuss possible projects and proposals, as this country prepares to receive part of a £300 million Caribbean Infrastructure Fund promised to countries in the Region by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Gregg Quinn told Guyana Times International on Tuesday that Guyana remained eligible for the UK Fund, which was announced by the British PM last September in neighbouring Jamaica.

In September 2015, the Prime Minister, during a visit to the island, had told then Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller that his Government was moving in this direction to help the Caribbean on its path of development – supporting economic growth and creating new opportunities for people living in the Region.

The Prime Minister announced the new Fund in Jamaica on the first leg of a two-day visit fo-

Deputy Prisons Director says everything was done to rescue trapped inmates

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Gregg Quinn

cused on reinvigorating the relationship between the UK and Caribbean countries.

Delivered in collaboration with the CDB, the Fund will use money from the UK’s existing aid budget to provide grants over the next few years for a range of projects that will help boost growth and trade across the Region, creating jobs and opening up new market opportunities for British businesses.

The British High Commissioner said the prospects were looking good.

“This will be man-

aged and allocated through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

A UK/CDB delegation was in Georgetown…to discuss possible projects and the processes for submitting proposals. All is, therefore, looking good, on track and progress is being made. The UK is fully committed to ensuring Guyana gets its fair share of the available grant funding,” he told this publication.

In January, Quinn had said that his Government was scheduled to sign an agreement with the CDB.

According to him, the countries will be able to access the funding through the Bank.

He said he had already held discussions with the Government of Guyana in relation to the grant and Government had expressed the desire to have the money invested in infrastructure, that is, roads, bridges, ports, stellings, and aerodromes.

“Government is looking in the areas that are specified in the grant because although it will be grant funding, there will be conditions in terms of we have to spend it on these broad areas,” Quinn stated.

However, he noted that Government has not earmarked any specific projects since it had to await guidelines from the CDB. With this grant, the UK has become one of the largest bilateral donors to the Region. However, only the Commonwealth Caribbean, including Guyana, will be benefiting. The other beneficiaries include Jamaica, Grenada, Dominica, Belize, St Lucia, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

D

eputy Director of Prisons, Senior Superintendent Gladwin Samuels, has denied that he gave instructions for the doors to be locked at the prison cell at the March 3 riots which left 17 inmates dead.

Taking the stand at Tuesday afternoon’s session of the Commission of Inquiry into the deadly Camp Street jail unrest, Samuels refuted the testimonies of many inmates stating that he in fact gave instructions to open the door after he discovered the fire in Capital A. “I went in the prison yard down the step and I instructed that the door be opened so that those persons who wish to come out can come out,” Samuels testified.

Samuels also told the Commission of the instructions which he gave after ranks encountered difficulty in opening the door in Capital A block.

Samuels stated that he instructed to have the door to Capital B opened so that prisoners who were in Capital A could have used the hole they created in the wall to go across to Capital B. He also told the Commission of tensions that existed between prisoners in Capital A and B. “There are several persons from Capital A who have problems with persons from Capital B… the prisoners in Capital B indicated that they were receiving threats from the prisoners in Capital A as it relates to them coming out. We left the door to Capital B open and the officers went downstairs. That was with the aim of removing any confrontation with the prisoners so that they had a free passage to come outside,” Samuels posited.

Earlier in his testimony, Samuels explained that he and the Officer In charge of Camp Street Prison, Kelvin Pilgrim, heard a loud bang on the expanding mesh which was discovered to be “a large chunk of concrete” that was broken from the separation wall.

He further explained that these bricks were what inmates used to pelt Joint Service members.

These hostile actions had caused Firemen to exercise caution in their attempt to out the blaze.

With regards to concerns over use of force, Samuels stated that the Guyana Prison Service does not use teargas smoke or tasers.

The Deputy Director was then asked to demonstrate on a replica of the prison door. At this stage, Samuels denied that any plastic cork material was used to block the door.

Samuels further noted that the news of the riots spread very quickly as media operatives were called even before he exited the prison.

“What was quite surprising was that from the time the prisoners said to call Kaieteur News, I went to the front gate and briefed him on the matter and by the time I exited the prison, there were photographers flashing me who were attached to Kaieteur News,” Samuels recounted.

The Deputy Director also told Commissioners that his life and that of his family has been affected as people have been pointing him out as being responsible for the events leading to the prisoner’s deaths.

Many of the prisoners had laid the blame on Samuels, stating that he had given the instruction for the door to be locked. He was sent on leave to facilitate the Commission’s proceedings. At least 15 inmates lost their lives principally attributed the fire while the Guyana Fire Service investigation revealed that 2 of the inmates died from causes other than the fire.

Samuels was of the view that many of inmates’ testimonies may be slanted due to fear of attacks from fellow prisoners. The Deputy Director of Prisons will resume his testimony at this morning session where cross-examination is slated to occur.

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Guyana, India sign US$1M MoU for set up of ICT Centre

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he Government of Guyana, through the Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, on Wednesday, signed a US$1 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Government via its High Commissioner in Guyana, Mr. Venkatachalam Mahalingam for the setup of an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Centre of Excellence in Guyana.

According to GINA, this Centre will provide training for public sector ICT professionals to ensure the availability of a highly skilled ICT workforce, equipped with the requisite expertise to meet the increasingly complex demands of the public and private sectors.

The MoU was signed at the Ministry of the Presidency in the presence of Mr. Floyd

Levi, Head of the E-Government Unit, Ms. Vanessa Dickenson, Director, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Malcolm Williams, Director of Policy and Training, E-Government Unit.

Minister Harmon noted that the MoU caters for the creation and operation of an ICT Centre of Excellence, which will be based at the National Data Management Building at the University of Guyana Complex.

During the first two years of the project training of trainers will be completed, following which the facility will be handed over to the Government of Guyana.

“The parties will cooperate in the identification of required areas of training, the establishment of a centre for training in ICT with two

Govt allocates Gy$25M for night court arrangements

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Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan

pproximately Gy$25 million has been allocated to facilitate night court sessions, which are expected to commence in a matter of weeks.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan told media operatives on Monday that while certain terms were yet to be determined, Government has set aside a huge sum of money to cover the expenses of this undertaking.

“The Minister of Finance (Winston Jordan) has allocated a sum in the vicinity of Gy$25 million for this kind of arrangement…I don’t know if that will be sufficient, depending on how many Magistrates we appoint,” he explained.

Initial reports had suggested that there would be five temporary Magistrates appointed to man the night court.

Ramjattan noted that

the Judicial Services Commission would have to convene a meeting to appoint the Magistrates.

Government took a decision to introduce the night court system in an effort to dispose of the huge back-log of cases that have kept inmates on remand for years. This initiative is part of a package of prison reforms taken by the Administration following the deadly prison riot at the Camp Street penitentiary which claimed the lives of 17 inmates.

P r e s e n t l y , Magistrates open their courts from 09:00h and close at 14:00h, Monday to Friday.

According to reports, the night courts will be opened from 16:00h to 20:00h, Monday to Friday.

Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh had suggested that this initiative last for a period of six months.

resources of the country. He noted that the prospects of such a centre are exciting. “ H i g h Commissioner I want to thank you for this privilege. This has been an event that has been long in coming. It is a very significant moment in our history… The Government of India has persevered in ensuring that we have this Centre established in Guyana. I am very excited about the prospects that Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Mr. Venkatachalam this project will bring Mahalingam and Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon and I am extremely shake hands after the signing, on Wednesday. pleased to sign this class rooms of 25 stuThe Minister exagreement,” Minister dents each, in the pro- pressed thanks on behalf Harmon said. vision of academic ma- of the Government and Minister Harmon terial to train up to 500 people of Guyana, not- said that he expects students per year for two ing that the project will that the Centre will be years, among others,” go a long way in the de- opened within the next Minister Harmon said. velopment of the human three to six months. In

the meantime, India’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Mr. Mahalingam, in brief comments, said that the Centre provides an opportunity for the development of the country and the people of Guyana, which his Government was pleased to facilitate.

“We have been waiting for this for a long time and finally it happened. This is only the first step. There are a lot of things that we need to do. We need to correspond with each other. We need to make the facilities available on your end... I am sure that this is going to be a real good opportunity for Guyanese to have training on various aspects of IT Management and we look forward to working together,” Mr. Mahalingam said.

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Woman killed in Mandela Ave accident while searching for missing son

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ne woman has lost her life and a man is in critical condition following a two-vehicle collision at Mandela Avenue and Avocado Street, Georgetown on Tuesday evening.

Dead is Shana

Rice, of 651 Zenith, East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, while Stephen Fiedtkou, 32, is in critical condition.

According to reports, the two vehicles – a white Allion with registration number PHH 2547 and a

Honda CBR – collided when the Allion was attempting to make a right turn into Avocado Street about 20:15h.

Rice and Fiedtkou were on the motorcycle.

After the collision, the motorcyclists were

thrown from the bike some distance away.

The occupants of the Allion escaped uninjured.

Reports are that Rice sustained head injuries which caused her demise. The impact resulted in Fiedtkou

Shanice and her son Jaheem Feidtkou

sustaining two broken legs and suffering head trauma.

They were both subsequently rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where Rice was pronounced dead on arrival.

An eyewitness stated that the motorcyclists were both without helmets and there were no lights on the bike.

A relative of the dead woman told this publication that the couple was at the time of the accident searching for their missing

seven-year-old son.

The man explained that the couple’s son went missing around 17:00h on Tuesday and his parents were vigorously searching for him at the time of the accident.

After the accident, this publication was contacted by that relative who disclosed that the missing boy had been found in the care of a relative who did not notify his parents that he was there.

An investigation into the matter has been launched.

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PM Nagamootoo hits back at critics for ‘attempts to damage image of Coalition Govt’

BY EDWARD LAYNE

J

ust one day after Guyana Times reported that Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo was criticised by the United States’ Department of State over his 2015 attempt to suppress Freedom of the Press, particularly in the state media, the government in a strongly worded statement rejected those claims.

US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015 said while the government “generally respects the laws which provide for freedom of

speech and press, there have been attempts by the Administration to suppress freedom of the press.

Under the heading Censorship or Content Restrictions, the report pointed to an attempt by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo to restrict and control the content of the state-owned Guyana Chronicle.

“In August (2015), the Prime Minister issued a directive that all headlines in the state-owned print media be first scrutinised and approved by his office before they are published.

The directive was a response to a headline criticising the government. The prime minister also

serves as minister of information,” the report noted.

However, in a brief statement Monday, Office of the Prime Minister’s Department of Public Information (DPI), while not making direct reference to the report said government was repudiating, “in the strongest terms irresponsible allegations repeated in the media alleging censorship in state media.”

“Such claims are wholly false and baseless and attempt to damage the image of the Coalition Government which is trying to repair democratic institutions, including state media which had been left in a shambolic state under the previous administration,” the statement said.

It argued that the coalition government has established independent and professional boards for major State media entities.

However, a close examination of the board of directors of the two main State media entities, Guyana Chronicle and the National Communications Network Incorporated are loaded with persons who are linked directly to the coalition government, including APNU/AFC candidates in the 2015 general and regional elections.

Also, the Government

FLASHBACK: PM Nagamootoo having a conversation with Guyana Chronicle Reporter Derwyn Wills

Information Agency (GINA) is headed by APNU/AFC candidate Beverly Alert.

“The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana reiterates its commitment to the free media that provides for national coverage that is not driven by partisan politics,” the statement added.

It said that for the first time in many years, State media have been carrying articles and reports critical of the government. It added that for the first time, State media have been “providing extensive positive coverage to the Opposition.”

However, many are of the view Government’s actions, particularly those

of Office of the Prime Minister, and the Director of Public Information Imran Khan contradict this declaration.

For example, Khan, during the 2016 Budget debates, declared on his facebook page that the GINA was only required to cover the affairs of the sitting Government.

Further, during the same debates, the Prime Minister, a trained journalist, who often portrays himself as a bastion of Press Freedom, reproached a young Guyana Chronicle reporter over an article which criticised the government.

The article headlined:

“Gov’t blunders on Budget Estimates …violates laws assented to by President Granger” took the government to task after it was uncovered that budgetary estimates presented by Finance Minister Winston Jordan were done against two laws, which were passed under the David Granger Administration.

PM Nagamootoo, who once declared that the Guyana Chronicle should reflect nonpartisan views so as to objectively inform the public to make “wise decisions”, subsequently told reporters that “the Chronicle is a Government paper”, suggesting that all the reports must be subjective to the Government.

Nagamootoo’s Office later instructed the management of Guyana Chronicle that all headlines must be approved by Khan before the paper goes to press.

Sources close to that newspaper said up until this time, Khan still throws his weight around and issues directives to the publication, as well as the State-owned broadcaster, the National Communications Network (NCN) Incorporated, on a daily basis as to what its content should be, including instructions to limit the Opposition access.

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Norwegian delegation due in Coordinator says Guyana next week preparations on track

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Norwegian technical team is due in Guyana next Tuesday for a series of engagements with the Guyana Government, the Ministry of Natural Resources said Tuesday in a statement.

The team comprises officials from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative.

The focus of the April 26 to May 4, 2016 visit is to work with the Natural Resources Ministry, the Office of Climate Change (OCC), the Project Management Office (PMO), Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and other stakeholders, “to improve capacity in executing the Joint Concept Note and taking advantage of REDD+ opportunities.”

The statement said that since it took office in May, 2015, the Government of Guyana has been making steady progress towards creating a stronger agreement and better outcomes for Guyana’s green growth.

“To date, the Government has facilitated several meetings and discussions with Norwegian Official,” it said.

The statement said during a recent exchange with Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, Norway’s new Minister of Climate and Environment Vidar Helgesen recognised the efforts being made by government.

“I would like to congratulate you on your initiative to review and make public all information on logging concessions,” the statement said.

Minister Helgesen was also quoted

as saying he was encouraged that the Guyana government intended to review the Amerindian Act, in close consultation with affected stakeholders.

Minister Trotman, who has responsibility for the Guyana/Norway agreement is also encouraged by the progress to date and looks forward to the visit, which will continue to advance the partnership in a way that is supportive of Guyana’s “green growth” vision.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo is quoted in other sections of the media as saying he will maintain his call for a suspension of the Guyana-Norway Partnership until Trotman apologises or an international probe is launched into his claim that the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic had given out all of Guyana’s productive forest.

Trotman told Guyana’s National Assembly during the 2016 Budget debate in February that when the APNU/ AFC (PPP/C) took office it found that all of the productive forests were allocated.

The PPP/C has since rubbished the claims as “wild”.

Guyana and Norway entered into the forest partnership back in 2009 and this country has already earned up to US$190 million. Of that amount, US$86 million has been transferred to the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF).

US$80 million has been transferred to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the delayed Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.

Govt has been “sponging off the billions” left in the treasury by PPP – Rohee

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PPP/C General Secretary, Clement Rohee

he APNU+AFC coalition continues to administer Guyana without a clear-cut or even the vaguest of an economic plan and social model that is people-centered and aimed at improving the welfare and the livelihood of the Guyanese working people,” says General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee.

According to him, the government has been “sponging off the billions” left in the National Treasury by the former Administration, as well as the achievements of the PPP/C in almost every area of social and economic life.

During a press conference on Monday at the Party’s Freedom House Headquarters, Rohee declared that from the inception, the APNU+AFC coalition Administration has been “knocking from pillar to post” in an aimless attempt to find an appropriate development model to build on what the PPP/C left behind.

This is in relation to the advancement of the socio-economic development for Guyana which the government of the day has so far failed ignominiously to do, he posited.

“In the meanwhile, the persistent corruption scandals rocking the

Granger Administration has resulted in growing disillusionment and dissatisfaction on the part of its own supporters in particular and the Guyanese people in general. In contrast, the socio-economic model based on the programmes and policies of the PPP/C served to sustain persistent growth rates resulting in consistent improvement in the lives of the Guyanese working people in general but more particularly, for single parents, pensioners, young Amerindians and workers in general,” the PPP General Secretary stated.

He noted that the APNU+AFC Administration for its part, rather than focusing on economic and social development to benefit the Guyanese working people, has resorted to “stealing votes at both the General and Regional as well as the Local Government Elections, beautification, celebratory and alternative capital projects” in an effort to show that it is “different” from the PPP/C as if such projects matter.

According to Rohee, since the APNU+AFC government is in office all that it has managed to do effectively is “snatch” votes from the electorate, award itself monstrous salary increases, display racial and political discrimination, become involved in corruption scandals, participate in victimisation and execute persistent witch-hunting of persons who do not please this government either politically or ethnically.

“The Granger coalition Administration must cease masquerading and trying to fool the Guyanese people into believing that better will come. The fact of the matter is there are no signs that the path being pursued by the APNU+AFC will lead to any improvement in the lives of the Guyanese people.”

for GuyExpo 2016 (GINA)

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o m p a nies are heightening preparations for the Guyana Trade Fair and Exposition (GuyExpo), and applications have been submitted for all 400 booths for the May 12-15, 2016 event.

GuyExpo 2016 will focus on a reflection of 50 years of business in keeping with the national celebration of Guyana’s 50thanniversary, hence the theme “50 Years: Guyana means Business – Promoting Enterprise, Driving Productivity.”

Over the years, GuyExpo has served as a launching pad for many successful businesses.

This year’s event will be centered on promoting and developing businesses.

G u y E x p o Coordinator, Tameca Sukhdeo-Singh, in an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA) urged interested exhibitors to come in now as booths are going quickly.

“A majority of the lawn space is already gone. It’s first come first served for GuyExpo 2016…we so far have at least 200 booths paid and accounted for, but we still have some available,” Sukhdeo-Singh explained.

“We want to go further this year. Since we’re now Ministry of

Guyexpo 2016 Coordinator Temeca SukhdeoSingh (left) and Dawn Holder-Alert, Director of Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission

Business, we would like to ensure that Guyexpo offers businesses that help they need to develop,” Sukhdeo-Singh asserted.

In that regard, four workshops will be held with exhibitors to teach them how to transform the theory they’ve learnt in business into the practical.

The social media component will position businesses to market their products over a wider scale which can lead to their development. “We’re looking at workshops that will focus on: how to access financing, to promote businesses through business plans, packaging and promotion and social media and website development,” Sukhdeo-Singh said.

Additionally, the new Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) will work along with another local business to assist exhibitors with challenges they face with regard

packaging and product promotion.

Dawn Holder-Alert, Director of Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission outlined that, because it’s Guyana’s jubilee year, the exhibition will reflect it.

“The whole compound should reflect the celebration of a jubilee. We want the exhibitors in their booths to showcase local products, nicely decorated with items that reflect Guyana’s progress over the 50 years,” HolderAlert said.

The Guyana Police Force, as well as private security firms will address the security needs of the exposition.

A number of countries are onboard including; Argentina, Chile, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Indonesia, Brazil, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and St. Lucia.

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President Granger among Granger brushes aside trade first in Guyana to provide unions’ call for re-establishment sample for Ancestry DNA test of Labour Ministry

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resident David Granger was among the first to have samples taken for the conduct of an Ancestry Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA) test in Guyana.

The test is being launched for the first time in this country by Eureka Medical Laboratory and Mr. Shawn Manbodh, Quality Manager and Medical Technologist visited State House to take the President’s sample as part of their launching activities.

According to a GINA media release, Mr. Manbodh explained to the President that the test results would allow him to understand his ancestral genetic make-up.

“It basically tells about your lineage. It can tell what make-up you have…

Let’s say for instance in a Guyanese person; how much percentage of African and how much percentage East Indian and how much percent is Chinese…” he said.

These percentages are not always obvious as Mr. Manbodh explained that someone’s physical characteristics might reflect an ethnicity that accounts for 40 percent of

D

President David Granger allows the painless removal of the sample for his Ancestry DNA test by Mr. Shawn Manbodh, Quality Manager and Medical Technologist, which was done at State House, this morning.

a person’s genetic makeup but other parts of a person’s lineage may be dominant in ways that are not externally obvious.

While Ancestry DNA not often considered a necessity but more to satisfy a person’s desire to understand where they came from, Mr. Manbodh said that this type of test can become very important when trying to diagnose illnesses. For example, if someone were to present symptoms of an illness that is uncommon among members of their perceived race, it would be useful for a doctor to know what other ethnicity or race makes up their ancestry in order to help

with diagnoses.

“Knowing exactly where you came from to know what kind of disease you have; maybe it might be some kind of unknown disease but when you trace back your roots, you will be able to trace it and know exactly where it came from,” Mr. Manbodh said.

This test also allows not only for people to understand what percentage of a race or ethnicity they might have but where their ancestors would have originated from. Results for this test are usually ready within 30 days and the sample is removed by swabbing the inner cheeks of the client.

espite recent calls from trade unions for the Ministry of Labour to be re-established, President David Granger is of the view that there is no need for one.

Speaking on his weekly television programme, “The Public Interest” aired on Friday, the Head of State said if he felt there was a need for a Ministry of Labour then he would have created one.

In fact, Granger believes the labour portfolio is appropriately placed under the Ministry of Social Protection which covers a broad area.

“I think the labour portfolio is well placed. I think the duties within the Ministry of Social Protection are clearly defined and had made it clear why I felt that the name social protection is more appropriate,” he stated.

According to the Head of State, the idea behind putting labour under this ministry is to ensure the protection of workers. “When a worker dies in the mines, I feel injured and I want to see the Ministry of Social Protection, protecting workers. If a worker is treated unfairly in a foreign company; be it a timber or mining company, it’s social protection,” the President stated on the programme.

However, trade unions in Guyana are of a different belief with many of them calling for the establishment of a substantive Labour Ministry.

Only Monday last, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) had reiterated the need for a ministry of labour.

The umbrella unions noted that with labour being reduced to a mere department, workers do not have an

GTUC General Secretary, Lincoln lewis

equitable chance of their rights being adequately represented since there seems to be a disjointed ministry for this purpose.

GTUC’s General Secretary Lincoln Lewis had indicated that this was the first time the country is without a Labour Ministry. “What we are looking forward to is a Ministry of Labour, a ministry that addresses labour issues… It is the first time in the history of this country, even before independence, we have had a government without naming a Ministry of Labour,” he stated.

With the Labour Ministry eliminated from this government, Lewis said this shows there is no emphasis placed on workers and more so a representation for their rights. This situation also resulted in less engagement with the labour movement and as such there is a reduced chance of having consultations and discussions to address issues within the sector.

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GGMC cancels river 105 not out! Georgetown bank mining permits Centenarian to celebrate another milestone next month

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Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman

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ffective immediately, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is advising miners that all mining activities on river banks and permits for such mining have been rescinded until further notice.

According to a notice in a local newspaper on Saturday, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman issued policy directives as a result of which protocols in relation to the application for consideration and granting of permission are being reviewed.

“Consequently, all ‘permissions’ previously granted to breach river banks (buffer zones) for access to claims or mining permits or for prospecting, mining and quarrying operations are rescinded with immediate effect until further notice,” the notice stated.

Furthermore, the GGMC publication reminded that mining of river banks is

against the law. “Any breach of river banks (buffer zones) for access to claims or mining permits, or for prospecting, mining and quarrying operations require specific permission from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission,” while adding “as such there should be no mining or excavation of the river banks (buffer zones) without due consideration of, and specific permission from the Commission”.

Over the years, GGMC has been trying to curb mining activities on river banks as such activities destroy the banks and cause overflows.

Four years ago the Commission stopped issuing river claims saying it was overwhelmed by reports of the damage irresponsible mining is doing to the environment. However, Government was forced to lift the ban after coming under pressure from the mining community.

housands of persons throughout the world often wish that they could live to the ripe old age of 100, but only a privileged few can say that they have reached this milestone.

It is even rarer to find elderly folks celebrating more birthdays after they have commemorated that century mark, but here in Guyana there are a few persons who have been blessed with such longevity and good health.

Olive Blackmore, a resident of Cummings Street, Georgetown, is one of such persons. She will be 105 years old in a month’s time and is expected to have a grand celebratory party hosted by her relatives and other loved ones.

Originally from the Charlestown village, where she was born on May 23, 1911, she eventually moved after being married and becoming the mother of 10 children, eight of whom are still alive today.

Though she may not be “as fit as a fiddle” this elderly woman is still vibrant with a pleasant and lovable personality.

Her nurse, who has been taking care of Blackmore for the past three years, told this publication that the elderly woman is “nothing short of wonderful” and she would occasionally sing and dance for her audience at home.

Blackmore is described as a “church going Catholic person” who on every morning when she

President David Granger with Mrs. Olive Blackmore as her relatives and members of her church say a prayer

awakes, recites the “Holy Rosary Prayer”.

According to her nurse, the aged woman is a hearty eater who manages to feed herself without the assistance of anyone and remains as active as she possibly can.

“She hears on one side so when you speak to her you have to speak on that side but she fully understands and answers accordingly…her memory occasionally fails her, like it comes and goes, but most times she is alright. She would talk about people we don’t know, places and events and even tell us stories of her life before we were born,” the woman’s caretaker added.

Meanwhile, President David Granger paid a visit to the centenarian’s home on Thursday.

Although her birthday is next month the President is not sure whether he will be able to visit Blackmore then since his schedule for the month of May is packed due to the country’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

“It’s good to be here on behalf of the Government of Guyana to honour a citizen, who was born when people didn’t even have watches or radios or cell phones…, there are so many similarities between her and my own mother, who also lived in Charlestown. Had my mother been alive today she would have been 111 [years old]. I hope that Mrs. Blackmore can live comfortably for the rest of her days and that her health would hold up,” the President said at the home of Blackmore.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Education Ministry gears Manickchand roasts Govt for not up for public consultations consulting with stakeholders

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he Education Ministry will begin a series of public consultations commencing this Friday, as it gears itself for the start of the much-anticipated Commission of Inquiry into the education sector.

According to a public announcement in the local dailies, members of the public have been invited to participate in public consultations between the Education Ministry and teachers, parents, school Boards and unions. This event will take place on April 22 at the St Stanislaus College at 16:00h. On April 29, the Ministry will meet with the business sector in the auditorium of the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD) and members of the public on May 4 at the St Stanislaus College.

In its effort to review the Education Sector Strategic Plan, the Ministry said it would be conducting the CoI. The Inquiry is intended to provide evidential bases for the revision, upgrading and extension of the Plan.

The Ministry has, therefore, extended an invitation to the public to submit memoranda on their perceptions of the state of the system, inclusive of factual illustra-

Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine

tions where possible, and recommendations for the enhancement of the system.

Memoranda, it said, should be submitted to the CoI Secretariat no later than May 14.

Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine said the CoI was essential since it would analyse the problems encountered within the school system.

This, he said, will also allow the Ministry to use the information obtained through consultations with parents, students and teachers to formulate plans to deal with the problems.

According to him, the Ministry has had a number of ideas to reform the sector, but they could not be implemented until data has shown what each region/school recommends to further build and enhance the manner in which education is delivered to students across

Guyana.

Additionally, the Minister disclosed that an audit had commenced since the beginning of his appointment.

This audit had revealed a number of physical and administrative “glitches” within the system.

In October of 2015, Dr Roopnaraine had stated that there had been a delay in the commencement of the Inquiry since the Ministry was still in the process of appointing persons to head the probe.

He had intended to have nine persons be Commissioners, but at that time there had only been five confirmed persons, and he was in the course of contacting and confirming four other persons.

However, these four persons were never confirmed and as such, the setting up of the CoI lagged.

Persons who are desirous of supplementing their memoranda with oral presentations to the Commission may indicate in their submission the desire to do so.

Additionally, persons who are desirous of making oral submissions without submitting memoranda may also write to the Commission, no later than April 30, 2016, expressing the desire to do so.

on changes to NGSA

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overnment has come in for some harsh flogging by People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP) Priya Manickchand who last Thursday criticised it for backpedalling on its promise of inclusive governance and its continued “inaccessibility”.

Her criticism came in light of the recent revelation regarding the change of format of the examination paper for students scheduled to sit the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) this month-end. The former Education Minister has concerns with the students now having to write their names on the exam paper, and also condemned Government for not reaching out to the people and members of the Opposition.

“This is the same Government which said that it was going to be inclusive in its governance. Never told, never asked as a parent, as a person who has been in that seat for a couple of years, as a citizen, as a Member of Parliament and the Opposition’s representative to say on particular issues,” she complained, noting that her stint at the Education Ministry was very much different to what is taking place now.

“We were always accessible. We could have been reached. Ask us questions on social media, meet us in the market, call us, etc. This Government is running this country out of their offices and comfort of the homes of their supporters. This is not happening the way it should be happening. The Government has dozens of Ministers and advisers, but is not touching people. They are going by planes, because they are travelling frequently,” she told Journalists.

According to her, when she was Education Minister, she would meet with the Shadow Ministers of both the then Opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) at her invitation.

PPP/C MP, Priya Manickchand

“We never announced anything big under my watch in the newspapers.

They were told about it first and had an input in it,” she said.

Manickchand reminded that when a decision was made to change the age of entry into nursery school and begin the distribution of the cash grant, Shadow Ministers were first informed.

She said since she left the office, she has never been invited to the Ministry as the now Shadow Minister of Education to have any discussion on any matter.

The former Education Minister said this was among the many reasons the Opposition would not be participating in the education Commission of Inquiry (CoI).

“There is no consistent engagement with the people who have standing in the country. While we represent the whole country, if you are talking specifically to the number of votes, then that is something different,” Manickchand said, continuing that good governance requires that all be involved and Government makes itself accessible.

Changes, she said, should not be made without proper public consultation.

She added that women of the PPP were not even invited to any of the Women Affairs programme.

WPA calls for Rodney report to be laid in Parliament Local Board of Guardians

T

he Overseas Associates of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has made a bold call for President David Granger to lay the final report of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) in the National Assembly.

The Presidential inquiry, which commenced in February 2014, sought to officially examine the circumstances which led to the death of historian, educator and founding leader of the WPA, Dr Walter Anthony Rodney.

Rodney was killed in a bomb blast on June 13, 1980 in the vicinity of the Georgetown, Camp Street Prison. He was at the time said to be examining a communications device, built by then Guyana Defence Force Sergeant, William Gregory Smith.

The 17-month long investigation came to a premature end in July, 2015.

“Now that the parties have spoken and the report has apparently been sent to the family, we expect the President to follow-through with his most recent pronounce-

Dr Walter Rodney

ment on this matter.

That is to lay the report before parliament and release the report to the public,” the group said Sunday in a statement.

It said it is now for the President to make arrangements immediately for the report to be sent as professional courtesy to all the lawyers who participated in the inquiry; to announce the date when the report will be laid before parliament; and to release it to the public.

The group said it was also pleased that following a call by another major player in the coalition, the Alliance for Change (AFC), the report is reportedly on its way to Dr Rodney’s im-

mediate family.

Earlier last week, the AFC had issued a call to President Granger for the report to be sent to the family and for it to be released to the public.

The Commission, headed by Barbadian Queen’s Counsel Sir Richard Cheltenham, and including Jamaican Queen’s Counsel Jacqueline SamuelsBrown and Trinidadbased Guyanese Senior Counsel Seenath Jairam, was set up to investigate who or what was responsible for the bomb blast that caused the instant death of the WPA cofounder on the evening of June 13, 1980.

At the time, former President Donald Ramotar had said that the establishment of the Inquiry was owing to the persistent requests by Rodney’s widow Patricia, and their three children.

However, the People’s National Congress (PNC), the major partner in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, had maintained that the move was a political stunt taken to tarnish its reputation.

appointed to review application for public assistance in Region 7

M

Minister Volda Lawrence and the Board Members

inister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence today installed nine members of the Local Board of Guardians appointed to review applications for Public Assistance in the upper and central Mazaruni areas, Region Seven, according to GINA. The Minister told the members that Public Assistance is a temporary assistance in the form of cash that the Government grants to vulnerable persons to assist them in a difficult period.

Hence, the State is depending on the Board members to objectively review the applications. “Public Assistance is granted to persons with permanent disability on an annual basis. However, persons who received Public Assistance because of their dire economic situa-

tion are subjected to reviews every six months”.

The Minister insisted that criteria for successful reviews must include regular school attendance and vaccination for children receiving Public Assistance.

The Minister also noted that the board members are the Ministry’s ambassadors in the Region and urged that they execute their responsibilities with diligence.

“Let’s ensure we follow procedureS,” she cautioned, adding that soon the Ministry will be moving to introduce conditional cash transfer for families that will seek to reduce poverty within the family by making an intervention that benefits the entire family.

NEWS 25

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Rohee says Govt has no ‘clear-cut economic plan’ for Guyana

T

he A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) has been criticised

by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Clement Rohee for its abysmal failure to implement a clear-cut economic plan and social model to improve the livelihood of the Guyanese working class.

“The APNU+AFC coalition administration has been knocking from pillar to post in an aimless attempt to find an appropriate development model to build on what the PPP/C left behind for the advancement of the socio-economic development for Guyana. Thus far, it has failed ignominiously to do so,” he told a news conference at Freedom House Monday.

During the press conference Monday morning, Rohee concluded that the government has no interest in focusing on economic and social development but rather on meaningless projects including beautification and celebratory initiatives.

“The Granger administration for its part, rather than focusing on economic and social development to benefit

the Guyanese working people, resorts to stealing votes at both the General and Regional as well as the Local Government Elections, beautification, celebratory and alternative capital projects in an effort to show that they are different from the PPP/C as if such projects really matter,” Rohee stated.

Rohee also posited that the persistent corruption scandals rocking the Granger administration has resulted in growing disillusionment and dissatisfaction on the part of its own supporters in particular and the Guyanese people in general.

He said the socioeconomic model based on the programmes and policies of the PPP/C served to sustain persistent growth rates resulting in consistent improvement in the lives of the Guyanese working people in general but more particularly, for single-parents, pensioners, young Amerindians and workers in general.

Rohee reminded that President David Granger had promised to craft a long-term national economic strategy but to date, nothing of the sort has been presented.

“Nothing of the sort has come to pass though almost one year is nearing with the APNU+AFC in government. Instead, all that has happened is the snatching of votes from the electorate, the monstrous salary increases, racial and political discrimination, corruption scandals, vic-

timisation and the persistent witch-hunting of persons who do not please the Granger administration politically nor ethnically,” Rohee stated.

He also reminded that during his inauguration, President Granger had stated, “The fight against pov-

erty cannot be won through handouts but through providing jobs.”

But Rohee pointed out that contrary to his declaration, “Granger himself has been handing out buses, bicycles and boots while at the same time neglecting large numbers of young people, some of whom

“Voted like a Boss” hoping for change but who, much to their regret have not seen any benefits coming their way since the APNU+AFC assumed office.”

And Rohee predicted that nothing better will come once the APNU+AFC continues to govern the nation.

26 NEWS

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Corruption a major problem in Guyana - US State Dept

BY EDWARD LAYNE

T

he United States Department of State says corruption continues to be among the leading human rights problems facing Guyana. The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015, released by the department recently, also chronicled other human rights violations.

“There remained a widespread public perception of corruption involving officials at all levels, including the police and the judiciary,” the report said.

It noted however that

the government responded to these reports, but did not elaborate.

The report also stated that while the law requires public officials to declare their assets to an Integrity Commission, the commission has not been constituted.

It added that the law sets out both criminal and administrative sanctions for nondisclosure to the commission by public officials, but, no such publication or convictions occurred during the year.

Extra-judicial killing

The report cited as another significant human rights violation in

Guyana is extra-judicial killings. “The most significant human rights problems were arbitrary killings by the government or its agents… there were several reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings during the year,” it stated.

It added that other human rights problems included lengthy pretrial detention, an age old problem in Guyana.

Police abuse

Addressing the issue of police excesses, the report stated that there was a lack of independent and transparent

procedures for handling allegations of abuses by security force members.

“Prosecutions when pursued were extremely lengthy, and convictions rare, leading to a widespread perception that security force members and government officials enjoyed impunity,” it noted.

The document pointed to the July 2015 shooting to death of al-

leged smuggler Charles Caesar by a member of the now disbanded Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) while attempting to arrest him.

Police reported that Caesar was suspected to have smuggled illegal goods into the country and attempted to run away to avoid arrest.

On the issue of torture, the report stated that while the laws in Guyana continue to prohibit such acts, there were reports alleging mistreatment of inmates by prison officials as well as allegations of police abuse of suspects and detainees.

Prison conditions

The report said that prison and jail conditions, particularly in police holding cells, were “harsh and potentially life threatening due to gross overcrowding, physical abuse, and inadequate sanitary conditions and medical care.”

The Prison Service reported that, as of October 2015, there were 1944 prisoners in five facilities with a combined design capacity of 1640.

“Overcrowding was in large part due to a backlog of pretrial detainees, who constituted approximately 11.3 per cent of the total prison population,” the report stated.

Police and security apparatus The report also pointed to the lack of adequate training, poor equipment, and acute budgetary constraints severely limiting the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) effectiveness as well as corruption within the force.

“There were reports of corruption in the police force. Authorities charged and brought to court 23 GPF members for various crimes, including robbery, simple larceny, bribery, and indecent assault.

According to the Caribbean Development Report commissioned by the UN Development Programme, public confidence in the police force was very low.

It however noted that efforts were being made to address some of these issues.

Same-sex union

The report highlighted archaic laws which make consensual samesex activity between adult men illegal and punishable by up to two years in prison.

It stated that anal intercourse is punishable with a maximum sentence of life in prison, regardless of whether the intercourse is between persons of the same sex.

“Activists reported that it was more common for police to use the law to intimidate men who were gay or perceived to be gay than to make arrests,” the report cited.

The law also criminalises cross-dressing.

In October a male domestic worker was convicted for cross-dressing.

Freedom of speech and press

On the issue of freedom of speech and press, the US State Department said that while the government generally respects the laws which provide for Freedom of Speech in Guyana, there were attempts at state censorship during 2015.

“In August the prime minister issued a directive that all headlines in the state-owned print media (Guyana Chronicle) be first scrutinised and approved by his office before they are published. The directive was a response to a headline criticising the government,” it noted Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who has oversight responsibility for the state media, was harshly criticised for this action.

He had also attempted to intimidate the young Journalists who wrote the article headlined: “Gov’t blunders on Budget Estimates …violates laws assented to

by President Granger” in which the government was criticised.

It meanwhile highlighted that government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online content, and there were no credible reports that the government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority.

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28 news

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Jagdeo condemns DDL/GRA out-of court billion-dollar tax settlement

B

everage giant Demerara D i s t i l l e r s Limited’s (DDL) whopping Gy$3.8 billion Consumption Tax writeoff from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) just opened avenues for other companies to seek refunds on taxes paid, thus ultimately depriving the state of billions of dollars.

Condemning in the strongest possible sense the controversial out-of-court settlement, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo disclosed that already there are reports in the private sector of other major companies consulting lawyers about this possibility.

“Management officials from a major local alcohol and beverage produc-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

ing company have made it clear, in the past when I was President, that the company would be seeking a refund depending on the outcome of the DDL matter. If this company were to conservatively use DDL’s case to advance a call for a refund

of taxes it paid this could result in the treasury balance being further diminished. Extrapolating the refund for one company on consumption tax alone could total some Gy$7.6 billion up to 2006, inclusive of interest,” he pointed out in a statement to the media last Saturday evening.

Jagdeo added that the total would represent over Gy$16 billion in revenues loss, in the case of only two companies (adding the refund for one company and the liabilities for DDL [Gy$10.6 billion] and subtracting the Gy$1.5 billion that was paid by DDL in the settlement).

Jagdeo reminded that during his meeting with President David Granger, he had offered to have the

Attorney General Basil Williams be briefed by his predecessor Anil Nandlall about five major cases involving billions of dollars in taxes lawfully owed to the State, including the DDL matter; however the

offer was rejected.

“The offer was made because the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) believes we must safeguard the State’s revenue sources and this is not a matter that ought to be contaminated by politics,” he stated.

Jagdeo also argued that the DDL settlement, as well as the possibility of other companies seeking refunds, will cost the State billions in revenue dollars – billions that could have been used in areas that the coalition government told the nation they could not afford to fund.

“It would have taken Gy$1.7 billion to keep the Wales Sugar Estate functional, thereby safeguarding 2000 jobs and the welfare of 28,000 residents on the West Bank Demerara.

It would have taken Gy$1.6 billion to continue the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant for 177,000 public school children across the country. It would have taken a further Gy$500 million in water and electricity subsidies that would have benefited upwards of 40,000 pensioners.

These would have amounted to only Gy$3.8 billion, but were callously not funded. While these social interventions would have cost only Gy$3.8 billion, this single tax deal will cost the treasury upwards of Gy$16 billion for the period 2001 to 2006,” he stated.

Jagdeo further contended that the settlement sends the wrong message to the business community, “that a company can unilaterally decide to stop paying taxes, while other companies comply with the law, take the matter to court and drag it out until a sympathetic government comes to power and settles its debts to the State.”

He explained that the potential cost of this single settlement and its possible consequences amount to more money than the State received in

loans and grants in any single year.

“We call on the international community and in particular the international financial institutions to note this wanton and deliberate haemorrhaging of the National Treasury by the coalition Government,” he urged.

Moreover, he asserted that the lack of transparency and the secrecy with which government continue to manage the affairs of State are increasingly becoming causes for concern and are now being institutionalised.

He therefore demand that government disclose critical information in relation to this tax deal, including whether or not an assessment of DDL’s liabilities in respect of Excise Tax for the period 2006 to 2016 was done and what was the sum of that liability; who negotiated the settlement; if the settlement was approved

by Cabinet or the board of the GRA; on what principles was the sum Gy$1.5 billion arrived at; and whether other deals were concluded or are currently being negotiated.

Furthermore, observers are questioning the secrecy with which this multibillion dollar tax write-off was negotiated which has now given credence to a claim by former Commissioner General of GRA Khurshid Sattaur that he was asked to get involved in unsavoury acts, including massive tax write-offs.

In January 2016, when Sattaur was fired, he made some damning revelations, among them was he being asked on “repeated occasions” since the new government took office to do various things such as settling taxpayer’s cases for meagre sums that would have cost the country billions of dollar in lost revenue.

While Sattaur at the time did not name any individual or company, the DDL case may very well be one such which he had referenced.

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Preventing the untreatable

T

By Anu Dev

here are several diseases for which mankind have not managed to discover the cure at this time.

Physicians can try dealing with the symptoms, but they haven’t found a way of actually treating the source of the disease itself. But in an article I read recently, there’s a new In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technique that could reduce the risks of some of these disorders being passed on from mother to child.

But several British Parliamentarians have argued against the therapy, citing the moral implications in substituting the damaged DNA in the mitochondria.

During one of my classes, we discussed a problem that was based

on the types of Muscular Dystrophy, which affects the muscles of the body and is due to certain muscle protein not produced. We learnt through our research that it was an inherited genetic disorder and once someone was born with Muscular Dystrophy there aren’t currently any real treatment options.

And then I read this article, and I saw that there are advances being made to manipulate the genetic code, so that mothers wouldn’t be able to pass on diseases involving their mitochondria to their children.

And it really made me feel hopeful, that they could keep on making advances, and eventually we would find a way to deal with most inherited disorders, not just ones involving mitochondria. But then I felt disappointed to read about the British MPs opposing the technique.

But the article forced me to consider both sides of the argument. And very importantly, it made me realise that with so many rapid advances being made in the dynamic world of medicine, I’ll have to make decisions and consider these moral implications at some point in the future.

A neighbour of mine, who is the same age as one of my aunts, suffers from Muscular Dystrophy and it is rather poignant to compare her vibrancy with the wheelchair bound individual I

glimpsed through our fence to see since childhood.

I know he will gradually, inexorably deteriorate until he is no more.

I also had some experience with another genetic disorder- sickle cell anaemia.

When I was in 2nd form, my Math Teacher’s three-year-old daughter died of complications due to sickle cell anaemia. There’s no cure for

sickle cell anaemia, it’s a genetic disorder and the faulty gene is passed on. I saw how devastated my teacher was, and who could blame her – she’d just lost her little girl after months of desperate-

ed?

We’re a way off from coming up with a way to manipulate the genetic code to prevent sickle cell anaemia. But we’re just making things even more difficult if politi-

does not alter any aspect of the patient’s humanity – that which make them human – but simply allowed to live a fuller human life. The solution is to impose controls over the use of the scientific advance to ensure it is not abused.

I would like to hope that as a doctor I would make the choices that would give my patient the best possible quality of life. I’d like to be the type of doctor that takes the time to educate my patients about the dan-

“Prevention is better than cure.”

– Desiderius Erasmus ly trying to find ways for her to have the best shot at a normal life. But if a baby is born with sickle cell anaemia, there’s not much that can be done in the way of treatment.

But what if they were able to do something in vitro? What if the disease could have been prevent-

cians intervene by playing to public sentiments without considering the underlying science.

Essentially advances in science in and of themselves are not “bad” or “good” – it’s to what use they’re put. In the case of MD, the science

gers of smoking and alcohol abuse, so that I can prevent lung cancer and liver cirrhosis instead of having to treat them. And if there’s a chance to prevent a child from being born with an untreatable disease, I’d like to take it.

30 feature

O

ne of the fruit trees children always find worth a thorough raiding in Guyana is the dunks tree, especially flourishing in the countryside.

Children shaking dunks trees during ‘dungs season’ for these small but often succulent treats, stuffing their pockets and bags, is a common sight.

Scientifically called

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

names Indian plum, or Indian cherry; or “coolie plum” in Jamaica, “dunk or mangustine” in Barbados; “dunks” in Trinidad and Tropical Africa, and “dungs”, “downce”, or “downs” in Guyana.

The Guyanese pronunciation and spelling of the word for the fruit can also be a cause for debate.

is hard because Rama blessed the tree for having tried to save Sita, and gave it a boon that no matter how badly it was cut, it will not die, and even if a single root of it was left, it will spring up again... and that is the reason for the tree's hardiness and ability to grow in arid zones.

In India also, the tree is held sacred and is included in many religious

A local dungs tree

the Ziziphus jujuba, the fruit tree originated in China and is known as jujube or tsao/zao. It has been widely grown there for more than 4,000 years in mild-temperate and rather dry areas.

The hardier Indian jujube, however, is adapted to warm climates.

This appears to suggest that the dunks, “downce”, or “dungs” tree that every Guyanese child loves to raid is the Indian jujube variety, given the English

History of ‘dungs’

The Indian jujube is native from the Province of Yunnan in southern China to Afghanistan, Malaysia and Queensland, Australia.

It is commercially grown and cultured in India despite the fact that it often becomes a pest. There are more than 90 varieties of the fruit in India.

Jujube is mentioned very often in Indian legends. According to Ramayana, the tree

ceremonies. The fruits are offered to Siva. There is a Jujube tree growing in the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar, which is known as the "Tree which removes sorrow".

Legend also has it that the Goddess Lakshmi took the form of the Indian jujube to provide nourishment to Lord Vishnu during his long penance in the Himalayan climate.

A global fruit

The trees are found in other parts of the West Indies, in Colombia and Venezuela, Guatemala, Belize, and southern Florida. In Florida, in 2008, it was described as an “invasive species”. In Barbados, Jamaica and Puerto Rico the tree is naturalized and forms thickets in uncultivated areas.

While most Guyanese eat the fruit raw, dunks are also made into drink and chutneys, or they are pickled. In India they are stewed as well as candied, while in Africa the dried and fermented pulp is made into cakes that look like gingerbread. Indonesians cook the young leaves, while Venezuelans make a liqueur from the fruit.

Many persons differ on when to eat the fruit.

Some prefer the greenish brown and turningripe fruit, while others like it ripe; some people find the overripe fruit unpleasant tasting, but there are those who enjoy the taste. Children, on the other hand, will eat it green, “turning or half-green” with salt and pepper or ripe.

Uses of the ‘dungs’ tree

In many parts of the world, the fruit is not the only part of the tree that is utilised. The hard, fine-textured, and tough red-coloured wood is also valued as firewood; in tropical Africa its flexible branches are used to build the conical structure of thatched hut roofs, and its thorny characteristics help to make corral walls for their livestock.

In addition, the dungs tree wood is hardgrained and takes planing and polishing, mak-

Green dungs in Guyana

ing it also suitable for creating everyday items such as agriculture tools, tool handles, yokes, and household utensils, as well as items like golf clubs and boat ribs.

The leaves are also considered nutritious for livestock such as cattle and goats, and are used as food for silkworms.

The bark, which makes a cinnamon-coloured dye that does not fade, is used in Kenya, while the purified resin - originating from the lac insect after it sucks the juice from the tree - is the commercial shellac that is used in its lowgrade form into sealing wax and varnish. Higher grades are used for fine lacquer work, lithograph-ink, or polishes.

The dunks fruit is said to have several medicinal properties, though actual scientific evidence is not immediately available on its proponents’ claims. Some pharmaceutical companies sell the jujube fruit as pills or tea, and claim it “effectively treats anxiety, insomnia, ulcers, loss of appetite, inflammation, diarrhoea, dry skin and much more’, adding that its therapeutic category makes it an antiallergic, an anti-catarrh, and a tonic (fruit), as well as a sedative (seeds), though they warn that the supplement has not been evaluated or approved

The ripened fruit

by the U.S. Food and Drug Agency.

According to a study published in Volume 103 Issue 2 of the journal, Food Chemistry, jujube contains the potassium, phosphorus, manganese, and calcium as the major minerals. There are also high amounts of sodium, zinc, iron, and copper. Jujube also contains vitamin c, riboflavin, and thiamine. It contains 20 times the amount of vitamin C as citrus fruits.

The vitamin and mineral content of the fruit helps to soothe the stomach, ease sore throats, suppress the appetite, support cardiovascular health, enhance metabolism and cleanse the blood vessels.

In traditional medicine, almost all parts of the tree is used for a myriad of ailments, including the juice of the root which is believed to alleviate gout; the bitter juice of the bark is said to stop diarrhoea and dysentery, and relieves gingivitis - though strong doses are considered toxic, while the dried ripe fruit is considered a mild laxative.

The seeds are also used to stop nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

As with all herbal medicines, consult a medical doctor before taking them. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Ryhaan Shah

W

hy would a newly elected Government coming in a wave of goodwill and with campaign promises of positive change, set about, and deliberately so it seems, to destroy it all?

Since coming to office last May, the Ganger Government has done nothing but upset and enrage the general population with their actions and policies. They have upset sugar workers, rice farmers, trade unionists, public servants, the Guyana Bar Association, Red Thread, the GHRA, the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, and TIGI. They have taken away utility subventions from the elderly and created none of the promised jobs for our youth nor included them as significant participants in the new government.

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan insists he has done nothing illegal by awarding the mayoral and chairmanship positions to only Coalition winners in constituencies where there were ties with the PPP/C. Legality aside, this was a prime opportunity for Government, who were so highly critical while in the Opposition, to act fairly. But this was beyond them so the PPP/C rightly took the matter to court.

In handing down the writs to stay his hand, Justice Diana Insanally said that Bulkan’s decision was “made in bad faith, is unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, … malicious, vindictive, unlawful …”

Justice Insanally’s words could be applied to just about every decision taken by Government to date.

Trade union leader Lincoln Lewis in a recent letter to the press stated: “There are reports of state and government officials acting as a law unto themselves with little or no regard for tenets of good governance that ought to be guid-

Ryhaan Shah ing their conduct.”

In a recent column in Stabroek News, economist Tarron Kemraj disclosed that the forensic audits done by Government into the PPP/C Government’s finances “found little evidence of widespread government theft ….”

He added that a redistribution of state resources amounted to “nepotism and bad governance” and that these and other irregularities fed the perception that the previous Government was corrupt.

The imbroglio over the relationship of Minister of State Joe Harmon with businessman Brian Tiwari and Chinese logging company BaiShanLin drew fire from Transparency International Guyana Inc which stated that the Minister “is confirming that the government has been using its position to employ and reward, out of state resources, its supporters and donors.”

Harmon’s prepared statement defending his conduct dispels none of the perceptions of governmental excess and wrongdoing and smacks more of a cover-up.

Nigel Hughes has deferred his resignation as AFC Chairman which came on the heels of a party statement calling for a curb of Harmon’s powers.

In resigning, Hughes said that the chairmanship had become “untenable”.

Added to the troubles within the AFC camp are rumours of internal PNC/APNU squabbles over the allocation of the post elections spoils.

President David Granger’s reputa-

tion as a strongman could well be tested as he tries to hold everything together especially since his Government has lost the Indo-Guyanese support which the AFC brought to the Coalition. The results of the recent Local Government Elections confirm that the 11% Indo-Guyanese vote that gave the Coalition its slim lead in the general elections have mostly returned to the PPP/C. This will probably be written as the biggest tragedy in the Coalition’s legacy.

That Indo-Guyanese were willing to take that chance and vote for a Government led by the PNC/APNU, knowing full well their Burnhamist past, was a notable move away from Guyana’s race politics.

However, the Granger Government never set about to nurture that new support which would have encouraged more IndoGuyanese to join them.

In fact, they proceeded to do quite the opposite and Granger’s total disregard for the Cummingsburg Accord made it clear that the AFC was simply used for its IndoGuyanese constituency in order to get them a victory.

With that support gone, the Coalition Government is nothing but a sham. By all accounts, Guyana is now

being governed by a minority Government with the PNC/APNU retaining only their hard-core supporters which would put them at much less than 40% of the electorate.

Thus far, the Granger Government seems more intent on exacting vengeance

against the PPP/C and its supporters rather than pursuing positive policies for Guyana’s progress.

The country is skittering from one scandal to the next, from one crisis to the next and every bit of goodwill has been squandered.

Peace and prosperity always go together and there will be no progress while the country is in a constant state of uproar. To paraphrase the poet WB Yeats’ famous lines: Can the centre hold when everything is falling apart?

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33

34 history

A

ccording to J.G. Cruickshank, the beginnings of the village can be found in the land purchases after emancipation by the “Freedmen of the first of August”.

The purchases generally fell under two categories: plantations whole and undivided, bought by a number of persons, and front lands of plantations purchased by individuals.

“Lock, stock and barrel”

In the Timehri Journal of 1921, Cruickshank writes that the first recorded purchase was made by 83 former slaves, including six women,in November 1839 of the almost 500-acre Plantation Northbrook on the East Coast Demerara for some 30,000 guilders, of which two-thirds was paid in cash.

The guilder was the currency of British Guiana between 1796 and 1839.

The estate was a former cotton plantation owned by a James Stewart that had fallen into ruin and at the time was being used as a grazing pasture for cows. The purchase included the “two or three tumbledown houses” that remained.

Transport was passed in January 1841, and after its buyers’ petition was granted, the estate was renamed Pln. Victoria, after the-then reigning British monarch, and eventually Victoria Village.

According to a footnote by Cruickshank, the forefathers of the village are: William Lewis, John Sistenard, Cornwall Porter, Quamina Adam, Michael James, Simon King, Quashie Rodney, Rice Lewis. Hannah Porter, Welcome James, Ben Benjamin, Prince Edinborough, John Robson, Wm. Gammell Reavy, James Handy, John Fiddell, Cupidore Hopkinson,

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Jack Mitchell, Primus Samuel, Bill Williams, Peter Hope, Wm. Negelly, Caesar Solomon, Bristow Barrett, Marlboro Sam, Cicero Hercules, Gamby James, Blackball Lancaster, Belinda Hopkinson, Tom Andrew, Aaron Duke, Nat Williams, Nelson Jackson, John Lewis, Daniel Isaac, Dublin David, Thos.

Colin, John Shakspear, John Wheeler, Romeo Isaac, Martin Invarara, Maria Grant, Adam Grant, Scipio Samuel, Ned Mackie, Moses Hopkinson. Pat Murphy, Simon Tate, Samuel Cooper, Thos. Hercules, Hamlet Cato, Quashy Porter. Alex. Porter, Melville Porter, Sammy Knight, Hall Porter, Valentine Glen, Wm. Smart, Thos. Baillie, Frank Laurence, John Allen, Charles Hamilton, Colin MacRae, James Mercury, Simon Hanover, Willis Cummings, Simon

Roman Catholic Church in Victoria Village, British Guiana (Andrew Jeffery photo)

Scott, John Lion, Cross Summer, John Longham.

Kenric Jarrick, Harry James, Catherine Tom, Dorset Europe, Toby Jonas, Spencer Simon, Stephen Porter, Quashy Beard, Polidore Hutt, Isaac Chapman. Abel Cockfield, Philip Robson, and Samuel Burk.

Burk was consigned to receive the transport, says Cruickshank, because he alone among the purchasers could sign his name.

Then in April 1840,

acres “were still in plantains”.

The new owners renamed it Pln. Buxton and ultimately Buxton Village. According to Cruickshank however, the Royal Gazette of November 1843 notes: “New Orange Nassau was called Buxton or Boxon before it was renamed New Orange Nassau. The name had nothing to do with the abolitionist.”

Some of the buyers– 16 now-freedmen – had returned to their old estate of New Orange

rel” after emancipation, Cruickshank notes.

He adds that Pln. Fellowship, on the west coast Demerara was purchased by 25 freedmen for $6,000, while on the east coast, besides the three aforementioned, Pln. Plaisance was bought for $39,000 by 65 freed blacks and Pln. Friendship for $80,000 by 170 former slaves.

Pln. Den Amstel was purchased by 125 former slaves who were formerly field labourers on the same WCD estate.

Demerary & Essequebo10 Joes (220Guilders)(1830s)

North Street, Georgetown, British Guiana

The Fire Brigade and Station on Charlotte Street, Georgetown, British Guiana, next to City Hall, in the year 1922 (Andrew Jeffrey photo)

Pln. New Orange Nassau, property of a James A. Holmes, was purchased by 128 persons who included former slaves, “labourers on Plns. Annandale, Nonpareil, Lusignan &c” for $50,000 (the new British Guiana currency that replaced the guilder), of which $28,000 was paid and the remaining agreed to be paid before year-end.

An 18-ton schooner was also “taken over” with the almost 380-acre estate.

Transport was duly passed January 1841 of the property which was initially a cotton and plantain plantation but at the time of purchase was overrun with bush, though there were “a few good buildings” one of which was a hospital. It also included a 10,000-gallon iron water tank, while some 160

Nassau after being transferred “in former years” to Pln. Met-enMeerzorg on the west coast.

Transport was passed April 15, 1841 for the purchase of Pln. Beterverwagting by 62 former slaves, from a Mr Danckett and Mr Murray. Their estate was sold for $22,000 and divided among the buyers in various shares totalling 146.

The former cotton estate had reverted to bush at the time of purchase, and faced the threat of flooding, both from sea water and “bush water” due to neglect of its dams.

Additionally, although some 70 acres were in plantains, all its buildings were dilapidated.

Throughout the coastland, plantations were being sold “lock, stock and bar-

Former slaves also purchased estates in Berbice. On the west coast, Plns. Litchfield and Perseverance were purchased,as well as half of Pln. Belladrum.

Half of an estate known as Pln. St. John was also purchased by freed blacks; it was renamed Hopetown Village.

On the west bank Berbice, Pln. Ithaca was purchased by freedmen, as was Pln. Zorg-enhoop. Zorg-en-hoop was bought by 30 labourers who were former slaves on the estate but during apprenticeship had moved to another estate across the river.

Other purchases include Pln. Gibraltar at Canje and Plns.

Rosignol and Liverpool in the Corentyne.(TO BE CONTINUED) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

The Public Free Library

By Peter Halder

T

he year was 1949.

Based on my 1948 Government County Examination results, I was offered a scholarship at Enterprise High School then located on Camp Street next to the London Cinema (later Plaza Cinema).

Admitted to Form 3A, “The Heroes” by Charles Kingsley was one of our study books in the subject of Literature.

The book opened my mind to a new world.

The past and adventure invaded my body and my soul. Mortals though they were, Perseus, Jason and the Argonauts, and Theseus became like gods to my young and fertile mind.

Their adventures flooded my blood with adrenalin.

Literature and relatedly, English Language, spontaneously became my pet subjects.

I became so entranced with Greek mythology that I asked my good friend Eustace Forde, who was in Scholarship Form with me at St. Stephen's Church of Scotland School, and who enrolled at Enterprise High with me, how I could advance my interest in the sub-

ject.

For us poverty stricken kids who can't afford to buy books and can only afford to go to the Cinema on Boxing Day, the Public Free Library at Main and Church Streets is our pirate's treasure, Forde advised.

So with our parents' permission, we both walked: me from Non Pareil Street, Albouystown, and Forde from Princess and Camp Streets, to the Library.

The Library Assistants, we found to our pleasure and delight, were some of the most beautiful and courteous young ladies we had ever met. They were friendly, caring, and helpful. We were given pink Membership Application Cards, advised how to complete them, and told that they should be signed by our parents.

Fervent desire does not procrastinate. We returned the cards the next day. We received our Membership Cards and proceeded to enter the wonderland of books.

I recall that the main repository for books was straight ahead, eastwards from the checkout counter. There were rows of shelves encompassing the entire area

Peter Halder

–there were books on the back east wall, on the right and on the left.

On the right were mainly fiction and on the left were non-fiction. There were two side rooms, to the left and to the right, which also had shelves of books including Reference Books, but the centre was the mother lode.

The first book I ever borrowed from the Public Free Library, which is no surprise, was “The Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome” by Thomas Bullfinch. It was

so huge, it took me weeks to read. I became learned in Greek Mythology. By the end of the year, I had read most of the books in the non-fiction section.

One afternoon, Forde lent me a book he had borrowed. It was “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. Since my family lived just about fifty feet away from the Le Repentir Cemetery, I did not read much of it that night. The sounds of the "who-you" birds in the cemetery, of dogs howling and bats hitting the window panes, bedev-

illed my mind and forced me to blow out the kerosene lamp and sprint for bed. It was the first time I appreciated my two brothers sleeping in the same bed.

Within another year, I had read many fiction books: “Murder Mysteries” by Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Earl der Biggers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Wallace, The Hardy Boys” Tarzan, Fu Manchu and so on. You name it and I read it. I moved on to the famous novels by Alexandre Dumas, Daphe du Maurier, Rafael Sabatini and so on. I went to the Library three times a week, walking all that long distance from Non Pareil Street and back.

I read constantly and indiscriminately.

Reading library books inspired and pleasured me into reading my school books – “Coral Island” and “Rodney Stone” are two I recall.

Inevitably, I excelled in the Junior Cambridge Examination with Distinctions in English Literature and English Language.

The knowledge I acquired from reading books influenced me to compete in a Double

Your Money General Knowledge Programme on Radio Station ZFY and I won $16 – a fortune in those days. I was 13 years old at the time.

Reading expanded my learning and knowledge and laid the foundation for my educational attainments and a successful career in the Guyana Civil Service and internationally.

The Public Free Library, which later became the National Library, opened the world of books to and for me and I explored it to the fullest. I never gave up reading.

Peter Halder is the pen name of Burnett Alexander Halder, a former Guyana ambassador. The vocational corridors he tread took him across various physical and intellectual geographies: from journalist to civil service administrator to ambassador to international relations consultant. In his formal retirement, Halder resumed writing and is now a published novelist. Personal resilience and leadership skills, focused on harmony, are characteristics of his life.

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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This week's Crossword

This week's Puzzle

see solution on page 47

Depravity…

B

…and monsters

easts? Animals? What else can you call those who invaded the externally grilled home of Mohamed and Bibi Jamila Munir, herded them into their internally grilled bedroom – the one without an escape trapdoor – then doused the house with gasoline and then set it ablaze? Surely these can’t be humans? What kind of twisted thinking would inflict such a death on a couple in their seventies?

A couple who had led pious lives – provided an example to others that while piety might be mocked by some, it provided an anchor of stability in turbulent times. A couple who led industrious lives and – in the words of George Lamming, “made two blades of grass grow where there was one”. In their case, those were blades of rice, which allowed them to earn a living and raise their children – and fed us all.

A couple who had led socially conscious lives – were the members of the Rice Association – especially the wife who would’ve broken so many social barriers in the male-dominated rice farming community.

Yet, forced to die not with the dignity they’d earned through their exemplary lives but screaming and gasping for air before they asphyxiated.

But their savage deaths brought to the fore the reality that a large swathe of Guyanese have to live in within Guyana, for the last four decades. The reality of physical insecurity outside the home and even in their homes. Insecurity so strong it’s a wonder more folks don’t “run off” than they have. Why did the Munirs have to grill their homes so extensively they were more heavily barricaded than the “prisoners” in 12 Camp Street?

Because ever since the era of the “kick down the door bandits” in the late seventies, the homes of some in this country were not castles in which they could relax and be at ease. Since that time people like the Munirs were seen not just as easy marks from whom loot could be extracted. But just as significantly, as slates on which a message could be inscribed and sent to their communities writ large – and their leaders.

Can those who have not been so hounded and herded to have a “prison lockdown” procedure every evening in their homes; who don’t have to worry about withdrawing money from banks; who do not have to leave their jewellery at home when they go out, imagine the sickening claustrophobia of fear that perpetually envelopes and paralyses them.

It’s no use to “hope” there will be any change in pervasive insecurity in the country. We have been assured that “all is well”.

Just celebrate 50 years of Independence! Jubilee time!! …and power grab Poor Nagamootoo. He’s in the news for all the wrong reasons. But it all stems from what he’s stoutly denied. To wit – he’d been effectively caponed! Or, in the words of his old comrade, President Donald Ramotar, he’d gotten Lawwah! So after collecting the $1.7M per month salary, the refurbished (airconditioned) mansion and the SUV, he immediately plunged into intrigue and manoeuvring to finagle some real power.

He moved domestically and internationally.

Abroad, he appointed four AFC campaign contributors – two from the US and two from Canada – as “Business Advisors”. He pulled the wool over Foreign Minister Greenidge’s eyes, claiming they were bringing in investments. Luckily Greenidge didn’t hold his breath.

Locally, he appointed four “representatives” – the big one in Berbice, hanging out in the old Roopmahal Cinema – even though he’s usurping constitutionally mandated Local Government functions.

Getting away with that, he moved to clip Harmon’s powers. And in his coup de grâce, he’ll be relieving the President of some powers, via “constitutional change”.

Poor fella. He might just have to be burdened by those powers! …mercy After writing about the Munirs, your Eyewitness learnt a young man on business from Wakenaam was accosted at one of the busiest intersections in Georgetown. The animals demanded his money and when he refused shot him, point blank.

The lunatics are running the asylum.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

The National Library

The National Library at present

both adults and children.

Today the national library has expanded its wide range of resources to include five other branches in

Public Free Library, now National Library, British Guiana, circa 1922

N

elson Mandela is reported to have said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world.” Old and young have looked to the Georgetown National Library as one of the places they can go to equip themselves with that “powerful weapon”.

The National Library has been a place of creativity, where people can access the tools, technology and training essential to the economic and cultural lives of their communities. This has been so since its opening in September 1909.

Named after its main donor, AmericanScottish philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie under the Caribbean-wide library expansion initiative, this body has changed its names and functions as the years progressed.

By 1909, Ordinance 12 was entrusted to the Mayor and City Council. At that time, the Library was ready to open its lending services under the supervision of its very first librarian, Emily Murry, it had accumulated some 57,000 books with 5,700 available to its lenders by 1910.

Following these events, in 1940, the library converted its

closed access system to open access, allowing members to browse through the collection, increasing its membership tally significantly.

Responsibilities grew for the Library as it began to expand its reach to other areas of then British Guiana.

On Guyana’s independence year, the Library took responsibility for the prison library service, previously held by the Red Cross.

In 1972, the Library was again given additional responsibilities under the Publication and Newspapers Act to include a depository of newspapers, and had changed its name to the National Library of Guyana, reflecting its responsibilities.

Technology has not evaded this historicalbuildinghowever, as the Library added its first set of computers in 1993, providing free Internet service from 2002.

This prominent entity considerably preserves the culture of Guyanese heritage by securing a vast majority of historical writings and other literature by Guyanese.

Currently, the Library has more than 400,000 books, andmore than 22,000 members. Its 60-plus staff provides a centralized collection of books for

New Amsterdam, established in 1953, with an initial 2,000 books; Linden, formally McKenzie, opened in 1955; Ruimveldt and Bagotville. In 1993,

Corriverton was added to their branches.

Call 227-4053 for more information on the Library. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

38 feature

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyanese crowned Mrs. New York International 2016 A

s she waved from a World War II era jeep to onlookers lining the tiny streets of the New York City suburb she now calls home, a sense of pride overcame Faudia AliSilletta as she relished in the Saint Patrick’s Day festivities and being crowned Mrs. New York

Mrs. New York International 2016 Faudia Ali-Silletta

International 2016 earlier this year.

“I am so honoured to take part in such a wonderful American tradition, especially with my family rooting for me,” expressed Faudia.

The beauty will next represent New York in her quest for the title of Mrs. International

Faudia in the WWII Jeep on the streets of New York

Looking iridescent in her pageant gown (Photo by Seth Litroff)

2016 on July 22 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Faudia is a native of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara, and the holder of a master’s degree in Microbiology and Chemistry. Among her accomplishments, she is a proud wife and mother of two adorable boys.

She also became a licensed medical technologist in New York only a few years after becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Growing up in a single-parent house-

hold with her mother, Shabeeba, and two brothers, Zaiyad and Frankie, Faudia honed the qualities needed to succeed in life, all the while helping others.

“I’ve always been one to solve problems, and so the medical field, specifically clinical laboratory work with an emphasis in Microbiology and Chemistry, seemed like a natural fit for me,” she mentioned.

Being striking in appearance is only one of the requisites of becoming Mrs. International.

The annual pageant is for married women with exceptional personal and professional stories.

Additionally, it was developed to promote today’s married women, their accomplishments and commitment to family and marriage.

“I have always been well-grounded and will not allow all the growing attention coming

my way to fog my judgment. This opportunity has changed my life.

I appreciate the love and support from those close to me and the public in general. I have always admired the fashion/modelling industry; I have walked the runway on behalf of several couture clothing designers during New York’s acclaimed Fashion Week as part of the Make-AWish Foundation’s campaign against autism,” she outlined.

Faudia is looking to represent the State of New York, the Guyanese population, and the diaspora in the U.S.A., Toronto and the United Kingdom. She plans on visiting Guyana to meet her Guyanese supporters and to raise awareness and funding for the fight against the homeless, orphans, abused

women, drug abuse and teenage delinquency, depression, breast cancer awareness and autism.

“My passion is to help raise awareness and resources to curtail the homeless epidemic, assist battered women, curtail substance abuse and depression as well as eradicate diseases such as cancer and autism,” she declared.

She noted that despite her work ethic and determination, she “never imagined being in a position to have such a positive impact on others. This proves one should never lose hope and embrace their dreams regardless of age and/or circumstance in life.”

To show your support for Faudia Silletta, visit www.mrsinternational. com. Online voting started April 1, 2016.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana’s growing literary scene

By Petamber Persaud

I

t is not without significance that World Poetry Day, World Storytelling Day, National Library Week, and World Book & Copyright Day fall close to each other during a calendar year.

And it is not without significance that Guyana, especially now the country is celebrating its 50th Independence Jubilee, is involved in all of the above.

Basically, all four are literary events covering a wide range of related

World Storytelling Day logo

issues including reading –re-establishing the value of reading, re-establishing the importance of books, recognizing books as change agents assisting in the fight against illiteracy – writing: the protection of creative writing and the protec-

tion of intellectual property which is a catalysis to creativity; re-establishing links to poetry, extending the boundary of poetry and the art of poetry; re-establishing links to storytelling and extending the boundary of storytelling and the art of storytelling; reconnecting to libraries and the custodianships of books and the enhancement of libraries, among other matters in a burgeoning electronic/digital age.

Many of the commonalities are portrayed through their themes and logos employed down the ages. For instance, the logo for one poetry day was ‘Write, speak, and share the word’ while the theme for National Library Week 2016 is ‘Libraries Transform’.

Two of the four events now fall under the purview of UNESCO: World

Poetry Day and World Book & Copyright Day. (Let me hasten to say that poetry and storytelling started long before UNESCO; long before the word ‘organization’ was coined, long before anyone or any entity thought of ‘controlling’ these literary forms. Please note the use of word control in inverted commas; no one or no entity can control the arts and culture.

Some amount of organizing can be exercised, allowed and tolerated. But no control.)

World Book & Copyright Day

The main aim of World Book & Copyright Day is to focus on books, to promote reading, to encourage publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.

Copyright is to encourage more creativity,

better crafted works and hence more elucidation, learning and entertainment.

Copyright breeds innovation. In 1995, World Book and Copyright Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Here is an extract of a message from Ms Irina Bokova, DirectorGeneral of UNESCO for the 2015 event: World Book and Copyright Day is an opportunity to recognise the power of books to change our lives for the better and to support books and those who produce them…..As global symbols of social progress, books – learning and reading -- have become targets for those who denigrate culture and education, who reject dialogue

and tolerance…..Literacy is the door to knowledge, essential to individual self-esteem and empowerment. Books, in all forms, play an essential role here…..Books are invaluable platforms for freedom of expression and the free flow of information – these are essential for all societies today. The future of the book as a cultural object is inseparable from the role of culture in promoting more inclusive and sustainable pathways to development.

World Poetry Day

UNESCO’s declaration of March 21 as World Poetry Day was to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world and to “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional continued on page 42

40 art & culture

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

I

n honour of the late US-based Guyanese artist Donald Locke, influential New York art gallery, SKOTO Gallery, opened an impressive exhibition of Locke’s Plantation Series: Paintings and Sculptures from the 1970s.

Donald Locke was a versatile and complex artist whose ability to express a vivid interior existence while simultaneously opening himself to some of the larger issues of our time is reflected consistently throughout his career. He had been on a restless intellectual and artistic quest since the late 1940s when he began to study art in his native Guyana.

At the dawn of the independence era in Africa and the Caribbean, in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Locke was a seminal figure for an emergent post-colonial generation. His rich and varied cultural experience was integrated into a critical framework that engaged with issues of history, identity and au-

The late Guyanese artist, Donald Locke (Photo by Mark Lee Blackshear)

thenticity. However, he remained philosophically and stylistically an internationalist whose work reflected his integrative approach to life and art.

This exhibition highlights a selection of paintings and sculpture from

the Plantation Series of the 1970's when he was still living in London, which confronts tradition while absorbing the formal tenets of modernism.

His mixed media sculpture exponentially expanded the definition of

Another intriguing piece from the Plantation Series being exhibited at SKOTO

modern ceramics through novel techniques, unusual media, and carefully conceived relationships to surrounding spaces.

Shown together for the first time in New York these early significant works are pure meditations upon the nature of shadow and light, material, texture and lines, and represent important ideas that capture moments of significant aesthetic development of the artist. As stated by Locke in the journal ‘American Visions’: “These are sculptural metaphors where forms are held in strict lines, connected together as If with chains held within a system of metal bars or metal grids, analogous to the system whereby one group of people were kept in economic and political subjugation by another group”.

Over the years, Donald Locke developed a sculptural approach to clay that allowed him to endow familiar forms with significance. An artist who valued the creative process as a system of thinking, his mixedmedia ceramic sculpture is all the more arresting because of its intriguing combination of opposites—of freedom and precision, of the texturally marked and smooth, of weight and buoyancy, of mass and space.

Introduced to art in Guyana by E.R. Burrowes, Locke studied at Bath Academy of Arts, Corsham, England, 195457 on a British Council scholarship where his teachers included some of Britain's leading avant-garde painters and sculptors including the renowned sculptor James Tower. In 1964 he graduated with hon-

Published materials featuring Donald Locke (Photo by Carl E. Hazlewood)

ors from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, with a masters degree in art. After returning home to Guyana to work and teach for some time, he returned to Europe where he lived and practiced until he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1979. He represented Guyana at the Twelfth Sao Paulo Biennial in 1971 and The World Black Festival of Arts, Lagos, Nigeria, 1977.

He is in several collections including Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Guyana National Collection, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. The Tate Britain recently acquired ‘Trophies of Empire’, an important mixed media work by the artist from 1972-74, which was included in ground breaking exhibition 'The Other Story: Afro-Asian Artists in Post-War Britain' organized by Rasheed Araeen, 1989-90 at the Hayward

Gallery, London.

US-based Guyanese artist Carl E Hazelwood, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, New York, said of Locke, “His wide ranging intellectual curiosity is reflected in everything he puts his hand to, be it teaching, writing, making pottery and sculpture, creating complex installations, or simply painting. The circumstances of his Caribbean background as well as his thorough grounding in traditional European modernist principles have given Locke a unique vision.”

The exhibition at SKOTO Gallery will run until May 28, 2016.

Born 1930 in Stewartville, Guyana, Locke died in 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., but will forever be remembered for his captivating artistic talent.

(Information excerpted from text by Skoto Aghahowa)

'Village Square' ( 1974), a piece from the Plantation Series

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

U

Mackenzie Bauxite Plant, British Guiana

p to the end of the nineteenth century, the area around Mackenzie was sparsely populated. Settlement can be traced back to 1759 when a land survey was carried out for the establishment of a township, which later became known as Three Friends.

This township, settled some time after the survey, was named for three friends, Messrs. Spencer, Blount and John Dalgleish Patterson who settled there in the late eighteenth century. They were former

and timber. There it hoped to establish a stone quarry at Rockstone and to cut timber in the area.

Wismar, on the western bank of the Demerara River, was formed by the influx of immigrants from various European countries, mainly Germany. It became a larger settlement following emancipation when many former African slaves, who refused to work on the sugar plantations, migrated to live there.

Some of the Germans who settled there were originally recruited by the

cheap prices from the owners, because he claimed he would cultivate oranges there. Very few persons at that time knew about bauxite and its potential.

In 1915, Mackenzie died and his lands passed into the control of Winthrop C. Nelson.

A paper presented in London in 1916 on the occurrence of bauxite in Guyana generated such interest in the USA that the Aluminium Company of America (Alcoa) in the same year incorporated the Demerara Bauxite

Houses in Watooka, Mackenzie

naval officers who had fought against the French in the Caribbean during the Napoleonic War. Patterson, a contractor for the Dutch colony of Essequibo-Demerara at the time, owned plantation Christianburg, which was a choice place for retirement of British naval officers after 1803. At Three Friends, he built a great house which became a guest house for visitors of the early settlement.

When Patterson died in 1842, the British Guiana Government took over his plantation and the great house was later used as a magistrate court. A portion of the plantation was later sold to Sproston's, a prominent company of the period.

The company was interested in the establishment of a railway to Rockstone on the eastern bank of the Essequibo River where there were valuable resources in stone

British Guiana government as part of an alternative labour supply for the sugar plantations, after most of the freed Africans refused to work there. The German settlers named the settlement Wismar after a German town of the same name.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, bauxite was discovered in Guyana in a belt stretching across the country from the North West District to the Corentyne River, with large deposits identified in the Pomeroon, the Essequibo around Bartica, Mackenzie, Ituni, Canje, and Orealla.

In 1913, a Scottish geologist, George Bain Mackenzie, visited the area about 60 miles up the Demerara River and bought lands for mining on the eastern bank of the Demerara River.

According to some stories, he was able to purchase unoccupied lands at very

Company (DEMBA).

Shortly after, DEMBA secured leases on large areas of bauxite-bearing land in the vicinity of the area purchased by Mackenzie.

In 1916, mining of bauxite commenced and hundreds of people from the coastal areas migrated there in search of employment. A settlement known as Cockatar, which grew up in the bauxite mining area, joined up with the Christianburg plantation and became known as Mackenzie. When a village administration was formed in 1918, Wismar, for local government purposes, was linked up to Mackenzie.

DEMBA started production at Akyma on the Demerara River, south of Mackenzie. In 1922 the operation was expanded and processing and shipping facilities were established at Mackenzie, the head of ocean navigation in the Demerara River. In 1929 Alcoa handed over the op-

Mackenzie in the 1960s

erations to its Canadian associate, Alcan, and production continued at a steady rate over the next decade, during which Guyana became the world's third largest bauxite producer after the USA and Surinam.

By 1922 the population of the Mackenzie area was less than one thousand persons. Employment was dependent on not only bauxite mining, but also the timber industry and some independent gold prospecting. The timber was located along the Essequibo River and transported by railway to the Demerara River.

A slump in the bauxite industry between 1930 and 1936 caused much hardship. Trade picked up just before 1939 and particularly during the World War of 1939-1945 when the demand for aluminium was high.

The Berbice Bauxite Company, a subsidiary of American Cyanamid, started production of chemical grade bauxite for the manufacture of alum at Kwakwani up the Berbice River in 1942.

In 1943 DEMBA extended its operations to Ituni, about 35 miles south of Mackenzie, and by the end of the decade Guyana was

its made by DEMBA during the early 1940s, the workers in the bauxite industry toiled under very harsh working conditions.

In 1943, each working day was of 10 hours duration, and each worker had to work six days a week. By 1947 the working week was reduced to 48 hours.

The company did not support the formation of trade unions, but members of the BG Labour Union from Georgetown were able to recruit bauxite workers as members during meetings at Wismar, away from the mining district.

The union also helped them to organise a strike in 1944 for better working conditions. But the strike collapsed after just three days, and the workers were unable to win any concessions from the bauxite company.

In 1952 Reynolds Metals acquired the Berbice Bauxite Company and started production of metallurgical bauxite at Kwakwani where a small settlement of workers developed. At around the same time DEMBA expanded production of refractory grade and abrasive grade bauxite at Mackenzie, making

parent companies' plants in Canada and the United States, but a small proportion was calcined. With the opening of the alumina plant, a quantity of alumina was extracted and exported.

The royalties and export duties paid to the Government were extremely low, being 25 and 45 cents per long ton respectively.

For the workers, the company established facilities which provided for workers' accommodation, education, health, and recreation. But these amenities were somewhat diminished by the existence of a virtual colour bar between the mainly White expatriate supervisory staff and the Guyanese workers.

The scale of operations grew considerably over the years, with a rapid increase during the Second World War. By 1957 production totalled 2,200,000 tons. Most of this was produced by DEMBA from its mines at Mackenzie.

Although several companies had concessions and exploration licences, the only other company producing bauxite was the Reynolds Metals Company operating at Kwakwani, where produc-

Mackenzie Post Office (Photo by JimB on Flickr)

the world's second largest producer, accounting for 17 percent of world production.

With the expansion of mining, the working population grew and most of the workers settled permanently in the area.

Despite the high prof-

Guyana the world's most diversified bauxite producer.

In 1956 DEMBA started construction of the alumina refinery which began production in 1961.

Most of British Guiana's bauxite was shipped as raw ore to the

tion reached 225,023 long tons in 1957. In 1958-59 production by both companies dropped to 1,675,000 tons because of the United States recession and a local strike. (From “The Guyana Story—From Earliest Times to Independence” by Odeen Ishmael)

42 news

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana’s growing literary... from page 39

and international poetry movements.”

World Storytelling Day

World Storytelling Day is a manifestation of the new millennium which has its roots in several initiatives started at the end of the previous millennium. For instance, in the early 1990s, Sweden organised an event labelled, “All Storytellers Day”, falling on March 20.

In the late 1990s,

storytellers in Perth, Australia, coordinated a five-week long celebration of story, commemorating March 20 as the International Day of Oral Narrators.

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

National Library Week

National Library Week now falls under the purview of the American Library Association (ALA). The first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme ‘Wake Up and Read!’ This event was birthed after it was discovered that less and less people were reading and less and less monies were being spent on books resulting in the ALA and the American Book Publishers forming the National Book Committee in 1954

whose goals ranged from “encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time” to “improving incomes and health” and “developing strong and happy family life.”

National Library Week 2016 falls on the week of April 10 - 16; generally it is observed during the second full week of April.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 2260065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com W h a t ’ s happening:Coming soon:

“Made in Guyana” a new book by Petamber Persaud.

“Made in Guyana” is a pocketbook bursting with a wealth of

information and pictures on people, places and events, and on things made in Guyana.

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44

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46 news

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Brazil’s Rousseff going to U.N. over impeachment; cabinet in crisis

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R A S I L I A , (Reuters) – Beleaguered Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will travel to New York in a bid to rally international support against her impeachment, leaving behind a Cabinet paralyzed by political crisis as another minister defected yesterday.

Rousseff aides said the leftist leader will attend a United Nations event on Friday in New York where she will denounce as illegal the attempt to impeach her, a process that could see her forced from office within weeks in a process she calls a “coup d’état without weapons.”

Energy Minister Eduardo Braga said he was quitting her government following or-

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff

ders from his centrist PMDB party, Rousseff’s main coalition partner until it abandoned her last month to back her ouster. Rousseff’s impeachment would end 13 years of rule by the leftist Workers Party.

Nine ministers in Rousseff’s 31-member cabinet have now resigned, leaving important portfolios without

politically appointed heads, including the Tourism and Sports ministries only four months before Brazil hosts the Olympic Games.

Rousseff may not even be president by the time the Games start.

Vice President Michel Temer, who would take over if Rousseff is impeached, met with close advisors in Sao Paulo to

study plans for a new government that, aides said, would move quickly to restore economic confidence and growth.

The crisis has paralyzed Brazil’s ability to revive the economy from its worst recession in decades in the midst of a massive corruption scandal involving state-run oil firm Petrobras.

Murilo Portugal, the head of Brazil’s most powerful banking industry lobby, has emerged as a strong candidate to become finance minister if Temer takes power, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Rousseff lost a crucial vote in the lower house of Congress on Sunday and now faces impeachment by the Senate on charges of breaking budget laws.

39 road deaths so far in Guyana – Traffic Chief

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hus far for the year 2016, a total of 8104 drivers have been prosecuted for speeding and 656 for being under the influence of alcohol, according to the Guyana Police Force’s Traffic Chief

(ag), Budnarine Pesaud.

Persaud also cited non-compliance of safety laws and recklessness as major causes of road accidents.

The Traffic Chief was quoted by the Government Information

Agency (GINA) as saying that 10 motorcyclists and three pillion riders have been killed in accidents thus far for this year.

Statistics show that there has been an increase in the number

of road fatalities. There were 38 accidents with 39 deaths for the period January to April, in comparison to 22 accidents and 31 deaths in 2015 for the same period.

“Most of these accidents where motor cyclists were killed, it would have resulted from some degree of recklessness because in some cases they were speeding, in some cases alcohol was involved and most of the time, they were not wearing safety helmets,” Persaud explained.

“I could recall one where a cyclist was riding at a fast rate; he lost control, fell off his mocontinued on page 47

Decentralising power

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atiricus always knew Nagga Man was a trailblazer. The man was far ahead of his time – and that was why his comrades in PPEE envied him and eventually squeezed him out. They couldn’t keep up with a visionary.

Imagine the latest complaint made by the Leader of the Proposition. That Nagga Man’s “Man in Berbice”, HoreBhajan, was renting the RoopMahal Cinema in Port Mourant for his office.

Once again, the Leader of the Proposition was missing the point.

When he’d been a wee lad in Whimsey, Nagga Boy used to stand outside the RoopMahal and wish he could go inside to see all those movies with his hero Pran. Pran was called a “scamp man” in those days, and all of Nagga Boy’s friends hated him.

Not Nagga Boy. He saw Pran was what nowadays folks rave about – an “anti hero”. Nagga Man was ahead of his time. So he had his “Man in Berbice”, HoreBhajan, rent the RoopMahal, so ever he visited Berb Ice in his new SUV, he could go into the RoopMahal. To be inspired by his “scamp man” hero.

“But the Leader of the Proposition was looking at the form and not the substance of Nagga Man’s farreaching vision.” Thought Satiricus. Just look what HoreBhajan had written in his complaint. “Besides me, I have two persons working in the office: one is a clerk and the other a cleaner.” So can’t the Leader of the Proposition understand when Nagga Man employs a cleaner for a two-person office, that office has to be the whole RoopMahal? Or else he’s just employing family?

And then there’s HoreBhajan’s job – which was the final proof of Nagga Man’s vision. Nagga Man had always said there was no need for Local Government. All that was needed were 10 few good men – all handpicked by him, of course – and they’d handle all the problems of the 10 regions.

Look at what HoreBhajan ALONE had achieved – “finding solutions in farming, business, mitigation of flooding and so on from Blackbush Polder to Hogstyle”.

As HoreBhajan modestly concluded, “Needless to say my interventions in assisting persons to resolve their issues have been highly appreciated and this office is becoming increasingly popular for citizens in Region 6 who could use some help to get their problems addressed.”

Who needs Local Government? Not Nagga Man, the visionary!

news 47

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

AMLCFT amendments for May 4 sitting of National Assembly L

eader of Government business in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo said that amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Act are high on the agenda for the May 4, 2016 sitting of the National Assembly, according to a GINA media release.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo was quoted by GINA as saying that the AMLCFT Act will undergo changes to meet the new demands for enforcement, seizures and confiscation of assets used in money laundering and to answer to those organisations which Guyana reports.

The Prime Minister said that the amendments are essential and urgent, “so we will

bring back our AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism law for further amendments.”

There are also a number of other bills on the agenda, more specifically a bill dealing with a comprehensive approach

39 road deaths so far in Guyana...

from page 46

torcycle and skidded into a parked motor vehicle causing his death. He was not wearing a helmet,” Persaud stated.

Persaud noted that currently, the Guyana Police Force’s Traffic Department is carrying out campaigns using radar guns and breathalyzers. “Our people are not thinking safety, and

if we need to stop this carnage we need to think safety,” he stated.

Additionally, Persaud noted that road safety awareness programmes which include drivers’ seminars, lectures to school children, distribution of flyers, exhibitions and radio and television programmes will continue.

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

to insurance operations in Guyana.

“We must be able to have in one legislation a set of prescriptions that would make insur-

ance companies serve the intentions they have been set up to serve, and not to leave areas for scamming,” the Prime Minister said.

The issue of tobacco smoking, advertising and promotion in Guyana will also be addressed however; the Prime Minister anticipates that this will generate some concerns from the public. “This will be open to public consultations before a special select committee of the National Assembly,” he said.

Wildlife legislation and others dealing with animals and the fishing sector are also on the legislative agenda.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo pointed out that Government has taken a decision to present policies to the National Assembly.

“We have decided that we will circulate a white paper on the na-

tional youth policy that will be done shortly because many political parties have promised a national youth policy, but have never delivered so we have one that is available now.

A national land reclamation policy will be presented, as well which will comprehensively deal with issues of land, land distribution, land preservation and land reclamation.

In the long-term, there are several pieces of legislation that will be introduced by Government in the National Assembly; among these are witness protection legislation, campaign financing and reform of broadcast legislation.

48 Bollywood

Shah Rukh Khan lauds gymnast Dipa Karmakar

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uperstar Shah Rukh Khan has praised Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who has won a gold medal in the women’s vaults finals at the Olympic test event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 50-year-old, who is currently riding high on the success of the film “Fan”, has labelled Karmakar as the “pride of the nation” and added

that her achievements inspire him.

“Finally our own Nadia Comaneci (a former Romanian gymnast).

Dipa Karmakar you are the pride of our Nation.

Your achievements inspire us. Thanks little one,” the “Dilwale” star wrote on the photograph of the gymnast.

Karmakar became the first Indian woman gymnast to win a gold

in a world gymnastics event. The 22-year-old scored 14.833 points in her first attempt, which was enough to secure her the top spot. Dipa scored 14.566 in her second and last tries, respectively.

The 22-year-old has already created history by winning bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

(Indian Express)

Aamir Khan’s goal is to have a body like Sushil Kumar

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edicated actor Aamir Khan has often surprised audiences with his transformations.

In his next film Dangal, Aamir is portraying wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat. He gained and lost weight in order to depict different ages of the wrestler.

The actor has been working out and following a regimen with the aim of looking like Sushil

D

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he has been away from the big screen for a while and actress Madhuri Dixit says she is yet to bag the right script which would get her back to films.

The 48-year-old actress, who was last seen in 2014 in black-comedy “Dedh Isqiya” and crime drama “Gulaab Gang”, said she has not bid adieu to acting and is taking up judging reality shows more because dance is her passion.

“Acting is my first love. As soon as something that I like comes to my table, I will surely say yes to that film offer. Right now, I am busy with dance shows as dance is my passion,” Madhuri told reporters here.

The mother-of-two said she does not miss facing the camera because her family has always been her priority.

“Everybody has their own dreams. Having a family and children were a big part of my dream…

When I was in Denver, I was living my dream.

My priorities are very straight. I know what is important for me. And

whenever I do anything, I plan very well.”

But Madhuri keeps a tab on the work of her Bollywood contemporaries and her co-stars.

She recently watched “Fan” and was floored by Shah Rukh Khan’s performance. “I saw ‘Fan’. It was a lovely movie. Shah Rukh khan as a fan was excellent. It was a lovely performance and him as superstar also was a very balanced and controlled act. They have not tried to show him that he is nice. He has his own fragility, ego and grey areas,” she said.

The actress said she is lucky that she has never encountered such an obsessive admirer in her more than three decade-old showbiz career.

“We always have people around us. It’s amazing that they like you when

they don’t even know you. They just see you on-screen, have their own perceptions and starts liking you.”

The “Aaja Nachle” star would be seen judging the Indian version of American reality show “So You Think You Can Dance” alongside choreographers Terrence Lewis and Bosco Martis.

“The concept of the show is very different. We have divided them into two groups — stage and street.. They are dancers. They are passionate about what they do.

What is difficult is they have their stories, own lives and own struggles and how some of them have been disowned by their families for taking up dance as their career option,” she said.

(Indian Express)

I am a huge fan of Randeep Hooda, says Imran Khan Kumar.

Presented by Disney and Aamir Khan Productions and direct-

ed by Nitesh Tiwari, ‘Dangal’ is slated to release on Christmas 2016.

(Indian Express)

Madhuri shares opinion on dancing styles of the Khans ancing diva Madhuri Dixit shares the rare distinction of having matched steps with the three Khans of Bollywood- Salman Khan, SRK and Aamir Khan. And she sure has great opinions about their unique dance styles.

At the launch of So You Think You Can Dance- Ab India Ki Baari, Madhuri analysed

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

the dancing styles of all three Khans. Speaking to IndianExpress.com, Madhuri said, “Salman is a good dancer but he has evolved. And when I look at him today I am like wow he is doing all these different steps. In Hum Aapke Hain Koun we had some nice numbers like Pehla Pehla Pyaar Hai which was beautiful.”

Madhuri, who has worked with SRK in

many memorable films including the hit dance musical Dil Toh Pagal Hai said, “SRK is always a breeze to dance with. He always says, ‘Madhuri tum lead karo aur main follow karta hoon.’ But that is his acting. He manages himself very well. He has a flair and his own style of dancing.”

For Aamir, Madhuri had one word – Perfectionist. “Aamir is very particular about his steps.

‘Yeh step aisa, woh step waisa hai,’ he will say. He will rehearse it many times and perfect it before doing it,” revealed Madhuri. ( I n d i a n Express)

A

ctor Imran Khan has confessed that he is a big fan of Randeep Hooda.

“I am a huge fan of Randeep Hooda. I think he is an excellent actor.

He has done a fantas-

tic job in this film too,” Imran said at a screening of Randeep’s film “Laal Rang” here.

Imran, who was last seen onscreen in Nikhil Advani’s romantic comedy “Katti Batti” opposite

actress Kangna Ranaut, said he is not choosy with genres.

“I never thought that I should do only a specific type of film. If the story excites me and seems to me that the film would be entertaining, I would like to do it. I don’t believe in limiting myself to any specific genre,” he said.

Directed by Syed Ahmad Afzal, “Laal Rang” also stars Akshay Oberoi and Pia Bajpai in prominent roles and is slated to release on April 22. (Indian Express)

Preity Zinta says she is not shifting to Los Angeles

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ctress Preity Zinta, who tied the knot with her longtime boyfriend Gene Goodenough on February 28 this year in Los Angeles, said she is not shifting base to the US post marriage.

She took to twitter to clarify such reports and said it is ‘not true’. There were rumours that the actress is shifting base from Mumbai to Los Angeles permanently and that the couple have been looking for residential properties in LA. Preity wrote: “NOT TRUE! I will appreciate

if these stories stop doing the rounds cuz it’s 100% untrue & pls smack ur source Ting” At present, the actress who co-owns IPL

team Kings XI Punjab along with ex-boyfriend Ness Wadia, is busy supporting her team in IPL matches. (Indian Express)

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Viola Davis doesn’t want to be judged for ‘mistakes’ as parent

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ctress Viola Davis has opened up about the stress of being a parent. The 50-year-old Emmywinning actress, who is mom to four-year-old daughter Genesis, whom

she adopted as a newborn in 2011, said she still struggles with her real-life role of a mother, reported People magazine.

“When you have a child, you want to be a

perfect mother. You feel like you have the absolute plan to be a perfect mother — and then you make a mistake, and we all make mistakes,” Davis said.

“The Help” star said she has learned that there is no such thing as the perfect parent and she is ok with it.

“You have those moments: exhaustion, the stress of having an exuberant child, and you don’t want to be judged by your worst mistakes.

It’s a part of life, and it’s a part of what makes us who we are,” she said.

(Indian Express)

Social media great but scary: Daisy Ridley

“S

tar Wars: The Force Awakens” star Daisy Ridley took to social media to share her thoughts on the trend of ‘no makeup selfie’.

The actress feels social media can be interesting yet daunting as people only share some of the most carefully chosen moments from their lives.

“Social media is great but also a bit scary cause what people post is the most filtered, most carefully chosen and cleverly edited moments of their lives. And self esteem is a huge issue for people around the world,” she wrote on her Instagram account.

“My skin isn’t great so I don’t post no makeup selfies, much as I’d like to; I have a trainer urg-

Chrissy Teigen shares first photo of daughter Luna

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ew mother Chrissy Teigen has taken to Instagram to share the first photo of daughter Luna Simone Stephens, five days after giving birth to the baby girl.

The “Lip Sync Battle” star not only gave a first look at the adorable little girl, but also revealed her nickname, reported Ace Showbiz.

“Hi my lulu!” the 30-year-old model captioned the cute snap.

Wearing a black innerwear and black leggings, Chrissy held the newborn baby with one hand as she rubbed her head. She flashed a smile at the baby girl while letting her hair loose on one side. Chrissy’s mother Vilailuck Teigen also posted on her Instagram account a photo of herself with Luna. In the photo, she cradled the cute little girl while smiling at the camera. “Lulu and me,” the happy grandmother

captioned the photo.

Some of Chrissy’s followers congratulated her while some others said that they loved the nickname that the model gave her daughter. Chrissy and her hus-

band John Legend welcomed the baby girl on April 14. They made the happy announcement on Instagram on April 17, revealing the baby’s name and weight.

(Indian Express)

Anupam Kher ‘happy’ to be part of ‘Love Sonia’ ing me on in workouts and don’t include all the times I say ‘I can’t do it’ and I don’t smile all the time but I like to share the pictures where I am.”

Daisy, 24, became a rising star with her role of Rey in ‘The Force Awakens” movie. She is set to reprise her role in the in “Star Wars Episode VIII”, directed

by Rian Johnson. The

movie is currently filming. The actress said she tries to strike a balance in everything. “But I actually do love myself. I try to think good thoughts always and am surrounded by the most wonderful people, so I’m keeping it balanced (like the Force, obvs) (sic).

Just thought I’d say.”

(Indian Express)

Vin Diesel shares ‘Fast and Furious 8’ movie poster

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Hollywood 49

ction star Vin Diesel shared the poster of upcoming “Fast & Furious 8”. “New Roads Ahead,” the poster reads above a photo of Diesel looking somber into the distance.

The text continues with, “‘Furious 8’. April 14. In Theaters and IMAX.” This is the first film sans the “Fast & Furious” star Paul Walker, who passed away in November 2013.

Diesel, 48, recently announced on Instagram that there would be an entire trilogy, rounding out the franchise to an even 10.

“Fast 8” is set for release April 14, 2017, while “Fast 9” and “Fast 10” will hit the theaters on April 19, 2019, and April 2, 2021, respectively.

F Gary Gray is helming the project with Charlize Theron and Scott Eastwood set to join the franchise, while Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson are signed on to reprise their roles. (Indian Express)

A

nupam Kher has been roped in for David Womark’s Indo-American production “Love Sonia” and the veteran actor says he is “happy” to be part of it.

The 61-year-old also

wished luck to Womark and Tabrez Noorani, the director of “Love Sonia”, which is set to go on the floors in May. “Good luck to producer David Womark and director Tabrez Noorani for

their film ‘Love Sonia’.

Happy to be a part of it,” Anupam tweeted.

The film also features actress Richa Chadha in the lead role. Womark has previously produced films like “Life of Pi” and has been an executive producer for movies like “The Hulk” and “G.I. Joe Rise of the Cobra”.

“Love Sonia” depicts the brutal realities of human trafficking across the globe and the film will be shot here followed by a schedule in Los Angeles. (Indian Express)

Patrick Stewart dresses up as a woman for event A ctor Patrick Stewart was nearly unrecognisable when he showed up in a wig, false lashes and a pink dress for an event to promote season two of “Blunt Talk.”

His co-star Adrian Scarborough also donned drag, wearing a black velvet dress and strawberry blonde locks to the event.

The pair arrived to Hollywood’s Lindwood Dunn Theater straight from the season two set of their Starz comedy, reported Variety.

“Something is happening in Hollywood tonight,” Stewart tweeted before the event, along with a photo of himself getting ready.

Stewart, 75, went all out by donning a statement necklace, black heels, a pair of pantyhose and a silver clutch bag.

When asked who Stewart looked like, an audience

member shouted “Cate Blanchett.”

Stewart quickly apologised to the Oscar winner. After showing off his look, the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” star got quite the compliment when Twitter users started comparing him to 70year old actress Helen Mirren. One tweeted, “@SirPatStew You look like Helen Mirren’s older distinguished sister, and I have so many questions”, another added, “@SirPatStew channeling Helen Mirren there.” (Indian Express)

50 sport

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana’s rugby team ready to tackle Bajans on Saturday

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President Peter Green (seated second left) with some members of the team and other GRFU officials

s the road to World Cup qualifying begins for Guyana’s national rugby team, the first test will be overhauling the visiting Barbados side on Saturday at the National Park Rugby Field.

Speaking on Wednesday at a press conference, captain of the team, Richard Staglon, said he is optimistic of the side’s chances of securing a victory because of the blend of experience and youth.

Staglon said, “I think we stand a good chance of winning, with the blend of youth and experience players; we have a new coach who has been bringing new ideas and adding lots of excitement among the players and the guys are gelling and have been playing good rugby so far.”

Coach of the team, Larry Adonis, explained that preparation has being going well, but most importantly, their tactics would need to be on point to secure a victory.

“We want to play more in their half because Barbados have a way of bringing somebody from England who kicks

it on our half and keeps us pinned, so we want to try to keep it in their half as much as possible”, Adonis explained.

Peter Green, President of the Guyana Ruby Football Union (GRFU), explained that the mistakes of the past will not occur again and the main ultimatum is to top the group.

“We don’t intend to make [the] mistake that [we] did last year when we lost by two points. Once we have cleared these hurdles, Guyana will be facing the winner of the North Zone; at the moment, Mexico is number one team in the North Zone,” Green noted.

Green added because the Mexicans are ranked higher than Guyana, they will have to travel to play in Mexico once they top their group.

After playing Barbados on Saturday, their next encounters are against Jamaica on May 21 and Trinidad on June 19.

The rankings for this year show that Trinidad is the top ranked team, followed by Mexico and Guyana.

Scrum-off time is 16:00h.

GFF/Stag Elite League Finale…

Lanferman’s hat-trick sinks GFC

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lpha “The Hammer” United seemed to have returned to their usual destructiveness on the football field when they inflicted a 5-0 thrashing on Georgetown Football Club (GFC) on Sunday in the Guyana Football Federation’s Stag Elite League Finale.

Playing on GFC’s home turf at Bourda, home team had no answers for the aggression of Alpha United, as national striker Dellon Lanferman scored a terrific hat-trick, which propelled his team to the resounding victory.

From the onset, Alpha United looked the team to beat, as Lanferman notched up his first goal in the second minute, followed by Anthony Abrams four minutes later. Abrams again was on the pounce when he scored his second goal in the 30th minute to put the visitors up by three at half time.

Though GFC had some moments of brilliance, they were not able to capitalise and Lanferman added two more goals to his tal-

Alpha United’s scorers! Dellon Lanferman (right) and Anthony “Awo” Abrams

ly in the 48th and 93rd minutes, which effectively put the final nail in the coffin for GFC, in what has been a dreaded Finale campaign.

GFC have not won any of nine matches to date and with only one draw, it effectively puts them in the cellar position. Alpha United, on the on other hand, should be renewed by the performance as they now look to cement third place with five wins from their nine matches and two draws.

In the other match, Pele bounced back from

Pele’s marksmen! From left: Colric Beckles, Gregory Richardson and Konata Mannings

some lacklustre performances in the league Finale to comprehensively defeat Monedderlust 4-1.

Colric Beckles gave Pele the early lead with his strike in the 38th and two minutes after Gregory Richardson registered his first of two goals in the match to end the excitement in the first half.

Konata Mannings was the next point-man as he extended the lead with a goal in the 58th, but an error of judgment in Pele’s defence allowed an own goal to be scored and the score line now read 3-1.

That soon changed when Richardson scored once more in the 64th minute, to give Pele a much needed victory. Pele will remain in fifth place with their third win of the Finale, but they move four points in touching distance of fourth place Guyana Defence Force.

The Berbicians, on the other hand, are just below Pele, but have only gained six points from their nine matches.

sport 51

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Amazon Warriors bowl off CPL preparations

From left: Assad Fudadin, Paul Wintz and Devendra Bishoo

By Avenash Ramzan

T

he management team of the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Tuesday began preparations in earnest for the Hero Caribbean Premier League (Hero CPL) 2016 with an interactive session in Georgetown.

The session was geared to have the local based players interact with each other, field questions and seek clarifications ahead of CPL 2016.

The players who attended were all-rounder Christopher Barnwell, left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, all-rounder Steven Jacobs, batsman Assad Fudadin, wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble, seamer Paul

Wintz, opener Shimron Hetmyer and Under-19 selectee Akshaya Persaud.

Team Operations Manager of the Amazon Warriors franchise, Omar Khan, spoke of the reason for Tuesday’s session.

“We thought it absolutely necessary to get a feel from the players themselves as to their readiness, not only in terms of their physical readiness, but also in terms of their mental preparation,” Khan highlighted.

He continued, “Because we have found over the years that players go through all the physical training, they do all the gym work and they do all that is required, but at the end of the day to be mentally

ready for a tournament like this is much more than being physically ready and being fit.”

The session was conducted by the management team, which included Khan, Head Coach Roger Harper, Assistant Coach Esaun Crandon, Strength and Conditioning Trainer Clinton Jeremiah and Physiotherapist Jason Pilgrim.

According to Khan, physical sessions will be held at the National Stadium from this week, while gym work will be done at Fitness53 at Providence.

“And what the Trainer and Physio would do is actually assess where they [the players] are and then give them a programme to do work from now un-

til the start of CPL,” Khan stated.

Guyana Amazon Warriors are down to play the first match of CPL 2016 against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, and according to Khan, significant progress has been made in laying the groundwork for a successful campaign.

“I think we’ve had the full support. I think the most important thing is having the full support of the franchise owner [Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop].

We’ve had that from Dr Ramroop; he’s been a very good franchise owner, very supportive… and he clearly understands what is required in terms of running a franchise and having all the preparations and logistical arrangements in

Omar Khan

place,” Khan explained.

After the indoor session on Tuesday morning, the players took to the National Stadium for their first physical workout ahead of the im-

pending season.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors finished as runners-up in 2013 and 2014, and were knocked out at the semi-final stage last year. The Martin Guptill-led franchise will look to break new grounds when CPL 2016 bowls off in June.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors squad reads: Dwayne Smith, Rayad Emrit, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Ali Khan, Jason Mohammed, Christopher Barnwell, Chris Lynn, Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill and Adam Zampa. (aramzan@guyanatimesgy. com)

Guyana Amazon Warriors players pay rapt attention at Tuesday’s session

52 sport

WEEK ENDING APRIL 24, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WICB responds to critics …says Board has lived up to promises The following is a statement from the Board of Directors and the Executive of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)

ers, and how they fit into the existing high performance programme and to determine the most affordable remuneration packages.

estructuring in today’s sporting world simply means choosing the best model for the sport at the time. This may best be defined by the resultant effect of an economic impact model which clearly states that revenue-sharing is vital for all stakeholders. In an ongoing effort, the WICB in its financials for the year ending September 30, 2015, reported a surplus (US$3.5 million) which resulted in the deficit being reduced to just under US$2 million.

The WICB has over the last decade commissioned several reports whose results have largely been implemented. The one recommendation that has not been favoured by the current or the previous board is the adding of another layer to the existing body. That has been the bane of contention in recent times with a few groups calling for the dissolution of the board.

In 2014, the WICB rolled out its franchise system, which sought to “professionalize the

The Board in its latest response to all the reports and the most recent tabled by the subcommittee on CARICOM committed to • Look back at all the reports with a view to see which of the recommendations are suitable at this time • Put in place a firm and/or individual with the expertise to review the recommendations and manage the implementation • Meet with its stakeholders to effect the changes WINNING WORLD TITLES In under 100 days since the start of 2016, three teams from the West Indies in two formats won three world titles. That accomplishment has come as part of the high performance programme implemented just over two years ago. That there are small groups clamouring for the board’s dissolution is reason to ask… what more could a region want?

The acceptance of an average of 90 per cent of

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game and revolutionize how players are engaged.” This system added 90 professional players which play first class cricket in the 50-overs and 4-Day format in addition to a partner for the Twenty20 – the Caribbean Premier League. Those leagues have shown tremendous potential from all involved. The opportunities for the next generation of players is to be discovered from this ongoing series of programmes.

This model has created the following • 15 men on retainer contracts • 11 women on re-

tainer contracts • 90 players on first class retainers • Regional women’s tournament The three main competitions in the domestic markets are the • Super50 • 4-Day Professional Cricket League and the • Caribbean Premier League – where players earn from a minimum of US$5,000 to a maximum of US$160,000 The WICB realises the role it has to play in the constant changing environment in the business of cricket and just recently at its Annual General Meeting (AGM)

in March set a team, led by Independent Director, Don Wehby to reassess all the reports and to make recommendations to make the organisation more efficient.

FULL CIRCLE CONSULTATION The Board will host its annual retreat (at the most suitable time) in the early part of the summer with players, technical team, player representatives, management staff and directors to chart the way forward. The primary focus for this year’s retreat will be to find workable solutions with regards to re-engagement of play-

all the commissioned reports received have been implemented minus adding another layer of bureaucracy cannot justify calling for the board to be dissolved. Instead the small groups should consider among other things promises made

by Governments to contribute to the growth of cricket by • Hosting matches/international series • Continuing to facilitate development which aids in the growth of sport • Creating a more enabling environment for movement around the region • Revitalizing cricket in the schools across the region.

• Assisting in the setting up of territorial academies The global sports industry is going through constant change and so are all the sporting disciplines. One thing that is sure though is that organisations are moving towards being more efficient in their structure to be able to ease decision-making and to create the most effective model for business.

The Board so far has lived up to its promises, and while that is being done, “let’s trust the process.”

CPL yet to sign off on Finals …“We’re trying everything possible to bring the games to Guyana” – Trotman

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he Hero Caribbean Premier League (Hero CPL) is yet to sign off on the Finals of the tournament later this year.

After reports surfaced this week that Guyana was awarded the Finals, Guyana Times International Sport sought clarification from Hero CPL, which had not made an official statement regarding the host nation for those crucial games.

When contacted on Wednesday afternoon, a source close to CPL revealed that nothing has been finalised.

“Nothing has been agreed or signed regarding the Finals, so there’s nothing to add at this point,” the source indicated. The source did not divulge further details.

It is understood that Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica have also submitted bids to host the Finals.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Spokesman, Raphael

Trotman, earlier on Wednesday indicated at a post-Cabinet press briefing that Guyana will host the Final, Semifinals and four other games during the June to August tournament.

Trotman’s utterances came a day after Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, under whose ministry sport falls, declared to this newspaper that “yes, we have the Finals.”

Trotman said, “The initial request was in excess of [US]$2 million; we are still to confirm, but the last figure I know about is on or about $1.5 million package, but the Minister of Finance is yet to conclude the discussion and negotiations with the organisers.”

It is understood that CPL was asking for US$4.5 million (G$932.4million) for the award of the Final-four, but last year it was reported that the Trinidad government invested US$3.5 million (TT$24

million).

This publication also learnt that the Guyana Amazon Warriors franchise has injected US$2 million to ensure the games come to Guyana.

Outstanding sum

Trotman further stated that when government officials met with CPL personnel last year, a settlement was reached on the outstanding sums owed to CPL.

“When we assumed office, we were told that there was outstanding bill of half million dollars which no documentation could readily be provided for.

Through interventions made from overseas, a group of ministers and others met with the CPL officials late last year and we managed to arrive at what we believe is a settlement

[and] even though there was no documentation to support the claim of US$500,000 being owed, we believe that in the interest of cricket, good relations in the future of the sport that we should come to an amicable solution, so we decided that it would be paid in tranches and also what I think was attractive to government was that the CPL organisers extended

to us the offer of the finals and semi-finals and four games here.”

With Guyana celebrating its 50th Independence anniversary this year, Trotman believes hosting the Finals here would be a great addition to those planned celebratory activities.

“In our Jubilee year, it would be a good fillip to the celebrations; we are doing everything possible to bring the games to come to Guyana,” Trotman said.

Quizzed on whether the Finals would be a good investment for the country, the minister said, “We believe, for the reasons I stated, this is our Jubilee year, cricket of course, given the West Indies teams three feats we regard having international stars in Guyana and the festive mood, would be a good injection to our economy.”

Hero CPL 2016 is slated for June 29 to August 7.

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Bolt targeting sub-19 run, says retirement not a given

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EW YORK, United States (CMC) — Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt says he is targeting a sub-19 seconds run in the 200 metres and has cast doubt over whether he will wind up his illustrious career following the Rio Olympics in August.

The reigning World and Olympic champion in both the 100 and 200 metres, Bolt is seeking to become the first athlete to win the events at three successive Olympiads, following his conquests in Beijing in 2008 and in London four years later.

“Just to defend my titles, to do the three-peat.

That’s my main goal.

That’s my main focus,” Bolt said here.

“My secondary goal is to try and run sub-19.

That’s something I really want and I hope that everything goes smoothly and I can get it. That would be a big step for me.”

The 29-year-old, who holds the 200 metres world record at 19.19 seconds, has struggled with an ankle injury this year, but has slowly worked his way back into fitness and is scheduled to make his season debut next month at the Cayman

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt approaches the finish line to win gold in the Men’s 100-metre final at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia in August 2013. (David J. Phillip photo)

Islands Invitational.

Bolt is also expected to appear at the Ostrava Golden Spike later in May before participating at his own track club’s meet, Racer’s Track Club Grand Prix, in June ahead of the Jamaica trials.

Bolt said he was carefully building up his fitness with the chief objective of the Olympics in mind.

“I’m feeling OK. My coach (Glen Mills) says my fitness is not exactly where he wants it to be,” Bolt said.

“Starting out this season I had a problem with my ankles and it was a setback, but not that bad. We’re getting back on track and he’s happy with the progress I’m making.” (Jamaica Observer)

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