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Jagdeo accuses Gov’t of ‘sidelining’ Guyanese contractors ISSUE NO. 302

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016

See story on page 3

…says hundreds of jobs at stake if Suriname-based Chinese company is selected for low-income homes project

Warriors all the way!

Fans of the Guyana Amazon Warriors came out in their thousands to cheer on their team during the home matches at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. (Photo: Yogendra Callender)

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Jagdeo accuses Gov’t of ‘sidelining’ Guyanese contractors …says hundreds of jobs at stake if Suriname-based Chinese company is selected for low-income homes project

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undreds of Guyanese will be denied job opportunities if Government seals the deal with a group of Surinamese-based investors to construct low income and medium-income houses at the Perseverance Housing Scheme on the East Bank of Demerara (ECD), according to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

During a news conference on Wednesday, Jagdeo accused the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change Administration of sidelining local contractors for a group of Chinese investors for the undertaking; a move he said they would have complained bitterly against if they were not in Government.

“Isn’t this taking away jobs from our local people? How come you were saying all the time that

the Chinese are coming to take away jobs and here you want them to build small houses,” he highlighted, noting that this is just one of the many contradictions of the ruling Administration.

Jagdeo estimated that over 400 Guyanese could have been provided with meaningful job opportunities had the Government contracted local people for the project.

A team headed by Minister with responsibility for the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Valerie Patterson visited Suriname to meet with the Chinese investors there.

Minister Patterson was accompanied by CH&PA Board Member Mark Jacobs; CH&PA Chief Planner Rawle Edinboro; Pilot Coordinator of the Guyana Wastewater

Minister Valerie Sharpe-Patterson along with GM of Zhong Da International Engineering Company (CDIG) Wu Qiong, during a visit to Suriname

Revolving Fund Marlon Daniels, who is also a Water and Sanitation Specialist; and Building Consultant Klensil Grenville.

This visit was a follow up to a proposal, which was submitted to the Government of Guyana by Zhong Da International Engineering Company

(Suriname) for the housing project in Guyana.

The proposal is for the construction of low and middle-income homes, complete with water and sanitation systems in Perseverance Scheme.

The Perseverance Scheme is the site where the Government’s Turnkey home Project is ongoing. To date, a total of 59 homes have been completed, with another 141 under construction.

Reports indicate that another 800 homes are to be still constructed.

On the other hand, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported that the General Manager of the Chinese Company, Wu Qiong, assured that over 50 per cent of the workforce for the project will be Guyanese.

He noted that training would be offered to locals once the project commenced.

Zhong Da I n t e r n a t i o n a l Engineering Company (Suriname) N V was founded and registered in March 2000 and it constitutes the solely-funded enterprise of China Dalian International Cooperation Group (CDIG).

However, the parent company CDIG has been in Suriname for over 17 years and its business covers road construction, bridges, industrial and civil engineering.

Zhong Da started its housing project in Suriname, which is one of the key projects used by that country’s Government to solve the problems of people’s livelihood.

To date, the company has completed a total of 550 homes, over a period of 40 months in two Government housing settlements in Suriname.

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EDITORIAL

Strangling the manufacturing goose

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he Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has suddenly decided to impose duties on imports of goods that are inputs into local manufacturing operations.

For example we were informed that containers of textiles destined for Denmore Garment Manufacturing are lying at the wharves because the manufacturer had never been charged the duties now demanded. Consequently Denmore’s calculation of costs and selling prices, which would have been quoted and contracted to its customers (foreign in this instance), will now be thrown out the window.

Denmore has to shutter its operations for two weeks throwing hundreds of workers on the breadlines.

There are several important issues arising from the GRA’s decision, precipitately sprung on the Manufacturing community, without any consultations.

Firstly, there is the matter of equity. As illustrated by the Denmore example above, if the new directive was necessary the manufacturers should have been given some time to complete contracts already booked.

Secondly and more germanely, why could the GRA not let sleeping dogs lie? If, as was reported, no duties were charged for decades, why invoke the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to impose duties now?

While the treaty does state (Art 82) that member states “shall establish and maintain a common external tariff (CET) in respect of all goods which do not qualify for Community treatment in accordance with plans and schedules set out in relevant determinations of COTED (Council of Trade and Economic Development)”, which country objected to trigger the GRA’s action?

The truth is, none did and the GRA took its precipitate action simply because someone in that organisation decided to counter its falling tax collection through the reactivation of this duty. This action further illustrates the lack of policy coherence in this administration.

As the Opposition Leader pointed out, the GRA’s plummeting collections are directly related to shrinking economic activity and this burden on manufacturers will only exacerbate this process. This is because sales of their manufactured goods will inevitably decrease due the necessary price increases.

If the Administration in general, and the GRA in particular, was concerned about their overall function in a market-driven economy – namely to create a climate to encourage investment and business by providing incentives and removing obstacles, the former should have instituted the mechanism built into the Caricom Treaty to address the issue of a CET. Under conditions that are spelled out, Article 83 states, “COTED shall continuously review the Common External Tariff; in whole or in part, to assess its impact on production and trade, as well as to secure its uniform implementation throughout the Community, in particular, by reducing the need for discretionary application in the day to day administration of the Tariff.” There is also a host of safeguard mechanisms in Article 84 and St Lucia has recently decided to invoke this clause and Guyana should join the action.

They should request that in those cases where the other territories of Caricom will use items for manufacturing purposes, they also be allowed to waive duties if they so desire.

One of the primary purposes of Caricom was to create “economies of scale” denied them individually, but even together, they still remain small compared to most of the countries they compete against in the manufacturing arena, where those companies receive subsidies of all kinds.

Last week, taking advantage of the 37th Caricom Heads of Government (HoG) meeting in Guyana, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Eddie Boyer and President of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) Eon Caesar, lobbied various Caricom Heads of State on the matter of the need for a more enlightened policy on duties on manufacturing inputs and received a favourable response.

But the question remains why the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance (who issues the waivers) did not take independent action before the GRA was seized with its sudden burst of concern for the sanctity of the Treaty of Chaguaramas?

UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Maria Cristina Perceval, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, President David Granger, First Lady Sandra Granger, Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Christophe Bernasconi, Prime Minister’s wife Sita Nagamootoo and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo at the opening ceremony of the Hague Convention Conference hosted at the Pegasus Hotel on Wednesday evening

Oil and the climate G

uyana stands on the precipice of becoming an oil-producing economy and while the knowledge that oil-producing countries are at an advantage economically is comforting, there is an oxymoronic dynamic that is involved with this particular situation.

On one hand, there is Guyana’s push for a “green economy”, which is premised on the reduction of our carbon footprint, while on the other hand, Guyana is advancing the

based on the information being disseminated from ExxonMobil that Guyana has a recoverable resource of between 800 million and 1.4 billion oil-equivalent barrels. With that inevitability comes the oxymoronic dilemma mentioned above.

We do believe that if Guyana becomes an economy which is based on oil, it will be at a crossroad, ie from its local push for a green economy/ fighting climate change, and from its international obligations and treaties (COP 21)

proliferation of oil for economic gains. The end result of which will invariably add to the already colossal greenhouse gas emissions that come with the extraction, production and consequent burning of oil.

Where does this contrasting equation leave Guyana?

One can argue that at this point in time, this concern is not on the minds of the politicians, nor those with the vested interest (ExxonMobil) of extracting the lucrative resource.

This in part has to do with the fact that Guyana won’t be producing oil until another well is drilled (the Liza 3) which gives the country a 5-10-year time line before large-scale production is seriously considered.

That being said, oil production, it seems, is inevitable

seeking tangible compliance in the reduction of the world’s carbon footprint from developing countries.

Research has shown the deleterious effects associated with climate change. One of the largest contributors to climate change is greenhouse gases and primary among those gases is Carbon Dioxide (CO2), which is produced naturally, but is excessively exacerbated through human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels (oil).

Ironically, the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are the developed countries, such as the United States, the European Union members, China and Canada among others. However, the countries that are required to do

the most in terms of avoiding further climate change damage are the poor and developing countries. They are being cajoled by developed countries through international organisations to implement changes counterproductive to their projected growth by not utilising the route already advanced and taken by the said developed countries years before.

It is for this reason, former President Bharrat Jagdeo articulated for and succeeded in getting funding from Norway (a developed country) to simply put, pay for Guyana to keep its forest intact. This move ensured that Guyana was compensated for not going down the traditional route of exploiting its natural resource via rapid deforestation for economic gains.

Clearly, Guyana will come under some form of scrutiny and criticism if it digresses from its much-touted going green and combating climate change disposition towards one where the end result would lead to the proliferation of greenhouse gases by contributing to the oil industry and its consequent ills.

To stay clear from such murky waters maybe Guyana should go the route that it did with its forests. A feasibility study should be done to determine the net positive and negative impacts that would be derived if Guyana chose not to mine its oil reserves. Guyana could then be compensated for not going down the path of extracting its reserves.

It might be a farfetched idea taking into consideration the legal ramifications and the amount of resources already invested by ExxonMobil to find and extract oil off of Guyana’s shores and to drill two wells already. However, in the final analysis, even the most entrenched agreements can be restructured and compromised.

It all depends on how serious we are in fighting climate change and protecting the world for the future generations to come.

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Gov’t still looking for Amaila Falls, Specialty Hospital contracts Harmon

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he Government has been in office for over a year and is yet to set eyes on the contracts for the Amaila Falls Hydro project and the Specialty Hospital.

This was today, disclosed to media operatives by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon at a post-Cabinet press briefing.

Minister Harmon was at the time responding to a question on the accusations made by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on the Government’s failure to make public the details of contracts which are now being reviewed, awarded and implemented.

“I can say this to Mr. Jagdeo, that there are some contracts that had so many confidentiality that they are so deep-

ly buried that until now we can’t see them and I make reference to at least two such contracts; one is the contract of the specialty hospital that he spoke about,” Minister Harmon stated.

The Minister of State further explained that prior to the commencement of the press conference, he contacted Finance Minister, Winston Jordan and, “up to now he ain’t see that contract as yet.”

The Minister said that millions of taxpayers’ dollars have been spent on the contract and the former administration has never ‘brought it to light’.

“The second one has to do with the Amaila Falls contract, never seen it, in fact while we

Authorities working to remove vagrants from Parliament Building environs – Ramjattan

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon

were in the opposition, we were invited here to these offices to meetings and we were told by the Government that these are confidential arrangements and we are basically briefing you on some of them but where is the contract, where is

it?” Harmon asked.

Minister Harmon advised that the Government has nothing to hide and operates fully on the ethic of transparency and accountability.

The Minister of State said that although the government is in office for a short period, it is cognisant that is has a responsibility to ensure good governance.

“And so while we have to pick up the pieces, we also have to reconstruct to make sure we have a full understanding of what the previous administration did in very important sectors and the economy of this country,” he concluded.

(GINA)

Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan

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he Ministry of Public Security is seeking technical advice on the permanent removal of vagrants who continue to squat around Parliament building.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said to effectively remove these persons poses “a huge problem” to the Guyana Police Force.

Ramjattan pointed out that while on some occasions police have had to place some of the vagrants in holding cells, they would always return to the area once they are released. “We have a huge problem there…when you start

taking them and putting them in the lock-ups because we don’t really have space for them,” Ramjattan said.

The Public Security Ministry is part of a committee established by the Ministry of Social Protection to address the welfare management of the homeless, mentally challenged and addicted persons on the streets. The committee also includes representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.

“We have to construct a half-way house, and we’ll have to get the funding to Social Protection Ministry for that purpose,” Ramjattan explained as one solution to address the problem.

Last month, the Ministry of Social Protection had indicated that it had identified a building in Region Five to house street dwellers where they will be evaluated to determine whether some of them can be treated externally, placed in a home or be referred to the National Psychiatric Hospital.

(GINA)

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The rice industry could ill-afford There is need for a review of the operations this GRDB-induced disaster!

Dear Editor, Despite serious concerns ventilated by the Guyana Rice Exporters and Millers Association (GREMA) and numerous huge rice exporters, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) through its General Manager, Mr Nizam Hassan was adamant that the contract signed on March 1 this year with two Jamaican companies will not limit the export of rice to Jamaica and that the contractual arrangement will be ‘a plus for Guyana’s rice industry’ resulting in an increase in price per tonne of rice.

He had claimed that rice exporters will receive US$400 per tonne of rice as contrasted with the average price per tonne being US$345 to US$370. He reiterated that “Guyanese millers will earn an additional US$30-US$55 per tonne of rice exported to Jamaica or an additional US$2.4 million-US$4.4 million annually” (Guyana Chronicle April 25, 2016).

However, since the implementation of that contract, rice millers and export-

ers were effectively restricted from exporting to Jamaica because the GRDB implemented quotas and blocked them from selling through their own contractual arrangements as was done previously. The GRDB, therefore, has the final authority to say who should export how much.

Moreover, GREMA had also said that the contractual agreement which the GRDB had entered into with the two Jamaican companies will take the rice industry down the road to financial ruin; this is now a reality since it is now revealed that the price rice exporters are receiving is far less than what they were receiving before this GRDB Jamaica contractual arrangement.

However, the new ‘development’ is that rice exporters are now mandated to submit credit notes to the two Jamaican companies: Jamaica Rice Milling Company Limited and Musson Jamaica Limited to the value of US$30 per tonne of rice exported to these companies.

One rice exporter, K

Dyal&Son was required to submit credit notes to the amount of US$22,398.

Therefore, in effect, the rice exporters are now getting US$370 per tonne. But this price is not what the rice millers actually received since it is alleged that they are asked

by GRDB officials to fork out between US$10-US$20 per tonne – an ‘under table’ arrangement in order to get the contract! Hence, the rice exporters are now getting far below the US$376 that they were getting before the infamous Jamaican contract.

They are not getting ‘an additional US$35-US$55 per tonne’ as promised by the GRDB and its GM – they are effectively being shafted.

The Government through the Minister of Agriculture should address this debilitating situation before it is too late. With El Niño, La Niña and declining production, the rice industry could ill-afford this GRDB-induced disaster!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf Regional Councillor – Region 6

City Hall should have trusted, competent, fair minded persons Dear Editor, The report contained in Sunday’s edition of another section of the media, which reveals the deplorable working conditions at the Solid Waste Department of the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown is an appalling reminder of the indecency, tactlessness, and the insensitivity of the administration at City Hall. If they can subject their own workers whom they claim to value and appreciate to such unpleasant and harsh working conditions, then one can only imagine what they would do to the citizens of Georgetown whom they hardly know or share any type of rapport with.

The photos of the outgrowth surrounding the lunchroom (And the council is responsible for weeding and cleaning the City); of the rotting outer walls of

the Solid Waste Department (Again the City Council is supposed to ensure that all structures in the city are safe and sound); the cramped and squalid toilet facilities designated to employees (A Clear Public Health Violation); and the Lunch Room with missing boards and windows, speaks clearly to the depravity of the administration who instead of providing the most minimal of environmental health and safety standards to their employees prefer to build a Presidential Park costing hundreds of millions of dollars for no good reason.

I would like to suggest to the officials of the Labour, Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Ministry of Social Protection, that they also visit the plush offices of the Mayor, Town Clerk and other favoured senior staffers where they will

find stylish, expensive and the latest cutting-edge flat screen television sets installed and connected to direct satellite television, carefully selected posh office furnishings, state of the are communications equipment, refrigerators crammed with expensive refreshments, climate controlled environments, adequate lighting and luxurious private washroom facilities. Of course they don’t need lunchrooms as they constantly dine out with friends at opulent restaurants and hotels at the Council’s expense of course.

These people who manage the affairs of the city must be gotten rid of and replaced by competent, trustworthy and fair minded persons.

Yours sincerely, Nadine Jerrick

Ironic that the Govt would accuse old age citizens of ‘double dipping’ Dear Editor, It is ironic that the Government would salaciously announce that it’s going after those old folks that collect US$90 per month from the Guyana Government and live oversees. This a myopic view of the present government because the leaders don’t see the thousands of US dollars in potential healthcare costs if these old folks that a ma-

jority suffers from comorbidities were to live for two years minimum in Guyana.

For this reason, paying them a US$1000 per annum to stay away is a bargain.

I am pleased that the honourable Minister was careful enough, after causing panic, to explain the three types of pensions available to Guyanese, ie contributory pension (NIS), pension for retired public officers,

and old age pension. The former two she has no control over and they could only be changed by legislation.

It would be wise to focus money and time addressing the current pipeline of malfeasance. Don’t get me wrong, I like the minister, I think she is genuine.

Sincerely, Keith Bernard

of the CCJ

Dear Editor, During the last ten years, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has been trying to find takers among the Caricom members.

T&T has been resisting ascension to the CCJ and succeeding governments are reluctant to put it to a referendum fearing atonal rejection. There is no referendum whereby the people in any territory have been allowed to say whether they wish CCJ to replace the Privy Council where the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom hear appeals from the Caribbean nations.

The only countries that have acceded to CCJ so far are Barbados, Guyana, Belize and Dominica; none by referendum like what happened in the UK last month or used in St Vincent some five years ago when it was rejected. Dominica does not have many cases and its accession to the CCJ is of no great significance.

Barbados has a few cases, but there is widespread dissatisfaction in Barbados among the Lawyers who have been involved in cases at the CCJ, claiming the decisions are poor.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which hears appeals in Human Rights cases, has already reversed an important judgment which the CCJ gave concerning a murder accused who wished to lead certain medical evidence but was denied the opportunity.

Some lawyers in Barbados and Guyana who have appeared before the CCJ have called for its abolition.

Guyanese have had to deal with the CCJ because they were left without a proper neutral third Court when the Dictator of Guyana in 1972 abolished appeals to the Privy Council and replaced it with a court he controlled; judicial proceedings in Guyana were politicised and justice thrown out the window replaced by Burnhamism. Guyana embraced the CCJ in 2005 but there has been dissatisfaction with the work of the Court.

No critical studies of CCJ’s rulings have been undertaken during the ten years in which it has been making decisions for Guyana. The administration of the Court has come under severe criticism from legal luminaries in all four countries where there is jurisdiction. Judicial and clerical incompetence have reached the point where taxation of bills of costs is not being done and complaints have not attracted any effective response.

There has been no serious study of the level of satisfaction and confidence the CCJ enjoys among members of the public and in the legal community.

Many difficult questions are not being asked and considered: 1. Has the workload of the court been increasing? No one is looking at these trends. A decline in the workload of the court may indicate a loss of confidence in the quality of the work of the court.

2. Has the court been guilty of delay in the hearing and deter-

mination of appeals? The court which has not been hearing more than 15 cases per annum recently took more than a year to deliver a judgment in the Maurice Tomlinson matter.

The case took about three years to be determined.

The court apologised for the delay. It had earlier held such delays to be a violation of the constitutional right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time. There are other instances of delay.

3. Has the court been advancing and unifying the jurisprudence of the region? This was one of the justifications for setting up the court.

4. Has the court been delivering inconsistent judgments?

5. Are the decisions of the court being followed by other courts in the region and around the world?

6. How well has the court been able to deal with the problems that are unique to the region?

7. Do any of the judges have any third court experience? From all indications, none of the judges practiced before a final court.

8. Do these judges meet the criteria for appointment to the final courts in other jurisdictions? Some of the judges would not meet the practice and other requirements necessary for an appointment to a first instance court in some jurisdictions.

9. How much importance is being given to appointing judges who are experienced in the practice of law? Some of the judges had no or very little judicial experience prior to appointment.

Some were never involved in the practice of law.

The truth is that the Judges of the Court are not recruited on the same principles as the Judges of the Supreme Court and Privy Council in England who are appointed after very distinguished careers at the Bar and in the higher courts of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

There are Judges of the CCJ who have never had legal practice in a third Court or practice of the kind which sees elevation from the Bar to the High Court of Justice in England or Northern Ireland or the Courts of Session in Scotland.

The consequence is that standards of adjudication are different in the CCJ from what prevails in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and Privy Council.

Dissatisfaction with the CCJ in the region will increase and fewer cases will be taken to CCJ. Justice has not improved with the CCJ which does not operate with the same high standards as when appeals to the Privy Council were treated. Thus, it is time that there be a review of the judicial proceedings of the CCJ in order to make it better to serve justice in those countries that accept it as a final court of appeal.

Guyana may also wish to look at another system of appeal since the CCJ has produced some irrational decisions regarding Guyana.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

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WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Citizens must champion cause of nation in border dispute, says Belize’s Foreign Minister

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uyana’s citizenry must support the cause of the nation as it continues to seek resolution to Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territory. More importantly, the local media must ensure that each citizen understands the importance of the issue.

These were the sentiments expressed

by Belizean Foreign Minister, Wilfred Elrington whose country’s border, like Guyana’s, is being claimed by its neighbour. The border dispute between Belize and Guatemala is also unresolved.

As small countries, the support of citizens is critical since border disputes become an “existential issue” for Guyana and Belize, both of which pursue peaceful means in defence of their sovereignty.

“Every Guyanese boy and girl, every Guyanese man and woman, every Belizean boy and girl should know the dispute intimately and should understand their responsibility to champion the cause of the nation; that is the only way we will survive,” Elrington urged.

Diplomatic support for small states in border disputes is very important. “It is perhaps even more important for us that we get all the support from our local citi-

Minister Wilfred Elrington

zenry, particularly the media,” Elrington noted.

Equally important is the role of the media in informing the local citizens on the issue.

“The media has a tremendous responsibility both here in Guyana and in Belize to make this information, the whole dispute a common place, most well-known issue in the country,” the Belizean Foreign Affairs Minister added.

The discussion of the border disputes was on the agenda at the recently concluded CARICOM Heads of Government Conference held last week in Guyana.

In a statement issued following the conclusion of the meeting on July 6, the Caribbean Community “signalled their full confidence in the Secretary General to exercise urgently his authority under the 1966 Geneva Agreement for a choice of options that would bring the controversy to a definitive and judicial conclusion that

would be beneficial not only to Guyana, but the Caribbean Community as a whole.”

In the case of Belize, CARICOM expressed their full support “for the Government of Belize as it enters the process of dialogue and welcomed the decisions of the Government of Belize and Guatemala to engage in the design and development of a mechanism of cooperation for the Sarstoon River, which marks Belize’s southern boundary.”

Guyana is seeking a juridical settlement of its border dispute with Venezuela through the office of the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Last year, Venezuela issued decree 1.787 which was replaced by decree 1.859 which extended its maritime zone into the exclusive economic zones of Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and other countries in the Eastern Caribbean.

First ever social workers’ conference to be held in Guyana

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he Ministry of Social Protection in collaboration with the University of Guyana (UG), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Guyana Association of Professional Social Workers (GAPSW) will be hosting a conference on Standards for Professional Practice

from July 20 to 21.

This conference is the first of its kind to be held in Guyana, and targets social work administrators, practitioners and educators. It will be held under the theme ‘Standards for Professional Social Work Practice.’

According to GINA, the conference aims to allow key stakeholders to examine their practice in social work and present research, thereby contributing to the knowledge on the needs for ethi-

cal and professional practice in Guyana.

According to the Ministry of Social Protection, many professions globally and locally are licenced and guided by codes of conduct; this is not the same for the social work profession in Guyana.

Additionally, the emerging and increasing trends in social problems nationally demand that Guyana be equipped with a social service workforce that is capable of delivering quality professional services, whilst responding to the needs of the nation, the Ministry explained.

However, the conference will explore thematic issues within the realm of ethical practice that will facilitate the exchange of ideas between and amongst practitioners, administrators, students, service users and academics.

This event is timely since there has been an upsurge in social problems such as suicide, gender base violence, child abuse, youth crime and teenage pregnancy.

The conference will be held at the Arthur Chung International Convention Centre (ACICC). Persons desirous of participating are asked to contact Oslyn Crawford on telephone numbers 225-6212 or 680-3200 for registration.

Enmore man hangs self ...relatives claim he had domestic problems

By Kristen Macklingam

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he body of 48-yearold Mohanlall Udairaj was found hanging inside of his bedroom early this morning by his sister-in-law and nephew who had visited the home following concerns raised by the dead man’s neighbours.

Tuladai Raj told this publication that she and her son made the shocking discovery around 07:30h today at the man’s lot 143 Hope West Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD) residence.

She explained that her husband, the brother of the deceased, had arrived at Udairaj’s home earlier Thursday morning to collect some documents, but after continuously calling out for Udairaj and receiving no answer, he returned home.

Subsequently, the now dead man’s neighbours telephoned Raj to voice concerns that they had not seen her brother-in-law for over three days and implored that the family “check up” on him.

“The neighbours said the downstairs of the house was open but the

DEAD: Mohanlall Udairaj

upstairs lock up and his bicycle in the same position for days, meaning, he didn’t use it and that is what he uses anytime he leaves the house. So I come with my son, up the stairs and push the front door which was open and I see his body hanging in his bedroom.

His bedroom door was open, so you can see in from the front door and when I see I rush out,” Raj stated.

According to the distraught woman, Udairaj’s neighbours were already alert and in the yard waiting for her to give them feedback.

According to reports, the man’s wife of 16 years

allegedly ended the relationship with him some four months ago, taking away his two daughters and her daughter whom he had also raised.

“They suspect something was wrong, from the slight smell in the house, the actions of the two puppies he took care of running up and down the steps not coming out. He premeditate this you know, his wife left him months now and for the past three weeks he told my son that it don’t make sense living and living alone and so. We talk to him over and over and over but we didn’t expect him to do something like this,” she related.

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WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana nominates two Ash Deonarine still being judges for Network sought by Police of Hague Judges L

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uyana’s Chief Justice (ag) and another senior judge were nominated by Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Basil Williams last evening to become Guyana’s representatives on the International Network of Hague Judges.

At the opening ceremony of the Hague Convention Conference at the Pegasus Hotel last evening, Minister Williams nominated Chief Justice (ag), Madame Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Madame Justice, Roxanne George as Hague Network Judges as part of Guyana’s commitment to joining the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH).

Williams said he has no doubt that the judges will bring a wealth of knowledge which will contribute positively to the operating and functioning of the Hague Conventions. Guyana is hosting the third regional conference until July 15.

“My hope is that Guyana becomes a member of HCCH and continue the work already started through the hosting of this conference,” Williams said in his opening remarks.

Once the nomination is accepted, Guyana will be the second country in the Caribbean region to be a part of the network.

Trinidad and Tobago is the first Caribbean country to sign on to it.

Meanwhile, Secretary General of the HCCH, Christophe Bernasconi

welcomed the two judges on their appointment and expressed the hope that other Caribbean countries will sign onto the Hague Network of Judges.

“I hope that this event will ignite in all delegates here present a strong interest and enthusiasm for the Hague conference and its conventions. I also hope that this enthusiasm will be carried back to the capital, and as a result, many Caribbean states will sign up to Hague conventions and actively consider Hague Conference membership. I sincerely hope that we can encourage those states… to designate one or two Hague Network Judges,” Bernasconi said.

Bernasconi also commended Minister Williams for the effort that Guyana and other sponsors have put in to make the conference possible. “You immediately understood the great potential our instruments can have for Guyana and the region more broadly,” Bernasconi said in praise.

Williams also came in for praise from Sir Matthew Thorpe, retired Lord Justice of Appeal, Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

“Here we have the jurisdiction and that gives us the potential to achieve the breakthrough in the volume of the support for the Hague family conventions in this region,” Thorpe said.

The conference is the third and largest regional conference. There are approximately 22 delegates from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the wider Caribbean region attending. Those delegates are Ministers of Legal Affairs, Attorney Generals, Judges and other legal experts.

Attorney General Williams said that the content and quality of the various HCCH conventions are worthy of embracing. “The conventions simplify and expedite judicial proceedings to ensure reciprocity as it relates to the enforcement of judgement in foreign jurisdictions and promote legal certainty,” Williams said. (GINA)

ocal investigators are still pursuing the extradition of former Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the Guyana Power and Light Inc, Ash Deonarine, to answer to the two multimillion-dollar fraud charges.

In August last year, Deonarine was sent on administrative leave after he allegedly transferred some G$27.8 million to his personal account without the approval of the Board of Directors. He is also being accused of paying former board member Carvil Duncan, a sum of G$948,000 that was not authorised.

Following months of investigations, the two former GPL Executives were slapped with conspiracy and simple larceny charges last month. However, Deonarine had left the country since August 2015 and never returned, as such, he was charged in absentia.

Additionally, when the matter was placed before the courts late last month, an arrest warrant was issued for the former GPL second in command. It is believed that Deonarine fled to Canada.

Deonarine had said earlier that he did nothing wrong and was willing to return to Guyana to answer to the allegations.

In this regard, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told reporters on Wednesday that the Police Force is still working on the process to have the former GPL Executive extradited to Guyana to face criminal charges in relation to the alleged unauthorised withdrawal of G$27 million from the utility company’s accounts as “back pay”.

“Deonarine is still wanted by the Police… Our legal advisors are still in contact with the law enforcement officials overseas and we are trying to prepare extradition documents,” Blanhum stated.

After coming into office, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change Administration found that close to G$142 million of the PetroCaribe Fund was plugged into the operations of the state-owned GPL. This was realised after Government said it had found an empty PetroCaribe Fund when it took office and later launched an investigation.

Based on information gathered, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson had explained that the pow-

Wanted: Ash Deonarine

er company has two DCEOs – one for operations and the other for administration. He said apparently, the operations DCEO was receiving a higher salary than the administration DCEO, and the operations DCEO had been making representations to the Board for there to be parity in the salaries of the two.

This, the Minister pointed out, was reportedly disapproved by the previous Board. However, in June 2015, with the signature of Director Duncan, Deonarine made the payment to himself retroactive from January 2013 to June 2015.

Patterson further stated that Board Members had made several representations to have Board fees increase from G$5000 to G$20,000. He noted while the Board had discussed the recommendation, no final decision was made in that regard.

Nevertheless, Duncan later went ahead and approved payment to the tune of G$948,000 for himself, representing “back pay” for the 48 months that he has been a Board member of GPL. The former GPL Board member was also charged for simple larceny and is currently out on bail as the trial continues.

Colombian fined G$30,000 for overstaying in Guyana

A

C o l o m b i a n woman was on Wednesday brought before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for overstaying her time in Guyana.

Karen Rosario Mona, 29, of Colombia, South America, pleaded guilty to the offence when it was read to her.

The court heard that on May 12, 2016 and July 11, 2016, she failed to comply with the conditions of a permit to stay in Guyana, which stated that she was permitted to stay in the country from March 11, 2016 to May 11 2016.

The Prosecution’s

case contended that on the day in question, Police Officers arrested the defendant based on information received which indicated she had overstayed her time in Guyana.

Attorney Paul Funga-Fat, who represented the defendant’s interest in court, said at the time of his client’s arrest, she was in the process of applying for a distant visa extension through the Home Affairs Ministry, but that time had lapsed.

However, Magistrate McLennan fined the woman $30,000 and failure to pay the fine will result in her serving four weeks in prison.

NEWS 9

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Pomeroon boat builders Bandits invade charged with murder home of Pouderoyen businessman L P ennox Baharally and Rondell Edwards were remanded to prison after they made an appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan to answer a joint murder charge.

The duo was charged for the murder of Mohammed Abdul Shameer, who died on April 26, in the Pomeroon River, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) after a boat capsized.

Baharally 34, a boat builder, and Edwards, 19, also a boat builder, reside in Upper Pomeroon River.

Defence Attorney Jerome Khan told the Court that it was an unfortunate incident and

Accused: Lennox Baharally

Accused: Rondell Edwards

his clients’ only mistake was to remove the body from the scene and place it on the river bank.

Khan added that the boat capsized and the defendants were only trying to rescue the man, who died.

The case was adjourned for August 15 and transferred to the Charity Magistrate’s

Court.

Reports are that three months ago, the two while aboard a boat collided with Shameer’s boat in the Pomeroon River.

It is alleged that after the accident, instead of going to a hospital, the duo took the man’s body to a swamp area and reportedly concealed it.

‘Panta’ wanted in connection with cocaine found in frozen fish

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anks of the Guyana Police Force Narcotics Branch are on the hunt for a West Coast Demerara (WCD) man who is wanted for questioning in relation to a recent trafficking in narcotics incident that occurred at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, East Bank Demerara.

Wanted is 52-year-old Mohamed Imrazie Alli, also known as “Panta”, a seafood exporter, of Lot 11 La Jalousie, WCD. He is wanted for the June 8 drug bust where over 9 kilograms of cocaine was found stashed in a shipment of frozen fish.

Three persons were already charged in connection with the drug bust and the Police are now seeking the public’s help in locating the fourth suspect.

Anyone with infor-

Wanted: Mohamed Imrazie Alli, called “Panta”

mation that may lead to the arrest of Mohamed Imrazie Alli, called “Panta” is asked to contact the Police on telephone numbers 227-2128, 225-6411, 225-2227, 2258196, 227-1149, 2267065, 911 or the nearest Police station. All information will be treated with strict confidence.

On June 8, at about 02:00h, members of the Police Narcotics Branch intercepted a quantity of

cocaine in some 33 boxes containing frozen fish to be exported. The boxes were found among other cargo during a routine check by Police.

At the time, 10 persons were arrested, including six ramp attendants attached to a handling service at the main port of entry. The others were reportedly shipping agents. The consignment of frozen fish was destined for the United States of America.

However, further investigations led to the arrest of two West Bank Demerara (WBD) siblings – Shafur Alli, 27, of Lot 27 La Jalousie, and Lazena Imrazie, 22, of Lot 8 Goed Fortuin, WBD. They were subsequently charged for being in the possession of 9.044 kilograms of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

olice investigators have managed to arrest one person while the hunt is one for another, following the shooting of a West Bank Demerara (WBD) businessman during a robbery on Monday night.

According to reports reaching Guyana Times International, at about 19:00h, two armed men barged into the businessman’s Pouderoyen, WBD home and terrorised the family. During the ordeal, Prakash Seegobin, also known as “Jai”, was shot to his leg. Seegobin operates a shop at his Lot 3 Bella Dam, Pouderoyen home.

This newspaper was told that the two perpetrators; one of whom was armed with a gun while the other was armed with a knife, invaded the house and held the family hostage. The ordeal lasted some 30 minutes.

The man’s daughter, Ravita, recalled that she was walking down the stairs from the upper flat of the house when she was confronted by a man with a gun. She added that a second bandit armed with a knife held onto her brother. Both of the bandits covered their faces with handkerchiefs. She went on to say that at that time, her husband and baby were upstairs and her father was out. Ravita said that the man demanded that she hand over the jewellery she was wearing, which included her gold bracelet, wedding band and other pieces.

According to the traumatised woman, she and her brother were then taken upstairs by the perpetrators and while there, the gunman slammed her into the wall and pulled her by her hair, demanding that she hand over all the money that she had as well as what was kept in the house. She fell to the

ground and the perpetrator kicked her and used his feet to roll her over as he repeatedly demanded money.

Ravita pleaded with the bandit, telling him that she had no money, as his accomplice carried out a search of the house for any valuables that may have been stashed. At this point, the young woman said her father, Seegobin, returned home and was immediately gun-butted by the bandit and he fell to the ground.

She recounted that the gunman started demanding money from her father and fearing for the safety of his family, he complied handing over some G$200,000 from his pocket.

Unsatisfied, the men continued to harass the family for more money and kept on gun-butting the businessman to his face while tugging her about.

She added that she then fell to the ground, landing next to her father’s feet and that was when the gunman discharged a round, hitting the elderly man to his knee.

The woman further disclosed that the men took her into her bedroom and managed to unearth another G$100,000 which she had in one of her handbags, as well as other piec-

es of jewellery. With money and jewellery in hand, the men kept demanding more and even threatened to shoot her baby.

The mother of one told this newspaper that she panicked and pleaded with the bandits to search the house once again and take whatever they wished but not to harm her daughter.

The duo then snatched an ipad, a laptop belonging to her brother, and other valuables before making their way down the stairs and escaping.

This publication was told that the two bandits ran out of the dam, where it was reported a white car was waiting for them.

It was also reported that neighbours were aware of what was transpiring in the family’s home but were too afraid to help.

Unknown to the perpetrators, Seegobin’s home is outfitted with surveillance cameras and the footage from the incident was handed over to Police. Diligent work by detectives led to the arrest of a Campbellville, Georgetown, resident on Tuesday.

The suspect is in custody assisting with the investigations.

Meanwhile, the shot businessman has been hospitalised and is in a stable condition.

Gov’t seeking to ensure all overseas companies adhere to labour regulations

T

he Government will “not condone” multinational companies operating locally in breach of the laws of Guyana. This is according to Minister within the Social Protection Ministry, Keith Scott, who has responsibility for labour.

Minister Scott noted that both local and foreign companies will not be allowed to “interfere with the workings of the unions.”

On Tuesday, the Minister met with exec-

utives of RUSAL-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI).

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) release, this meeting comes in light of the Ministry’s “continued effort to engage employers, trade unions and stakeholders within the labour sector”.

Scott related that the intention of the meeting was “to ensure that both local and overseas companies understand the Constitution of Guyana

and respect the labour laws”.

“The team put the cards on the table and they have some concerns with the ongoing dispute… but what we did, we put aside those areas that are very contentious and emotional and we discussed the principles in terms of respecting the Constitution of Guyana, the laws of Guyana and the trade union recognition that exists,” GINA quoted Scott as saying.

According to the Minister, the Russian-

owned company has indicated its willingness to facilitate trade unions. RUSAL’s Human Resources Manager Tolpykin Igor explained that the company has been doing “all in its power” to ensure that workers are “comfortable”, claiming that they are being “paid above the minimum wage”.

Igor also pointed out that the bauxite company is willing to facilitate trade unions and have amicable solutions to any issues affecting workers,

Bauxite operations in Guyana

and is also encouraging the Ministry to conduct inspections at any time.

In 2009, 57 workers engaged in strike action for increased wages and improved working conditions. In December of that year, the Russian company axed a labour agreement with the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GBGWU).

However

the GBGWU spoke out against this action.

Earlier this year, Minister Scott met with the company and subsequently, the GBGWU, to facilitate “amicable discussions” between the union and employers.

The Moscow Times had noted that RUSAL is the world’s largest producer of alumina and aluminum.

10 news

WEEK ENDING JULY 17 , 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Blanhum confident Caricom’s Norton says new HIV infections in Guyana more ‘Arrest Warrant Treaty’ will boost prominent among youths local crime fighting efforts

C

o n s e q u e n t to the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS) reporting that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) infection is on the rise in the Caribbean, Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton has revealed that new infections in Guyana are on the increase, with the younger population significantly accounting for this increase.

According to the UNAIDS, “after years of steady decline, the Caribbean saw a nine per cent rise in annual new HIV infections among adults between 2010 and 2015.”

The report further alluded that this is as a result of the medical drug for the disease not working as effectively as in the past. Most recently, however, analysis from the UNAIDS shows that the HIV infection among adults remains stagnant, failing to decline for at least five years. The organisation is therefore urging countries to take

Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton

a more comprehensive approach to battle the disease.

Commenting on the statistics reported, Dr Norton stated that Guyana is among the countries that are battling the increase.

However, he stated that that infection among the younger population is “very worrying.”

“There’s no doubt about it… even our own statistics have shown that there has been some increase. The bad thing about our increase is that it is higher in the younger population. That is worrying because right across the Caribbean it is the

new infections are in the lower age,” he stated.

Dr Norton further explained that measures have already been put into place to combat this scourge, and the Public Health Ministry is increasing its efforts, saying “We have already started implementing measures to tackle this because we have recognised that people are not really dying from AIDS as before because of the precautions that have been taken.”

He related that over the years, despite the increase in infection, there has been a decrease in HIV/AIDS related deaths as there is easier access to care and treatment. “ Not only is the medication less toxic to the body but also in terms of quantity… it’s just like one pill a day even though these antiretroviral treatment are very expensive, they are free of charge here in Guyana and that might be the reason for the population to increase their defence in regards to that disease,” the Minister stated.

H

ead of the G u y a n a Police Force’s Criminal Investigations Department, Wendell Blanhum is optimistic about the ‘Arrest Warrant Treaty’ that regional heads recently agreed to have implemented.

During last week’s Caricom Heads of Government Conference in Guyana, leaders agreed on an ‘Arrest Warrant Treaty’ seeking to address the issue of cross border crimes as it gives each Member State the power to arrest and handover criminals to authorities in the States that the crime was committed.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Blanhum posited that this initiative will greatly enhanced the capability of the Police Force in terms of arresting fugitives who flee to other Caricom countries.

“It’s not only local fugitives, we have persons who were arrested, particularly for drug trafficking offences, who would have been granted bail and fled to other Caricom coun-

tries,” he stated, while recalling a recent case.

The Crime Chief explained that an individual slapped with a trafficking in narcotic charge was released on bail in Guyana and fled to his country of origin but was sentenced to three years imprisonment in his absence.

Blanhum noted that the Force applied to the respective country and asked that the man be extradited and the process was so lengthy that in the meantime, the individual committed a murder in his country and has since been convicted.

“So he was convicted on that (murder) charge (in his country) but he is yet to come to Guyana to serve his sentence. So the treaty is a welcomed initiative that will greatly enhanced our law enforcement capability,” he remarked.

On the other hand, Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud explained that this treaty will extend the arms of the Guyana Police Force since it will relax the lengthy extradition process so that countries can promptly pros-

ecute perpetrators.

“The way I understand it, all the countries that signed on can pass that information to their colleagues and counterparts in the other countries. They will then make the arrest and we will take the fugitive at the border or somewhere,” he stated.

Chairman of the Caricom Conference, Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, has stated that the Arrest Warrant Treaty is a crucial aspect of tackling the issue of regional security as it caters for the sharing intelligence and joint training of personnel, which will enhance the collaboration and cooperation among law enforcement entities.

He disclosed at the closing media conference on July 6, that during the two-day meeting, the Regional Heads were brought up to date with major issues in relation to security through the Caribbean region and agreed on ways to deepen and strengthen cooperation in this area.

One such agreement is the ‘Arrest Warrant Treaty’.

NEWS 11

WEEK ENDING JULY 17 , 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Skeletal remains SARU being used as ‘propaganda arm found at Bee Hive, to destroy reputations’ – Jagdeo ECD backlands

BY DEVINA SAMAROO

A

farmer reportedly stumbled upon what he suspected to be the skeletal remains of a human at Bee Hive, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on Sunday.

Reports are that a skull and several other bones were discovered about eight miles into the Bee Hive backlands.

As soon as he made the discovery, the farmer alerted law enforcement officials who went to the scene and retrieved the remains.

“C” (East Coast

Demerara) Division Commander, Marlon Chapman, has indicated that investigators would be sending the bones to a pathologist to be examined, to ascertain how long they were there.

He related that he was positive that the remains were human as a skull with the structure identical to that of a human was found among the bones.

According to Chapman, from all indications, the bones appear to have been there for quite some time.

Bus driver fined G$10,000 for assaulting Policeman

A

Winston Harris

minibus driver was on Monday found guilty of assault when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Magistrate Annette Singh.

Winston Harris was also facing two additional charges, that of resisting arrest and disorderly behaviour.

Magistrate Singh found Harris guilty of assaulting an officer

on May 21, 2016 at Water Street, Georgetown.

Also on the same day at the same location, Harris resisted arrest and acted in a disorderly manner.

T h e Prosecution’s case contended that on the day in question, the defendant was reversing his minibus, PSS 1257 when the officer asked him to stop.

He did not comply and the officer went around to the driver’s side of the bus when the defendant pushed open the door, hitting the officer.

He then held onto the steering wheel as the officer tried to arrest him and began to act disorderly, causing a crowd to gather.

He was fined G$10,000 for each offence or face a default of one month in prison.

Better Hope woman dies in accident

A

Better Hope, East Coast Demerara, woman lost her life on Saturday, after she was stuck by a car on the Vryheid’s Lust Public Road, ECD. Dead is Shanti Singh, 30, of 75 Better Hope, who was reportedly hit by a car while running across the road.

According to a Police release, the fatal accident occurred at about 19:20h.

Police investigations have so far revealed that car PRR 530 was travel-

ling along the northern side of Vryheid’s Lust Public Road when Singh, who was on the said side, attempted to run across the road but ended in the path of the car which collided with her.

The woman received extensive injuries about her body and was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where doctors pronounced her dead.

The driver is currently in police custody assisting with investigations.

O

pposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo says the forthcoming legislation to institutionalise the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) can be regarded as nothing more than laws for witchhunting, a contraption which can backfire on the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.

SARU was established with the purpose of hunting for State assets which initially belonged to the Government, but later ended up in the hands of private individuals.

It has since been conducting investigations and making recommendations to the Guyana Police Force for charges to be laid against allegedly culpable persons, without any legal framework in place governing its operations.

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams had announced recently that the draft legislation is currently being reviewed by his Chambers.

But Jagdeo contended that there really is no need for legislation to be put in place to govern a body that has no need to be in existence.

“Corruption cases can be dealt with routinely by the Police. The current legislation can deal with any act of corruption. We have enough laws to deal with corruption by anyone,” he stated.

Moreover, the former President wondered whether SARU will also investigate corruption allega-

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo

tions against sitting Government officials or if it will just target instances under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration.

“Take for example, the 16 computers for Leader of Opposition’s Office… These were in the Parliament’s register given to the APNU when they were in Opposition… When they went into Government, they had to hand back those assets, but they were never returned. Where are those assets? Should SARU recover those too?” Jagdeo rationalised.

He also opined that should an allegation of corruption be levied against Government Ministers or even President David Granger, would SARU be mandated to investigate those claims.

In this regard, Jagdeo contended that from all indications, SARU

is being established as a ‘witchhunting’ body under the pretext of a transparency mechanism to satisfy the demands of the international community.

“It is being used as a propaganda arm to destroy reputations,” he decried.

When prompted, Jagdeo conceded that when the PPP/C returns to Government, they will too go after stolen assets but in a more effective and efficient way.

“If there are assets that are stolen, we will go after assets differently and efficiently. Not like how it is being done now,” he stated.

In fact, he explained that if the Government puts legislation in place to facilitate witchhunting, then it will remain in the books even when the PPP/C returns and can be used against them.

“I hope they know what they’re doing,” Jagdeo expressed.

Moreover, he lamented too that the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) under the Guyana Police Force appears to also be politically controlled.

Jagdeo pointed out that to this day, Government is yet to make public the protocols governing the conduct of SOCU. SOCU has been involved in a number of controversial operations, including the high-profile car chase which resulted in the death of Guyana Defence Force Sergeant Robert Pyles and his wife Stacy along with another civilian in a horrific smash-up on Carifesta Avenue in December 2015.

Petroleum engineering programme to be introduced at UG

I

n the wake of a massive oil find in Guyana, the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, will soon be offering a Petroleum Engineering course in collaboration with the University of Guyana, Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine has disclosed.

Speaking with Guyana Times I n t e r n a t i o n a l on Tuesday, Dr Roopnaraine stated that he is currently in engagement with the UWI’s principal and they have agreed to move forward with the programme.

He indicated that ar-

Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine

rangements would be in place as early as the start of the semester in

September.

Recently, in the National Assembly, the Education Minister had revealed his intentions for the programme.

He stated that he had held a meeting with the Principal of UWI, St Augustine campus, Dr Clement Sankat, to discuss developing a petroleum engineering education programme that would prepare Guyana for the human resource challenge of running its impending oil industry in the near future.

Petroleum engineering is the study of the cost-effective extraction of oil, gas and other natural resources

from the earth. It is expert through the design, drilling and operation of wells and the incorporated administration of subversive reservoirs.

Roopnaraine was at the time speaking about Guyana’s human resource problem and its brain drain. He had stated that one of the major challenges of the Education Ministry is the development of human resources to facilitate Guyana’s growth.

He posited that it is crucial that the government be inventive and develop a strategy for human resource expansion.

Albouystown woman lands in court over ‘workplace brawl’

A

n employee of a clothing store appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with unlawfully wounding her colleague.

Elizabeth Abraham, 31, pleaded not guilty to the offence when it was read to her by Magistrate Annette Singh.

It is alleged that Abraham of James Street, Albouystown,

Georgetown, on June 26 unlawfully and maliciously wounded Selena Pooranlall with intent to cause actual bodily harm.

According to the defendant’s Attorney Paul Fung-a-Fat, Pooranlall and his client work at the same place.

He alleged that on the day in question, Pooranlall first attacked the defendant who was at the time holding a scissors.

He said that the scissors accidently cut Pooranlall on her belly area. The wound she sustained is 4cm deep.

He made a successful application for bail on the grounds that the defendant has three children and is currently caring for her husband, who has a broken leg.

Bail was granted at G$25,000, with the case set to continue on 25 July.

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WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Campbellville Members of Warriors team put smile on faces of orphans man remanded

for stabbing woman 23 times

By Romario Samaroo

M

embers of the Guyana Amazon Warriors team continued to spread joy across Guyana when they teamed up with Busta drinks to spend quality time with the children of the Shaheed’s Boys and Girls Orphanage on Monday.

The initiative was hosted at the Providence Stadium where the children got the chance to interact with members of the home team.

Secretary to the Orphanage Board, Hakeen Khan, took the time to thank the organisers for the efforts they made to put smiles on the faces of these children.

“We are very happy for something like this, because we try as much as we can to get these children in a society where they can feel as normal as any other child out there.”

Khan said.

“We are very grateful to the Guyana Beverage Company and the Amazon Warriors for giving these children this opportunity and to know that there are people out there who value these children.”

The children all got to take photographs and converse with the likes of

T Warriors Care: Members of the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Monday interacted with the excited children of Shaheed’s Orphanage at the Providence Stadium. In photo, star batsman Chris Lynn shares a light moment with a young cricket fan (Dexter Ceres photo)

Chris Lynn, Veerasammy Permaul, Steven Jacobs, Rayyad Emrit and Muhammad Ali Khan.

Some of the players also utilised their time with the children to lift their spirits after coming so close to victory against Trinbago Knight Riders on Sunday.

Star batsman Chris Lynn was touched by the opportunity for him and his team to actually spend time with the children who are as passionate about cricket as much as anyone.

The Shaheed’s Orphanage houses both boys and girls and is one of the oldest orphanages in the country, having

been in existence for over 50 years.

Every year since the inception of the Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament in 2013, Busta Soft Drinks has brought the flavour and colour to the crowds, harnessing and amplifying the full energetic vibrancy of the Caribbean and its people.

Busta has even more going on in between games, giving our fans the opportunity to interact with their favourite players in venues across the Caribbean by taking part in our Busta Reach activities. Additionally, on the radio and on Facebook,

fans can win match tickets courtesy of Busta. You can also enter to win the Busta Grand Prize of two tickets to the Hero CPL T20 Finals, by showing your skills with the bat in “The Busta Keep-Up the Ball Challenge” on the Busta Soft Drinks Facebook Page.

Last week, the team spent time with the students of the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre.

Children, parents and teachers all enjoyed an interactive session with the players as part of the collaboration with Caribbean Premier League sponsor Digicel (Guyana), which organised the event.

he minibus driver who stabbed the mother of his child 23 times, was on Tuesday remanded to prison after appearing at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

U t t a n p a d Sewnaraine, 39, Lot 55 Campbellville, Georgetown, shared a relationship with the Virtual Complainant, Selina Ramotar, which produced a daughter.

Sewnaraine was not require to plea to the indictable charge which stated that on July 9 at David Street, Kitty, Georgetown, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Ramotar with the intent to commit murder.

The case was adjourned until July 29.

According to reports, on the night in question, Ramotar had just returned home after visiting a nearby grocery store when her attack-

Uttanpad Sewnaraine

er, who was parked in front of her home, asked for her to give him a few minutes of her time.

It was reported that shortly afterwards, family members heard screams and noticed Ramotar lying on the ground with the father of her child bent over her while seemingly punching her. The Police were told that upon further investigation, they noticed that the woman was stabbed. She was subsequently rushed to a city hospital where she remains a patient.

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Death of UG student: Friends released on own recognizance

T

he two friends of 19-year-old University of Guyana (UG) student, Harris Persaud, who were in the lock-ups following the death of the young man have been released on their own recognizance.

This is according to “A” Division Commander Clifton Hicken who told this publication on Tuesday that when the body of the Persaud was found and a Post Mortem Examination (PME) was conducted it revealed that he had died from drowning.

As such, his two friends who had been in police custody were released on their own recognizance since there were no marks of violence about Persaud’s body to indicate that he had been visibly harmed by the duo.

However, police are presently preparing the case file to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice on whether or not the two young men should face any criminal charges.

According to Commander Hicken, based on the advice emanating from the office of the DPP, law enforcement officials will then know how to proceed.

“We, the police cannot proceed until we hear from the DPP as to what she advises with the case. As it is, the body of Mr Persaud had

Dead: Harris Persaud

no marks of violence so there was nothing to hold the two boys. But we are going to move forward when the file comes back from the DPP based on the advice,” he stated.

Persaud who hailed from Lot 21 Granny Field, Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD), went missing on Wednesday last.

His body was found floating in the Demerara River in the vicinity of Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on Friday afternoon.

The young man was last seen on Wednesday by his relatives when he left home to attend classes at UG. The Police had arrested the teen’s two friends with whom he was last seen.

The two men told Police that Persaud was swimming with them behind the Marriott Hotel, when a wave swept him away. They claimed that they panicked, and disposed of his clothing and other belongings at different villages along the ECD.

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

New HIV infections in Caribbean rise by 9%

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he Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is now warning that after a major reduction of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome worldwide (HIV/AIDS), the HIV infection in adults is on the rise.

According to a UNAIDS report, “after years of steady decline, the Caribbean saw a nine per cent rise in annual new HIV infections among adults between 2010 and 2015”.

This is as a result of the medical drug for the disease not working as effectively as in the past.

The report reveals that in some regions globally, the infection is currently on the rise.

According to the report, since its introduction in 1997, there was a significant reduction – 40 per cent, in the disease. Most recently, however, analysis from the UNAIDS shows that the HIV infection in adults remains stagnant, failing to decline for at least five years now.

The report says that HIV prevention urgently needs to be scaled up among t h e adult a g e group.

T h e prevention gap report outlines that an estimated 1.9 million adults have become infected with HIV every year for the past five years and new HIV infections among adults are increasing in some regions.

While the numbers of new HIV infections are rising, the report reveals that donor funding to fight the infection has declined to its lowest level since 2010.

According to the report, international donor contributions dropped from a peak of US$9.7 billion in 2013 to US$8.1 billion in 2015. “Lowand middle-income countries are stepping up to fill the gap, with domestic resources accounting for 57 per cent of the US$19.2 billion total funding in 2015.”

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, said the organisation was consequently sounding the alarm. “The power of prevention is not being realised. If there is resurgence in new HIV infections now, the epidemic will become impossible to control. The world needs to take urgent and immediate action to close the prevention gap,” he noted.

The report also revealed what was needed to step up prevention efforts.

UNAIDS is urging countries to take a more comprehensive approach to battle the disease.

According to Sidibe, science, innovation and research have provided new and effective HIV prevention options.

“Investing in innovation is the only way to secure the next big breakthrough – a cure or a vaccine.”

The report h i g h lights t h a t the major hopes for antiretroviral therapy to have an impact on preventing n e w HIV infections are starting to be realised, although the full benefits may not be seen for some years.

The data in the report, collected from more than 160 countries, illustrated that enormous gains can be achieved when concerted efforts are made. It outlines that by 2015 some 17 million people had access to antiretroviral therapy, double the number in 2010 and 22 times the number in 2000. UNAIDS will be calling on implementers, innovators, communities, scientists, donors and others at the 2016 International AIDS Conference, July 18-22, in Durban, South Africa, to close the prevention gap.

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Willis’s passing a “personal, national loss” – Robeson Benn F ormer Public Infrastructure Minister Robeson Benn on Tuesday lamented Walter Willis’s death as a personal and national loss for Guyana, while stating that he was an engineer that any minister could have relied on.

“I have had a very professional arrangement with Walter and I viewed him as one of our more extraordinary engineers that was passionate about the engineering practice,” he said, adding that he was someone he could “always count on, any day or night” to help.

He stated that Willis was always willing and ready to work.

Benn indicated that Willis’s ideas were high-

ly valued and he had relied on his advice even prior to him becoming a minister.

Willis passed away on Monday evening at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital. He was admitted to the hospital on Saturday, July 9, 2016 following a reported heart attack and was placed on life-support on Monday, July 11, 2016.

In an interview with Guyana Times International, his son, Christopher, stated that he was in Canada, face-timing his father on Friday when he mentioned having stomach pains. He said his father indicated that he was scheduled to visit the doctor on Monday, but he would more than likely have to go on Saturday.

The younger Willis said on Saturday he received the news that his father was hospitalised, as the doctors had found several ulcers in his stomach and had to operate to get the blood out of his stomach.

But, by Sunday night, he said his father’s condition took a turn for the worse: his mom called and informed him that his dad’s kidneys were failing.

The younger Willis stated that his father was a very strong man and a man of principle. “He would always be on the side of principles and righteousness…

My father would go market with my mom and all the beggars would crowd him and he would

Walter Willis

give them money…to the point where my mom had to stop taking him to market because he would give all the money away. He never held a grudge or malice. He loved his profession…he

loved what he did.”

“I’m very proud to have him as my father and if I can be half the man he was, I would be a very great person,” he added.

Reports have circulated that Willis would not have been in a coma if the wrong medication was not administered to him.

Guyana Times International was informed by his relatives that Willis went to the hospital complaining of chest pain and was given insulin.

The Hospital in confirming Willis’s death had said that it “has embarked on an investigation to ensure that all clinical guidelines were adhered to in keeping with Standard Operating Procedures”.

The Public

Infrastructure Ministry had issued a statement of condolences to his family, expressing its “deepest regret”.

Willis was born on July 23, 1949 and was employed with the Ministry for 17 years.

Upon his commencement of service on May 3, 1999, Willis served as the Technical Adviser for Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Anthony Xavier, under the Public Works and Communication Ministry.

He also served as Technical Adviser to Minister Harry Narine Nawbatt and Minister Robeson Benn before working alongside Minister Patterson from May 2015.

Willis worked on several major development projects in Guyana, including the construction of the National Stadium.

PPP concerned over Govt’s engagement of Caricom leaders on Brexit

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he People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Parliamentary Opposition is upset that the Guyana Government discussed with Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders the impacts of Brexit on Guyana, without having a national discussion on the matter in advance.

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee believes the Government blundered majorly by heading into those discussions with regional leaders without having first met with national leaders.

“It is totally wrong and unacceptable for the Government to engage with members of State of Caricom on a matter of national economic importance on which there has been no organised national discussion nor consensus,” Rohee stated during his news conference on Monday at Freedom House on Robb Street.

Caricom Heads of State were in Guyana for the 37th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government.

During the Conference, Caricom leaders received a detailed brief on the political, diplomatic, trade, economic and financial implications of Brexit for the Region as well as recommendations for addressing them.

PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee

Rohee is asking that these recommendations be made public for a national debate and for it to be brought to parliament for more in-depth discussions.

Moreover, Rohee wants the government to activate the parliamentary oversight committee on the security sector and place before it several matters for discussion.

He wants the draft Caricom Arrest Warrant Treaty to be placed before the committee for bipartisan consideration.

He also wants there to be a review of the Caricom Crime and Security Strategy 2013 and for it to be subsequently formulated into Guyana’s own National Security Plan.

In addition, Rohee wants the government’s revised national drug strategy master plan to be brought to the parliamentary committee for bipartisan consideration.

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Demerara Harbour Bridge to undergo major maintenance works

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he Demerara Harbour Bridge will again undertake substantial maintenance works similar in nature to those it had undergone earlier in the year. This time, work will be done to the eastern half in the third quarter of 2016.

These works will be done to the retractor span, which allows large marine vessels to go up and down the river, and will last four to five days.

The extra-large pontoons at the retractor span will be replaced. This will result in the bridge being closed to marine traffic for that period.

Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) General Manager Rawlston Adams told the Government Information Agency (GINA): “Only one half of the bridge will be opened to allow large vessels to pass.”

“We’re awaiting the delivery of a second pontoon to do exactly the same work on the western end of the bridge so once the pontoon is delivered, which should be some time in the third quarter in the year, we will execute that work,” Adams said.

The sum of G$150 million will be spent on the bridge for continued maintenance this year.

On July 8, the DHBC received Cabinet’s approval for G$51 million to be spent to rehabilitate pontoons and fabricate buoys, Adams noted. “We are currently awaiting approval from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board to forward to Cabinet for us to start other works.”

Additionally, Adams pointed out that there continued to be an increase in traffic on the bridge which would not change, “until something more happens in terms of building … another bridge”.

He further explained that as the economy grows, more persons are relocating to Region Three. “They buy /import new vehicles, increasing traffic, and that poses a challenge to us with respect to traffic

management.”

However, the Corporation’s approach to managing the increased traffic is to engage the Guyana Police Force for its assistance in traffic management, getting timely information to the public and asking commuters to try as much as possible to be on time before the bridge retractions.

In April 2016, the DHBC was closed for six hours, for maintenance works on a pontoon which had to be changed as part of a menu of works that has to be completed during the course of this year.

The bridge is a vital link for commuters between Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Four (Demerara-Mahaica).

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Teen dies after overdose

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Merissa Singh

erissa Singh, 16, of Number 2 Village, East Canje, Berbice, allegedly took her life on Saturday afternoon.

It is believed that the young student of JC Chandisingh Secondary School of Port Mourant, East Berbice, Corentyne, overdosed on pressure pills.

The lifeless body of Singh was discovered by a family friend who was

asked to open the teen’s bedroom door at the behest of the girl’s grandmother after she noticed the girl missing for a long time.

The body of the student was taken to the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

INews understands that Singh lived with her grandmother after the death of her mother, two years ago.

Hundreds of the young girl’s friends and teachers, on social media, expressed utter shock and sadness at the passing of Singh. Some friends also noted that the teen may have been suffering from emotional distress but never showed it to anyone.

The young lady was described by peers and teachers as a talented and jovial person who always had a smile whenever she was around.

Man jailed for felonious wounding, threatening behaviour

By Shemuel Fanfair

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man from the village of Dalliwala, Demerara River, has been sentenced to 24 months; and six months for felonious wounding and threatening behaviour, respectively.

According to evidence provided: on Saturday 2 July, Floyd Jacobis, 24, unlawfully and maliciously assaulted Eileen Jacobs, his mother’s aunt, thus causing grievous bodily harm to her.

In evidence provided

by Police Prosecution, on the day of the altercation at Dalliwala, the man’s great aunt was working on her farm raking grass, when the defendant approached her under the influence of alcohol and brandished two cutlasses. It was further stated that Jacobis said that he will kill Jacobs, her entire family and her dogs.

He allegedly accused the defendant of planting coconut trees in his yard.

The Court also heard that after an argument ensued, Jacobis dealt

his great aunt two chops which she barred with a wooden object she had in her hand. As a result, her right index finger was nearly severed and she had to seek medical attention.

Presiding Magistrate Crystal Lambert, who heard the matter at the Wales Magistrate’s Court last Thursday asked the defendant for an explanation of what led to the events surrounding his actions since he plead Guilty on that charge of felonious wounding.

“I was under the influence of alcohol,” he simply stated. When probed further, he offered no other explanations. However, the defendant pled not guilty on the threatening behaviour charge.

Magistrate Lambert took into account that the defendant had no previous convictions but Jacobis was found culpable of both offences.

His two sentences will be served concurrently.

T&T: Man wanted for two murders killed in stand-off with police (Trinidad Guardian)

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lready on the run for two murders and wanted by police for several weeks, Jason Khan told relatives he was not going to surrender or flee the country but was ready to die at the hands of police.

Khan, who was being sought for the murders of Lloyd Ramkissoon, 47, and his son, Ryan Ramkissoon, 19, of Langusta Trace, Toco Main Road, Balandra, on May 13, eventually stuck by his word as he was killed in a standoff with police at a house in Sangre Grande last Friday.

Police Constable Darrin Francis was shot in the left arm during that stand-off and doctors are still trying to save it.

In a video clip shared on social media of the police stand-off with Khan, Inspector Roger Alexander is heard calling on him to surrender to police after the house was surrounded.

After a few moments, the officers stormed the house and gunshots are heard, the officers appearing nervous at the sound of gunshots. The video then shows a motionless Khan in a black pair of pants on the ground as two guns — a shotgun and a pistol — were seized Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, Khan’s brother, Ricardo Dalipsingh, said his sibling was not the monster he was made out to be following the stand-off.

He said it was he who had told Khan that the father and son duo had been killed last month

and on hearing it, Khan had expressed remorse.

Khan, he said, even sent $20,000 to pay for the funeral of the two men who were once his neighbours.

Dalipsingh said his brother never intended to kill the men. However, he claimed Khan’s vehicle was blocked and he (Khan) was chopped in the head by someone from a group of about six during the incident and he fired into the crowd that was attacking him and fled.

“He thought he just shoot them. It was only when I call him and he was like ‘Yo, two people dead’ he was like ‘What?’

He couldn’t believe they had died,” Dalipsingh said.

“He didn’t go to kill them he was just going tit-for-tat. They beat him and chop him and he just try to injure them likewise. But when he find out they dead he tell me he is done 41 years and he not going to spend the rest of his life in jail and he not giving up himself.

“He done made up his mind. I ask if he leaving the country he said no, he staying here normal. He will live out how much

other days he have here,” Dalipsingh added.

Attack led to shootings Dalipsingh claimed his brother was defending himself during the incident which led to the murders of the father and son in May. “… the thing about it that hurtful for me, is if them boys didn’t go and chop Jason in the head, none of this would have happened. They look for their own death at the end of the day,” he said.

“The boy (Khan) had everything. He have vehicles, money, everything.

They corner him because his pit bull did get away and come and bite up one of them dog and now the dogs and them living and everybody dead,” he added.

Dalipsingh said his brother refused to surrender and be jailed even after assurances that he would be taken care of in prison and a lawyer would be provided for him.

“When he shoot the police he call us. He said I now shoot a policeman and I get shoot myself and this is it here.

My sister tell him, to

give up but he say ‘nah girl, this is it here.’ He said he get shoot already and we didn’t even ask him where, we was just worried about him,” Dalipsingh said.

“By time we fly up the road we hear he was done dead. At the end of the day he shoot ah police. He didn’t suffer or anything and he went out how he wanted to go out.”

He added his brother was a farmer who ended up in a bad situation and was not a common thug as he was being made out to be in media reports.

He said when his brother, who he described as a loving generous man, was on the run it was a hard time for the family. He said Khan, a father of an 18-year-old woman, did not want to be like another relative languishing in prison charged with murder but wanted to be free.

Police said yesterday that doctors operated on Constable Francis’ arm over the weekend and were still hoping to save it. However, the possibility exists that even if they do save it he will not have full mobility.

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Delay in elections petition trial ‘worrisome’ – PPP

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he Opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is accusing the judiciary of unnecessarily delaying the setting of a date for the elections petition to go to trial.

During a news conference on Monday, the Party’s General Secretary, Clement Rohee said that the delay

was worrisome.

“It is troubling and worrisome that a date has not been fixed and no explicable reason offered for its delay,” Rohee lamented.

The petition, which was filed on June 24 last year, is asking the court to grant a number of orders, including the nullification of the 2015 General and Regional Elections as well as an order for new elections to be held.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) subsequently filed a summons to strike out the petition.

But former acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, days before retirement, returned to

the courtroom to quash the counter litigation, paving the way for the petition to go to trial.

However, GECOM has since appealed the ruling.

Legal sources have said that the appeal does not stop the Chief Justice from setting a date for the trial.

Rohee said the PPP/C m a i n tained that the elections were unlawfully conducted and the results were affected by unlawful actions and omissions.

He explained that the petition was basically asking the court to determine and declare that the process was so flawed, contained so many procedural errors and instances of fraudulent and/ or suspicious actions that the results that were derived could not be credibly deemed as an accurate representation of the will of the electorate.

In this regard, Rohee is demanding that there be an end to the delays and that a date be fixed immediately.

He posited that, after all, “justice delayed was justice denied”.

High-profile murder cases to reopen – Crime Chief

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rime Chief Wendell Blanhum announced that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will be reopening the cases of three high-profile killings that occurred in Guyana, one dating as far back as 1993.

The unsolved murders of Monica Reece, 23, in 1993, Sheema Mangar, 21, in 2010 and Trevor Rose, 32, in 2014 have been added to a list of soon to be reopened investigations.

Blanhum told the media last Saturday that there are several cases which will be revisited but the Sheema Mangar murder will be placed on the front burner.

Mangar, who was a Demerara Bank employee, was brutally murdered when she was run over by a car on North Road, close to Camp Street, after she struggled with the driver to recover her cellphone which had been snatched from her.

When her phone was taken, the young woman gave chase behind the perpetrator who entered a motorcar that drove off.

Mangar placed herself in front of the vehicle in an effort to stop it but was run over and dragged several meters before the vehicle sped away.

According to reports, DNA samples solicited during the investigation were sent out of Guyana for testing, however they disappeared.

The Crime Chief disclosed that the death of designer Trevor Rose is another top pri-

Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum

ority case to be revisited. Rose was killed execution style on the East Bank Demerara Public Road on an early Sunday morning.

It was just after 05:00h when another car pulled up alongside the car Rose and his female companion Latoya Towler, were in.

Reports indicated that the driver of the car which Rose was in, had an exchange of words with the occupants of the other car, who then exited the vehicle and opened fire on them, hitting Rose to the neck and upper body.

The female got a gunshot wound to the buttocks while the driver, Trevor Newinkiri sustained a wound to his left shoulder.

Rose was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital. There were claims that his death was linked to some other form of activities which led him to being murdered.

Blanhum said that the

Monica Reece case will also be reopened.

“I recently requested that file, when we locate that file we will be analysing the evidence and also we will make a determination and make contact with the police legal advisor and we know for sure that the public, they have been advocating but I would not be too ambitious and tell you that look, we are going to solve the case, we have to look at the evidence, analyse and review those statements and then engage the police legal advisor on the way forward,” Blanhum explained.

Reece was a security guard, who became known to all Guyanese after her body was dumped from a speeding pickup vehicle in the vicinity of the Geddes Grant building (now Courts) on Main Street, Georgetown on April 9, 1993.

The police had picked up a suspect and questioned him and also detained a vehicle he sometimes drove, but shortly after, the lack of evidence caused him to be released and the vehicle returned.

Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud announced during the GPF’s Annual Route March to mark their anniversary, that he has been flooded with calls and letters for certain high-profile cases to be reinvestigated.

He expressed that demands are pouring in because persons have become aware that many cold cases reopened by the Police Force are being solved.

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Citizens should take advantage of freedoms they enjoy – U.S. Ambassador

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nited States Ambassador to Guyana Perry Holloway is encouraging all Guyanese to participate in their government, even if their candidate does not win.

In observance of fifty years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Guyana, Ambassador Holloway shared a bit of advice to the Guyanese populace on moving its country forward.

He was at the time delivering remarks at a reception organised by the US Embassy in Georgetown to mark this milestone, which coincided with the 240th Independence Anniversary of the United States of America.

The Ambassador explained that freedom is something people often take for granted until some aspect of their freedom is restricted. “Then we jump into action often screaming bloody murder and sometimes in extreme cases resort even to revolution,” he stated.

Holloway said in the United States, just as in Guyana, citizens enjoy a tremendous amount of freedom and in this regard, he implored every person, Guyanese and American, to do the right things every day

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway

so that the next generations will enjoy the same freedom.

“This means vote in elections, participate in political campaigns, engage in debate, and write letters to editors. Don’t be caught standing on the side of the road as your country moves forward. When your candidate does not win, continue to participate because it will only make our country better,” he stated.

Ambassador Holloway pointed out that US elections are often 50-50 affairs, and if 50 per cent of the US were to stop participating if their candidate did not win, then the country would not move forward.

He advised that in such cases, persons should still participate at the local and national levels of the country’s development and push harder for their candidate

and issues next time around.

Holloway went on to encourage persons to educate themselves and those around them about everything and anything possible.

“We live in a complex world and our access to information, wrong and right, is greater than it ever has been. Figuring out how to access that information and how to impart it to our young people is our challenge…we must put emphasis on education if we want to remain free and continue to advance as a country and as individuals,” he stated.

The Ambassador also encouraged both government and the people alike to invest in the future: “We cannot live in the laurels of our past nor accept the reality of our present. We must invest in education, infrastructure, and government to protect our freedom going forward.”

In this regard, the Ambassador urged everyone to pay their taxes and then hold their government accountable for using them.

“We all want our government to do everything, but a government cannot turn water into wine. It needs funding to function and funding comes from taxes, whether we like them or not,” he said.

Copa Airlines celebrates 2nd anniversary in Guyana

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onday marked the second year since Copa Airlines began serving the people of Guyana.

Copa Airlines, a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, is a leading Latin American provider of passenger and cargo services.

The Airline offers services to 74 destinations in 31 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

During Copa Airlines’ 68 years of continuous operations, the Hub of the Americas in Panama has become the leading hub on the continent.

In July 2014, the company began providing its travel services in Guyana. Copa operates one of the youngest and most modern fleets in the industry, consisting of 100 aircraft: 14 Boeing 737-700 Next-Generation; 63 Boeing 737-800 Next-Generation; and 23 Embraer-190, and has an on-time performance of above 91 per cent, one of the best in the industry.

During its time in operation so far, Copa has been able to expand its service and strengthen its partnership with a number of individuals and groups in the country. The company revealed that an increase in demand for its services saw the Airline making the addition of two more flights per week last October, bringing the total number of flights per week to four. This move was also in keeping with Copa’s commitment to increase its services to

Passengers disembark a Copa Airlines flight at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport

Guyanese.

Regional Sales Director of the Airline Diego Bermudez Parra declared that the Airline has been able to solidify its Guyana route and efficiently serve passengers: “The journey has been an exciting one over the last two years.

We have been able to successfully expand our service to reach a wide cross-section of persons travelling to the beautiful country of Guyana and other 73 destinations in 31 countries.”

He added that the Airline has also been working to strengthen social partnerships in Guyana over the past two years by providing support to a number of persons and groups ranging from sports personalities, to those involved in culture and the arts.

According to Copa’s Sales Manager in Guyana, Nadine Oudkerk, the Airline has been extremely proud of its collaborations with its Guyanese clients, and they take pride in providing return air travel to destinations around the

world: “We have made it possible for Guyanese sportsmen and women to travel to a number of countries to represent Guyana, while facilitating air travel for others to come to the country for musical and cultural performances. Just recently, the Airline facilitated air travel to Guyana for a Mexican Mariachi Band that staged a performance for the country’s 50th Independence Anniversary.”

She vowed that the travel providers will “continue to strengthen these relationships while building new ones in service to the people of Guyana.”

In 2015, for the third consecutive year, Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia were named the most on-time airlines in Latin America by Flight Stats. The Airline was also the recipient of the awards for “Best Regional Airline in Central America and the Caribbean” from Skytrax and “Leading Airline in Mexico and Central America” at the World Travel Awards.

IMF says Guyana’s electricity rates among highest in the region

An artist's impression of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project

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iting that Guyana depends heavily on imported oil for its power needs, a country report on Guyana produced by the International Monetary fund (IMF) proposed that an oil-dependent power generation is not the best way to go.

Stating the country’s installed power generation capacity is about 83 per cent oil-based and 17 per cent biomass (bagasse) fuelled, the report indicated that the oil-dependent power generation mix contributes to macroeconomic instability. It explained that high oil prices widen the external current account dearth, raise fiscal transfers to the public utility Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and reduce oil tax revenues due to the limited passthrough in the domestic fuel pricing system.

Therefore, unpleasant oil price shocks consume foreign exchange and fiscal resources and the unpredictability in oil prices quickly disseminates to the external and fiscal sectors.

The report stated that these oil price shocks increase the cost of power generation and when those costs are passed on to users, they increase the cost of production and hold back investment.

It emphasised that GPL’s relatively high rate of technical and commercial losses also contributed to high electricity prices, while declaring that the country’s average retail electricity prices were among the highest in the Region in 2014.

Although the recent decline in oil prices has provided some respite, it purported that Guyana “remains exposed to oil price corrections”.

Odds with renewable energy The IMF stated further that the oil-dependent power generation is at odds with the vast renewable energy potential. “The country has extensive hydro power potential, estimated at 7600 MW, which by far exceeds its annual consumption and installed capacity,” it said, adding that Guyana’s climate is

also apposite for wind and solar power generation, while its sugar and rice industries provide opportunities for co-generation of electricity from biomass .

It noted that a transition to a green power atmosphere has been delayed by various constraints, thus reducing the chances of lowing Guyana’s carbon footprint.

Guyana has always been cited for having high hydro potential, even as far back as the first oil shock in the mid 1970s. Plans were in order to build a large hydroelectric project at Amaila Falls in the late 1980s; this evolved through several proposals and rounds of negotiations but implementation has been constrained by the project’s large size, complexity, cost, and Guyana’s limited fiscal space.

The project was deemed a no-priority by Government due to its purported lack of financial sustainability. Finance Minister Winston Jordan had posited that the Amaila project is too costly to pursue. He stated that it will cost GPL US$2.6 billion over 20 years (US$130 million per year) and this was too unreasonable.

However, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had contended that instead of Amaila Falls costing GPL US$2.6 billion over 20 years, GPL would actually be saving almost US$2 billion, or G$400 billion.

Nevertheless, Guyana has launched a comprehensive review of its power sector strategy and the Government has tasked the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) with a review of its optimal energy matrix. The IDB will assess the optimal power generation mix for the country, looking at a broad array of energy sources.

The Government has also retained an international consultant for a review of the feasibility of Amaila Falls Hydropower Project and the power sector strategy will draw upon the results of these studies.

Woman remanded for attempting to murder father of her child

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woman appeared at the Georgetown M a g i s t r a t e s ’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, to answer to the charge of attempted murder.

It is alleged that Alexis Turpin of Campbell Street, Lodge, Georgetown, while being in the company of another, unlawfully and mali-

Alexis Turpin

ciously wounded the

father of her child, Sherwin Johnson, with intent to commit murder on July 2.

The prosecution is contending that on the day in question, the 25-year-old defendant went to the home of the Virtual Complainant and stabbed him with a claw bar.

She was remanded to prison until July 28.

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New int’l banks found NGSA top student hopes to continue excelling as he moves on to another level to replace Bank of

By Shemuel Fanfair

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ryan Singh of Dharmic Rama Krishna Primary School, a lad who shared the nation’s top position at the recently announced National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), said he intended to continue in the same vein to achieve outstanding results.

In an interview with Guyana Times International on Tuesday, the young man revealed that he would utilise a similar approach to maintain a high level of performance when he entered secondary school in the new school term.

“I plan to do the same thing I’ve been doing – normal revision. I don’t intend to do anything special because if you do that, you get nervous,” he posited.

He recalled that upon writing his exams, he was nervous but he was able to overcome his fears and end up being successful.

When the results were announced on July 5, Singh had secured a total score of 568 marks, earning him a place at Queen’s

Top student Aryan Singh

College. The young man related that he was especially satisfied to know that he attained the highest marks in Mathematics and Social Studies.

When asked about his feelings on being a top achiever, Singh observed that he was at first astonished.

“It feels amazing, electrifying; I was extremely shocked at first, but when it got into my mind, I was overjoyed…my mom was shocked but was calm – I was crying,” the lad explained.

He pointed out that it was his teacher, Padminie Geewan who helped to motivate him for the

NGSA. “She really did push the whole class to their potential,” the young man said.

He further related that any student with the right approach and effort can achieve success at their exams: “I would encourage them that anybody can be at the top, once you do your work and revise and don’t over pressure yourself.”

Singh’s mother, Prithi Singh told this publication that she, his father, sister and grandmother all feel proud of his achievement.

“Everybody in the family is extremely happy. He was a very disciplined and focused child, and he was also taking part in karate and is taking part in several international tournaments. We didn’t have many problems with him – only the games,” she expressed.

She also related that her son was encouraged to study an hour before bed every evening.

The National Grade Six Assessment, which was written on April 27 and 28 earlier this year, saw 14,386 candidates participating.

America - BoG Governor

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ew international banks from both the United States of America and Europe have indicated their interest in offering their services to Guyana and could begin doing so as soon as the Bank of America officially pulls out from Guyana next month.

Bank of Guyana Governor, Dr Gobind Ganga told Journalists recently that banks in the U.S., as well as in Europe, could soon replace the Bank of America. He made the disclosure, after he confirmed earlier reports by a section of the media that the Bank of America would be severing ties with indigenous banks here before the end of August.

The Bank of America provides corresponding banking services for some financial institutions in the Region, including those in Guyana.

According to Dr Ganga, the reasons for the pullout by the Bank of America are many, including de-risking and the need to concentrate more on larger customers owing to the

Bank of Guyana Governor, Dr Gobind Ganga

cause the banks do have corresponding relationships and they are seeking others. The Bank of Guyana is assisting these banks in finding new corresponding banking relationships,” Dr Ganga reassured.

This matter was on the agenda for discussion at the 37th Caricom Heads of Government Meeting held in Guyana from July 4 to 6, as Caribbean leaders looked to tackle the cutoff of regional indigenous banks, in a de-risking phenomenon – that poses dire consequences for the Region, including crushing impacts on the wider economy.

De-risking is when international banks with-

Bank of America

high level of liquidity.

He said the US financial institution’s move would have no major implications for the country and particularly the indigenous banks.

About a month ago, the Bank of America sent a notice indicating that it was severing its correspondent relationship with “indigenous banks” in Guyana.

Dr Ganga explained that Guyana was in talks with several other banks that were willing to form new corresponding banking relationships with local financial institutions.

“We have had other foreign banks that have shown interest in providing the kind of corresponding banking relationship to fill the void that the Bank of America is causing… These are banks from Europe and North America,” Dr Ganga stated.

When asked how far along were the discussions with these banks, Dr Ganga said that the talks were ongoing and projected that the negotiations should come to fruition shortly.

“So, at this time, there is no cause for concern, be-

draw from their relationships with indigenous banks because of fears of money laundering and questionable sources of funds which would cause the international banks to receive heavy fines from their regulators.

Caribbean banking institutions rely on such relationships to allow residents to conduct international financial transactions. However, since last year, the Region has been facing the impact of de-risking and the issue has been occupying the attention of regional policymakers, following signals by international banks that they were unwilling to continue carrying the business of regional banks.

De-risking in the Caribbean came into the limelight last year when the Belize Bank was cut off by the Bank of America and one of the two banks in Montserrat shared the same fate.

Some of the areas that are affected because of de-risking are: transfer of remittances, cheque payments, international trade and the facilitation of credit card settlements for local clients.

NEWS 25

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PPP/C slams Gov’t for rushing ‘large and complex Bills’ through National Assembly

PPP/C Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira

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eople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP) Gail Teixeira has once again registered concerns over what she describes as the high-handed behaviour of the government, this time accusing them of ramrodding large and complex legislations through the National Assembly.

During a recent press conference, Teixeira lashed out at government for straying from the established parliamentary practices of taking complex Bills laid in the National Assembly to the Parliamentary Select Committee for further scrutiny.

She noted that this action by the governing MPs completely undermines parliamentary democracy by rushing to pass bills in the National Assembly

without having the extensive scrutiny by all stakeholders beforehand.

Traditionally, large and complex Bills go to the Parliamentary Select Committees for further review and debate. According to Teixeira however, of recent, government has been refusing to allow the Bills to go to Parliamentary Select Committees.

“The demand for large and complex bills going to Parliamentary Select Committees are still being denied by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) parliamentary representatives,” she stated.

Teixeira said the most recent example was the passage of the Insurance Bill on June 30. She posited that the Insurance Bill required further examination in a select committee since there were many issues in its contents.

However, government passed the Insurance Bill despite petitions from the Opposition that the bill ought not to be rushed and instead sent to a select committee.

With several large and complex Bills upcoming for debate in the National Assembly, Teixeira is worried that those too will be rushed through the House.

These Bills are the Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill 2016, the Telecommunications Bill 2016 and the Public Utilities Commission Bill 2016.

“There has been no indication that the three bills pending on the or-

der paper will be heading for Parliamentary Select Committee as they ought to, due to size and complexity… it is unthinkable in any parliamentary democracy that such bills will not be subjected to scrutiny in Parliamentary Select Committee,” Teixeira as-

serted.

The Opposition Chief Whip said it is rather unfortunate that government continues to undermine parliamentary democracy.

She however pledged that the PPP/C will continue to speak out against such actions.

Admitting that there is not much the Opposition parliamentarians can do to get government to adhere to parliamentary procedures, Teixeira said the PPP/C will continue to use public forums to inform Guyanese of the transgressions of their government.

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On a mission to save lives Dr. Alia Abdullah

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orn to Guyanese parents, Alia Abdulla is a Canadian doctor on a mission to save lives.

Through her research, Dr. Alia Abdulla especially aims to help those who have cancer to live healthy, long lives.

Alia is the Medical Director of Surgical Oncology at North Shore Medical Centre in Miami, Florida. An experienced surgical oncologist, she specializes in minimally invasive and robotic surgery and thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Her areas of interest also in-

the National Institute of Health, National Cancer Institute. She has published her findings in various scientific publications and presented on laparoscopic surgery at several Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and regional conferences.

During her surgical residency, in 2011, Alia was honoured with the Elmer Grimes Memorial Award for academic, clinical and administrative commitment, and in 2009, she won the Frederick G. Meoli Scientific Paper

Equipped to save lives

clude the treatment of breast cancer, melanoma and skin cancer, sarcoma, complex gastric malignancies and complex colorectal malignancies.

She completed her fellowship training in surgical oncology in the department of surgical oncology at Temple University Health System, Fox Chase Cancer Centre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Alia finished her general surgery residency and internship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and graduated medical school from Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Davie.

The doctor has conducted numerous research studies, including clinical research at

Award for her academic research on specific types of cancers and diseases.

In addition to serving as medical director of surgical oncology at North Shore, Alia is on the medical staff at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah. Her practice is located at the Centre for Advanced Surgical Oncology on the campus of Palmetto General Hospital. She is also a member of the Advanced Surgical Oncology Network.

Alia is certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery in General Surgery in the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery and trained on the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System. She is fluent in English and proficient in Spanish. (http://guyanesegirlsrock.org)

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WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

T

he Linden Museum of Industrial and SocioCultural Heritage on Co-op Crescent in Mackenzie, is located in one of Linden’s most historic buildings, according to the National Trust of Guyana.

The building was constructed in 1925 and was known as the Recreational Hall where it was used for dancPhotography showing workers on their way to the es, indoor games; mining areas. According to the museum, up to the 1960s as a cinema and carriages (in the background) took them to work general meeting place. Later, in Tourism Development ical mining artefacts, the 1970s, it served as Association and documents, including the Linden Consumer launched April 25, dur- newspapers, maps and Goods Complex; to- ing the 2006 Linden journals; photographs day, after much ne- Town Week, which is and models of historic gotiations, it houses reported to have coin- industrial machinery, the "Linden Museum cided with the town’s as well as miniature of Socio-Cultural 36th anniversary. replicas of the mining Heritage", its official The museum is ded- town. name, according to lin- icated mainly towards The museum also dentourism.com showcasing the history has on display indigeThe museum of Linden as an indus- nous artefacts from the was established trial town, and as such, pre-history of Linden, by the Region 10 exhibits include histor- fossils, as well as prod-

The Linden Museum of Socio-Cultural Heritage. The cast iron pot sits at bottom far right (National Trust photo)

ucts derived from its bauxite. In addition, a large cast-iron pot, said to have been used during earlier times for cooking or boiling sug-

ar cane, rests outside on the front porch, one of the first things to notice upon visiting the museum.

October 2016 marks

100 years of bauxite mining in Linden, and the Linden Museum will be part of the planning and preparations for the occasion.

Replica of bauxite train car at the museum

Museum’s model of the town of Linden and its environs

Chariot used for transportation in British Guiana, 1899 (Andrew Jeffrey photo)

Park Hotel, British Guiana, 1934. This hotel was destroyed by fire (Andrew Jeffrey photo)

A replica of a dragline on display at the museum. It was used for stripping material from the bauxite deposits; a once common sight in the mining town

34

Lomarsh Roopnarine

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here are those who are hell bent in supporting this regime thinking that it is the best hope for Guyana’s future.

They truly believe in the regime’s 100 days manifesto and are willing to wait until hell freezes over for it to deliver. Their echoing words are: We ask for your trust and patience. In reality, this askance is rhetorical downplaying the regime’s eccentricities and wrongdoings. This I understand but do not endorse.

There are those who chastise others for opposing this regime believing that those who speak against this regime automatically support the PPP. Their position is that anyone who supports the PPP supports Indian interests, supports ethnic exclusivity, supports corruption, and supports malice towards the AFC’s 11 per cent votes from

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana is ready for a ISKCON conference on columnists inaugurates 5th the PPP, among other things. Again, this I understand but do not endorse.

The “those” I am referring to are the doctors, lawyers, politicians, commentators, columnists, lecturers, forensic spin doctors, and minions, among others.

Of course, some of them are more rachitic thinkers than others but they share a fundamental similarity, that is, they represent the so-called big fish small pond syndrome. In the local parlance what this means is that when horses are not around donkeys win races. Got it!

Unfortunately, this style has become a way of life in Guyana and has effectively roped in the Diaspora, many of whom are desperate to dispense with the labyrinth of daily struggles in their mainly Brooklyn/ Queens base. Luckily, the gravy train has come to them rather than them coming to the gravy train. Many are roosting on the lap of the regime, and yes, at the expense of

tax-payers. How else can one explain the position of 34 unknown political advisors to the coalition regime?

What I am not referring to, unfortunately, is the ordinary people who cast their votes last year and whose voices are waiting and wanting to be heard.

This is the sadistic aspect of Guyana’s political reality. There is no indication that this will change in the near future.

What I do not understand is that avid supporters of the regime claim that they are activists, transformative writers, leaders and the like.

That is their right and prerogative. But while I do not wish to belabour the obvious, I understand activists to be individuals who speak and take action on issues, not sides.

Some openly declared that they voted for this regime but they also claim they are activists. Isn’t this a contradiction?

Isn’t this hypocritical? Isn’t this triumphalism?

More worrying is that it will be unhelpful

to cavalierly dismiss these individuals as pariahs and parasites of society barnacled to stoic views. What is more important is to examine the impact of their intended message, their agenda, and their ideology, if there is one. This is more productive, although there might be nothing to be gained from this approach since as the saying goes empty vessels make a lot of noise.

Taken together, these individuals share a spurious rhetoric of mutuality. They are conflict habituated.

They are self-haters.

The question to be asked is this: In what ways does the encounter with other ideas, other people change the ways these individuals think about themselves, about the society they live in, and about those younger ones who are aspiring to be columnists?

I am willing to wait for answers.

Meanwhile I think a conference on columnists in Guyana is not a waste thought.

If anything at all, it would avoid, I argue, what Cuban freedom fighter Jose Marti once said. Those who foments, those who propagates antagonism and hate between ethnicity, between race, sins humanity.

Let me also add what Mahatma Gandhi once said. To find one self is to lose interest in the service of others. ( l o m a r s h . roopnarine@jsums.edu)

landmark temple

ISKCON's Temple at University of Guyana Road and East Coast Railway Embankment, Greater Georgetown

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he International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on Wednesday inaugurated its fifth landmark temple in observance of its 50th anniversary celebrations.

The temple, which is located at University of Guyana Road and East Coast Railway Embankment, Greater Georgetown, will be grandly opened during a five-day festival, which began on Wednesday.

The main focus of the talks to be presented is to honour and praise Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada (1896-1977) is known to be the creator of the Hare Krishna chant throughout the world.

He started a spiritual revolution where devotion, simplicity and compassion became the direction of living.

Coming from a lineage of self-realised teachers, Prabhupada gave a fearless exposition of devotional wisdom, which has been

treasured within India for centuries.

The second day of the opening of the temple will see Government officials joining hands with the organisation to tie in the grand opening with Guyana’s 50th Independence celebration.

The third day of the event will be named Prabhupada Day. The devotees will use that day to share memories and realisations about the ISKCON founder alongside a six-hour kirtan mela and ceremonial bathing of Srila Prabhupada’s murti form.

A parade will be held on day four of the celebrations with red and yellow chariots parading through main Georgetown streets like Vlissengen Road and the Railway Embankment Road, before arriving at the new temple.

The festivities each day will conclude on the final day with a delicious feast served to all.

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travel & tourism 35

Mahaica River, which flows through the village

Entrance to St. Cuthbert’s Mission

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t. Cuthbert’s Mission is one of the most easily accessible Amerindian villages along the East Bank.The site of this quaint village emerges after about a half-hour travel through a scenic sandy trail, one of the many trails along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.

On entering the village, one will quickly notice how serene it is. No noise nuisance or traffic, just village life at its best.

One interesting feature that brings many tourists to the village is the pitch black waters of the Mahaica River, which flows through the village. It is a

serene site where the famous “wash down” happens during Heritage Day celebrations in September. Notably, people can get to the village by boat via the Mahaica River.

The village has a health centre, a nursery, primary and secondary schools, a youth centre, a huge benab, a community playfield, a church and several shops.

In 2015, St. Cuthbert’s celebrated 127 years of recognition as an indigenous community, but, according to the village’s Toshao, Lenox Schuman, St. Cuthbert has existed for centuries before that.

Unfenced homes speak of the peace and tranquility of St. Cuthbert's

One of the schools in the village

The black waters of the Mahaica River

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Cricket Culture…

This week's Crossword Y

This week's Puzzle

see solution on page 47

…and “intangibles”

our Eyewitness read an interesting piece in this newspaper yesterday – on the “intangibles” of cricket in general and CPL in particular. A “skulking” (playing hookey!!) professor explained how cricket brings us together within our country and together within Caricom. There’s no question about that!! Your Eyewitness was at every game up to now and he saw even the politicians who were just cussing each other out in Parliament, skinning their teeth and giving high fives when the Warriors took their winning streak onwards and upwards!!

If that isn’t unity… what is? Maybe we could have them look at one of the Warriors’ winning games, before every debate?! But, seriously folks, why isn’t cricket taken a bit more seriously to bring our people together – even when this new Government unleashed “social cohesion” as one of its goals?

The experience of South Africa and the role of Mandela in addressing the need to bring together a divided society are invoked by our politicians at the drop of a hat. Did they ever bother to check out the pride of place Mandela gave to sport in creating a new and united South African identity? They should look at the movie “Inviticus” to see how Mandela worked with the captain of the South African rugby team to bring victory to their nation. The point being that while rugby was an Afrikaans dominated sport, Mandela adopt it as his (South African) own.

Not so incidentally “Inviticus” means “undefeated” and was the title of the famous poem that ends: “It matters not how strait the gate/ How charged with punishments the scroll / I am the master of my fate, /I am the captain of my soul.” Shouldn’t our politicians remember this when they go around bowl in hand?

We all should know (and there’s another story why we don’t) from CLR James’ “Beyond The Boundary” the role cricket played to make us independent as a people. But CPL-T20 cricket goes further in giving free rein and expression to the role we played in making cricket our own. The cricket played by the British was the upper-class sport they played at Lords as they served cucumber sandwiches and tea, and nodded politely when a six was scored.

Not the way we played it – as we demonstrated that no cultural practice is ever adopted or even imposed without the “subordinate” subverting it with their own interpretation. Scholars like Dereck Walcott have expatiated on the notion of “hybridity” in our Caribbean culture.

He should write a poem when he looks at the poetry in the interplay of our cricketers and our people when they play cricket CPL-T20 style!! …and Caricom As usual, the Heads of Government came, they ate and they gyaafed! Forget all the pledges and resolutions made on governance…they ain’t going nowhere. Removal of the unfair advantage to TT’s manufacturers by their government selling them electricity at US$0.05 per KwH while the rest of the Region hovers at US$0.25 per KwH? Naah…

Trinidad’ll say TECHNICALLY they ain’t doing nothing wrong. And you know when countries supposedly in a COMMUNITY start bringing up “technicalities”, compromise is doomed!

But your Eyewitness’s hoping against hope the HoGs will follow through with their pledge to reform the WICB. Going back to the importance of cricket in holding this region together, the HoGs can’t just leave the WICB at the mercy of the predators presently in charge. At a minimum, they have to do this by implementing the Patterson Report BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY! After all, this didn’t mean placing the WICB in the hands of politicians – a more voracious set of predators! …the family In the British tabloids, “WAGS” – wives and girlfriends – of footballers became famous – but fortunately it never extended to cricket. But with CPL T20 cricket, we see the wives, girlfriends and kids of the diehard fans turning out in droves.

Cricket WiGiK?

feature 37

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

T

he Deaf Association of Guyana (DAG) recently held its first ever art competition titled, “This is my Guyana”.

With 123 entries, it was considered a successful competition.

“The drawings from the prize-winner were impressive; I especially liked the view of Skeldon sugar estate (exhibited, but not in competition because of the format); also the drawings from a 14-year-old boy from Corriverton were quite amazing for his age. In the category paper collage, there were some really nice entries, although it was new for everybody; some of the younger children showed their creativity in using their pictures to tell a story. The general feedback is that the children loved the challenge, loved the drawing and painting and working with paper,” said Sabine McIntosh, DAG’s president, in an interview with Sunday

Times Magazine.

Overall winners were Asiyah Bacchus (colour drawing and paper collage), Aleem Baseer (painting), and Jaideo Nankissore (b/w drawing). Prize giving was carried out at the National Library, where the exhibition was held for five days; the exhibition then moved to Massy’s new supermarket in Providence. DAG is grateful to Massy, which provided most of the art materials, Office of the President, which contributed two bicycles and a cheque to cover additional expenses.

The winners were an 11-year-old, an 18-year old (who won in two categories), and a 23-yearold. Generally, competitors’ ages ranged from seven to 23. Those participating in the competition are all deaf individuals.

DAG is a non-governmental organisation with a vision that members of the deaf commu-

nity play a positive and integral role in national development. This has been achieved through DAG’s empowering activities, like its inaugural art competition.

DAG believes that the visual and performing arts and should be an essential part of deaf education, from nursery level onwards because deaf people are visually oriented people. The organisation also believes that the school environment needs to cater for visual expression and visual learning.

The organisation was registered under the Friendly Societies Act in 2010. Its mission is to help deaf youths achieve their full potential and to improve the socioeconomic well-being of members of the deaf community.

DAG’s activities are financed through multiple sources of funding these include local fund raising, donor applications and private sector

Students' interpretation of 'their Guyana'

Impressive artworks by deaf students

The art pieces showcase the talent of deaf students

sponsorship. Its financial system is regulated through the use of a formatted spreadsheet, trained personnel and an annual audit.

The organisation’s network with members of the deaf community stretches across several

regions. It works closely with the special needs schools - working with their deaf students gives DAG hope for a better tomorrow for the deaf community.

DAG is engaged in the following areas: the visual and performing

arts, education, sign language research, sport.

For more information, visit Deaf Guyana on Facebook or you can catch DEAF News every last Saturday of the month from 5pm to 5:30pm on Channel 11, courtesy of NCN.

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DEMOCRACY and POWER SHARING

By Ravi Dev

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fter placing it on centrestage during the campaign, “power sharing” seemed to have been dropped like a hot potato by the coalition APNU/ AFC government, even though it had made it the sine qua non of its vision of democracy for Guyana. “Democracy”, of course, has become the standard for evaluating the credentials of governments across the world in modern times.

While we may all be a bit fuzzy on what exactly we mean by “democracy”, we should accept it’s merely a means to a particular end. To wit, the facilitation of a harmonious society in which each member can fulfil his or her human potential to the fullest.

Even when we claim that we have a “democratic” government, it behoves us to always question as to whether its particulars are fully in sync with the idiosyncrasies and foibles of the given time, place and circumstances, to deliver us to our goal.

And this brings us to our “democracy” in Guyana. No one would deny Guyana today is “democratic” by many of the common indicators: freedom of the press, speech, movement, political participation, civic association, etc.

But is our society more harmonious? Not many Guyanese would answer “yes”. Why have we been literally locked in combat for the past fifty years? We can blame evil politicians, nefarious foreign elements or other extrinsic factors, but we cannot avoid examining the nature of our society and the political institutions that are supposed to deliver the “good society”. Form does affect function.

After all, political institutions and structures provide the framework and incentives through which the moral links essential for encouraging the accommodation and cooperation between societal groups.

We have to scrutinise our “democratic” political institutions for their effectiveness in facilitating societal harmony, given our particularities.

The first idiosyncrasy that jumps out at us when we compare our society to some more stable “democratic” ones is the depth of our societal cleavages. For many well-documented historical, psychological and structural reasons, we are the quintessential ethnically plural society. We are not unique; in fact most states across the world are multicultural, even though the cleavages and conflicts may not always be as intense as ours.

Looking at the ethnic problematic across the globe, we have only a few options available to us to escape open

conflict much less just undemocratic government: obliteration of ethnic differences, partition or some form of power sharing. With the spread of the now universally accepted norms of equality and self-determination, ethnic groups across the world have balked at the first option, concluded that we are too intermixed for partition and so are only left with the last option – “power sharing”.

One commentator (Sisk) defines this as “a system of governance in which all major segments of society are provided a permanent share of power; this system is often contrasted with government vs opposition systems in which ruling coalitions rotate among various social groups over time.”

In addressing the problematic of institutionalising democracy in plural societies, the two broad approaches are sometimes subsumed under the rubric of “power sharing”. One popular conception views it as sharing the executive offices of a government proportionately among the political representatives of the several groups mobilised in society. This view, of course, conceptualises “power” as a unitary construct residing in the executive branch of government and implicitly contraposes “sharing” power with a centralisation of power under majoritarian rules.

This popular conception, of course, is reflective of our historical experiences, which saw the powers of the state always controlled by a tight little oligarchy – first centred on a colonial Governor and then our Executive Presidency.

Power, however, is a much more nuanced concept and even if confined to being a possession, rather than inhering in relationships, the power of a state is much more diffused than an executive possession.

Power sharing, in the second view, would have to include the wider picture, and would have to encompass a much wider range of institutions – both within and without the state such as the bureaucracy and the armed forces.

art & culture 39

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

A

Exhibition curator, Grace Aneiza Ali

group of notable Guyanese artists, residing here and abroad, will be part of a memorable exhibition to be held in the USA. ‘Un | Fixed Homeland’

"Contemplative" by Lam

brings together an intergenerational roster of 13 emerging and established Guyanese artists who, via photography and photography-based art, examine the complex

Guyanese photographer Michael C. Lam

relationship to “homeland.”

These artists explore how a “homeland” can be both fixed and unfixed, a constantly shifting idea and memory, and a physical place and a psychic space. The exhibition’s title reflects the emergence of the Caribbean diaspora in metropolitan cities around the world and speaks to what has become the defining global movement of the 21st century – migration.

Guyana, the only English-speaking South American country and former British colony, celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence this year.

The past five decades have been marked by an incredible exodus of its citizens – the country has a population of approximately 750,000 living within its borders and over one million living in the diaspora. In other

words, more Guyanese citizens live outside the nation than within it. To reflect this reality, featured in the exhibition are artists living and working in Guyana as well as in major diasporic cities throughout Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In New York, in particular, Guyanese are the city’s fifth largest immigrant population.

Among the works included is “Amalivaca”, a self-portraiture piece by Khadija Benn who lives and works in Guyana.

She exploits the exotic by inserting her body in a painterly landscape as acts of agency and ownership of place. Hew Locke, who was raised in Guyana and now lives and works in London, has painted photographs of houses, titled “Rose Hall” and “Mt. Sinai”, which are reminiscent of the ones familiar to his childhood. In his rendition,

"Amalivaca" by Khadija Benn

they are falling apart and symbolically flooded.

Keisha Scarville, a New York City-based artist born to Guyanese immigrants, reinterprets her father’s passport photo as a young boy in British Guiana in the mixed-media “Passport” series.

The Toronto-based artist Erika DeFreitas elicits her Guyana-born mother in a series of

documented performative actions where the two hand-fashion face masks out of green, yellow, and purple icing in the portraiture piece, “The Impossible Speech Act”.

Frank Bowling, who was born in British Guiana in 1934 and now lives and works in London and New York City, screen printed an archival continued on page 42

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Canadian authorities seize ‘hot’ cargo from Trinidad

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order officials in Canada found almost 20 kilos of cocaine in a shipment of hot peppers from Trinidad & Tobago recently.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced in a statement issued just yesterday that the discovery was made on June 23, in a shipment that arrived at the Toronto Pearson International Airport from Port of Spain.

According to the agency, CBSA officers were in the offloading area when they pointed out two suspicious boxes. When the officers opened the boxes, they found 17 brickshaped packages under hot peppers.

All cargo on the flight was transferred to CBSA facilities for X-ray examination while officers car-

Packages of cocaine concealed in the boxes of hot peppers from Trinidad and Tobago.

(Credit: Canada Border Services Agency)

ried out a search of the entire aircraft.

A sample of the packages in the box was cut open and tested positive for cocaine which was turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The CBSA statement did not disclose either the sender or intended recipient of the illegal cargo.

“The continued vigilance of our officers enables us to successfully

intercept the illegal importation of narcotics, fulfilling our commitment to protect the safety of Canadians and our communities,” said Goran Vragovic, CBSA Regional Director General, Greater Toronto Area Region after the seizure.

So far this year, CBSA officers in the Greater Toronto Area have seized over 678 kilograms of suspected cocaine.

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Cricket fever in Guyana

41 Scenes from Amazon Warriors home games (Photos: Yogendra Callender)

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Local, overseas Guyanese artists for US art ...

1953 photograph of his mother’s house onto his canvas “Mother’s House with Beware of the Dog” – an artistic gesture charged with the memory of homeland.

While specifically focused on the visual culture and new modes of viewing Guyana, the exhibition also frames Guyana, “fixed or unfixed homeland,” as symbolic of larger pressing global concerns of our 21st century — the tensions between place and placeless-ness, nationality and belonging, immigrant and citizen.

“This project is deeply personal,” says curator Grace Aneiza Ali, who is Guyanese-born and currently lives in New York City. As an Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, Ali has spent her fellowship researching the canon of contemporary Guyanese artists, which still remains largely unknown on the world stage. Instead, what the global public often sees of the visual culture of Guyana centres on the exotic, the tropical, the colonial, and the touristic.

“In Un|Fixed Homeland we’ve brought together artists who share a collective agenda to counter this histor-

ic malpractice by challenging, disrupting, manipulating, and, at times intentionally exploiting, the ‘picturing paradise’ motif often associated with the region,” says Ali. Grace Aneiza Ali is a faculty member in the Department of Art & Public Policy, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University and the Editorial Director of OF NOTE —an award-winning online magazine on art and activism. Her essays on contemporary art and photography have been published in Nueva Luz Journal, Small Axe Journal, among others. Highlights of her curatorial work include Guest Curator for the 2014 Addis Foto Fest; Guest Curator of the Fall 2013 Nueva Luz Photographic Journal; and Host of the ‘Visually Speaking’ photojournalism series at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center. Ali is a World Economic Forum ‘Global Shaper’ and Fulbright Scholar. She holds an M.A. in Africana Studies from New York University and a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park.

In an interview with Sunday Times Magazine, one of

from page 39

the exhibiting photographers, Michael C. Lam said: “It is an honour to have some of my photographs selected by Grace Aneiza Ali as part of her curated exhibition, Un | Fixed Homeland. The list of artists involved is quite intimidating to someone having their first international exhibit. When I first saw my name in the same sentence as Hew Locke, I was dumbstruck. I think that most of the artists were educated and exposed to the arts abroad; their works are inspiring and truly amazing to see. Khadija Benn's work has always left me in awe, and I am proud to join her and Karran Sahadeo as the representative artists from the ‘homeland’, as our work joins those of the artists in the diaspora in this exhibition of photography and photography-based art by Guyanese at Aljira.”

The exhibition is slated for July 17 to September 17, 2016 at the Aljira: A Center for Contemporary Art located at 591 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey. Information on exhibition from aljira.org/exhibitions)

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enisha GarnettBillington is a USbased Guyanese makeup artist who continues to succeed because of her love for her artistry in making people beautiful and, in some cases, into any character they wish to become.

The autodidact (selftaught) artist has been doing makeup professionally for over three years prior to attending a makeup conference in Las Vegas in October 2015, where she was certified.

The 21-year-old mentioned that YouTube has provided much inspiration for her creations.

Once she stumbled upon a YouTube video of an artist making fake burns on her skin and was immediately mind-blown. She was then motivated to do research and practice on herself, which gave birth to her career in special effects makeup.

“For me, YouTube has been my biggest inspiration. I have always had the gift of being artistic, so just coming across a makeup tutorial made

Makeup artist Tenisha Garnett-Billington

me want to give it a try.

It has been like that for most of my hobbies; I just stumble across them on the internet and found it interesting,” Tenisha recalled in an interview with Sunday Times Magazine.

She said that as a makeup artist, her musthaves include a wide range of foundation and concealer shades from dark to light, so she will never have to worry about not having someone's right shade to match their skin tone.

Her tip, which she always adheres to, is applying a primer first be-

fore putting on makeup on her clients. The makeup artist pointed out that “makeup will not make it through the day without a layer of face primer, and it is also not healthy to have the foundation applied to your bare skin”.

She added that there are different types of primer, but should be one based on skin type.

“For me makeup is very therapeutic. If I have the time I will take 45 minutes on my face.

That might not seem long to some people, but I can do my everyday look in about 10 minutes. Doing my makeup takes my mind off other things.

When I am sitting staring at myself in the mirror trying to get the perfect wing, all thoughts just seem to disappear.

It calms me down and makes me feel relaxed,” she expressed.

While in Guyana, Tenisha became a soughtafter makeup artist, being flown out the country by clients who wanted their makeup done. A newlywed, Tenisha now spends most of her time

One of Tenisha's special effects work

in the US, and has gained more clients.

Recently, in the US, Tenisha was employed as the official makeup artist for the Miss Tourism USA 2016 pageant, a makeup artist for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade 2016, and also the makeup artist/model for a few shoots with Edward Taylor - a photographer from the UK. Now, Tenisha has her makeup brushes set on

working in Hollywood, while having her own makeup line and clients worldwide.

Knowing what it takes to be successful, the gifted makeup artist encourages youths to be passionate about what they aspire to become and to “invest in their dreams”.

“If you are really passionate about something then go all out. Invest in your dreams and give it your all. Try to stand

out and make people remember you. There will always be competition, someone fresh, new and different, but who likes you will stick with you.

Be kind to your customers because nothing goes better together than awesome work and a great personality,” she declared.

For more information on the makeup artist, visit Flawless by Tenisha on Facebook.

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Patricee Douglas

atricee Douglas, a member of Women Across Differences, advocate of women's health issues, and a medical doctor, is currently vying to win monetary funding in order to continue her work in family planning in Guyana.

Patricee volunteers in communities, speaking to women at health centres across Guyana about family planning and sexual health. Her passion to see women empowered.

A desire to continue her humanitarian work, Patrice is hoping to win US$1,000.

On the website, http://120under40.org, where persons can go to vote for Patricee, the young doctor said her work (through advocacy) in family planning involves being a community

resource person. Last year she spent six months volunteering at a local health centre.

As a result, she was able to interact with and empower teenage mothers attending the clinic to return to school after giving birth, also to educate them on what to expect during pregnancy, and most importantly how to prevent second pregnancies.

Additionally, she worked as a peer educator with the Ministry of Public Health. She attends multiple outreaches and health fairs where she is able to educate young people on family planning, preventing unwanted pregnancies and STIs. Patricee also is a volunteer with Women Across Differences, a NGO which seeks to reintegrate teenage

mothers into the school system. She currently facilitate sessions on family planning with teen mothers.

“Every year, half a million women die from complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and unsafe abortions.

Sadly, most of these deaths could be prevented by family planning. It was against this backdrop and my love for the promotion of the health and rights of women and girls that birthed my interest in family planning. I believe that if I am to empower girls and women to reach our true potential and to take up leadership roles in society, I must educate them on having control of their reproduction,” she affirmed.

Patricee disclosed that her biggest challenge in family planning efforts has been her moral convictions. These convictions are rooted in her faith based teachings that fornication is a sin. There have been moments where she felt that by educating youth about family planning, she would be condoning “illicit” sex. However, and through her work

Patricee (right) volunteering with Food for the Poor

in family planning, Patricee has realised that this is not so. In fact, she has learned that the promotion of family planning empowers young people to make informed choices and as a result society benefits on a whole.

The advocate pointed out that in Guyana family planning services are available, but young people shy away from accessing these services because they feel ashamed and stigmatised by society.

As a result, more youth friendly services are needed to create an

environment wherein young people can make informed decisions about family planning.

To achieve this, Patricee believes that health care providers must become more accommodating and less judgmental when a young couple or young woman comes to the clinic or hospital seeking advice on family planning.

“At present Guyana has the second highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the western hemisphere with 97 out of every 1,000 teenage girls becoming pregnant.

By 2021, Guyana must

be a country where teenage pregnancy has decreased significantly, comprehensive sexual education is part of the school system, pregnancies are planned, and childbirth is safe.

I want to contribute to these changes, through advocacy on family planning, through my career as a medical doctor, and by empowering girls and women,” she declared.

To help Patricee continue her empowering work, vote for her at http://120under40. org/nominee/patriceedouglas

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

A Caribbean visionary ARF Webber

By Petamber Persaud

(To coincide with the Thirtyseventh Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM) orn in Tobago, blossomed in Guyana into an exceptional human being where he died and was interned, A.R.F. Webber was a Caribbean visionary of the highest quality, pioneering press freedom, constitutional reform, economic reform and educational reform among other initiatives.

When he died at arelatively young age of52, Webber left a legacy of which the Caribbean and Guyana ought to be proud, and one on which the Caribbean and Guyana would be wise to build.

A. R. F. Webber, poet, short story writer, novelist and journalist, believed in dialogue. In his poem “Guiana” he asked, Wouldst thou be great? /Then grapple to thy soul these primal truths. /Greatness is neither born of intolerance nor schism, /But ‘tis a sturdy growth of open minds!

On many occasions, he employed his pen to fight for constitutional reforms in the

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Albert Raymond Forbes Webber (1880 -1932)

colony, using the New Daily Chronicle which he was editing at the time to debate the issue with the English-born editor of the Daily Argosy, Sam Lupton.

A. R. F. Webber was born on the island of Tobago on January 1, 1880, to James Francis Webber and Sarah nee Hope. He married Beatrice Elizabeth Glasford, a union that produced Ivy Forbes Webber and Edith Forbes Webber.

Some 20 years after he was born, Webber came to live in British Guiana at a crucial and exciting period of its history.

In his own words, he described that era as not being “jejune or

insipid”. He was a witness to many changes and innovations like the introduction of the electric tram service, the 1905 and 1924 riots, the end to East Indian Immigration, the first issue of $1 and $2 paper money, educational reforms, the great rice embargo, glory days of sugar and its greatest decline, and the “abrogation of the 1891 Constitution”.

Webber’s first taste of Guyana came with his introduction to its commerce sector, working in the Berbice merchant firm of Crosby and Forbes of which his uncle Forbes was a partner.

Thereafter, his rise in the public’s eye was swift.Next he became Secretary to Chapman & Company. Webber then moved into the mining sector, first as company secretary to Peter’s Mine and an attachment to Mara Mara Gold Company.

He had a liking for business, going into advertising, first attached to the Daily Argosy and then Messrs. Booker Bros., McConnell & Co., Limited.

But the call to the printed word was great. This was where Webber made the most telling contribution to the Caribbean and Guyana.

In 1919, he was appointed

acting editor of the Daily Chronicle succeeding C. W. Marchant, gravitating to the editorship position until 1925 when the paper went into liquidation.

During this time, his popularity increased enough to earn him a seat in the Combined Court as Financial Representative in 1921. He was re-elected at the General Elections in 1926.

The New Daily Chronicle came into being in 1926 as the official organ of the Popular Party with Webber as editor.

The paper was branded a ‘sensationalising paper’ but made significant progress towards constitutional reforms in 1928. So much so that in February of that year, Webber was part of a delegation to England meeting with Secretary of State, L. S. Amery, on the above issue.

For his work in newspaper, Webber made a Fellow of the Institute of Journalists. But not before his struggle in collaboration with Herbert de Lisser (author of ‘Jane’s Career’) for press freedom and for the formation of the first West Indian Press Association.

A. R. F. Webber died while on duty. Though I go with work undone/ ‘Tis better to leave the

fields aglow/ Than to wait and watch the fires grow dim/ And steal away in the still and darkening night He died Wednesday June 29, 1932 on a steamer going to Bartica but not before publishing his magnum opus “Centenary History and Handbook of British Guiana” in 1931.

His other publications included “An Innocent Abroad”; “Life in New York” and “Those that be in Bondage: A Tale of Indian Indentures and Sunlit Western Waters” (1917) – one of the first novels in Guyanese Literature.

Webber lived a colourful life even unto death; at the funeral, his grave was strewn with red roses.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@ yahoo.com What’s happening: “Made in Guyana” is now available at the National Library, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, bookstores and hotels.

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Winging It “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Cricket lovely cricket

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atiricus was all aglow. His beloved Cricket was back in Guyana. There were those who carried on about there not being not much Test Cricket nowadays. Not Satiricus. He liked this T-20 where every day was another battle… and not the same long, drawn out war. And best of all he didn’t have to take days off, which his boss never looked kindly on. But this time they were at the Saturday game: his Warriors versus the St Kitts Patriots.

“So what you guys brought?” Satiricus asked Cappo, who looked over to his wife, Baby. Ever since the first season three years ago, their wives had become fanatical Warriors fans who didn’t need any prompting to prepare their favourite goodies and chasers.

“Jus’ some Dhall puri and bhunjal chicken,” Baby answered and she looked over to Mrs Satiricus. “Eh, Eh gyaal, suh you bring de chicken chow mein?”

“Yes I did. If I didn’t, you know Sato woulda swell his mouth!” she smiled as she dished out her offering. The husbands had already downed two beers and had a good relay system with the friends they’d made with some fellas and their wives from Georgetown in the seats in front of them. They had bought BBQ chicken from the vendors below the stands.

“Suh wha’ ayuh t’ink ‘bout de game las’ night?” Cappo asked his newfound buddies.

“The pitch was too slow, man,” said Trevor who said he was from Charlestown.

“Why you think that?” Satiricus wanted to know. “The ball from the quicks were carrying waist high to the keeper.”

“But you noticed how the ball kept slowing up and turning?” said Akeem from Lodge, who was a cousin of Trevor. “That was the pitch, boy!””

“Budday!!” exclaimed Cappo, throwing his hands up and almost spilling his beer. “Suh wha mek yuh na t’ink de bowlin’ na bin too tight?”

“My friend,” said Trevour,” touching his beer bottle with Cappo’s and Satiricus’, “we KNOW cricket.”

At the end of the game, which finished half an hour early because the Warriors knocked off the Partiots’ runs in just 16 overs, better that the 18 overs in game one against the Tallawahs, Cappo couldn’t stop himself from slyly asking Trevor and Akeem, as they trudged out of the green stands.

“Suh yuh still t’ink ah de pitch?”

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

Anu Dev

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’ve always enjoyed plays…even though in Guyana most of us read plays rather than see them.

I guess I was saved by having a good imagination – and given to even reading stage directions!

But it says much about my disposition that one of the things I remember from studying plays is that the phrase “winging it” has a theatrical origin.

Seems there was always one actor or another who’d be busy cramming their lines at the last minute, as they “waited in the wings” of the stage before getting their prompt. They were “winging it”!!

We’ve all been in situations where we’ve just had to just wing it. You know… just doing something on the fly. Sometimes we even put ourselves into those situations –

by procrastinating and leaving everything to the last minute then bluff our way through a test or a presentation.

As students we do that a lot, usually patting ourselves on the back for pulling another fast one over our teachers.

I don’t think we ever really got away with those slapdash attempts though, somehow I think our teachers knew. Maybe because our presentations were full of gems such as “Umm… well…umm… and then….like….yes well”.

Faultless elocution, that.

But of course, one can never, ever prepare oneself for all the contingencies of life. And inevitably we find ourselves in a situation where, despite our preparation, we have to just improvise our way out of the problem.

In those instances, we have to try to be a bit more flexible, to be willing to accept things for being what they are, instead of how we want them to be.

And once we don’t spend time panicking about why

this is happening to us, but rather think up a new plan of action, we might be surprised that the end result might be better than expected.

But it really goes back to your preparation.

While you mightn’t have anticipated the exact problem in front of you, the same facts you imbibed will just have to be redeployed in a different way to come up with a solution. And this is what we call “creativity”.

So we should always expect the unexpected and start preparing ourselves to have to think on the spot or make quick decisions, outside the “box” we usually create for ourselves.

And every day we’re thrust into new and unexpected situations.

We could show up at a meeting, expecting other people to take charge, but for whatever reason, they just can’t. We could be the ones who step up to the plate. We can adapt to the new role of leader and sometimes we’ll find that it’s a position we thrive in.

And of course there are the little improvisations we make every day. Singing a song and can’t remember all of the lyrics? Most of us just make up new ones.

Do the new lyrics always make perfect sense? Nope, but that’s fine since half of the pop lyrics out there don’t make sense anyway – and you can always “go nasal”!!!

But improvisation can be difficult if you’re set in your ways or if you completely spazz out if things aren’t going completely to plan. It’s good to plan ahead, don’t get me wrong – I love planning and making nice organised, colour-coded timetables – but it’s when you put more importance on following the exact letter of the plan than doing the actual task, that things become problematic.

Remember the advice of old Robert Burns – “The best laid schemes of mice and men aft gang aft agley (oft goes awry)”. So go with your gut feeling – the answer’s already there.

The Brexit from diversity

Ryhaan Shah

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he Brexit vote in Britain to cut ties with the European Union is part of an emerging trend that has also gained ground in the United Stated via “Trumpism”. The results of the referendum in the UK came as a surprise to many and there is already some buyers’ remorse as the consequences for Britain in its future relations with Europe sink in.

Whereas those who supported the UK remaining in the EU campaigned strongly on the negative economic impact an exit vote would mean, the leavers pushed home the point that the country would regain its authority over its borders and on immigration issues if it leaves the EU. This was the issue that won the referendum.

The idea of prosperity and progress on continued favourable trade deals with their European neighbours meant less to the majority of voters than their ability to decide on immigration, ie, who is allowed to live and work in Britain.

Following the success of the Brexit vote, there was

an immediate rise in racist attacks on British Asians and on the large Polish immigrant population in Britain.

The presumptive Republican nominee for the US presidency, Donald Trump, is enjoying a similar success in America based on a similar trend. There, too, it is less about the economy and more about building a wall to keep out Mexicans, and banning all Muslims from entering the US that have made Trump a populist leader.

In both instances, statistics show that the followers of Brexit and Trump are less college educated than those who voted to stay in the EU and who are not backing Trump, respectively.

Britain and the US are divided nations and the division is spurred by a rise in anti-immigrant prejudices and nativism. This translates into intolerance and race hate as the national conversation becomes less about jobs and the economy and becomes more existential with the primary concern being a move to consolidate nationalist sentiments and what is perceived as the “native” status quo.

It does appear to be a rejection of diversity and of the social cohesion that is championed by European nations even though some view Brexit as a refusal by the British to transform their

country into a homogeny as dictated by the EU. Guyana too is a divided nation where Indians are still trying to gain an equal footing in cultural and political spaces within the context of the majority African Caribbean population.

Oddly enough, it is the struggle for human and cultural rights by Indian Guyanese that is condemned as racist rather than the dominance of Euro/Afrocentrism which pushes for a physical and cultural assimilation that would translate into ethnic and cultural loss for Indians. It’s a loss that no human rights convention encourages or supports.

The Brexit trend is not an unknown in the wider Caribbean where Jamaicans, Guyanese and many small islanders face immigration issues in places like Trinidad and Barbados despite Caribbean single market agreements which are intended to foster trade and allow the free movement of people within the region. It is a rejection of “others” just as in Britain and the US and, just as in those countries, immigrants are seen as threats to job security and nationalist interests.

Whereas respect for diversity is trumpeted as a good thing, it goes against the grain of globalisation which does not only involve globalised trade but fosters

the idea of a one-world culture. Hollywood movie franchises, Starbucks and McDonalds are all part and parcel of a globalised culture and the internet and social media are vital links in helping to shape that oneworld.

Whether diversity will triumph over this new trend is yet to be seen but human cultures have been built up over centuries and not many are willing to forgo their uniqueness for a globalised identity when there is still a primal human need for cultural rituals and values, and for a unique identity among most of the world’s peoples.

In Europe, for instance, despite being suppressed for decades, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Dagestan all reappeared almost overnight. They are all differentiated by culture, ethnicity, and language.

While the success of such diversity depends on respect for differences, taken to its extreme, securing one’s identity over others can become xenophobic and can fuel race hate, violence and extremism.

As Great Britain grapples with the fallout of Brexit and the US with the rise of “Trumpism”, Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean should take note and reject any trend that fosters intolerance and hate.

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Shah Rukh Khan’s Gaurav act in ‘Fan’ his best till date: Shabana Azmi

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Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Mohenjo Daro’ is closing film at Locarno film fest

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ctress Shabana Azmi says superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s role as possessive fan Gaurav Channa in “Fan” has been his best so far.

“Watched ‘Fan’ today.

Your performance as Gaurav Channa is possibly one of your best to date. Congratulations,” Shabana tweeted.

To that, Shah Rukh replied: “Shabana Azmi thank you so much ma’am. Javed sahib gave me a beautiful poem to read after watching it. Now I have ‘cent per cent’ marks.”

H “Fan” featured Shah Rukh as Gaurav, a fan of superstar Aryan Khanna, who is also played by the superstar.

The film has been directed by Maneesh Sharma.

(Indian Express)

Why Hrithik Roshan thinks Pooja Hegde is very special

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he gorgeous Pooja Hegde seems to have floored ‘Mohenjo Daro’ co-star Hrithik Roshan with her talent and good looks.

The former beauty queen was all smiles on July 12 when her leading man lavished praise on her

at the grand launch of ‘Mohenjo Daro’.

Recalling how Pooja impressed him when they met for the first time, Hrithik narrated, “The first time I met Pooja was at a photo session where we interacted professionally. And in

the shoot we had to look into each other’s eyes and create a romantic moment for Ashutosh’s camera and I was taken aback. I have worked with a lot of co-stars but the kind of courage and kind of purity of just being in case of Pooja was something that struck me. And at that moment I knew for a fact that Pooja is very special, a rare talent and a beautiful person who will go a long way in the industry,” Pooja, on her part, blushed on being complimented by Hrithik and hoped that some of his greatness would rub off on her too. The debutant also thanked Hrithik for being a friend to her while shooting in Bhuj for the film. (Indian Express)

rithik Roshanstarrer “Mohenjo Daro” has been selected as the closing film of the 69th edition of Locarno International Film Festival.

The film fest will take place in the Italianspeaking resort on Lake Maggiore in southern Switzerland from August 3 to 13.

The UTV and Ashutosh Gowariker Productions film will be screened at the Piazza Grande, one of the finest open-air venues in the world, read a statement.

Directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Gowariker, the

film marks debut of Pooja Hegde and is produced

by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Sunita Gowariker.

It will release worldwide on August 12.

The Locarno International Film Festival is one of Europe’s highly acclaimed and widely attended festivals. The annual fest aims to discover great films from around the world.

“We are honoured and humbled that ‘Mohenjo Daro’ has been selected for screening at the closing night ceremony at Piazza Grande section of prestigious festival. We are extremely

thrilled that the film will be showcased to the European audience as part of the closing day gala,” said Amrita Pandey, Vice President – Studios, Disney India.

This is the second time for Gowariker at the Locarno International Film Festival.

“I am extremely happy to know that the Locarno Film Festival has selected ‘Mohenjo Daro’. When ‘Lagaan’ was screened at the same Piazza, on a giant screen, one of the biggest in the world, it was an out-ofthe-world experience to see an audience of 8,000plus of different nationalities, applaud the film.

I am excitedly looking forward to Locarno this time,” Gowariker said.

The film brings an epic adventure-romance story on the silver screen. It is set in the city of Mohenjo Daro in the era of the Indus Valley civilisation which dates back to 2,600 BC. (Indian Express)

Mohit Suri’s daughter visits ‘Half Girlfriend’ set

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ilmmaker Mohit Suri’s one-year-old daughter Devi has joined her father on the

sets of upcoming movie “Half Girlfriend”.

The film, adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s

novel of the same name, stars Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead.

“Devi sits on the monitor while I direct!! #HalfGirlfriend,” Suri posted on Twitter along with a picture of his daughter.

The film, which went on floors in June, is scheduled for a worldwide release on April 28, 2017. (Indian Express)

Alia Bhatt turns into a ‘I am not a protective work of art with ‘Prisma’ father’ - Anil Kapoor

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lia Bhatt’s fans would say she is already a work of art. The Bollywood actress believes some help from technology would not hurt.

Alia Bhatt, July 12, shared a picture on Instagram that was captured in Berlin and made timeless by the Prisma app.

She posted the picture with the caption ‘Living in a painting. The best night ever.

Berlin #ThrowbackTuesday #prisma’.

Prisma is a new camera app that transforms your photos to look like paintings by famous artists. It goes beyond the film simulation filters that are widely available these days to offer a sur-

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prisingly realistic painting filter, say reports.

Gizmodo wrote that Prisma offers more than just the various hues of sepia. It uses neural networks and AI to turn a photo into artwork.

So, is Alia appearing like a work of art in this Prisma photo? Well, judge for yourself.

The young actor has 7.6 million followers on Instagram. She is also very active on Twitter.

Alia was last seen in Udta Punjab where she got a lot of acclaim for her de-glam look and powerpacked performance. A distressing vacation later, Alia is back to work now. (Indian Express)

nil Kapoor may have kept his children – Sonam, Rhea and Harshvardhan – away from the limelight during their growing up years but the actor says he is no longer a protective father.

The 59-year-old star says he is confident that his children, who all are part of the film industry, can take care.

“I wanted my kids to lead a normal, simple life and concentrate on their education. I am not a protective father. I think parents need to be protective when they are kids but, now they are grownups.

They can take their own decisions.

“The truth is, we are not going to stay with them forever and they have to look after themselves and they are doing it very nicely,” Anil told PTI. The “Welcome Back” actor feels happy to see the way his daughter Sonam deals with fame and hopes his son, who will be making his acting debut with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s “Mirza,” is able to do the same.

“I am really happy with the way Sonam deals with the media and every-

thing. Soon, Harshvardhan will also face it and I am sure he will also adjust well to the celebrity status.”

Unlike her siblings, who have chosen acting, Rhea has made her career in Bollywood as a producer. She has backed projects like “Aisha” and “Khoobsurat”.

Her next venture is “Veere Di Wedding” which stars sister Sonam along withKareena Kapoor Khan, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania. The allfemale starrer project will be directed by Shashanka Ghosh.

Kareena, who is pregnant with her first child, will be shooting for the film in August.

“The times are changing in Bollywood now even actresses are as a big a star as actors. They are getting paid equal and even more in some cases.

“The biggest example of today’s brave modern woman is Kareena Kapoor. She is pregnant, but script is ready and she is doing my daughter’s film. What else can be the biggest change than this. It is a very brave and great decision on Kareena and Rhea’s part,” he says. (Indian Express)

Hollywood 49

WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Zac Efron ordered entire room service menu post Dwayne, Priyanka-starrer

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ctor Zac Efron ordered the complete room service menu after completing the shoot of upcoming Baywatch film.

The 28-year-old actor maintained a strict diet and exercise regime to get the toned physique for the movie and couldn’t wait to indulge in his favourite foods soon after the wrap, reported Femalefirst.

“I was training hard during ‘Baywatch’ filming. Once I finished a big scene, I went back to my hotel and ordered the entire (room service) menu.

I hadn’t had carbs in

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a month! I went nuts,” Efron said. Seth Gordon is directing the project which also stars Dwayne Johnson, Priyanka

Chopra, Alexandra Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach and Ilfenesh Hadera.

(Indian Express)

Kate Hudson, Matt Bellamy reunite for son’s birthday

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ctress Kate Hudson and former fiance Matt Bellamy came together to celebrate their son Bingham’s fifth birthday on July 9.

The 37-year-old actress was joined by Bellamy and her eldest

Taylor Swift tops Forbes list of highest-paid celebrities

son Ryder, 12, who she had with ex-husband Chris Robinson, as they celebrated Bingham’s birthday with a trip to see “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child” in London, reported Female First.

The 38-year-old Muse

frontman shared a picture of the four of them posing in front of a poster for the play and tagged the blonde beauty in the post.

Alongside the photo, he wrote, “Happy Bday Bing!!! #harrypotterandthecursedchild @katehudson xxx (sic)” The “Bride Wars” star shared Bellamy’s picture and added: “Bday time #Repost @mattbellamy (sic)” Hudson and Bellamy first met in 2010 and became engaged a year later before having their son in the July of 2011.

(Indian Express)

orbes Magazine has released its annual Celebrity 100 list, which features the 26-year-old at the top spot, thanks to the $170 million she earned from June 2015 to June 2016, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Most of her money came from her star-studded “1989” tour, which smashed rock band the Rolling Stones’ North American touring record as it grossed more than $200 million.

She also earned from her deals with Apple, Diet Coke and Keds.

Swift last year landed at the list’s No.8 spot with her previous best of $80 million.

She overtook other famous names including

One Direction (No.2 with $110 million), Kevin Hart (No.6 with $87.5 million), Howard Stern (No.7 with $85 million) and Adele (No.9 with $80.5 million).

She also bests her former boyfriend Calvin Harris who lands at No.21 with $63 million and singer Katy Perry

Robert De Niro’s ‘The War with Grandpa’ to release in 2017

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ollywood star Robert De Niro’s upcoming family comedy, “The War with

Grandpa”, will hit the US theatres on April 21, 2017.

The film, which will

Kristen Stewart would like to see a female James Bond

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ctor Alexander Skarsgard has revealed that he once lived in a Leeds basement with no heating and a drug dealer.

The 39-year-old “Legend of Tarzan” actor

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ctress Kristen Stewart has pitched for a female James Bond and said a male actor playing the much sought-after spy would be “stale” now.

While promoting her new film “Equals” with co-star Nicholas Hoult, the subject turned to James Bond, and Stewart voiced her interest in seeing a woman portray the iconic British superspy, reported E! Online.

When asked Hoult what he thought about his name being included as a potential successor to Daniel Craig’s 007, the 26-year-old actor said, “I think I’m a bit too young, to be honest,”

noting that Bond is usually in his “30s or 40s.”

“Yeah, but that’s getting a little stale,” Stewart interjected.

The pair then dismissed critics of casting a black or female actor as Bond.

Stewart, 26, even imagined how a female version of the character could be introduced.

“You start off as the Bond girl and then you think it’s just the girlfriend and then you’re like, ‘She’s actually [Bond]’,” she said. “In the trailer, it’s him and then [a] bait and switch.” (Indian Express)

who sits at No.63 with $41 million.

Had Swift and Harris stayed together, they would have been this year’s top-earning couple, surpassing Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z’s total of $107.5 million.

(Indian Express)

ied, but it was basically just hanging out and having fun.

“We lived in this basement with no heating, used sleeping bags, and shared a bathroom with a drug dealer who was ob-

Caitlyn Jenner excited about new grandson

R moved to England after a 15-month stint with the Swedish National Service at the age of 21, reported Digital Spy. “(My friend and I) just looked at a map. We both liked Leeds United FC so we thought, let’s go there.

We went there and stud-

sessed with the queen of Sweden for some reason.

It was kind of scary. Then I knew I had to decide what I wanted to do with my life,” he said. After six months slumming Skarsgard decided to go back to acting. (Indian Express)

be helmed by Tim Hill, is a feature adaptation of Robert Kimmel Smith’s novel of the same name, reported Variety.

The movie is being written by Lisa Addario, Joe Syracuse, Matt Ember and Tom Astle.

The story revolves around a young boy who is forced to quit his room for his Grandfather named Jack played by De Niro, the boy also carries out various pranks to get his grandpa out of his room. (Indian Express)

eality TV star Caitlyn Jenner has shared a picture of herself with son Burt and his baby boy, her new grandchild, Bodhi.

The 66-year-old “I Am Cait” star, who was previously known as Bruce Jenner, has shared a picture of herself with the oldest child Burt Jenner and his and partner Valerie Pitalo’s new baby boy Bodhi Burton, and couldn’t be happier with the latest addition to their family, reported Female First.

She captioned the Instagram picture, “So excited for Burt and Valerie. They named their adorable first child Bodhi. The first Jenner boy!! the name moves on (sic).”

(Indian Express)

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WEEK ENDING JULY 17, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Tallawahs prepare for Hero CPL clash with front-runners Amazon Warriors (Jamaica Observer)

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amaica Tallawahs C a p t a i n Christopher Gayle says he is focused on continuing his outstanding form in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20 (T20) tournament.

The Tallawahs are preparing for a series of home games at Sabina Park, starting with tomorrow’s encounter against Guyana Amazon Warriors.

Yesterday afternoon, the Tallawahs had an optional practice at Sabina Park.

“I’ll try to keep the some momentum going and do what’s working for me and deliver for the team and give the team that sort of start,” the opening batsman told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

Gayle started his 2016 CPL campaign with 51 off 36 balls in a fiverun win over St Kitts & Nevis Patriots at Warner Park on July 2.

Two days later he notched his 18th T20 century while smashing 108 not out of 54 balls in the seven-wicket defeat of reigning champions Trinbago Knight Riders

at Queen’s Park Oval.

He was harshly given out leg before wicket for a first-ball duck in the seven-wicket loss to Guyana Amazon Warriors on July 7.

But the big left-hander reclaimed his destructive form by blasting an unbeaten 47 from 20 balls in the rain-abandoned fixture against Barbados Tridents at Kensington Oval on Monday.

Gayle, who said he is aiming for at least three wins from the Tallawahs’ four games at Sabina Park, said it is important not to burden himself too much in front of his home fans.

“I’m happy with the start that I’ve had, and in home conditions sometimes there is more pressure because you tend to want to do extra well.

I don’t want to pile on too much pressure,” the Jamaican explained.

South African fast bowling great Dale Steyn, another of the star players representing the Tallawahs, has not had the smoothest of starts with the franchise.

He was economical in taking 1-21 off four overs against the Patriots, but struggled for accuracy against the Knight

Chris Gayle

Riders and the Amazon Warriors when rainy conditions and night dew made the ball slippery.

“The first one in St Kitts was a good one and we didn’t have any weather interference. When we got to Trinidad it was wet because it rained all day and it’s very difficult to handle those conditions.

“In Guyana we bowled second and the dew came (into play) and it was very, very tough.

You don’t find that the conditions are in your favour once the format gets shortened where you bowl only four overs, so the odds are already

stacked against you in terms of economy rate and opportunity to take wickets,” the 33-year-old

explained.

Steyn, who said he has enjoyed playing for the Jamaica franchise, is confident he will bounce back.

“All the teams have to go into that kind of stuff [wet conditions], so that’s fine, it’s not the end of the world. Hopefully the weather is good here [in Jamaica] and we have four good games over the next days.

“I just have to contribute to the team and help to win cricket games. I just came off a little stint with Glamorgan [in the T20 Blast tournament].

The ball is coming out nicely, it’s just about working out the pitches and the conditions,” he told the Observer.

Unlike the Tallawahs skipper, head coach Paul Nixon said he will not be satisfied with anything less than a perfect record at home. He insisted that Sabina Park must be a fortress for the Tallawahs.

“We are targeting every game. We have to do our homework and make sure our plan is right. We know Sabina Park well, and friends and family will be there in support.

It’s a fortress we want to create. I’d be disappointed at losing any single game of cricket and we know when we are playing well somebody’s got to play exceptionally well to beat us,” Nixon said. continued on page 54

‘Playing for CPL is a dream come through’ – Anton Devcich

By Romario Samaroo

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rinbago Knight Riders’ opening batsman, Anton Devcich has expressed his excitement after making his Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) debut against the Guyana Amazon Warriors at Providence on Sunday.

The New Zealand player admitted that he loves playing in the biggest party in sport.

“I was over the moon when I got picked up in the draft, you know it’s one of those things where you put your name in the hat and never really think you’re going to get picked up but to come to Trinbago Knight Riders is a dream come through.”

Devcich relishes the fortune to be joined by so many superstars in the CPL. “CPL has some fantastic players and I’m hoping to get a lot of knowledge and experience out of them.”

One of the best moments for Devcich was to meet the Prince of Port of Spain, Brian Charles Lara.

“He was the guy that got me started playing cricket. I am a huge fan of Lara and I loved watching him play against Australia and New Zealand. Every time the boys from the Caribbean came down under I was there.”

And while in Port of Spain preparing for CPL matches, Devcich got the opportunity to meet his hero and he also paid a visit to Lara’s home where he had a chat with the legend himself.

The left handed batsman replaced fellow

Anton Devcich made his CPL debut against the Amazon Warriors on Sunday

Kiwi, Brendon McCullum for the crucial game in Guyana but only managed seven runs with the bat, but returned with the ball to pick up the valuable wickets of Dwayne Smith and Chris Lynn with his left arm orthodox bowling.

Devcich expressed his like for the set up at the Providence Stadium, admiring its architecture and the crowd’s energetic partying style. “It’s a great little stadium here in Guyana and the crowds so close to the oval is simply amazing,” Devcich said.

The 30 year old will forever remember his CPL debut and said “To win our first game on the road and my first game in the CPL is something truly amazing and I think our bowling has let us down in the past but for me to contribute in this way for my team is great.”

Devcich was quick to point out the difference he noticed by playing in both the CPL and in New Zealand is the love of the

load music and the energy of the crowd all of which comes with the biggest party in sport.

“The music is loud, it is very different from New Zealand but it is exciting.”

The left handed batsman was particularly surprised at the way the crowds got behind the Amazon Warriors when they were winning and at some points almost became silent, never failing to express their emotions.

“They really get into the game when their team is doing well and it is very exciting,” he noted.

Devcich is very upbeat to continue playing for the Trinbago Knight Riders in their next match against the Barbados Tridents at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on Saturday as the defending champions look to press on their claim for back to back championships which have started poorly with the champs losing their three of their home matches but bounced back to win their first match on the road.

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National squash team confident of making it 12-in-a row – team departs for Caribbean Championships

By Akeem Greene

T

he National Squash Team will depart local shores today (Thursday) for the Cayman Islands for the Junior Caribbean Squash Championships with the teams’ two captains upbeat about their charges copping the title for a 12th successive time.

The championship which is the pride of the Region runs from July 16 to 23.

er believes that there are still nerves ahead of the games.

“It’s kind of nerve racking, I have the responsibility of leading the team, but I think we can do it, we have been working really hard and hope for the number 12 title” Fernandes said.

With his being her final year at the juniors, the player is setting her sights on another personal accolade, stating, “winning Guyana’s national tournament, that

The Champion Squash team along with coach Carl Ince (seated front row) and Digicel’s representative Luana Abrams (far right), and Anjeta Hinds (far left) of ANSA McAL Trading

Benjamin Mekdeci

Taylor Fernandes

Arguably the top seed in the Under-19 and Boys’ team captain Benjamin Meckdeci in speaking to the media at simple farewell at the Georgetown Club on Wednesday said that both his and the team’s preparation have been excellent.

“I really think that apart from all the other years, preparation this year, is some of the best I have seen in my seven years being on the team and I really think that is going to be even better for us; it’s going to be 12 years, the longest streak in Caribbean history and I really think we can keep it up”, Meckdeci stated with assurance.

The Guyana Junior Squash team has dominated the Sport in the Caribbean for over a decade and this year the 11-time defending champions have yet another talented batch of players attending the championships.

In speaking of the composition of the team, Mekdeci said, “I really think our team is one that is apart from the rest of the Caribbean because we have a sense of unity, it’s one association, it’s one club.”

Female Captain Taylor Fernandes was also glowing with optimism on how the team is expected to perform but with seven years of experience under her belt, the under-19 play-

puts me as the under-19 champion, so that puts me as first going into the Caribbean championships and I hope to win it”.

Representatives from corporate supporters Digicel and Ansa Mc AL were present at the function and wished the team success and pledged further support for the sport.

S p o n s o r s h i p Executive of Digicel, Luana Abrams, and Smalta Brand Manager, Anjeta Hinds, spoke of how proud their respective companies are to be associated with the champion squash team.

Team Guyana reads: Benjamin Mekdeci, Alex Melville, Alexander Cheeks, Daniel Islam, Shomari Wiltshire, Anthony Islam, Demetrius De Abreu, Samuel Ince- Carvalhal, Michael Alphonso, Kamir Khan, James Mekdeci, Mohryan Baksh, Saywak Rithew, Taylor Fernandes, Larissa Wiltshire, Rebecca Low, Mekeda Harding, Abosaide Cadogan, Maya Collins, Madison Fernandes, Kirsten Gomes and Georgana Paige Fernandes.

The team will be coached by the experienced Carl Ince and Managed by Garfield Wiltshire with David Fernandes performing the duties as Assistant Manager.

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AB de Villiers blasts Tridents to St. Lucia Zouks call up Jerome victory over Patriots in Hero CPL Taylor as replacement for Cummins

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brilliant innings from AB de Villiers helped the Barbados Tridents to victory in their Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) match against the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. His innings of 82 was his second half century in his last two innings and his highest score this season.

When the chase got under way the Patriots got off to a decent start but disciplined bowling from the Tridents prevented them reaching their target as they fell 26 runs short of victory.

Faf du Plessis attempted to hold things together while also scoring quickly but his 42 was not enough to secure victory for his team.

An excellent start with the ball from the Patriots in the Tridents batting PowerPlay saw them take control of this match before de Villiers ripped it away from them. Alzarri Joseph, one of the stars of the West Indies Under-19 World Cup triumph, bowled brilliantly with the new ball. He beat Ramon Reifer for pace with a shorter ball that ballooned up for a catch for Lendl Simmons.

Two more wickets fell inside the first six overs; USA international Steven Taylor trapped lbw by Sheldon Cottrell and Shoaib Malik caught mistiming a pull off Samuel Badree, as the Tridents found themselves 29-3 and in real trouble on an excellent Kensington Oval pitch.

From there de Villiers proved why he is considered the best batsman

across formats in world cricket as he steadied the Tridents ship. He began slowly but accelerated brilliantly throughout his innings. He finished with 82 from 54 balls, the highlight being the giant six that he smashed over the roof of the grandstand off Cottrell.

He was dropped three times during his innings, the last of which involved a sickening collision between JJ Smuts and Kieran Powell. It was a bone-crushing impact and it was upsetting to see Powell leaving the ground in an ambulance.

Powell suffered a concussion and he is being closely observed by the medical staff, and was unable to bat.

De Villiers was well supported by Nicolas Pooran and Kieron Pollard as the Tridents managed 180-6 off their 20 overs, a formidable target for a misfiring Patriots team to chase down.

Smuts had recovered well enough from his impact with Powell to open the batting for the Patriots and he didn’t seem to be showing any lasting after-effects as he struck Wayne Parnell

for back-to-back fours in the first over. Smuts looked to be well set to make a decent contribution when he attempted to cut a wide ball from Akeal Hosein and only succeeded in chipping the ball straight to Reifer at point.

Proteas batsman du Plessis made a significant contribution, but he lacked any real support from his colleagues as the required rate began to rise. Jonathan Carter made 47 but he struggled to make those runs at a decent lick, as a result heaping more pressure on du Plessis.

The required rate was up to 14 an over when du Plessis attempted a cross-batted swipe to a delivery from Reifer that he edged onto his stumps.

Carter swung manfully to try and catch up with the rate, but it just kept climbing.

The Patriots are not mathematically eliminated from the Hero CPL, but their chances of making the knockout stages rest on them winning their remaining four matches and hoping for other results to go their way.

Starc could take 300 Test wickets – Lehmann

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itchell Starc has the talent to take 300 Test wickets, but only if his fitness and workload can be properly managed across all three formats, according to Australia's coach Darren Lehmann.

Starc missed the second half of Australia's Test summer and the World Twenty20 in India due to his recovery from ankle surgery, and made his international comeback in the recent oneday tri-series in the Caribbean. He is set to resume as Australia's Test spearhead against Sri Lanka this month and Lehmann said juggling Starc through all forms of the game would continue to be key for Australia.

"If he stays on the park, he could [take 300 wickets]," Lehmann told the Age. "He plays all formats - that is the hardest part for him, managing him through that is going to be our challenge as a coaching staff and selection panel, making sure high-priority Test tours, one-day tours, World Cups and all that, are going to be high on the agenda, and making sure he is fit and available for those.

"He has had a big lay-off. For him to come back and then do what he did [in

the West Indies], as always, he gets wickets ... for us it was a pretty good tick-thebox exercise where he got through and looking forward to the next phase of Test cricket."

The Sri Lankan pitches will likely favour spin and reverse swing, and Starc's ability to get the older ball moving could be important. Lehmann said Starc's speed and swing would be key assets in Sri Lanka, a view shared by South African fast bowler Allan Donald, who is acting as Australia's bowling coach for the Sri Lanka tour.

"Starc's the one, without a shadow of doubt," Donald told Cricket Australia.

"He's a 150 (kph) bowler, he's done it in the World Cup and in Twenty20 cricket. I've seen him destroy top orders, middle orders, lower orders doing that same thing from both sides. That's where he is at, and that's why he is the leading fast bowler in the world right now."

Australia have a two-day intra-squad practice game in Sri Lanka this week, followed by a first-class tour game ahead of the opening Test in Pallekele, beginning on July 26.

Jerome Taylor

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he St. Lucia Zouks have added West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor to their squad for the remainder of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign as Miguel Cummins has been called up to the West Indies Test squad for the upcoming series against India.

Jamaican born Taylor, 32, is set to link up with the Zouks squad following their clash against Guyana Amazon Warriors on Tuesday night, and is expected to be in the frame for selection for their next Hero CPL game, which is away to Barbados Tridents on

Sunday, 17 July.

Taylor retired from Test cricket at the start of the week, having represented the West Indies in 46 Tests, and he has also played 85 One-Day Internationals and 10 T20 Internationals to date. In 61 career T20 matches to date Taylor has taken 74 wickets, with best bowling figures of five wickets for 10 runs. He has previously represented the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Hero CPL. The Zouks’ opening home match against the Patriots is sure to attract a large following and is one not to be missed as it will mark the launch

of the newly re-named 12,400 capacity Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, previously known as the Beauséjour Stadium.

Fans will also get to be a part of history for the opening of the newly-renamed Johnson Charles Stand. *Tickets for all CPL fixtures in the Caribbean and Fort Lauderdale are on sale now from www. cplt20.com.

St. Lucia Zouks Home Fixtures (all times local): 21 July – St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots (6pm), 23 July – Barbados Tridents (12 Midday), 24 July – Guyana Amazon Warriors (5pm), 26 July – Trinbago Knight Riders (6pm) St. Lucia Zouks: David Miller, Shane Watson, Darren Sammy (captain), Michael Hussey, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Morne Morkel, Jerome Taylor, Derone Davis, Grant Elliott, Kristopher Ramsaran, Shane Shillingford, Delorn Johnson, Kyle Mayers, Keddy Lesporis, Nitish Kumar, Gidron Pope

Ashwin ready to be 'boring' to be successful in West Indies

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ffspinner R Ashwin has said that he believes patience will be the key for him and India's other bowlers on the slow tracks of the West Indies. He would have to be "as boring as possible", Ashwin said, stubbornly sticking to good lines and lengths to get the better of the batsmen during the fourTest series that begins on July 21.

"I'm sure it's going to be challenging because of the kind of wickets, the kind of heat... From whatever I saw in the last [warm-up] game, the wickets were pretty slow," Ashwin told BCCI.tv. "I'm sure I'll have to be as boring as possible in terms of trying to plug away all day long."

Ashwin did not play India's first warm-up game, but said he learnt a lot from watching legspinner Amit Mishra who picked up four wickets - bowl. "[The pitches are] getting slower. If the wickets are going to be tailor-made for us, if it starts spinning, then we come into our own. But until then, it's all about patience.

"The other day you saw Mishy bowl for about 15-16 overs without any wickets, but once he got a breakthrough, he started breaking through at regular intervals. So that's what we have to look for - especially the first couple of days or probably even three days of the Test match, there is not going to be a lot in it for the spinners. There might be a little bit of bounce or little bit of slowness in the wicket that you can exploit, but it's got to be pretty boring lines and lengths and keep teasing with your flight."

Ashwin said watching new head coach Anil Kumble bowl in the nets was already benefitting him. He has chatted with Kumble, he said, and knows what the coach expects of him. "He has brought in a lot of meticulousness among the group. There is some very good discipline in the nets. The batsmen get out to the nets at the perfect time for a start, and that's not been going around for

Ravichandran Ashwin

some time [laughs].

"And he [Kumble] has already started bowling in the nets, which is something I pick out notes from. So far, he has provided me with a lot of confidence and a lot of responsibility. It's been more of giving me the license to try and express myself, which is something I really relish. We've had a very open chat and he has already told me what he's looking forward to from me, and I have already told him what I'm looking forward to him teaching me. " With captain Virat Kohli largely preferring a combination that features five bowlers, Ashwin's batting could also come into play for India. He has been working on it with batting coach Sanjay Bangar, Ashwin said. "That [batting] is something I work very hard on. I have set some goals with the coaching staff, as to what I want to achieve - not just in terms of numbers, but in terms of how correct I can be, how much more solid I can become as a batter.

"And that's a process, because the first phase is to not give your wicket away and then you can accelerate - I've got the shots to do it. Sanjay bhai has worked day in and day out with me, and, at last, he seems to be happy with how it's shaping up."

India play a second warm-up game in Basseterre from July 14, over three days, before heading to Antigua for the first Test. (ESPNCRICINFO)

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Tallawahs prepare for Hero CPL clash ...

from page 50

Match 15, Jamaica Tallawahs v Guyana Amazon Warriors Preview

the Biggest Party in Sport moves on to Kingston on Friday, and Jamaica Tallawahs coach Paul Nixon says his team are feeling very confident ahead of their home leg of the Hero CPL. “We are in a fan-

tastic place. We have come back home in second place. We have had Andre Russell missing for a few games now, he is coming back into the fold now. Chris [Gayle] is in world class form.

“We are of course bitterly disappointed about the last game [against Barbados Tridents] being rained out. We

thought that was a very good target on a wet night. The bouncebackability that we have shown from Guyana after some slightly poor decision making, we are in a much better place.”

A big crowd is expected at Sabina Park and Nixon says they have some great cricket to look forward to from his charges. “[The crowd] can expect some fearless cricket. The guys know their roles and their responsibilities. We want to put on a show for the fantastic crowd that we will get here. It will be a sell-out, the ground will be rocking, it will be pumping.

We have got to have calm heads, make sure we execute our skills well and stick to our gameplans and take the game deep – we want to go out and put a real show on.”

The one defeat that the Tallawahs have had this season came against their opponents in the upcoming fixture – the table topping Guyana Amazon Warriors. Nixon says he has been impressed with them so far but that the conditions in Kingston will be different to those in Providence.

“The Warriors have done well. They have Tanvir up front, a left-

armer who bowls nicely. But their strength is in their batting. They will do their homework, they will know what to expect. This will be a bit quicker [than the pitch in Guyana] with a bit more bounce.”

Nixon is still clearly disappointed with that loss to Guyana and he says the mistakes of that game will not be repeated.

“We still felt at 70-3 we should have got 140.

We went wicket, wicket and then another couple of overs and then wicket, wicket – that happened three times. And that is the only time it will happen in this competition. I guarantee that.”

U P C O M I N G FIXTURE: Friday, 15 July – Jamaica Tallawahs v Guyana Amazon Warriors, Sabina Park (8pm) (cplt20)

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