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Crime situation has become intolerable, says Rohee ISSUE NO. 319

WEEK ENDING November 13, 2016

See story on page 3

…as gunmen carry out brazen attack on his home

Explosion of fashion and beauty expected Ramjattan to

…as Guyana Fashion Week heats up in Georgetown this weekend

address rift in police force hierarchy

See story on page 9

See story on page 35 An explosion of fashion and beauty will hit the runway this weekend at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown as the Guyana Fashion Week 2016 rolls out spectacular designs by local and international designers.

In photo are some of the models who are expected to participate. (Carl Croker photo)

What a Trump victory means for Guyanese See page 4

Cordial relations with U.S. will continue under Trump’s presidency – Granger See story on page 3

2 news

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

More women to New Ombudsman to benefit from business be appointed soon empowerment training …Gov’t to engage Opposition on issue

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F

irst Lady Sandra Granger continues to facilitate women’s empowerment by equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge which will contribute towards making them economically stable individuals.

This, according to the Government Information Agency (GINA), will be carried out through the Self-Reliance and Success in Business workshop.

The facilitation of these workshops is made possible through the Office of the First Lady and the Social Protection Ministry.

A number of workshops empowering women through entrepreneurship have already been held across the country and, according to the First Lady, two more communities will benefit from the women’s empowerment programme by the end of 2016.

“We are going to Linden and Blairmont before the end of the year, and we have some more workshops. We keep the numbers small to make sure that everybody gets full benefit from the facilitators. It’s nice to say, you have 100 people, but how much do those people learn to expand their businesses from that? So we keep it to a minimum, we say 30 or 35, but we have gone close to 40 on occasions. When people walk in, they will be included, and that’s how we go with women empowerment,” Mrs Granger explained.

Workshops have already been held in Lusignan, Linden, Lethem, Mabaruma, Port Kaituma, Mahdia, Rosignol, Bartica, Anna Regina and Kuru Kururu.

The First Lady stated that

First Lady Sandra Granger

“Education is the key. I’ve been to all the regions because I don’t believe development would only happen on the coastland, but my projects are aimed at empowering women and girls for the obvious reason, the data has shown once women advance economically their families advance with them, so I will always go along with advancing women and moving them forward with my workshop on self-reliance and success in business.”

To date, approximately 280 women have benefited from training through the workshop. Upon completion, each participant is awarded a certificate, which is recognised by the Business Ministry and which makes her a certified businesswoman.

inister of State, Joseph Harmon, on Thursday, told media personnel that the appointment of a person to occupy the office of the Ombudsman is to be carefully considered, but can be soon expected.

“I can let you know that we are looking at the matter, we are looking at the appointment of an Ombudsman, but it is something which requires careful consideration,” the Minister said during a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Minister Harmon however, added that in keeping with the law, the government must engage with the opposition leader in making decisions with regards person or persons who may be eligible for the position.

Harmon added that, “I can say to you that in fact that we looking at several persons, which ones we have basically decided on, what are the names of the persons we are likely to put up, but we would have to discuss that with the Leader of the Opposition, and to get his ‘buy in’ on it.”

The last Ombudsman, Justice Winston Moore died in September.

Moore was appointed to the position in January 2014.

Justice Winston Moore died in September

The ombudsman’s office is an independent, impartial body providing free services, in investigating complaints that haven't been solved by an organisation or public body that the complaint is against. An Ombudsman will also investigate complaints of cases that have been handled badly or unfairly, making someone suffer as a result.(GINA)

Woman bludgeoned to death in T&T

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n Enterprise grandmother was found bludgeoned to death metres from her home early Thursday morning.

According to reports, Pamela Balgobin , 37, was walking along Walcott Lane Enterprise around 5 am when a man known to her snatched money she was holding in her hand.

She accosted him and the two got into an argument on the roadway.

The man then allegedly began beating Balgobin with a piece of

wood on her head.

Sometime after, a resident walking along the same street saw the nude body of a woman lying on the roadway. The woman’s head and face were bashed in.

He alerted other residents, including relatives of Balgobin who were able to identify her.

The residents held the man a short distance away and contacted the police.

Up until noon, police and crime scene investigators were on the scene.

(Trinidad Guardian)

NEWS 3

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Cordial relations with U.S. will continue under Trump’s presidency – Granger H

ours after stunning the world by heavily defeating his favoured rival – Democrat Hillary Clinton – in Tuesday’s presidential election, President David Granger on Wednesday extended congratulations to the new President-elect of the United States of America Donald Trump, stating that Guyana is looking forward to continued bilateral relations with the North American nation.

Commenting on Trump’s victory, which makes him the 45th U.S. President, the Guyanese Head of State told reporters from his official residence that America is a democratic country and he believes that the presidential election was conducted in a transparent manner.

“I think there is no country in the world that is not aware over the last six months about what was taking place, even some Guyanese had to vote (in the US elections). They were fully aware of the programmes of the two major presidential candidates but it’s a democratic outcome, we respect American democracy, and on behalf of the Government of Guyana I’d like to extend congratulations to the incoming President, Donald Trump,” President Granger stated.

Going forward, the Head of State noted that Guyana will

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump

continue its cordial relations with the United States following President Trump’s inauguration in January. “I’ve already met with a senior official of the Department of State so we do not expect that there will be any significant alterations in the cordial relations we have enjoyed with the United States,” the President noted.capture Moreover, President Granger said he is looking forward to collaborating with the Trump Administration, particularly in the area of security with the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, a brainchild of President Barrack

Obama.

“We look forward to work with the Trump Administration because we are concerned with the security of the hemisphere and we are very confident that the American’s concerns about the security of the hemisphere will not diminish,” posited the Guyanese Leader.

The 70-year-old Trump won the US presidential election early Wednesday in a stunning victory that sent shockwaves around the world. The Republican nominee defied pre-election polling to claim swing states, winning the key battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and North Carolina.

Trump won some 26 of the 52 states while Clinton only secured wins in 18. Out of the 538 electoral votes, Trump got 290 of them and Clinton 228.

In his victory speech early Wednesday morning, Trump was gracious towards Clinton, while pledging to citizens that he will be a President for all Americans.

“Now it is time for America to bind the wounds of division, have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and Independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. It is time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be President for all

President David Granger

of Americans, and this is so important to me,” he said in his first address after the results were announced.

Trump, a real estate billionaire and former reality TV-star, will be the first President to enter the White House with no political, diplomatic or military executive experience.

Clinton, on the other hand, in her concession speech later that day, said she offered to work with Trump on behalf of the country.

The Democratic nominee pointed out that the Constitution requires a peaceful transfer of power, as she

urged Americans to be open minded and give the new President-elect a chance to lead the country.

“Last night (Tuesday), I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful President for all Americans…

Donald Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead,” she stated.

She also admitted how painful her defeat was, saying she is sorry to her supporters and campaign workers for not bring home a victory.

“This is not the outcome that we wanted and we worked so hard for, and I am sorry that we did not win this election,” Clinton said of her second attempt for the White House.

Meanwhile, outgoing President Barack Obama has congratulated Trump personally and told Americans during a press briefing on the lawns of the White House that they should root for Trump’s success, as he assured a “smooth transition” of powers to his successor.

“It is no secret that the President-elect and I have some pretty significant differences… We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country,” he noted.

Crime situation has become intolerable, says Rohee …as gunmen carry out brazen attack on his home

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hree gunmen on Wednesday morning executed a daring robbery on the home of former Home Affairs Minister, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Clement Rohee at his Eccles, East Bank Demerara residence.

The robbery occurred just about 12:00h after the gunmen gained entry via an open door on the lower flat of the house and tied up the two maids.

Reports are that the men ransacked the house and carted off an undisclosed sum of cash and a quantity of jewellery. After the ordeal, the bandits escaped in a waiting car. The women subsequently managed to untie themselves and raised an alarm. When Guyana Times International arrived at the scene, detectives were busy conducting their investigations and dusting stra-

Home Affairs Minister, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Clement Rohee

tegic locations for fingerprints.

After some time, Rohee told media operatives that he was not at home when the men executed the robbery.

He related that the two maids were in the home and might have left the back door ajar and it was through there the men gained entry. The

men were carrying guns and a knife.

After confronting the two women, the bandits held them at gunpoint and ordered them into the upper flat of the building, where they were gagged and bound with duct tape.

The men, Rohee stated, ransacked the home and found

a quantity of jewellery belonging to himself and his wife.

Meanwhile, this newspaper understands that the car that was used in the robbery was found by the Police. They are presently looking for the woman from whom the car was rented by the bandits.

Reports have also surfaced that several firearms owned by the former Minister might have been taken by the bandits, but the politician refuted the claims. He explained that while the men ransacked the house, they were not successful in locating his firearms.

“I don’t know of any weapons taken from the home; in fact, I have my firearms here and when I check, it looks as if they either didn’t see it or didn’t touch it,” the former Minister stated. In addition, Rohee is of the view that the robbery was not a random one.

“It had to be something that made them come to this specific house of all the other houses in the neighbourhood,” he opined.

He added that the crime situation in the country has become intolerable.

“I was made to understand that this kind of incident is very prevalent in this Eccles area, not because this affected me, but quite a significant amount of people have come to recognise that the crime situation has become intolerable.”

The Police are reviewing the surveillance footage from the house.

Hours prior to this robbery, the home belonging to the son of well-known chartered accountant and attorney, Christopher Ram was burglarised. Almost G$1.2 million in items was taken. The Police are yet to arrest anyone in connection with both incidents. (Kizzy Coleman)

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WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

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EDITORIAL

Trump’s victory – as we predicted

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e repeat our editorial from September, not to gloat about our prediction but to emphasise why that prediction was correct – the effects of “American Exceptionalism” and “Nativism”.

“Contrary to what most of the political pundits outside U.S. borders thought would be the case by now, Donald Trump is still setting the agenda for the U.S. presidential race against Hillary Clinton. With their elections less than two months away …Trump is well on his way to become the next president of the United States – as this paper proposed back in March even before Trump secured the Republican nomination.

The force driving Trump forwards and over Clinton is he is representing some very deep fears in huge swathes of Americans who have seen the boast of “American Exceptionalism” (AE) exposed as being just a hollow boast. Clinton, as part of the old politics, is blamed for allowing America to become “ordinary” and be subjected to all the ailments and challenges that only other nations were supposed to face – such as depending on “foreigners” to offer it credit to maintain its standard of living.

American Exceptionalism arose from three strands of thought, the first of which sprouted in the circumstances of their formation as the first nation to have become independent through a revolution. This revolution was not confined to defeating the colonial power Britain on the battlefield but spread to instituting new ideas in governance, constitutionalism, individualism and business. Very early on, the U.S. leaders also undertook a mission to export their vision of what the world ought to look like through doctrines such as the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 and its wars to “make the world safe for democracy” into the present. And finally, there is the firm conviction that because of their “exceptionalism”, the U.S. is superior to other nations.

After WWII, AE was challenged by the USSR in the Cold War between the two nations, but by 1989, America emerged as the lone superpower standing as the USSR disintegrated. But even then, the seeds had already been set by economic forces that would witness the emergence of other nations such as Japan, China and India that would command enough resources to become quite independent of the U.S. hegemony.

Interestingly, the growth of those nations was facilitated by U.S.-based global corporations that felt impelled to seek greater profits through first licensing their technology to foreign countries with cheaper labour costs and then to actually “outsourcing” production and operations there. American manufacturing prowess atrophied and their well-paid blue-collar work force atrophied. Trump is exploiting the resentment of the millions that have been adversely affected by this move by promising he would reverse it through “macho” unilateral actions that evoke “American Exceptionalism”. In trying to be more nuanced and acknowledging the limits of modern American power, Clinton is seen as “weak”.

Simultaneously with the “outsourcing” of American production and services, illegal immigrants –- generally non-white – were allowed in to perform the menial jobs that the Americans would not accept at the rates offered. At the other end of the spectrum, skilled workers – most of them also non-whites from India and China – were also encouraged in to perform high-paying jobs in the STEM areas. This created a backlash of “nativism” – that Trump has also exploited through threats of mass deportations and building a wall on the border with Mexico – against which, Clinton, as part of the old order, cannot compete.

Finally, while both Trump and Clinton have committed to “defending democracy” abroad, Trump has placed more emphasis on other countries accepting greater responsibility for defending themselves. While this may appear to be a diminution of the American Exceptional commitment to “bear any burden” to defend “democracy”, Trump, much more effectively than Clinton, has struck just the right note of bellicosity towards the US traditional allies to be defended, which masks the retreat.And the Trump juggernaut rumbles on.”

A young artist presents a portrait to First Lady, Mrs Sandra Granger

What a Trump victory means for Guyanese

By Dr. Vishnu Bisram

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epublican candidate Donald Trump defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for the Presidency on Tuesday in what has been one of the most bitter and divisive U.S. election campaigns in history. The Trump victory was shocking as almost every analyst and opinion poll expected a Clinton victory.

Trump campaigned on a narrow, divisive anti-immigrant, xenophobic and American nationalistic agenda. And it was bought by a majority of American voters. He was the anti-politics candidate that Americans embraced.

Given his anti-immigrant position, it is natural for immigrants to have jitters over a Trump victory especially so considering the many threats he made to deport illegal immigrants.

So what does his victory mean for Guyanese and other immigrant communities in the U.S. and for relations with the Caribbean region in general?

It is well known that most Guyanese and Caribbean nationals in the U.S. preferred Hillary Clinton and had expected a Democratic victory although some were supportive of Trump. In fact, as I moved around in the greater Richmond Hill area and Jamaica and parts of Queens as well as Cypress Hills and other sections of Brooklyn, on elections day, I observed heavy voter turnout among Guyanese Americans.

In conversations, they indicated they voted by a lopsided margin in favour of Democrat Clinton over Republican Trump.

Other Caribbean Americans reveal a similar trend. Clinton had over 90 percent of the Guyanese and Caribbean American votes. Hillary was also win-

ning a huge majority of Asians and Indian Americans and Hispanics.

But there were some other West Indians, including a few Guyanese who felt the country needed a shake-up and thought Donald was the man for the job. They decided to give him a chance; and he has won. So it is not that immigrants did not support Trump. In fact, a large segment of Indian Americans supported Trump campaigning for him and donating tens of millions of dollars to his campaign. Trump owes them and as such he is not likely to pursue policies that will hurt immigrant communities supportive of him.

It is my view that not much will change in terms of the status of Guyanese in the U.S. or relations with Guyana. The status quo will largely prevail in terms of foreign relations and trade with the Caribbean region and that there will not be significant change in policy on immigration matters.

Immigration amnesty will be off the table, and as such those tens of thousands of illegal or undocumented Guyanese and Caribbean nationals (among some 11 million) will see their hopes to obtain legal status in the U.S. shattered. Illegals could be deported if caught and those illegals serving time in jail will have their deportations expedited – this will have consequences on internal security.

But family sponsorship will

not be affected and issuance of visitors’ visa in Georgetown will continue.

Further, there could be an open immigration policy for skilled personnel (STEM) as Trump had advocated for limiting unskilled immigrants and increasing the inflow of scientists and engineers and technical experts. Foreign students will continue to be welcomed.

Trump will be pro-business and anti-regulation. He would favour an open-door policy and offer incentives for American businesses to return operations in America rather than invest in low cost labour nations.

There are hardly any major American investments in Guyana; so Guyana will not be seriously affected in terms of business divestment. Trade policy will not be affected and at any rate Guyana and the Caribbean region has insignificant volume of trade with the U.S. in terms of dollar amounts or a percentage of U.S. trade.

Also, security cooperation will continue. Support for anti-terrorist activities will continue. AID policy will continue although there could be a reduction in aid given a stalled American economy.

But Trump would toughen up conditions on AID that could be tied to a crackdown on drug trafficking. All of this will redound to the benefit of Guyana and the Caribbean region in the long run.

NEWS 5

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Trini immigrants shocked Antiguan teen by underdog’s victory dead in suspected suicide

Reprinted from Trinidad Guardian

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here was shock and disbelief among the Trinidadian and Caribbean community as Donald Trump won Tuesday’s election to become the 45th President of the United States.

He will take the oath of office next January but will spend the next few days marshalling his troops and rebuilding bridges within his Republican Party and is also expected to put together his Cabinet.

Trump’s win has been hailed by the Republicans but immigrants are now concerned about what the win means for them given Trump’s public statements on immigrants during the campaign.

Trinidadians who spoke to the T&T Guardian admitted to being “disappointed and worried” about their future, saying they are now “left to wonder how long we will have jobs and what will be our future here.”

Elsa, from New York, said: “Outside like the morning of 9-11, everything bleak. The only difference is that now is

11-9 but the weather is the same. It cloudy and bleak. People are afraid that something will happen.”

She said many Caribbean Immigrants woke up yesterday “in a state of shock. Everybody just wondering what will happen now. It is like a bad dream. People sad and quiet but we are rallying together.”

Another New York resident, Gloria, said: “Trump won by a landslide and now he saying he wants to bring everybody together. But he divided America with his evil talk. He won because men like evil rather than good but out of evil cometh good and we are praying and hoping for the best.”

Gloria said Trinidadians and other Caribbean nationals

were fearful.

“They saying all ah we dead now but we have to wait and watch and see what will happen. Plenty praying going on,” she added.

Mikael La Roche, from Washington DC, told the CNC3 Morning Brew: “The voice of rural America spoke in the election.” La Roche said he sat in “disbelief and watched it unfold.”

“At first people thought it was a joke.

The social media reaction was that everyone would pack up their bags and go home but seeing is believing. Everyone now realise there is going to be change,” he said.

La Roche, like many other Caribbean immigrants, is now waiting to see what happens.

“There are so many neg-

ative things outside of immigration, it is a matter of shock and waiting to see how it unfolds.”

Jessie, from Florida, said when she woke up and heard the news Trump had won “I broke down and cried. I felt betrayed by what I saw as America’s ignorance.

I could not believe that Floridians had voted Trump into office.”

Another Trinidadian, Christine, who returned to New York on Monday to vote in the election, said: “If I knew how this was going to turn out I would have stayed in Trinidad.”

She told the T&T Guardian: “I kept praying that Hillary would win but I think the election was rigged. I think Trump was talking about the Republican Party when he talked about rigging. This is a sad day for America. I believe Putin had a lot to do with this election.”

Clinton had raised the Vladimir Putin factor in one of the debates, questioning Trump’s close relationship with the Russian leader.

Hours after Trump’s win Putin sent him a congratulatory message.

L

aw enforcement officials in Antigua have confirmed that they were investigating the suspected suicide of teenager, Tevin Royer, of Herberts.

According to the Antigua Observer, the 18 year old was discovered, hanging, by his mother around 5pm on Wednesday afternoon.

A belt was reportedly tied around his neck.

Royer was transported to hospital where he died according to the police.

Investigators were at the Herbert’s home gathering evidence and speaking to relatives, while members of the community gathered

outside the home to seek answers about the boy’s death.

Sources said Royer was due to appear in court later this month. A close friend said he was stressed out because of the court appearance, according to the Antigua Observer.

Friends took to social media to say RIP to Royer who went to the Jennings Secondary School.

“I really can’t believe this yo. Tevin Royer was literally the life of everyone’s day. If you were around him you would laugh like there’s no tomorrow,” a friend wrote on Facebook.

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WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Sugar industry performed well in 2015 due to hard work of the previous Govt Dear Editor, The Chairman of Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Board of Directors, Dr Clive Thomas, in another section of the media on Sunday spoke about how well the industry performed in 2015. The entire Government body has been making statements about how good the second crop was.

Dr Thomas mentioned that the punt dumper at Skeldon estate works very well. This is true since a lot of work was done on it.

He also mentioned that new markets have been found in Italy for Guyana’s sugar.

Well, in my view, the Chairman made an excellent case for saving the industry and to prevent its closure. To his credit, he, as head of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI), did not recommend closure.

The gains made in 2015 were as a result of the work of the PPP/C government.

The old punt dumper was replaced in 2014 and commissioned in the beginning of the first crop in 2015. Indeed, GuySuCo’s projection was that the punt dumper would have averaged 275 tonnes of cane per hour. That was possible, the fact that in some days, it was lifting 280 tonnes per hour.

The highly lauded achievements of the industry during the second crop of 2015 were due to the good management of Dr Raj Singh (the immediate past CEO), who ensured that every effort was made to see the canes planted.

That, of course, is the main factor in dealing with the cane supply

chain.

The poor performance in the first and anticipated poor performance in the second crop of 2016 is due to the lack of canes in the fields—a clear managerial issue. The new board should find out why not enough canes were planted. The talk about drought is just an excuse.

The Chairman also spoke about the new market in Italy. GuySuCo actually started selling sugar to Italy in 2013. In 2014, the quantity supplied was increased. It is good that GuySuCo has kept this market.

The market in the US, where we are selling ‘Enmore Crystals,’ was launched in 2014. It is good that the new board has managed to hold onto this market as well.

I wish also to point out that in recognition of the fact that the European Union (EU) had ended the Sugar Protocol, which cost the industry billions; the EU has been compensating the industry.

They are giving ACP sugar-producing countries some financial assistance to cushion the ending of the Sugar Protocol. Of course, they attached certain conditions on its disbursements.

Only last week, Finance Minister Winston Jordan received a cheque from the EU for €$24.4M (G$5.4B).

This was money which the PPP/C Government had negotiated. Indeed, it was the PPP/C administration that met all the conditions for that money. It is intended to be pumped into the sugar industry.

It is hoped that the regime would give that money to GuySuCo,

which could help in staving off closures.

The fact that this year’s production is down is due to many factors.

The contempt shown to the workers and their unions is one of them.

No discussions, no involvement, just dictation is now the new style of management. I suppose this reflects Central Government’s administrative style.

The decline in production is also due to the racial and political discrimination that is so rampant in the industry.

Many managers with lifelong experience in the industry, some of the best the industry had, were fired for no credible reason. The only reasonable conclusion was racial and political discrimination.

I had, in a previous article, spoken about this and listed the names of the persons dismissed – all of whom were IndoGuyanese.

These are things that the board should investigate. Racial discrimination will ruin the industry as it did to the whole country in an earlier PNC regime. The regime has also gone on a hiring spree of high paying persons. The decisions being taken are very poor.

Dr Clive Thomas should look again at the plan left by the last GuySuCo Board. The industry can be saved and could prosper.

Thomas is eminently qualified to so advise the regime. The problem is that it appears the Cabinet is made up of the deaf and blind when it comes to sugar.

Sincerely, Donald Ramotar Former President

Are our leaders running out of options to deal with the crime situation?

Dear Editor, Serious crime continues to wreck Guyanese families daily and lawmakers seem to be out of options for addressing it. Lawmakers have not publicly acknowledged that crime has spiraled out of control, but recent announcements suggest that it has earned their attention. However, proposed interventions by the Government are likely to worsen serious crimes instead of reducing it. Also, questions about the exact nature of the proposed interventions need to be clarified.

Question 1. Do the Police know whether the murders originated from the guns of licensed firearm holders? The Police should know from simple ballistic tests whether the guns used in these killings belong to civilians. I am assuming that the Police have the tools and resources to conduct timely and accurate ballistic tests.

In fact, the ballistic tests would identify the exact owner of the firearm if it was used in a crime.

These are basic tests of any murder investigation.

If the Police have this information, the normal course of justice would then take its course. That is, they would be able to issue arrest warrants and then prosecute the identified firearm holders. But to date, the Police have not made any statement that suggests the majority (or the exact percentage) of serious crimes involved the use of licenced firearms.

Question 2. What does “clamping down on the issuance of gun licenses to civilians” mean? While this seems straightforward, it is difficult to imagine how much more difficult the process of acquiring a firearm licenced can become. Currently, it takes anywhere from

three to six years for the average Guyanese to get a firearm licence – based on the account of countless individuals who have been through the process. The time taken for businessmen may be shorter since they have the connections and resources to grease the system. But even businessmen who have unquestionable reasons for wanting a licenced firearm complained about the process. So exactly what does clamping down on the issuance of gun licenses to civilians mean, and exactly how this move would help stop the senseless killings and robberies remain unclear.

Question 3. Would the Government seize licensed firearms from law abiding citizens? The government signalled the possibility of revoking licensed firearms from law abiding citizens. This course of action assumes that the government knows exactly which guns are used in the killings (question one). If the Police have evidence of licensed firearm holders being involved in criminal activities, which include renting their firearms to criminals, such individuals must be prosecuted, not just have their firearms seized.

As we already established, the Police have not indicated it has evidence even suggesting licensed firearm holders are involved in criminal activities. What we know for a fact, however, is that there are incidents where licensed firearm holders managed to save their lives as well as their families’ by defending themselves.

While I do not support civilians taking the law into their own hands, pursuing such course of action without the necessary evidence is equivalent to the ‘abuse of power’ and ‘violation of citizens’ rights to

life’ and ‘the right to defend themselves and their families’. Moreover, it signals to criminals that they now have a free pass to murder families.

Question 4.

Why would businessmen and farmers rent their weapons to murderers? The Government’s assertion that licensed firearm owners are renting their weapons to criminals; without evidence, this is a direct accusation, ill-informed and off-base. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most of the estimated 10,000 licensed firearms belong to businessmen and farmers. Businesses have been equally targeted, as well as their families in the recent murder and robbery spree. The survival of their businesses and farmers depend on the safety and security of families and a growing economy.

Exactly why businessmen and farmers would rent their licensed firearms to criminals is beyond comprehension.

It is critically important for the State to bring crime under control.

However, this course of action is unlikely to bring crime under control. It is more likely to increase the number of illegal weapons into communities.

When people feel their lives are threatened and they cannot rely on the State to protect them, naturally they will be forced to defend themselves, despite the consequences. If the State allows society to reach this point – some would argue we are already at this point – the consequences on both society and the economy would be severe. The Government should rethink its approach in tackling crime to return public safety and security to families.

Sincerely, Dhanraj Singh

Hinds did speak out against Cabinet meetings being held at Army headquarters Dear Editor I refer to a letter that appeared in another section of the media on November 4 written by a “Concerned Citizen” which criticised the government’s decision to hold Cabinet meetings at the GDF headquarters. The concerned citizen asked “where are the voices of Dr David Hinds and Freddy Kissoon”—an obvious inference that we have been silent on the issue.

On so many occasions I have heard that line— where was Hinds when so and so happened or why didn’t Hinds speak up when so and so was happening? The truth is that Hinds did comment

on the issue to which the letter writer refers.

No single individual can be everywhere or speak on every issue.

But maybe it would help if people did a little bit of research before they make some sweeping assertions. This is relatively easy to do in the age of the internet. Further, maybe editors can use the “editor’s note” a little bit more to correct some of these glaring inaccuracies which, when allowed to go unchallenged, could be interpreted by readers as the truth.

For what it is worth, the writer of that letter should be informed that I did comment on the

Government’s decision to hold Cabinet meetings at the GDF headquarters in a news item on October 26 under the headline “Meeting of Cabinet at GDF HQ pilloried by Jagdeo – presidential complex undergoing urgent repairs”.

In an invited comment by Stabroek News I made the following observations.

The Government’s decision to hold Cabinet meetings at the GDF headquarters, while not politically explosive, is bad optics and not tactically sound. At the end of the day, there are political consequences for such actions. The explanation

that there were security concerns seems plausible on its face, but may not be worth the political cost.

We have to believe that the Government tried very hard to find an alternative meeting place for Cabinet meetings. But I would have stayed away from the GDF headquarters for two reasons.

First, by going there, the government is playing into the hands of the opposition, which has already raised the issue of the militarisation of the government. For the PPP’s support base this linkage of the military to government has long been a sensitive is-

sue with ethno-political overtones that the government ought to do everything in its power not to feed.

But there are also murmurs about the over-reliance on ex-military personnel among government supporters.

Ours is a society in which political optics matter even among supporters and perception quickly becomes reality. We are also a society whose political culture is partly grounded in a separation of the military from the government; we don’t have a history of military coups and are not accustomed to seeing ex-military people in high polit-

ical office.

Mr Granger rose to political prominence, not because of his military background, but primarily because there was and is a perception that he is a decent man who is not tainted by the old politics. I think that a section of the society expected that his closest advisors would include some of his military comrades, but he has to be careful not to veer too much in that direction. In my estimation, we are at the borderline as far as the military linkage to Government is concerned.

Sincerely, David Hinds

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Another major gold producer Minister Lawrence calls for more collaboration to end human trafficking to extend operations in …103 trafficking cases recorded for Guyana’s interior the year thus far

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nother large-scale gold producer is looking to extend its reach in the Guyana interior with the acquisition of the Ianna Gold Project, located in the country’s North-West region, less than 20 kilometers South-East from its existing exploration operations at the Arakaka Gold Project.

The take-over was effected by Alicanto Minerals Ltd, which in making its announcement, said the company has completed its due diligence and has since exercised its rights to take a three-year exclusive option to acquire the Ianna Gold Project The company had in July last entered into a binding agreement to acquire the Ianna Gold Project in North-West Guyana. The Project is located in the highly prospective BaramaMazaruni Greenstone Belt in Guyana’s North West District.

The Ianna Gold Project, according to Alicanto, “has excellent infrastructure, including existing camp facilities, an existing airstrip and river port landing on the property, and can be accessed by road from the Arakaka Project area.”

In making the announcement, the company which already boasts interests in the Guyana gold mining industry explained that since it had now completed a detailed due diligence study, it has elected to formally secure its three-year exclusive option to acquire the Project, subject to terms and option payments.

Alicanto had previously entered into legally binding arrangements with a private Guyanese entity – Sheik R Minerals, Inc (SRM) – where Alicanto retained exclusivity for a wholly owned Guyanese subsidiary to acquire any and all rights or beneficial in-

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terest held by SRM over the Project area, for the duration of a due diligence period which ended on Tuesday.

The company will now be required to fork over US$3 million in a lump sum or through payment arrangements.

During the option period, Alicanto has agreed to keep the Project tenements in good standing and ensure a minimum aggregate expenditure of US$600,000 on exploration and various land holding costs over a 24-month period.

Alicanto Minerals Limited is touted to be an emerging mineral exploration company focused on the exploration and development of a portfolio of gold projects in the prospective geological provinces of Guyana.

In addition to the exploration of its current Guyanese projects, the company is said to be continually evaluating additional projects in both Guyana and overseas for potential joint venture or acquisition.

The announcement comes on the heels of a public political spat over the gold industry and the contributions of large companies versus the small- and medium-scale mining operations.

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman has since denied assertions by sections of the political Opposition

that two large-scale gold companies were responsible for the vast majority of gold being mined in Guyana and had essentially buoyed the local economy.

Rebutting the assertions related to the gold mining industry, Minister Trotman revealed that up to the end of October last, gold declarations had reached 545,000 ounces.

Of this amount, according to Minister Trotman, small- and medium-scale miners are responsible for a whopping 362,000 ounces. The two major companies, he said, brought in only 183,000 ounces representing some 33 per cent of the overall production.

According to Minister Trotman, the two companies – Troy Resources and Guyana Goldfields Inc – are making their contribution but it is not on their backs or shoulders the mammoth declaration is based.

Minister Trotman said the projection of 650,000 ounces of gold as envisioned by the Finance Minister in his budget presentation would be met.

“We shall make the target and that target will be met by average men and women involved in mining,” Trotman noted, adding that this would be supplemented by the declarations of the two large companies.

Palestinian Ambassador to Guyana meets with Speaker of National Assembly

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peaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland, on Tuesday met with Linda Sobeh Ali, the NonResident Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary of the State of Palestine to Guyana, in the Speaker’s Chamber, Public Buildings, Brickdam.

Discussions focused on deepening the engagement and cooperation between the National Assembly of Guyana and

Palestine. To this end, the Ambassador extended an invitation to the Speaker for him to visit Palestine and opined that it may be possible for a team of Palestinian MPs to visit Guyana.

The Speaker expressed his agreement.

The Ambassador explained that during her tenure she will be undertaking several tasks which will see her working closely with the Communities, Education and Foreign Affairs

Ministries.

One of these tasks, she explained, would be to identify the Arab community in Guyana and organise activities to bring them together.

The Speaker and the Ambassador both exchanged gifts after which the Ambassador was treated to a tour of the Parliament Chamber.

The newly appointed Ambassador will be based in Caracas, Venezuela.

ome 103 children were trafficked for the year thus far when compared to 63 last year. This disclosure was made by Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence on Wednesday, at the launch of the ‘State of the World Population Report for 2016.’

The Minister stated that stakeholders must collaborate to end the scourge of trafficking in children. This comes on the backdrop of an international outcry against the crime which targets mostly young, vulnerable women and children.

The Social Protection Minister suggested that while there seems to be a “bleak and gloomy” picture painted over trafficking in Guyana, more has to be done to end the crime.

“We must intensify our efforts to curb this malignant ill and restore dignity and respect to our children,” she highlighted.

Compared with the cases recorded in 2015, it was disclosed that January to December figures have shown a 37 per cent increase in reported cases of trafficked children.

“In 2015, there were

65 cases of which three were male and 59 female and three unverified; [for January to October 2016]; 103 alleged victims of which six are male and 97 are female… females below the age of 18,” the Minister revealed.

She further highlighted that data reveals that the number of alleged victims for the first four years was fairly constant, whereas the 2016 figures show a “significant increase, almost doubling what pertained in 2012.”

Examining the statistics that Minister Lawrence presented, it was revealed that in 2012, there were 54 alleged child trafficking victims, which included five males and 30 females, while the remainder was of the “unverified sex”.

Figures in 2013 indicated 56 victims (11 males, 52 females, three unverified), whereas 2014 stats stood at 59 alleged cases (11 males, 51 females, two unverified).

The Social Protection Minister also explained that the Labour Act, Sexual Offences Act and Trafficking in Persons Act all include measures that are aimed to prevent trafficking of children.

“Each of these Acts is geared to provide protection against perpetrators for our vulnerable groups, specifically women and children,” Lawrence stated. She added that there will be street “gyaffs” and school talks to encourage children of their rights against being forced into such practices.

“I know you students are on Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and everything else and I am challenging you to speak out when you know something or you hear something,” stressed the Social Protection Minister.

It has been widely reported that the number of persons and children who are victims of human trafficking is difficult to monitor, which causes many cases to go underreported. The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) announced last month that over 50 per cent of Guyanese trafficked are children.

The internal body had expressed concern over the fact that Guyana’s economy is heavily reliant on its extractive and timber industries which it contended might generate violations of children’s rights. (ShemuelFanfair)

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Body of 15-yr-old Corentyne Int’l birding tour operators schoolboy fished out of canal explore opportunities in Guyana

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he body of a Corentyne schoolboy was on Wednesday afternoon fished out of a canal at Tain Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

Dead is Ronaldo Sankar of Williamsburg, Rose Hall Town. The 15-year-old attended JC Chandisingh Secondary.

Reports are that he and four friends went for a swim in a canal after school on Wednesday.

According to one of Sankar’s friends, going for a swim after school was a regular practice; however, it was the first time that Sankar joined them. The friend related that after swimming for some time, they decided to come out of the water, but Sankar was not seen.

The four boys went back into the water in

Dead: Ronaldo Sankar

search of their friend, but after some 30 minutes of searching and not finding him, they decided to go to his home and relate the incident to his family.

According to Sankar’s sister, Amanda Dihal, the boys arrived at their home about 16:00h. She said the Police were contacted and a search party

went to the canal located about one mile from his home.

A search party made up of family friends went into the water in search of Sankar, who according to Dihal, could not swim and had never gone swimming with his school friends before.

After not being able to locate Sankar’s body, searchers deployed a fisherman’s net and moments later the lifeless body was discovered. He was rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Sankar, who was a Grade 11 student, was expected to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams next May. He leaves to mourn his parents and a brother.

(Andrew Carmichael)

Govt mulls alternative sentencing to reduce prison overcrowding

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he Legal Affairs Ministry is in consultation with the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) on developing alternative sentencing as part of measures to reduce overcrowding in the prisons.

Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General Basil Williams said the initiative was “something still in the pipeline”, but the Government would be considering “alternative sentencing, pre-trial liberty and considerations like that” as it sought to address overcrowding in prisons, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said in a release.

“The whole idea is to try to weed out these offences that are clogging up (the prisons). Sometimes some people who are there for a six-month sentence could have had some other sentence,” Minister Williams explained.

A report from the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Camp Street Prison riots, which led to the death of 17 inmates in March, cited overcrowding as a major factor. The CoI Report

noted that there was a huge disparity in the ratio of remand to convicted prisoners. It went on to call for more enforcement of the Bail Act. Bail is a constitutional right afforded to prisoners with the exception of murder, treason or the possibility of the accused being a flight risk.

In the meantime, the Government has allocated G$25 million to facilitate Night Court sessions as an immediate measure aimed at reducing the backlog in the judicial system, and particularly overcrowding in prisons.

Minister Williams noted that for the Night Court to be successful, it must target criminal cases with likely sentences of between three months to three years, “So that we won’t have people with these offences clogging up the prisons.”

Meanwhile, the Public Security Ministry’s Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) will be conducting a study to evaluate alternatives to incarceration. Funding for that project was acquired from the IDB.

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our United States (US) birding companies had the chance to see the many species of birds in Guyana through the Guyana Tourism Authority’s (GTA) bird expedition familiarisation (fam) tour.

The expedition commenced on November 1 at the Kaieteur National Park and ended on November 6 at the Botanical Gardens. The latter location is a haven for many types of birds.

The fam exercise afforded participants the opportunity to see over 200 species of birds.

Senior Marketing Officer, GTA, Annarie Shiwram told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that Essay Expedition, Venture Birding, Eagle Eyes Tours and Wings Birding Tours took part in the fam tour.

Shiwram said that the main aim of this activity was for the US tour operators to come to

Local and international tour operators interacting

Guyana, “to see if they like the destination, and if they can sell the destination in their tourism package back home.”

Some of the places the tour operators visited, according to Shiwram, were the Kaieteur Falls and the Kaieteur National Park, Surama, Atta Lodge, and the Iwokrama International Rainforest and Conservation project.

Tourism Awareness Month is being observed under the theme – “Tourism for All,

Building Partnerships For Tourism Development.”

Some of the activities for the month-long observation include: Visitors’ Appreciation Day at the Cheddi Jagan International and the Eugene F Correia International Airports on November 11; Tourism Reconnaissance VisitSt Cuthbert’s Mission/Mahaica River on November 12; and the Rockstone Fish Festival at Rockstone Village, Region 10 on November 12-13.

Cops nab wanted man, accomplice at house in Eccles

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wanted man and a “suspicious” accomplice were nabbed in Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on Tuesday after a highspeed chase.

Reports are 19-yearold Godfrey Lynch, of Agricola, Greater Georgetown, was nabbed after residents in Republic Park, EBD informed Police of suspicious persons at an abandoned house in the community.

Lynch’s accomplice, Mark Mosely, of Castello Housing Scheme,

Nineteen-year-old Godfrey Lynch in the back of a Police vehicle after being nabbed

West La Penitence, Georgetown, who was wanted for questioning relating to gas station robberies in Georgetown and Eccles, was nabbed a short while after Police combed the area.

According to A (Georgetown-East Bank Demerara) Division Deputy Commander Calvin Brutus, about 13:00h, Police responded to calls made by the Republic Park residents about suspicious activities in their community.

However, after becoming aware that the Police were in the vicinity, the wanted man and an accomplice fled the house. Police gave chase and caught up with Lynch in Eccles.

When Guyana Times International arrived at the scene of their capture, the Police were seen prowling the area for the other suspect.

This publication was

told that Lynch was arrested by Police on charges of robbery under arms.

Just last month, Lynch skipped his court hearing after being granted bail for allegedly robbing an elderly caretaker, Yvonne Moe, of over G$13 million in goods during an attack at her Republic Park home. He was then found guilty by Magistrate Judy Latchman, and sentenced in absentia to 56 months in prison.

Moe, in her testimony during the trial, had told the court that Lynch and an accomplice were seen lurking outside her house. She said after seeing the strange men, she proceeded to run back into the house, but was caught by one of them, who then dragged her into the home. They subsequently proceeded to rob her, and made good their escape.

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Ramjattan to address rift in police force hierarchy

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Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud

he recent differences in opinions between Police Commissioner, SeelallPersaud and his second in Command, Deputy Commissioner David Ramnarine, regarding the promotion of several ranks within the Guyana Police Force (GPF), will be addressed by Public Security Minister, KhemrajRamjattan.

This is according to State Minister, Joseph Harmon, who at a post-Cabinet media briefing on Thursday, at the Ministry of the

Presidency, stated that in large organisations, there would always be some level of conflict.

However, he explained that due to the importance of the GPF to the national security structure, “it is important that these matters that occur in the public space, in the media, that they be dealt with in another way.”

Minister Harmon added that, “The issues that came into the public space, are issues that could have been dealt with internally…The question or writing let-

ters here and there.”

The Minister noted that if a subordinate has done something which requires a reprimand, or some amount of proper assigning, those things can be done internally.

“In fact, the President said he prefers that you have public praise and private reprimand, so that if something like that is done, the person is brought in and you say, man what is it you’ve done here? Let us correct it.”

Ramnarine was appointed to act as Police Commissioner for a 100-day period whilst his superior was on annual leave. The acting Commissioner then, with advice and the support of the Force’s top management, promoted several ranks for their outstanding services and actions during this period. Upon his return, Commissioner Seelall instructed that all of the promotions approved by Ramnarine be rescinded.

Bartica Massacre trial: Voir dire continues

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Mark Williams, Dennis “Anaconda” Williams and Roger Simon are standing trial for the 2008 Bartica Massacre

he trial of Bartica massacre accused Mark Williams, Dennis “Anaconda” Williams and Roger Simon continued at the High Court on Tuesday, with another Voir Dire (trial within a trial) hearing.

These trials are being held to determine if testimonies can be deemed material to the Bartica massacre case.

Following its conclusion, presiding Judge Roxanne George will rule on the admissibility (validity and acceptability) of the evidence into the main trial. Half a dozen witnesses have testified so far and another preliminary trial is slated for today (Wednesday), as another witness is scheduled to be called by the defence.

The three men along with Celbert Reece and Michael Caesar – both of whom pled guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter early last week – were

all accused of executing an attack where 12 persons, including three Policemen were brutally murdered in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Police Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir and Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne, along with civilians Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian, Irving Ferreira, Deonarine Singh, Ronald Gomes, Ashraf Khan, Abdool Yasseen, Errol Thomas and Baldeo Singh were all killed in the February 17, 2008 ordeal.

It is believed that the five were part of the Rondell “Fineman” Rawlins gang which attacked the town and murdered the 12 individuals. The February 2008 Bartica attack followed another massacre at Lusignan, on the East Coast of Demerara, where 11 persons were also brutally killed.

Guyana Govt seals US$10m India bank loan for Northwest ferry

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overnment, through the F i n a n c e Ministry, officially secured a US$18 million agreement to finance a new ferry to ply the Georgetown-Region One (Barima-Waini) route.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan said the signing essentially marked a US$10 million loan would be granted by the Government of India together with the US$8 million grant for the acquisition of an oceangoing vessel for the Georgetown-Region One route. The money will be provided to the Government of Guyana in two parts – the concessional loan of some US$10 million and a US$8 million grant.

Minister Jordan said that the new vessel would bring much-needed relief to residents in the area. “These resources will be used to facilitate the construction of the passenger and cargo vessels to provide river transportation to residents plying the route.”

According to the Minister, the other two vessels are very aged and in dire need of repair. He said over the years residents have been complaining about the negative impact of the service on their lives and livelihood.

“The construction of this new cargo ferry is expected to provide improved services to these residents who commute regularly between Regions One and Four.

This mode of transportation is also expected to provide a number of social and economic benefits to the two regions and the country as a whole,” he continued, noting that passengers

Finance Minister Winston Jordon and IndiaImport (EXIM) Bank resident representative Sailesh Prasad sign the 20-year agreement

and goods would now be moved at affordable prices in a safe, secure and reliable environment.

“This new ferry vessel will increase efficiency in operation, by allowing passenger and freight to be conveyed more swiftly with fewer delays as a reduction in traffic time.

It will allow for greater market access, where the economy of scale will improve through production, distribution and consumption, contributing to the economic growth of Guyana,” the Minister said.

He noted that the signing of the agreement was also another kind gesture in support of Guyana’s socio-economic development. He recalled signing earlier this year an agreement with the India EXIM Bank for the construction of the bypass road between Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara and Great Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara.

Construction on the road is slated to commence in 2017. He said there were also a number of other areas of bilateral assistance being pursued with the Indian Government, including the establishment of a centre for excellence

in technology, which would offer Information Communication Technology (ICT) training to members of the Public Sector.

G u y a n a ’ s Government will have a period of some 20 years to repay the loan.

Meanwhile, Government is yet to procure the vessel. Also speaking, just before the signing ceremony, was Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, who said the Transport and Harbours Department (TH&D) has been a very faithful servant to the people of Guyana over the years.

He spoke too of the “aging vessels”, particularly the two that currently ply the Georgetown-Supenaam route. He said there were still a lot of Guyanese in these regions who depend on the services of the T&HD, to carry out their daily activities.

He reported on the MV Kimbia, which is currently down and awaiting repairs, while the MV Barima is expected to be up and running soon. The only vessel that is in operation, he reported, is the MV Lady Northcote. (Alexis Rodney)

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Domestic violence widely accepted in local communities – UNICEF

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he United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has stated that the highest level of acceptance of wife beating occurs in Indigenous communities, with one in every four adults believing that it is justifiable to hit women.

The UNICEF report stated that there was a high incidence of domestic violence in Regions Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo); One (Barima-Waini); Five (Mahaica-Berbice); Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni). It underscored that domestic violence was more accepted among those living in rural areas than those living in urban settlements for both men and women. Further, domestic violence is also highly prevalent in the poorest of families.

According to the Crime and Social Observatory (CSO) within the Public Security Ministry, between 2011 and 2013, more than 9200 different types of domestic violence cases were registered in Guyana, with 65 per cent of them involving as-

sault.

Notably, despite the fact that the majority of victims were older than 25 years old, UNICEF stated that there were a significant percentage of children (eight per cent) and young adults (16 per cent) being victims of domestic violence.

The UN agency added that domestic violence had a straight connection to gender-based violence.

“Between 2006 and 2007, there was an estimated 50 per cent increase in the total number of GBV victims, 3600 more than the previous year,” it said, adding that the largest increase was recorded in Berbice (Regions Five and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne)), where reported cases rose steeply from ap-

proximately 300 in 2006 to 1890 in 2007, representing a 500 per cent increase.

It stated that a combination of social norms and social and cultural practices have been identified as the main factors that influence violence against women. “In this sense, using a sociological perspective, gender-based violence, and attitudes toward it, could be sub-divided into two sets of causes: those at the individual level and those at the social level,” it said.

The report stated that overall, 10 per cent of men and women between 15 and 49 years old believe it is justifiable for a husband to physically abuse his wife if she goes out without telling him, neglects the children, argues with him, refuses sex with him or if burns the food. This, it said, is a considerable reduction when compared to 18 per cent in 2006, according to the Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF Guyana, 2008.

It added that lack of

punishment for those men that perpetrate violence against women was one factor that reinforced violent acts in the country. It contended that between January and November of 2015, 582 cases of domestic violence were reported in Berbice; 326 of them reached the court, but only 17 men were convicted.

“According to stakeholders, the belief of impunity reinforces violent behaviour among different populations in Guyana,” it stated, noting that in many cases, the perpetrator is let go when reports are made, victims refuse to give statements to the Police or to the courts and are afraid of being stigmatised or being subjected to future violence.

In May 2010, the Sexual Offences Act was passed to primarily strengthen measures for gender based abuse prevention.

Miner found with marijuana attempts to bribe cops to drop narco charge

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The ganja and money retrieved from the suspect

30-year-old miner, who attempted to bribe Police officers when he was found in possession of a quantity of marijuana on Sunday was arrested and is expected to be charged shortly.

Reports are the suspect of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, works in the interior, and at the time of his arrest was in a house at 4th Avenue, Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni/ Mazaruni), when the Police swopped down on the premises.

The Police had reportedly received a tip about illegal activities being conducted at the prem-

ises and carried out the raid. It was during the raid that 133 grams of cannabis stored in ziplock bags were unearthed.

Following the discovery, the suspect allegedly offered the officers G$200,000 as an inducement to forego the narcotics charge. He is presently in Police custody assisting with investigations.

It is believed that the suspect was part of a ring that traffics the illegal substance into several mining locations.

The Police have intensified investigations into the names of those who might be involved in the racket.

Edghill accuses Cohesion Ministry of using State resources to fund political work

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he Social Cohesion Ministry is nothing but a reincarnation of the Ministry of National Development and Mobilisation, which was operated under the Administration of the People’s National Congress (PNC) and is now being used to do party work funded with State resources.

This damning accusation was made by former Minister within the Finance Ministry, Bishop Juan Edghill, as he delivered his presentation during a parliamentary debate on Friday.

The Minister in rubbishing the arrangements surrounding the social cohesion unit headed by Minister Amna Ally said that Guyana was today even more divided than it was in May 2015.

“When we talk about social cohesion,” according to Edghill, the conversation has to be centred on shared values and equal opportunities.

He suggested that perhaps there needed to be put in place constitutional arrangements for equal opportunities for all Guyanese.

“If we gonna talk about social cohesion, we must talk about social inclusion, but we have social exclusion,” Edghill said, insisting that what in fact obtained was that the Ministry of Social

Former Minister within the Finance Ministry, Bishop Juan Edghill

Cohesion operated as a revamped Ministry of Mobilisation.

He suggested that the good life promised by the Administration has been elusive for all but a few – that particular class of people who are enjoying what Minister of State, Joseph Harmon described as the gravy train.

“How could we be talking about social cohesion when people are being removed from their jobs on the mere perception of political affiliation?” the former Government Minister questioned.

Edghill declared that in order to secure the cohesive society adumbrated by the President and embellished by substantive Minister Amna Ally, there must be participation by all people and sectors, not just by a special group or segment of society.

The Ministry of Mobilisation, which was opened and closed under the PNC, resurfaced in the media after weapons that had been issued to that outfit and never returned were discovered following a shootout between Police and bandits in early 2008.

The Police in a statement at the time said that its ranks responded to information that a boat with a number of men was seen in the Zeskendren, Mahaicony drainage canal area.

When challenged, the men opened fire and when fire was returned by the Police, they abandoned the boat and escaped into the thick bush north of the canal. A subsequent search led to the finding of a wooden boat with an outboard engine.

Weapons and ammunition were also found.

Two of the weapons were subsequently determined to be the property of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), which for its part, claimed that the weapons were issued to the Ministry of National Development and Mobilisation in 1976 and 1979. A total of 237 guns, including four general purpose machine guns (GPMG), were issued to the Ministry and were still unaccounted for.

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Former GMC boss, co-conspirator slapped with fraud charges

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he plethora of forensic audits that had been ordered by Head of State, President David Granger, has claimed its first victim, Nizam Hassan, former General Manager of the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) who was on Monday slapped with fraud-related charges, He appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Hassan, who currently holds the portfolio of General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board, and a female co-accused, Felicia De’Souza-Madramootoo, 34, were on Monday charged in what has been described as a multimillion-dollar fraud.

The woman’s husband Hanniel Madramootoo, a project engineer within the Agriculture Ministry, his brother Philip and friend Nizam Ramkisson both Directors of Constantine Engineering and Construction Limited of Trinidad and Tobago were also jointly charged. Only Hassan

Former GMC Manager, Nizam Hassan

and the female co-conspirator appeared in court and arrest warrants have since been issued for the others who are said to currently be in Trinidad and Tobago.

Hassan and De’SouzaMadramootoo were charged with intent to defraud together with three others by continuously approving payments for substandard and faulty works during the rehabilitation of the Guyana Marketing

Corporation building at Robb and Alexander Streets, Georgetown.

Hassan and his co-accused were not required to plead to the indictable charge but were released on G$250,000 bail each, and have been ordered to report at the headquarters of the Special Organised Crime Unit every Friday.

The matter has been adjourned until December 7.

During the course of the audit into the operations of New GMC it was found that based on the selection of three vouchers related to the construction of the GMC’s office building for testing, it was observed that incorrect building materials were used.

Additional auditing procedures were deemed necessary and a request was made to have all payment vouchers made available for further testing.

The Auditors said it was communicated by Owen Nestor, GMC’s accountant, that none of the other payment vouchers related to the construction of the

Felicia De’Souza Madramootoo

GMC’s office building could be found.

It was also communicated by Nestor that Hassan may have been the last person who had requested all of the payment vouchers of the construction. The Auditors had recommended that a determination needs to be made as to what level of disciplinary actions should be taken and that the board of directors should instruct GMC’s management to make every effort to locate the

missing vouchers.

The auditor in reporting on his findings to the Ministry of Finance had complained that the process was “deliberately frustrated by the non-response and non-commitment extended

by Mr Nizam Hassan, GMC’s General Manager and the lack of commitment by GMC’s Accounting department’s staff.”

It was found that many vouchers and back-ups were not provided, either on a timely basis or not at all: “My conclusion is that the accounting practice at GMC shows that the General Manager and the Accountant did not provide any meaningful fiduciary responsibility when any payment originated from the Minister of Agriculture or the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture.”

“In other words, GMC’s General Manager and the Accountant acted more like rubber stamps when payments dealt with transactions originating from the Ministry of Agriculture,” the Auditor declared.

T&T couple gunned down W

hile their neighbours celebrated two weddings in their community, a Felicity couple suffered a tragic end after being gunned down upon returning home from the movies on Sunday night.

The bloodied corpses of Narine Kalpoo, 59, and his common-law wife, Lutchmin Jaggernath, 51, fell metres apart from each other after they were ambushed by a gunman who lay in waiting for them, the discovery of which quickly turned the village celebrations into mourning as neighbours gathered at the couple’s Kalpoo Avenue home to find out

how they died.

Police said the couple had earlier gone to MovieTowne at Price Plaza, Chaguanas, with Jaggernath’s 18-yearold daughter, Tracy, and her friend. On returning home, they dropped Tracy and the friend at nearby Pierre Road.

On reaching their house around 11 pm, Jaggernath was about to open the gate while Kalpoo sat in his black Nissan Almera when a gunman emerged and opened fire on them.

Kalpoo was shot several times in the head and chest while Jaggernath, who attempted to run, was shot in the head.

Police believe the

gunman came to execute a hit on Kalpoo’s life and Jaggernath was killed because she was a witness to her husband’s killing. However, they had no suspect or motive for the murders.

By the time police and ambulance arrived, Kalpoo, a father of two, was already dead, slumped in the driver’s seat, while Jaggernath, a mother of three, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Chaguanas District Health Facility.

In trying to piece together what may have led to the couple’s killings, relatives said Kalpoo recently received a sub-contract at the Piarco International

Airport, but they could not say whether it had anything to do with his death. Kalpoo had two previous marriages and five years ago he entered a common-law relationship with Jaggernath, who is the wife of his former employee Indar Jaggernath.

Indar said he was at sea on Sunday and only returned to shore yesterday morning. He said he could not think why someone would have killed the couple. Tracy lives in the same residence as Indar.

Kalpoo’s relatives were also baffled as to why they were killed, es-

pecially since they were not robbed. A male relative said he was asleep and was awakened by the explosions, but thought it was fireworks from the weddings. He said the community was usually quiet with rare “duck thieves” and small fights

among neighbours.

“It is a real shock because if someone beats you, you and that person had an incident that you fought about, but when there is a shooting, you must worry about what is going on in the area,” the relative said. (Trinidad Guardian)

Elderly woman, children homeless after house collapses

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one-bedroom house came crashing down on Sunday leaving a pensioner, a pregnant woman, and a oneand 10-year-old homeless.

Eighty-nine-year-old Gladys Fraser, her granddaughter and two great-grandchildren lived in the house at Lot 131 Third Street, Alness Village, Corentyne.

Fraser told Guyana Times Internationalthat she was resting in her bedroom when she suddenly heard a strange sound. “Me lie down and something tell me get up, so Ah sit down. Then Ah hear something go crook, crook, crook, braps… meh seh dis child dead because the wardrobe was next to she,” Fraser

What is left of the house after it collapsed

said, referring to her three months pregnant granddaughter.

The two great-grandchildren made it safely out of the building, while the pregnant woman was later found unhurt.

“It was around half past five to six. I say thank you to Jesus it did not fall in the night; Ah don’t know what would have happen to my life. People run an come and me grandson pull me out; he had to break out the wall and hoist me out,” the woman explained.

According to Fraser, there were no high winds at the time, but the five-foot posts on which the house stood may have collapsed.

In tears, she said she now would stay with a grandson who lives behind the spot where her house once stood.

“Ah get a room, but you know you own is you own,” she said.

The pensioner is asking for the public’s assistance, as all of her belongings are now being stored under a house. These include a refrigerator, a chair set, beds and other household items.

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GuySuCo struggles to recapture Caribbean market

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he Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySyuCo) Marketing Department is aiming to recover the Caribbean market, given indications that sales rose from 2014, the Corporation’s 2015 annual report said.

The report stated that the Corporation believes it has the ability to do this, “particularly as a manufacturer who places price, service and value at the core of its marketing effort.”

It indicated that bagged sales to the Caribbean Community (Caricom) market – at prices well above that of the EU market – showed progression since sales totalled 19,863 tonnes as opposed to 16,976.00 metric tonnes in 2014.

This consisted mainly of sales to Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Barbados, Antigua and Grenada.

Meanwhile, it noted that the Corporation vows to strategically focus its will in the regional market for value-added sugars. In 2015, 138 metric tonnes of sugar was shipped to the regional market; these included Anguilla, St Croix, British Virgin Islands and St Maarten.

However, there was a sustained supply of sugar to the local market in 2015 with sugar sales totalling 21,112 tonnes – of which 2974 metric tonnes was in retail packaged form.

“The Marketing Department continues to execute its Customer Service Charter under the accreditation of the upgraded ISO 9001/2008 Management System,” the report added, noting that the Corporation’s total sales in the value-added category for all markets totaled 8042 tonnes.

It added that

GuySuCo continued trade in the markets that it has been historically supplying with bulk raw brown sugar and direct consumption (value added) sugar in 2015, while highlighting that the Corporation’s Marketing Department continues to work with the marketing agent Czarnikow Group Limited to seek out new opportunities and markets worldwide.

This effort, it said, has led to the Corporation being able to enter into a new market within Europe namely, Italy by supplying the customer with Demerara specials, packed in one tonne sacks. “This effort also enabled the Corporation to penetrate the Canadian marketplace with its direct consumption sugar. Also, during the year under review the Corporation was able to re-enter the United States of America (USA) market with its branded sugar ‘Enmore Crystals’.”

However, it indicated that the persistence of low production levels and the Corporation’s commitment under its long-term sales agreement with Tate and Lyle resulted in limited sugar being available for supply to the direct consumption market in Europe once again.

Nevertheless, it emphasised that an improvement over 2014 was recorded, since a total 638 tonnes was exported during the review period.

With sales of direct consumption sugar to the USA resuming in 2015, the Corporation was able to export a total of 41 tonnes of packaged and bagged sugars into this market in the last quarter of 2015 and 25 tonnes of packaged sugar into the Canadian market.

NEWS 15

16 news Spiraling crime:

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Parliamentary Committee ‘We inherited much of the probing cash-strapped GuySuCo

lawlessness’, says Trotman

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atural Resources M i n i s t e r R a p h a e l Trotman has criticised the political Opposition for its claims that the responsibility for the spate of criminal activities rests wholly and solely with Government.

During the parliamentary sitting on November 4, Trotman posited that many of the youths who are involved in committing crimes grew up under the previous Administration.

Minister Trotman stated, “We inherited much of the lawlessness that was allowed to thrive. I don’t understand as a lawyer myself what is happening. When I first came to the Bar, a criminal with respect was an identifiable person.

Now there are 14-yearolds who are killing.

They weren’t born when the [A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change] APNU/AFC Government took over!”

The Minister explained that President David Granger does not need to be lectured on security as, “He is in, and of himself, world recognised, a security expert who has been invited to give lectures, to be a professor at the Centre for Hemispheric Studies, has Mr Speaker, been consulted.”

The recent statements by the Head of State on crimes, he said, have been deliberately misinterpreted.

President Granger had called for a reduction to the issuance of many private gun licences, saying

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman

that he preferred that they are in the hands of the Police and military.

Minister Trotman stressed that there are persons who carry licences for 10, 15 and 20 firearms. Those are the persons, he said, who will be targeted.

“Statistics show that many of the firearms recovered are firearms that are stolen from households and people who have been given licences, and have left them carelessly and they have been lost.”

He questioned, “Why do you need 16 firearm licences if you are one person? Why do you need, Mr Speaker, high-calibre assault rifles in this country? We have a military. We have a Police Force. It is our duty to protect citizens, but we will not be lectured to or allow private armies to reign in this country.”

President Granger recently stated on his television programme

‘The Public Interest’ that “We would like to see fewer weapons in the hands of private citizens; it is my personal view that weapons should be used by law enforcement agencies – the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force.”

The President stated that Government will try to detect people coming into the country with illegal firearms.

There is a plethora of measures which will be implemented and “the whole policy is aimed at getting guns off the streets, and leaving guns in the hands of the Police and the Army.”

However, that statement by Granger came in for much criticism with persons arguing that there are no statistics or other evidence that is publicly available to link lawful gun ownership to the high level of gun crimes.

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he Parliamentary Committee system will for the first time resume its work since coming out of its annual recess and will immediately set up about continuing with its probe of the beleaguered Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

The probe is being undertaken by the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Relations, Chaired by Minister within the Finance Ministry, Jaipaul Sharma and includes Vice President Carl Greenidge, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, Junior Natural Resources Minister SimonaBroomes, Jennifer Wade, Bishop Juan Edghill and Komal Chand.

The resumption of the parliamentary probe comes on the heels of

Junior Finance Minister, Jaipaul Sharma

Minister Holder’s tabling of the company’s annual reports from the past five years in the National Assembly on Friday last.

The parliamentarians in the Committee meeting are expected to continue consideration of the report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the state of the industry that had been

ordered by President David Granger.

The report was laid before the National Assembly and copies circulated to both sides of the House.

The CoI into the state of the local sugar industry was initiated weeks after the Coalition Government took office in May 2015. This decision was taken as it sought to ascertain the true nature of the industry’s economic and physical condition.

The work of the Committee had been brought to an impromptu halt earlier this year after Opposition members complained that Government was in fact implementing decisions outside of the recommendations made in the report.

One such decision was the closure of the Wales Sugar Estate.

North Ruimveldt man on G$75,000 bail for robbery under armscharge

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N o r t h R uim veld t resident appeared before Magistrate Dylon Best at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on a charge of robbery under arms.

Kester Mcphoy pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on October 1 at Georgetown, while armed with a knife, he robbed Freddie Yensingh of G$53,200.

The prosecution had no objections to bail, but requested that the unrepresented defendant

be placed on substantial bail, given the nature and prevalence of the offence.

As such, the Magistrate placed the defendant on G$75,000

bail.

Mcphoy is scheduled to make his next court appearance on November 21, 2016 for reports and statements.

Miner accused of unlawfully assaulting peace officer

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50-year-old North West District, Region One, resident was on Tuesday placed on bail when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on charges of unlawfully assaulting a peace officer and smoking cannabis.

Kenneth Small pleaded guilty with explanation to both charges, however after the Magistrate heard the defendant’s explanation, a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

It was alleged that on November 4, 2016, at Barama Line, North West District, he unlaw-

fully assaulted peace officer, Police Constable Marvin Sam, while he was executing his duty.

It was also alleged that on the same day he was found smoking cannabis.

The accused, who was unrepresented, told the court that on the day in question, he was standing next to a man who was smoking but after he saw the Police, he dropped the illegal substance and ran.

He said that he told the Policeman what occurred and in turn, the officer told him that he now owes him G$50,000.

As such, Small claimed he told the Policeman that he does not work for

him so he owes him nothing. The accused further stated that he decided to go to the Police station, of his own will, where he met with the officer that made false reports against him.

However, the prosecution stated that the man pushed the Police Constable to make way to escape on foot, which he did successfully. The prosecution added that the defendant was later cautioned and arrested for the aforementioned offences.

Small was granted G$20,000 bail and ordered to return to court on February, 6, 2017, at the Matthew’s Ridge Magistrate’s Court.

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1 in 4 Amerindian children considered stunted – UNICEF

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he United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that one in every four Amerindian children is considered as suffering from stunted growth.

According to a recently released report, children living in poor families and those living in the interior of the country have double the chances of being stunted than the national average.

The nutritional status of children and women are determined by immediate, underlying and structural causes that involve, among others low birth weight; inadequate dietary intake – which should start from breastfeeding; constant diseases that weakens the children; and household food insecurity – determined by the economic conditions that family has, among others.

The report said while Guyana has met the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger, a considerable percentage of children still suffer nutritional problems in the country.

Therefore, it indicated that the challenge presently is to reach the new targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals, which claims for ensuring access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food and to end all forms of malnutrition, including stunted growth, while addressing the needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women.

So far, Government has been revising the 2002 Food-based Dietary Guidelines, focusing on reducing the impact of iron deficiency anaemia, emphasising the importance of breastfeeding and addressing the emerging treat of non-communicable diseases, among others.

“Around nine per cent of children under the age of five in Guyana are moderately or severely underweight and two per cent are classified as severely underweight. Twelve per cent of the children are stunted (too short for their age), and 3.4 per cent are severely stunted. Some 6.4 per cent are considered to be wasted, or too thin for their height, being 1.7 per cent considered severely wasted,” the report noted, pressing that stunt-

ed growth should be seen as a major concern for Guyana.

It stated that a child who is stunted often appears to be normally proportioned but is actually shorter than normal for his/her age. Stunting usually begins before birth and is caused by poor maternal nutrition, poor feeding practices, poor food quality and frequent infections that can slow down growth.

Notably, it is irreversible after a certain age; hence, the report said to have an impact on stunting levels, nutrition interventions need to be targeted to women during pregnancy and to children from birth to 18 months of age.

“At short-term, stunting increases the chances of death among children between the

ages of zero and five; and decreases his/her cognitive, motor and language developments. At long-term, stunting is related to obesity, low school performance and low learning capacity, and, consequently, low work skills and productivity.”

It also emphasised that greater proportions of children in Regions Seven (CuyuniMazaruni), Eight (PotaroSiparuni) and Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) are found to be moderately or severely underweight (12 per cent) and moderately or severely stunted (27-28 per cent). It added that Regions Seven and Eight also have the highest proportions of children who are severely underweight, with five per cent; as well as

severely stunted, with 11 per cent.

In contrast, the percentage wasted is highest in Regions Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) with nine per cent), the report noted, stating that while the differences are relatively small for underweight and wasting prevalence between the areas of residence for both urban-rural and interior-coastal disaggregation, as it relates to stunting, children in interior areas are twice as likely as those in coastal areas – 10 per cent.

The Government has a National School Feeding Programme that seeks to fight issues of nutrition and stunting, specifically in the hinterland region. The programme supplies biscuits and fruit drinks – for Region Nine, it also supplies peanut butter and cassava bread – and targets all nursery and primary school age children (up to Grade Two).

As of April 2016, more than 45,000 boys and girls were beneficiaries of the programme.

However, the report stated that household wealth is clearly associated with the nutritional status of children relative to underweight, stunting, and wasting since as household wealth and mother’s education increase, the likelihood of the children to be moderately or severely underweight, stunted, and wasted decreases.

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APNU/AFC perpetrating brazen Govt going after US$282M heist of Guyana’s Treasury, owed by GuySuCo, GPL says Opposition Leader

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he coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government, despite its complaints of finding an empty coffer, is in fact perpetrating a brazen heist of the Treasury through acts of cronyism and its doling out of large contracts without an competitive process.

This was the declaration made by Former President Bharrat Jagdeo, as he led an Opposition charge in a marathon debate in the National Assembly on Friday last.

The House was at the time debating a motion calling on the members to adopt the policies that had been set out by Head of State, David Granger, when he addressed Parliament on October 13 last.

The President during his address had accused the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration of cronyism in its presiding over numerous failed projects and had pointed to the G$1 billion Kato Secondary School, among others.

Public bidding Jagdeo in taking umbrage with the President’s remarks sought to point out that what the President did not say is that each of the projects given out under the past administration was in fact done so using a public bidding process.

“Every single one of the projects that he mentioned has problems with quality and underperformance but one thing I

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo

can say is that every single one of these contracts was publicly tendered,” said Jagdeo.

He spoke of the use of public contractors and supervision from the public pool on all of the projects but sought to draw a contrast to the approach of the APNU/ AFC administration.

“Contrast this to the approach to rent the bond,” said Jagdeo in reference to a recent Cabinet decision to rent a Sussex Street property for the storage of drugs and medical supplies at a cost of G$14.5 million per month.

Jagdeo was adamant that there was absolutely no public tender for this contract which works out to G$174 million per year or in excess of half a billion dollars over the three years.

He pointed out too that “we know where the office (is) located for this company” in reference to Linden Holdings Inc located in a Middle Street building, formerly the Sidewalk Café, owned

by Government Minister Cathy Hughes.

Jagdeo said that, “assuming Kato school has amortisation (re-

payment) of 10 years at G$174 million a year we would have spent G$1.7 billion.”

“You complain about corruption and cronyism and you don’t see it,” Jagdeo quipped.

Jagdeo also responded to President Granger’s assertion that the APNU/ AFC Government had in fact inherited huge liabilities in the form of legal settlements.

He was adamant however that this was not true in that Government did not inherit any such.

He rubbished the well documented arguments regarding the Rudisa beverages settlement which he said pales in comparison to the out-ofcourt settlement involving Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL).

Jagdeo is of the view that this transaction was done surreptitiously outside the view of the public and will in fact expose the Treasury to as much as G$80 billion in liabilities.

Outlining his case that Government is in fact perpetrating a ‘brazen heist on the Treasury,’ Jagdeo pointed to the more than G$400 million spent on the D’Urban Park Project, again undertaken by handpicked contractors, and called the transaction malodorous.

“You pontificating and have these brazen acts of heist of the Treasury…. Do the comparatives, how can you stand with a straight face and talk about projects that we tendered,” Jagdeo charged.

Trotman hears concerns of Marudi miners

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atural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman last Saturday heard the concerns of Marudi miners during an outreach to Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

The Minister met with the miners in the presence of a representative from the mining company Romanex Guyana, to assuage mistrust that still lingered among miners.

Earlier this year, the Natural Resources Ministry brokered an agreement through mediation between the company and the miners from the Marudi area who were in dispute over the use of mining

claims which are held by Romanex in the Marudi Mountain.

Miners and business persons who operate in the Marudi area sought assurance that the displacement of their shops would be properly addressed, while others raised concerns about their lands being taken from them.

Shop owner Roslyn Primus noted that most of the shops in the area were operated by single-parent women and asked that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) authorise the move.

“We want to know where we are going… we want our licence,” Primus shared at the

town hall style meeting held at the Arapaima Primary School.

As part of the agreement stemming from the mediation between miners and Romanex earlier this year, shop owners have to be relocated since their present location below the base of the mountain is dangerous.

Minister Trotman noted that “mining without shops is nothing”, and assured shop owners present that the GGMC was working out their relocation and they would be moved “to a place you all agree on”.

Minister Trotman further assured miners that he had “no intention of displacing or preventing anyone from earn-

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he Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) together owes Government a whopping US$282 million and the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/ AFC) Government has indicated its intention to begin recovering this money from the two cash-strapped State Owned Entities (SOE).

This information is contained in the recently released Public Debt Report for 2015 which was prepared by the Debt Management Division (DMD) of the Ministry of Finance and made public on Friday last by Substantive Minister, Winston Jordan.

Government has been struggling over the years to recover the monies it had loaned the two state entities.

At end-2015, GPL and GuySuCo had repaid less than one per cent of their debt payable to Government.

According to Minister Jordan in his Public Debt Report, two entities have over the years been billed for the debt service payments falling due but have not made payments to the Government.

Jordan concedes that while many SOEs do not appear to have the resources to service their debt obligations to the Government, “The process of reconciling the debt outstanding by SOEs to the Government commenced in 2015.”

He noted too that at end-2015, this process was still in progress but at “the end of the exercise, the Government will make arrangements to recover the debt from the SOEs.”

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

The two entities became indebted to the

State through loans handed to it by government through what is referred to as an ‘on-lending arrangement.’

Such an arrangement obtains where the Government obtains a loan, usually concessional financing from an international financial institution such as the World Bank or Caribbean Development Bank, and then passes on the loan principal to another entity, usually a SOE. The two beneficiaries of on-lend loans from Government are GPL and GuySuCo and “At end-2015, the Government had on-lent some US$282M to these two entities.”

Of that amount, 54.8 per cent was on-lent to the GPL. There are a total of 11 such loan agreements, seven of which are between the Government and the GPL, and four with GuySuCo. Of the 11 agreements, six were financed directly from the PetroCaribe Fund.

According to information in the report over the review period, all new on-lending agreements were contracted with the GPL in the amount of US$80.1 million with the source of funding being the PetroCaribe Fund.

GPL, according to the Report has been the

ing an honest living”.

However, Trotman pointed out that there were too many complaints in the South Rupununi area of illegal activities, such as Trafficking in Persons. The Minister said that there must be order in the mining sector. “Nobody is going to have their own way. We will have order.”

Premchand Paul of the South Rupununi Mining Association pointed out to the Minister that miners needed to be shown “how the agreement could be fully implemented”, if the distrust that remained between the Canadian company and small miners in the Marudi area

was to be dispelled.

Meanwhile, Romanex Guyana has pledged to carry out several enhancement projects in Region Nine (Upper Tatuku-Upper Essequibo) as part of fulfilling its social corporate responsibility. Company representative Marshall Mintz assured miners that Romanex would hire locals and procure services locally in the setting up of its offices and other works. “We won’t be bringing people from Georgetown unless absolutely necessary… as time goes on, there will be jobs available both from Lethem and the deep South (Rupununi),” Mintz said.

On-lending

only SOE that benefitted from the PetroCaribe Fund in addition to another China Exim loan to the tune of US$39.6 million.

The report documents also that of the beneficiaries of the onlend loans, GuySuCo was the only SOE covered by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was specifically for loans on-lent in relation to the Skeldon Sugar Modernisation Project.

The MoU states the all payments due within three years after 2008 will be deferred but that MoU came to an end on December 31, 2011.

GuySuCo has not however resumed repayment of its obligations to the Government.

Strategically important

On-lending is said to be a means by which Government can support strategically important projects that aid national development.

The Government enters an on-lending arrangement given that the primary loan proceeds are earmarked to fund capital expenditure for the SOEs. The terms and conditions of the primary loan agreements differ typically from those included in subsidiary loan agreements.

Interest rates are usually higher in subsidiary loan agreements than in primary loan agreements, but the rate is generally lower than the rate that the beneficiary could otherwise negotiate from commercial lenders.

According to the Report, by improving their financial viability, on-lending can facilitate the delivery of development projects that are expected to provide broader economic benefits to Guyana.

As part of the mediation agreement, the Canadian company has agreed to ensure that communities nearest to its operations were given priority hiring.

Romanex Guyana has also pledged to install Internet service for 17 villages in South Rupununi, along with construction of roads, among other initiatives.

Minister Trotman told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that, “the people keeping an eye” was one sure way, along with monitoring by the GGMC, to ensure that the company honoured its pledges.

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WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Govt to strengthen and equip SARA Bill with Parliamentary GPF to better police borders Counsel for review – AG

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resident David Granger has outlined that the Administration is looking to strengthen and equip the Guyana Police Force, so that there can be tight security in communities along the country’s borders.

Speaking on this week’s televised programme ‘The Public Interest’, which aired on Friday, the Head of State explained that there are some necessary “organisational changes” taking place within the Force; especially as it relates to adequately equipping the Force to police the borders.

“We cannot control 3000, 4000 kilometers of border on foot. We

have to give the Police better boats, we have to give them All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), we have to give them aircraft and so on. We have provided some horses but the horses cannot cover the distance,” the President noted, while adding that the Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper TakatuUpper Essequibo) alone is bigger than all of Costa Rica.

Furthermore, Granger underscored the need to have more manpower stationed along the porous borders, but in this vain, recognised that the country’s premier law enforcement agency is under strength.

“We want to recruit more people into the

Mounted Branch, particularly in the Rupununi and we want to have local residents who could participate in the mounted branch patrols operations there,” he remarked.

Only on Thursday last, Minister of State Joseph Harmon told reporters at the post-Cabinet press briefing that Government is exploring various ways on how to further strengthen security at the borders and will accept assistance from any international partner willing to lend a hand.

He pointed out that there are a range of opportunities from which Guyana enjoys such partnership. continued on page 23

overnment has wrapped up consultations on the controversial State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) proposed legislation and the Bill is now before the Chief Parliamentary Counsel(CPC) for review.

On Thursday, Government spokesperson State Minister Joseph Harmon told reporters that following consultations, the Bill was handed over to the AG Chambers for final works before it is presented to the National Assembly.

However, when contacted on Friday, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, told Guyana Times Internationalthat he has completed his works and the proposed legislation is being reviewed by the CPC. Following this process, he explained that the Bill will return to Cabinet for vetting and pending its approval, it will be laid in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, later Friday while addressing the House, the Attorney General pointed out that the SARA Bill is purely a civil approach to assets recovery, and noted that the agency will have a director who will be empowered to make certain approaches in this regard.

Williams added that assets recovery is a global approach to deal with the cancer of pilfering of state assets and his government is working on a regimen to ensure there are witnesses to come out and blow the whistle on perpetrators.

Government had come under much flak over the draft SARA Bill, with experts and stakeholders saying that the proposed bill legislating SARA is not only dangerous and disingenuous but also a violation of numerous sections of Guyana’s supreme law – the

Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams

Constitution.

To this end, there were several calls for further consultations on the Bill even for it to be halted until Government can clearly outline its desired objectives.

In fact, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) had pointed out in a statement that while all assets or resources belonging to State “that were unlawfully or criminally transferred to any beneficiary must be recovered and returned to the State once such unlawful transactions become known and criminal convictions obtained”, this must be done within the confines of the Guyana Constitution.

“The SARA Bill 2016 is not a good signal to investors who will require access to State resources such as land, licences, access rights etc, as the Bill provides opportunities for legitimate investors to be harassed and politically victimised,” the body also said. turn to page 24

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President’s position on guns and their relation to crime needs to be tested, says Ramkarran

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he position taken by President David Granger on guns and their relation to crime in Guyana needs to be tested closely, as the evidence for such is “slim or anecdotal.

This was the view of former House Speaker Ralph Ramkarran Sunday on his online blog “Conversation Tree”, as he examined comments made by President Granger recently about the issuance of gun licences to private citizens and its correlation to the rise in criminal activities in Guyana.

Recently, on his televised programme “The Public Interest”, the President said the Administration would be working towards seeing fewer guns on the streets by scaling down the number of licences issued to private individuals. He indicated that that may be the reason why so many weapons were in the hands of criminals.

“We would like to see fewer weapons in the hands of private citizens; it is my personal view that weapons should be used by law

Former House Speaker, Ralph Ramkarran

enforcement agencies – the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force… We will try to detect people coming into the country with illegal firearms… so there is a plethora of measures, which will be implemented and our whole policy is aimed at getting guns off the streets and leaving guns in the hands of the Police and the Army,” the Head of State said. He noted that some firearm holders rent their weapons to criminals.

But Ramkarran on his blog said there were no statistics or other evidence publicly available to link lawful gun ownership to the high level

of gun crimes. He said by the end of the 1980s, after strong Police action against ‘kick down the door bandits’, criminals increasingly resorted to the use of firearms. He noted that in 1992, the newly-elected People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government increased the issuance of firearm licences, which had been previously denied to business people and farmers.

He said a few years ago all owners of firearms were required to submit their firearms when renewing licences.

“The objective was to acquire spent shells by firing the guns in water so that a database could be built of spent shells of all firearms, which are legally owned. That database is presumably in existence.” He further asked, “If, as the Government argues, private owners are renting their firearms to criminals, how come no one has been charged?

This indicates that the evidence against private gun owners is slim or anecdotal.”

According to Ramkarran, the increase

President David Granger

in gun crimes has also been linked to the increase in drug trafficking from the 1980s.

He said for several years, Government and security officials have attributed the prevalence of not only illegal guns and gun crimes, but also illegal drugs to Guyana’s porous borders.

The implied argument was that it was impossible to stop the flow of arms across our borders because of the impossibility of monitoring them. According to him, this was the explanation, some would say excuse, for the inability of the authorities to reduce the incidence of gun crimes and drug trafficking.

“There are many initiatives which have been taken to reduce crime.

These range from increased cooperation between the Governments of Guyana and the US in relation to drug trafficking, cooperation between the Governments of Guyana and the UK on security issues, efforts to build relations between the Police and communities, enhanced capacity of the CID, increased recruitment and training, and others. These have resulted in an overall reduction of crime.

But the intractable problem of crimes involving the use of a gun continues to be deeply troubling to Guyanese in Guyana and overseas,” the former Speaker wrote.

He said Government and security officials face a situation that had no single, dominant cause and required wide-ranging solutions. These, he said, range from secure borders, better Policing, granting of gun licences only to those who are fully qualified, reduced drug trafficking, more stringent bail conditions and many more. He said, how-

ever, that the attempt to unduly restrict the issue of firearm licences ran the risk of returning Guyana to the days when only the politically favoured were granted licences.

“There are other issues, already in the public domain, that need to be addressed. Recently, both the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Public Security called for bail to be refused to persons accused of gun crimes because while they are on bail, they commit more gun crimes.

This has been a sore point for decades and the only answer is legislation.”

He said the extent of the power of Magistrates to imprison persons convicted of gun crimes, or any indictable offence tried summarily, was limited.

Also, a simple amendment to the relevant law would enable a magistrate to refer such persons to be sentenced by the High Court, as if the person were convicted on indictment, if the Magistrate considered it necessary, either on his or her motion or at the request of the prosecution.

Region Six Chairman disappointed main access road will not be fixed this year

R

ehabilitation works on the East Bank Berbice main access road will not happen this year, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Chairman David Armogan has said.

Addressing the issue late last week, Armogan told reporters that the Public Infrastructure Ministry despite committing to the project was now saying that it was unable to execute the works.

“I have been making many calls over the past couple of weeks to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and I discussed it twice with Minister Ferguson, who is the Junior Minister in the Ministry and she got one of her assistants to call me back on Wednesday to say that the matter is still incomplete between the [InterAmerican Development Bank] IDB and the Ministry and so it is likely to take some time and so I enquired from the person whether it is likely to be completed before the end of the year and the person said to me, ‘that is not likely to happen’.”

He explained that David Patterson, who is the senior Minister in the Public Infrastructure Ministry, had previous-

Regional Chairman, David Armogan

ly indicated that work on the road would have commenced a month ago.

The project, which will see a total rehabilitation and resurfacing of the section of the road from Marks Bridge to Everton, East Bank Berbice went to tender.

According to the Regional Chairman, as a result of the promises made by Minister Patterson, the local ad-

ministration did not undertake any rehabilitation works on the East Bank Berbice road and as such, the road was now left in a deplorable state.

“As far as we know, the IDB money has already been processed, but it is now a question of which contractor should get the job… So what we are doing at the regional level is that we have some savings from other projects like bridges and so, and so I have asked the [Regional Executive Officer] REO to look at it to see if we can get a G$5 million or G$6 million; but that is nothing when you consider the condition of that road. The road is in an extremely bad shape,” Armogan noted.

Residents along the affected area have in the

A section of the deplorable road

past voiced their concerns over the state of the road and held numerous protests hoping to get the attention of officials. They claimed that the Public Infrastructure Ministry has been ignoring them.

Minister Patterson, in his capacity as A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) campaign manager leading up to the May 2015 Regional and General Elections, had held a meeting at Edinburgh and told residents that the then Administration had neglected them.

Back then, he said should the APNU/AFC coalition win the elections, repair work to the East Bank Road would be a number one priority.

Vehicle operators

plying the East Bank Berbice route have upped their fares because of the damage caused to their vehicles by the road.

Armogan told report-

ers if the REO provided funds from savings generated at the regional level, they would be used to improve the current state of the road.

Govt to strengthen... from page 22

These include the US-funded Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) as well as bilateral arrangements between Guyana and neighbouring Brazil.

According to the Minister of State, the latter option has seen Guyana benefiting from shared information on both sides of its border with that neighbour.

Harmon stated that the Administration will spare no effort to ensure the safety of its citizens, so that the country could to develop its resources in an atmosphere and an environment of peace.

On the issue of seeking international help, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, just over a week ago, disclosed that during a recent visit to Washington, DC, requests were made for assistance in strengthening security at the country’s borders in order to curb gun-smuggling, particu-

larly from Brazil, where there is a very long porous border too.

Only recently, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) called on Government to adequately equip local law enforcement agencies and personnel to better police the country’s borders in order to arrest gun-smuggling from the Portuguese-speaking nation.

According to PSC Chairman, Eddie Boyer, citizens are concerned about the inability of the State to generally protect them from widespread gun inspired crime, threatening their wellbeing and safety To this end, the PSC Chairman is calling on President David Granger, who is also Commanderin-Chief of the armed forces, to publicly order the men and women in uniform to bring some order and control as it relates to criminal gangs and individuals terrorising the Guyanese community.

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WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Mother pleads for justice for son shot and killed during robbery

T

he mother of Gregory Garraway, 25, of Charlestown, Georgetown, who was shot and killed during a robbery early last month is calling for the Police to mete out justice for her son.

Pinky Hutson along with other family picketed outside Parliament Buildings late last week to have their voices heard.

Speaking with this newspaper Hutson explained that her family decided to take protest actions after the perpetrator, who has been identified as a man known as “Three D”, a convicted felon, was allegedly earlier this year pardoned by the President.

She relayed that the man of East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was sentenced to three years in prison charged with naracotics possession.

During their protest, the woman told this publication that the family met with ranks from the Guyana Police Force who related that the suspect will be arrested shortly for an identification parade.

“It is so unfair, what happened to my son, his life was just taken from him and not one time did the police even come to us to say anything; we need justice.”

However, during a press briefing with the media, Assistant Police Commissioner David Ramnarine said that Hutson’s claims that Police are not assisting are bogus.

He said that Police have on occasions reached out to the mother, who refused to cooperate.

“When I saw the press report, I called the officer in charge of crime A Division…I told him to go to this mother’s home and invite her to the Police Station, speak with her in the presence of other detectives, tell her you feel her pain and you feel her loss and have her cooperate with us.The detective officer did just that, and informed me that the madam indicated that she will come at her own time,” the commissioner related.

The Commissioner noted that further contact was made with the mother, who indicated that she was ready to cooperate; however, when they reached out to her, she

Dead: Gregory Garraway

was unavailable.

On the day of Garraway’s murder, he along with his brother was walking along Mandela Avenue where they went to buy food when they were approached by the suspect.

Garraway was allegedly accosted and the accused who snatched his gold chain. However, Garraway put up a fight and so the suspect shot him to his chest.

The young man was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital and nine days later succumbed to his injuries.

He leaves to mourn his mother sister.

Zika testing now possible in Guyana W

o o d l a n d s Hospital has commenced molecular testing for the Zika Virus, following the training of several of the Hospital’s technicians.

The institution’s Quality Manager, Roger Astwood noted that testing commenced a week ago, and since then, there have been a signif-

device, which comprises a computer and a testing kit, has the capacity to test 48 people at a time. Guyana is among the first South American countries to be on board with the PCR Zika technology.

A blood or saliva sample from the individual to be tested would be taken and placed into one of the

icant number of patients coming in to utilise the service. Most of these patients, he said, are being referred from other hospitals.

Woodlands Hospital has partnered with Codiagnostics, a US molecular diagnostics company, to start Zika testing.

Managing Director of the hospital, Dr Neville Gobin, has reassured persons that they would know if they were infected in less than an hour.

The Hospital has moved away from rapid testing for the Virus, as research has shown that many of the devices used for rapid testing have yielded false positive results.

He stated that the

tubes, which would then be inserted into the box.

The test would then differentiate between Zika and its cousin viruses, especially Chikungunya and dengue. The molecular diagnostic test can also test where there is a mutation of mosquitoes that can possibly be infected with Zika.

Dr Egan explained that devices could be placed at strategic locations to catch the mosquitoes, grind them and use the resultant samples to test for the presence of the Zika Virus.

The Woodlands Hospital is charging G$5000 for the test, which will yield results in an hour.

SARA Bill with...

from page 22

In lambasting the draft SARA Bill, the PSC drew reference to the fact that the Bill has been drafted from the perspective “that the Government of Guyana does not know what it owns or what the State has lost over the years and as such it provides all-encompassing investigative and surveillance powers to the Director and staff of the Agency to snoop around into private accounts and financial records of citizens to determine what assets of the State were lost and need to be recovered.”

According to the Private Sector body, “this is a complete affront to the fundamental rights of citizens and if such powers are granted, they can be used to marginalise, suppress and take advantage of vulnerable members of the

population through political intimidation.”

The umbrella body of the local private sector had even sought legal opinion, which recommended that Government set up a small team, “possessing and having access to relevant skills and expertise, to consider how best to achieve the objectives.”

The PSC’s legal team also suggested that the State use existing mechanisms, including the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Double Taxation Treaties (Canada, UK and Caricom) and the Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the USA, to pursue suspected acts of illicit enrichment misfeasance and other violations using both the civil and criminal avenues.

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‘Difference between Bartica Deputy insufficient evidence Mayor’s store robbed and innocence’ B …President Granger says of ruling on Duncan’s fraud charge

P

resident David Granger was adamant that trade unionist Carvil Duncan must remain suspended from several constitutional agencies despite having his fraud charge legally dismissed.

He contended that the ruling by the Magistrate on November 2, 2016, does not prove Duncan’s innocence and reminded that there is still another matter of conspiracy pending in the courts.

“The ruling by the magistrate was that insufficient evidence had been provided, there’s a slight difference between insufficient evidence and innocence,” the Head of State explained during his weekly telecast “The Public Interest”.

Granger posited that he will await the findings of the tribunal he had established to determine whether Duncan is fit to continue serving in his constitutional positions.

Duncan was facing a charge which stated that on March 31, 2015

at Georgetown, he stole G$984,900, property of GPL. But Magistrate Leron Daly ruled that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to make out a prima facie case against Duncan who was charged on January 26, 2016.

Duncan still faces a conspiracy charge which stated that between May 7 and 8, 2015, he conspired with then Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GPL, Aeshwar Deonarine, to steal G$27,757,547, property of the power company.

He is expected in court on January 4, 2017, to answer that charge.

Duncan was recently suspended from the chairmanship of the Public Service Commission, as well as his membership in several other constitutional bodies by the President, who appointed a Tribunal to determine his fate in light of the criminal charges.

Duncan had moved to the High Court and late last month, Justice

Carvil Duncan

Franklin Holder issued temporary orders to halt the work of the tribunal.

But Minister of State Joseph Harmon told the media that the work of the tribunal was completed at the time the orders were circulated.

Harmon indicated that the order is preventing the tribunal from submitting its report to the President and that the attorneys representing the State will be challenging the court order.

Justice Holder had ruled that the tribunal was established based upon unlawful advice provided by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.

artica’s Deputy Mayor Kamal Persaud, owner of Kamal’s Gift Centre, is counting her losses after thieves in the wee hours of Sunday broke and entered her business, which has been in operation for over a decade.

Reports are that sometime between 03:00h and 05:00h, bandits made their way through a window on the upper flat at the WK Shopping Mall, Bartica, Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) and made off with jewellery, watches, mobile phones and portable DVD players. This follows another robbery committed on the store in September when mo-

the previous incident.

Speaking with this publication on Sunday evening, Persaud expressed much frustration over being robbed twice in less than three months.

The Deputy Mayor also explained that the lock on the door to the boutique was broken, while the showcase inside the establishment was also damaged.

She explained that while she appreciated the quick response of the Police, more needed to be done to restore safety to the nation’s newest town. The Deputy Mayor pointed out that this was the fourth time she has been robbed in 12 years since the establishment

Bartica’s Deputy Mayor, Kamal Persaud

of dollars cumulatively.

“Bartica was the safest place in Guyana, but over the years, there have been a lot of criminal elements harbouring themselves here,” Persaud expressed. She

The store’s showcase was vandalised

bile phones, to the value of G$1.2 million, were stolen.

According to preliminary investigations, this latest robbery is similar in nature to

of her business.

Persaud further explained that the first incident was in 2006, and the second occurred shortly after in 2007, and she has lost millions

added too with a population increase and movement of people, there has been an increase in crime.

Police are continuing their investigations.

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

travel & TOURISM 29

Oshi Falls (Patrick Greaves photo)

O

shi Falls, also known by several other names such as Salto Oshi, King George VI Falls, Ushi Falls, Utshi Falls, Uitshi Falls, is located on the Oshi River in Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Region Seven.

The waterfall was reportedly discovered in 1938 by American entomologist and physician Paul A. Zahl.

The Falls belong to the most spectacular falls in the world – but few people manage to see them.

This waterfall represents a single 214-metre-tall vertical plunge adorning a broad cliff amphitheater. The landscape there is still covered with pristine rainforest. (www.wondermondo.com) Closer look at the pristine forest surrounding the Falls (Photo from Annette & Dave Martins 'Is We Own' Facebook page)

A cascading beauty

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WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

The Guyana Animation Network

T

he Guyana Animation Network (GAN) is a community formed to raise awareness on the opportunities available in the animation and ICTs industries for Guyanese.

GAN, which was officially launched July 2, 2016, provides a platform for Guyanese animators, artists, story writers and creators to benefit from greater networking, training, capacity building and development opportunities locally, regionally and internationally. It also seeks to bring together businesses, professionals, national officials and other persons who can develop the creative industries in Guyana.

ance, the establishment of an NGO and networking on a community, regional and international level, Guyanese animators and artists will gain enough training and motivation to kick-start a yearning for respect of the creative industries.

“GAN’s ultimate goal is to allow animators, artists and supporters/advocates of this industry to make this potentially lucrative industry one that will function as a solid and fluid machine. It seeks to develop in a manner that serves the best interests of not only the local, regional and international animation studios but also the driving forces of the industry, the animators,

sought to benefit from the many activities, the collaboration’s main focus was on the festival’s Animated Ideas Bootcamp, which facilitated a training and development project that encourages group participation for the development of animation concepts for pitching and production.

The winning group will be partnered with Caribbean animation studios and funded to create a short trailer a poster and a Production Bible that will be used for marketing and promotion for further funding both in the region, and international bodies.

To assist in the development of these concepts are exceptional coaches, all with a background in

GAN's display at Animae Caribe Festival

“Guyana possesses a very unique, creative and vibrant culture. It has many young and old, who are eager to develop their animation, creative and artistic skills which can be used to catapult this country forward,” explained Jubilante Cutting, founder of GAN. Jubilante pointed out that with proper guid-

the artists and creators,” Jubilante declared.

This year, the Guyana Animation Network and the Suriname Animation Network (SAN) decided to establish the first collaboration of its kind in the Caribbean called SAGA Networks (SAN + GAN) to commemorate this momentous occasion.

Although the networks

design and creation, such as Caiphus Moore (with more than ten years of experience at EA Games), Yoane Pavadé and Saïdou Bernabé of Parallel, and 14 out of Martinique who have spent 15 years abroad working as 3D graphic designers for some of the largest international studios.

SAGA Networks

From L-R: Adley Breeveld - president of SAN, Nicholas Maxwell president of TTAN, Camille Selvon Abrahams - Creative Director of the Animae Caribe Festival, and Jubilante Cutting - president of GAN.

won second place in the Animae Caribe Festival Boot camp Film and New Media Festival with their film pitch “The Old Higue” and fourth place with film "Project Mimas." SAGA also won most promising animator, along with the Trinidad and Tobago Animation Network (TTAN).

A contingent of 21 members from both SAGA Networks attended the festival which lasted for seven days. Both networks were also recognized for their work in collaborating for the sake of building the Caribbean Animation Industry and showing that it is possible.

The Animae Caribe Animation and Digital Media Festival continues to embrace and encourage the growth of local content by providing an outlet for innovative animators in the Caribbean to develop, expand and showcase their talents to a wider local and international audience.

With support from regional institutions like

CARICOM, Caribbean Development Bank and the University of Trinidad and Tobago, this year’s Animae Caribe Animation and Digital Media Festival was a week of animation screenings, along with appearances from animation and gaming profession-

Disney, Pixar, EA Games and others.

The festival aims to establish a thriving arts and animation movement in the Caribbean, and push animation and the new media industry to the forefront within the region and worldwide.

Animator from Disney at the Animae Caribe Festival demonstrates how characaters are created

als from the Caribbean diaspora who are impacting the animation industry from companies like

For more information, visit Guyana Animation Network on Facebook.

Character creation of "Captain Guyana" done by Guyanese animator Josiah Hooper

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WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

B

efore the introduction of paper money, coins were mainly used for financial transactions in Guyana – then known as the colony British Guiana. In today’s independent Guyana economy however, coins are rendered in what are now considered low values.

In May 2016, the Bank of Guyana announced the pending removal of the one dollar and five dollar coins from circulation. “[T]he one dollar coin of which obviously it has lived its life already...” according to the BOG governor during his announcement.

In that same announcement, commemorative souvenir Jubilee $5,000 and $2,000 coins were introduced.

Brief coin history in Guyana According

to “The

1955 five cents showing Queen Elizabeth II

But actually, the indigenous people did not barter much among themselves since they farmed, hunted and fished in communal groups, and they shared the produce among themselves.

Later, the Dutch colonists and traders bartered European goods such as knives, cutlasses, and cloth for indigo and dye-woods which

1967 ten cents

Guyana Story - From Earliest Times to Independence” by Odeen Ishmael, before the arrival of the Dutch in Guyana, the indigenous people survived on subsistence farming, hunting and fishing. From time to time they used a barter system by which they exchanged goods with each other. For example, one person might give half a deer to his neighbour in exchange for a basket of sweet potatoes.

were collected by the Amerindians.

Money was introduced by the Dutch colonists, but there was never much in circulation.

Actually, for large business transactions, they rarely used money. It was normal for them to write promissory notes which eventually would be redeemed from their agents in Amsterdam where they sent their sugar and other produce to be sold.

The Dutch col-

50 cents showing the Coat of Arms (reverse)

onists introduced the guilder and other coins such as pennings, stivers and bitts whose values fluctuated over time. Side by side with these coins from other European nations circulated. These included the English guinea, the Mexican dollar, and the Portuguese gold ducat, moidore, and joe.

By the end of the eighteenth century a type of paper money issued by the Government or the banks in Europe began appearing in Guyana. Usually, when a person had accumulated a quantity of paper money, he would exchange the notes for gold at the Receiver's Office for Colonial Taxes. This Office would then re-issue the paper money to the general public again.

When the British seized Guyana in 1803, English coins began to make a gradual appearance. But the Dutch coins continued to be the main means of commercial exchange throughout the rest of the century, by which time the Portuguese and Mexican coins could hardly be found in circulation.

Many slaves saved coins that they acquired by doing odd jobs during their free time, or through the sale of the produce from their provision grounds.

Interestingly, the first bank to be established was a savings bank for the slaves in 1828. This occurred at a time when the British Government was implementing policies aimed at improving the social condition of the slave population in its colonies.

In 1836, two other banks, the Colonial Bank and the British Guiana Bank, were set up. The former, many years later, was taken over by Barclays Bank, while the latter, during the second decade of the twentieth century, was absorbed by the Royal Bank of Canada.

In 1900, the Dutch coins were withdrawn and were replaced by British coins such as the

half penny, penny, sixpence, twelve pence, shilling, florin, half crown, crown, sovereign and guinea. Official British paper money was also introduced into Guyana at this time. This system of currency remained until 1951 when Guyana joined with the British Eastern Caribbean territories to use common Eastern Caribbean coins and currency notes, even though many of the British coins continued to circulate for a while.

Guyana, on attaining independence in 1966, withdrew from the Eastern Caribbean currency board and began to issue its own coins (one cent, five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents) and currency notes with values of one dollar, five dollars, ten dollars and twenty dollars.

Today, coins are issued in one dollar, five and ten dollars; having years earlier replaced their respective notes, while cent coins where long ago withdrawn.

The one and five dollar coins earmarked earlier by the BOG to be withdrawn are still in circulation.

The obverse of a coin means the “front face” of the object and reverse means the “back face”. The obverse of a coin is commonly called “heads”, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse “tails”.

Sunday Times Magazine interviewed 66-year-old Judith Deosarran who reminisced about growing up in British Guiana and how happy she was when she was able to take one of the coins,

Penny (reverse)

used in her time, to the shop to purchase something delicious, or being able to purchase groceries with just a shilling.

“My father would tell me that with a penny [in 1940] he could’ve purchased a salara shaped like a ‘donkey collar’, which six persons could eat to satisfaction. With a 1960 shilling, I could’ve bought a pound of flour, sugar, salt or a big slice of fish that could feed about six persons. Five cents (1964) could’ve gotten you a tall drink of lemonade and large buttered bread. With the ‘Cuffy dollar’ you could get eddoes, plantains, cassava, coconuts, calaloo and other veggies

for soup or metemgee.

These were the good old days when these little coins could’ve purchased so many things,” Judith remembered.

For the young generations who are unfamiliar with the coins featured today, we encourage you to learn more about them through research or simply by talking to the older folks who actually used them. You’ll find the information they impart very impressive.

(Historical information from: “The Guyana Story - From Earliest Times to Independence”

by Odeen Ishmael)

Dollar showing a portrait of Cuffy

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WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

‘Pulling the punches: Defeating Domestic Violence’ by Luke Daniels Domestic violence – it has a beginning and there must be an end

By Petamber Persaud

“P

ulling the p u n c h e s : Defeating Domestic Violence” by Luke Daniels is a hardhitting book that does not bob and weave but deliberately aims at, and takes pot-shots of sordid realities of this issue, stepping on stumblingblock toes of our civilization that spawned patriarchy, a system of monstrous proportion, limiting lives from the cradle to the grave, in-

fringing on basic human rights, stealing the joy of living by imposing oppression in its various manifestations; ingraining themselves into norms of society as we accept violence meted out “just for your good/ just a slap/just words”; minimizing the violence and prolonging the hurt, wrecking a toll on future generations as violence become a learned behaviour, resulting in immeasurable economic, social and mental health cost.

These “revelations”

are brutal but there is a redeeming factor: there is a beginning and there must be an end.

How will it end?

Accepting, admitting, and coming to grips with the realities, saying no to all forms of violence, unlearning violent traits in individuals and removing oppressive systems –especially state-sponsored oppression imposed upon society.

In “Pulling the punches…”, Daniels bares all, even sharing his story to add credence to some ar-

eas of concern, as if validation is necessary for this most pressing and depressing societal malady.

Although this is a self-help book aimed at perpetrators/survivors (man, woman, and state), it offers guidance to anyone concerned about the use of violence, and to practitioners in the field of domestic violence.

The book is prepared in six progressive/graduating chapters: from the root of domestic violence

Author Luke Daniels (YouTube photo)

to the rooting out of this scourge, mindful that the full and true solution rests in self-realization and “repentance”, leading to release/salvation.

Each chapter is important to the whole as each chapter looks at a key “awareness-raising” issue to fully grasp and grapple with the problem in order to equip ourselves with the appropriate attitude and tools to effective put an end to domestic violence.

A word of caution: change in individuals and in systems comes

cialization of violence, breeding the oppression of both male and female; pointing to three contributing factors, namely where perpetrators were hit/abused as children, where sexist attitudes still exist, and control/ dominating patterns are practiced. Perpetuating these ills is one sordid side of the gloomy picture but condoning these ills is worse. And according to the book, “real solutions involve outlawing all forms of violence and teaching an ethos of non-violence”.

Cover for “Pulling the punches: Defeating Domestic Violence” by Luke Daniels

at different paces and the use of violence is a choice.

In chapter one, the focus is on the birth, evolution and entrenchment of a patriarchal society that spawned the so-

In chapter two, labelled ‘Men’s Liberation’, the focus is on the confusion about men’s oppression in a society where men are deemed the chief perpetrators in continued on page 34

feature 33

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

W

hile much is known of the indigenous piwari/paiwarri and kasirri drinks, documentation of other fermented and non-fermented drinks of this group of Guyanese remains sketchy, and perhaps over time some have even ceased to be produced.

Prolific historian James Rodway, has become oftentimes the sole source of our much- undocumented national history, and here he provides some insight into the seemingly lost and forgotten traditions of indigenous Guyanese.

Fermented drinks

Beltiris is a name derived from the Arawak word beletto, signifying anything soft or jellylike. Whereas Paiwarri and Kassiri are used chiefly for purposes of feasting and sport, beltiri is essentially a fermented drink for home consumption.

It is made from cassava, having, in the course of making cassava bread, expressed the fluid from the squeezed cassava by means of the matapi and using kereli -an Arawak word for the chewed fresh cassavabread, previously soaked in sugar-cane juice, which has been thoroughly saturated with saliva and spat out again by the different women and children, sometimes men assisting. In certain areas this chewing process is said to be essentially woman's work.

Berria is another cassava beverage product made by heaping up hot cassava-cakes and covering them with plantain leaves; after fermenting through the action of the heat, they dissolve them in warm water, and placing the resulting broth in earthen jars where it effervesces and produces a beer which is called Berria.

This recipe though, varies somewhat among

users: Demerara River Indians manufacture a cassava drink on practically identical lines, but without the use of any kereli.

Kumani, of the Demerara River, is a composition of cassava bread, cassava sticks or twigs, and soft wood, all burnt and pounded together, and placed in jars with water for weeks to ferment: portions of the fermented matter are then wrapped in leaves.It is sweet and honey -like, and when mixed with water, used as a beverage.

Sakura is said to have been introduced by the seafaring Surinam Caribs. A kind of pap, made of chewed cassava, cooked yams and such-like (a handful of it mixed with a calabashfull of water forms a sort of soup).

Among the Macusis, a few days before starting on a journey, the housewife bakes some fresh cassava bread, of which

Wapishana (L) and Atorad (Atorai) in warrior dance costumes at a festive event

Aerial view of National Library and St. George's Cathedral circa 1950-1959

HMS Curlew schooner waiting to load up at Demerara wharf circa 1924

one is chewed, while the others are kneaded into a paste; together with the chewed mass and the thickened juice of the manihot, fermentation commences after four or five days.

When it’s time to quench a thirst, a small quantity is taken and placed into a drinking cup. Water is then poured on it, and the contents stirred until they are dissolved.

Maize drink in British Guiana, certainly on the Pomeroon, involves the maize, after being pounded (if dry), or grated (if fresh), being thrown into warm water and boiled; chewed kereli is then added, and the liquor strained next day; within three days it is ready for consumption.

Pine-Apple juice, an intoxicating liquor, is prepared by peeling the fruit and grating it on a sieve, allowing the juice to take its own time to ferment. The Arawaks have no special word for it, just calling it nanna-ura, literally, “pinejuice”.

The Wild Cashew (Anacardium rhinocarpus) similarly yields a

very pleasant alcoholic drink. Arawaks call it obudi-ura, lit., “cashewjuice”.

Cane- juice similarly requires no special preparation. While the sugarcane is being squeezed in the "mill/" the juice trickles down the artificial gutter whence it is collected. It takes some three weeks to fully ferment, and is highly intoxicating. The doubtfully Indian name, on the Pomeroon at least, is warrap.

Non-fermented beverages

Of the many non-fermented liquors, perhaps the most important on the coastlands is that obtained from the Ite-palm (Mauritia flexuosa) either from the trunk or from the fruits.

Among the Macusis, to accelerate the collection of the sap, the upper end of the trunk is raised on a scaffolding of about a foot to 18 in. high, and a fire lighted under its whole length. When the drink is made from the fruits, the tree need not necessarily be sacrificed.

The large bunches of fruits when more or

less mature are stacked in a close heap and covered with a thick layer of the leaves for some four days, at the end of which time the fruits will all be found to have dropped from their stalks.

A pit is then dug in the swampy ground, about three feet wide by two feet deep, into which the water wells up from below, and into this basketful after basketful of the fruits are thrown in.

A thick covering composed of many layers of Ite leaves is again placed over the whole which is left as it is for about eight days. By this time, the seed coverings will have become soft, and hence can now be easily scraped off, a procedure in which the person will be probably assisted by his family who either come and work at it on the spot, or else carry the mush home with them.

Once removed, this soft substance is mixed, as required, with water and a little honey, and thus drunk. Rodway states that “[I]t tastes nice and is said to be very fattening.” (TO BE CONTINUED)

34 news

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

South African High Commissioner to Guyana presents Letters of Credence P

resident David Granger said that Guyana looks forward cooperating with the Republic of South Africa in the area of climate change and environmental management as part of this country’s continued push toward the development of a ‘Green State’.

The President made these comments today following an Accreditation Ceremony at State House, where the new non-resident High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to Guyana, Her Excellency Xoliswa Nomathamsanqa Ngwevela presented her Letters of Credence to the President. “We look forward to sharing our experiences on the mitigation of the impact of global warming, the demarcation of national parks, the designation of protected areas, the generation of energy from renewable sources and the protection of wildlife with the Republic of South Africa,” the

President David Granger poses with (from left) Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Joseph Harmon, nonresident High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to Guyana, Her Excellency Xoliswa Nomathamsanqa Ngwevela and Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Audrey Waddell

President said.

The two countries established diplomatic ties on November 4, 1994 and President Granger highlighted Guyana’s advocacy in support of the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.

“Guyana employed every available international forum, including the Caribbean Community, the Commonwealth, the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations, to agitate for an end to

apartheid in South Africa. Guyana sponsored and co-sponsored resolutions, at the United Nations, which condemned this racist system and which called attention to acts of brutality committed against opponents of this system,” the Head of State said.

Additionally, the President said that Guyana welcomed an-

ti-apartheid politician Oliver Reginald Tambo to Georgetown in 1987, celebrated Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 and celebrated the introduction of majority rule in the Republic of South Africa in 1994. “These events and achievements vindicated the solidarity between our peoples,” President

Granger said.

The High Commissioner stated that it is an honour to be chosen by her country to be the representative to Guyana and this part pf the world and that she hopes to make a difference in the advancement of the bilateral interests of the two countries.

“Your Excellency, as we all know, people to people relations are an integral part of state and government relations. Hence it is imperative that we find ways to boost tourism… because that is usually a catalyst to create linkages between people, businesses and institutions working together. We hope we can change that so our bilateral contact can improve,” she said. The High Commissioner also noted that though the Republic of South Africa remains nonresident in representation to Guyana, that this would change some time in the future to support the expansion of political and economic diplomacy especially with countries of and with an African Diaspora.

‘Pulling the punches...

from page 32

the oppression of women. This is what the book offers on the confusion: “[w]ith the oppression of men there is no one group, but the society as a whole does the oppressing, through its customs, culture and institutions.

Chief among these latter are the army, police, prison and economic system”.

Further, men are stereotyped to be superior – strong and indestructible – from youth where they are given “an arsenal of war toys” and told “big boys don’t cry”; internalizing unhealed hurt, growing into the next sphere of providers to “bring home the bacon”; and even in the sport of boxing which is a “hurt business” and then having to deal with the fear of same-sex relationships and homophobia.

C h a p t e r three,labelled ‘Women’s Liberation’, looks at some of the factors contributing to oppression of women and how it is condoned in name of religion, tradition, custom

and culture. Some other factors include politics, education, equal-pay discrimination, sexism and pornography, the latter a multi-billion-dollar industry controlled mostly by men. It is worthy to note that one of the “key places we learn sexism is in the home. Gender socialization begins from the moment babies are put into blue or pink and it continues for most of our lives”.

Under the subsection “language and liberation” it is stated that language has always been used as a “tool of oppression” and similarly, “sexist language is used as a tool to undermine women” excluding them from “historical (after all it is his-story we are talking about) accounts”.

Chapter four, labelled ‘Giving up Addictions’, focuses on mind-altering substances: “That licit drug companies are allowed to peddle their poison freely is a disgrace that can only be seen as a dereliction of duty by governments to pro-

tect its citizens from ill health, misery and early death”.

Another major form of addiction is gambling especially as it is seen as not hurting anyone.

Chapters five – ‘Parenting for Change’ and six – ‘Building loving relationships’ ought to go hand in hand because of the commonalities found in both areas.

The underlining factor in both areas is the need for a non-oppressive environment where hurt can be healed, where lives would not be limited and where growth and development is possible.

In “Pulling the punches: Defeating Domestic Violence”, there are numerous repetitions and overlapping, all designed in the effort to keep the issue in focus as a work in progress. This book is recommended reading for every strata of Guyanese society.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 2260065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

35

Guyana Fashion How will we be Week kicks off remembered?

By Ashley Anthony

were very polite, always smiling, or you nevitably, as my were very dedicated final year of high to your work. But is school begins, the it how you want to question of what I’ll be remembered? For be leaving behind senior students now comes to mind. is the time to reflect Everyone knows the upon if we are happy age old statement, with what we’re if a tree falls and no leaving behind. It is one can hear it, does important that we it make a sound? On first admit that we are face value, it appears not perfect. We have to make no sense at all made mistakes. all, but in fact it is But it is important quite applicable to that we understand our everyday life. that these mistakes Life is about making do not have to define connections. If we us. We will not be live our lives without remembered for the making meaningful mistakes that we connections with made, but rather others, then who how we dealt with will it matter to once those mistakes. Did we disappear? We we learn from them, shouldn’t be saying or did we refuse to ‘I don’t matter’, but accept them? rather why should There is a quote I? What have I done by Iain Thomas which that makes me reads, “There are memorable? a finite number of It doesn’t need to times you will be hurt be something vastly in life, but an infinite significant, one can number of ways in be remembered which you can react simply because you to it.” Similarly, there

I G

uyana Fashion Week (GFW) kicked off with an exhilarating motorcade on Saturday in the streets of Georgetown.

With Guyanese music blasting at the forefront, interspliced with Caribbean classic soca, the models, designers as well as executives of GFW celebrated the return of the long-awaited fashion festival.

This year’s schedule of activities includes a line-up of empower-

ing seminars, interactive workshops, engaging symposia, commercial exhibitions, dynamic talent exposures and exciting coming-out features for both models and designers, including impressive designer collections.

In keeping with the spiritual connection among the creative minds involved, the event received blessings by Apostle Claude Brooks, at a powerful service at Love and Faith

Outreach Ministries; over sixty GFW representatives were in attendance.

This week, models and designers from around the region would be flying in to join the ranks of “Brand Guyana” in commemorating not only our Caribbean aesthetics, but in this the momentous year of Guyana’s 50th Independence anniversary, GFW leads the way in a real integration of creative arts regionally.

Probe launched into reports of children being left abandoned for days

F

our children were on Tuesday taken to the Suddie Public Hospital in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) for thorough medical examinations after their mother left them unattended to go to a birthday party on the West Coast of Demerara.

After the medical examination, the children were placed into the custody of the Childcare and Protection Agency (C&PA), which has since

launched an investigation into the incident.

Reports are that on November 8, 2016, Commander of G Division (Essequibo Coast- Islands) Khali Parashram received information at about 19:00h about the children being neglected and abandoned by their mother. Acting on information, a Sergeant and ranks attached to the Division visited the home of the 40-year-old wom-

an at Dry Shore Village.

The ranks found the four children ages 13, seven, five and three in the home. The mother was expected to return home on Monday but reportedly did not. Residents, having observed what was taking place, provided meals for the children and called the Police.

When contacted, an officer of the C&PA noted that she is assisting with the investigation.

(IndrawattieNatram)

are a finite number of times you can make mistakes in life, but an infinite number of ways in which you can react to making these mistakes. How you react to these mistakes will become more defining of your character and more characteristic of your legacy than the actual mistakes.

Taking all of this into consideration, I encourage all of you to go forth and focus on what you’re leaving behind.

Is it something positive that you are proud of? Or would your children be ashamed to hear of what you’ve done?

Remember it’s okay to make mistakes, but we just have to deal with them appropriately.

36

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Cause and effects…

This week's Crossword T

This week's Puzzle

see solution on page 47

…in crime

he old people say, “Wha’ sweeten mout’ does hurt (the nether region)”. Your Eyewitness doesn’t want to upset your refined sensibilities, but you know what he means, don’t you, Dear Reader?

There was a time when many were chortling over the depredations by the criminal gang based in Buxton between 2002 and 2008. The gang called themselves “Resistance Fighters” and were supposedly waging a war on the PPP and the State on behalf of African Guyanese.

Veteran resident of Buxton, EusiKwayana had to flee the village because he claimed the gunmen were being directed by outside “political sophisticates”. Now, even though it was claimed the gang held the village of Buxton “at ransom” – and some reprisal actions demonstrated that – there was also clear evidence that quite a few villagers willingly aided and abetted them.

Witness the several persons who were kidnapped by gang members and brought into the village in broad daylight.

But one chilling feature of the modus operandi of the killer gangs was their recruitment of children who were given cellphones and used as lookouts. The ideology of the “political sophisticates” seduced many adults into believing that the children were doing their bit “for the cause”. For the children it was all an exciting extension of the video games they played – only this time they were paid by the gangsters for their services.

Several of these older children – some of whom came from other villages – graduated into full-fledged gang members, as evidenced by their bodies when the gang members were gradually killed off. Remember Chung Boy, Mud Up and Sancho? So what has caused your Eyewitness’ rumination on this painful episode of our national history? Well, it was something Prezzie said when he referred to the gang’s “operating in 2002”.

Prezzie commented on the effects of the violence “on victims”, but he now placed on the national agenda, the effect on youths “who witnessed the crimes”. Now your Eyewitness always wondered how many of those “watch-out” youths had turned to crime when they got older – seduced by the easy money and the romanticisation of their role not as the bandits they were – but as “Resistance Fighters”.

But now Prezzie has him even more worried – since he points also to those who only “witnessed” the crimes. And since these crimes occurred all over the country, this might provide the explanation as to why violent robberies using guns have grown exponentially.

These youths – now “youth men” – would’ve been exposed to the gun runners from Brazil and further afield.

Now that they’re of age, the chickens are coming home to roost. …in local government One of the biggest complaints the APNU/AFC Opposition had against the PPP Administration was their control of the local government apparatus via the Local Government Minister – who had control of the administrative appointments. They wanted such control to be exercised by a Local Government Council (LGC) which would be bi-partisan – and fairer.

The laws were duly drafted after 20 years by the PPP and duly signed into law by the APNU/AFC coalition.

Now you’d think they would’ve embarrassed the PPP by immediately constituting the LGC, no?

No! The Trade Unions for LG have submitted their nominee, the PPP have submitted their three – and guess who’s the holdout? Go to the head of the class, Dear Reader – you’re right – APNU/AFC still haven’t proffered their four nominees. So after the talk about “removing Central Government yoke” from the neck of Local Government to return “real democracy” to the “people”, the hypocrisy of the Government has been exposed once again. …in healing The scrotum of males sometimes gets filled with fluid – swelling them something fierce. While its medical name is “hydrocele”, Guyanese call it “goadie”.

We know Jesus healed the lame, etc…but evidently one local Pope did him one better.

He healed a fella’s goadie.

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

R

Playing barriles (drums) used in Puerto Rican Bomba music and dance

o m a n e e Kalicharran is a dance virtuoso of Guyanese and Puerto Rican heritage who loves how “Guyanese culture meshes cultures from India with Caribbean flavour”.

Romanee was born in the US. Her mother, Judith Kalicharran nee Cintrón, was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and her father, Ramesh Kalicharran also known as Kali, was born in Essequibo, Guyana.

Sunday Times Magazine interviewed Romanee, who spoke about the richness of her diversified cultural background and how it inspires her to help others through the art of dance.

Sunday Times Magazine: What do you like about your Guyanese heritage?

R o m a n e e Kalicharran: We have the songs and the music as well as religious traditions intact. Although

many have lost their spoken language component as well as certain aspects from India, the overall culture remains as a time capsule in the Caribbean.

So what I really appreciate is that people have taken upon themselves the responsibility to maintain whatever was kept and to do things the way that it was brought down from their ancestors. I also like, as I said, the Indo-Caribbean flavour that is infused in the music such as Taan, Chutney, Indian soca, and all of the forms that have transformed into popular music as well dance. The food there is with a flavour all its own.

Sunday Times Magazine: What inspired you to take up dancing?

R o m a n e e Kalicharran: Exposure to all different art forms as a young child. My parents put my family into many different activities.

We were involved in tra-

With Pandit Birju Maharaj

ditional forms, such as arts and music, as well as activities such as karate and swimming, guitar, piano, and others.

However, what stuck with us were the traditional forms: Tabla, Kathak, Dholak, Bhajan, classical and folk Indian music and dance. And we really took it upon ourselves to maintain those things. As a child, I found that it was something that was important. And now I realize as an adult why it was that important. So my inspiration is now drawn from the continuity of culture.

My profession is art creation and education.

Kathak dance is part of that, but I also do much more surrounding the arts. I do teach dance. I do perform dance. But I also do music direction, training of contestants for cultural shows and pageants, teach children cultural studies almost on a daily basis, and choreography for specialized programs... and the list goes on. There’s much more surrounding dance, because dance is something that is instantaneous and once it’s performed it’s done. But the process behind it and the content is very much important as well. I am also a musician and I also love to educate and to do lecturing upon interculturalism, not only in performing arts, but in general and the maintenance of culture, and also the promotion of innovation.

Sunday Times Magazine: Are you formally trained?

R o m a n e e Kalicharran: I was formally trained in Kathak and Bomba, as well as other music and dance forms. For Kathak, I started with Gora Singh. He was the first Guyanese-

born dancer to go to India on a scholarship to learn with dance masters and returned to Guyana with that knowledge. Here in New York, I learned with him as a child for only about two years.

That was very groundbreaking because he was an Indo-Caribbean like myself. I then continued on to learn from Satya Narayana Charka of East West School of Dance. He is from India. I was the first Indo-Caribbean or Puerto Rican to graduate from that institute.

I have been also been trained under Master, Pandit Birju Maharaj over the years. My other training in Bomba was with Don Angel Reyes. Also, I learned with Tata Cepeda, who is the granddaughter of the Master of Bomba, Don Rafael Cepeda. I feel that it’s very important to have that formal training in order to combine or to speak about these art forms.

I have my NY State certification as a dance teacher. I have taught in Spanish in Puerto Rico and different states in the U.S. I have performed in Canada, India, France, Guyana, and Switzerland, just to name a few. However, my base of teaching is in New York within the schools and independently for serious students of Kathak.

I also do workshops with Bomba and with other dance styles.

One of my first performances was for the late President of Guyana, Dr. Cheddi Jagan. I was very young at the time and didn’t realize the impact of that performance.

However, now I see that it was very important to be on the stage in front of such an important leader. I felt at that time putting the mala (garland) on his neck was a blessing for me because he appreciated not just my performance, but everyone there.

Sunday Times Magazine: Have you ever visited Guyana?

R o m a n e e Kalicharran: I have visited Guyana many times. I’ve gone to the different areas of Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo, as I have family in all those areas. I love it there. It’s a way to reconnect to my Guyanese roots in a way that’s different from being in New York. To just smell the air, be in the

feature 37

Romanee's passion is to promote the art of dance and help others through it

environment, and taste the food is phenomenal.

The music and the occasions there remind you of why you are who you are. I have also visited Puerto Rico many times and the same thing happens there. I feel reconnected back to my roots in a way that’s different from here. The attitude of the people is so friendly that it feels like home.

Both feel like home. I’ve also felt the similar inspiration in India, which was important for me to connect to my ancestry.

Dancing in each of those places and teaching in those lands made everything come full circle for me.

the end of my term on this Earth is to leave it better than the way that I found it. I hope to leave a mark here that someone can refer to as a way of expression for themselves or as a point that they can take from and possibly learn from or be inspired by. I also hope to raise the bar of respect for the elders that hold these art forms and keep them alive. I hope to accomplish bringing up the respect of artists and the roles of artists in our everyday lives.

Art is something that helps our survival as human beings in the realm of our everyday lives and the hustle and bustle of work. The artistes' role is

One of her awards in recognition of her 'outstanding achievements and community service'

Sunday Times Magazine: What would you like to accomplish as an artist?

R o m a n e e Kalicharran: I would like to make a positive impact for the future generations and for the world at large. Being of mixed heritage and being involved in different dance forms and genres of music give me the insight and tools to speak to various audiences through various forms.

What I would like to accomplish with all of this at the end of the day and

very particular and very important. As far as my own repertoire, my own work, I would like for it to be something appreciated and hopefully make an impact to whoever picks it up. I'd like everyone to know their work is just as valid as anyone else’s. All forms of music and dance have their time and place and are valid and important in their own right.

For more information on Romanee’s upcoming performances and events, visit Romanee and Company on Facebook.)

38 news

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Linden woman celebrates 105th birthday T

hough her memory is failing her now, Linden’s oldest resident Agatha Campbell, affectionately called “Mama Gathie” by residents in the community, continues to have a bubbly personality even at 105 years old.

Guyana Times Internationalrecently sat down with the charismatic Campbell at her Christiansburg, Wismar home and she appeared to be in good spirits, though she seemed appalled that she has lived to see that age.

Born in the year 1911, the centenarian who celebrated her 105th birthday on September 19, exclaimed, “I feel good!

I feeling happy. God is love”, before belching out a hearty laugh, when asked how it feels to be 105.

A celebration was held at her home on September 21 to commemorate her birth anniversary. The event was graced by the presence of Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence, in addition to numerous family and friends as well as members of the St Aidan’s Anglican Church which she attends.

“The birthday was excellent. We had a nice prayer and a few things; spent a nice afternoon,” her son Lincoln told this publication.

Agatha Campbell aka “Mama Gathie”

According to Lincoln, who resides in the same

house, Campbell presently has no major

health problems and her sight is excellent.

“Nothing serious, nothing like high blood pressure or diabetes,” he noted.

She has however, more significantly, refrained from one of her favourite pastimes – caring for her flower garden. Even after she turned 100, spending time in her then vibrant garden was one of her top priorities.

It seems as though the lack of her presence has been felt, as most of the budding plants which were present in Campbell’s garden a few years ago have now disappeared. These days, “Mama Gathie”

– who moved to Linden from Dalgin, along the Demerara River many years ago – spends most of her time indoors, or looking out while sitting on the verandah.

Her son related that she now only remembers the names of close relatives and can be a little mischievous at times.

“She would call and say she wants something and when you go, she ain’twant it,” he said humorously. While “Mama Gathie” does not remember much these days, she is surrounded by family, neighbours and friends whose love seems to keep her going. (Utamu Bell)

UN conference spotlights water, the ‘first victim’ of climate change …as part of the solution

I

n a first for United Nations climate change conferences, a special day was devoted to action on water issues, providing stakeholders gathered in Marrakech, Morocco, for the so-called ‘COP 22’ an opportunity spotlight water as a way of providing solutions to help implement the Paris

Agreement.

“Water is one of the most impacted resources, but water also provides solutions to these challenges,” stressed the President of the World Water Council, Benedito Braga, who said today in a news release issued by the meeting, formally known as the 22nd Conference of the Parties

to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Water is critical for successful climate change mitigation, as many efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions depend on reliable access to water resources.

The Action Day for Water is part of the

Prince Harry to tour Guyana’s Kaieteur Falls, Iwokrama during Dec 2 – 4 visit

B

Britain’s Prince Harry will visit Guyana next month (Photo: ABC News)

ritain’s Prince Harry is scheduled to make his much-anticipated visit Guyana from December 2 to 4 during which time he would visit not only Georgetown but also the hinterland.

“I have previously had the honour to announce that His Royal Highness Prince Harry will be visiting Guyana from 02 to 04 December.

I am happy to now be able to provide more informa-

tion as to what Prince Harry’s programme will include,” the British High Commissioner to Guyana Greg Quinn said in an advisory issued today.

According to Mr. Quinn, His Royal Highness will have the opportunity to see life in Guyana from various perspectives, including not only Georgetown but also the hinterland – most notably the villages of Surama and FairView,

as well as the spectacular Kaieteur Falls and the Iwokrama conservation reserve.

“It will, I can confidently predict, be a visit that HRH will not forget,” High Commissioner Quinn stated, while advising that more details about the visit will be provided to the media at an engagement scheduled at his residence tomorrow.

Collecting clean water in Badnoogo village, Burkina Faso Photo: World Bank/Dominic Chavez

Global Climate Action Agenda, an initiative of France and Morocco to boost cooperation between governments, cities, companies, investors and citizens on climate change.

In an interview with the UN News Centre, Hakima El Haité, the Minister in charge of Environment of Morocco and one of the ‘Climate Champions’ tasked with carrying forward the Agenda, stressed the importance of including water in the discussions on climate change.

“Water and climate [are] linked. At school, all of us studied the water cycle,” she said.

“Water connects everything. To produce energy, some countries have 97 per cent renewable energy from water. So it affects everything. It is crucial for human development, it is crucial for education, it is crucial for health, it is crucial for stability and food security.”

Ms. El Haité noted that the water community would like to

be included in the discussions. She stressed that she and her fellow Climate Champion, Laurence Tubiana, the French Ambassador on climate change, would work to facilitate the dialogue between the [UNFCCC] parties and water stakeholders.

Wednesday, the Moroccan Government and its partners launched a Blue Book on Water and Climate, which includes recommendations by the international water community.

“Water is not only a problem but it is part of the solution,” said the Minister of Water of Morocco, CharafatAfailal, at a press conference, adding: “Water is a key factor in human development.”

According to the Blue Book, only integrated and sustainable water management can help humankind meet the challenges related to water availability, extreme weather events and uncertainty about

the resource. It recommends that water be recognised as the “first victim” of climate change and to initiate an action agenda for water.

The Moroccan Government also launched the ‘Water for Africa’ initiative, with the support of the African Development Bank. It aims to render justice to the continent through the adoption of a specific action plan that will mobilise different international political, financial and institutional partners to improve water and sanitation services and management for those most affected by climate change.

Seven of the 10 countries most threatened by climate change are in Africa. Water is the first sector through which the African population suffers from the impact of climate change.

“Water is not only a story of adaptation, it is about development, it is about climate justice,” said Ms. El Haité.

(United Nations)

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

feature 39

The Guyana Philatelic Society

Fostering and facilitating interest in stamp collecting

“I started out by holding a small stamp show with displays of British Guiana stamps at the Sleepin’ Hotel in Brickdam. I was pleasantly surprised at the attendance and interest in stamp collecting.

It seemed like everyone A few members of the Guyana Philatelic Society at a members meeting in New York

T

he Guyana Philatelic Society (GPS) aims to create greater interest and activity in the study of British Guiana and Guyana stamps and postal history.

It is a source of information for British Guiana and Guyana collectors, where they can connect via exhibitions and group meetings, and by using the Society’s social media internet sites being developed.

With these tools, GPS facilitates a collectors exchange or the buying and selling of stamps by its members. This includes all philatelic materials, envelopes, collections, books, to name just a few. The Society

also offers philatelic advice from its experts and conduct appraisals of single stamps or collections of stamps from Guyana.

The purpose of GPS is to provide up-to-date information on Guyana stamps; assist collectors to build bigger and better collections by providing greater opportunities to obtain philatelic material; and educate the youths of Guyana on stamp collecting.

In an interview with Sunday Times Magazine, Ann Wood, founder of the Guyana Philatelic Society, related that the Society was started in 2012 as a nonprofit organization based in California, U.S.A.

Ann at a stamp exhibition

that came was a collector during a period of their life or knew someone that was a stamp collector. Needless to say during that show, I felt compelled to start a stamp club to renew the interest and provide support for collectors in Guyana,

thus GPS started. In 2013, I contacted the former Postmaster General, Mr. Henry Dundas, about exhibiting at GPO in Georgetown, since the Philatelic Bureau is located there. He gladly welcomed us and we have been exhibiting

at GPO regularly since then,” Ann recalled.

Ann is originally from Kitty, Georgetown, and has lived for more than 30 years in the United States.

As a child, she became fascinated by the continued on page 42

40

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

The African Security Dilemma is over: now what?

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ack in 1990, as it became evident Guyana would have free and fair elections, and with the naiveté of a “just returned” Guyanese, I shared with the then three major political parties, the PNC, PPP and WPA, a paper: “For a New Political Culture”.

One of the major points I made was “… with an imminent majority of voters, in a political arena governed by majoritarian rules and universal suffrage, it was quite conceivable that the Indians could subordinate the Africans in perpetuity… Any proposed solution to Guyana’s problem must address this fundamental fear of the African Guyanese: the fear of being swamped and subordinated.”

Majoritarian democracy, therefore, presented African Guyanese with a “Security Dilemma” they have to resolve.

I warned: “Groups in this situation are overwhelmingly initiators of ethnic violence, as they project their anxiety and insecurity onto the other group who are seen as threats to their survival. From this perspective, the response of the African Guyanese is not cultural; the same response has been elicited in culturally dissimilar groups such as the Malays who are in a structurally similar position economically in Malaysian society.”

In our specific circumstance, the Indian Guyanese, then, had their own “Physical Security Dilemma” where, even though their party may win “authority” at the polls, their “power” could be shortcircuited by an African dominated Disciplined Forces that may not be as forthcoming as they ought to be against ethnically directed violence.

Desmond Hoyte, leader of the PNC, would soon refer to “kith and kin” in the Disciplined Forces.

For reasons of their own, none of the parties was interested in the menu of institutional measures we proposed – one-term shared governance, alternating presidency, federalism, etc – to give life to the new political culture that would have as its major premise, the equitable sharing of power among the several groups in Guyana. Protests and

ever-escalating violence duly followed the 1992 elections that ushered the PPP into office. The opening of the trial of the remnants of “Fineman’s gang” for the Bartica Massacre reminds us of the denouement of that violence that spanned 1998-2008.

Beginning in 2006 when ROAR joined GAP in an electoral alliance to contest the elections, I noted the diminishing numbers of Indian Guyanese and after my withdrawal from politics after the elections, I began to point out that the African Security Dilemma was coming to an end and their party, the PNC had no need to continue with its confrontational mode of politics that included street protests, which could always careen out of control. Especially in a polity where one group had actually formed an armed and violent African Resistance.

African Guyanese, I said, could attain political power through the ballots – and didn’t need the “bullet” approach.

Several individuals, including Eric Philips, Lincoln Lewis and Freddy Kissoon, disagreed vehemently and accused me of wanting African Guyanese to commit political suicide.

However, the 2011 elections had the Opposition parties, the PNC, which had rebranded itself as “APNU”, and the smaller AFC, checkmating the PPP in Parliament after it could only secure a lame-duck presidency. And when they coalesced in 2015, they delivered the coup de grace by ousting the PPP from office. The 2012 census had confirmed my estimation that Indians were “below 40%” – 39.5% to be exact. With the Indian Guyanese population showing no signs of stabilising much less reversing their percentage drain, especially in the new era of “visa at will” to the US, it is clear the African Security Dilemma has been resolved. In 2020, APNU will not need the AFC, excepting as window dressing. But the Indian Security Dilemma is now widened: in addition to their physical security fears, they now stand no chance of even securing political office.

In this climate, it is difficult to understand why the Government has

By Ravi Dev not begun to implement the recommendations of the Disciplined Forces Commission to increase the number of Indians in the Disciplined Forces to their proportion in the population. And instead exacerbates their physical security fears with their top-heavy staffing of political institutions

by Disciplined Forces officers.

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42 feature

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Fostering and facilitating... stamps on the letters that her father, Dr. Sam Ramphal, a radio evangelist, received as a result of the radio program, “Deliverance Time”. During that period, she started her collection and is still an avid collector of British Guiana and Guyana stamps.

Over the years, Ann acquired most of her Guyana stamps through the mail with the help of the Guyana Philatelic Bureau where she has held an account for more than 30 years. She also regularly attends stamp shows throughout the world and searches the internet to find stamps.

Ann is a member of the American Philatelic Society, The Royal Philatelic Society London, the British West Indies Study Circle, The British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group and other spe-

cialized stamp clubs. In addition, she is an expert with the American Philatelic Society for British Guiana and Guyana stamps.

The avid stamp collector travels from the US to Guyana twice a year to organize stamp exhibitions, workshops and school visits, and gives away free stamps at all events to promote the hobby.

In 2014, Ann, with the guidance of former Postmaster, Henry Dundas, visited and photographed all 70 of Guyana post offices, something that has rarely been done by anyone. She has also created postcards of the post offices.

Ann continues shares her knowledge, time and resources so that others can enjoy and learn from stamp collecting just like she does.

“We hope to use stamp collecting as an educational tool in schools across Guyana; to help collectors increase their knowledge of stamp collecting by providing access to philatelic books and catalogs for research; and to provide philatelic resources for collectors,” Ann noted.

GPS will be donating several stamp catalogs and philatelic books to the National Library during the week of November 14, 2016, where the Society will be giving away over 100 pounds of stamps. Additionally, the Society will be visiting schools in Mackenzie and Lenora. Members’ meetings, workshop, stamp show and stamp swap are also planned.

In May 2016, the Society was at the World Stamp Show held in New York

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with over 100,000 collectors in attendance. GPS displayed the postcards with the post offices of Guyana and held a members meeting with many of its international members in attendance.

GPS has grown to more than 200 members in several countries and continues to grow rapidly. Its members are people from all walks life: those who collect new issues from Guyana to those who have only very limited stamp budgets. Above all, GPS stamp club offers the friendship, knowledge and experience of its members who give advice on all aspects of collecting.

For more information, visit https:// guyanastamps.com or Guyana Philatelic Society on Facebook.

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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44 art & culture

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Artist Kyle Rahaman

uyanese “surreal” artist Kyle Rahaman always had an“interest in creative things”. He views art as a medium of dealing with anxiety and deterrence from “interesting vices”.

“Art is partly an expression of subconscious thought that otherwise would never come out.

For me, having access to an art room in high school was inspiration enough. I also had a

great art teacher, Ravi Doodnaugth, who encouraged me.I have always been drawn to things that arouse emotions – which I find ironic since I have been told I have the emotional capacity of a rock,” Kyle revealed in an interview with Sunday Times Magazine.

In 2006, Kyle studied visual arts for CXC through Marian Academy. Since then, he was not involved in any art related activities until last year when he entered the Tenth National Biennial Drawing Competition.

His pieces from the competition were displayed at Castellani House (National Art Gallery), located on Vlissengen Road. Some of his artworks were also displayed at past events held at Umana Yana.

“I had to re-teach myself some things and figure out mediums I have never used, like water colour. Since I was never very good at painting, it took more than a little brushing up upon my

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Intricate painting of a heart

One of his thought-provoking paintings

painting to get the hang of it - though I am still not satisfied with my skill with it,” he admitted.

Kyle pointed out that he draws inspi-

ration from people he meets or just seeing something interesting on the road or reading books. Recently, he read a few of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's (an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror) fiction stories and plans on painting“something creepy soon”.

“Often times, just sitting and doing a bit of introspection I can grab an idea from whatever I dredge up from my subconscious.

Depending on the piece, I communicate something in my mind that is dark, may-

be depressing and a bit too blurry to explain in words. Sometimes it is just something random and I am not trying to communicate a darn thing, but people will find their own meaning,” he disclosed.

The artist has done sculpting with clay and metal in the past, but due to his work space being “too cluttered”, Kyle is hesitant to resume using those art media. His preferred medium at the moment is charcoal.

“I have done portraits and landscapes for practice. But what I enjoy doing the most is weird, surreal art. I am also a fan of gothic, geometric and dark illustrations. Art is just a hobby right now. I have considered making a fulltime commitment, but for now I am splitting my energies between

a few different things.

However, as more people get to know I paint they will make requests to recreate a piece they like or do something entirely different or the usual portrait requests, so I will be back to my canvas,” Kyle explained.

Encouraging young artists, Kyle recommends “knowing some theory, how to use warm/cold colours, gradients, knowing your materials, and experimenting with different things”.

“There is a lot of info online on techniques and tools.Being frustrated and overly critical of yourself is natural I think. Get used to not liking your own work sometimes – or a lot of times. There's a window of opportunity between inspiration and motivation - find it and live there,” Kyle expressed.

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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46 fashion

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Shameless…

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Designer Andy Anthony Cummings

uyanese designer Andy Cummings’s recent collection of men’s shirts showcases his designing talents in creating applauded pieces for a distinct look.

“I get my inspiration from my African culture in the Caribbean, but mostly from Guyana.

The patterns and colours used in this collection display the richness of my African heritage,” the designer said in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

Cummings graduated from the Burrowes School of Art in 2012 with a major in Ceramics and minor in Textiles.

He was awarded best graduating student and best ceramic student for his year. In that same year, he won the Guyana Model Search/Designers Portfolio, which gave him the opportunity to be fashion partner with veteran Guyanese designer Sonia Noel.

Cummings was named

Most Promising Young Designer of 2013.

Forever looking for newer and bigger challenges to conquer, in late 2014 the designer decided to enter “Mission Catwalk” - a regional designer competition that targets the Caribbean’s best young designers. He made inroads again when he became the first designer from Guyana to make it to the finals of the competition. Cummings was able to secure the “Most Promising Designer of the Year” title.

Now, the designer’s dreams, which he is working feverishly to make a reality, are to pursue a fashion degree from an accredited university and to work for an international fashion company with the aim of one day operating his own establishment.

To contact the designer, call 672-2243 or email a.acummings68@yahoo. com

…Singing for supper

hameless!! Yes, “shameless” is all we can say about the behaviour of Moses Nagamootoo (after all, this is a family newspaper!) and he played the role of Judas in betraying the tenets of democracy he goes on about. Says he imbibed them at the feet of CheddiJagan. It is clear now that Nagamootoo wouldn’t recognise democracy if it crept up and bit him on his backside! All he’ll probably exclaim is “D’awha’?!”

But then one had to sing for one’s supper, no? And when the supper comes on a platter marked “Prime Minister” then you just don’t sing, you’ll even yodel like you’ve been caponed since short pants! Now right off the bat…after complaining for 28 years about Jagan and the PPP being treated like “Christmas blowblow” by Forbes Burnham in Parliament, how can he look at himself in the mirror to have his party renege on its prior agreement to the PPP’s “Private Members’ Day”?

As a new lawyer who presumably actually did some studies, he’d know that due process in law, and in politics insist “Auditer et alterem pars” – the “other side” – here the Opposition must be heard. To only allow the PPP to speak FOUR times since the APNU/ AFC slid into government is obscene. The rules of the House specify that one out of four sittings must be given over to Members’ business. And this week was it.

And what motion did Nagamootoo move to move aside the PPP’s motions on the Public Service CoI, the D’Urban Park boondoggle, and the Parking Meter rape of Georgetown? To commend President Granger’s last speech to parliament!!! And how did he justify this? Well, said the PM in his carefully modulated oleaginous voice (to hide his class origins?) the six times the President came to explain his business to the National Assembly was “historic”.

Really? Well did Nagamootoo ever think that

by THE CONSTITUTION, the Prime Minister is the Executive President’s representative in the National Assembly? And that apart from the ceremonial opening speech, the previous Executive Presidents had confidence in their PMs to REPRESENT them!!

Does Nagamootoorealise that Prezzie has just stripped him of another “power”?? What’s left now?

Bossing his shill?

But Nagamootoo outdid himself with his Uriah Heep’s performance. (Remember him from David Copperfield? …notable for his cloying humility, obsequiousness, and insincerity, making frequent references to his own “humbleness”. Nagamootoo’s name will now become synonymous with being a sycophant.)

After all his fulminations as a PPP executive during the violent excesses by the Buxton Gang in what Prezzie called “The Troubles”, how could he now blame it all on the PPP? Yodeling for his supper? …extortioners How can we Guyanese allow this eyepass to pass?

This most shameless episode in our history proves we are invertebrates – a people without backbone.

Your Eyewitness is, of course, kvetching about the City Hall Gang of Four and their partners in crime proceeding blithely ahead to rape us whenever we visit Georgetown. We’re now told that the meters will be installed by “mid-December”.

Obviously this is to shake down the biggest shopping period of the year – Christmas – when folks as far away as Crabwood Creek come into Georgetown for some shopping. These carpetbaggers obviously want to recoup their investment before New Year’s Day! And after all the govt’s posturing all the City’s getting is a measly 20% of the revenues. We know mucho dinero passed under tables as far afield as Panama City and Bogota…so the Smart City fellas have to recoup more than their investment in equipment!!

What to do? Hire the winners of the Hackaton to crash the Parking Meter system!! …party paramountcy Minister of State in the Presidency valiantly tried to head off condemnations of party paramountcyredux, by denying folks would meet ministers at Congress Place. But Oscar put him in his place. He bit him “right dey!!”

And there followed Minister Norton, taking supplications in PNC Headquarters!!

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Smart S flies

atiricus meandered his way to the Back Street Bar slowly. He’d stayed clear of the joint for a couple of weeks after his old drinking pal Cappo had “gone foreign”. But there were always one or more of the usual gang frequenting the watering spot, so he knew he wouldn’t be drinking alone. Which he hated.

“Hey Sato ole buddy…old friend!” exclaimed Hari when he spotted Satiricus. He was already chugging a beer with Bungi, Cappo’s former cane-cutting partner.

“Yuh hear fram da bai?” said Bungi as Satiricus sidled into a seat. He was referring to Cappo.

“The man working already,” he informed them, as he signalled for a beer. “In his brotherin-law construction crew.” “’E bettasen’ somet’ing quick!” grinned Bungi.

“Facktrygrineaff an’ abeena get none back pay!!”

“Boy, from what I hear, your factory didn’t only “grind off”” said Hari. “They mightn’t even open all of them back to grind again.”

“Yeh…me hear demguh tell abee in time fuhChrissmuss,” said Bungi dolefully. “Chrissmuss present.”

“How come you so quiet, Sato,” asked Hari.

“Didn’t you say you voted for Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat because they would change things for the better?”

“Well, they don’t have all that power, you know,” Satiricus said sheepishly.

“Suh tell me wha’ pawahdem gat, na Sato,” rasped Bungi angrily as he finished off his beer.

“Even waanpawah!”

“Take it easy on Sato, Bungi,” said Hariplacatingly. “His best friend gone…and now his leaders are betraying him.”

“Listen chaps,” started out Satiricus. “Nagga and Rum Jhaat were too trusting. They didn’t realise they would be outsmarted.” “”Too trusting! Ha!!” Hari snorted so vigorously he almost inhaled his beer. “They were so greedy to get power, they would’ve walked over their mothers’ grave to just get their Minister work!”

“And now they have to show up and do whatever they’re told,” said Satiricus sadly. “Like in Parliament Friday night. I’m embarrassed for them.”

“All smart fly does end up in cow backside!!” advised Bungi. “Buy some beer Sato!”

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

atiricus was having a drink at the Palm Cut in Georgetown. After his old drinking buddy Cappo, the cane cutter, had headed off to the States, he didn’t feel like going down to the Back Street Bar in his village right now. So here he was, bellied up to the Palm Cut bar, with an old acquaintance who just happened to be a member of the Pee an See. And who knew Satiricus had a soft spot for Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat of the AFC. “Is wuhschupidness, dem PPCEE bannuhsgineaanwid?” complained Feel Licks. “Dem sayin’ we militarising’ de state!!”

“But Feel Licks, they have some reason for saying so, you know,” said Satiricus quietly.

Since Cappo had decided he couldn’t make a living in Guyana anymore, Satiricus had been re-thinking his positions on his old heroes.

“Wuh reasons?” Feel Licks said brusquely.

“Beca’se one ex-Police Commissioner, three ex-heads of the army and ten senior GDF officers advisin’ de President?” Feel Licks stood up and saluted when he mentioned the President. “Military people shouldn’t get wuk?”

“Man Feel Licks, I’m in the news business, you know,” said Satiricus, “It’s not only in OP. In every Ministry, there’s an army officer

What militarised state?

calling the shots. Just like how the Soviets used to have their Political Commissars!”

“Military Commissar?” demanded Feel Licks. “Name me one!”

“Hard Man!” replied Satiricus immediately. “He tells Nagga Man and Trot Man what to do!”

“OK! Bannuh! But tell me… do we put Police under Army command against civilians?” asked Feel Licks. “That would be militarisation.”

“How about when the Army Chief sent an army intelligence to do undercover work, and he died in hot pursuit?” came back Satiricus.

“OK. But we ain’tmilitarisin’ de society by giving civilians military training,” said Feel Licks with a smirk.

“So why the government bringing back the People’s Militia, the Cadets Corps and increasing the reserves?” Satiricus wanted to know.

“Well, I don’t see it that way,” said Feel Licks firmly. “Because we military people are trained to only see things our way – the military way.”

Satiricus finished his beer and left the Palm Cut.

Riding roughshod…

I

…on the rule of law

t appears that this Government’s contempt for the law knows no bounds. And it’s epitomized by the latest gambit of Attorney General (AG) Basil Williams to select Special Prosecutors to go after PPP figures identified in the government’s “audits”.

This is just after his ill-judged attempts to forcibly expropriate land owned by our Ambassador to Canada Clarissa Riehl and the Beharry Corporation was abandoned after a public outcry. We won’t mention the attempt to railroad Calvin Duncan, head of the Judicial Service Commission.

Now it’s no secret the government’s pursuing a “Jail PPP” vendetta in general and a “Jail Jagdeo” one in particular – ever since the elections. They conducted G$153 million worth of “audits” (Illegally through “sole sourcing”, according to the Auditor General!! But when you WANT a result… you try to ENSURE a result!!) which however, produced no smoking gun on the “billions and billions” they claimed had been “siphoned off”.

So whaddya do? Especially when the Macbethian witches at the Muckraker kept stirring the cauldron.

Well, it seems they’re following the rule – “if at first you don’t succeed (illegally), then try again (illegally).

Fellas like AG Williams were beside themselves that local accountants who had joined them in castigating the PPP couldn’t dig up dirt to support prima facile cases to prosecute.

How’d we know this? Well, Williams himself confessed that the institution in charge of initiating prosecutions in Guyana, the DPP office, said so! Only he twisted the statement to say the cases were “too political”! But didn’t the same DPP allow charges to be made against Carvil Duncan? Wasn’t that political?

Williams then raised the point of the DPP’s involved in one of the cases. But He had to concede, so was she in the infamous NBS case, and all she had to do was recuse herself!

You don’t kill a mosquito sitting on the forehead of your friend by using a hammer, do you? And transferring the right to select Prosecutors from the

DPP to the Executive is like using a SLEDGEHAMMER on the Rule of Law – as articulated by the Constitution.

This point was cogently made by ex-AG Nandlall. In fact, the DPP’s office was created in the Commonwealth specifically to protect citizens from Executive persecution.

Williamswhinged that Nandlall himself had been a Special Prosecutor against treason accused Benschop.

But he’s being beyond disingenuous. Nandlall had been identified and selected by the DPP office!! And not by some partisan AG! What Williams didn’t mention was that he then argued AGAINST Nandlall being made a Special Prosecutor by then Deputy Roxanne George… and lost!

Oh! Times have changed, but not the rule of law!! …over security Between 2002-2008, as the Buxton gang created mayhem on the East Coast and in forays to Georgetown and as far afield as the Port Mourant PPP Congress. And amazingly even thought they didn’t have the power of “apparating” like the Harry Potter wizards, no one reported seeing the bandits in the locales where they were holed up.

Part of the problem was even though folks talked about the bandits “holding communities hostage”, much, if not all, of that was a myth. These fellas had people who were sympathetic – if not downright friendly – to them and we had the huge turnout at several funerals to prove that. Well, now that the Bartica Massacre miscreants are on trial… we’re hearing testimony about how they holed up at several locations ranging from Tiger Bay to Parika.

So what’re the Police doing about this? There are no statutes of limitations on murder… and these people who aided and abetted the murders are accomplices to murder.

They should be hauled before the courts and charged. …on IDB Loan for Ogle The government’s moving to create the body to regulate the operations of the Ogle Airport… which the last administration had initiated.

But what about servicing the US$ millions doled out by the IDB that the government’s servicing?

48 Bollywood

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2016 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

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D

onald Trump’s victory in the just-concluded U.S. elections has left many shell shocked not just in USA but around the globe as well.

Reacting to the victory of Trump, John Abraham told Indianexpress.com, “I believe the best man lost way earlier. Both the options didn’t exist for me personally. I am not an expert in politics but I feel Trump has hit where it effects most. He has looked at the blue collared white Americans and he has spoken about policies that really affect

the mindset of people.

He has spoken his mind.

He spoke about a particular religion not being accepted into the country, building America into a great nation, getting manufacturers back to the country. So what do you do? People who are sleeping and who voted four years earlier said, ‘Let’s go for this guy’. He doesn’t have the political experience, he has not come down from the Army. But let’s vote for this guy because he is very different. And they have actually done that. Everybody thought

America would have their first woman president. But you have the first reality show president. I don’t know if it is good or bad. It is not my place to say that. I am not an expert. But I think it is surprising.

Everyone of us is surprised. Hillary has been in the business for 30 years and for people the question was; has she made a change or not. It’s like the Congress. You wait and see if a government makes a change. If the government doesn’t, you would say at least I want to see a change.”

(Indian Express)

ctress Poonam Pandey says it was her desire to get noticed in a scenario where new actresses were ignored because of “Khans and Kapoors” which made her become a controversy queen in Indian showbiz.

Recounting how the idea of the announcement came to her, Poonam said here: “I was sitting with my journalist friends and we were discussing about doing something really big. I had done some 25-30 calendar shoots. All were big enough, but that recognition was missing.

“Then I saw there were so many girls in this industry who had worked with the Khans and the Kapoors, but people still did not recognise them as they know only Khans and Kapoors.”

“In such a scenario, it’s very difficult to get your own identity, especially if you come from nowhere. Hence, to get

that identity and recognition, I thought only controversy could help,” the Nasha actress added.

The actress says that though she doesn’t have a specific dream role, she says she would love to see herself “fully covered in a sari and in a ghoonghat”.

Former Kingfisher model, Poonam Pandey is one of the most controversial faces on so-

cial media, courtesy her semi-nude pictures and bold statements. During the 2011 cricket World Cup, Poonam found instant limelight after she promised to strip if team India won the World Cup. Despite India’s big win, the promise, remained unfulfilled as she, reportedly, did not get the permission from BCCI to strip. (Indian Express)

I am challenging myself, not proving versatility: Alia Bhatt

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hether it’s her stylish demeanour in Student of the Year or rugged ‘desi’ avatar in Udta Punjab, Alia Bhatt has time and again shown her range as an actor.

She says choosing different roles is a question of challenging herself and not about proving her

versatility. Alia said, “I truly believe that stardom comes with a great amount of work behind you. In technical terms, it comes with a body of work. As an actor, I am glad I am able to perform versatile roles.”

“It’s a conscious effort to do so, but I am not trying to look like a versa-

tile actor. I just want to challenge myself. I have to do different things and experiment,” she added. Alia, who made her debut with Student Of The Year, was also appreciated in subsequent projects like Highway, 2 States, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Kapoor & Sons. Her role as a vic-

tim of the drug menace in Udta Punjab is also worth a mention.

Her next project Dear Zindagi sees her in a fresh avatar with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

“Every actor looks forward to work with him.

It’s a dream come true for every actor. I am all the more happy because

this is the kind of film for both of us to do together which is so unique and interesting. We have not seen this genre before, and I am most excited to see how people react,” said the actress, who plays an aspiring filmmaker on the lookout for unanswered questions, in the film. (Indian Express)

Travelling isn’t about being a Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s tourist, it’s a way of finding new photoshoot has made us oneself, says Varun Dhawan forget Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

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ctor Varun Dhawan says travelling is not all about being a tourist, but getting on the path to becoming a wanderer.

“Travelling is a way of finding oneself and one cannot do that by simply being a tourist. It’s all about getting beyond that initial phase of being a tourist and becoming a wanderer,” Varun, whose professional commitments keep him on the go, said in a statement.

Varun, who is in Singapore to shoot a film with actress Alia Bhatt, added: “A wanderer sets out to do something remarkable and will always get off the beaten track to really discover a place.”

The actor, brand ambassador of Skybags, will be judging a digital campaign for the lug-

gage-maker titled Wacky Wanderers — which asks people to share their quirkiest and offbeat travel plans. The actor says he is looking forward to some crazy ideas.

Wacky Wanderers is being launched on Wednesday through a special micro-site at sky-

bags.co.in where participants need to share their quirkiest and offbeat travel plans.

The concept is to get travellers to think creatively about their travel plans in India and come up with quirky ways in which they would want to experience a place differently. Varun will personally review all the entries and decide the winner whose wacky idea will be brought to life by the brand.

“This is a great opportunity for travellers to have their craziest travel plans fulfilled. I am really excited to see what participants come up with,” he said.

In order to participate, users have to log on to the micro-site and submit their entry which they will be able to share on their social media pages. (Indian Express)

A

ishwarya Rai Bachchan, you are killing us.

We are yet to get over your sizzling looks in Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and now you have bowled us another googly. But well, as your fans, we can’t complain.

The actor is on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar and she is — as always — slaying. Looking like a princess, the actor who turned 42 this month graces the cover of the magazine.

The actor is basking in the glory that the character of Saba in Karan Johar’s directorial brought her. It was the first time we saw Aishwarya glammed up ever since she made her comeback. Earlier, we saw her in Jazbaa and Sarbjit.

Earlier, we got to hear what Abhishek Bachchan

had to say about ADHM. He was quizzed about Aishwarya’s film while walking the ramp with sister Shweta Nanda for Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla.

Post the show, when the 40-year old actor was

asked if Aishwarya ever gives him fashion tips, he replied “She chose my outfit today. Aishwarya and Aaradhya collectively give me fashion tips,” reports Filmfare.

The doting hubby was also asked about how proud he feels for his wife who has blown everyone away with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to which he replied, “Immensely.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the film yet because I have been travelling with my football team.

But I will be seeing it in the coming week.”

“I’ve seen snatches here and there. I kept seeing it under production and she would also show me everything. I think she’s looking stunning. And I am very happy for Karan and the entire team and I wish them all the best,” he added. (Indian Express)

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rad Pitt made his maiden public appearance since Angelina Jolie filed for divorce. The 52-yearold actor was spotted on Monday night at a private screening of Moonlight with friend Julia Roberts.

The actor, who is one of the producers, appeared to be in high spirits as he posed for a shot with Roberts, Moonlight star Trevante Rhodes, and writer/director Barry Jenkins. Pitt also took to the podium with Roberts to speak about the highly-acclaimed film.

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This was the first time Pitt came out postsplit, earlier he had cancelled his appearance at the Voyage of Time premiere in late September, announcing that he was “currently focused on my family situation.”

Pitt’s outing comes one day after a representative for Jolie released a new statement saying that the former couple have reached a legal agreement about the custody of their six children: Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and 8-year-old twins

inger Bruno Mars says whatever struggle he has done in his life has made him what he is today. The 31-year-old singer opened up about his career path, failures and how he hopes to be remembered in the future, reported E! Online.

“Those days (were bad), but in a beautiful way. Without getting dropped, I might not be here. All of these things you have to go through. It ain’t easy. If

M

ichael Buble’s three-year-old son Noah with wife Luisana Lopilato is diagnosed with cancer. The 41-year-old singer has revealed the news in a long note on Facebook, writing that he and his actress wife are completely shattered.

“We are devastated by the recent cancer diagnosis of our oldest son Noah, who is currently undergoing treatment in the U.S. We have al-

Knox and Vivienne.

The voluntary agreement calls for the former couple’s six children, who range in ages from 8 to 15, to continue to have “therapeutic visits” with Pitt for the time being.

It is unclear what therapeutic visits entailed, and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s representatives said they could not provide additional details.

Jolie-Pitt filed for divorce in September, days after Pitt was involved in a disturbance during a private flight with his family. She cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the breakup, and an attorney said at the time she filed for divorce “for the health of the family.” The actors were married for two years and together for 12 years after becoming close while filming 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith. (Indian

Express)

it was easy everyone would be doing it.

“The worst absolute moment was telling everybody I got dropped. I’m broke.

I’m in debt. Walking into a room saying, ‘Yeah, I’m a signed Motown artist,’ then walking in and saying, ‘I’m a dropped Motown artist.’ But I’m not blaming anybody over there,” he said.

Discussing his early days as an aspiring singer and songwriter, Mars further recalled, “Sylvia Rhone gave me a deal and the timing wasn’t right. I had to go through this journey. I had to meet Jeff (Bhasker) and beg him to come play at Pickwick’s Pub on Ventura with me.

I had to sing these songs and gig. I was 20-year-old. I wasn’t even supposed to be in these places probably.”

Mars also said he hopes that he will be remembered by his fans for his music and not for any “scandals or controversy”. “I hope that my music does the talking. I just wanna do music. It could be boring for people this day and age, but I don’t wanna be known for no scandals or controversy. I want to be the guy that brings joy to your life through his music.

That’s it,” he said. (Indian Express)

ways been very vocal about the importance of family and the love we have for our children,” he wrote.

The message goes on to say that Buble and Lopilato will be taking a break from the entertainment industry to ensure the well-being of their child.

“Luisana and I have put our careers on hold in order to devote all our time and attention to helping Noah get well.

“At this difficult time, we ask only for your prayers and re-

A

ctor Johnny Depp will star in the sequel to upcoming Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Depp has joined the sequel directed by David Yates and written by JK Rowling (in her screenwriting debut), based on Rowling’s book of the same name, reports deadline.com.

Johnny Depp has joined the sequel directed by David Yates and written by JK Rowling (in her screenwriting debut), based on Rowling’s book of the same name, reports deadline.com.

Details about the 53-year-old’s role are still kept under tight wraps, he’s rumoured to play the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, also known as Dumbledore’s frenemy and one-time owner of the Elder Wand. He is said to make a brief appearance in the first movie.

It also stars Eddie Redmayne as the lead character and is supported

by Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol and Dan Fogler.

Fantastic Beasts is set in 1926 with Redmayne arriving in New York as part of a global excursion to research and rescue magical creatures — including some hidden in his briefcase.

Chaos strikes when some of the creatures are inadvertently let loose.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them shares the familiar background scores Harry Potter fans were treated with over the years. Although the book is written by JK Rowling and has every relation to the magical world she has created, none of the famous fictional characters, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley or Hermione Granger will be present in the first sequel of the movie.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set to release on November 18.

(Indian Express)

O

scar-winning director Ang Lee, whose latest movie Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is set in Iraq and the U.S., says war is like global warming and is pretty bad and a “messy situation” where “your heart aches” for the soldiers and the refugees.

“War is like global warming, it’s pretty bad, it’s a messy situation,” Lee, 62, said. The Life of Pi helmer said for his latest project, he researched from the perspective of the soldier as well as the people living in Iraq. He also interacted with those living in refugee camps.

“I feel bad for both of them. It’s a really messy situation, you choose between dictatorship and chaos. Those young soldiers serving there are trained to fight but are

spect for our privacy.

We have a long journey in front of us and hope

confronted with situations where they do not know what to do,” he said at an event, held in the city recently.

The cast includes Vin Diesel, Chris Tucker, Steve Martin and Kristen Stewart. The story is told from the point of view of 19-year-old private Billy Lynn (played by newcomer Joe Alwyn) who, along with his fellow soldiers in Bravo Squad, becomes a hero after a harrowing Iraq battle and is brought

home temporarily for a victory tour.

Through flashbacks, culminating at the spectacular halftime show of the Thanksgiving Day football game, the film reveals what really happened to the squad – contrasting the realities of the war with America’s perceptions.

Sony Pictures Entertainment is releasing Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk in India on November 11.

that with the support of family, friends and fans around the world, we will win this battle, God willing,” he wrote.

Here’s the complete statement he wrote on Facebook: Michael and Luisana confirm son Noah’s illness: “We are devastated about the recent cancer diagnosis of our oldest son Noah who is currently undergoing treatment in the U.S. We have always been very vocal

about the importance of family and the love we have for our children.

Luisana and I have put our careers on hold in order to devote all our time and attention to helping Noah get well. At this difficult time, we ask only for your prayers and respect for our privacy.

We have a long journey in front of us and hope that with the support of family, friends and fans around the world, we will win this battle, God willing.”

(Indian Express)

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Singh aims WICB defends plans to impose 20 percent levy on T20 stars to score big T

D

uring the last y e a r when you hear the name Vishaul Singh, it is always affiliated with runs and for this it seems that scoring runs is a priority on the diminutive left handed batsman’s agenda.

The 27 year old West Indies A player is currently training with his franchise team, Guyana Jaguars, for the upcoming West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)/ Professional Cricket League (PCL) Digicel Regional Four Day Tournament and he is once again thinking runs.

His goal is to better his run aggregate of last year to once again finish as one of the top run scorers in the League. “My goal now is simply to be consistent and to keep scoring runs all the time. This upcoming PCL I will be looking to better my last year tally.”

Apart from the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) player finishing third on the runs aggregate in the 2015/16 PCL season with 712 runs at an average of 50.85, he was

Vishaul Singh

recently West Indies A most successful batsman against Sri Lanka A in Sri Lanka where he scored 324 runs in three unofficial Tests.

However, since the introduction of the PCL, Regional cricket has regained momentum and there is a thin line between success and failure. Nevertheless, Singh plans to remain focus and will rely on his abilities as well as continue to work and train hard to achieve his goal.

He also knows there will be challenges along the way, in many forms, so it is his skill to counteract whatever they may be immediately to survive through those periods.

In Singh’s last three outings against Jamaica Scorpions he returned scores of 22, 17 and 45, he must better that to have a good start to the season.

The Jaguars will open their campaign on Friday against the Scorpions at the Providence National Stadium in Guyana.

Then they will move to Warner Park in St. Kitts and Nevis to face the Leeward Hurricanes.

Guyana male and female... from page 54

The tournament will run from 10:00h to 16:00h on Saturday then from 09:00h to 18:00h on Sunday.

Male Squad reads: Patrick King, Osei McKenzie, Avery Corbin, Rickford Cummings, Ryan Gonsalves, Dwayne Schroeder, Blaize Bailey, Richard Staglon, Peabo Hamilton, Claudius Butts, Kevin McKenzie, Ronald Mayers, Lancelot Adonis and Vallon Adams.

Officials: Robin Roberts- Team Manager, Kenneth Grant- StuartHead Coach, Barrington Brown- Physiotherapist Female Squad:

LotoyaCordis, Collette Hope, CarrenSkeete, Sabola Gray, Abioce Heywood, Tiffany Pilgrim, Natasha Andrews, Cloetta Dublin, Alicia Mentore, Sasha James, Shonette McFarlane and Ashanti Carrington.

Officials: Petal Adams- Team Manager, Theodore Henry- StuartHead Coach, Abiola Blair- Physiotherapist Guyana’s senior men’s team currently ranks 54 while the women’s team ranks 27 in World Rugby. The ranking of the teams playing in 2016 Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens Championship is subjected to change over the weekend.

he West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has defended its decision to impose a 20 percent levy on the contract fees of its T20 stars playing in overseas domestic tournaments, saying revenue raised will be used to aid the development of players in the territories.

A statement from the WICB released on Tuesday morning, says some of the funds will be disbursed as an incentive for territories to “expose new cricket talent”.

The unprecedented move by the WICB proposed to take 20 percent of T20 players’ contract fees in exchange for a NoObjection Certificate to compete in overseas T20 tournaments.

“A portion of these funds derived from these release fees will also go back to the clubs and franchises/territories in recognition of the role they played in developing the player and as an incentive for them to continuously expose new cricket talent,” the statement said.

“The WICB earlier this year distributed player production fees to all the territories/franchises and clubs from which players came from”.

The WICB says it has communicated its new policy to the CEOs and Presidents of all ICC Full Members.

The statement says that so far India and Bangladesh have agreed to the release of fees.

However they are reports that WICB’s new policy has been rejected

by Cricket South Africa and there has been no response yet from the Pakistan Cricket Board and Cricket Australia.

“The WICB is in the process of discussions with the various Full Members as to the other boards’ acceptance of that position. The dialogue is ongoing and we wait on official word,” said the statement.

“In addition to India, Bangladesh has also agreed to the release fees.

The practice is also used in other jurisdictions like England”.

The Federation of International Players’ Association (FICA) has condemned the move and has threatened legal action against the WICB. Insignia Sports, who manages allrounders Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle among others, also plans to challenge the WICB move.

“WICB understands that this policy decision may result in reciprocal agreements from other

Full Member boards for obtaining NOCs for their players,” said the WICB statement.

“We view this approach as necessary to preserve the best interests of West Indies cricket at both domestic and international levels”.

FICA is threatening legal action against the WICB after allrounder Kieron Pollard was denied a No-Objection Certificate to compete in South Africa’s Domestic T20 League, ESPN Cricinfo has reported.

In an emailed letter from WICB’s chief executive officer Michael Muirhead on November 3, Pollard was informed that permission would not be granted to him until various boards featuring Caribbean players in their Domestic T20 tournaments agree with WICB’s new policy.

Muirhead has described the new policy as a decision of the WICB board of directors and said

all the ICC Full Member boards have been notified.

“The WICB will levy a charge for the granting of an NOC for West Indian cricketers seeking a release to participate in Leagues outside the jurisdiction of the West Indies,” Muirhead informed Pollard in the email.

“This will be an amount equivalent to 20% of the player fee (as defined in the player contract) that is actually paid to the relevant player.”

Pollard, who signed a two-year contract with Cape Cobras last season, remains in Trinidad with South Africa’s T20 due to start on Friday.

FICA’s chairman Tony Irish says the move is unjustified since Pollard is not even a contracted WICB player and was dropped in controversial circumstances for the triseries in Zimbabwe later this month.

“We have made it very clear to all the boards that

any restrictions placed on players are likely to constitute restraint of trade and there challengeable legally,” he said.

“In the case of Kieron, he is not even contracted by the WICB. Therefore their attempt to levy 20% in exchange for the NOC effectively imposes a restriction on freedom of movement.”

But in his email, Muirhead has dismissed the idea that the WICB move constitutes restraint of trade.

“While we do not wish to act in restraint of trade, we must seek a balance to ensure that there is fair and adequate compensation for the investment made in the players,” he wrote.

“What WICB seeks is some compensation to recognise the investment made into players, an investment from which another Full Member is benefitting.”

Cricinfo is reporting that the Bangladesh Cricket Board is considering the WICB proposal while it has been rejected by Cricket South Africa and there has been no response yet from the Pakistan Cricket Board and Cricket Australia.

“It is not a good situation,” said Irish.

“I will be taking it directly as a FICA issue with the WICB and making them aware of the implications.” (CMC)

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WICB makes plea over talent drain T

he West Indies' shallow talent pool is being drained by the loss of players to lucrative overseas T20 leagues, the WICB has said in its second media statement on the releasefee concept. The board has asked other ICC Full Members to understand its predicament and the implications for cricket in the region.

The WICB decided to levy a release fee of 20% of a player's contract fee before issuing a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for the player's participation in any overseas T20 league. The release fee would need to be paid by the host board of the relevant league.

"WICB is seeking to encourage other ICC Full Members to recognise the impact that players leaving the West Indies to play in domestic

T20 leagues has on West Indies cricket, and to work with WICB in finding a solution to the challenge of securing the best cricketing talent with the limited resources available," the WICB media release said.

The WICB added that it had made "numerous appeals" to various member boards and would pursue the matter till it was resolved. "We will continue to have these discussions with the Full Member boards to resolve [the matter] as soon as possible. We would like them to follow the precedent already set."

Many Full Member boards expressed surprise at the WICB's decision and some, like CSA and CA, made their objections public.

The issue surfaced after Kieron Pollard was stranded in Trinidad, un-

Kieron Pollard of the West Indies is bowled by Jaspreet Bumrah of India during the 1st international T20 Trophy match between India and the West Indies held at the Central Broward Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America on the 27th August 2016 Photo by: Ron Gaunt/ BCCI/ SPORTZPICS

able to secure the NOC to participate in the South African domestic T20 tournament. Having initially refused clearance,

saying it wanted a 20% levy on Pollard's contracted fee, the WICB granted the NOC on Tuesday.

The WICB has said

its decision should not be seen as directed against the players. Instead, it said, the global cricket industry was a changed environment and both domestic and international cricket in the Caribbean was directly competing with T20 tournaments overseas.

"We are aware that, over the last three years, the number of domestic Twenty20 leagues has increased and there are now eight, including our own Caribbean Premier League," the WICB said. "This means that there are now yearround lucrative opportunities around the world for West Indian cricketers, competing with West Indies regional competitions and sometimes even with West Indies international cricket. At present, there are 18 players in seven leagues."

The WICB said it did not have the financial strength to pay large sums to its players in order to keep them from

playing overseas. In its initial letter to Pollard, sent on November 3, the WICB had said that the funds generated from the release fees would be utilised for creating contracts for West Indies players featuring only in T20s.

H o w e v e r , Wednesday's release stated the money would be utilised for the development of regional cricket. "The release fees form part of an overall contribution to the continued development of: the six franchises and clubs represented, High Performance programme, training and development of technical officials, women's cricket, A-team tours, a comprehensive under-19 programme, and are split between WICB, the Territorial Board and the club within the territory with which the player is registered."

Nagraj Gollapudi is a senior assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Team Barbados...

Guyana’s Paul Vieira is Champion Elect in Gp3, having won eight of the nine races in his former Mazda RX-7, which he campaigns under the T&T flag; even if he failed to finish three times at South Dakota, no-one can prevent him winning back-to-back titles.

But there’s a huge scrap on the cards for the places behind him, with just eight points spread across the next four drivers, including equal fourth Steve King (Automotive Art/Valvoline/Percy King Auto Parts Toyota Starlet), who claimed his first CMRC win for Barbados at Wallerfield.

In his battle with Guyana’s NizamGafoor and Danny Persaud, both in Mazda Miatas, and T&T’s Ronald Wortman (Honda Civic), King will be hoping for strong performances from his three Barbados team-mates.

Former Gp2 Champion Kurt Thompson (Glassesco/NKM Clothing/Bio-Beauty/ Digicel 4G/Beacon Insurance/RA Mapp/ Versatile Construction/ Slam 101.1FM/ Y103.3FM Honda CRX) is currently eighth and Shawn Eversley (L&N Workshop/SE Performance Suzuki Swift), who will be touring for the first time to represent his country, is 10th.

Also lining up in Gp3 is Tremaine-Forde Catwell, who will campaign the CCT Paints/ Cheese Auto Glass Finishes/Hilti/Mark’s Auto Spares Datsun 1200

FROM PAGE 54

Turbo, in which his father had considerable success at Bushy Park.

Mark Thompson (Stag Beer/Automotive Art/Rock Hard Cement/ Glassesco/NKM Clothing/ Bio-Beauty/Versatile Construction/Slam 101.1FM/Y103.3FM Civic) is in with a shout for a third Gp2 title – he was Champion in 2012 & ’14, and currently lies third in the standings.

T&T’s Luke Bhola (Civic) leads the title chase, but has scored in all nine races, although he has yet to win one.

His fellow-countryman and Reigning Champion Marc Gill (Civic) has only scored in six, as has Thompson.

Once you drop Bhola’s lowest three scores, there are only 18 points spread across these three very competitive drivers, so there is all to play for this weekend, with a potential 75 points on offer.

Thompson will be hoping that Kenrick ‘Snappa’ Husbands (Williams Equipment/MP/Big Gas/ Hilti Starlet), another former Gp2 Champion, will be able to mix up the action and help him to the title.

Qualifying from noon on Saturday will be followed by an actionpacked programme of 27 races on Sunday, slated to start at 8.20am, following the traditional Lap of Honour.

As well as three races each for the CMRC categories, there will be local events for the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club Championships.

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WICB/PCL Digicel Regional 4-Day Tournament

Caribbean Motor Racing Championships…

Shiv among familiar Team Barbados headed faces in Jaguars squad to South Dakota W

hat promises to be an exciting and competitive West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)/ Professional Cricket League (PCL) Digicel Regional Four-Day 2016/17 season, will get underway with three matches at three venues in the Region this weekend.

As a result, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) selection panel headed by Rayon Griffith named a strong 13 member Guyana Jaguars squad for their first game of the League which starts on Friday at the Providence Stadium against the Jamaica Scorpions.

The reigning champions, Jaguars will be led

by West Indies batsman Leon Johnson, who will continue as captain for a third consecutive year while Vishaul Singh will be his deputy. The squad also includes retired international player ShivnarineChanderpaul.

Ignorant to how the new pitch at Providence will play, the panel opted for three spinners, a pacer and two all-rounders,

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

who bowl medium fast as they aim for a three peat.

Unfortunately West Indies A players Assad Fudadin and Ronsford Beaton were excluded while there were no places for the Jaguars 3-Day semi-professional League outstanding performers, middle order batsman ChandrapaulHemraj, off spinner Eon Hooper and fast bowler Romario Shepherd.

Fudadin was axed from the Jaguars side towards the latter part of the previous season, however, he did well in the Nagico Super 50 Regional tournament and was selected for the West Indies A tour

of Sri Lanka where he scored a half century in one of his three innings.

Prior to his departure to Sri Lanka he was batting well in the Jaguars Franchise League.

Since making his first class debut in 2004, the left handed batsman has been used all over the batting order. Now he is out of the team.

Meanwhile, fast bowler, Beaton who was outstanding with the ball in three List A games against Sri Lanka A was overlooked although he bowled well at the latter part of last season where he collected his first five wicket haul.

It was always going to be difficult for Hemraj to make a return and Hooper to be included due to the batting and spin bowling strength of the team that already exist.

The Guyana Jaguars squad to face Jamaica Scorpions reads; Leon Johnson (captain), Vishaul Singh (vicecaptain), Tagenarine C h a n d e r p a u l , RajendraChandrika, ShimronHetmyer, ShivnarineChanderpaul,

Assad Fudadin

Raymond Reifer, Anthony Bramble, Christopher Barnwell, VeerasammyPermaul, DevendraBishoo, Keon Joseph and GudakeshMotie.

Esuan Crandon is the Coach, Rayon Griffith the Assistant Coach/ Manager while Beverley Nelson is the team’s Physio.

The two other first round matches to begin on Friday are Hurricanes hosting Pride at Warner Park from 10:00h and Red Force versus Volcanoes at the Queen’s Park Oval in the day/night fixture for the round beginning at 15:00h.

A

seven-car team from Bushy Park Motor Sports Inc (BPMSI) will see action at South Dakota in Guyana this weekend as the 2016 Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) reaches its fourth and final round. Three 40ft containers loaded in the Bushy Park Barbados pits before the weekend were scheduled to land in Guyana on Wednesday.

Mark Maloney (Digicel/RBC/Maloney Racing Team Mazda RX3) will contest Group 4 2wd, in which he has won five of the nine races so far this year; apart from being elbowed out of the opening race at Jamwest in Jamaica in May, he

has a 100 per cent finishing record, winning all three races at Wallerfield in July, then the third race at Bushy Park in September, after a thrilling duel with Barry Mayers (Suzuki SX-4).

The Group title will be decided between Maloney, Jamaica’s Peter Rae (Mazda RX7) and T&T’s Franklyn Boodram, who looks set to be racing his Renault Megane Trophy for the last time, as the car has recently been advertised for sale.

The top group is split this year, with a year-end Champion to be declared in both 4wd and 2wd and no Overall CMRC Champion. turn to page 52

Jeffrey, Leal close cycling season Guyana male and female rugby

T

he local cycling season is winding down with just a handful of events on the official calendar remaining. However, after the end of the National three-Stage, Team Evolution’s Raul Leal and Team Coco’s Raynauth ‘Obeah Man’ Jeffrey have both decided that the National Sports Commission organised event last weekend will be the last race of the year for the duo.

Both riders had faced difficulties in the first stage of the races, forcing them out of contention, but their eyes are set on the 2017 season.

Speaking with Guyana Times International Sport, Leal elucidated that “the season is wrapping up now

and most of the men are saying that they are closing off the season and they have stopped training and I don’t think I will be racing back for the rest of the year.”

Leal explained that based on his knowledge, “It is likely to have two more races coming up and I want to participate but my team is saying that we shouldn’t participate because we have to participate in something concerning Digicel, but I’m not sure.”

Similarly, “Obeah Man” pointed out that it is not a great chance that he will be in competitive cycling for the rest of the 2016 season.

“Well, I think for the rest of the year I am going to be off the bike and start hitting the gym.” The Cocos rider indicated that he has his sights set on the 2017 season. Looking back on the year, it has been challenging for both wheelsmen and they are hopeful for the 2017 season to be blowing good win on their careers.

“The year 2016 was kind of a rough one for me because I had to go through a lot of stuff like for example, I had some injuries and I tried to recover multiple times but as soon as I had recovered, something else happens afterwards.” Jeffrey stated.

Meanwhile, Leal “would rate 2015 better than 2016 because it was rough and I would give it 60 out of 100.”

Leal has seven victories for the year; finishing second twice in his last three races but was forced to withdraw from competing the first stage of the Three-Stage race due to ill health while Jeffrey has only one win for the year but has not been in full fitness after being faced with multiple injuries as well as a mechanical problem during the first stage of the Three-Stage.

teams seeking to win 7s titles

T

his weekend in Trinidad and Tobago the battle in the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens Men’s and Women’s regional titles will occur and team Guyana will be seeking to win in both male and female categories.

For the past month, both teams would have been undergoing intense training sessions at the National Rugby field, with the aim of getting into top shape for this weekend’s matches.

The men’s team will be seeking their eight title and Head Coach Kenneth Grant – Stuart says that the team have to address some issues

but they should do well.

The team which departed Guyana on Monday will have sessions in the twin island republic geared to towards addressing any technical areas and also making sure the Trinidad –base players are fit easily into the team.

Meanwhile, Head coach of the women’s team, Theodore Henry says that though preparation was short, he still gives believes they can give a good account of themselves as they seek to win their fourth title.

“We had a short time to work but I think with the time, they progressed well and one thing we

were working on was the recycling of the ball because the women tend to play one-phase rugby, in terms of one passage of the ball but they are beginning to move the ball a lot better,” Theodore explained.

Last year at the Cary, North Carolina at WakeMed Soccer Park, the ruggers were the defending champions but placed fifth as they continued their mastery over Jamaica with a 19-5 victory.

Guyana’s performance placed them third in the Championships and they failed in their bid to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. turn to page 51

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