Guyana times 26 november 2017

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Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 3304

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Sunday, November 26, 2017

PRICE

State House colour change

$120 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

“A total waste of taxpayers’ money” – Jagdeo Page 3

Taxi driver P7 shot during carjacking Guyana needs new Public P9 Procurement Act – accountant

…National Trust registers concerns over non-consultation …“Guyana is going green” – President

iNews reporter robbed during pre-wedding photo shoot Page 12

…bandits carted off over $500,000 in valuables

Education, agriculture will transform regional development – President

Crime prevention approach to see improvements – acting Top Cop P8

Page 17

Private Sector makes pitch for economic stimulus in 2018 P2

President David Granger listens attentively as this gentleman explains the process of smoking fish during a walk-through of the exhibition after declaring open the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Regional Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition (RACE) at the Lusignan Community Centre Ground

Minister admits to education inequality between regions Page 9

Businessman shot during suspected execution attempt Page 13

Former Agri Minister laid to rest P14

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news

SUnDAY, november 26, 2017 guyanatimesGY.com

Private Sector makes pitch for economic stimulus in 2018

I

n a bid to revitalise an economy even the Government has admitted has slowed, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has proposed a number of bold measures for individual sectors.

Among those measures is a stimulus package for each economic sector -- an idea it was able to pitch to Finance Minister Winston Jordan during consultations for budget 2018.

Speaking about its proposals, which formed part of a report the chambers submitted to Jordan, Chamber President Deodat Indar said the private sector is seek-

GCCI President Deodat Indar

ing the removal of VAT from electricity and water.

“For example, the forestry sector has gone down 18 per cent in the first half of

the year, but that has gone down on further drops over the past two to three years.

So they’re taxing all manner of lumber. We’re asking for the VAT to be removed.

We’re asking for the VAT to be removed from electricity, water, education.

“The other industry we have is the sugar industry,” Indar said, during a recent press conference.

He added that another sector that needs stimulus is the sugar industry, adding that shutting down estates would lead to economic harm that would be difficult to recover from.

According to Indar, the job losses that would result

from closing the estates cannot be mitigated by the other sectors. He noted that with less people working, spending and consumption would drop. This would result in reduced importation and manufacturing.

“So it’s a whole spin-off of issues you have there. (In) the rice industry, we asked for VAT to be removed from herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. We have numbers to show us the small farmers are hurting. We have had complaints from them when we go out into the rural areas,” he explained.

“We want to ensure we have a Sovereign Wealth Fund set up as early as pos-

sible to deal with any revenue coming in from the oil and gas sector. He (Jordan) promised that sometime in mid-2018, we would have a first draft,” Indar revealed.

It is understood that, in the written proposal, the GCCI also called for a drop in the Tributors tax, from the 20 per cent the Government imposed to the original 10 per cent. It has also called for an incremental drop in corporate income tax to 25 per cent.

Economy

The Finance Ministry’s half-year report was released in July. It had showed contractions in certain sectors when compared to the corresponding period in 2016. The declining sectors had included sugar, livestock, forestry, mining and quarrying, and even the bauxite industry.

It showed that sugar production was recorded at 49,606 tonnes at the half year, and when compared to 56,645 tonnes during the first half of 2016, represented a decline of 12.4 per cent.

The livestock industry also contracted by 10.9 per cent

in the first half of 2017 due to heavy rainfall severely affecting production, especially in the second quarter.

The forestry industry also showed an 18.2 per cent contraction in the first six months of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.

Declining production within the forestry industry was due to structural changes in the industry.

The mining and quarrying sector contracted by 4.0 per cent during the first half of 2017. Gold production fell by 1.7 per cent to 317,096 ounces in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. Also, it showed the bauxite industry declined by 11.5 per cent as a result of reduced production of higher valued grades.

The report coincided with the trial period for the broadened imposition of a 14 per cent Value Added Tax on production in these sectors -even the education sector.

In addition to the GCCI, groups like the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) and the parliamentary opposition have called for a reversal of the tax.

Repeat offender on bail for narco trafficking

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fter spending over a month on remand at the Camp Street Prison for allegedly trafficking over one pound of marijuana, a 35-year-old Bourda Market vendor walked out of the courtroom a happy man as Attorney-at-Law George Thomas managed to secure bail on his behalf from Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

When he appeared in court, Thomas raised concerns of having his client spend a long time on remand while the prosecution reports no favourable progress at every succeeding hearing, thereby infringing on the fundamental right of his client, Ras Paris, to a fair and timely trial.

Paris was arraigned before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts in early October, and was remanded to prison for allegedly trafficking 448 grams of cannabis on October 3, 2017 at North Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

Paris is a resident of the North Ruimveldt community.

While the Prosecutor

Ras Paris

made no mention of prior brushes with the law, Paris was in April of this year released on $200,000 bail for a charge of trafficking in two pounds of cannabis.

As it relates to the second charge, the defendant was reportedly busted by the Police with a black bag in his hand containing the suspected narcotic on the day in question.

Paris has since maintained his innocence, claiming the narcotic in discovered in the upper flat of a building occupied by two other persons present at the time of the search. The case will be called again on December 13.

news

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Sunday, November 26 – 10:00h-11:30h and Monday, November 27 – 11:30h-13:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, November 26 – 09:10h-10:40h and Monday, November 27 – 10:30h-12:00h.

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

WEATHER TODAY

Heavy to light rain showers will prevail throughout the day, interrupted by sunny conditions in the late morning hours. Partly cloudy skies are expected in the evening.

Temperatures are expected to range between 24 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Easterly to East North-easterly between 2.23 metres and 4.47 metres.

High Tide: 09:48h and 22:12h reaching maximum heights of 2.18 metres and 2.21 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 15:42h reaching a minimum height of 1.08 metres.

State House colour change

“A total waste of taxpayers’ money” – Jagdeo

…National Trust registers concerns over non-consultation …“Guyana is going green” – President

F

ormer President of Guyana and current Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, has said the recent decision by the Government to arbitrarily repaint sections of State House using the Party’s colour is another senseless act that constitutes a total waste of taxpayers’ money.

Ever since the APNU/ AFC (A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change) coalition ascended into office, they have been actively repainting several public buildings, including the Ministry of the Presidency, using the colour

State House being repainted green

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SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

green, which is the dominant colour of the Peoples National Congress (PNC) and APNU. President David Granger is the leader of both parties.

Commenting on the issue on Saturday, Jagdeo said that painting state buildings in the PNC/APNU colour is

not a priority for Guyana.

“It is another senseless act by this Government; a total waste of taxpayers’ money. Painting public buildings in party colours cannot be the priority of our country when many people are looking for jobs or better welfare,” Jagdeo said.

Repair works are currently ongoing at State House, and the Chief Executive Officer of the National Trust of Guyana, Nirvanie Persaud, told Guyana Times that the entity is in the process of seeking an explanation for the colour change.

The National Trust is responsible for the preservation of monuments and historical sites in Guyana.

State House is a historical site, and as such, the National Trust has to be consulted on any change done to the building.

“We have not been informed about any change to the colour, or (about) any repairs. We are in discussion with the Ministry of Presidency,” Persaud said.

Asked on Friday whether State House is going green, President Granger responded, “Guyana is going green,” following which he chuckled.

The National Trust of Guyana was established following the passage of the National Trust Act, No. 7 of 1972. The main responsibility of the National Trust is

the preservation of all monuments and historical sites in Guyana.

The National Trust’s

President David Granger

website stated that State House, the official residence of the Executive President of Guyana, is located with its main façade facing Main Street, and borders New Market & Carmichael Streets, Cummingsburg, Georgetown. The structure is sometimes addressed as Guyana House, and was formerly known as Government House.

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

Editorial

The new Demerara Harbour Bridge

I

n the midst of swirling political intrigues, the latest news on the new proposed Demerara Harbour Bridge (NDHB) appears to have passed under the radar of most citizens.

Last Tuesday, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) announced that 11 companies had submitted tenders to “prequalify” for the financing, designing, and construction of the NDHB. This “prequalification” process had been severely criticised by the governing APNU and AFC parties when they were in the opposition, when it was used in the procurement of pharmaceuticals for the Ministry of Health and the GHPC, even though it had been designed with the input of the World Bank (WB) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

This module is used to winnow out bidders that may not be in a position to be serious contenders to deliver the goods or services sought. Screening of potential contractors, suppliers, or vendors would be scrutinised in general on the basis of factors such as experience, financial ability, managerial ability, reputation, work history, etc. to develop a list of qualified bidders who would receive the invitation-to-bid (ITB) documents.

For instance, the NY Department of Transportation insists that to get on the prequalified list for the Design of a Large Bridge - in excess of $40 million in construction cost a firm must satisfy the following criteria: “A minimum of 60 full time technical employees must be employed at regional offices. At least eight professional Engineers on staff full time with at least eight years’ experience, who have successfully completed a bridge design project within the last five years. A minimum of 15 full-time Bridge Design Engineers must be employed at regional offices. The firm must have successfully completed three “Large” Bridge Design Projects, as the Prime Consultant, within the last five years at regional offices.

Over the previous three years, the attrition rate of the technical employees of the firm must not exceed an average of 10% annually. The firm must have an available line of credit in excess of $1,000,000, or equivalent that must be verified by an officer of the lending institution in writing. The most recent 12 month billings cannot be less than 75% of the average of the last 5 years’ billings.”

Yet, in the present NDHB project, there was no prequalification process, not even for the feasibility study.

LIEVENSE CSO, the firm that was handed the contract via the even more heavily criticised “sole sourcing” method, estimated the new bridge to cost US$170 million. But maybe it is a case of better late than never; and possibly, now that the prequalification process is being used for the NDHB, maybe the Government may once again utilise it in other large contracts such as a pharmaceutical supply.

But, very sadly, the Government has not announced the criteria that will be utilised to determine which of the eleven companies applying to be prequalified for the financing, designing and construction of the NDHB. At the announcement last Tuesday, the Minister of Public Infrastructure referred to all eleven of the applicants as “prequalified”. He confirmed the Government would proceed with its previous announcement to arbitrarily choose three of the applicants to submit bids. The Minister admitted the process might be “unfair”, and insistences that “only the absolutely best company” would be selected rang hollow in the face of a lack of objectively stated criteria.

From all indications, the Government appears to be using the NDHB as what the Americans call a “pork barrel” project to garners vote for the 2020 elections from the groups that would presumably benefit. However, the Government has still not addressed concerns that the three-lane bridge with a retractable span would still present disruptions to commuters.

The Minister insisted that even though no money has been allocated in the 2018 budget for the extensive roadwork that would have to be undertaken by the Government in the proposed Public-Private Partnership Agreement, the project would commwnce in the third quarter of that year.

One of the artworks at the 29th annual exhibition of the Guyana Women Artists Association being held at the National Art Gallery, Castellani House

Confusion in the procurement process Dear Editor, As we have been in operation for 38 years, we have engaged many Government Ministries, institutions, commissions and agencies where tendering for security services was required.

With the genesis of the long awaited Public Procurement Commission (PPC), the undersigned, like most suppliers and Guyanese in general, expected some positive changes in the procurement process. Of recent, there are several inconsistencies, discrepancies and uncertainties that exist in the tendering system for security services.

At face value, there is definitely confusion among the NPTAB, the Government procuring entities, and other State agencies where documents must be sourced for the tenders.

One case is the tender for the Ministry of Business, which would have been annulled for a second time.

There seems to be a disconnection in regard to the understanding of the licence to operate a private security firm, the police certificate, and the police certified security plan. It took our company weeks, going on to months, to properly understand what the Police

Certificate was and a police certified security plan.

To our surprise, the Police had no knowledge of the security plan, and the Ministry of Business was using the licence as the police certificate. This would have been dandy, but this misunderstanding would have cost our company this security contract.

During the meeting at the Ministry of Business with reference to the non-responsiveness of bids from several private security companies, the first issue was the reason given by the Ministry for the annulment of the tender process. The facial expressions and body language of all gathered instantly changed when the chair of the meeting outlined that the annulment of the tender was due to all bidders failing to provide a Police Certificate. All representatives of the security firms were taken aback by this most unjustifiable reason provided for the annulment of the tender.

All present at this meeting contended that there was never a Police Certificate issued to private security companies, but instead a receipt for $50,000 from the Officer of the Commissioner of

Police, which could be presented in any tender document.

Imagine, even the treasurer of the Guyana Association of Private Security Organizations (GAPSO), Clyde Layne, was baffled, since he stated that no member of GAPSO had that Police Certificate.

Important to note: this issue is not exclusive to the Ministry of Business. It was also observed that, on several occasions, the representatives from the various Governmental organisations are absent and stall the already timely slothful process of opening tenders according to the prepared list.

This in turn creates havoc on the other tenders scheduled to be opened, and the back and forth is not only mentally draining, but is unfair to the other companies tendering.

Our aim is not to embarrass anyone, but to highlight the infractions, injustices and malpractices that are occurring in the procurement process. In our view, procurement officers at the various Government entities should take their time when preparing tender documents. When retendering is done over and over, pri-

vate security companies incur costs due many times to the negligence of the procuring entity. In addition to the cost factor to acquire the bid security, which is an imperative component of the evaluation criteria, adding up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then preparation and printing (binding) costs must be factored in, the permanent secretaries at the various ministries should be briefed thoroughly before the tenders are advertised.

Without doing this, the permanent secretary, who is the chief accounting officer, can be held accountable.

Further, it also brings embarrassment to the NPTAB, the Ministry and the entire Government.

As guidance, being in the tendering system for many years, it would appear that since the new administration took power, the process has gotten worse. Being a professional, I have no personal political axe to grind, but I simply wish to highlight the occurrences in public procurement.

Yours sincerely, Roshan Khan Sr RK’s Guyana Security Services

Personal vendetta by Ruel Johnson

Dear Editor, My client, Coen Jackson, who is currently on Ministry of Educationsanctioned administrative leave, welcomes the referral to the Guyana Police Force of the allegation levelled against him by Ruel Johnson, Cultural Advisor to the Ministry of Social Cohesion.

It is unfortunate that while this decision was made, and the matter now subject to investigation, Ruel Johnson continues to use social media and the mainstream media to peddle, poison, distort, accuse, try, convict, sentence, and condemn Mr Jackson, who is very

much circumscribed by what he can say.

In a letter in the media on November 25, 2017 under the imprimatur of Ruel Johnson, Johnson repeats against Mr Jackson certain allegations which are now under Police investigation.

It is clear that the intention of Mr Johnson is to further influence and sway the Guyana Police Force’s investigation in a certain direction, in which Johnson has placed himself as the main actor/star boy in a developing plot.

Johnson’s behaviour was well-cal-

culated, organized, engineered, and promoted in social media to create a certain caricature of Mr Coen Jackson without any investigation. Again, this was a denial of due process, and it poisons the environment in which the police now has to investigate.

Johnson has stated in his letter that he wants Mr Jackson to be charged under the Sexual Offences Act. Again, this is without any investigation being started or completed. Clearly, this is another example of Johnson’s disregarded and disrespect for natural justice, due process, and the rule of law. continues on page 5

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

Kamla Persad-Bissessar will Stacking the deck retain UNC party leadership for foreign interests Dear Editor, An opinion survey I conducted for the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) over the last week, on the UNC internal elections to choose a new national executive committee, shows Kamla’s (Persad-Bissessar’s) slate winning by a landslide.

Guyanese living in

Trinidad love Kamla and will vote for her. The election is on November 26.

Concerns were mentioned about the fairness of the electoral process – availability and transparency of the membership list and the elections body itself. It is noted that the ruling PNM and opposition COP faced similar issues when their internal elections were held.

Personal vendetta...

from page 5

Mr Johnson opens himself to be questioned on whether or not he has bestowed upon himself the powers of an Emperor/ Pharaoh/King, as he states in his letter that “a few trusted and properly vetted social workers and legal professionals ought to be recruited to investigate this matter.”

If Mr. Johnson simply meant to launch a complaint, he could have done so in two or three paragraphs; but by inserting recommendations on how an investigation should be handled has tainted the process, denied Mr Coen Jackson due process, his natural justice rights, and has made a conclusion of the outcome; that is, Coen Jackson must be charged under the Sexual Offences Act. We welcome the statement of the GTU General Secretary Ms Coretta McDonald, who stated that it is too early to pronounce on the allegations made against Mr Coen Jackson, and she has criticised the very public manner in the reporting of the claim.

We endorse as well Ms McDonald’s opinion/statement that the right approach had not been taken

in addressing the allegation.

Despite Ms McDonald’s public statement, Mr Johnson continues to operate unhinged, showing absolutely no respect or regard for due process and the rule of law.

We also wish to highlight the comments made by Mr Mark Lyte of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, who stated that the GTU has never been tasked with defending Mr Coen Jackson on any report to them. It was pointed out at the press conference held by us on November 21, 2017 that there has never been a report of misconduct of any nature across all the teaching institutions he has been associated with, nor has he been ever dismissed for wrongdoing covering a 20-year period.

Mr Jackson remains ready to cooperate fully with the Guyana Police Force, despite his grave concerns that the environment in which the police are now asked to operate has been poisoned and tainted by Mr Johnson’s continued campaign against him, for reasons which are very personal in nature.

Sincerely, Attorneys at Law Jerome Khan and Debra Khan, partners

And the concern among UNCites goes way back to when Basdeo Panday was leader, including during the January 2010 executive elections when Kamla won by a landslide.

Turnout is projected to be very low because of the one sided-ness of the contest. Kamla is very popular among loyalist members.

Separately, concerns were also raised by voters about whether the UNC can defeat the PNM in the next general election due in three years.

The incumbent party leader has called early (snap) leadership election one year ahead of schedule.

Kamla’s slate is projected to make a complete sweep of executive posts in the national executive internal elections in which only party members can vote. But while, like Kamla, party members as well as supporters say they are not pleased with the composition of the slate and the performance of the opposition party, they do not view the incumbent UNC executive and several of its MPs as a viable alternative government in the waiting to replace the ruling PNM with which there is widespread disenchantment.

The survey interviewed voting members, supporters of the party (Peoples’ Partnership) , as well as PNM supporters and swing (non-aligned) voters to determine their views on the outcome of the UNC party elections. The opinion poll was

conducted by Dr. Vishnu Bisram.

Based on the findings of the interviews, every respondent said Kamla would win almost all of the votes for leadership against challenger Christine Newallo Hosein.

Supporters of both the PNM and the UNC do not show much interest in the UNC national executive election. UNC members are also not enthusiastic about the executive elections, with turnout projected to be very low. They do not feel there is a need for snap leadership elections, because the leader has not been facing any leadership challenges.

The survey’s findings among voting (party) members reveal Kamla has long coattails -- her slate of candidates is projected to register wins in all of the executive posts. However, if Kamla were not in the contest, it is widely felt that her slate would have faced a serious challenge by a credible slate.

The poll shows that Kamla herself would garner the most votes among all candidates. However, party members are not confident that her winning slate can take the UNC to victory in the next general election.

UNC supporters and swing voters do not feel the makeup of the UNC is sufficiently attractive to win enough crossover electoral support to eject the PNM from office come next election.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

Dear Editor, It is clear to everyone with an objective mind that the President is stacking the deck of likeminded stagnated thinkers to achieve a desired result that has nothing to do with Guyanese.

If you look at all the positions being filled to control the democratic process, the President has arbitrarily selected people that would do what his Government wants.

It does not help that they are clearly too old to be progressive thinkers to consider the interest of the youth.

Never since Burnham have the youth been sidelined by a Government like this one. The recent causality of Granger’s questionable decision to select another geriatric for a critical post in our democratic system is the AFC. Prior to this, he arbitrarily selected an 84-year-old GECOM Chairman who will be 88 years old in 2020.

This is not an attack on age, but an insight to the President’s lack of progressive vision, and his blatant disregard for the promises that had been made to the young people of Guyana.

AFC is now crying that the President has rejected their nominee for GECOM Commissioner, since it was their way of saying that the coalition supports the youth, but instead, the President chose another clearly older member for the role. The AFC will now understand what many have been saying from day one: that they

are voiceless and powerless.

The only voice they have is when they are attacking the PPP. But when it comes to the inner workings of running the country, they are decoration.

I am hard pressed to think that Granger is acting in the interest of the average Guyanese, but more in the interest to position themselves as the most favoured to foreign interest.

They are simply making themselves to be the best servants to their foreign master’s needs. And in this process, you will see a lot of propaganda that creates the perception of care for the people, but in reality, our resources will be sold cheaply, and they will keep getting bonuses while marginalizing the people.

All indications point to Guyana being the newest victim of the resource curse. It starts with a puppet Government that would create a few super rich, a powerful autocracy, and increase poverty to keep the people weak and voiceless.

I urge my young Guyanese brothers and sisters to know the teachings of Walter Rodney. You have seen how he has inspired young legends like Chronixx, whom you admire as he inspires millions around the world. Well Chronixx got that knowledge from a Guyanese, and his name is Rodney.

Sincerely, Malcolm Watkins

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SunDAY, november 26, 2017

Page Foundation Ferdinand the Bull can teach your children about their strengths

guyanatimesgy.com

– movies are great conversation starters to introduce important lessons to children

By Pamela B Rutledge PhD, MBA

T

he classic story of Ferdinand the Bull has been expanded into a new animated film due to be released by Fox in December.

It’s family friendly and has a great message for all of us: Be true to yourself. But Ferdinand can be much more powerful.

It can be used to help us understand ourselves a little better by identifying our strengths. The slogan, “being true to ourselves,” implies that we know who we are. Yet, how many of us – kids especially – have figured that out?

Ferdinand the Bull, is cute, for sure, and the trailer suggests it will be a charming and entertaining movie, but I have always loved stealth opportunities to sneak in a “teaching moment” with my kids. Pop culture is a perfect source for kid-relevant metaphors. The expansion of Ferdinand from the eightpage storybook into a fullblown adventure is ripe for that. It has the potential to move from beyond “cute” to, with a little subtle guidance on your part, providing a model to get your kids thinking about themselves and their potential in a new way – from a strengths-based perspective.

Ferdinand is voiced by some very talented actors,

including John Cena as the lead. Having a pro-wrestler who also comes across as a big softie make a perfect fit, but one that will be over the heads of most kids. The film, however, offers parents a unique opportunity to see a fun movie and sneak in a couple of important messages of their own without appearing tedious and teachy. (Kids spot that a mile away). Ferdinand

is the perfect entry point to make “finding yourself” into something real and actionable by identifying the strengths you already have. Strengths are qualities that people can use to achieve positive outcomes – things like courage, curiosity, honesty, kindness, humour or leadership (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Ferdinand looks like he will have quite an adventure in this new version.

In the process, even the brief glimpses on the trailer show how he uses his strengths

to succeed at his goals and achieve self-acceptance. (That shouldn’t be a spoiler since we all know how the book ends.)

The overt messages “you can’t judge a book by its cover” and “be true to yourself” imply that you have a right to be who you are. A subtler, and equally important, message is that Ferdinand’s success at doing so comes from discovering and using the uncelebrated

and unnoticed parts of himself – his strengths. Ferdinand isn’t a fighter but he demonstrates tremendous strengths, such as courage, persistence, loyalty, and altruism that will enable him to succeed.

Most parents want to do a good (great) job raising their kids, but real life is busy and stressful. We all find ourselves correcting what is wrong but not taking much time to acknowledge or celebrate strengths and values. We correct what we see as

unproductive (or annoying) behaviours hoping to prepare our kids to succeed in life; however research shows that the best way to raise kids who are resilient and able to cope with challenges necessary for success is to identify and build strengths. This is especially important if your kid feels unappreciated, misunderstood or marginalised.

The same is true for personal change. We beat ourselves up when things go wrong or we feel we are insufficient, but we seldom look for and reinforce our innate strengths that would actually improve our performance across all domains (Gregory & Rutledge, 2016).

My advice this holiday season is to use Ferdinand as a hidden holiday gift to plant some new seeds in your kid’s (or your own) brain.

Talk about what’s unseen or uncelebrated that allowed Ferdinand to achieve his end goal, and might get your kid to his or hers.

Ideas for how to talk with your kids: Ask what strengths Ferdinand used to meet different challenges. Give examples from the movie, ask for more. Make it funny. Humour improves

understanding and recall.

Tell your kid you think he or she is like Ferdinand in some way (kind, loyal, creative, etc) and ask them to find another similarity about themselves, you, a sibling or a friend. Allow silly answers. Humour can defuse the discomfort of selfexploration.

Continue the conversation for a couple of days to see if new ideas emerge from everyday activities.

Ask your kids if they used any Ferdinand strengths today? Name their strengths so they feel ownership of them. What’s the Miguel

strength or the Julie strength?

Maybe one of your kids is a great communicator, is a good helper, is brave or has a special ability.

The identification and application of strengths across multiple fields are one of the ways that positive psychology has contributed to the field of psychology.

To get some great ideas about how movies can be used to inspire and teach positive psychology constructs, see Ryan Niemic and Danny Wedding’s book Positive Psychology at the Movies.(Excerpt

from psychologytoday.com)

– new research suggests that digital addiction can begin sooner than you think Continued from Saturday

By Romeo Vitelli, PhD

A

s a further test of their new instrument, the scientists recruited a larger sample of participants that included both mothers and fathers as well as grandparents, siblings, aunts, etc. who acted as primary caregiver of a child between the age of 4 and 14. Along with completing the short form of the PMUM, the 632 caregivers also reported on the amount of conflict they had with their children over the various media devices the children used on a regular basis. While most of these conflicts centred on watching television, a large percentage of the children examined in the second study also used tablets, smartphones, video game systems, and desktop/laptop computers as well.

Results showed that the PMUM-SF works well for both boys and girls in detecting problem media use in children under the age of 12. Also, high scores on the PMUM-SF correlated highly with parents reporting conflicts with their children as well as related behaviour problems.

Overall, these results suggest that problems with media addiction can begin much earlier than many parents realise. As for the PMUM-SF, it is the first test of its kind that specifically focuses on problem media use in preadolescent children.

Since it can be completed by parents or other caregivers, this test can help detect problem media behaviour in children who might otherwise be too young to talk about their own symptoms.

While researchers admit to limitations with their research, particularly since this is a onetime study that doesn’t look at how problem media use might change over time, these results do highlight how important it is that parents keep an eye how their children are using media.

As it happens, we are still in the early stages of the digital revolution and new media experiences such as virtual and augmented reality are just around the corner.

Perhaps now, more than ever, we should consider what this might mean for the children who will at the forefront of this new digital era. (Excerpt from

psychologytoday.com)

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sunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Taxi driver shot during carjacking A

46-year-old taxi driver is the latest victim of the string of vicious carjacking attacks, which have seen operators of Toyota Premio and Allion motor cars being ambushed by hijackers in and around the capital city.

Phillip King of Festival City, Georgetown, is now left nursing two gunshot wounds at the Georgetown Public Hospital, after falling prey to a trap laid by a group of hijackers.

Reports are that King was hired by two female passengers Saturday afternoon, who requested to be taken to a church in D’Urban Backlands.

ing transportation, and such cases have been on a constant rise.

Earlier this month, Guyana Times columnist

Upon arriving at their destination, an armed man jumped into the vehicle, HC 6296 and began firing shots at the driver. The injured driver was then kicked out, and the trio fled the scene in his car.

King was picked up by public-spirited persons and rushed to the

Georgetown medical institution, nursing several gunshot wounds to the leg.

The 46-year-old was said to have undergone surgery to remove the bullets from his leg. The Guyana Police Force in June had reported that hijackers have been hiring cars in Georgetown under the pretext of want-

Ryhaan Shah was attacked and robbed of her Toyota Premio motor car in a similar manner. There have been numerous instances

within the past months of bandits taking on the role of passengers to carry out their plans. However, no arrests have been made.

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SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesGY.com

Crime prevention approach to see improvements – acting Top Cop T he Guyana Police Force continues to face much public condemnation over recent shortcomings, but the Acting Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine, has gone on record as saying that the Force’s crime prevention approach would soon be improved.

Ramnarine gave this assurance at a Police event as he underscored the importance of preventing crime, rather than relying on prosecution, which is after the fact.

“The test of Police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of Police action in dealing with it. We all know that prevention is better than cure. It is less costly to prevent, it is costly to prosecute; a lot of issues (is) under prosecution.”

Ramnarine pointed out that within the past months, the Force has seen an improvement in the investigation and prosecution of criminal activities.

“We are doing well in our prosecution but we need to do more in our prevention, which is less costly,” re-

Acting Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine

layed Ramnarine.

The acting Police Commissioner did indicate that while some efforts to stamp out crime have been unsuccessful, the Force’s strategies are

soon expected to bear fruit. He posited, “That is coming. We have a lot of resources which will soon roll out. We have increase in manpower, increase in various capacities. Our prevention will improve.”

Ramnarine also outlined that the much-needed enhancements to the country’s crime prevention approach would materialize as Guyana moves ahead with implementation of the Security Sector Reform Programme (SSRP).

He said, “We are likely to benefit from the very United Kingdom Security Sector Reform package which has as its main focus the Guyana Police Force and our role in public security, where the training curriculum is likely to be reviewed to see how gaps exist, if any, with the reality of the times in terms of the subjects, and whether there is the need to introduce new concepts in the training curriculum.”

A total of $29.1billion was allocated in the Budget this year as part of enhancing crime prevention and reduction strategies.

Of mice…

R

…and cats

obert Burns reminded us that, “The best laid schemes of mice and men / Oft go awry.” And we can see this unfolding so well with the sad but inevitable sidelining of the AFC by the PNC. Ahhh…the AFC had it all planned out, didn’t they?

They’d been launched, back in 2005, to exploit the “floating votes” they insisted existed in even Guyana’s ethnically polarised society.

These floating votes would come from all of the various ethnic groups in Guyana, and like Jagan more than a half-century before, when forming the PPP, they insisted those cleavages were bridged by the ethnic origins of their three founding leaders.

They’d been accused of receiving “foreign help” (including funding!) -- a charge they never tried refuting, since it actually helped their cause by implying they had friends in high (and strategic) places!

But be that as it might’ve been, they did get the most seats a third party had ever gathered in Guyana. Their supporters fervently believed they were going to be the “key to the change” - as they’d sloganeered.

They swore to support the two “big ones”-- the PPP and PNC -- in the “big house,” depending on whether their stands on issues were in the best interest of Guyana. So noble!! But, along the way, the AFC lost the plot -- just before the 2015 elections. They decided to join up with the PNC -- disguised as “APNU”. Now, why would they want to do that?

APNU accepted its lack of ethnic diversity when it began to court the AFC -- which had picked up substantial support in Berbice, the traditional hunting ground of the PPP. But that “substantial” support was relative: they’d garnered just TWO more seats than they had done in 2006. They would’ve had to literally do a David on the PPP Goliath if they were to achieve what APNU said it sought -- a government of national unity.

When the 2015 votes rolled in, going by the analysis of the polling station returns, the AFC had clearly lost ground; yet they went along with the “national government” spiel of the PNC/APNU. And this is where their best laid plans went awry. In their manifesto, they’d promised to bring in the PPP into the government, but chose Nagamootoo to take the lead!

It was like sending the rat to bring in the cat!! It was never going to happen. So, the inevitable did happen - just because the AFC “mice” wanted to pretend they were “cats” to drink all the milk. APNU knows AFC’s living a lie; AFC knows it’s living a lie.

And now they’ve been hung out to dry!

…and green

The National Trust just woke up to find Prezzie’s painting State House green! Your Eyewitness isn’t sure how that’ll play out legally…but he knows for sure there ain’t no one’s gonna be covering up that paint. Green, after all, isn’t just the colour of US greenbacks - it’s the PNC’s colour! That the PNC received greenbacks from the US back in the day to build its organisation is just coincidental! Burnham had already chosen the party colour.

Now this painting of State House - and the Office of the President and everything that’s nailed down! - with the PNC colour tells us a number of things. Firstly, the coalition business we spoke about above ain’t worth squat, since there’s no yellow for the AFC or whatever are the colours of the WPA and the one-man parties in the coalition!

And more, pertinently, the PNC means to be here for a long time!! By any means necessary!!

…being “disturbed”

Raphael Trotman says he’s “disturbed” the AFC candidate wasn’t selected to replace the vacant GECOM Commissioner’s slot. Does this mean the Cummingsburg Accord was breached? Or was it the Nassau Accord?

But whatever it is, your Eyewitness knows the fella had to “try a thing” after those revealing e-mails!!

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

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SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Minister admits to education inequality between regions

…plans to “bridge the gap” from 2018

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he education sector is one of several priority areas in any Government; so much so that, in Guyana, billions are budgeted for the sector each

year.

However, according to Education Minister Nicolette Henry, much more needs to be done, as there is an unequal distribution of educa-

tion resources throughout the country.

Minister Henry made this admission when she appeared on a radio programme on Friday. According to the

Guyana needs new Public Procurement Act – accountant

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ccountant Nigel Hinds has said the current Public Procurement Act (PPA) should be replaced at the earliest time possible, since there are several loopholes which allow for breaches, hence undermining the functions of the Act. Hinds shared this observation while addressing a pre-budget symposium hosted by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG). He told the stakeholders that a dysfunctional Public Procurement Act compounds problems in the National Budget delivery, and added that the Act is a hindrance to the execution of the budget.

“Problems in the National Budget delivery are compounded by a dysfunctional Public Procurement Act. It seems to me that the Public Procurement Act is a hindrance to the execution of the budget… The Public Procurement Act needs to be replaced yesterday. It is abused. It is not functional… much of this comes back to the leadership, or the lack of it,” Hinds opined.

While addressing stakeholders on the key requirements for the preparation of the National Budget, Hinds stated that the budget is an extension of the Constitution in action. He added that it should have no place for bigotry and prejudice, as related in Article 15 of the Constitution.

He noted that the National Budget goes beyond arithmetic and accounting, since it also requires competence and proper manage-

Accountant Nigel Hinds

ment of skills and resources in its delivery.

“Promises are the equivalent of commitments given in a budget, and Government should ensure that their promises made in a National Budget, as in an election manifesto, are implemented,” the accountant said.

“There really is not much difference in between the two in a political landscape. The key concerns we would like to see come out of the budget are: an objective and unbiased approach in the provision of expenditures that accommodate Guyanese in the most beneficial manner across the length and width of Guyana; focus on investing in people, especially the underprivileged, unemployed, and the working class; implementation of a forward-looking budget bereft of political partisan agendas; and use of the National Budget for the funding of perspective and tit-for-tat policies,” he added.

Hinds also told stakehold-

ers that the Government is yet to provide adequate reasoning behind its decision to cut the budget proposal for various autonomous agencies.

On Friday last, sparks flew in the National Assembly when Finance Minister Winston Jordan refused to provide detailed justifications, or even a macro-economic outlook, to justify cutting the sums budgeted for by constitutional agencies.

According to the 2018 annual budget proposals of Constitutional agencies, which were tabled in Parliament last week, the Audit Office’s request for $844.4 million was slashed to a proposal of $783.8 million.

In slashing the amount, it was noted that Budget 2018’s submission did not fulfil certain requirements set out in a budget circular.

The need has been expressed for the Audit Office to be as strong as possible when it comes to its audit capacity. This is especially so as Guyana gets ready to enter oil production. In addition, Auditor General Deodat Sharma has already expressed intention to audit Guyana’s environmental protection systems.

Other agencies on the chopping block for 2018 were the Parliament Office, the GECOM, the Supreme Court of Judicature (request for $2.7 billion was reduced to $1.8 billion), the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (request for $223.8 million was reduced to $174.2 million) and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Education Minister Nicolette Henry

minister, the situation remains a significant challenge for the Ministry of Education (MoE), but it is one the MoE hopes to tackle in 2018.

“There’s an opportunity to bridge that gap. In 2018, we intend to continue to work to address that gap. And we believe (that) through ICT, we can be able to reduce the gap,” the Minister said. “It’s going to be a long-term process before we can close that gap, but we have begun to make the necessary adjustments and take appropriate

actions to ensure the gap is minimised. And in 2020, we are going to be doing even more work.”

She added that the MoE recently launched the first “Smart classroom”, and that is intended to be the standard by which education would be delivered to the children of Guyana.

“So that’s one recommendation. The other areas where we intend to reduce the disparity have to do with the teachers’ training,” Henry related.

According to Henry, there is an absence of training for teachers in Region Eight, (Potaro-Siparuni), and in light of this, systems will be put in place for this in 2018.

“We have already received applications, shortlisted (persons), and are in the process of working with persons in that community to ensure the training of the teachers. I believe teachers are the bedrock of the education system, and therefore they need to be trained to function well,” she said.

Education CoI

In April 2016, the Government had launched

an inquiry into the education system with the aim of gathering “evidential bases” for the revision, upgrading, and extension of the system.

The CoI set up to conduct this probe held hearings across the country with parents, guardians, teachers, religious leaders, unions, and the private sector on their perception of the state of the education system, as well as what they would recommend for its enhancement.

The commission had found that there is need for greater collaboration between the regional education departments and the regional administrations, to determine the educational needs of each particular region.

The report also revealed that some Regional Education Officers (REO) are not aware of their responsibilities; and while systems are in place to inform them of such, sanctions are notably absent.

In accepting the report, then Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine had said he would be presenting the report to both Cabinet and the National Assembly.

10 news

sunDAY, november 26, 2017| guyanatimesgy.com

4 nabbed for robbing Brazilian woman, driver

S

hortly after four armed men had executed a brazen daylight robbery on a Brazilian and her driver at Oleander Gardens, Bel Air Springs, Georgetown, the suspects were arrested at a house at Circle Front, East Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

Upon their arrest, most of the items they had stolen were recovered, and the men were positively identified by the victims. The men, who gave their addresses as East Ruimveldt; Mocha; and Quamina Road, Beterverwagting, East Coast

Demerara, have all confessed to the crime.

Reports are that the Brazilian woman had hired the taxi to run some errands, and upon arriving at Bel Air Springs, she and the driver were confronted by the armed men, who grabbed a bag con-

taining an undisclosed sum of money and other personal items before fleeing the scene.

The Police were contacted, and their diligent work resulted in the men being apprehended. The suspects are now being processed for court.

Trial for man implicated in taxi driver’s murder begins Monday

N

early four years after the body of a Pegasus Hotel taxi driver was found in a heap of garbage at Caneview Avenue, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, the man implicated in his murder will stand trial at the Demerara High Court on Monday.

A 12-member jury was late last week empanelled before Justice Brassington Reynolds to hear the case of Lorenzo Forde, who was just 18 when he was

charged with the murder of Rubranauth Jeeboo.

At last week’s High Court arraignment, Forde, represented by Attorneys Hewley Griffith and Rachael Bakker, denied the State’s contention that between December 27 and 28, 2013, he murdered Jeebo in the course of a robbery.

According to reports, on December 27, Jeeboo left his Campbellville, Georgetown home for work and the following

Murder accused: Forde will stand Monday

Lorenzo trial on

day, December 28 around 07:50h, his body was discovered with several injuries. Police investigations had revealed that following his demise, Jeeboo’s cellular phone, which was stolen, was still being used.

The first of the State’s 12 witnesses will testify when the matter continues at the High Court on Monday. State counsels Shawnette Austin and Tiffini Lyken are presenting the prosecution’s case.

The essence of democracy

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atiricus was ecstatic. And why not? After months of taking a pounding from his buddies -- good natured or otherwise -- it was his turn to crow! His leader Rum Jhaat had deftly turned the tables on all those who’d thought the criticisms from within the KFC party meant he was in trouble.

“The essence of democracy is to allow free debate among the rank and file!” Satiricus suddenly announced to his buddies, who’d been focusing on the cricket on the big screen at the Back Street Bar. “Wha’ yuh a talk ‘bout?” asked Cappo, as he finished his beer.

“Didn’t you fellas listen to Rum Jhaat?” Satiricus asked impatiently. “He was explaining the e-mails between those leaders in our KFC party.”

“I thought it exposed what a set of dictators Rum Jhaat and Trot Man turned out to be!” said Hari with a snicker.

“That’s the problem with you fellas,” complained Satiricus, “You all only looking at the substance of what was said; you got to look at the form.”

“Me na know wha’de rass yuh a guh-aan wid,” said Bungi. “Me t’ink yuh shoulda shame fuh bring up da e-mail business.”

“Budday, don’t we quarrel and use harsh words with each other?” asked Satiricus. “But we remain friends.

That’s democracy….and THAT’s the KFC!!”

“Suh lemme aks you,” said Cappo. “When Rum Jhaat lie dat he na advise Prezzie, da Demacracy?”

“You see?” asked Satiricus. “You talking about the substance again. But even there, Rum Jhaat didn’t advise. Was a gyaaf over coffee.”

“An’ when Rum Jhaat na consult nobady in KFC when he seh KFC agree wid Prezzie, da democracy?” demanded Bungi heatedly.

“But the man said he was sorry,” Satiricus said. “What more you want with him?”

“Me want Rum Jhaat fuh grow some balls,” said Cappo. “An’ na jus’ worry ‘bout when rum shap fuh close!”

“Haul yuh ass!” said Satiricus with a broad smile.

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SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesGY.com

“Put energy-efficient items in your home” – GEA Head

Blaming the victim

By Ryhaan Shah

Y

oung school teacher Kescia Branche was cruelly brutalised, and died on November 7th last. Some blame her for her own death. They blame her for wanting to go out to have a good time, and for being out late.

A few years ago, there was a heated debate in the press about rape and rape victims in which several men took the stand that rape was always the victim’s fault. It was about how she dressed, how she behaved, and the company she kept that resulted in her being raped, they argued. Because she was “asking for it”, they therefore could not view rape as a heinous crime, or understand the brutality of the violation.

This line of thinking is prevalent in our macho society, and hundreds of women suffer silently in their workplaces, homes, and on our streets from unwanted behaviours and assaults that include everything from catcalls to physical encounters with male bosses, colleagues, and even friends and family members.

But what is more troubling is that some of the enablers of such conduct and crimes are women; even in cases that involve young children. In a letter to the press, M&CC Chief Constable Andrew Foo stated that Mayor Patricia ChaseGreen re-employed the constable who allegedly sexually assaulted a child, even though he had been previously dismissed for the very same reason.

Why no charges were laid against him in the first instance, and why the Mayor chose to rehire him might have much to do with the complacent and trivialising attitudes that exist over such serious criminal conduct.

Now a teacher at Bishops’ High School, Coen Jackson, is accused of grooming and molesting female students for the past ten years. It is reported that the school’s administration had engaged in a cover-up to protect Jackson, and Principal Winifred Ellis has actually blamed the victims by criticising the girl students for being “slack” and “loose”. There rightly are calls for the principal’s dismissal.

The Prevention of Discrimination Act of 1997 Part III lays out Sexual Harassment as an offence; though as far as I am aware, no such case has been brought before the courts. It is not because Guyana’s workplaces and communities are so safe and our menfolk good little angels.

The fact is that many women are so dependent on their jobs that they are afraid to come forward and accuse their often more senior and powerful male colleagues of sexual harassment. Then, most worryingly, there are the female enablers, which would include wives, partners and family members who do not appear to understand the seriousness of the behaviour and the damage that is being done, especially to young victims who are manipulated and betrayed by authority figures like teachers and the police.

There is currently a barrage of sexual harassment charges in the US that is making headline news. Many view it as a seismic cultural shift in America. Whereas even up to a decade ago the fault seemed to lie with the young Monica Lewinsky than with the powerful President Bill Clinton in that scandalous sexual harassment case, most Americans are now believing the women’s stories and accepting sexual harassment as a behaviour that men use to demean and violate women.

Such harassment is rooted in a sexist attitude wherein men see themselves as superior to women, and feel they can use, abuse and treat them as objects or toys for their gratification.

Sexual harassment and assault run the gamut from whistling at women, to making obscene jokes in their presence, to the crime of rape. Women can be made to understand in the workplace that, if they do not submit to the harassment, they could lose their job.

There are hundreds of women in Guyana’s workplaces and communities who face sexual harassment each day, and it would be a very courageous woman indeed who would come forward one day and institute charges against her harasser.

As things stand today, however, she would be aware that it is her and her lifestyle that will be on trial, rather than the offender’s; and that she would have to relive the pain and the humiliation of the violation in a public environment that would be ready with its social judgements and prejudices, which would not all be in her favour.

Throughout the Caribbean, musicians sell sexually explicit lyrics that demean women. And some women enjoy them! We are a far way away from the cultural shift that would guarantee all girls and women the respect and regard that are rightfully theirs.

H

ead of the Guyana Energy Authority (GEA), Dr Mahender Sharma, has called on consumers to utilise energy-efficient appliances in their homes and other facilities.

In brief remarks at the end of the Regional Energy Kilo-walk organised by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Energy Programme, Dr Sharma told scores of participants to “put energy-efficient things in your homes”, as quoted by the Department of Public Information. The event was held to observe Caricom Energy Month.

Programme Manager for energy at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr Devon Gardener, has said the activity was organised to increase citizens’ awareness on the importance of sustainable energy use.

The walk commenced

A section of the participants during the walk on Saturday

in front of the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown and proceeded westward, before turning right onto Conversation Tree. It went along the Rupert Craig Highway to the UG road, then headed west along the Railway Embankment and concluded at the CARICOM Secretariat

Headquarters.

This exercise is one of a number of activities to observe CARICOM Energy Month, which is being observed under the theme ‘Rethinking Energy – Shaping a Resilient Community: Walk the talk’.

Other activities for the month of observances include a Youth Essay

Competition, Young Energy Artist Competition, Energy Personality Award, and Knowledge Webinars.

Energy Month activities are being organised across the region with the aim of highlighting the role of citizens in securing their own sustainable energy future by providing information on the steps that can be taken to empower them to so do.

Saturday’s event targeted a cross-section of society with the expectation of providing a platform to increase awareness on sustainable energy matters, as well as the efforts of the Caricom Energy Programme and the Guyana Energy Agency.

The event was attended by officials from the various ministries, members of the diplomatic corp, members of staff, representatives from various NGOs, youth groups, and the public.

12 News

SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

iNews reporter robbed during pre-wedding photo shoot ‌bandits carted off over $500,000 in valuables

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pre-wedding photo shoot ended on a sour note after bandits broke into the car of the soon-to-be wed couple on Saturday afternoon and carted off hundreds of thousands of dollars in valuables.

Left counting their losses are iNews reporter Ramona Luthi and her fiancĂŠ as well

as the photographer, all of whom are members of the media.

Based on information received, the trio had parked the car on Battery Road, Kingston, Georgetown about 15:45h after which they ventured into the compound of the Georgetown Marriott Hotel, a short distance away, to conduct the

shoot.

A mere 30 minutes later, they returned to the vehicle, only to discover that their possessions were missing. It was then that an investigation was launched, during which they realised a section of the back left side window of the car was shattered, presumably to gain the robbers entry.

A section of the back-left window of the car was shattered, to gain entry

According to Luthi, the thieves managed to escape with a brand new Asus lap-

top computer, valued approximately $300,000 along with two camera lenses, a

battery pack and several storage devices. turn to page 14

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SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Businessman shot during suspected execution attempt Fate of APNU/AFC’s coalition of convenience

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evelations, via leaked e-mails from the AFC camp, on President Granger’s unilateral choice of the GECOM Chairman, and most recently his choice of the replacement Opposition GECOM Commissioner, reveal severe stresses in the relationship between APNU and the AFC in the coalition Government. A few months ago, a unilateral decision by the President to demote the Minister of Education, a leader of the WPA, a partner with the PNC in the APNU coalition, also revealed stresses in that coalition.

But behind these proximate causes lie deeper structural reasons for the dissonance in decision-making in the coalitions - within APNU and in the APNU/AFC combine. These emanate from the nature of the coalitions these parties formed, their relative sizes, and their refusal to accept their ethnic bases openly.

The permutations and combinations of possible coalitions are almost infinite; but, in general, they form a continuum if Ravi Dev we group them according to: (a) How and why they were formed (b) Whether they were intended to be permanent or not, and (c) Whether the component parties remain separate or combined in structure. But coalitions are first and foremost coalitions of various interests represented by the member parties, and these must be made explicit.

From this perspective, there are mainly three types of coalitions: the “alliance”, the “coalition of commitment”, and the “coalition of convenience”. The “alliance” seeks to address one or more major cleavages by the fusion of two or more parties. Typically, they aim to be permanent, and in tune with this aspiration, field a common slate, and promote a common programme under a common leadership. APNU is an “alliance” involving four parties and the PNC, but for all intents and purposes, the primary coalescence is between the PNC, the WPA and GAP. But in terms of representation of interests in a polity split for half a century along ethnic lines, only African-Guyanese and Indigenous Peoples’ interests were credibly represented. Long regarded as antagonistic to each other, after the 1992 elections, the remnants of the once “multi-ethnic” WPA gradually began to make common cause with the always African-dominated PNC, as they claimed the PPP/C was not addressing the “marginalisation” of the African-Guyanese community. The African-Guyanese component of the PPP/Civic was adjudged to be “tokenistic”. GAP openly represented Indigenous peoples.

The “coalition of convenience” is driven by one consideration – to form a government that would keep out other parties, paradigmatically as with the UF and the PNC in 1964.

Coalitions of this type are very unstable, and few survive their term of government for several reasons. Firstly, their focus is totally electoral – adding up seats – while ignoring the cleavages and forces that made them form separate parties and run on separate platforms in the first place. These differences inevitably surface later, when policies and programmes are formulated and implemented.

Secondly, there is the “disproportion of size”. The larger party sees itself as the senior member, to which the smaller should defer; while the latter considers itself as an equal, due to its strategic position in “tipping the balance”. Thirdly, since the capture of power was their prime motivator, they constantly manoeuvre to monopolise the same. We saw the dénouement of this tendency when the PNC made the UF impotent between 1964-1968.

The “coalition of commitment” can be seen as falling between the other two other models, and attempts to bridge the differences in interests between two parties by crafting a platform that spells out areas of compromise.

The Cummingsburg Accord purported to be an attempt

by APNU and AFC to form such a coalition, but the AFC never explicitly spelt out they were representing Indian-Guyanese interests to constitute a “national multi-ethnic coalition” with APNU, as they boasted. Yet, in the leaked emails, AFC’s Dr Somair and Minister Cathy Hughes identified and bemoaned President Granger’s unilateralism as fatally affecting those Indian interests. It was obvious the AFC was caught in its own artifice, and APNU saw the coalition as one of “convenience” and exploited its disproportion of size.

The President’s selection of the WPA’s candidate for the GECOM Commissioner over the AFC’s is a further signal the latter is now seen as impotent.

A Rose Hall Town, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) businessman was on Saturday afternoon shot by two armed gunmen.

Rajendra Prasad, called “Bobby” of “Bobby and Son Boutique” located at Arch Road, Rose Hall Town, was rushed to the Anamayah Memorial Hospital about 15:30h with two gunshot wounds – one to his abdomen and the other grazing his head. He was subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was being observed by doctors.

Meanwhile, Police were on Saturday evening in pursuit of the two perpetrators, who escaped on a CG motorcycle through Reef, Rose Hall into the backlands.

An eyewitness told

Rajendra Prasad

Guyana Times that the gunmen arrived on a motorcycle, and both were wearing full face helmets.

According to another eyewitness, the boutique

was closed during lunch and had just reopened when the bandits struck. The eyewitness related that persons in the store were ordered to lie face down on the floor.

One of the gunmen then approached Prasad, who was in the cashier’s booth and opened fire, hitting him. The intruders then fled.

This publication understands that no cash or valuables? were taken, leading Police to launch an investigation into a possible execution plot.

In March, Police had nabbed a 24-year-old gunman with a .38 revolver, along with four matching rounds of ammunition.

In his confession, the gunman – Cordell Fraser – had told investigators that he was on his way to assassinate Prasad after he was hired by a Jamaican man to carry out the hit.

Prasad operates the major clothing and footwear store, and lives on the upper flat of the three-storey building.

14 news

SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Former Agri Minister laid to rest

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he atmosphere at Cotton Field, Essequibo Coast Region 2 was sombre as the former Minister within the Agriculture Ministry, former Region Two Chairman Alli Baksh, was laid to rest on Saturday.

Baksh died at his Cotton Field home on Wednesday last at about 13:00h.

Scores of family members, flanked by leaders of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), their supporters and other loved ones, gathered at the Baksh residence to give

(authorities) for the betterment of Guyanese,” Jagdeo said.

The Opposition Leader further described the former minister as having been a true patriot who had not only fought for the PPP, but for the people. He added that many persons had admired the qualities Baksh had had, and the work he had done, especially in his position as Regional Chairman.

“Every community has a vision of Baksh,” Jagdeo stated.

Former President Donald

Mrs Baksh and her daughters being comforted by Bibi Shaddick and daughter-in-law Mandy Baldeo

the former Parliamentarian a fitting send off.

The funeral service, which was conducted according to Islamic rights, commenced with the draping of Baksh’s coffin with the flag of the PPP/C in honour of his yearslong service to the country through that political party.

Opposition Leader and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Bharrat Jagdeo, during his remarks at the funeral, said Baksh had given most of his life towards the struggles of the PPP party. Jagdeo said Baksh had been a man with a vision, and had been part of something that had captured the ideology of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan.

“Alli Baksh’s life epitomized that of Jagan. What Alli Baksh did was admirable; he fought the colonial

Ramotar also reminisced on the life of Baksh, saying he had fought to improve the lives of ordinary people.

According to Ramotar, Baksh had had a charming charisma and an understanding personality.

“Alli never died; everything you watched in Essequibo Coast you see Alli in it. I am very proud to know him; the relationship will forever live on,” Ramotar noted as he recalled fond memories of the camaraderie they had shared.

Regional Chairman Devanand Ramdatt said Saturday was the saddest day for the people of Region Two, since the region had lost a “good father.” Ramdatt said that under Baksh’s leadership, many transformative projects had been done in the region, such as

Younge’s Take

That Bishops’ sex scandal

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Members of the PPP, including Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, taking Alli Baksh’s body to his final resting place

setting up of the Guyana School of Agriculture and the Essequibo Technical Institute, among other things.

Ramdatt said Baksh had been a “people’s man”, and would have reached out to many persons throughout Guyana over the years.

Former Regional Vice Chairman and First Secretary of the PPP in Region Two, Vishnu Samaroo, also shared fond memories of Baksh, having worked alongside him for 13 years. Samaroo said Baksh had been very instrumental in changing the landscape of Region Two. He told mourners that Comrade Baksh had always wanted to see progress continue in Guyana.

Extending condolences on behalf of the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) was former Housing Minister Irfaan Ali, who said that Baksh had been a legendary, a motivator, and an example for many young people to emulate.

Also extending sympathies to Baksh’s relatives and friends was General Secretary of the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO), Sheila Veerasammy.

She said Baksh had served as a mentor to many women, and had made a lot of sacrifices for the PPP. Condolences were also extended by former General Secretary of the PPP, Clement Rohee, who also re-

called the work Baksh had done over the years as a party member and as a public figure.

Tributes were also extended by representatives of the Guyana Rice Producers Association and the Guyana Workers Union.

Former Minister within the Agriculture Ministry and former Region Two Chairman Alli Baksh

Attending the funeral were top PPP officials, including Dr Roger Luncheon, former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Gail Teixeira, Bibi Shaddick, Anil Nandlall, Juan Edgill, Zulfikar Mustapha, Dharamkumar Seeraj and Frank Anthony.

Baksh was interred at the Anna Regina Cemetery at the end of the emotional funeral service.

iNews reporter robbed...

from page 12

They also carted off the handbag of the iNews reporter which at the time contained several important documents as well as a quantity of cash. The brazen robbers even took a set of clothing which was left in the car.

Meanwhile, Guyana Times understands that the trio had noticed a woman dressed in red joined by two cyclists within close proximity of the car, but failed to pay much heed. Given what had transpired, they are now of the opinion that the suspicious individuals may very well have been the perpetrators of the crime.

Shortly after the robbery was discovered, a report was made to the Police. The car was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where it was dusted for fingerprints and several were lifted.

As such, the media operatives are calling for the assistance of anyone with information that can lead to the recovery of their possessions and ultimately, the apprehension of the criminals.

esearch shows that one in every four girls across the world is usually victim of sexual abuse before she reaches the age of eighteen years. It also shows that one in every six boys is likely to be victim of child sex abuse before he reaches 18. Information available from the United Nations also reveals that 75 per cent of those children remain silent about the abuse, while another ten per cent who speak out are rebuffed by the adults who seek to cover up the abuse.

And what is also appalling is the fact that, ninety per cent (90%) of the time, the perpetrator of the sex abuse or sexual grooming is in a position of trust and is known to the victim.

The wider problem is that while victims’ emotional and physical bruises may heal over time, the scars they endure last a lifetime – and most times force them to seek justice at a later stage in their lives, if not upon attainment of adulthood and independence.

This is the context within which the allegations made against Coen Jackson, a senior teacher at the Bishops’ High School, must be seen. Jackson, over the past two Michael Younge and a half weeks, has been accused of sexually grooming his female students until they reach the age of consent, and then entering into relationships with them even though they are not yet legally adults. He has also been accused of making incident sexual proposals to students under his direct supervision at the school and at his private lessons in return for good grades and free tutoring. These allegations surfaced in the mainstream media over the past four days only after first being made by the Education Ministry’s Cultural Policy Advisor Ruel Johnson, who himself is no stranger to controversy and is no champion of truth or fairness.

Johnson reported what he said was Jackson’s misconduct and reprehensible behaviour to his superiors within the Ministry, and several powerful officials within the coalition Government which he serves as a political appointee and social media propagandist. He did so after ranting and raving on his Facebook profile and building a movement against the teacher, before the process was officially followed and activated to probe the accusations against Jackson.

Johnson admitted that he was personally involved in getting evidence from victims who came forward, because he was on a mission to ensure that Jackson was ousted from the public education system.

Even though many believe that Johnson went after the teacher only because of a personal grudge and vendetta, others are glad that his allegations have exposed the teacher’s alleged misconduct and resulted in immediate action on the part of the Ministry and the Guyana Police Force. Johnson’s action has also activated an informal public discourse about child sex abuse, child predatory behaviour, paedophilia, and sexual offences in general. There is also the development of a clear movement aimed at ensuring the protection and safety of our children in school.

More whistle blowers must come forward, and the children who were victims of child sex abuse must be encouraged to come forward, in order to get the justice and post-trauma counselling they deserve.

As a nation, we cannot afford to stand on the side of the abusers, or justify the abuse. We must not wish it away or cover it up, or men like Jackson -- who is accused of soliciting sex from minors or girls who are not yet adults -- will become emboldened as they look desperately to find loopholes in the law. We must believe our boys and girls the first time, and then look for proof.

We must also demonstrate caution against unduly bashing and labelling as well as shaming those who are accused, because we can undermine the entire justice process if we do not respect the fact that someone is innocent until proven guilty. That is where Johnson and his cyber bullies erred, as they cannot cry for justice on one hand and then seek to arrogate unto themselves the roles of judge, jury and executioner. The law must run its course. It would be a travesty if none of the allegations made against Jackson is proven in court, or fail to past the litmus legal test.

The Police must therefore conduct their investigations from a sober standpoint, disabusing their minds from emotions or bias in favour of either party. They must demonstrate professionalism when dealing with all matters relating to sexual offences, even if they are not as high profile in nature as the BHS sex scandal.

In the end, all of those teachers who had known about Jackson’s pattern of predatory behaviour and style but did nothing are also guilty of child endangerment and supporting the abuse of our children.

Nothing the head teacher at Bishop’s High School says or does now will redeem her in the eyes of right thinking Guyanese, even if she apologises for her highly irrational outburst at the assembly, in which she rebuked students for not running to Jackson’s defence. It is adults like her who create the right conditions for victims of abuse to feel as if it was their fault, or they would be blamed for the pain they endured.

She must be demoted or disciplined accordingly. The nation awaits the outcome of this entire saga, and the Ministry must now go on a nationwide campaign to probe all allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers, if it is really serious about reforms.

We must all learn from this ordeal, and we must recommit ourselves to protecting the innocence of our boys and girls. We are all duty bound to put an end to forms of violence against vulnerable groups and minority. Revising the age of consent is not the place to start our activism, but providing those who are alleged victims of child sex abuse with the support they need is a step in the direction towards healing.

We must not sit on the fence. Our children are our future, and we are custodians of their wellbeing. We must understand that justice for the alleged victims of Sir Jackson’s sexual grooming and predatory behaviour must not just be done, but must be seen to be done, or all hope would be lost.

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sunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Number 78 Village goes online!

Protecting the Fundamentals of Banking and the Banking Industry amidst recent controversies – the implications of SOCU’s actions on financial institutions

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oday’s piece of literature is one that should have been authored much earlier – amidst the highly controversial and sensitive matter involving one of the country’s largest private financial institutions and the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU). The issue to which reference is made is concerned with the US$500 million PetroCaribe Rice deal with the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) -- a matter that is being investigated for fraud by SOCU, through which that entity needed to access information of the bank account (s) from the respective commercial banks with which the GRDB would have maintained its accounts.

This column is of the strongly held view that the manner in which this entire situation was handled on the part of both institutions was very poor - in a way that could potentially be harmful and destructive to the financial sector. Moreover, what is appalling to this effect is that there was an article in the Kaieteur News dated November 15, 2017 with the headline, “Financial Institutions unwillingness to cooperate with SOCU tells a worrying story”. In that article, a Special Prosecutor and attorney–at-law posited rather strongly that “such behaviour opens the floodgates to speculation.”

Readers would recall that a series of articles on the financial sector and banking in particular were recently featured under this column. It would have been pointed out that the financial sector is the heart of an economy.

It is in this context that financial institutions, particularly the commercial banks in Guyana, ought to ensure that their fundamental features and characteristics are protected.

How the situation was handled, and how it should have been handled

According to information in the public domain, SOCU would have written to the institution, sometime earlier this year, requesting information on the account of GRDB. It was ascertained, based on those releases -- if one would have read carefully -- that when SOCU approached the institution in the first instance, they did not arm themselves with a court order. First of all, the laws of Guyana governing the operations of the banking institutions stipulate that, in the interest of confidentiality, financial institutions cannot provide any such information, unless it is by way of a legal process involving a court of law. So this means that SOCU did not adhere to the correct procedure in the first instance.

Then the banking institution erred grossly by not handling the matter in a strict professional way. Meaning, they should have never informed SOCU that documents were destroyed per se; knowing the risks involved and how SOCU handles matters, that is a huge risk wherein it could be easily misconstrued; and that in fact did happen, consequently severely damaging that institution’s reputation and image – which is highly embarrassing, as the whole world witnessed this fiasco.

The bank should have instead informed SOCU that the logistics involved in obtaining the requested information is difficult to gather within the time frame requested. By and large, it is not an easy task to go into the archives of the bank to gather documents from seven years ago. Clearly, the officials of SOCU do not understand and appreciate banking operations and their logistics.

The other point to note is: instead of the bank using the word ‘destroyed’, which obviously would have created chaos and expose the bank to severe reputational risk – again, which did in fact occur -- the bank should have written to SOCU in very careful language; for example – “in keeping with the Anti-Money Laundering legislation and other regulatory requirements, the bank keeps certain records and/or documents for up to a certain number of years”, noting that this period may have elapsed, unfortunately. There are some documents, however, that are required to be kept permanently.

So it was not a case in which the bank was unwilling to comply; the bank did comply by producing some 9,000 pieces of documents. Therefore it is grossly incorrect, unprofessional, and unethical of SOCU to mislead the public and thus cause unembellished reputational damage to that institution.

Further, the bank should have engaged the Guyana Bankers’ Association (GAB) to take a policy position on the matter, and ultimately ensure damage control or to contain those risks which are harmful and systemic to the industry by virtue of SOCU’s unprofessional handling of the matter in its entirety. In other words, they (SOCU) created a storm in a tea cup -- which was bad.

The biggest consequence and risk to the banking industry is such that it could adversely affect international relationships with the industry, and that institution in particular – its network of correspondent banking relationships.

Not too long ago, we have witnessed a situation where the local banks were affected negatively by a number of international banks severing their relationships with them simply because, in their view, countries like Guyana were considered high-risk jurisdictions for several perceived risks in relation to money laundering and the compliance nature of the banks in this respect.

It must be noted also that SOCU’s action can no doubt exacerbate such risks. Such an outcome would be harmful to the financial sector. It could cripple the industry, in addition to having other negative consequences for international trade and, by extension, the economy at large.

And last but not least, SOCU should have engaged the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and work with that body on the said matter, because the FIU is in fact the designated body set up under the Anti-Money Laundering Laws of Guyana as an agency responsible for requesting, receiving, analyzing, and disseminating suspicious transactions’ reports and other information relating to money laundering, terrorist financing, or proceeds of crime.

All the banks report to that agency, so would it not have been appropriate and wise to collaborate with the FIU on this matter? And would it not have made the work of SOCU easier, apart from containing and protecting the reputation and fundamentals of the financial institutions?

It is sad that this was not thoroughly thought out by all the parties involved. *The author is the holder of a MSc. Degree in Business Management, with concentration in Global Finance, Financial Markets, Institutions & Banking from a UK University of international standing

(For comments, questions and responses on articles featured in this column, readers can reach the author at jbinsights@outlook.com).

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he PublicTelecomm unications Ministry (MoPT) has commissioned its first Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Hub at Number 78 Village Corentyne, East Berbice.

This is the 16th ICT Hub to have been established in communities across Berbice - the first was established in Corriverton.

Approximately 436 hubs are expected to be up and running all across the country by 2020. These will be strategically placed in communities to allow persons to access the internet and online Government services.

At the launching ceremony on Friday, residents, including children, eager to access the computers and experience the internet service were encouraged to use the service to improve themselves. The hub is situated at the FACT (Family, Awareness Consciousness, Togetherness) Building in Number 78 Village.

Director of Community

Mayor of Corriverton, Hemchand Jaichand, showing one of the young participants how to use the service

Development and Social Management of the National Data Management Authority, Phillip Walcott, in his remarks said emphasis is being place on introducing more governmental services online. He said that persons would soon be able to apply for birth certificates

and passports, make Land Registry queries, and access other services online; thus they would need to visit the offices of these public service providers only to complete the transactions.

According to Walcott, the intention is to place hubs where residents in commu-

nities can access the internet and Government services at home. He urged villagers to share their knowledge with others who are willing to learn, so no one gets left behind as the country moves into the digital age.

According to the Department of Public Information, Walcott disclosed that more hubs would soon be placed in the county of Berbice and in other communities throughout Guyana. The National Data Management Authority (NDMA), which falls under the Ministry of Public Telecommunications (MoPT), is tasked with rolling out the public internet service, and is currently collaborating with the Mayor and City Council to identify locations where the hubs can be installed.

Corriverton Mayor Hemchand Jaichand has expressed satisfaction that that community would now be able to benefit from the internet service.

Rice Assessment Committee appointed

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ice farmers who are tenants on lands will be able to be shielded from mistreatment from their landlords following this month’s appointment of the Rice Assessment

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder

Committee by Agriculture Minister Noel Holder.

In an official notice issued, it was stated that four persons were elected to serve on the Rice Assessment Committee in various regions and districts.

Attorney-at-law Omadatt Chandan is Chairperson of Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) and Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), while fellow attorney Yoganand Persaud heads the Leguan and other locations in Region Three (Essequibo islands/ West-Demerara).

Berbice attorney Charandass Persaud will chair the sections of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and attorney Sadie Amin will chair Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam).

The committee’s establishment is in keeping with the Rice Farmers Security of Tenure Act. The committee functions as a court wherein issues concerning outstanding payment of leases and

proprietorship of land can be arbitrated. The law stipulates that any member of an assessment committee shall be disqualified from membership of that committee for the hearing of any mat-

ter in which he is personally interested, or in the case of a company so interested if he has direct or indirect interest in its affairs. Notably, if a person is called to give evidence, and wilfully gives

a false answer to the committee during proceedings, that person becomes liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of $10,000 AND to imprisonment for twelve months.

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SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesGY.com

Budget 2018

Nation must be advised to prepare for further stagnation – Ramsaroop

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inance Minister Winston Jordan is expected to present the 2018 National Budget on Monday, but according to Economic Advisor to the Opposition, Peter Ramsaroop,

Jordan has in fact already so done for all of the Constitutional Offices, such as Parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Auditor General’s Office.

Ramsaroop has since pre-

dicted that there will be further cuts to the subventions of key agencies, and more wanton spending would occur on unwanted white elephants while the nation suffers.

He has drawn reference to

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

the Finance Minister’s justifications for cuts to key constitutional agencies.

Jordan, last Friday, gave a single excuse for every single slash he made to the budget of each of the constitutional offices in this country.

According to Ramsaroop, Jordan has essentially conceded that the economy is in bad shape, and as such couldn’t afford anything more than what has been recommended and allocated. According to Dr Ramsaroop, while there is some truth to this, the hidden agenda is far more sinister. He pointed to the allocation to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) as an example. The economic advisor posited that a slash of al-

most one billion dollars of the budget of the elections body, coupled with the unilateral appointment of retired Justice James Patterson as GECOM Chairman, is just another move towards manipulating the elections machinery.

A further analysis of the 2018 budget allocations to the constitutional agencies reveals just how ominous a fiscal policy this Administration is pursuing, Ramsaroop said, adding that the capital allocation to the Judiciary was slashed by two-thirds. This would mean that the courts, with the exception of paying its salaries, telephone and electricity bills, would be unable to implement any of its planned projects aimed at improving the justice delivery system. “Guyana’s courts have now been essentially left gagged and stuck in time,” Ramsaroop added. Even more troubling, he said, is that the Finance Minister went on to slash the budget of the Office of the Auditor General.

While the courts of Guyana are expected to enforce the rule of law and keep the Administration in check, the Audit Office is in charge of ensuring that every penny spent by this Government is

Peter Ramsaroop

free from corruption, and that we get value for money.

In the two years of this administration’s operations, the Auditor General’s Office has found that hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayment to contractors, and billions were used in breach of our procurement laws. I have been told that the Auditor General was peeved, and openly complained that the cuts by this Administration will in fact impede the audits into their spending. Every right-thinking Guyanese must now ask themselves why would a Government seek to manipulate the elections machinery, the court system and the auditors? The writing is on the wall,” Ramsaroop iterated. CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

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SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesgy.com

Anna's

No Panadol in Rupunau, no cold syrup in Karasabai

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uring my last visit to Region Nine earlier this month, I fell ill and as I happened to be in Rupunau, a Wapishana village in the Deep South Rupununi, I visited the health centre in search of Panadol to calm my throbbing headache. There were none.

We all have been hearing about a massive drug shortage, but many of us living in coastal regions have not actually felt the full impact of this deficiency, because our health facilities are more easily provisioned for and alternatively, we still have access to private pharmacies and hospitals.

In the Rupununi and the hinterland regions, the reality paints a rather dismal canvas. A visit to 15 Indigenous communities in the region and to the Lethem hospital revealed that after two and a half years in office, the coalition Government did not apply any measures to enhance the quality of service delivered in the public health sector. As it is in developing countries, health care remains a challenge especially when proper infrastructure, trained personnel and financial resources are lacking. But in Anna Correia Guyana, poor service is also strongly tied to mismanagement and disorganisation in supplying the drugs to meet the needs of public facilities.

In Paipang for instance, the last supply of drugs was received in July 2017. Based on the Community Health Worker (CHW) report, the village did not receive MMU vaccines in 2017 despite several requests made through the Karasabai health centre. In Tipuru, the last medical supplies were delivered in June and the CHW reported an absence of basic supplies such as bandages and IV fusions as well as a dried-up supply of treatment for diabetes.

The CHW of the Rupunau health centre reported that the village received its last supplies in March. The Moco Moco health centre received its last provisions in September. Meanwhile, the Tiger Pond health centre possessed only six small bottles of Chlorophane for children. In Sand Creek, the Toshao bemoaned the absence of treatment for viral conjunctivitis (commonly called “red eye”) while in Karasabai and Rukumuta, both Toshaos indicated that basic medication for colds was lacking. Because the severe drug shortages have become a chronic problem in the Region, some village leaders, such as in Nappi, indicated that their people are starting to revert to local remedies.

The shortage of trained medical personnel further complicates the access to primary health care in the hinterland. Most health centres are operated by CHWs who are trained for a period of three months (under the HEYS programme) to administer basic treatment to patients.

Health centres are generally opened once or twice a week.

There is only one trained health worker assigned to Nappi, Parishara and Hiowa, with two others currently on training.

Because the Nappi health centre is the largest in the Region, villagers believe that a more trained or experienced health professional should be on duty. In Kumu, there are currently no trained health workers as is common in health centres across the hinterland. Some health centres cater for up to nine communities at a time, as is the case for the Sand Creek health centre in South Central Rupununi or the Aishalton hospital.

Aside from working against this setback, health facilities, including the Aishalton hospital, suffer from inadequate transportation. There is a general absence of ambulances, and most patients, including pregnant women, are transported using ATVs, motorbikes and where possible, tractors and other village vehicles. The health sector in the Rupununi is deficient to the point where in some communities, mothers are forced to give birth at home.

The fact that doctors from the coast sent to work in the hinterland have a difficult time adapting to these strenuous circumstances does not alleviate the challenges confronting Indigenous communities. For example, in Karasabai and the neighbouring South Pakaraimas communities, complaints were made by villagers and councillors concerning the alleged negligence of the doctor on duty. What’s more is that a discussion with doctors in the Region revealed that most of their colleagues coming from the coast are not experienced doctors, but, on the contrary, have either just completed their training or are sent to complete it in the Rupununi.

The Public Health Ministry’s excuse for the chronic drug shortage is that the procurement procedures are being changed – an excuse for now two and a half years that is no longer admissible. Additionally, about one third of the $100 million allocated to the Lethem hospital for emergency purchases (drugs) has returned to central Government by request. Meanwhile, there is no Panadol to calm a headache in Rupunau.

Contact sundayarrow@gmail.com

Education, agriculture will transform regional development – President

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resident David Granger has said that investments in education coupled with development and emphasis on the agricultural sector will play a leading role in the transformation of the Region and the country.

The President made the comment while speaking at the opening of the threeday Regional Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition (RACE) at the Lusignan Community Centre Ground.

the initiative would also help to empower young and upcoming entrepreneurs, something his Government was passionate about. The Head of State said it was his hope that RACEs could help to highlight the people’s potential to produce and to expose their products for purchase at home and abroad, and provide markets for farmers, traders and manufacturers.

More importantly, he said that exhibitions such as

A section of the audience at the opening of the Region Four Regional Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition (RACE) at the Lusignan Community Centre Ground

transformed into reality.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, in his remarks, said that agriculture was one of the pillars earmarked to forge the path for sustainable development for the Caribbean and Guyana.

He noted that not only was it

of fundamental significance to ensure food and nutrition security, but it also represented a viable pillar on which to promote economic development for the country and provide a means for citizens to generate wealth and ensure a sustainable developmental trajectory.

This exhibitor from "Everything makes Craft” proudly displays her products at the Exhibition

At the event he also commissioned two new school buses under the “Boats, Buses, Bicycles plus Books and Breakfast” (Five Bs) Programme. He said that the buses would serve the schoolchildren of the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara and were part of the Government’s continuous effort to ensure that there was access to education for all the children of Guyana.

According to the President, more innovative approaches through education must be taken to enhance and highlight Guyana’s agricultural potential and this is where investment in education and technology transfer is important. President Granger noted that Region Four (DemeraraMahaica), as Guyana’s strongest administrative region, was expected to play a pivotal role in driving this ‘green’ agenda. “We must share and the more developed regions must assist the least developed regions. As you have heard before, Demerara-Mahaica is the most developed – smallest in size but strongest economy and at the same time, much of the economic potential and infrastructure are all located in Region Four…DemeraraMahaica is the bellwether – it knows the way, it shows the way, it goes the way. The Region’s development, in this regard, must be aligned with Guyana’s green trajectory of development, which has, as one of its central objectives, the reduction in economic disparities between the hinterland and the coastland,” he was quoted by the Ministry of the Presidency as saying.

He noted that the agricultural and commercial exhibition was geared towards showcasing and promoting local businesses, particularly those which are involved in agro-processing. It is also expected to connect producers and consumers while improving and expanding trade opportunities within the Region.

President Granger said that

these also emphasise the importance of regional stakeholders not only the Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) but the Private Sector. To this end, the President proposed that the Region developed a Regional Economic Action Plan (REAP) to ensure that its agricultural potential was

President David Granger shares a light moment with these exhibitors at the Lusignan Ground at the Region Four Regional Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition

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sunday, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesGY.com

Linden hospital gets $10M equipment boost T he Chinese Medical Brigade has donated $10 million worth of equipment to the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC).

The items handed over include an ECG/EKG ma-

chine, two ultrasound machines and an anaesthesia machine.

Supervisor of the LHC Maternity Ward, Jennifer Melville, received the donation on behalf of the LHC, from team leader of the

Chinese Medical Brigade, Dr Liu Li. Public Relations Officer (PRO) attached to the LHC, Toshanna Alicock said the medical institution is extremely thankful for the timely donation.

Jennifer Melville receives a donation from Dr Liu Li. Also in photo are medical officials of the LHC and the Chinese Medical Brigade

Nation must be...

Minister Jordan has already spent millions of dollars erecting billboards across the country touting ‘the pathway to the good life continues’, but one should not expect any transformational announcements on Monday, since, by the Minister’s own admission, the size of the budget is expected to see an insignificant increase from that of 2017.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Development Bank (IDB) and other international financial institutions have all weighed in

on Guyana’s economic bill of health, and document a contraction in economic growth.

“A national budget is essentially made up of two categories: recurring expenditures such as salaries, utilities and maintenance, and capital expenditures such as new projects. Most new projects are given their allocations in yearly tranches. This essentially means that 90 per cent of the budget is pre-planned or based on existing factors,” Ramsaroop said.

He added that for Minister Jordan to tell the members of

FROM PAGE 16

the National Assembly that the 2018 budget would be just a little more than the 2017 budget can only mean that there will be no new transformational announcement, and that things are going to continue to be the same, except that he expects to collect a little more. “The Finance Minister is on record as promising no new taxes, but this does not rule out further increases in fees, licences and other charges for Government services,” Dr Ramsaroop noted.

sunDAY, november 26, 2017

Centurion Ambris states case Smith ushers with tour match ton Australia to U safety

Sunil Ambris

ncapped S u n i l Ambris hammered home the case for a Test debut against New Zealand in the upcoming twoTest series after notching an impressive ton on day one of the threeday tour match at Wellington's Basin Reserve.

The Windies piled up 451-9 against New Zealand A with Ambris who scored 153 and Shai Hope scored a steady 110 from 133 balls. Ambris who replaced Kyle Hope in the team’s line-up ahead of the series, batted lower down than he normally would entering the line-up at seventh.

He, however, made plenty of use of his time at the wicket clubbed 24 fours and a six in his 145-ball stay.

Hope and Ambris staged

a rescue effort of sorts as the latter entered the fray at 452. Hope brought up his hundred shortly after a tea with a cracking cover drive off Logan van Beek. The batsman found runs all around the ground, hitting 19 fours and a six in his near four hour innings.

Roston Chase also played his

part in getting the team back on track along with Hope as the duo scored an important 81-run fourth wicket partnership. Chase got some welcome time in the middle, hitting 49 from 76 balls. Ferguson was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers ending with 5-67.

(Sportsmax)

SCOREBOARD

West Indies 1st Innings K Powell lbw b Ferguson 7 S Hetmyer c Astle b van Beek 12 S Hope b Ferguson 110 R Chase c Latham b Ferguson 49 J Blackwood c Neesham b van Be ek 4 S Ambris c †Blundell b Ferguson 153 S Dowrich † c Bennett b Worker 35 J Holder (c) c Worker b Bennett 31 R Reifer not out 1 A Joseph not out 12 Extras: 20 (b 5, lb 11, nb 3, w 1)

Total: 451/9 (90 Overs,) Yet to bat: D Bishoo, ML Cummins, ST Gabriel, KAJ Roach Fall of wickets: 1-28 (KC Brathwaite, 7.5 ov), 2-45 (SO Hetmyer, 10.2 ov), 3-45 (KOA Powell, 11.4 ov), 4-126 (RL Chase, 33.6 ov), 5-135 (J Blackwood, 36.6 ov), 6-290 (SD Hope, 59.3 ov), 7-379 (SO Dowrich, 70.2 ov), 8-432 (SW Ambris, 82.5 ov), 9-438 (JO Holder, 85.1 ov) Bowling: Bennett 16-1-87-1, Ferguson 18-2-67-5, L van Beek 17-5-60-2, Neesham 14-1-67, Astle 14-2-97-0, Bruce 6-0-28-0, Worker 5-0-29-1

A

captain’s century hewn from granite and two wickets in a fiery pace assault after tea saw Australia wrest the momentum away from England by the end of an enthralling day three of the series-opening Ashes test in Brisbane on Saturday.

Josh Hazlewood snared two victims to leave England 33 for two at stumps and clinging to a seven-run lead after skipper Steve Smith inspired the hosts with a brilliant, unbeaten 141 in front of a grateful crowd of 33,474 at the Gabba.

Opener Mark Stoneman, on 19 not out, and Joe Root on five survived a furious pace examination in the final overs as the pitch grew appreciably quicker.

With Australia teetering at 76 for four on day two and their nearly 30-year unbeaten record at the Gabba seemingly in peril, Smith dragged his side back from the brink over eight-and-a-half hours of steely application.

By the time tailender Nathan Lyon edged to Alastair Cook in the slips, marking the end of Australia’s innings of 328, Smith strode off to a hero’s ovation, having pushed his side 26 runs in front of England’s first innings 302.

“It’ll be up there definitely, obviously with the team in a bit of trouble,” Smith told reporters when asked if was the most satisfying ton of his career.

“I had to bat some time and dig really deep ... I think

it was my slowest hundred, someone told me, had to work hard and be really disciplined and resilient.”

Smith’s team mates inspired and his pacemen hitting the deck hard, Cook was soon out cheaply for a second time in the test.

Caught behind for two off Mitchell Starc in the first innings, Cook was caught for seven by the paceman in the deep when he tried to hook a short ball from Josh Hazlewood away to safety.

Hazlewood then had an uneasy James Vince out for two with a rearing delivery that sent an edge to Smith in the slips.

Moments later, Starc struck Root in the helmet with a venomous delivery and took turns with Cummins to pepper Stoneman with short balls.

Root and Stoneman will face more of the same in the morning, but Stuart Broad felt England were in the best position they had been at a Gabba test in over 30 years.

“Actually we’re in a lot of control of this game after three days,” he said. “It’s in our hands to bat big tomorrow.”

Cummins Cameo

Cummins earlier provided fine support to Smith with a knock of 42 in a 66run partnership, surviving for all but 10 minutes of the middle session until he was finally caught at slip off all-rounder Chris Woakes.

Smith, who began the day on 64, moved slowly but

19

Steve Smith

purposefully towards his century and soaked up eight successive dot balls when on 97 before Broad finally gave an opening.

The skipper pounced on a fuller, wide delivery, smashing a drive past mid-off for four, triggering a huge roar from the sell-out crowd.

Having completed his sixth Ashes ton, Smith tore off his helmet, raised his arms in triumph and beat his chest twice in a fired-up celebration, one of the most ardent of his 21 test hundreds.

It helped swing the match back into balance after England’s veteran pacemen had dominated the morning.

A fired-up Broad had captured two wickets and broken a 99-run stand between Smith and Shaun Marsh, with fellow seamer James Anderson chipping in with another.

The Australian number six lasted five overs in the morning before being dismissed softly for 51, spooning a slower delivery from Broad straight to Anderson at mid-off.

Tim Paine, who replaced Matthew Wade in part due to his better form with the bat, managed 13 before falling to Anderson with the fourth delivery of the new ball.

Starc smashed Broad over the long-off rope for six but the England paceman turned the tables on his fellow quick two balls later with a caught and bowled.

SCOREBOARD England 1st innings 302 Australia 1st innings (Overnight: 165-4) C. Bancroftc Bairstow b Broad 5 D. Warnerc Malan b Ball 26 U. Khawajalbw b Ali 11 S. Smithnot out 141 P. Handscomblbw b Anderson 14 S. Marshc Anderson b Broad 51 T. Painec Bairstow b Anderson 13 M. Starcc&b Broad 6 P. Cumminsc Cook b Woakes 42 J. Hazlewoodb Ali 6 N. Lyonc Cook b Root 9 Extras (lb-1 nb-1 w-2)4 Total (all out, 130.3 overs) 328 Fall of wickets: 1-7 C. Bancroft,2-30 U. Khawaja,3-59 D. Warner,4-76 P. Handscomb,5-175 S. Marsh,6-202 T. Paine,7-209 M. Starc,8-275 P. Cummins,9-298 J. Hazlewood,10-328 N. Lyon

Bowling : Anderson 29 - 10 - 50 – 2, Broad 25 - 10 - 49 – 3, Ali 30 - 8 - 74 – 2, Woakes 24 - 5 - 67 – 1, Ball 18 - 3 - 77 - 1(nb1 w-2), Root 4.3 - 0 - 10 - 1 England 2nd innings A. Cookc Starc b Hazlewood 7 M. Stonemannot out 19 J. Vincec Smith b Hazlewood 2 J. Rootnot out 5 Extras 0 Total (for 2 wickets, 16 overs) 33 Fall of wickets: 1-11 A. Cook,2-17 J. Vince To bat: D. Malan, M. Ali, J. Bairstow, C. Woakes, S. Broad, J. Ball, J. Anderson Bowling: Starc 5 - 1 - 14 – 0, Hazlewood 5 - 1 11 – 2, Cummins 3 - 2 - 1 – 0, Lyon 3 - 0 - 7 - 0

20 SPORTS Messi signs new Gayle aids Rangpur in thrilling final-ball win Barcelona contract to 2021 –buyout clause set at 700 million euros W SunDAY, november 26, 2017 | guyanatimesGY.com

indies star Chris Gayle blasted a breezy 33 from 25 balls but it took late heroics from Thisara Perera to secure a last-ball win for Rangpur Riders against Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 177 runs, Rangpur ended things in style with a last-ball six

by Perera off the bowling of Taskin Ahmed. The win was the team’s fourth of the season.

Perera hammered an unbeaten 28 off 14, but captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza also made a healthy contribution

with a quick fire 42 from 17 balls. Moving himself up the order Mortaza came in to bat at number three in place of regular Mohammad Mithun.

The skipper then paired with Chris Gayle to score 60 off 4.2 overs, a sec ond wicket stand that carried the team to 91-2 in 9.4 overs from 31-1 in 5.2 overs.

F o r Chittagong Luis Reece, Tanbir Hayder, Sunzamul Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Al-Amin and Taskin Ahmed bagged one wicket each

conceding 13, 14, 23, 24, 29 and 38 runs respectively.

Sent in to bat first Chittagong made 176 for 7 in 20 overs with South African all-rounder Stiaan van Zyl dazzling with a half century of 68 off 40 balls, including three boundaries and four sixes. (Sportsmax)

L

ionel Messi has finally put Barcelona's fans at ease by signing a new contract that will keep the star at the Spanish club for four more years.

Messi signed the new deal on Saturday to tie him to Barcelona through 2021, meaning the Argentina for-

ward will be 34 by the time it expires.

With his former contract set to run out next summer, Messi would have been free to listen to offers from other teams on Jan. 1. That approaching deadline had generated speculation that Messi could follow Neymar's lead and leave.

Messi's new deal includes a buyout clause of 700 million euros (835 million dollars). That massive figure is aimed at keeping away even the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, which secured Neymar last summer by triggering his buyout clause with a record 222 million euros ($262 million) payout. Messi has been the although the decision won't be confirmed until after heart and soul of Barcelona the New Zealand A match for more than a decade.

A five-time winner of against Windies.

Blundell will start be- the Ballon d'Or for sochind the stumps for New cer's best player, Messi has Zealand ‘A’ in the three- helped Barcelona win 30 tiday warm-up match, schedtles. That haul includes four uled to begin on Saturday in Lincoln. The squad has, Champions League titles however, been hit by other and eight Spanish league injuries with Martin Guptill crowns. (hamstring), Colin Munro Now in his 14th sea(ill), Adam Milne (back) son, Messi is the club's alland Scott Kuggeleijn (ill) all time leading scorer with 523 withdrawing from the team.

The Windies will face New goals in 602 matches.

He received his fourth Zealand in a two-Test series beginning on December 1. Golden Shoe award on The two-Test series will be Friday for leading all of followed by three ODIs and Europe's leagues in scoring three T20Is. (Sportsmax) last season. (Telegraph)

Watling not fit to take gloves for Windies Test

N

ew Zealand will be without regular wicketkeeper BJ Watling for at least the first Test against the Windies as the player has failed to recover from a niggling injury.

Watling, who has not missed a Test match for the Black Caps since 2013, has missed out on wicketkeeping duties for his local club Northern District for the last four matches due to an ongoing hip problem. The player has, however, for now remained a part of the squad as a batsman, but could fail to feature in the series entirely.

Should Watling miss out the uncapped Tom Blundell is favourite to take the role

sports

sunDAY, november 26, 2017 | www.guyanatimesgy.com

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L

Ashmead Nedd

ower Corentyne destroyed neighbors Upper Corentyne by 8 wickets to claim the number one spot following the end of round 3 in the 2017 GCB/ Jaguars 50 overs League on Saturday.

Batting first at the at the Port Mourant Ground, Upper Corentyne struggled as they posted 141 all out off 35.3 overs with former national limited overs batsman Rajiv Ivan scoring 55 while Guyana Jaguars wicket-keeper/batsman Anthony Bramble and David Latchaya scored 28 and 18 respectively.

Bowling for Lower Corentyne, fast-bowler Nial Smith snared 3-26, while Royston Crandon 3-16 and

Kassim Khan 2-30 had good returns. The defending champs raced to 143 for 2 off 24 overs after Johnathan Foo slammed an unbeaten 79 with Sharaz Ramcharran scoring 55 not out during their unbroken partnership of 129.

Over at the Bush Lot ground, West Demerara beat West Demerara by one wicket in a thriller. West Berbice made 173 off 36 overs with Sherwyn Mc Pherson resisting with 44, while Steffon Adams made an unbeaten 30. Tagenarine Chanderpaul showed his class with the ball to grab 4-31 while Richie Looknauth grabbed 3-11.

Needing 174 for victory off 50 overs, West Demerara reached 174 for 9 off 49.4 after Chanderpaul returned to stroke 56 with support from Mahendra Dhanpaul 48 and Safraz Esau 47.Waquar Hassan 3-19, Kevin Sinclair 2-12 and Krishandat Ramoo 2-23; were the top wicket-takers for West Berbice.

At the Imam Bacchus ground, Essequibo continued their dominance, hammering East Bank by 8 wickets after the latter only managed 104 in 45.2 overs. Skipper and West Indies U19 selectee Ronaldo Ali Mohamed made 37 and Sachin Singh 18.

Bowling for Essequibo, left-

Chris Barnwell

arm spinner Ricardo Adams grabbed 3 for 17, while skipper Anthony Adams and his younger brother Akini Adams;

snatched 3 for 17 and 2 for 13 respectively. Essequibo in reply, reached 105 for 2 off just 26.4 overs with Kemol Savory smashing 64 and the veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul making 20 not out.

At Enterprise, Georgetown won their first match of the tournament after beating East Coast by 8 wickets. East Coast struggled to reach a good score, ending on 120 runs in 42.5 overs with Chanderpaul Hemraj top scoring with 27 while Amir Khan chipped in with 18 and Kamesh Yadram with 15.

Another West Indies U19 selectee, Ashmead Nedd snared 5-14 for Georgetown who cruised to 124 for 2 in

Rajiv Ivan

just 31.3 thanks to 57 from all-rounder Christopher Barnwell and 37 from skipper Leon Johnson.

Points Table: After Round 3 Teams

Matches Points

wins

loses

Tie

Lower Corentyne

18

3

0

NA

Essequibo

15

0

0

NA

West Demerara

15

2

0

NA

Georgetown

9

1

1

NA

Upper Corentyne

9

1

1

NA

West Berbice

8

2

2

East Coast Demerara

0

3

Upper Demerara/ East Bank

0

3

No Result

Super Bonus (Batting)

Super Bonus (Bowling)

Total

NA

6

24

1

NA

4

19

1

NA

2

17

1

NA

2

11

1

NA

NA

9

NA

NA

NA

8

3

NA

NA

NA

0

3

NA

NA

NA

0

Golden Jaguars fall 2-1 to Indonesia

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D

espite a spirited first half effort, Guyana’s Golden jaguars lost 2-1 to Indonesia in their international friendly on Friday in Jakarta.

It was a brace by Ilija Spasojevic that left the Guyanese heartbroken on their historic trip to South Asia.

Shaquille Agard opened the scores with a right footed shot from inside the 18 –yard box to the centre of the goal in the 9th minute.

Jaguars kept on the attack with some spirited runs at goals but could not find produce another conversion.

A handball by captain Jake Newton then saw the home side ease their way back into the match as Spasojevic scored the penalty in the 35th minute. Spasojevic then had right footed shot to the top left after he was Assisted by Febri Haryadi in the 75th Guyana’s lost came after 1-1 draw against Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors just last weekend at the Ato Bolton Stadium.

Golden Jaguars for the match continained: Akel Clarke (GK), Andrew Durant (GK), Anthony Abrams, Christopher Bourne, Jake Newton, Jelani Smith, Jeremy Garrett, Cecil Jackman, Dwain Jacobs, Brandon Beresford, Anthony Benfield, Daniel Wilson, Trayon Bobb, Curtez Kellman, Denzil Fordyce, Kelsey Benjamin, Shaquille Agard, Devonte Small and Daniel Jodah.

Police, Camptown to vie for Turbo Football title P

olice FC will face Camptown FC in the final of the Turbo Knockout Football tournament on December 3 at the Ministry of Education Ground, Carifesta Avenue.

Following Semi Final action on Friday evening both sides had vastly different paths to the finale, with Camptown pipping Pouderoyen and Police railroading Grove.

Camptown’s Richie Richard

It was Richie Richard who scored Campton’s lone goal in the semi-final just on the stroke of half time and try as they might, the West Bank side was could not find the equaliser.

In the second game, it was a railroad by Police on the Grove Hi-Tech with a 3-1 margin.

Quincy Holder stepped up to the plate to score the law men’s first goal and re-

turned to score the second four minutes into the first half injury time.

However, immediately on the return Mervin Squires started what looked to be a comeback for the Hi-Tech side.

That comeback however was quelled by Rawle Haynes in the 78th as Police went 2 goals up for the 3-1 score line.

22

guyanatimesgy.com

sundAY, november 26, 2017

10

teams to vie for $1.5M …as Road to Mecca VI tips off December 1

CWI hosts 2-day summit ahead of 2018 Women’s World T20

GABF President Nigel Hinds (centre) along with other officials and various club representatives

T

he journey to Mecca for ten top basketball clubs in Guyana began on Saturday as the fourth edition of the “Road to Mecca” was officially launched at Palm Court.

The yearly tournament which is organised by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) will this year see total prize money to

Tournament Director Jennifer Nero and CWI Commercial Manager Nelicia Yeates

the tune of $1.5 Million up for grabs.

The winner of the competition will walk away with $600,000 while first to fourth placed teams will be presented with a trophy.

The defending champions of the tournament are the Bounty Colts who has been far and above the best club in the country in recent

times.

The tournament will begin on December 1 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) with the round robin stage where each team will play each other once in two groups of five. The top two teams with the best win percentages in the respective groups will advance to the semi-finals. Each team

will field 12 players and are not allowed any guest players.

The final will be held on Christmas Eve as one of the 9 other teams could dethrone last year’s champions.

Colts, who also holds the title of Georgetown’s best club, will battle the likes of Ravens, Amelia’s Ward Jets, Half Mile Bulls, and Rose Hall Jammers in Group A of the ten-team tournament.

In Group B, Linden’s leading club, the Victory Valley Royals, will be joined by last year’s finalist Retrieve Raiders, along with Pacesetters, Plaisance Guardians and the winner (Cobras) of the qualifier tournament which was contested between newcomers Cobras, along with UG Trojans, Pepsi Sonics and Republic Bank Nets.

Admission to the venue is free as the GABF seeks to give back to the basketball enthusiasts. At the launch GABF President Nigel Hinds pointed out that the tournament has evolved and fans who turn out every year can expect high quality entertainment free of cost.

C

ricket West Indies (CWI) hosted a two day Venue Summit with Territorial Boards who have indicated interest in hosting matches for the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20 Championship.

Tournament Director Jennifer Nero along with the team from CWI used the opportunity to brief the participants from all six regions on the expectations for the event; during the summit held on November 21 and 22 in Antigua at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.

Nero explained that “the hosting of this event comes at an important time in the socio-economic development of the region. Therefore, it is CWI’s vision to bring the unique Caribbean flamboyance by successfully hosting the first ever stand-alone Women’s World T20 championship.”

He further explained that “As defending World T20 Champions, CWI aims to use this Championship for the advancement of our cricketing landscape, the advancement of women in sport, attract business and other partners, while maintaining the positive global

momentum around women’s cricket.”

Some of areas of improvement discussed ranged from; promoting gender equality in the region through cricket, increasing participation in women’s and girls’ cricket in the West Indies, identifying future players for the Windies Women team.

Other strategies deliberated featured the establishment of cricket as a genuine career option for young women, while creating a legacy for women and girls’ cricket throughout the region. Mostly, the CWI hopes to re-engage its fans with WINDIES cricket.

ICC Chief Executive, Dave Richardson, made the point that “The West Indies is a unique place to play cricket and we are confident that the players will receive a warm welcome, excellent playing conditions and facilities that allow players to shine.”

The ICC Women’s World T20 will be managed by a Project Team from CWI, as well as a Regional Committee and the various Local Organizing Committees (LOCs) of the venues chosen.

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2017

13th Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival

Queens Park upset Hikers Q

ueens Park Hockey Club took the first round of the highly anticipated men’s duel when they met defending champions the Pepsi Hikers on Friday evening in the Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey Festival. The two 2016 finalists did not disappoint the crowd as the high-scoring affair saw many lead changes with the game hanging in the balance until the very end.

The Woodpecker Hikers ladies were also in top form as

equalized three minutes later with a powerful penalty corner flick. It was more of the same for the rest of the half as supporters from both sides were treated to an entertaining display of skill and speed.

Branford scored thrice more in the half to take his tally to four while Toussant managed to score three penalty corners and Daren Cowie added a single to lead the teams into half time deadlocked at 4-4.

The game seemed all but over for Queens Park after the first eleven minutes of the

both creating good scoring opportunities and getting to half time at 2-2, GCC would score three more in the second half to Old Fort’s one, giving GCC the 5-3 win. Kareem McKenzie, Peter DeGroot, Orland Semple, Dwayne Scott and Kevin Spencer all got onto the score sheet for GCC while the Old Fort goals were scored by Jael Gaskin, Jason Clarke and Ascofu Simon.

The ladies’ matchup of the evening saw the Woodpecker Hikers cruise to a 4-1 victory over the highly fancied Pizza

Pepsi Hikers midfielder Devin Munroe seeking a path through the Queens Park defence

they downed six-time champs Pizza Hut GCC by 4-1 in an impressive performance.

Queens Park took the lead in the Carib veterans competition by spoiling the unbeaten run of GCC Vintage to cap off a successful evening for the Trinidadian visitors.

Just off the recent CAC qualifiers in Jamaica where he received the Player of the Tournament Award, Aroydy Branford of the Pepsi Hikers was in brilliant form last evening when his team took on the Queen’s Park CC in their men’s pool round clash.

Branford signalled that it could be an easy night as he evaded the QPCC goalkeeper in the opening minute of play to slot home goal number one as though it was a stroll in the park. Trinidad international Akim Toussaint however was determined not to let the match slip away from the grasp of QPCC as he

second half as Andrew Vieira scored a double for the Hikers and Captain Robert France a single to give them a comfortable 3 goal lead. QPCC did not relent however and their determination paid dividends as Matthew Tang Nian scored a penalty corner in the 33rd minute to signal a change in the tide. QPCC came storming back and slammed home three more goals through Kadeem Fortune, Jordan Reynos and Mark Ayen with the winning goal just 2 minutes from full time. The 8-7 victory has foisted QPCC onto the top of the pool table and saw the Pepsi Hikers drop their first points of what has otherwise been a stellar performance in the competition so far.

Bounty GCC turned an evenly matched game into a comfortable victory by midway through their clash with Old Fort. With the two teams

Hut GCC. Former world top 20 squash player Nicolette Fernandes was first to score as she beat goalkeeper Briawna Gordon to a pass into the circle to deflect the ball ever so gently into the far corner. It would take GCC nine minutes to equalize through a skilful bit of individual play by striker Gabriella Xavier who finished with a powerful shot past the left arm of goalkeeper Latoya Fordyce.

GCC seemed to have run out of ideas at this point as Nicole Eastman put the Hikers up 2-1 just before the half with a counterattacking finish off a Maria Munroe pass. Left back Allana Lewis and Maria Munroe then got in the act each scoring for the Hikers in the second half to finish with a 4-1 victory.

QPCC capped off a productive evening by defeating the GCC Vintage by 5-3 in the Carib veterans’ competition

while Antonio’s Hickers put in their best performance in the competition by dominat-

ing Malvern of Trinidad by 8-2. The finals are on today from from 18:00 hrs.

23

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

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2017

10

guyanatimesgy.com

teams to vie for $1.5M

Pg 22

…as Road to Mecca VI tips off December 1 13th Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival

Queens Park upset Hikers

Pg 23

Pizza Hut GCC’s Kerensa Fernandes avoiding the tackle of Hikers' Maria Munroe

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November 26, 2017

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Feature

Activist Shazam Somwar

By Lakhram Bhagirat

A

s cliché as it sounds the famous words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see,” is the driving force behind everything that young Shazam Somwar does to make his mark and leave behind a legacy that would do his generation proud. Shazam is a

21-year-old medical student of the Greenheart Medical University, but what makes him exceptional is his drive to help others and address the issues that affect them.

Hailing from Kilcoy, Corentyne, he is the eldest of three children from a family of mechanics. Speaking with Sunday Magazine, Shazam explained that he was the first to venture out of the

family business to pursue his passion of healing others through medicine.

“I am a humanitarian at heart, passionate about volunteering; suicide prevention is something I am passionate about, and I am an advocate. I am someone very down to earth, someone who you could always talk to and once I see a smile on someone’s face, I am happy,” Shazam said when asked to describe himself.

In 2014, Shazam started a local organisation called the Suicide Prevention Awareness Campaign (SPAC) to address the suicide epidemic that has been plaguing the Region in which he resided. Following the launch of his organisation, the young leader held walks to raise awareness, held talks with students, and posted posters throughout the Region to address the

Shazam during one of the numerous medical outreaches in which he volunteered

ill of suicide.

Everybody has an opinion when it comes to the life of someone else, but they do not know what that person is going through and this is what led to the activism.

Shazam reveals that his activism comes from a place deep within himself, a place he often tries to not explore because of the darkness that lives there. You see he has had up-close and personal encounters with suicide and attempted suicide.

Shying away from his personal experiences, he said that he has had more than one friend who committed suicide and knows several persons who have attempted to do the same. For him, those persons displayed little or no sign that would have indicated that they were contemplating such a decision.

“I have partnered with some schools where we had in-school sessions, letting them know who suicide affects and the consequences and what will their loved ones face after they are gone along with the signs to look for when someone is contemplating suicide,” he told the Sunday Magazine.

SPAC has been created to provide a safe space for persons to relate their sto-

ries and be guided along the path to receiving the help they need. The organisation has an active Facebook page, and Shazam is prepared to provide assistance to anyone who may need it.

“Because of the demands of my studies, the organisation is on a standstill right now. I am planning to officially relaunch it early next year, since I would have a bit of a break in my studies. For the relaunch, I am already in the process of initiating an aggressive awareness campaign and would soon be filming a short video to educate those about the consequences of suicide.”

Shazam, who is also inspired by his late grandfather, explains that the relaunching of his organisation would not only span the nation but there are overseas partners waiting to join.

Apart from tackling the scourge of suicide, the medical student enjoys volunteering for various non-profit organisations and contributing to the development of his community.

Guyana’s suicide rate is an alarming 44.2 cases per 100,000 persons when the global average is 16 per 100,000 people. Since 2012, suicide has been the leading cause of death in persons be-

One of the Boards of Hope

tween the ages of 16 and 44.

Females attempted suicide more than males in a ratio of 3:1. Indo-Guyanese have accounted for 50 per cent of suicide deaths in the country while Afro-Guyanese have accounted for 26 per cent.

These statistics are worrying for Guyana as well as the international community.

For the year 2017 so far, the Public Health Ministry recorded 59 cases of suicide while the Police recorded a staggering 92 cases. This clearly shows the Ministry’s inability to effectively monitor the number of suicide deaths and report accordingly.

There are several organisations working to tackle the scourge of suicides.

The Guyana Police Force has launched a “Suicide Helpline” as another initiative under the Force’s Social Crime Prevention programme. Persons desirous of accessing the services of the Guyana Inter-agency Suicide Prevention Hotline can contact 223-0001, 223-0009, 600-7896, 623-4444; Email: guyagency@yahoo.com, BBM PINS: 2BE55649, 2BE56020; Twitter: guyanaagency; WhatsApp: +592-600-7896, 592- 623-4444 or Facebook: Guyana Interagency Suicide Prevention Help Line.

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Sunday Times Magazine

3

Times Focus

– A showcase of Women, Art, Guyanese culture I

n continuing a tradition of honouring women through the showcasing of their art and t a l -

own members as the main feature artist.

Meanwhile, the ex-

Tara Bentick’s collection of jewelry, ornaments and glassware on sale at the Exhibition

ent, the Guyana Women Artists’ Association (GWAA) once again opened the doors to its annual Art Exhibition.

On display at the National Art Gallery housed at Castellani House, Homestretch Avenue, is a diverse lineup of imaginative pieces, which seeks to amalgamate various forms of visual art so as to create an intrinsic explosion of colours, symbolism and beauty, all wrapped up in one grand collection.

This exhibition aligns with the observation of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, with the GWAA this year presenting its 29th edition of highlighting the complexity of women and their roles in

A locally made ornament on display at the sExhibition o-

ciety through art.

Headlining the exhibition is Guyanese woman artist Akima McPherson, who brings to the collection three series of her work, each encapsulating a different form of art.

Taking centre stage is a suspended text ensemble, titled “Unmasking”, which is hung in a cascade of silent testimonies. Each part of the puzzle represents individual women and the invisibility of their issues as they move through time and space.

Adding to that, McPherson also has on display seven figures in varying postures with small abstract forms which symbolise the burdens, hardships and difficult circumstances of women in society. Despite initially appearing dismal, the abstract pieces are backed figures of victory, inclusive of prayer and dancing.

In outlining the essence of the work she has on display, the featured artist indicated, “Increasingly, my work rejects commoditisation and participation on the market. Instead, I am interested in art that critiques social structures and in its critiques proposes a way forward.”

McPherson alluded to a theory which solidifies the foundations of art, saying art has a special role to play in the evolution of the individual and humanity.

It is a gift from the Universe and should serve the aims of the Universe and, therefore, humanity.

This year marks the first time the GWAA singled out one of its

hibition also presented the perfect opportunity to highlight the works of other local female talents as they seek to bring to the table various perspectives on the dynamics of women in the Guyanese context.

One such display was that of the guest artist, Sandra Bell-LaRocque in her attempt to capture nature and its importance in the lives of Guyana’s people. Bell-LaRocque presented five pieces, which speak of her patriotism and its inspirational role in her work. They were “East Coast Dusk Sky”, “Sunset”, “Guyana I love”, “Sea Life” and the highlight, “Illuminus”.

The last was perhaps the most symbolic of her pieces – the abstract of a woman almost synonymous to the dawn of a new day.

Another eye-catching piece was that of Denise Bristol, titled “The strength of a woman.” The acrylic painting stands out for its portrait of the many hats worn by a woman, particularly in her role as a child bearer and caregiver.

In existence for the past 30 years, the GWAA has not only contributed to the development of female artists of Guyana but also to the development of art.

The GWAA has ensured the hosting of an annual exhibition since 2008 along with the International Women's Day Exhibition in March of each year.

This is as the Association has set out not only to exhibit works of its members, but, on several occasions, has invited other women to participate in its displays.

In addition to giving members an opportunity to show and grow from exhibiting their work, the GWAA's exhibitions have served as learning resources for students of art, some of whom later join the Association.

The 29th Annual Exhibition of the GWAA kicked off on November 16 and is expected to last until December 23. The showcase is on a daily basis from 10:00h to 17:00h, and is open to the public, free of cost.

As such, whether you are a lover of art or simply interested in supporting and celebrating the

A selection of artist cards by Anna Correia-Bevaun

Illuminus by Sandra Bell-LaRoque (Acrylics on canvas)

works of Guyanese women artists, the Association invites you to cash in on the initiative, which aligns with the calls for the elimination of violence against women, the international day for which is observed

on November 25 every year. (Ashraf Dabie) (Cover photo: Portrait of a pregnant indigenous woman titled “The strength of a woman” by Denise Bristol (Acrylics on canvas) )

Fabric art of Table runner and napkins

by Jennifer Gibson

4

Sunday Times Magazine

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Feature

Gerilisa Caesar

“#

IAmScience because education and my pursuit of learning became my ticket out of poverty and a way that I can really help others.”

“Mother knows best” rings true for Gerialisa Caesar. In her family, the career options were either to be a lawyer, engineer or doctor.

But with little interest in law and a greater love for science than math, Caesar decided to pursue her doctorate.

“I graduated high school at 16 fully equipped to enter the work force,” Caesar said. “I went back to school to study science because my mom basically told me I had to, but biology fit me really well, so it worked out.”

Initially, Caesar was hesitant that she could even become a scientist.

“I had an idea of what a scientist was, and it wasn’t me,” Caesar said. “After I immigrated from Guyana, my undergraduate advisors, Drs. Carroll and Catapane, explained the opportunities I had to study biology. It opened the world of possibilities for me to pursue science.”

Now, as a biological sciences Ph.D. candidate in Laura Schulz’s lab, Caesar focuses on women’s health and reproductive biology.

“My research is to understand how a mother’s nutrition prior to and during pregnancy affects the baby’s development,” Caesar said.

“This is important as several studies link maternal diet during pregnancy to an increase in susceptibility of the offspring developing diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension in adulthood.”

That includes connecting how mother’s diets cause fetal health issues, which is a highly debated topic.

“For example, a lot of women are told to take folic acid pills during pregnancy,” Caesar said. “Doing that has been tied to help with neural development concerns — things like spina bifada [a birth defect that affects developing babies’ spinal cords].

Understanding the mechanisms that make that occur

would aid in developing better interventions to prevent such occurrences.”

As a result, Caesar’s research has the ability to help the world’s greatest health concerns in an impactful way.

“My work is directly contributing to prevent health issues that exist for future generations,” Caesar said.

“Knowing that is motivating.”

After she earns her Ph.D., Caesar would love to work for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The CDC has immediate response teams that react to major disease concerns.

Being a part of that would be incredible,” Caesar said.

“There’s something about working for the CDC and being able to have a meaningful impact within the community that calls me.”

Caesar plans to channel that passion regardless of where she ends up, though.

“Biology is literally the study of life,” Caesar said.

“As much as I thought science was challenging, I am able to see how it affects everyday life. I have a purpose, and I know what I do is going to make a difference.”

(Bond of Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri)

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Sunday Times Magazine

5

6 Sunday Times Magazine

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

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Literary Corner

A Book Review by Petamber Persaud

T

he power of the written words in this new Guyanese novel, “Kamarang”, will bewitch and haunt, thrill and satisfy, educate and entertain, the reader from the eerie beginning to the bewildering end, gnawing at the reader’s entrails, sucking at the reader’s grey matter long after the end is revealed and the mystery solved because the end will beset the reader with a new goal - a longing to learn more about the inexhaustible heritage of the land known throughout the world from the 16th century and onwards as El Dorado.

“Kamarang” is the first novel by Michael Jordan, a journalist and an investigative reporter whose interest in cold cases and unsolved crimes has and continues to treat Guyanese and nonGuyanese readers with fascinating and intriguing stories.

In fact, he is the recipient of PAHO Award for Best News Story in 1994 and the Award of High Commendation for Assisting in the Solving of a Cold Case in 2016.

Jordan’s interest in writing and in the macabre was influenced firstly by his parents. His father, Walter A. Jordan, was an avid reader and a writer. The elder Jordan was well-known for his column, ‘Watch your Language’. Jordan’s mother ‘consumed works of Poe and other masters of horror’ while pregnant with him and she also presented him with his first collection of ghost stories when he was twelve.

“Kamarang” is a supernatural tale which unfolds with a fine balance of terror and horror set against Guyanese myths, legends and folklore – Bush Dai Dai, Kanaima, Mermaid and others. The story is centred on

Michael Jones and Lucille – the most beautiful and sensual woman Michael has ever known, a women much sought after by all men she encounters and envied by all women crossing her path.

One of the mystifying aspects of Lucille is that she takes nothing in payment for her service from men she favours; those men pay the ultimate price. The supporting characters, on Michael’s side include his father, his mother and grandmother, all with skeletons in their respective closet. The supporting character on Lucille’s side is a shape-shifter.

The novel is set in the capital city of Georgetown, dotted with hotels cum

brothels cum whorehouses mainly frequented by gold miners/prospectors and in Kamarang, an interior location often referred to as the gold bush where men make and lose their fortune and where some prostitutes make a fortune or die trying.

Michael Jones is healthy boy in his late teens with a strong physique influenced by his idol Bruce Lee. He grows up in a Christian home and community and he is also sexually active. This leads by a series of uncanny attractions to a well-known brothel where he forms a strange sexual relationship with Lucille, a relationship that sucks his strength and vitality, leaving him broken

yet he goes back for more pleasure and punishment.

The story unfolds as one by one the skeletons in the cupboards are freed by way of revelation or intense introspection, bringing shame and sometimes remorse.

There are as many moments of déjà vu as there are parallels in events in the city and in Kamarang even the motifs are not dissimilar in both locations including the deaths by fire, the drinking of cider by the main female player, her perfume affecting men familiar with its odour, dreams and the silk cotton tree.

Apart from the flashbacks filling out the story, there were foreshadowing of how and when to deal with this ‘thing’. Getting rid of it fell to Michael.

And when the time was ripe, characters from the past and the present, from remote areas and from the city, are brought together by fear, by fear of the unknown to pit their human frailties aided by a little knowledge and binas/charms against the unknown evil.

“Kamarang” by Michael Jordan is available at Austin’s or can be uplifted from Michael Jordan. He can be contacted on 545-2447 or kamarangnight@gmail.com Responses to this author please telephone 226-0065 of email: oraltradition2002@ yahoo.com What’s happening: Over GYD$1,000,000 in prize monies up for grabs in the 2018 issue of The Guyana Annual. Closing date for entries to the various competitions is November 30, 2017.

For further information go The Guyana Annual on Facebook or email: theguyanaannual@gmail.com

The Wolf and the Crane

A

Wolf had been feasting too greedily, and a bone had stuck crosswise in his throat. He could get it neither up nor down, and of course he could not eat a thing. Naturally that was an awful state of affairs for a greedy Wolf.

So away he hurried to the Crane. He was sure that she, with her long neck and bill, would easily be able to reach the bone and pull it out.

"I will reward you very handsomely," said the Wolf, "if you pull that bone out for me."

The Crane, as you can

imagine, was very uneasy about putting her head in a Wolf's throat. But she was grasping in nature, so she did what the Wolf asked her to do.

When the Wolf felt that the bone was gone, he started to walk away.

"But what about my reward!" called the Crane anxiously.

"What!" snarled the Wolf, whirling around. "Haven't you got it? Isn't it enough that I let you take your head out of my mouth without snapping it off?"

Moral: Expect no reward for serving the ungrateful.

Notice to Readers

If you have a poem and/or short story you would like to publish on our Literary Corner page, please email to guyanatimes@gmail.com. Kindly include your correct name and a contact number in your email. If you have any questions, please call 223-7230 or 223-7231.

Poem Not I With This Torn Shirt They call here, -Magnificent Province!

Province of Mud! Province of flood!

Who are the magnificent here?

Not I with this torn shirt but they, in their white mansions by the trench of blood!

I tell you this is no magnificent province no El Dorado for me no streets paved with gold but a bruising and battering for self-preservation in the white dust and grey mud.

I tell you and I tell no secret now is the long past time for worship long past time for kneeling with clasped hands at altars of poverty How are the mighty slain? by this hammer of my hand! by this anger in my life! by this new science of men alive everywhere in this province! thus - are the mighty slain!

Poem by Martin Carter

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Sunday Times Magazine 7

Feature

B y D r . O deen I shmael

S

hortly after Raleigh left the Guyana region, soldiers from the Spanish settlement of Cumaná, west of the Orinoco, were sent to apprehend the two Englishmen Raleigh had left behind. They managed to hold only one of them named Francis Sparry; the other had been killed and eaten by a jaguar. The young Englishman, and the Amerindians with whom he resided, informed the Spanish soldiers that Raleigh was expected back in March 1596.

In 1596, Raleigh sent his lieutenant, Lawrence Keymis, back to Guyana in the area of the Orinoco River, to establish contact with the two Englishmen and the Amerindians there and to gather more information about the golden city. It is not known if he learned of the whereabouts of the Englishman whom the Spaniards held. But he did describe the site of a village (which became the Spanish settlement of Santo Thomé) as a "ranceria of some twenty or thirty houses at the mouth of the Caroli".

During his exploration of the coast between the Amazon and the Orinoco, he visited 52 rivers and claimed discovery of 40 of them. In addition, he mapped the location of Amerindian tribes and prepared geographical, geological and botanical

reports of the country.

He also sent one of his captains, Leonard Berry, to explore the Corentyne River which he did until he was stopped by rapids on that river.

In his report, Keymis expressed the view that Manoa could be reached by way of either the Corentyne or the Essequibo rivers.

His report named "Lake Parima" as the location of Manoa, and shortly after, cartographers in Europe actually showed the location of this lake and city on their maps of the Guyana region. (One version of his report fixed the city of Manoa somewhere between the sources of the Essequibo and the Rupununi Rivers on a "Lake Roponowini").

Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 and was succeeded by James I who immediately established peace with Spain. Many favourites of Elizabeth were dismissed from high office, and Raleigh was soon after accused of being part of a conspiracy to assassinate the king.

He was imprisoned in the Tower of London until 1617 when he managed somehow to convince King James to allow him to return to Guyana to search for the golden city. The King most likely gave his permission because he hoped that any acquired treasure would help to finance royal projects. However, the King warned him not

to provoke any clashes with the Spaniards with whom England was at peace.

Raleigh set sail with 14 ships and 500 men and finally cast anchor near the mouths of the Orinoco. From here he sent his lieutenant Keymis with an expeditionary force up the river.

By this time, the Spanish Governor of Trinidad, Antonio de Berrio, had strengthened the defences of the small settlement of Santo Thomé on the lower Orinoco aimed at blocking any encroachment by non-Spanish expeditions. The Spaniards tried to prevent Keymis and his men from passing the settlement, but using superior force, the English destroyed it and proceeded upstream. Unfortunately, in the fighting, Raleigh's son was killed. From Amerindians they met, Keymis was unable to obtain any information of the golden city and eventually reported his failure to Raleigh. Angry words were exchanged between them over the death of Raleigh's son, and Keymis, probably in remorse, committed suicide.

After an unsuccessful stay of 26 days, the expedition returned to England. Meanwhile, the action of the English in destroying San Thomé was reported to James

Sea Wall Esplanade, British Guiana n.d.

I by the Spanish authorities. Raleigh was blamed for this unfriendly act and was, immediately on arrival back in England, imprisoned on the charge of treason. He was beheaded in 1618 to give satisfaction to the Spanish King. (“The Guyana Story From Earliest Times to Independence” By Dr. Odeen Ishmael)

Sir Walter Raleigh

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Sunday Times Magazine

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Sunday Times Magazine 9

10 Sunday Times Magazine Home & Cooking

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Recipe of the week

Ingredients: There are pros and cons to furniture, fabrics, and even flowers. Below are a few tips on making the right decisions for your home decor.

Upside: Nothing looks crisper or cleaner and goes with anything like a white sofa. Just swap out the pillows for a new look. Downside: Stains are obvious. Machine-wash slipcovers with a splash of bleach and put them back on the sofa while slightly damp to reduce wrinkles.

1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp ground cardamon ½ tsp ground coriander ¼ tsp turmeric ¼ tsp black pepper 1 small cayenne pepper ¼ cup flour 2 tbsp flour 1 lb mutton stewing meat, trimmed and cut into one-inch cubes

Method:

Combine the spices and salt in a bowl. In a large bowl, stir together quarter cup flour and 2 teaspoons of the spice mixture. Add the lamb and coat well.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large pot. Add mutton a few pieces at a time; do not overcrowd. Turn the pieces until mutton is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Add a tablespoon of oil as needed between batches. Remove the mutton and set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and the onion to the pot. Cook for 2 minutes.

5 tbsp vegetable oil 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced 2 cups chicken broth (or 2 chicken bouillon cubes) 1 small squash, peeled, seeds and fibers scooped out and finely cubed 1 cup channa, already cooked Salt to taste

Stir in the garlic and cook for 15 seconds. Stir in the mutton and remaining spice mixture. Stir in the chicken broth or diluted cubes and bring to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer.

Cover and cook until the mutton is tender, about 1 hour. Stir in the squash and channa and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir 3 tablespoons of the cooking liquid into 2 tablespoons of flour to make a smooth paste.

Stir the paste into the stew and cook until the broth thickens and the squash is tender, about 10 minutes longer. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Recipe from “A Taste of Guyana” - Dr. Odeen Ishmael)

Greatest Cooking Tips Upside: Chrome faucet style’s surface is shiny and clean, adding a modern edge to a kitchen or bath. Downside: Chrome shows water spots and fingerprints and is more scratch-prone than others.

To cut an avocado more easily, slice it while it's still in the skin. Not using the whole thing? Leave the pit in the remaining avocado to prevent browning.

Learn how to sharpen your knives and do it often. The most dangerous thing you can have in your kitchen is a dull knife.

You're more likely to cut yourself because you have to press harder.

When sautéing onions, add a pinch of baking soda. It speeds browning and cuts cooking time practically in half.

The secret to making a great cocktail is all in the ice. Use filtered water so the ice doesn't impart any off flavours to the drink, and go big—the larger the ice chunk, the less you'll water down your drink.

Home Help

Upside: Glass tiles are a great way to add colour to your kitchen or bath, and they reflect light. They’re also nonporous, so they won’t absorb moisture, meaning no risk of mildew or staining. Downside: Glass can crack or chip easily, and it streaks. You’ll likely need a pro to install it, to get the thin-set mortar behind the translucent tiles perfectly smooth.

The course texture of table salt can erase stains from wooden countertop (and helps release stuck-on food from your castiron skillet, too).

When your morning coffee leaves a stubborn unsightly ring, use a little toothpaste to clean it off.

Iron clothes when they're damp. The moisture helps release wrinkles, so press your peskiest pieces right out of the dryer (or use the spray feature on your iron).

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november 26, 2017

Sunday Times Magazine 11

12 Sunday Times Magazine

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Puzzles

Crossword

1 6 11 15 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 31 33 34 35 37 39 41 42 43 44 46 50 51 52 53 57 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 72 73 74 75 76 79 80 84 85 86 87 88 91 92 93 95 96 97 98 99 101 102 103 104 105

ACROSS Mopes On top of Tiberius' garb Nut tree Sprigged fabric Rain forest parrot Fiery gems Bizarre Lum's radio pal Car owner's proof Entice More accurate Roomy sleeve Dern of films Crafty move Surfer wannabe Wood for paneling (2 wds.)

Falling-out "Diamond Lil" playwright 911 responder Like a hermit Pitch Tower over Vaccines Internet suffix Bits of thread Cold feet Busy loafing Polished Tinny sound Eat soup impolitely Gaslight and Big Band Poker pair Pelts Dr. Brothers Carder's demands Take a powder Paper toy "Walk Away --" Rug, slangily Firmly fix Harbor vessels Dinette piece Running mate Hassocks Unbroken horse Shrill Yin complement Eggy desserts Yul's film realm Poor grade Handles with ease Flared garment (hyph.)

Loud cry Joyous outburst Bracket type Get on the horn Musical sound Bwana's trek Slue Tire necessity Encyc. sections Dugong cousin Autocratic ruler Gondola

106 107 108 109 111 112 114 117 118 119 124 126 128 130 131 132 134 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144

Secret sign LII twice Tulip colors Parboil Bright ring Furniture buys Equator segment "Exodus" name Lock of hair Penthouse delight (2 wds.)

Fragrant blossom Work the land In the least (2 wds.)

Become known Chanteuse -- Piaf -- box Office assistants Traffic-jam noise Cheyenne abode "The Stranger" author Net surfers Zeroed in on Stock or bond Like a pittance Laconic Photocopies

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 23 30 32 36 38 40 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 51 52 54 55 56 58

DOWN Fire starter Not rural Tech talk Lowered oneself Rock layers Qty. -- out (rescuing) Fuel rating Hold dear Aquarius' tote Youngster Met productions Whole extent Hannibal's route Annoy

Franc's successor

Recital piece

Fix potatoes

Sheep units

Crystal

Some hose

For -- -- (cheap)

Freighter destination

LAX hours

Senior cit. group

Cookie sheets

Wimbledon tie

Hag's cry

Takes care of (2 wds.)

Evoke

Feel sorry about

-- Khan

Onetime Trevi Fountain coins

Philadelphia puckster

Faucet problem

Fill the hull

Latin I verb

PIN prompter

59 60 63 64 67 68 69 70 71 73 74 75 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 85 86 88 89 90

Situates

91 Yet to come Kind of boom

92 Egg portion Brownish fruit

93 Pie container Denim pants

94 From a distance -- fu

96 Very productive River in France

97 Forbidden act (hyph.)

Crawl with

98 Wild Donne's "done" 100 Rx givers Merchandise ID 101 Ski lift (hyph.)

Neutral colors

102 Lavish country home Heron 103 Vex Perfume holder 106 Dove's aversion Popeye's Olive -- 107 Picnic take-alongs Vexed

110 Prestige Window covering 111 Londoner's wit Heap

112 Join, as metal Form a thought Got closer to Magic lamp occupants Parade sight Hardens, as cement Into the sunset Genres Charles Lamb

113 114 115 116 118 119 120 121 122 123 125 127 129 133 135

Dances from Brazil Queen of the Misty Isles Carnival attractions Saves coupons Whodunit start Pay hike Fixed the pilot Bard's forte Snowy-white bird Has to have To -- -- (exactly) Ponderosa son Like a trampoline Mao -- -tung Compass dir.

Solution on Pg 13

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY'S WORD -- HECATOMB HECATOMB: HEK-uh-tome: The sacrifice or slaughter of many victims.)

Average mark 40 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 55 or more words in HECATOMB?

hate heat home each echo etch came cameo chat cheat chemo coat coma comb

combat come comet cote abet ache acme ahem atom taco tame teach team them

tomb tombac tome oath mace mach macho match mate math meat moat mocha mote

moth batch bate bath bathe beach beam beat beta boat bohea botch both

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of "s," such as "bats" or "dies," are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a "d" or an "s" may not be used. For example, if "bake" is used, "baked" or "bakes" are not allowed, but "bake" and "baking" are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Sunday Times Magazine 13

Tech

A laptop that will make Apple sweat W

hen it comes to highpowered laptops, Apple’s (AAPL) MacBook Pro is among the best. It’s become the go-to device for profession-

als ranging from video editors to graphic designers on the go. that doesn’t And sit well with Microsoft (MSFT). So to change that narrative, the company is rolling out its new 13.5-inch Surface Book 2.

The follow-up to 2015’s Surface Book, the Surface Book 2 is a laptop-tablet hybrid designed not only to take on the MacBook

The Surface Book 2 13-inch and 15-inch models.

Pro 13-inch, but also crush to it entirely.

Microsoft isn’t just targeting Apple’s 13-inch machine, though. It’s also taking aim at the company’s beastly 15-inch Macbook Pro with its first 15-inch Surface Book.

And while the Book 2 doesn’t completely knock Apple out of the race for the best power laptop for professionals, it will likely give even the most ardent Mac addicts reason to make the switch.

R

azer is best known for making some incredibly slick gaming accessories and, more recently, impressive laptops like the Razer Blade Stealth and Blade Pro. But now the company is getting into the smartphone market. Yes, Razer is building a gaming phone.

It might sound odd to build a gaming smartphone, but to Razer it makes perfect sense. The global smartphone gaming market is already enormous. Take China’s insanely popular “Honor of Kings.” The game is played by so many people so often that the country’s communist party mouthpiece the “People’s Daily” called it poison. Tencent, the game’s publisher ended up putting play time restrictions on it to keep the government happy.

Razer is getting into the smartphone business with its Razer Phone, and handset designed specifically for mobile gamers

I

f you’re among the millions who own Sonos speakers, then you don’t need a paragraph explaining how great they are (the speakers, not the owners).

A Sonos is an internetconnected speaker. It can deliver music from 50 music sources (Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, Apple, Google, etc.)—and you control it from an app on your phone or computer.

These speakers sound amazing for their size and cost. They’re entirely wireless, and they’re easy to name and group—Kitchen, Living Room, etc. In other words, they let you create

And now it’s coming to the U.S. and Europe. In other words, the market isn’t slowing down.

The $699 Razer Phone has the makings of a truly over-the-top handset befitting the gaming brand, but it’s got a big flaw in the U.S. market: It might not work with your carrier.

The Android-powered Razer Phone is certainly a new device for the company, but we’ve actually seen it before sporting a different nameplate: The Nextbit Robin. Razer purchased Nextbit in January 2017, and has been working to merge its vision for smartphones with the existing Robin design.

a whole-home audio system for a fraction of what a professional installation would cost.

Well, fine—until the Amazon Echo came out. The Echo sounds flat and tinny compared to a Sonos speaker, but it overtook Sonos in sales last year (5 million sold vs. 4 million) for one key reason: The Echo lets you ask for music by voice.

“Alexa: Play ‘The White Album.’” “Alexa, play some cooking music.” “Alexa— play ‘Mr. Blue Sky.’” This is what’s known as a killer app, people. It feels like “Star Trek,” like “The Jetsons,” like magic. You

come home, you throw your keys in the bowl, you say, “Play some classical music,” and there it is.

But over on Planet Sonos, people still had to haul out their phones to start music, stop music, change tracks, or change the volume. I realize how first-worldly that sounds, but trust me: Sonos owners looked with longing over the fence at their Echoowning neighbors.

People came up with all kinds of hacks to connect an Alexa to a Sonos (buying a Dot and using a wire, for example)—but in general, this was a missed opportunity the size of Texas.

Crossword Solution

14 Sunday Times Magazine

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NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Bollywood/Hollywood

'2 Broke Girls' star would love to do a farewell special W

hen Kat Dennings learned that CBS was cancelling her

sitcom 2 Broke Girls after six seasons, she and her costar, Beth Behrs, did what

any of us might do after experiencing a major disappointment: “We had a wine

and pizza explosion at her house, where we ate and drank everything in sight, basically,” she says. “It was actually great!”

Production on the show has wrapped, but Dennings says she and Behrs are as close as ever. “We talk exactly the same amount as we always did,” says the actress, who caught up with Yahoo Entertainment at an event for Masterpass by Mastercard. “Now, I just don’t get to see her every day, which is a bummer, but we talk, I’d say at least every other day.”

Next up for Dennings is the new Hulu pilot Dollface, in which she’ll portray a young woman who is dumped by her long-term boyfriend and embarks upon a quest to rekindle the female friendships of her single days that she left behind.

“We’re still in the early stages of writing, so it’s still kind of far away from happening,” she says, “but I’m excited to get that going.”

Still, leaving 2 Broke Girls behind has been tough.

“This show, and I’m not exaggerating, was pretty much the most formative experi-

ence of my entire life,” she says. Dennings regrets that fans didn’t get to see Max and Caroline find their happy endings. “We didn’t get to see Max and Randy’s real wedding, which I think would’ve been cool,” she says. Dennings adds that she and 2 Broke Girls creator Michael Patrick King “actually talked as if there was going to be another season, and we were talking about how even when Max and Randy got married, she and Caroline can’t live apart, so what would that have looked like?

Would Max and Caroline have moved to California?

Because they can’t be separated. So it was going to be kind of a funny thing and have them have their individual success.”

When Kat Dennings learned that CBS was cancelling her sitcom 2 Broke Girls after six seasons, she and her co-star, Beth Behrs, did what any of us might do after experiencing a major disappointment.

Would be nicer to feel protected at this point - Deepika Padukone

B

JP leader Suraj Pal Amu had announced Rs 10 crore bounty for beheading Padmavati director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone.

Security for the actor and the director has beefed up since then.

After getting several threats over her film Padmavati, actress Deepika Padukone says she would like to feel “safer and protected” at this point in time. In an interview with Talking Movies: India Special for BBC World News, the actress voiced her opinion on the whole stir. The show will go on air on Saturday, read a statement.

Asked whether she would like to have better protection from the state, she said: “In an ideal world, yes. I think it is too soon to tell… But yes it would be nicer to feel safer or protected at this point.” Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s attempt to bring alive the story of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati on the silver screen with his movie Padmavati hasn’t gone down well with Hindu groups backed by the BJP. It features Deepika as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as her husband and a warrior king and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji.

Bhansali faced many hiccups while shooting the film, but the protests escalated as the film neared its release date. There

are conjectures that it “distorts history” regarding the Rajput queen, and Bhansali has denied it repeatedly. The movie’s release date has been deferred from the original December 1 date, but there are efforts from Hindu groups to have it banned.

Talking about all the protests surrounding the project, the Piku star said: “It is hurtful and it is sad. Cinema has the power to bring the people together, to unite people and to spread love. It is disheartening sometimes that people don’t recognise that.” The actress also spoke about the gender dynamics of Indian cinema. (Indiaexpress)

Shahid Kapoor doesn’t want to be cast opposite Katrina Kaif in ‘Batti Gul Meter Chalu’?

S

hahid Kapoor is not only excited but also very optimistic about the release of his much-awaited film ‘Padmavati’. Meanwhile, he’s also planning on beginning shooting for his next film titled, ‘Batti Gul Meter Chalu’. Although the female lead of the film is yet to be finalized, the reports doing rounds are that the makers are keen on signing Katrina Kaif.

However, it seems

that Shahid Kapoor begs to differ on that apparently. The actor is reportedly not keen on getting paired with Katrina and has apparently conveyed this to the makers.

Helmed by Shree Narayan Singh, the movie highlights the issue of highly priced electricity bills which has become a common problem for the citizens. Shahid will be seen essaying the role of a lawyer in the film. (Times of India)

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Sunday Times Magazine 15

16 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Fun Times

Archie

You won't be given all the facts. If you are suspicious of (March 21- something, ask questions or April 19) take action. Don't be fooled into thinking that someone you are dealing with doesn't have ulterior motives.

ARIES

Reflect on past relationTAURUS ships and compare them to (April 20your current situation. The May 20) similarities will help you devise a plan that will enhance your life and improve the way you adjust to change.

GEMINI (May 28June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Dilbert

Peanuts

Self-deception will cost you. Try to look at any situation you face realistically, even if it puts you in an awkward position. Truth is the best way to fix a problem.

Taking a day trip or attending an exhibit or museum will spark your imagination.

Personal or physical changes will make you feel good about your life and appearance.

Listen to complaints, but question anyone using emotional manipulation to get his or her way. Information you retrieve will lead to alterations to your lifestyle or the way you do things.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Personal growth and improvement will pay off. Stay focused on the projects that are most important to you.

Listen to your intuition when dealing with friends, relatives or domestic concerns.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Make an important relationship your priority. Discuss plans openly and work in unison to bring about the changes that will make you both happy.

Children will offer unusual insight.

Explore your options and SCORPIO consider what and whom you (Oct. 24- want to include in your plans.

Nov. 22) A change at home should provide a unique setting to help enhance your pursuits.

You'll be misled by someone SAGITTARIUS looking to take advantage of (Nov. 23you. Don't get taken in by comDec. 21) pliments or promises that have little merit. If you want something, do it yourself.

Look for any opportunity to

CAPRICORN engage in something that will (Dec. 22- boost your reputation. Putting Jan. 19) your best foot forward and of-

Calvin and Hobbes

fering a helping hand will make you feel and look good.

Concentrate on creative AQUARIUS endeavors and using your (Jan. 20connections to figure out how Feb. 19) you can improve your resume or update your skills to suit the changing job market.

PISCES Dream big to come up (Feb. 20- with a plan that will offer exMar. 20) citement and potential financial gain. If you do something nice for a loved one, your personal life will improve.