Guyanatimes 7 january 2018

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THE BEACON OF TRUTH

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

Issue No. 3443

Sunday, January 7, 2017

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Oil sector

$120 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Govt missed chance for stake in Exxon’s venture …Ram questions failure to apply section of Petroleum Act

2 killed by falling tree

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Page 3

…PSC disappointed with little benefits for local businesses Crime spiralling out of control

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Gunman invades Businessman, staff South Ruimveldt trailed from bank, …robs family, sexually …gunmen escape home assaults woman robbed with over $400,000

Page 17

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NICIL officially takes over closed sugar estates

Removing derelict vehicles

Broadcasting licences

P7 Primary frequency zone exhausted – GNBA

Carjackings part of “criminal industrialised P10 concept” – Top Cop …as 47 cases of hijacking reported

Community service for self-confessed P8 fowl thief As part of efforts to enhance the image of Georgetown, workers from the Mayor and City Council on Saturday traversed the city picking up derelict vehicles which owners have abandoned (Carl Croker photo)

Opposition condemns move to block Edghill from Parliament Page 9 again

Hundreds of Fly Jamaica passengers stranded in …no word from airline Guyana since Thursday Page 17

26 Indonesians stranded after P9 being ditched by Guyanese employer

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SUnDAY, january 7, 2018 guyanatimesGY.com

Gunman invades South Ruimveldt home …robs family, sexually assaults woman

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customer service representative is now in a distraught state after she was forced to perform oral sex when a lone gunman invaded her South Ruimveldt, Georgetown home.

The 22-year-old victim was attacked at about midnight as she was opening the door for her reputed husband.

Guyana Times understands that the young woman was called by her husband, who was being held at gunpoint to open the door.

Unaware of what was happening, she opened the door and was attacked by the lone gunman.

After entering the house, her reputed husband was ordered to lie on the ground after which he was dealt several cuffs and kicks.

He was then picked up and escorted into his bedroom. The gunman then ransacked the room in his bid for valuables and found a gold ring, earrings and two cellphones.

The man then ordered the woman’s reputed husband to go under the bed and the young woman was escorted into the living room where she was instructed by the bandit to perform oral sex on him or he would shoot her daughter.

The scared woman complied and was later instructed to unplug her television, which the lone bandit took with him.

The man then made good his escape through a western door in the house. The matter was reported and the Police are investigating.

2 killed by falling tree

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Kadesh Ganesh and his family in happier times

wo men are now dead after they were on Friday afternoon pinned and killed by a falling tree in Amatuk Backdam, Potaro River, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).

Dead are 40-yearold Kadesh Ganesh and his co-worker Sydney Hernandez, called “Dougla Man”, both of the North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini).

According to reports reaching this publication, the incident occurred at

about 15:30h on Friday.

Guyana Times understands that the two men were at the time in the process of ‘washing down’ their lavadore when the tree which was nearby fell pinning both of them in the process.

Reports revealed that Ganesh’s head was crushed and was almost severed from his body.

Both men were picked up and taken to the Mahdia District Hospital where they were pronounced dead.

news

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Sunday, January 7 – 09:30h11:00h and Monday, January 8 – 10:30h-12:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Sunday, January 7 – 08:30h-10:00h and Monday, January 8 – 09:35h-11:05h.

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

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Oil sector

Govt missed chance for stake in Exxon’s venture …Ram questions failure to apply section of Petroleum Act …PSC decries little benefits for local businesses …stresses need for better negotiators for future contracts any block or blocks to which the licence relates.”

Section 36 (1, VI) reiterates that a petroleum production licence will not be granted unless the exer-

WEATHER TODAY Thundery to light rain showers can be expected in the morning, with heavy rain showers expected in the afternoon.

Light to partly cloudy skies can be expected in the evening, with temperatures expected to range between 24 degrees Celsius and 27 degrees Celsius.

ercise a carrying interest.

“Is this sane or irresponsible?” Ram, a vocal critic of Government’s handling of the sector, questioned.

Calls by this publication

the International Monetary Fund suggestions regarding provisions for exploration and developmental costs, we find that the ring-fencing provisions have not been ad-

Winds: East North-easterly from 4.02 metres to 6.25 metres.

High Tide: 08:29h and 20:50h reaching maximum heights of 2.43 metres and 2.42 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 01:59h and 14:22h reaching minimum heights of 0.69 metre and 0.82 metre respectively.

Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram

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SATURDAY, january 6, 2018

LOTTERY NUMBERS G

ith the release of the oil contract between Guyana’s Government and US oil giant ExxonMobil, a perusal of the document reveals Guyana missed out on an opportunity to acquire a stake in the company’s venture despite provisions in Guyana’s laws for such a move.

After a review of the contract, Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram was on Friday critical of what he called a “missed golden op-

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The section of the law which Government failed to enforce on the oil company

to Minister Trotman on the issue went unanswered.

Bonus Ball

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PSC disappointed

DAILY MILLIONS 02 11 15 22 24 LUCKY 3 2 1 5 Afternoon Draw DRAW DE LINE

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Evening Draw

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Exxon’s operations

portunity”. In his writings, he questioned the rationale behind Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman not applying the law to the oil company.

The Petroleum Exploration and Production Act, Chapter 65:10 of Guyana provides for the Government’s side to work out terms and conditions with an oil company to acquire an interest in its venture in local waters.

Section 22 (2) of the Act states “There may be included in a petroleum prospecting licence provision with respect to the exercise by the State, or any agency thereof identified in the licence, of an option to acquire on stipulated terms, or on terms to be agreed, an interest in any venture for the production of petroleum which may be carried on in

cise of the State’s option is completed to satisfaction.

Exxon was granted a renegotiated agreement in 2016 and its production licence for the Liza project in June of last year, but the provision in the law was never applied.

“Trotman missed a glorious opportunity to apply the provision of Section 22 (2) of the Act to ensure that Guyana had a stake in the entity,” Ram stated.

“Imagine the leader of one of this country’s leading political parties deciding not to take up equity in companies exploiting a valuable, non-renewable resource.”

According to Ram, Minister Trotman must surely know that the Government would not have had to pay upfront for its share of equity and could have elected to ex-

Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) also lambasted the deal.

Among the concerns it expressed on Saturday is the fact that local content and ring fencing were poorly addressed in the agreement.

It stressed the need for Government to hire better negotiators for future contracts.

“We were expecting that greater benefits would have accrued to local businesses. This, we find, is sadly lacking. With respect to

dressed. As a result, Guyana will be left to bear the costs of unsuccessful exploration.”

“A matter of great interest also is the fact that given the early stage of development, Guyana does not have the right to re-negotiate the terms of the agreement.

This is specified in Article 32, Stability of Agreement Clause, of the contract. We are concerned, since this agreement encompasses the entire Stabroek Block, an area of 6.6 million acres of water with 3.2 billion barrel of equivalent oil (BOE) so far. turn to page 16

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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, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Do you see any whales?

Editorial

Saving sugar

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he anguish of the 5700 sugar workers thrown into the breadlines in the last year has begun to inevitably manifest itself into social pathologies, such as suicide, domestic violence, divorce, depression, alcohol and drug abuse etc. The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has only now announced it will introduce counselling services to the fired workers and their families: but this is dealing with the symptom and not the disease.

The disease denies a job to a demographic whose selfworth is intimately related to their ability to take care of their responsibilities, primarily supporting their families financially. Any effective and sustainable intervention to the sugar catastrophe must provide employment to the fired workers. But especially in Berbice and West Bank Demerara where 5000 of the 5700 fired workers are located, at the very best, it will take years to create new employment.

What has made the recent posturing of the Government and GuySuCo even more callous is there has been no dearth of proposals to provide alternatives even before the imminent closure of Wales was exposed by this newspaper in December 2015. Speaking at the Indian Arrival Day commemoration in May 2015, Prime Minister Designate, Moses Nagamootoo, declared: “Our ancestors worked very hard and today we still have their descendants on the sugar estate working very hard and of course they deserve to reap the contributions made by their ancestors and they don’t need to be afraid that the factory may be closed and that they may be out of jobs. They need to be guaranteed that even if there is factory closure on the sugar estates that the land must first go to the sugar workers. Let them choose if they want to grow cane on it, let them choose if they want to rear fish on it or they want to rear cattle on it. The land belongs to the ancestors of our Indian foreparents who worked in the sugar industry…”

This devolution of sugar lands to sugar workers had long been proposed to address the historic travails of sugar workers. In 1951, Arthur Lewis, who was to awarded the Nobel prize in Economics for his contribution to Developmental Economics, issued a pamphlet, “Issues in land Settlement”: New forms of organisation must be tried and tried urgently. In Puerto Rico, the Government has shown itself alive to the fact, and is greatly to be praised for taking the initiative in experimenting with the “Proportional Profit Farm”. In the British territories, on the other hand, governments are content to meet a succession of disturbances with a succession of commission of inquiries.

This is not good enough… New forms must be created which will take the West Indian sugar industry “out of politics” in the sense of earning general acceptance, or the West Indian community will sooner or later simply tear itself into pieces and destroy the sugar industry in the process.”

Lewis pointed to the experience of Fiji in organising a more viable sugar industry which was at the same time much more humane in its involvement of labour to ensure they received a better life, by facilitating the workers to become farmers: “Some people believe that this is the system which will eventually supply the West Indies with a solution to the problems of its sugar industry. A largescale agency will plough the land, control irrigation, supply seedlings and fertilisers, organise harvesting, and operate factories while peasants (small farmers) will plant and cultivate the crop on their own account, subject to charges for services performed.

The peasants (farmers) will have a representative Council, but this will not take over the functions of the agency. In Fiji and the Sudan, the agency has been a private company, but it might equally be a public corporation, as it is now to be in the Sudan.”

In February 2016, after Government reneged on its pre-election promise on sugar, a symposium at Moray House proposed an identical model to the Lewis proposal.

Yet the Government has remained silent. Why?

Two oblivious tourists in a kayak miss the spectacular whales submerging behind them in Monterey Bay, California News)

(Photo: Jodi Frediani/Caters

Agreement vs meaningful consultation

Dear Editor, “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.”

So mandates Article 127 (1) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. The Constitution is our country’s supreme law and anything that contravenes that law is, as far as it so contravenes, null, void and of no effect.

It was not always the case that the President was obligated to first secure the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition before the President could appoint the Chancellor and the Chief Justice.

Indeed, prior to 2000 when the Constitution was amended, under what is popularly referred to as the 1980 Constitution, all that was required was for the President to have “consultation with the Minority Leader.”

We have still retained in today’s Constitution only “meaningful consultation” as the necessary engagement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition regarding some constitutional office holders, such as the three persons nominated by the President to the Teaching Service Commission. Appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice, however, require agreement by and between the two Leaders.

When, how and why did we as a country change from requiring our President to have consultation with the Minority Leader to mandating the President to secure the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition in the appointment of a Chancellor and Chief Justice?

In the Report of the Constitution Reform

Commission to the National Assembly of Guyana dated July 17, 1999 in a Chapter titled “Background to the …

Reform Commission…,” it is recorded “… after the election, there were four weeks of street protests led by the PNC generated by claims relating to the delay in the counting of votes for Region Four, and the allegedly premature declaration of one winning candidate for the presidency.

Ethnic tension and ethnic violence escalated. This was the context which gave rise to the Herdmanston Accord, which was brokered by a Caricom mission comprising former Attorney General and Foreign Minister, Sir Henry Forde QC; then Vice Chancellor of University of the West Indies, Sir Alister McIntyre; and former Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Sridhath Ramphal SC, assisted by the United Nations crisis management expert, Hugh Cholmondeley. The Accord was signed on January 18, 1998 by representatives of the PPP/Civic and the PNC. The Herdmanston Accord provided for a menu of measures which the Caricom mission felt could “contribute significantly to the resolution of existing problems” … One of the measures, implemented within a few days of the signing of the Accord provided for a three-month moratorium on public demonstrations and the simultaneous lifting of the ban which the Minister of Home Affairs had imposed on such demonstrations earlier in January. The other main measures in the Accord were a sustained dialogue between the PPP/Civic and the PNC “with a view the fostering greater harmony and confidence;” an audit or independent enquiry into the elections; and Constitutional reform….

On July 4, 1998, an ad-

dendum to the Herdmanston Accord was signed in Castries, St Lucia following talks between the Caricom Heads and President Jagan in her capacity as the representative of the PPP/Civic and Mr Desmond Hoyte as the representative of the PNC. … The statement also committed the parties to completing the process of constitutional reform in accordance with the Accord timetable. … On August 6, 1998, three weeks after the PNC parliamentarians took up their seats, the National Assembly approved a resolution establishing the Special Select Committee of the 7th Parliament to determine the Terms of Reference and composition of the Constitution Reform Commission….”

According to the Accord, the Commission had a wide mandate and a broad-based membership drawn from representatives of political parties, the labour movement, religious organisations, the Private Sector, youth and other social partners. The Commission complied with the requirement for wide consultations, and hearing and giving effect to what the people want, by having scheduled public hearings across the length and breadth of Guyana, inviting the public to send in written submissions, extracting submissions written in the newspapers, hearing from overseas Guyanese through the Internet, establishing special public hearings as a result of special request from persons and organisations, hearing from local and international experts etc.

At the conclusion of, and being informed by, the consultations the Commission made several recommendations regarding the judicature. It offered as a rationale for the recommendations made, inter alia, that “the

Judiciary is the citizens’ chief protector against oppression or mistreatment by the State.

It must therefore be, and be seen to be, as free as humanly possible from Executive pressure and influence…”

The specific recommendations were made on two broad principles: 1. “the judicial system should be independent and free from official influence and control” and 2. “the appointment and promotion of Judges should be removed as far as possible, from all party control.”

Regarding the appointment of the Chancellor and Chief Justice, the Constitution Reform Commission was categorical in its recommendation: “the Chancellor and Chief Justice should be appointed through a consensual mechanism.”

The consultations with the people of Guyana resulted in Article 127 (1) of the Constitution, which states unambiguously, “The Chancellor and the Chief Justice shall each be appointed by the President acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.”

Haslyn Parris, CCH, was the Secretary to the Commission. He opined that the people entertain expectations, hopes and desires that “the country’s leaders would work together [through a consensual mechanism] so that the people’s aspirations could be fulfilled.”

This is a summary of how we came as a country to have a constitutional provision that is different from what existed before and which mandates that before a Chancellor and Chief Justice can be appointed, the President must first have the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.

Sincerely, Priya Manickchand

guyanatimesgy.com

SunDAY, january 7, 2018

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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

The obsolete bulldozer Region Nine youths vulnerable to trans-border criminal activities

Dear Editor, It does not augur well for Region Six when at the very first statutory meeting at the beginning of the new year, the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) was taken by surprise by an allegedly massive corrupt deal which was exposed

by RDC Councillor Zamal Hussain.

The region purchased an obsolete D4D bulldozer which was reportedly manufactured in the 1970s for a whopping $15 million while a brand new D7 Caterpillar Bulldozer sells for $16 million.

What is more astonishing was the fact that this machine was parked outside the RDC compound with the top officials not even aware of its arrival. The REO heard about its ‘arrival’ at the meeting when the issue was raised.

She admitted that someone should have inspected the machine to verify that it was according to the order specifications. I wish to submit here that a copy of the invoice which served as a Delivery Note should have accompanied the machine and that this should have been verified with the order specification. The engineer should have been the person doing this and communicated the delivery to the REO and the Chairman.

He is responsible for taking the machine into the inventory. This is normal accounting procedure and the REO is the Accounting Officer and the Delivery Note signed by the Engineer should have been given to the REO. However, in all fairness to he,r she made a commitment to send the bulldozer packing once it is discovered to be defective

and not according to the specification.

The fact that the REO admitted that she knows nothing of the delivery and receipt of the machine begs the question of the effectiveness of communication at the highest level of the RDC, the effectiveness of the inspection process and the accounting for goods received to ensure that the goods received comply with the goods ordered in terms of the specifications.

The inspection of the bulldozer by a team of competent engineers brought together by Regional Chairman David Armogan, exposed the fact that the bulldozer ordered was a D3 not a D4D Caterpillar and a part from the engine is ‘back pressuring’ (which means that it is at the end of its useful life) there are 10 other major defects which are

natural since the D4D bulldozer was manufactured in 1970 and is now obsolete.

Unfortunately, while the hastily done paint job on the bulldozer was done for cosmetic purposes, it could not have hidden its antiquity!

Furthermore, there is compelling evidence to prove that this transaction smacks of corruption.

I am calling for a proper investigation into this bulldozer deal and the culpable perpetrators to be exposed. If this Government wants to retard its downward slide and improve its ratings, then it needs to address the corruption which is galloping at break-neck speed in all directions and in all quarters!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf RDC Councillor, Region Six

Political and judicial hyperbolic-ism Dear Editor, The consequences of political and judicial hyperbolic-ism are of significance in Guyana now over seven decades which impacted freedom of independence, thereafter which growth and development of this nation can be deemed ‘topsy-turvey’ pertinent to the view of several unjustifiable considerations.

The Colonial leadership of the slavery era caused Cuffy and Accra to rise up and get freedom for both slaves and indentured Servants among other beneficiaries in that era and way beyond that time.

The ruff and tumble of the Prime Ministerial post of Dr. Cheddi Jagan, created wonderment and apathy among the Guyanese people through indulgence in reactions that may have been deemed irrelevant in context and outcomes in fighting the British Rulers who were always open to dialogue and statesmanship engagements.

These were the early exaggerations that crated the political culture of Guyana which inevitably fashioned the justice framework the nation has to progress with.

My Son J.R. Christiani’s letter of Dec. 2017 about Daddy’s love of President D.A. Granger for all

Guyanese Children quoted as follows: “equal education for all is according to the premise of the state of political equality” in all circumstances.

When compounded by the universal principle of “all people are to have equal protection under the Law”, great global thinkers have charted a world of fairness for social prevalence at all classes; low, middle, and upper levels of existence of people in their communities.

What if modern day leadership in many Countries disregard by over- emphasis of interactions among Governments, Oppositions, Special Interests Activists and Pressure groups as ‘hyperbole’ to complicate peace and just prosperity for all inhabitants in their territories?. Most Educators can theoretically define the consequences of sucha-state-of-affairs.

To expound these points of political relations in Guyana over the recent past three and a half decades, we all are cognizant of parliamentary conflicts with budgeting approvals, objections if not noncompliance for high level national appointments, governmental plans for growth of the Nation which invariably do not get quick and wise support

as intents to fail political parties in and out of office.

What if SOCU, SARA and prosecutorial departments compromise to benefit high profile appointees from proving innocence under the law, which is obligatory a profound duty and responsibility of the judicial services.

That may be deemed exaggeration of authority wherever the ‘dollar’ is gotten for whatever unlawful purposes.

The scope of impact of political relations in Guyana is now very diligent work for all levels of leadership to undo and rapidly improve for justice to not only simply appear to be done; consistently fairness must be evidently done no matter who, no matter what”

In economics the theory suggests when the prices go up demands go down; that is all political, because the presumption of law is reversible by outcomes to satisfy that expectation to be deemed guilty until proven innocent so as to avoid repercussions of law enforcement performances.

This, my first letter of 2018 introduces the necessity to get details of these pertinent occurrences for urgent normalization of hyperbolic attitudes and expressions among political and judicial authorities as the cleansing acts for a cleaner greener Guyana.

Yours truly, Arnold W Christiani Ex Joint Services Captain

Dear Editor, Our young adults of Lethem and other parts of the Rupununi districts are now becoming most vulnerable to trans-border criminal activities, with links to organized criminal gang members of Brazil.

They are influenced very strongly by the language barrier and their knowledge of the terrain.

Most recently, a gang of young high-profile criminals was intercepted by Brazilian authorities on the frontier, heading back to Guyana, to where they were harboured by known characters of Lethem. One of the fugitives, a female of Boa Vista, Roraima, was implicated in a murder wherein she stabbed dead a female rival gang member. a Furthermore, Brazilian family with criminal intent has been permitted to live at St. Ignatius village by the Village Council, and members of this family are suspected to already be involved in a spate of robberies in the surrounding communities.

Our remote airstrips remain poorly monitored, together with our intricate river networks and our porous borders and weak regional security capacity.

In recent times, there have been some new developments in the discovery by our security forces of turbo-prop planes in close proximity to our savannah road networks. It was nothing new to the natives living here; these clandestine operations were allowed unhindered under the previous PPP Administration.

At present, some efforts are being made by our security forces, with encouragement from the APNU/ AFC Government, to make a dent on these covert activities that are suspected to be carried out by a well-organized crime syndicate.

Our level of preparedness to repel this organized criminal network in our region must be stepped up, since the advent of oil production will begin in the year 2020; and with the proposed construction of the Lethem-Linden highway on the agenda, it poses a security challenge to our Government. The state has overall responsibility to increase the level of safety and security with the reduction of crime

and violence, which must be maintained for future development of our town Lethem, and investment opportunities for our country.

The stakeholders and guardians of the Rupununi districts must come up with a formidable security plan to assist our Government in maintaining law and order in our region. As a matter of fact, the main focus must be on our youths, who will be the leaders of tomorrow. Without education and employment, our young people will turn to some other activity to satisfy their needs or wants, and this has been a contributory factor to juvenile crime.

With destruction of the GNS by the PPP Administration, this has had a long-term effect on thousands of hopeless youths living in difficult and disadvantaged geographical locations such as the Rupununi.

Hence, we are calling on our Honourable Minister of Public Security, Mr. Kemraj Ramjattan, to introduce the much-touted Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) to our region. It was launched in Georgetown in August 2016, and was funded by a US-dollar loan from the Inter-American Development Bank.

Apart from the HEYS programme that is coordinated by the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, there is much need for a special lifeline to take our vulnerable youths out of the murky waters and to place them on firm ground.

The Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) may be the answer to their cries.

Right now, jobless Amerindian young men and women who find little to do for their personal upliftment just idle around their villages and communities, creating problems for their village councils and venturing further into more serious anti-social behaviours. They are potential perpetrators who would be easy to recruit into a criminal enterprise on our border locations, and this may one day come back to haunt our peaceful villages and present Government.

Sincerely yours, Mark Anthony Rodrigues.

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Foundation

Don’t go

breaking your heart “Fast food is popular because it's convenient, it's cheap, and it tastes good. But the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu.” -Eric Schlosser

Anu Dev

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hen I first arrived in Trinidad, I was amazed at all the different types of fast food places they had: McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Pappa John’s, Wendy’s and a whole host of others. At the time, Guyana only had a couple.

And then I came across a 2013 report that Trinidad was the number 1 obese nation in the Caribbean and the 6th most obese nation in the world. Guyana was way, way below them.

Was there a connection between the two facts?

There sure was! And the connection wasn't just a matter of correlation - it was causation. What had happened was that the First World countries - especially the leader, USA -- had wised up to the connection between fast food and obesity, and had started to regulate them. That, of course, meant paying more attention to any number of factors - which in turn meant less profits.

guyanatimesgy.com

Just as the cigarette manufacturers had done a few decades before, their fast food chains didn't waste any time moving down to the Third World. In only the last two years, surely, you've noticed so many of these joints coming here to Guyana?

In the First World countries, the fast food industry's being pressured to offer "healthy" options on their menus, and it’s mandatory to display the number of calories in each item of food. Like McDonalds in the States now also offers salads and wraps -- never mind that the dressings for the salads probably have more calories than the burgers.

Now, don't get me wrong: I get the allure of fast food. Who doesn't? It’s tasty; a high fat- and-sodium content pretty much guarantees that. And of course it’s fast. Lying in my dorm room too tired (and lazy…mostly lazy), to cook, sometimes I give in to the urge to pick up my phone and order pizza.

And fast food's so much cheaper than healthy food.

When I’m ordering pizza, the person at the end of the

line usually talks me into upgrading from a medium to a large pizza "for just $5 more" through some ongoing deal. I usually end up with a rather unhealthy amount of pizza, most of which I end up having to freeze for later.

I once had to turn down a free large pizza when I ordered a medium one. The Papa John’s worker seemed to think I was quite daft to turn down a free pizza, but as I tried to explain to her, I really had no need for both a medium and large pizza.

There’re always deals and promotions going on in these fast food places. I’ve never been offered a free larger head of broccoli when I buy broccoli. And I guess that’s why a lot of people prefer to go the fast food route, even knowing how unhealthy it is.

And it’s incredibly unhealthy. One piece of chicken thigh from KFC has 290 calories, with 190 of those calories coming from fat; and it has 850mg of sodium -- that’s 35% of your daily value. And many people don’t just get one piece of chicken; they get fries, soda, biscuits and more chicken.

In school, we’ve covered the systems of the human body and the type of strain your body goes through when you charge up on these fast foods. Your arteries get clogged, your heart has to strain to pump blood through those clogged arteries, and you’re more susceptible to developing diabetes, hypertension, or suffering a heart attack.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the prevalence of obesity among adults in Guyana is 16.9%; and that’s pretty low, especially compared with Trinidad’s whopping 30%.

But if we keep on welcoming fast food chains into our country, and boast about it as "development", we may well end up going the route of Trinidad; or even passing them.

Do your heart a favour and choose wisely when planning your meals. As with anything, moderation is key. A bit of pizza once in a while won’t hurt, but if it becomes habit, that when it’s a problem.

Junk food: convenient, but damaging to our children's brains?

By Stefano Rellandini

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unk food is a burgeoning problem for modern society: we literally have too much on our plate. Fatty and unhealthy foods are especially popular with young children and adolescents. They are often the cheapest and most convenient eating option. Unfortunately, junk food can potentially damage the immature brain when consumed over an extended period as the young brain matures. High consumption of fatty foods during adolescence may in fact impair cognitive functions in adulthood, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, which has just been published in the medical journal "Molecular Psychiatry”.

The scientists arrived at this worrying conclusion after performing a study comparing the impact on the brains of juvenile and adult mice on being fed either an extremely high-fat diet or normal food. The fat-rich diet contained excessively high levels of saturated fats - the type most commonly found in fast foods, charcuterie products, butter and coconut oil.

Behavioural problems after only a few weeks

After a period of just four weeks, the researchers detected the first signs of impairment in the cognitive functions of young mice fed on a high-fat diet. These problems materialised even before the mice actually started to show any weight gain. One of the key factors in the development of these cognitive problems is a person’s age when the fatty foods are consumed: they tend to have a particularly negative impact on the maturation of the prefrontal cortex in the period from late childhood to early adulthood.

The prefrontal cortex is particularly vulnerable, as it takes longer to mature than other structures in the mammalian brain. In both mice and humans, this area of the brain is not fully developed until early adulthood. As it matures, the prefrontal cortex is therefore vulnerable to negative environmental experiences such as stress, infections and trauma, or even – as the study suggests – a poorly balanced diet. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for the executive functions of the human brain: it looks after memory, planning, attention, impulse control and social behaviour. If this area of the brain is not functioning correctly, perhaps as the result of an accident or brain tumour, it can lead to cognitive deficits and personality changes. A person may have difficulty with complex learning processes, lose their inhibitions, or become aggressive, childish or compulsive.

No comparable effect on the adult brain

By contrast, the researchers failed to identify comparable changes in the behaviour of mature mice that had been fed a high-fat diet over an extended period. Obviously their metabolic systems were severely disrupted and they became obese. “Even so, this does not rule out the possibility that a high-fat diet may also be harmful for the brains of adult mice," stresses Urs Meyer, former Group Leader of the Laboratory for Physiology and Behaviour at ETH Zurich and now professor at the University of Zurich. (Excerpted from weforum.org)

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Radio licences

Primary frequency zone exhausted – GNBA

GNBA Chairman, Leslie Sobers

By Jarryl Bryan

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he Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) has announced that the Georgetown frequency spectrum, categorised as the primary broadcast zone, is depleted to the point where future allocations are limited. This disclosure follows the GNBA’s presentation of six more radio licences.

GNBA Chairman, Attorney-at-Law Leslie Sobers, disclosed this information while speaking to media operatives on Friday.

According to Sobers, the primary zone, inclusive of the Georgetown area, is depleted; and, as such, the GNBA would be more rigid in its future distribution of licences.

“The spectrum in Georgetown, the primary area, is limited. And of the limited spectrum space we have, we can’t give it all out. Something has to be withheld for the future. So we have to approach very carefully who else will get licences for the primary zone,” he said.

“In the secondary and tertiary zones, we have a lot of space,” Sobers added as he sought to assure that other zones are available.

“The limitation is only for this primary area. But the rest of Guyana (has) plenty space.”

While the GNBA is

the regulatory agency for broadcasting in Guyana, the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) manages the frequency spectrum. Sobers has indicated that from a technical point of view, only a sit down with the unit could confirm how many more radio stations can fit on the spectrum.

The zones

Last year, Government passed the Broadcast (amendment) Act of 2017.

In the Act, specific zones and a new licensing fee regime have been identified.

These zones are the one primary, four secondary, and three tertiary zones.

The primary zone comprises of Georgetown and the whole of Region Four.

This zone is also made up of Region Three up to the Essequibo River, and Region Five up to the Abary River.

The first secondary zone is comprised of Regions One, Two and the Essequibo Islands part of Region Three. Secondary zone two comprises of Bartica; while zone three includes all of Region Six. Zone four refers to all of Region 10, including Linden and that section of the Berbice River falling within the region.

In the tertiary zone, zone one is a reference to all of Region Nine, including

Lethem. Zone two is Region Eight, including Mahdia, while zone three refers to Region Seven, exclusive of Bartica.

It is understood that with the addition of the six new licences, in excess of ten radio stations are now ensconced in the primary zone. A station in the primary zone can reach the most people, as Guyana’s population is largely concentrated in Region Four. This zone is therefore considered highly valuable, thus the 2017 Broadcasting Act has set the television licensing base fee per year as $1.2 million.

The fee in the secondary zone is set at $600,000; while that in the tertiary zone is set at $300,000.

In the case of cable, the fee structure is the same as television. For radio, the licensing fee in the primary zone is $2.5 million, while it is $1.2 million in the secondary zone, and $625,000 in the tertiary zone.

These new zone fees and restrictions had caused concern with broadcasters, with one broadcaster, Freedom Radio Inc, filing a constitutional challenge in the High Court over the imposition of increases in the annual broadcasting fee and the expropriation of its airwaves during ‘prime time,’ for Government broadcasts.

Freedom Radio argued in its legal challenge that the move is in fact unconstitutional, since it violates fundamental rights and freedoms which enjoy protection under the Constitution of Guyana.

The applicant further highlighted that the fees have been increased to $7.5 million annually, up from the $2.5 million of previous payments.

Freedom Radio Inc previously paid $2.5 million annually for its Broadcasting Licence, in addition to another payment of $633,600 for its spectrum.

Back then, acting Chief Justice Roxanne George had indicated that the matter was fixed for ruling on February 15, 2018.

Plumber granted bail on B&E charge M ark Sears, a 40-year-old plumber and father of two, was on Friday made to answer to a charge of break and enter when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

He denied that he had broken and entered the dwelling house of Natoya McPharley at Hadfield Street, Lodge on January 2, 2018, and from there had stolen one handbag valued

at $4500, three cell phones, and cash and other items valued at $100,000.

According to the Prosecution’s case, on the day of the robbery, the virtual complainant (VC) was awakened at around 04:00h by strange sounds being made. Upon investigation, she noticed that her bedroom had been ransacked.

Whilst carrying out further inspection, she noticed Sears and another person in

her home, and she raised an alarm.

The Prosecution is contending that Sears and his accomplice managed to escape, but Sears was later apprehended and charged

by Police.

Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield did not object to the defendant being placed on bail, and same was set in the sum of $150,000.

The case will continue on February 9.

8 news

SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesGY.com

Community service for self-confessed fowl thief

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avanand Seecharran of Samaroo Dam, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara (WBD) was late last week sentenced to four hours community service, after he was found guilty of stealing chickens.

Seecharran appeared before the Wales Magistrate’s Court where he admitted that he was caught red-handed with three chickens that he stole from a poultry farm at Canal Number Two, WBD. Seecharran said he stole

the birds on New Year’s Day to take to his family. He was however intercepted with the three chickens which belonged to Gregory Samaroo.

The court heard that Seecharran handed the chickens over to Samaroo, who later reported the matter to Police. After hearing his story, presiding Magistrate Annette Singh sentenced Seecharran to serve his community service at the La Grange Police Station or face one week in prison.

Farmer fined $45,000 for traffic offences N arine Singh, a farmer of Canal Number Two Polder, West Bank Demerara (WBD), found himself on the opposite side of the law when he was charged with operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s licence.

The 55-year-old man admitted that on December 25, 2017, at the Meer Zorgen, WBD Public Road, he operated motor vehicle GTT 1699 without a driver’s licence which was also in breach of insurance.

The farmer in his explanation before Magistrate Annette Singh at the Wales Magistrate’s Court said the van is normally driven by his wife, claiming that at the time, he did not know that his licence was expired.

After listening to his explanation, Magistrate Singh fined him $20,000 for the unlicensed driver charge and $25,000 for breach of insurance. The farmer was informed that he would spend one month in jail if he did not pay the fines.

Pregnant woman charged for accepting stolen phone

A

pregnant woman made her appearance before City Magistrate Judy Latchman on Friday charged for knowingly accepting a stolen cellphone.

Samantha Sam, 21, of Georgetown, denied that she obtained a Samsung cellphone; property of Elizabeth Percival, from another knowing same to be stolen or unlawfully obtained between November 2017 and January 2018.

The prosecution is contending that on November 13, 2017, the Virtual

Complainant (VC) and her sister were in their home when armed men broke in and robbed them of a quantity of articles including the phone valued $76,000.

The matter was reported and Police acting on information received, the Cops went to the defendant’s home where she was found in possession of the phone.

She told the Court that she received the phone from an “Amerindian man” who later left for the interior.

She was granted $60,000 bail. The case will continue on February 9.

Native informants…

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…in sugar

ative informants were a staple of British colonial rule all across its empire, of which it boasted, “the sun never sets”. Well, the sun did set but the notion of the “native informant” – who would serve the colonial interest rather than their country’s – remained alive and well. Burnham, who supported the CIA to oust the PPP from office in 1964, was the epitome of the native informant.

But at a no less critical lower level, the species is also well-illustrated by the career of Errol Hanoman, most recently CEO of GuySuCo. Chairman Clive Thomas announced he “chose” not to renew his contract at the end of last December – but we all know, he suffered the fate of all native informants when their utility to the master is over – they’re dumped like used tissue filled with snot!!

Hanoman was a classic pencil pusher with GuySuCo – in the mould of the glorified clerks Bookers was so adept at producing. When upon IMF’s insistence Desmond Hoyte brought in the British management team of Booker Tate in 1991 to manage the moribund sugar industry, Hanoman joined their team with alacrity. He was now working with REAL “massas”! He served them well – especially after they were bought out by a South African firm – but kept their name.

He was now the ideal native informant – working for RACIST massas!

He was part of the Booker Tate team that supervised and passed the Skeldon factory – but when the team was finally fired in 2009, the PPP surprisingly made him CEO of GuySuCo!! Obviously, they didn’t realise that being “Guyanese” doesn’t trump being a native informant – it’s actually a qualification, along for obsequiousness, for the job! Anyhow, the PPP wised up pretty quickly and threw him out on his ear the following year! It was no surprise he went home to Booker Tate.

And also it was no surprise when the PNC was returned to office via the APNU/AFC fig leaf, Hanoman was brought back as CEO. Contrary to the protestations of Nagamootoo and the asseverations of David “Too big to fail” Granger, the PNC always wanted to destroy sugar which gave their enemy the PPP their strongest muscle to flex – sugar workers. And Hanoman was the perfect tool for the job – like a true native informant, he’d do whatever massa wanted.

And so it came to pass, Hanoman reprised Eric Williams’ famous quote: “Strange that an article like sugar, so sweet and necessary to human existence, should have occasioned such crimes and bloodshed.”

As one who facilitated the tragedy that has engulfed 5700 sugar workers and their families, Hanoman has blood on his hands.

…from Barbados

Barbados was always famous for sending native informants to Guyana. Right after the abolition of slavery, tens of thousands of them came to Guyana and undercut the bargaining power of the freed slaves. They also went over in droves to Trinidad.

Even since that time they earned a reputation for scampishness.

As illustrated in a calypso by Lord Kitchner, a Trini and a Bajan, both hungry, decide to scrounge together a cookup – with the Trini providing the meat and the Bajan the rice. But, “By this time the pot finish, Trini pick up a dish/ The Bajan say, “No no, no, never happen so!/ If you wanted something to eat, man take a fork and pick out your meat/But if you add one grain of rice, by Christ, I squeeze yuh throat like a vise”!!

Well, two Bajan lawyers, who wouldn’t have been caught dead practicing in Guyana, were hired by Basil Williams to help defend Granger’s unilateralism on the GECOM Chair. They had to be sworn in to our bar the day before their appearance! Why? Just like after the abolition of slavery, the Barbados economy has collapsed and pickings are few!!

Expect more native informants from Barbados undercutting our local lawyers!!

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

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Opposition condemns move 26 Indonesians stranded after being ditched by Guyanese employer to further block Edghill …Indonesian official expected in Guyana soon from National Assembly

…Parliament Office says “mistake” made when calculating suspension

Some of the stranded Indonesian men at the Providence Sunnatul Masjid on Saturday Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

T

he legacy of the 11th Parliament is one of executive interference in the National Assembly’s operations and undermining of the standing orders. This is according to the parliamentary Opposition, which in a strongly worded statement on Saturday revealed that Opposition parliamentarian Juan Edghill’s exile from the Chambers has been extended due to a “mistake” from the Parliament Office.

According to the party, the Government motion specifically calling for Opposition Parliamentarian Juan Edghill to be suspended from the National Assembly was followed by the party being gagged from questions on the Budget Estimates before it was passed. By such measures, the party noted they were prevented from scrutinising six Ministries Despite the motion moved by Minister Amna Ally on December 12, 2017, which specifically called for the suspension of Edghill from the business of the National Assembly until December 15, 2017, Edghill will not be able to return to the House for the January 10 sitting.

“The parliamentary Opposition was shocked to learn by way of letter dated January 4, 2018, that the Member, Bishop Edghill, cannot attend the sitting on January 10, 2018, due to a mistake made by the Parliament Office in calculating when the suspension commenced,” the party stated.

“The Speaker appears to have assumed the responsibility, not provided for, to interpret a member’s motion. Minister Ally’s motion included a date of when the suspension would come to an end, December 15, 2017. Therefore, there is no doubt or ambiguity as to the commencement of the suspension at the sitting on December 12, 2017.”

The party noted that had Minister Ally’s motion not included the date of the conclusion of the suspension, the need for the Speaker’s intervention to interpret the

Opposition MP Juan Edghill

Speaker, Dr Barton Scotland

motion as to when the suspension began and ended may have been more understandable.

“However, one must remember that on Tuesday, December 12, 2017, prior to the commencement of the adjourned 79th sitting and hence prior to the motion of Minister Ally being tabled and passed, Bishop Edghill was prevented from coming to the Parliament Building and arrested at the traffic lights approximately 100 feet from the gates of the Parliament compound.

Therefore, the suspension was in effect on Tuesday, December 12.”

The Parliament Office under the hand of the Clerk of the National Assembly wrote Edghill on December 12, 2017, suspending him for four sittings from the 79th sitting; the very sitting which Minister Ally brought the motion of suspension. Therefore, the letter was in keeping with the motion brought by the Minister. But according to the People’s Progressive Party, interestingly, the letter of January 4, 2018, states a mistake was made and the suspension commenced on the 80th sitting, therefore the fourth sitting would include January 10, 2018.”

According to the party, this “arbitrary interference in the interpretation of a member’s motion in keeping with SO 47 (3) (a) is totally unacceptable and smells of crass vindictiveness.” It noted the unprecedented nature of the case and recalled that this level of interference didn’t occur despite unruly behaviour in the 10th Parliament by the then combined Opposition.

The party pointed out that the combined A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change Opposition parties forced the suspension of sittings on at least 10 occasions.

In addition, they prevented then Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee from speaking for nine months until the then Chief Justice ruled that this action was unconstitutional.

“This is just another ex-

ample in what is fast becoming a voluminous dossier on the threats to parliamentary democracy in Guyana.

However, we, in the parliamentary Opposition, will not be daunted by these vindictive and un-parliamentary measures. We are forced to note ironically, that, we as Members of Parliament have greater freedom to speak and to represent the people of Guyana, so far, outside of the hallowed halls of the National Assembly than inside those walls. This in itself is an indictment of the 11th Parliament.”

Edghill was suspended by Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland, after his attempts to extend scrutiny over the Ministry of the Presidency were shut down.

After not complying with the Speaker’s orders, Police were called into the House in an unprecedented action, causing a scuffle in the Chambers.

H

aving been promised a lucrative salary and proper accommodation, 26 adult male Indonesians travelled approximately 12,000 miles to take up employment with an established fishery in Guyana. They are now stranded after the company failed to meet its obligation.

The men had been working with the company for several months, frequenting the seas on the tuna vessels, but they got fired after they objected to the payment and living conditions they were receiving.

The men have, for the past three days, been seeking refuge at the Providence Sunnatul Masjid on the East Bank of Demerara.

When this publication visited the Masjid on Saturday, the men were observed cooking and hanging around the compound. they were however unable to communicate with the Guyana Times because of the language barrier.

A female member of the

Masjid told this publication that the men reported that they were offered US$400 (5,367,200 Indonesian Rupiah) per month to come and work with the popular fishing establishment, but what they were being paid in Guyana dollars did not translate into the promised amount. She said the men objected to this, but got no satisfactory answer, and were ordered out of the establishment’s compound.

“The (men) were saying that they were not getting enough food and thing to eat at the back there, so eventually they came over here, like three days now, and the brothers at the Masjid are helping them to buy foodstuff, so that they can cook and eat,” she informed.

The woman said they were informed that the owner of the fishing company was out of the country, and is expected back on Sunday, but it is unclear whether he would accede to the men’s request.

However, she said the

brothers at the masjid made contact with the Indonesian Embassy in neighbouring Suriname, and a representative is expected in Guyana on Monday to address the men’s situation.

When contacted, State Minister Joseph Harmon told Guyana Times that he is yet to receive any information regarding the incident, and that he is unclear whether the embassy officials had contacted the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Further efforts to contact Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge and Citizenship Minister Winston Felix proved futile.

For now, the men remain in the compound of the masjid, and are being taken care of by members of the community in collaboration with the administration at the mosque. They dwell in the yard of the compound during the day, and at night they would sleep on mattresses in a section of the masjid.

10 news Carjackings part of “criminal industrialised concept” – Top Cop SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

…as 47 cases of hijackings reported

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he increasing cases of carjackings have led the Guyana Police Force to believe that there seems to be a “criminal industrialised concept” of some sort whereby vehicles are stolen during the course of robberies under arms.

This was the position of acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine when he spoke about the crime at a press conference on Friday.

“These carjackings, in our opinion, seem to have some sort of criminalised industrialised concept. It seems to be collusion in some cases between several players in this criminal enterprise.

Of course, the issue of insurance, the insurance element seems to stand out,” he asserted.

During the course of last year, there was a spike in carjacking cases and the Police Force has since been grappling with efforts to crush the network.

According to Ramnarine, the increase in carjackings in the first two months of the last quarter in 2017 was worrisome.

“We took no comfort over the fact that in 2015 there were 41 cases (of carjackings); in 2016, 36 cases; and in 2017, 47 cases. We have not taken any comfort in the fact that it was just a few more reports in 2017. We deem it to be unacceptable,” the acting Police Commissioner said.

He went on to outline that of the 47 cases of robbery under arms where vehicles were stolen in 2017, 16 Toyota Premio motorcars were stolen and eight Toyota Allion motorcars stolen.

Acting Police Commissioner, David Ramnarine

Nevertheless, the acting Top Cop posited that the Force has been working assiduously to clamp down on the carjacking network. To this end, he pointed to the good investigative work done in December that led to two persons, one of whom is an ex-Police Officer, being arrested and charged – one with three counts of robbery under arms where a motorcar was stolen.

Additionally, he revealed that there is currently a case between C Division (East Coast Demerara) and D Division (West Bank Demerara-East Bank Essequibo) with one person under investigation for cases of carjack-

ings.

The growing string of armed carjacking attacks have stirred much uneasiness among car owners, especially taxi operators who are constantly in fear of being attacked.

Earlier in 2017, the Police Force had issued a warning, particularly to taxi drivers operating Toyota Premio and Allion motorcars of an apparent scheme to relive motorists of the vehicles.

Ever since this announcement back in February, carjacking cases had begun to spike, with carjackers starting to pounce on private vehicle owners.

Some of these cases have seen taxi drivers and vehicle owners being brutalised in the ploy as bandits cart off their vehicles.

One particular case in early December saw armed hijackers driving off with a vehicle carrying a sleeping child. After realising the child was in the car, the young girl was tossed out of the motorcar as the perpetrators made good their escape.

Meanwhile, as the Force continues efforts to clamp down on the criminal activity, they have approached certain mechanic shops with the hope of finding the hijacked vehicles, but have come across stumbling blocks.

To this end, a multi-agency approach was conceptualised which will allow for investigators to be armed with the necessary tools and information on specifications so as to narrow in on suspects and ultimately recover the stolen cars.

Mo’ radio; Mo’ payoffs

S

atiricus was hoping the new year would see the fellas easing up on his case. Heck, it was a free country, wasn’t it? So what if he’d voted for “change” and had gotten “exchange”?

He reckoned his leaders Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat didn’t have any experience in government, and would pick that up in time and do better. At least that was the thought he shared with his friends at the Back Street Bar. “Budday!” exclaimed Cappo. “If dem na gat experience and dem t’ief mo in two year dan de PPCEE t’ief in 23 year, me na wan’ gi’e dem mo’ experience!!”

“I’m not talking about “thiefing”!” said Satiricus huffily. “I am talking about not having experience in negotiating contracts and things like that.”

“So after the Wood Stadium contract, the warehouse contract, the pharma contract and now the oil contract,” asked Hari plaintively as he nursed his beer, “when will they get enough experience?”

“Well at least they gave out more radio contracts like they’d promised,” smirked Satiricus. “They’re learning.”

“Yea! But wha’ dem l’arn?” asked Bungi, who was listening carefully. “A only dem fr’en who bin gi’e dem money in FUCOP get radio sta-shan!”

“Trot Man explained that was “political investment” bai!” snickered Hari. “Payback time!!”

“C’mon fellas, give the Government a break!” exclaimed Satiricus. “More radio stations mean more freedom of speech!”

“Suh how come only Mook Lall and de Shart Man get radio sta-shan” asked Cappo. “Goat bite de Stabber News?”

“And de guvment check if dem ‘fit an’ prapah’ fuh run radio sta-shan?” demanded Bungi before Satiricus could answer.

“What do you mean?” asked Satiricus.

“That’s what the law demands – good character!” assured Hari. “People who did backtracking and messing around shouldn’t get radio stations.”

“An’ Sato, me friend, Nagga Man gat nuff experience wid da!” explained Cappo. “Na fuget da bin ‘e jaab wid Chuddi!”

“Na worry, Sato. Yuh guh l’arn,” assured Bungi. “Ev’ry fowl does feed pan ‘e own craw!”

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesGY.com

2 fined $25,000 each for brazen V/Hoop jetty robbery

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JANUARY 12th: 20 years on

By Ryhaan Shah

J

anuary 12, 1998, was yet another day of infamy in Guyana’s political history. In that post-elections violence, People’s National Congress (PNC) supporters took to the streets of the city to rob, assault and rape Indian Guyanese. It was 20 years ago but the social and political environment that nurtures that racial divide remains intact as the status quo.

Guyana Indian Foundation Trust (GIFT) presented its report on the atrocities that occurred on January 12, at a symposium the following June at Le Meridien Pegasus. The victims’ accounts were carefully gathered and the GIFT report concluded that the attacks were “nakedly and explicitly racist. Indian Guyanese were consciously selected out for brutalisation… They were attacked not for anything else but that they were seen to be Indians. Such deliberate, unabashed racism presents a most frightening spectre and bodes ill for the future.”

That report was not the only one compiled on Guyana’s racial/political violence. The first, on the Wismar Massacre, was done in 1964 following the May 23-25 onslaught by African Guyanese on Indian Guyanese living in the Wismar and McKenzie, Linden areas. That three-day spree of arson, assault, rape and murder culminated in the ethnic cleansing of Indian Guyanese from the townships and led to the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) by the British colonial Government.

As with the GIFT Report, the CoI into the Wismar Massacre came to similar damning conclusions and stated unequivocally that the disturbances were politically and racially motivated.

The Commissioners noted that “the thorough destruction of East Indian property, and the fact that the security forces were in no case able to apprehend arsonists, force us to conclude that the destruction... was organised, and well organised”.

With no State policies ever instituted to prevent a recurrence, the racial/political terrorism reared up again in Buxton in 2002, driven by a cry of “African marginalisation”.

And this time, the African Guyanese terrorists were well armed with AK-47s which raised the probability of fatalities more than a notch.

This round of violence continued for nearly two years and was also analysed and a report compiled and published by the Guyana Indian Heritage Association (GIHA). The report “Indians Betrayed: Black on Indian Violence February 23, 2002 – February 28, 2003” came to the same conclusions as the previous two: that the attacks were politically motivated; that they were African Guyanese on Indian Guyanese atrocities; and that they were intended to destabilise the democratically elected People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government then in office.

The three reports are all based on factual evidence substantiated with names, dates, places and the circumstances of the arson, assaults, rapes and murders.

The GIHA publication provides a day-to-day account of the terrorist attacks compiled from media reports and includes, for instance, the kidnapping of Jinga Motilall, 65, at 10:00h on October 30, 2002, in Vigilance, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and his body being discovered the following day in the Buxton/ Annandale, ECD side-line trench; and the shooting in his head of Mohabir Lall, 40, of Non Pariel on December 24, 2002. Lall died four days later.

These were only two of the dozens of murders committed.

None of the published reports are narratives with a neatly rounded-out number of so many hundreds killed with no supporting list of names, dates, etc.

The late PNC leader, Desmond Hoyte, stated publicly that the Police and Army are their “kith and kin” who will provide support and cover for the party’s political/racial terrorism. The absence of the Police was noted in Wismar in 1964; on January 12, 1998 in the city; and throughout the Buxton terror.

This party loyalty is a major component in the unprofessionalism and corruption of the armed forces but since it favours the PNC, there is no reason for the party to want it changed. Nor did any PPP Government institute any policy changes to professionalise the armed forces.

Rather, the PPP’s policy of appeasement towards African Guyanese in order to win them over only serves to absolve the perpetrators of all accountability and responsibility even though the violence on their supporters demonstrates the PNC and their supporters’ unwillingness to be governed by what they consider an Indian Guyanese Government.

Even as the ballots for the 2015 General Elections were being counted, the threat of violence – matches were being lit – was palpable. And if the PPP is elected to Government again, the question is whether the PNC will not once again try to make Guyana ungovernable.

That 20 years on from January 12, 1998, the environment of division and discord that led to those atrocities is unchanged, is an indictment of the country’s bankrupt political leadership.

wenty-one-year-old Anil Mohamed of Jetty Squatting Area, Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD) and Floyd Frank, also 21, of Plantation Best, WCD, were each fined $25,000 by Magistrate Annette Singh last week after they admitted to robbing Cyan McIntyre with offensive weapons on December 29, 2017.

According to the Prosecution’s case, McIntyre was at Tajo’s Bar at Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara and after having a conversation with two females, he followed them to the seawall at the Jetty Squatting Area in Vreeden-Hoop. It was at this location that Mohamed, armed with a knife, and Frank, with a cutlass, pounced on McIntyre, relieving him of

$43,000 cash before escaping into the night.

After the ordeal, McIntyre reported the matter at the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station and based on information provided, the two females were arrested.

Sometime after, they confessed and identified the two robbers who were later charged for their criminal act.

When they appeared

at the Wales Magistrate’s Court late last week, Mohamed, who was barely audible, indicated that he works with a manufacturing company at Diamond, East Bank Demerara while Frank, who was all smiles, said he works in landscaping with a company. Asked

by Magistrate Singh why they got involved in such an act, the duo could not explain themselves or say

Ramlall of Lot 146 Miss Phoebe, Corentyne at about 02:20h on December 31, 2017.

Guyana Times understands that Arjune and Ramlall were involved in an argument over a game of pool. Ramlall later picked up a cutlass and chopped Arjune to his head

and shoulder.

Arjune was picked up and rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital and later transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was admitted in a critical condition.

Ramall was arrested and later brought before the Mibikuri Magistrate’s

what they did with the money. They however offered the victim a portion of the sum which they took from him.

This amounted to $19,000 – $10,000 from Mohamed’s relatives and $9000 from Frank’s relatives.

In appealing for a reasonable sentence, both men asked for leniency, with Frank telling the court that he supports his wife, mother, a sister and two nephews, who all reside in the same home. In considering their sentence, Magistrate Singh took into consideration their ages, family situation and the fact they recompensed the victim a sum of the money that was stolen. If they do not honour their obligation to pay the $25,000 fine, they will spend two months in prison.

Corentyne man dies days after being chopped to head

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Corentyne, Berbice, man has succumbed to his injuries after he was chopped to his head on Old Year’s Day. Dead is Krishna Arjune, 46, of Lot 7 Clifton Settlement, Corentyne Berbice.

Arjune was attacked by 25-year-old Haemant

Chain thief fined $25,000

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ne of the three men accused of stealing a chain and ring in December 2017, owned up to his wrongdoing, while the two others who were missing in action, had arrest warrants issued for them when the case was called up at the Wales Magistrate’s Court.

Leslie Jane of Lot 41 Inner Bagotville, West Bank Demerara, was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine

by Magistrate Annette Singh after he admitted to being in possession of Kevon John’s stolen jewellery.

It was disclosed in court that a silver chain and ring were stolen from John on December 17.

According to the prosecution’s case, Police retrieved the items at Jane’s Bagotville home. The self-confessed jewel thief agreed with the prosecution’s facts and was duly fined by the Magistrate, who told Jane that he will spend one month in jail if he falters in paying the $25,000 fine.

Magistrate Singh also ordered that the chain and the ring be returned to the Virtual Complainant.

The VC informed the court that the two accomplices, Akeem Jones and Javid Rampersaud, were out on bail prior to last Thursday’s court hearing.

The Magistrate issued arrest warrants and adjourned their matter for January 25.

Court where he was charged for wounding and granted $75,000 bail.

However, Arjune succumbed to his injuries on Thursday and Ramlall has been rearrested.

He will be charged for murder this week and arraigned.

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

DUI, speeding drivers who die in accidents committed suicide – Ramnarine

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espite the Police Force’s Traffic Department recording a decrease in road accidents and fatalities in 2017, there continues to be a high number of accidents that are as a result of speeding and drunk driving, which according to acting Commissioner of Police David Ramnarine, are suicide cases.

At the GPF’s year in review press conference on Friday, Ramnarine disclosed that there were a total of 115 deaths from 100 fatal accidents recorded during 2017. Of the 115 deaths, 71 or 62 per cent were caused by either speeding and drunk driving, or a combination of the two. This is compared to 91 deaths as a result of speeding, drunk driving and speeding with

drunk driving from a total of 128 deaths recorded in 2016.

During last year, speeding resulted in 51 deaths, while drunk driving accounted for five and the other 15 deaths were caused by both speeding and drunk driving.

It was against this backdrop that Ramnarine said those drivers who were killed in these accidents have taken their own lives.

“I maintain that in those 71 deaths in 2017 which resulted (from speeding and drunk driving), they were what I call suicide; because suicide is when someone of the age of discretion, voluntarily and intentionally kills themselves. I will not refrain or retract this description, as rude and as hard as it may come across to be. That

is the reality we must accept,” Ramnarine asserted.

The acting Top Cop went on to admonish those drivers who continue to speed on the roadways and indulge in alcohol consumption before getting behind the wheel. According to the statistics detailed by Ramnarine, a total of 9640 drivers were subjected to random breathalyser tests in 2017 and of this amount, 3461 or 36 per cent were found to be above the legal limit.

“I dare say if you are a breadwinner, you have a family and friends, what was the thinking at the time when you leave home…

Nobody says you had enough, it’s time to go home; nobody

says slow down; nobody says ‘hey there’s a turn coming up, you going too fast’, what happened to that? These are things that could save your life and save the pain and trauma and economic loss, among other things, for your loved and dear ones,” the acting Commissioner noted.

Meanwhile, it was noted that the weekend period beginning from 18:00h on Friday evening to 06:00h on Monday has been the most tragic, recording 65 or 57 per cent of the total deaths last year. Additionally, 62 of the total fatal accidents that occurred last year involved private motorcars, as compared to 78 the previous year. The vulnerable group

of drivers remain between the ages of 25 to 33.

With the regards to other traffic offences, some 78,763 cases were filed in 2017 which saw a 12 per cent increase against the previous year. These cases ranged from speeding, drunk driving, music in public transport, operating private motor vehicles for hire, operating cellphones while driving, unlicensed drivers, breach of traffic light signals, breach of tint regulations, failure to wear a seat belt, and failure to wear a safety helmet; all of which recorded increased prosecutions.

C o m m i s s i o n e r Ramnarine further outlined that in 2016, there were major concerns that too many lives were being lost on the country’s roadways with statistics at the time indicating a 33 per cent increase in fatal accidents and 17

per cent increase in deaths.

This, he noted, paved way for the launch of ‘Operation Safeway’.

As of the end of 2017, fatal accidents went down by 15 per cent, while deaths declined by 12 per cent, reflecting 17 accidents and 13 deaths less than in 2016.

There was also an 83 per cent decrease in child deaths, which accounts for two such deaths last year against 12 the previous year.

The acting Police Commissioner credited this declining trend to efforts of the Traffic Department and its stakeholders who engaged in public awareness or enforcement activities throughout last year. He continued that more human and other resources have been added to the Traffic Department to boost their efforts.

However, Ramnarine posited that motorists and other road users must play their part and be more responsible on the roadways.

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Parking Meter report for Monday’s statutory meeting Anti-Indian political violence

…as City Hall prepares to file appeal against NBS ruling

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his Friday will mark the 20th anniversary of the Jan 12th 1998 Ethnic Riots, when more than 200 Indian-Guyanese were beaten and assaulted in the streets of Georgetown by members of the African-Guyanese community; in full view of the police, yet no arrests were made. The riots followed PNC protests against the PPP’s victory in the Dec 1997 elections -the first one that followed the “free and fair” elections of 1992 that returned the PPP to office after more than two decades of rigged elections by the PNC. Even though we immediately called for a “Peace and Reconciliation Commission” to enquire why one set of citizens would launch such violence against another, none was ever commissioned by the PPP government, then under attack. Rather, it started to implement the “Herdmanston Accord”, which had been brokered Ravi Dev between it and the PNC by Caricom.

One week after the riots, we wrote a letter, published in the SN, which began, “While for purposes of analyses we may sometimes distinguish ends from means, they are ontologically identical, since ends are no more than realized means. If we persist with the artificial distinction in real life, we court disaster. The recently Caricom-brokered Accord between the PNC and the PPP is a case in point: while in theory it appears to be a step forward out of our Guyanese dilemma, the means by which the PNC brought the PPP to the table vitiates all hope of any lasting and permanent progress.

The Accord rewards the PNC for jettisoning the rule of law and due process in Guyana. It rewards the PNC for demonstrating to the people that if you lose by a set of rules you yourself had drafted, simply seize the umpire and demand new rules which will guarantee your victory. The Accord rewards the PNC for its willfully lawless, bullying tactics, culminating in the Jan. 12th pogrom launched by AfricanGuyanese against Indian-Guyanese. If not actually executed by the PNC (and this is most arguable), then at a minimum it was prompted by the reckless and inflammatory statements and actions of the PNC leadership, and occasioned by the illegal march following Justice Bernard’s ruling…And this is precisely what the PNC has been doing, and continues to do.”

As predicted, the subsequent “forensic audits”, Constitutional changes intended to ensure greater “inclusiveness” in governance for the PNC, truncation of the PPP’s term of office etc, did not bring peace. Throughout 1998, the kick-down-the-door banditry against Indians intensified to such an extent that one magistrate called it “guerrilla warfare against Indians”. In the new round of violence, in which thirtyone businessmen were murdered, thirty of them were Indian Guyanese. The attacks and murders -- primarily on Indians – continued in tandem with regular protest-related violence in Georgetown during 1999 and 2000.

Following the elections of March 2001, after several riots in Georgetown, which as usual targeted Indians, a new and escalated level of murder and other forms of violence was unleashed on Indian-Guyanese along the East Coast of Demerara – especially on the Buxton public road. On Feb 23, 2002, five prisoners escaped from the Camp Street Jail, announced they were “African Freedom Fighters”, and simultaneously launched an open attack on the state, represented by the Police, and a wave of kidnappings, carjackings, robberies, and murders primarily against Indian civilians, from their base in Buxton. Within one year, there were 161 murders and $261 million stolen. In a tit for tat sequence, official and “phantom squads” killed hundreds of African youths. The Buxton gang attacks continued until 2008 a full decade after the riots of 1998 - when their last remnants were killed in a shootout.

In 1990, we stated: “Any proposed solution to Guyana’s problem must address this fundamental fear of the African Guyanese: the fear of being swamped and subordinated by the Indians, who form a numerical majority. Any proposed solution to Guyana’s problems must also address the integral experience of Indians: living under the fear of physical extermination.”

With the Indian-Guyanese population shrinking to less than 40% and the PNC back in office, the African-Security Dilemma has been resolved. Conversely, the Indian Security Dilemma has been exacerbated, with no input into governmental policies (witness decisions firing 5700 sugar workers), and the Army, Police and Bureaucracy controlled by an Africandominated Government.

Town Clerk Royston King

T

he final report of the Parking Meter Re-Negotiation Committee is expected to be submitted to the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown (M&CC) at Monday’s statutory meeting.

Town Clerk Royston King made the disclosure at a press conference on Friday, noting that consultations with the parking meter company Smart City Solutions have concluded, and the committee, headed by APNU Councillor Akeem Peter, is in the final stages of preparing the report.

The committee being chaired by Councillor Peter consists of Councillors Noelle Chow-Chee (VC), Oscar Clark, Jameel Rasul, James Samuels, Heston Bostwick and Ivor Henry.

The Mayor has mandated that two members of the public also sit on the committee, and Civil Engineer Owen Godfrey Edwards and Accountant Robin Hunte have been selected in this regard.

The re-negotiation committee, according to the draft TORs, was tasked with engaging Smart City Solutions with a view to renegotiating the terms of the agreement entered into between the parties; and, more specifically, to seek to take into account the concerns raised and addressed in the reports of the Special Committee in relation to costs, fines, enforcement, profit-sharing, areas, times and other factors identified in relation to the project, and any other relevant actions as the committee may, in its discretion, determine; or as may be suggested by the general council. Upon completion of the negotiation period, the new committee would have to prepare a report.

Appeal

King added that the City’s Attorney, Roger Yearwood, has already drafted an appeal to the recent High Court ruling by Justice Nareshwar Harnanan, to scrap the parking meter by-laws. Justice Harnanan ruled that the procedure used to bring into effect the by-laws was breached, resulting in them

being invalid. The notice of appeal is expected to be filed

by Monday.

On January 23, 2017, Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan signed the bylaws that were approved at the December 13, 2016 statutory meeting of the Council, and the M&CC had entered into a contract with Smart City Solutions Inc on May 13, 2016 for parking meters to be implemented in Georgetown.

However, the New Building Society, in February 2017, filed an injunction in the High Court challenging the legality of the city’s metered parking by-laws. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NBS, Anil Kishun, in an affidavit, noted that the approval granted is unlawful “in that it was done in breach of the Municipal and District Councils Act,” and is there-

fore “null and void, and of no legal effect.”

He outlined that the notice of intention to apply to the minister for the approval of any by-law must be published in the Official Gazette not less than 14 days before the application is made. Kishun, in his affidavit, stated that this was not done, and the provisions of Section 305 of the Act were not followed, thus the minister’s approval was granted unlawfully, unreasonably, without or in excess of jurisdiction, and in breach of the statute.

This ruling came after the re-negotiation committee was formed to renegotiate the contract with Smart City Solutions (SCS), and was at a point of inking a new agreement. Under the proposal, persons would be entitled to

A parking meter in downtown Georgetown

pay $100 per hour, and could park in any space, as opposed to the initial system in which they paid for space and time.

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sunDAY, january 7, 2018| guyanatimesgy.com

City businesses need Younge’s Take Madam President, sanitation certificate Prime Minister …or face closure – M&CC

T

own Clerk Royston King has announced that all businesses operating in the city of Georgetown would be required to have a Sanitation Certificate from the City’s Public Health Department or face the risk of having their operations shut down until they are in full compliance.

During an interview with Guyana Times, King said the new Sanitation Certificate is a requirement of the Guyana Revenue Authority for the issuance of business licences. He added that the certificate would allow patrons to know the businesses are in full compliance with the city’s public health standard.

“All businesses operating within the city of Georgetown are now required to have Sanitation Certificate from the Public Health Department before they can properly carry on business within the city. We know that GRA is now requesting this certificate before they issue any licences to businesses,” he said.

According to King, the Sanitation Certificate is to verify that inspectors have inspected the premises for proper washrooms and other facilities “and no business would be permitted to operate in the city unless they can show a certificate from our Public Health Department saying that we have inspected and found

these things to be in good order.”

King further stated that some businesses have already started applying for the Sanitation Certificates adding that they are now putting all businesses on notice that they must ensure compliance or risk closure. He added that it would allow City Hall to check on the statutes of businesses to ensure that they are paying their general rates to the council. “Some businesses have already started applying for it and we are now putting all businesses on notice that they must have the Sanitation Certificate before they operate. This would allow us to check on the statutes of businesses to ensure

that they are paying their general rates to the Council.

We have people who are operating in the city, doing business in the city and they are not paying their rates and it is wrong. Businesses must also pay their due to the city,” King noted.

“As of Monday, we would begin issuing those certificates. They (business owners) will receive a preliminary certificate from the Public Health Department Office on South Road and then they must visit the Office of the Town Clerk to receive the proper certificate,” he further stated.

This is all done as the city is seeking ways to increase its revenue collection since it is always complaining of being cash-strapped.

Just on Friday, King announced that the municipality would begin charging residents a fee of $200 for garbage collection.

Teen charged for breaking Pike Street man’s foot

A

19-year-old was on Friday before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged for wounding a man resulting in his foot being broken.

Rondel Edghill of Kitty, Georgetown, denied the charge read to him by Magistrate Judy Latchman, which stated that on May 25, 2017, at Pike Street, Kitty, he wounded Michael Khan with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

According to the facts of the matter presented by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield, the Virtual Complainant (VC) and the defendant are known to each other.

On the day of the incident, the VC was walking on Pike Street, when the teen approached him and for unknown reasons dealt him several lashes with a piece of wood, resulting in him breaking his right leg.

As a result of the injury, the VC was rushed to the hospital and treated.

He made his appearance in crutches with his leg in a cast.

The Police Prosecutor however had no bail objections and Edghill was granted bail in the sum of $100,000. He is expected to return to court on January 9.

W

omen play an integral role in the development of the world. They are fluid beings who manage to ascribe unto themselves all sorts of non-traditional roles that sharply conflict with conservative, conventional and traditional descriptions of what it means to be ‘female’ and a ‘woman’.

As a matter of fact, women, over the past four decades, have sought to remove the barriers set by society and in some cases religion about the types of jobs and roles that they must play in order to maintain what some refer to a health ‘gender-balance’.

In sharp retaliation, women have refused to be viewed as a male’s “help meat”, the weaker gender or sex, irrational, emotionally weak and incapable Michael Younge of leadership. They have broken so many barriers in order to prove to the world and menfolk, what they have always known. They can do anything that a man does, just as good as he does it or even better.

In recent times, women folk have achieved much success in their fight for equality and gender parity, as well as equity. They have fought long and hard to be respected but they know too well, that men will not willingly relinquish whatever God-given claim they believe they have to the divine hallways of ‘power’, ‘authority’ and executive leadership on several global fronts.

And so, women internationally have set about to redefine the world they live in in order to prove that they too possess the divine ethos to lead, govern and be respected if not feared. According to Forbes Magazine last year, 100 women did just that but out of that total, three emerges as the most powerful and influential in the world of politics. These women are the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Taiwan’s President Tsa Ing Sung.

No Caribbean woman featured on that list. And this is important because only a few women within this hemisphere attempt to run for higher political office and when they do, they have upset the norms and status quo of their respective parties in order to be selected or seen as possessing the qualities to run as Prime Minister or President. The race is most times more taxing on women than men. Portia Simpson-Miller, Kamla PersadBissessar and Mia Motely from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados understand this all too well. But these women, when given the chance, have rolled out remarkable reforms that have resulted in booming economies, the advancement of women and children rights, social progress and law and order. But many of them have been outfoxed by their male counterparts who most times attack their sex and their suitability to govern men, even if it is not explicitly said.

At home, Janet Jagan led the way after becoming Guyana’s first female parliamentarian and Cabinet Minister (1953, 1957, 1961), before serving as the country’s first female President under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). Winfred Gaskin and Shirley Field Ridely are among others who soon followed.

At the December 16, 1968 elections, some 212 names featured on the lists submitted by political parties but only 23 were women (10.8 per cent). This number increased by 2.2 per cent in 1970 according to the University of West Indies and by another three per cent by 1980. The numbers climbed in the early 1990s and 2000s. Today, over 34 per cent of all parliamentarians here are female.

By throwing her hat in the race to become the People’s National Congress’ Presidential Candidate back in 2011, the late Dr Faith Harding was attempting again to change the status quo and politics of conventionalism in her party. Despite, the fact she failed, Dr Harding wanted to send a strong message to women folk here. That message was that they needed to do much more than be satisfied with ministerial appointments and parliamentarian seats. If they wanted real change, they needed to steer the ship; fly the plane; lead the Parliament as Speaker and/ or run the country. Also, Elizabeth Harper’s decision to also accept nomination for the Prime Ministerial post in the PPP is nothing short of bold and admirable though the PPP lost.

By their actions, they have paved the way for ‘the girl child’ and women folk to build confidence to go against the grain.

Guyanese women are strong and fierce competitors. Whilst they thrive under Home Economics in the conventional sense, they also understand what Guyana needs to move it forward. Those women from the major political parties that have long languished in the dark but seize the moment and run for office in 2020. They must break the glass ceilings above their heads and at least shakeup the country’s political establishment.

The truth is too many of our women politicians are invisible.

They must be seen and heard. 2020 may be the year when Guyanese utter the words Madam President or Madam Prime Minister again if they invest the political capital and funds needed into running a campaign, using mainly women as their constituency. In my next column, I will address some of the women who I believe could become successful Guyanese leaders.

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

NICIL officially takes over closed sugar estates

By Shemuel Fanfair

The depressed, jobless sugar workers; poverty, and a looming social and economic crisis?

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oday’s article could be described as another unorthodox piece of literature by this columnist. The inspiration to author this piece is the materialisation of an assessment/prediction made by this column in one of its earlier editions in May 2017, on the subject of the sugar industry/Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). It is with a deep feeling of despondency after having read in the very first week of this New Year, 2018, that two dismissed sugar workers committed suicide (featured in Guyana Times on January 3, 2018). Incidentally, one of the deceased victims was personally known to the author of this column.

Last year, a series of articles were featured on the economic and social consequences of downsizing the sugar industry/GuySuCo. For ease of reference, in the very first article written on the subject published on May 28, 2017, hereunder stated is an extract.

“The decision to close more estates - has compounded the issue by stimulating an increased level of protestation by sugar workers and other supporting members of the citizenry. These occurrences, once materialised, will lead to thousands of ordinary Guyanese becoming unemployed and severe adverse consequences visiting the economy of sugar-producing communities. The socio-economic fabric of those communities will deteriorate; the poor will grow poorer – poverty will be on the rise; crime will increase; hopelessness will be pervasive; and if I am to borrow another consequence put forward by a prominent political commentator in his blog, suicidal tendencies, or the rate of suicide, will increase. This scenario will almost certainly weaken, and thus devastate the social and economic strata of the country’s economy.” The full article can be found here https://guyanatimesgy. com/downsizing-the-sugar-industry-the-economic-and-social-impactson-guyanas-economy-part-i/ and all the others as well.

Interestingly, on the Budget 2018 series featured under this column, it was argued in one of those editions that it (the budget) contained too much of ‘bluff and fluff’. The Administration, however, definitely did not bluff on this one – when they warned that they will close down more sugar estates despite being cognisant of the devastating and catastrophic consequences that such a direction would plunge this country and a wide cross-section of its population into. The unemployment of some 4000/5700 sugar workers would affect – adversely some 80,000 dependents – especially since there is no alternative plan for these people.

The underlying problem with which GuySuCo has found itself in today is largely on account of two critical elements; (1) GuySuCo has never undertaken any radical strategic change. It retained the old model of management since in the days of Booker Tate; and (2) it was, and still is, heavily politicised. Recognising that the management never developed and implement any major strategic change amidst all the challenges over the years; the entire Board and executive management should have been replaced with top-notch, high-level professionals who are competent change agents, to turn the industry around.

In light of these developments, it appears as though that the governing policymakers are heavily reliant and comforted on the notion of promised oil that will begin to bring in revenue for the Government in 2020. While the petroleum sector will add some $60-$80 billion annually to Government revenue which is currently about $177 billion, this would not guarantee any form of financial rescue and/or financial security to these unemployed persons.

Moreover, it was most disheartening that these thousands of workers could not even get a cent from there severance pay for the last Christmas season. How then, could the Administration tout and boast of a good life and it is a caring Government? When in fact, its actions and policies are literally leading to people ending their lives, having drowned in a sea of hopelessness and despair.

The way things seem, inequality will widen, the rich will get richer, the poor will grow poorer, and other people from other countries will ‘milk’ the larger chunk of the benefits from Guyana’s petroleum sector – particularly the Trinidadians. Trinidad and Tobago’s economy is deteriorating as we speak, having suffered from Dutch Disease; so they will flock this country and enrich themselves and by extension remitting the profits to their homeland – in the end, Guyana’s capital and resources – some of it if not most of it – will be diverted beyond its borders inter alia exploiting Guyana’s regulatory and legislative weaknesses.

Only recently, a certain group of Trinidadians with questionable characters, came into this country and conducted a large financial transaction that would only enrich them and their home country being the ultimate economic beneficiary. Then there was another controversial appointment of a Trinidadian in a high-level Executive post with a local financial institution – who was allegedly involved in a matter of insider trading currently being investigated by Trinidadian authorities, according to the Trinidadian press.

Finally, as a special message to the jobless sugar workers; in life there will always be challenging circumstances, hurdles, trials, tribulations and all kinds of difficulties that would suppress you. Yet, mankind needs to understand that they need to be strong, enduring, and move on in life regardless of what life throws at you. Progress steadfastly and overcome, towards achieving your goals, objectives and purpose in life. Persevere and never give up; suicide is not an option and it is not a solution.

The author is the holder of a MSc Degree in Business Management, with concentration in Global Finance, Financial Markets, Institutions and 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 National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICL) has officially taken over the divested sugar estates – namely Skeldon, East Demerara and Wales.

NICL’s takeover was made official by a publication contained in an extra-ordinary issue of the Official Gazette dated December 30, 2017.

The deal was guided under the Public Corporations Act, Chapter 19:05, by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, who made the order on December 29, the very day that many sugar workers were expected to lose their jobs. The takeover does not include any assets, lands or property for the Berbice estates of Albion and Blairmont and the Uitvlugt Estate on the West Coast of Demerara, as those entities will remain under GuySuCo for the foreseeable future.

According to the Finance Minister’s order, the property was transferred to, and vested in, NICL “absolutely free and clear from all claims and liabilities.”

The order gives NICIL authority over “all the moveable and immovable property owned, used, leased or licensed by GuySuCo or the State, save and except for Albion Estate, Blairmont Estate, and Utivlugt Estate”.

Included in the takeover are all properties owned by, or leased to, the Skeldon, Rose Hall, Wales and Enmore estates, and other properties in the Demerara and Berbice counties.

This transfer means that NICIL has authority over four thousand, seven hundred (4700) acres of State lands, some of which were surveyed since the 19th century. Additionally, all machinery, plant and equipment, motor and agricultural vehicles, and other items owned

by GuySuCo or the divested estates now fall under NICL. It was also revealed that all shares issued by GuySuCo and being owned or held by the sugar corporation now belong to the state company.

This official move did not come unexpectedly, as the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) was established under NICIL in 2017 to oversee the divestment of the sugar corporation’s assets. The SPU has since selected London-based PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to value the assets of the heavily indebted and cash-strapped corporation.

Guyana Times understands that when the SPU was established, it had requested interested parties to submit Expressions of Interest (EoIs) to Government for the potential purchase of one of the sugar estates.

One such company expressing interest has been Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), which had publically voiced its concerns over the threat to its supply of molasses – a key ingredient in making its world class rum.

“At the moment, we are

The East Demerara (Enmore) Estate

looking at all options. Until the SPU comes back to those who have expressed interest and say, ‘These are the soft structures that we’re looking at’, and that kind of thing, then we would be unable to make a formal proposal for one or a combination of the options available,” Public Relations Representative for DDL, Alex Graham, told Guyana Times on Wednesday last.

DDL has observed that its distillery production for 2017 increased by some 30 per cent over 2016, surpassing projections last year. The company has also noted that production for 2018 is projected to increase by a further 25 per

cent over 2017. It was against this backdrop that the company stated its concerns over the impact that the downsizing of the sugar industry would have on it meeting its projections for this year.

DDL has also pointed out that, based on production demand for local and international customers, its molasses requirement for 2018 is 70,000 tons. In contrast, GuySuCo has set a sugar production target of 115,000 tons at the three estates currently earmarked to remain in operation, and molasses production has been pegged at 52,000 tons.

“In light of this shortfall, DDL has been actively ex-

ploring its potential role in the future of the sugarcane industry, and has executed a high-level technical and economic feasibility study on innovative approaches to use the existing sugar assets to meet the current and future needs for molasses for an expanding distilling industry,” the company has stated.

Meanwhile, President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, has observed that the interest shown by DLL to potentially purchase a sugar estate proves, in his view, that the industry is still viable and is worth keeping alive. Whether or not there are economic benefits or drawbacks from the divestment plans, the recently retrenched employees from the Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates have reiterated their displeasure at the estates’ closures, with some accusing Government of taking an easy route out in response to the many challenges that face the industry.

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesGY.com

Keep your surroundings, drains clean – Minister Harmon ...clean-up exercise commences at Albouystown

M

inister of State, Joseph Harmon, and a team of representatives from the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and the Mayor and City

Council (MCC) on Saturday paid a follow-up visit to Albouystown, in the southern wards of Georgetown, to commence sanitation works aimed at enhancing resi-

dents’ quality of life and reducing the risk of flooding.

The clean-up exercise is being spearheaded by the CDC, in collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force

(GDF), the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the private sector, and residents.

Minister Harmon applauded the residents for their cooperation, noting that they have made significant progress since the exercise started early Saturday morning.

In his charge to residents assembled at the junction of Hill and James streets, Minister Harmon encouraged them to continue to support the exercise, even as he reminded them that it is every individual’s responsibility to keep their surroundings clean.

“We want to encourage all communities to come together and clean up their environment. Ultimately, it is

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon; Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Director General (Ag), Lieutenant-Colonel Kester Craig; CDC Preparedness and Response Manager, Major Sean Welcome; and Mayor and City Council Constituency 10 Councillors Heston Bostwick and Malcolm Ferreira, examine a canal that is being cleaned in Albouystown, South Georgetown

Some residents of Hill Street, Albouystown participating in a community clean-up exercise on Saturday

you in the community that will be affected when it is not clean,” he reminded.

The minister also said the CDC would be donating some equipment to the community so that cleaning exercises can be conducted regularly, in order to maintain a clean and healthy environment.

“The Civil Defence Commission will be leaving some equipment here in the community so that you can also continue to do this. It is not just a one-off exercise, and you have to keep doing that all the time,” he advised. ,Director General (Ag) of

the CDC, Lieutenant-Colonel Kester Craig, said that while the minister and the team were distributing cleaning hampers to flood-affected residents in the community last week, they soon realised that there was an emerging garbage crisis, and quickly mobilised efforts to enhance general sanitation there.

Lieutenant-Colonel Craig said the CDC has provided trucks to transport all the garbage to the dumpsite, as well as a range of necessary equipment, including shovels and spades, to assist in executing the works.

“This is a community-based initiative and we

want to ensure that this doesn’t happen only in Albouystown, but other communities would come on board and help clean up their environment. The approach is more in keeping with the Civil Defence Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy, and what we’re doing here is reducing the risk with the work being done,” he said.

A total of six blocks, 13 canals and alleyways are scheduled to be cleaned today. Three blocks have already been cleared, and the other nine blocks will be completed during the course of the month.

Govt missed chance for...

With the projected massive oil discoveries, the Commission believes that there should be increased flexibility given to the Government of Guyana, to ensure a fair and equitable deal on both sides.”

The body noted that the cost of energy is a primary limitation to the expansion of business and growth in Guyana. But taking the agreement into account, the PSC stated that nothing in the agreement indicates that with Guyana owning such large oil reserves, this will translate into reduction of the costs of energy to Guyanese.

“The business sector and general populace of Guyana deserve to benefit directly from the abundance of oil at its disposal and we look forward to seeing future agreements for other blocks off-

shore include provisions with greater benefits to Guyana and its people.”

“We also expect that, for all other blocks offshore, the agreements with operators/ contractors will consist of provisions that will ensure Guyana receives more royalty, rents, training and development for Guyanese and better local benefits for all Guyanese through the enlisting of the services of world class negotiators who can competently negotiate with major oil companies,” the group stated.

The agreement

While Guyana did not get this law enforced, ExxonMobil and its partners in the Stabroek block got exempted from paying Corporation, Excise or Value Added Tax on its earnings from petroleum.

from page 3

Article 15.4 of the renegotiated contract also provides for the Government itself to pay the company’s Income Tax. To facilitate this, the oil company has to submit tax returns to the Government.

That’s not all. Article 32 stipulates that Government cannot modify the contract or increase any fiscal obligation the company has.

This therefore puts a cap on the taxes, royalties, duties, fees or charges outlined in the contract. Government also has to compensate the operator if a change to existing laws causes loss of revenue for the company.

The contract sets aside another US$300,000 per year to ensure Guyanese personnel are trained at local or overseas universities and conferences. There are also provisions for a continuous review of local content.

news

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SunDAY, january 7, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Hundreds of Fly 150 cases struck from criminal Jamaica passengers backlog last year stranded in Guyana A …no word from airline since last Thursday

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assengers travelling on Fly Jamaica flights out of Guyana to Toronto, Canada have been left stranded with no word from the airlines since last Thursday.

Guyana Times has been told that the last time hundreds of passengers heard from the airline officials has been last Thursday, when agents contacted them to informed them not to travel to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, since their flight had been cancelled.

Speaking with Guyana Times, one frustrated passenger, Fazil Mirza, said he has, on numerous occasions, attempted to reach someone from the airline for an update on the situation, but to no avail. He said he is at his wits’ end, since he has been stranded in Guyana.

“If someone had informed us as to what is happening, we at least would know what is happening; but no one from the airlines is saying anything to us,” Mirza told this publication.

He added that his son has to return to school on Monday, and his business has been closed as a result of this delay.

“It is ridiculous that these people are hiding from us. No one is answering the office phone, and the cellular number provided has been turned off. My business (has been) closed for a number of days now. I have since contacted an attorney to examine my legal options,” Mirza said, add-

ing that this is the third time this is happening to him with this particular airline.

He explained that he has been trying to get an alternative flight, but the other airline is fully booked.

Another passenger said she was scheduled to return to work since Saturday, but because of the delay, she has had to call her supervisor and inform him of the situation.

“If it was because of the blizzard we would have understood the situation, but it’s (been) since Thursday (that) we are stranded, so it cannot be that. It is disheartening to know that we paid our money and this is how we are being treated,” the woman said.

Guyana Times has been told that passengers travelling from Toronto to Guyana have also been stranded at the Pearson International Airport.

This is not the first time that Fly Jamaica has experienced major delays. In December, 2017, a few days before Christmas, frustrated passengers had complained that flights between Georgetown and New York were cancelled before of technical problems the airline was experiencing. In that instance, passengers had taken to social media and bashed the airline for keeping them in the dark.

In July last year, passengers of the same airline had vented their frustrations, again on social media, as a result of the poor communication from airline employees.

Businessman, staff trailed from bank, robbed …gunmen escape with over $400,000

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businessman and two of his employees were trailed from the branch of a bank at Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) and robbed by gunmen on the Bel Air Village main road, Greater Georgetown on Saturday at about 11:30h.

The victims: contractor Ravindranauth Bhim, 43, of Lot 2 Bel Air Village, Greater Georgetown and his employees, 38-year-old Mark Henson of Lot 457 La Parfaite Harmonie and 37-year-old Basil Puran of Narine Street, Better Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD), are now left counting their losses, though grateful their lives were not snuffed out.

According to reports, Bhim had just changed a cheque for $300,000, and was headed to Bel Air,

where his employees were supposed to be paid. He, however, stopped at a shop, and the two bandits rode up and stopped alongside his vehicle.

One of the bandits pulled out a gun with which he broke the window of the Premio motor car and held the men at gunpoint.

Bhim was pulled out of the driver’s seat and placed to lie on the road, where he was searched and the $300,000 in his pants pocket were confiscated. The other bandit then dismounted the motorcycle and searched the other two victims, making off with their phones, cash and other valuables.

The matter was reported to the Police, and investigations are ongoing, including Police examining CCTV footage from buildings in vicinity of the robbery.

t the end of 2017, the backlog of criminal cases in the High Court system was reduced by 150 cases. Those were disposed of by the Chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), with 122 of them receiving attention in court while 28 cases were nolle prosequi (not prosecuted).

Of those 122 cases, 73 were presented in the Demerara Assizes, while 24 were from the Berbice Assizes and 25 were from the Essequibo Assizes.

There were 64 cases for murder; two cases for the offence of manslaughter; 29 cases for rape of a child under 16 years; eight cases of attempting to commit murder; nine cases of rape; seven cases of sexual activity with a child family member; and one case each for the offences of carnal knowledge of a girl under 15 years, setting fire to a public building, and abduction.

These cases resulted in a total of 48 guilty pleas; 23 not guilty verdicts by jury; six hung juries; 25 convictions; 27 formal verdicts of not guilty, and four 4 aborted trials.

In the 122 cases that were prosecuted, there were 145 accused persons, of whom 48 pleaded guilty; 25 of them were convicted; formal verdicts of not guilty were delivered in relation to 27 of these.

Additionally, there were also 23 not guilty verdicts by jury, six hung verdicts, and four aborted trials.

The Criminal Assizes for Demerara will open on Tuesday January 9 with a total of 229 cases listed to be heard during the session.

Justice Navindra Singh, Justice James Bovell-Drakes and Madam Justice Simone

Morris-Ramlall have been rostered to sit during this assizes.

Meanwhile, the Essequibo Criminal Assizes is expected to open on February 6, 2018.

In the meantime, Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry continues the October Assizes.

The February Berbice Criminal Assizes will then commence on February 13, 2018. In the meantime, the October 2017 criminal session there will also continue before Madam Justice JoAnn Barlow.

During 2017, the DPP Chamber appeared in 66 matters in the Court of Appeal. In those cases, the State was represented by acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DDPP) Sonia Joseph, Assistant

for bail pending their appeal, while four other appellants were refused their applications for bail, and five appellants were granted their applications for bail pending their appeal.

In addition, one appellant withdrew his application for extension of time to file his notice of appeal. The Court of Appeal struck out eight cases, while one matter was deemed abandoned because no grounds of appeal were filed.

Moreover, five appellants were granted leave to file and serve their Notices of Appeal.

Fourteen other appellants were allowed in part to appeal against their convictions and sentences; their convictions were affirmed but their sentences were substituted

DPP Dionne McCammon; Assistant DPP Diana Kaulessar-0Brien, Assistant DPP Teshana Lake, Senior State Counsel Mercedes Glasford, Senior State Counsel Natasha Backer, Senior State Counsel Stacy Goodings and State Counsel Shawnette Austin.

Of those 66 matters, four appellants were allowed their appeals and had their convictions and sentences set aside.

Another four appellants withdrew their applications

with fines.

Another appellant had his charge for the offence of murder substituted with the lesser offence of manslaughter, and a 16-year sentence was imposed; while one other appellant had his prison sentence of 25 years reduced to 24 years. An additional eight matters were adjourned.

Meanwhile, five matters were withdrawn by the appellants, three of which were by the State. Two matters were referred to the Court of

Appeal for its opinion, while one application to appeal against conviction and sentence was denied. Another one appellant was allowed his application to file notice for extension of time to appeal, and his case will be done de novo. One other remaining applicant was refused his application for extension of time to file and serve notice of appeal against his conviction.

On the other hand, some 11 matters were heard in the Demerara Full Court during the course of 2017. Appearing for the State in these matters were: Assistant DPP Teshana Lake, Senior State Counsel Natasha Backer, Senior State Counsel Mercedes Glasford, and Senior State Counsel Stacy Goodings.

Of these 11 matters, three appellants were granted time to file grounds of appeal; two matters were dismissed; one appellant was granted his application to file Notice of Appeal; two other appellants withdrew their applications to appeal; while another two appellants had their applications to appeal against their sentence dismissed, and one application for bail pending appeal was dismissed.

Furthermore, State Counsel Tuanna Hardy appeared before the Berbice Full Court, where three matters were heard during 2017.

One appellant was allowed his appeal in part, while another one appellant was allowed his application to appeal against his conviction and sentence because the Court found he was charged under the wrong section for the offence of threatening behaviour. One other application to appeal against a conviction and sentence was struck out, and the conviction and sentence affirmed.

Essequibo Coast teens participate in HIV/AIDS workshop Y ouths living in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) believe teen abstinence is the best way of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. This revelation was made during a two-day HIV/AIDS workshop held at Airy Hall by the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS). The sessions were organised by the Essequibo Coast Dharmic Najauwan.

During in-depth group discussions, facilitator Nazim Hussain discussed the epidemic of HIV/AIDS and how it can be spread.

During group sessions several of those participating revealed that in their opinion, teen abstinence was the best way of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. During discussion, one of the youths, Sarah Sookdeo, said teenagers need to abstain although it could be quiet challenging.

Some of the reasons high-

Stop the spread of HIV! Essequibo Coast teens who participated in the HIV/AIDS workshop

lighted why teens should choose abstinence included waiting until they feel ready for the emotional and physical aspects of sex, avoiding the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), wanting to have fun without the pressures and concerns of sexual involvement, pursuing other interests such as

sports or academics, moral or religious beliefs that teen abstinence is the best choice.

Youths also highlighted that some of the benefits of abstinence include avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, avoid unplanned pregnancy, not getting a bad reputation, avoid some of the emotional consequences of

teen sex, especially if the relationship does not work out, including feeling hurt, used, lonely, angry or depressed.

The youths are therefore calling on other teenagers to help in the fight against HIV and to spend time with people who support their standards and to focus on the non-sexual sides of romance.

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sunday, january 7, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Around the World

Brutal cold snap stuns US Fire and Fury: Trump says East Coast after blizzard book is 'fiction'

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Residents of Boston, Massachusetts, clear the streets after heavy snowfall

shroud of bone-chilling arctic air covered the US East Coast and Midwest on Saturday, creating dangerous conditions as tens of millions of people struggled to clean up from a blizzard that dumped deep, drifting snow in many areas earlier this week.

Wind chill and freeze warnings stretched from New England to Ohio and Pennsylvania, while the National Weather Service warned of freezing rain in Missouri and areas to the northeast.

In some of those places, exposed skin could freeze within 30 minutes, said meteorologist Dan Petersen of the National Weather Service's Maryland-based Weather Prediction Center.

At the Whoopie Pie Cafe in Bangor, Maine, business was slow because of the cold, cashier and waiter Liz Gallagher, 58, said by phone. "Nobody goes out when it's really cold, at least

I wouldn't," said the lifelong Bangor resident.

The cold snap complicated efforts by crews to clear snow and ice from roadways after the blizzard, which clobbered the Northeast after sprinkling snow in areas as far south as Savannah, Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida.

In New England and the Middle Atlantic states, the storm forced hundreds of schools to close and commuter rail services to suspend or reduce service.

Cold and snowy weather was blamed for at least 18 deaths in the past few days, including four in North Carolina traffic accidents and three in Texas.

In neighboring New Hampshire, the ambient air temperature on Mount Washington plunged to -36 F (minus 38C), two degrees short of a record low for Jan. 6. But sustained winds of 99 miles per hour (159 km/h) and gusts of up to 112 mph

(180 km/h) atop the 6,200foot (1,990-metre) peak made it feel more like minus 92 F (minus 69 Celsius), the NWS said.

The brutal cold in parts of the East Coast and Midwest shows no sign of abating this weekend, but a thaw should begin on Monday, said meteorologist Bob Oravec of the Weather Prediction Center. Before then, conditions will probably worsen.

Overnight, more than 30 cities from New England to the mid-Atlantic states could experience record cold, Petersen said. New York and Boston are among the big cities where records could fall.

Among the coldest places in the country on Saturday afternoon were the small Minnesota towns of Cotton and Embarrass, where the mercury plummeted to minus 39F (minus 39C), the NWS said. (Reuters)

S President Donald Trump has rejected doubts over his mental health raised in a bombshell new book, describing the book as "fiction" and the author as a "fraud".

His remarks followed an earlier rebuttal on Twitter, in which the president claimed he was a "very stable genius" who was "like, very smart".

Michael Wolff's new book suggests that even the president's closest advisors question his fitness for office.

The row has overshadowed key talks on the Republican party's 2018 agenda.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with senior party members at Camp David on Saturday, the president disputed Mr Wolff's account, claiming it was a "work of fiction".

Addressing the questions about his mental capacity, he said: "I went to the best colleges, I had a situation where I was a very excellent student, came out and made billions and billions of dollars, became one of the top business people, went to television and for 10 years

was a tremendous success, as you probably have heard."

He disputed Wolff's claim of a three-hour on the record interview between the two.

"It didn't exist, it's in his imagination," Trump said, while acknowledging that he had been interviewed by the author at some point. (BBC)

5 human heads found on Mexico taxi bonnet

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he severed heads of five people have been found on top of the bonnet of a taxi in Veracruz, Mexico, local media reports say.

The vehicle had been abandoned on the side of a road.

The torsos of the victims were found in black plastic bags inside the car and in its boot, sources quoted by the Mexican magazine Proceso said.

The taxi had graffiti on

Prisoner captured soon after jumping wall C hester Williams escaped from the Port of Spain prison on Frederick Street, at about 10:00h on Friday but was captured 20 minutes later.

Williams, 30, was seen climbing the prison’s wall with a makeshift rope made of bedsheets.

He injured his left foot during his bid for freedom.

Under Supt Raul Hercules and acting ASP Anderson Pariman, CID and Guard and Emergency Branch police and prison officers captured Williams who was found hiding under a parked car on Pembroke Street. He was returned to the prison, where he will receive medical attention.

Williams was imprisoned

US President Donald Trump

Chester Williams

for three and a half years for robbery and will be charged with attempting to escape legal custody. Investigations into his escape are ongoing.

(T&T Newsday)

its bonnet, linking it to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel.

The state of Veracruz, where the bodies were discovered, suffered 2,200 homicides between December 2016 and December 2017.

According to information released by the Executive Secretariat of Mexico’s National Public Security System, 70% of homicides in Veracruz were connected with organised crime.

Recently, the State

Prosecutor’s Office and the Veracruz Secretariat of Public Safety have claimed they have dismantled several organised crime groups.

On 28 December, the state authorities held a press conference in which they said they had ended the activities of the armed Sombra (Shadow) group, which specialised in kidnappings, as well as several organised crime cells. (BBC)

Monday launch for Chutney Soca Monarch L ess than 24 hours after he announced it was cancelled, Southex CEO George Singh said the Chutney Soca Monarch competition will take place after all, though on a slightly reduced scale.

In a telephone interview, Singh said the decision to reinstate the competition was made after an emergency meeting with his management team at which the $1 million offer by Finance Minister Colm Imbert for sponsorship of the annual show was discussed.

“We have to scale back the production slightly because the money is not the same as 2017, but we willing,“ Singh said. ”After an emergency meeting with my team last night, we are willing to work with the amount, and we are happy that we are able to put the show back on for the nation-

al public.”

Imbert announced the allocation at a media conference at his ministry on Thursday evening.

Singh said the competition would be officially launched on Monday at NLCB’s box at the Queen’s Park Oval, where the names of the 30 semifinalists would also be announced.

He said the semifinal venue would remain the same, though a decision would have to be made on a venue for the finals.

“We still have some issues to sort out with regard to whether the show is at Skinner Park or where else.

The other fact is that Skinner Park is an expensive venue, and not only the rental of Skinner Park, but the logistics of putting on the show at Skinner Park in terms of the police and fire.”

(T&T Guardian)

sunDAY, january 7, 2018

19

The Ashes 2017-18, Australia

Australia rock solid after Khawaja special Shaun Marsh finished the day unbeaten on 98 (Getty Images)

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s m a n Khawaja hit a mammoth 171 and Shaun Marsh was approaching his sixth test century as Australia eased 133 runs ahead of England on 479 for four after the third day of the fifth Ashes clash on Saturday.

Khawaja shared a stand of 188 with captain Steve Smith, who was dismissed just before lunch, and another of 101 with Marsh, who just missed out on his second hundred of the series in the over before stumps.

Marsh will resume on 98 on day four with his brother Mitchell, who was 63 not out, as they look to bat the tourists out of the match and set up an opportunity for their bowlers to secure a win that would give Australia a 4-0 series triumph.

The Marsh brothers combined for 104 in the final session and punished England with a flurry of boundaries in the last hour as the bowlers tired after a long

day’s slog in bright sunshine at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It was Khawaja’s sure hand, though, that guided Australia past England’s tally of 346 after Mooen Ali (1-125) had stunned a packed house by moving the apparently unmoveable when he dismissed Smith caught and bowled for 83.

Smith had already scored three centuries, two of them unbeaten and one a double, in the series and although denied a fourth, walked off his home ground having amassed 687 runs at an average of 137.4 over the five tests.

Khawaja had an lbw scare in the following over but was reprieved when TV pictures showed Mason Crane had bowled a no ball and he otherwise looked assured as he calmly totted up the runs in the face of some tight English bowling.

A fine stroke-player but considered suspect against spin bowling, Khawaja has had a stop-start career in the baggy green since making his debut at the SCG in the corresponding Ashes clash eight years ago.

He wasted no time in knocking off the nine runs he needed to secure his maiden hundred against England at the start of the day, cutting Moeen for two before soaking up the ovation from a crowd largely clad in pink in support of

FA to investigate HolgateFirmino derby row

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he Football Association have opened an investigation into a clash between Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino and Everton’s Mason Holgate in Friday’s FA Cup third round tie.

“The FA can confirm that referee Bobby Madley was made aware of an allegation during the Liverpool versus Everton game at Anfield last night and has subsequently reported this to The FA, which will now begin making enquiries into the matter,” the FA said on Saturday.

Holgate pushed Brazilian Firmino, 26, into the advertising hoardings in the 40th minute of the Merseyside derby and the Liverpool forward reacted by verbally abusing Everton’s 21-yearold English defender.

An animated Holgate, who is mixed-race, then complained to the referee

about Firmino’s comments and Madley held a touchline discussion with his fourth official.

Asked by a reporter whether Holgate had accused Firmino of using a racist term, Everton manager Sam Allardyce said: “I‘m telling you nothing until whatever systems are used to find out what did and didn’t happen. I‘m here to talk about football, not controversial incidents. They have to be dealt with by the authorities.”

“The club and player will fully co-operate with the relevant authorities to ensure the facts are established in a thorough manner, if deemed necessary or requested.

While that process is ongoing, we will not be making any further comment,” Liverpool said.

Liverpool won the game 2-1. (Reuters)

Usman Khawaja’s mammoth innings gave Joe Root lots to think about (Getty Images)

Glenn McGrath’s cancer charity.

Spinner Moeen was again bowling when he reached the 150-run mark, two consecutive fours to get over the mark a rare flourish in a 381-ball innings that contained 18 of them along with a solitary six.

England captain Joe Root came closest to a breakthrough in the second session when Shaun Marsh, on 22, was given out caught behind only for the decision to be reversed when TV pictures showed a big gap between ball and bat.

It was debutant leg-spinner Crane who finally ended the 31-year-old’s time out in the middle to claim his first test victim, beating the bat to leave Khawaja stranded and Jonny Bairstow with a simple stumping.

Crane, 20, attracted the ire of the crowd with his habit of pulling out of his run-up but kept his head up despite finishing with figures of 1-125.

It was a very good day on the decision review system for Australia with Mitchell Marsh also reversing a late lbw decision after the snicko revealed an inside edge.

Australia won back the Ashes with victories in the first three matches in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth with the fourth test in Melbourne finishing in a draw last week. (Reuters)

SCOREBOARD England 1st Innings 346 Australia 1st Innings (Overnight 193-2) CT Bancroft b Broad 0 DA Warner c †Bairstow b Anderson 56 UT Khawaja st †Bairstow b Crane 171 SPD Smith* c & b Ali 83 SE Marsh not out 98 MR Marsh not out 63 Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-2, w-1) 8 Total (For 4 wickets; 157 Overs) 479

Yet to bat: TD Paine †, PJ Cummins, MA Starc, JR Hazlewood, NM Lyon Fall of wickets: 1-1 (CT Bancroft, 1.2 ov), 2-86 (DA Warner, 31.4 ov), 3-274 (SPD Smith, 93.1 ov), 4-375 (UT Khawaja, 130.4 ov) Bowling Anderson 30-11-52-1, Broad 23-2-70-1, Ali 37-9-125-1, Curran 20-2-71-0 (w-1), Crane 39-3-135-1 (nb-2), Root 8-3-21-0 Position: Australia lead by 133 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Former Windies U-19 player making strides in BBL H

obart Hurricanes Jofra Archer has been turning heads with his dynamic all-round display which has secured crucial wins for his franchise during the ongoing Australian Big Bash League T20 tournament (BBL).

The Barbados-born Archer, who is also Sussex teammates with fellow Bajan and now England all-rounder Chris Jordan; has outshone most 22 year-olds in the BBL with is ability to pick up wickets under pressure and to score runs when needed.

A former Barbados and West Indies Under-19 player, Archer was recently dubbed a “New cult Hero” after his match-winning performance versus the Adelaide Strikers, which saw the right-arm medium pacer defending 13 runs from the last over.

Archer ended with 3-15 from his 4 overs and Hobart won by seven runs, thus sparking a following of the masses behind the Hurricanes new sensation.

The right-handed batsman ended his 2017 domestic season with Club Sussex, 61 wickets richer, averaging 25 with the ball while his average with the bat soared past 45.

With eight wickets from just four games and a high score of 25 not out thus far in the ongoing BBL, Archer is pipped to play a further role in the development of the Hurricanes for the remainder of the Bash and while a call up to the England senior team seems likely however, the 22 year-old will reach qualification status until 2022-23.

Jofra Archer

20

guyanatimesGY.com

sunDAY, january 7, 2018

All eyes on Jaguars’

Super50 squad

Veerasammy Permaul has been the Jaguars trump card with ball in hand

By Akeem Greene

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ricket West Indies (CWI) Super50 will commence this month end in Barbados and Antigua, attracting the six main franchises in the Caribbean, United States of America, English sides Kent and Hampshire along with Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners.

It will be another litmus test for the country with the white ball given their last taste of success was since the 2005 KFC Cup when they defeated Barbados at Bourda by seven runs via Duckworth Lewis.

Oddly, it is mystifying that since CWI adapted a Professional Cricket League (PCL) structure for the 2013-14 season, Guyana Jaguars have been the most dominant franchise in the fourday format, emphatically winning three successive titles and are currently on the cusp of adding a fourth straight.

From an under-19 World Cup winner to crucial member on the four-day team, Keemo Paul knows all will depend on his all-round abilities if selected

However, as the version of the sport became shorter, fast-paced and to a large extent called for different skillsets, they lost the ball completely.

But let’s attempt to decipher, why they have not managed to come to the fore in the 50-over format.

Tracing back to the victorious squad in 2005 which contained Shivnarine Chanderpaul (c), Krishna Arjune, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Derwin Christian, Esuan Crandon, Lennox Cush, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Rayon Griffith, Reon

King, Neil McGarrell, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ryan Ramdass and Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Sarwan was the tournament’s leading batsman with 462 runs inclusive of three tons and two fifties, which meant he had a staggering average of 115. With the ball, the cunning Nagamootoo took 12 wickets.

Now jumping into the PCL era, it became interesting, since that squad comprised of Christopher Barnwell (c), Robin Bacchus, Ronsford Beaton, Devendra Bishoo, Anthony Bramble, Chanderpaul, Royston Crandon, Deonarine, Fudadin, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson, Veerasammy Permaul, Sarwan and Paul Wintz.

But it was Sarwan again who led the side with the bat, scoring 151 runs at an average of 75 while left-arm spinner Permaul took eight wickets. The team had finished second in their group to Jamaica and were then blown away by seven wickets in the semi-final against Barbados.

It goes deeper, in 2015, when the franchise picked Barnwell (c), Bacchus, Beaton, Bishoo, Bramble, Chanderpaul, Royston Crandon, Rajendra Chandrika, Jonathan Foo, T r e v o n Griffith, Permaul, R a y m o n Reifer, Vishaul Singh and Wintz.

With no Sarwan, another senior in Chanderpaul took up the mantle of shepherding the side by compiling 154 runs at an average of 56.00 while Permaul continued his consistency by snatching 11 wickets.

They reached the finals against hosts Trinidad and Tobago and needed just 201 for victory but crashed to an embarrassing 135-run defeat after Sunil Narine took 6-9, bundling out Guyana for 65.

In 2016, they faced nemesis Trinidad again who came out on top in the semi-final with a 54-run victory. Fudadin lead his team’s charts with 259 runs and averaged over 50 while Permaul yet again was the lead wicket taker with 14 scalps. From the previous squad, Johnson was given leadership ahead of Barnwell while Beaton, Trevon Griffith, Bacchus,

Chandrika, Foo and Bishoo made way for Kevon Boodie, Romario Shepherd, Gudakesh Motie along with Fudadin.

Struggling to find the right formulae for success, in 2017, they named Johnson (c), Barnwell, Beaton, Bishoo, Anthony Bramble, Chanderpaul, Chandrika, Foo, Fudadin, Shimron Hetmyer, Jacobs, Permaul, Reifer and Wintz. Some felt it was arguably their strongest possible team of the current crop of players. But guess what? They did not qualify for the knock-out phase of the tournament.

Grouped with eventual winners Barbados Pride, Jamaica Scorpions, CCC Marooners and ICC Americas, they only defeated the latter two in the round-robin format where teams played each other twice in the tournament which was also held in Barbados and Antigua.

Captain Johnson stepped up to the plate and scored 243 runs at an average of 40.50 while Reifer took 16 wickets.

It was a similar squad throughout the years but it essentially was a ‘one man show’ with particularly the bat which ultimately is a recipe for disaster.

Both Head Coach Esuan Crandon and Chairman of

script has evidently not done the job? But for those who will rant for sweeping changes, where do they find replacements when the precursor to selection was not fruitful? It is questions like those the management will have to ponder long and hard upon.

The new kids on the block Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford have impressed tremendously with their positivity which will be needed in the shortened format.

Shepherd’s pace and batting has seen and upward move, while they are the wild card options in attacking wicket/keeping batsman Kemol Savoury along with Chandrapaul Hemraj who arguably has looked the most free-flowing Jaguars batsman in the on-going 4-day championship.

Gloveman Bramble is in the form of his life and the hope is that if selected he can transform that unto the white ball arena.

His aggressive approach will be handy whether he bats in the top or lower-order.

Combinations will be another

Another young attacking player Sherfane Rutherford fire power with both bat and ball could be a major asset

Anthony Bramble’s unforgettable season behind and in-front of the stumps makes him another key player in the team

Selectors Rayon Griffith by all accounts will have mind-boggling task in finding the right balance to bring the long-overdue success.

Cricket Guyana Inc currently has the 50-over franchise league still awaiting the play-offs but rain has caused that to be postponed indefinitely while the last three rounds were badly affected by rain.

Throughout the league, the weather had a dampening effect and when play was possible, there was not many inspiring contributions from players apart from a Royston Crandon century and some impressive bowling

by Essequibo left-arm spinner Anthony Adams, whose team is in the final.

What options do the selectors have of bringing possibly a wholesale change since sticking to the

crucial factor in who bats where in the order plays the pinch-hitting role and which bowlers do you prized to play the attacking or ‘death specialist’ roles.

In recent, only Hetmyer and Beaton have made ODI debuts for Windies. Going further back, Permaul and Bishoo were the only other regular players in maroon.

Guyana seems to be in a cocoon regarding limited overs cricket and the metamorphosis needs to occur now. For a territory with overwhelming talent, the hiatus in a 50-over trophy is extremely disheartening.

The road ahead looks even more daunting since this Super50 is expected to have a fleet of Windies superstars vying for a possible 2019 World Cup spot if they manage to succeed at the qualifiers to be held in Zimbabwe in March.

Based in Antigua for the duration of the tournament, they are grouped with Scorpions, Leeward Hurricanes, United States and Kent which already gives a hint of fierce competition expected.

The new rule changes with the white-ball call for more critical thinking to grasp key moments.

Evidently, those that are touted to provide the fire power with the bat would turn up cold for varying reasons, they must remain positive.

Positive and recklessness are quite two differentials and the former involves genuine stroke-play and most importantly rotation of strike, a facet the Jaguars have struggled to execute.

If it is out with the old and in with the new or holding faith with those from yesteryear, the road to Super50 supremacy begins with who makes the 14-man squad.

sunDAY, january 7, 2018 | www.guyanatimesgy.com

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He is an expert in removing black magic, enmity, bad luck and gives permanent protections. Solutions will be given to love, health, marriage, business, sexual problems and much more. Call him on 6601938 or 618-6569. Take that number again: 660-1938 or 618-6569 Business upliftment, marriage problems, pregnancy, remove blockage impotent and many more. Tel: 612-1608, 683-5228

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NOTICE With regards to the notice of Sunday October 8th, 2017 placed by one Raymond Anthony also known as Raymond Ramos who is claiming prescriptive rights to both properties at 3128 Buttercup Place, South Ruimveldt Park and 469 Kiskadee Drive, South Ruimveldt Gardens, take notice that this claim by Raymond Anthony/ Ramos is totally false and incorrect. The only person who has absolute rights and interest to both properties is Mr. Sydney Bunbary.

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We welcome all religions. To get permanent solutions to all your problems, meet Master Arjun.

He will read your past, present and future by using your date of birth, face or photo. Master Arjun will give solutions for mar-

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

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WANTED One heavy duty mechanic to work in interior, knows to repair Diesel and Gas Engines. Must have driver’s license and knowledge of welding is as assets.

Contact: 680-2702

sports

Welshman signs for FC Cincinnati with an eye on MLS G

uyanese forward Emery Welshman signed with Futbol Club Cincinnati on Wednesday afternoon, the club announced. Welshman is the team’s 12th signing and first in the 2018 calendar year.

Standing 5-foot-11, the 26-year-old played for Puerto Rico FC last season, where he finished with five goals and three assists for the North American Soccer League club.

“Emery has exceptional pace and a nose for goal,” Cincinnati head coach Alan Koch said in a press release.

“He is a player who has had a few setbacks with injury, but when at his best, he has the ability to play in MLS. He has not peaked yet and we look forward to working with him to help achieve mutual goals.”

Koch’s comments about a transition into Major League Soccer are intriguing, especially as FC Cincinnati awaits news from the league to learn its expansion fate. If the club joins MLS, it’s clear that

S

ecretary of the Albion Cricket Club Vemen Walters hailed the overall performances of the club during 2017 and promised that 2018 will see greater strides being made.

Albion recently copped the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Club of the Year Award for 2017 during last December’s annual award ceremony held at the Umana Yana following the success of a huge number of their players on the local, regional and international scene.

Walter told Guyana Times Sport during a brief interview that he was proud to be affiliated with the club for a number of decades while pointing out that it was great to see the players coming

300+ acres of fertile agriculture land on the East Coast Demerara or East Bank Demerara to lease or for partnership in an agriculture project Contact: 600-1898 One live-in Nanny to take care of children and home. Must know how to cook various food.

Contact: 600-1898.

Waitress for bar 612-2522

Welshman would make the promotion up to first tier soccer, too.

While originally from Canada, Welshman plays on the Guyana national team and scored twice in this past round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He’s made six caps for the South American country.

“He is a fantastic citizen and will fit in fantastically with the group that we are putting in place for 2018,” Koch said.

Following a 3-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the first round of the United Soccer League Playoffs, Koch said he wanted to rebuild his roster ahead of the 2018 season. Only three players are rostered from the squad that competed in the inaugural 2016 campaign. He mentioned 24 players as the ideal squad size.

After Welshman’s arrival, the club now has 21 players on its roster ahead of a preseason that starts within the next two weeks. (Cincinnati.com)

“Our mandate is to produce cricketers”– Walters

One welder to work in the interior. Meals and accommodation are provided. Must have driver’s license. Contact: 680-2702

Maid Needed. Contact Tony: 218-0167

21

Devendra Bishoo

out of the club, going onto to play for Guyana and the West Indies.

“We have performed well over the past year as a cricket club, especially a year in which very little cricket was played however we were still able to retain our award while we also continued to fulfill our mandate to produce cricketers,” said Walter.

The Club which has produced a number of Guyana and West Indies players including Sew Shivnarine, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul and others; has won the Club Award four times in the last five years and eight overall.

With a reputation as a club known for producing large number of national and international players over the course of its existence; the Secretary attributed the success to the hard work of the executives and the dedication shown by the players who have a single goal; to succeed.

Walter credited the likes of Permaul, Bishoo, Jonathan Foo, Gudakesh Motie and numerous others who have been making strides with the National team, franchise teams in the Caribbean Premier League or internationally with the West Indies and have been the poster players for Albion over a number of years.

He also highlighted a few of the club’s domestic stars like; Balchand

Baldeo, David Latchaya, Kandasammy Surujnarine, Sharaz Ramcharran; all of whom were successful playing for their respective franchises in last year’s Jaguars Franchise League competitions.

The long-serving Albion member also revealed that the club will be having its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and elections of office bearers on January 17. He noted that regardless of the executive body, the mandate is to promote cricket and unearth new t a l e n t for the benefit of Guyana and West Indies cricket.

Veerasammy Permaul

22

guyanatimesgy.com

sunDAY, january 7, 2018

Kares Fitness Challenge

F

returns March 11

itness enthusiasts will be gearing themselves up for pain and gain when the 4th annual Kares Engineering Fitness Challenge is held at the National Park Tarmac on March 11.

Guyana Fitness Games Event Organiser Jordana RamsayGonsalves explained to Guyana Times Sport on Saturday that the challenge will shift its focus more to the individual scope for which they are hoping to attract 36 athletes.

Though they still be team events, Ramsay-Gonsalves further explained that the bulk of the challenges will remain the same but in two weeks they will make final decision on the various tests.

The organiser further detailed that in addition to the local seasoned campaigners they have been interest shown from for-

Dillon Mahadeo proving his fitness during a stern test last year

eign competitors from Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname.

Registration will open on Monday and will run until February 22 for which registration

forms can be uplifted at Fitness Express at Sheriff and John streets Campbellville.

BFA/ GT Beer, Candy Boss 8-A-Side Tournament…

Police arrest Beacon to clinch title

The jubilant Guyana Police Force FC with the championship trophy

By Andrew Carmichael

P

olice Football Club have won the inaugural Berbice Football Association’s (BFA) GT Beer, Candy Boss eighta-side football tournament by beating arch rivals Beacon Football club 2-1 in a tense final played on Friday night at the AllSaints Recreational Ground on Princess Elizabeth Road in New Amsterdam.

Up to the final showdown, both teams were unbeaten and one had to lose.

A greater portion of the vocal crowd backed Beacon and when Kester Brandj scored in the 30 minute by pushing a ball flat past the goalkeeper from inside the penalty area Beacon were lifted and began to move forward relentlessly forcing Police to bring out all their armor while goalkeeper Roncy Caleb provided much

entertainment between the uprights to keep the lawmen in the game.

In the second half, the crowd was brought to its feet on several occasions as both teams tried desperately forcing referee Micah Erskine to issue a few yellow cards.

It was Anthony Wallace who gave Police the desperately needed equalizer scoring with a powerful shot from inside the 18-yard box that rocked the back of the nets to send the crowd wild.

Wallace had put ammunition back into the Policemen legs just as Beacon had started to play a time consuming game.

As the tense battle continued both teams tried to utilize every goal scoring opportunity but the defense of both sided was at its best.

In the final moments of the game and everyone on their feet, Beacon seemed to prefer to have it decided

from the penalty area having the more athletic looking goalkeeper in Julius Payne. In the final minute Erskine blew his whistle for an infringement against Police just outside of their 18-yard box.

Goalkeeper Roncy Caleb sent his team mates to the other goal and took the shot hoping that one of them might be able to take advantage of the ball and score. His shot was well directed. Beacon had a good defense. The defense went up but the ball was high. Payne was flocked by his own team mates and could not jump as high as he wanted to. The ball hit his hand and went past; it was the winning goal scored at the end of regulation time giving Police the win 2-1.

Earlier, in a third place play-off, Monedderlust beat Edinburgh Gunners 3-0 to seal the third spot Kevin Joseph registered the first goal in the second minute before Arthley Bailey scored a double, registering in the 9 and 14 minutes.

Roncy Caleb was adjudged the tournament’s Best Goalkeeper

In 2017, it was a Cross Fit 592 sweep with marque athletes Dillon Mahadeo and Semonica Duke sweeping the individual titles while the gym (Cross Fit 592) also won the team event.

Mahadeo retained the title as the “Fittest Man in Guyana” by amassing a total of 462 points ahead of Charlie Walker (410) and Anis Ade Thomas (397) while Duke scored 490 points defeating Delice Adonis (470) of Fitness Paradise in a close battle and Christina Rahman of Genesis Fitness Express was third with 435 points.

In the team competition, Cross Fit 592 emerged winners with 1268 points, while Elite Systems finished second on 1250. Fitness Paradise was third on 1220 followed by GDF (1149) and Out Of Towners (1007).

2 synthetic tracks to be completed this year – Minister Norton

M

inister of Social ternity. He said the availCohesion with re- ability of the facilities will sponsibility to put Guyana on par with its Sport; Dr. George Norton Regional colleagues.

“That elusive Olympic confirmed that synthetic tracks will be constructed medal or another will cerin Regions 6 and 10 before tainly be within our reach in a very short time bethe end of 2018.

During an interview cause already we are seeing with the Department of our athletes locally trained, Public Information (DPI), locally based are hitting Minister Norton estab- the international competilished that approval was tions and medaling not only given by the consultant for in South America but interthe construction of both nationally.” Norton added.

The project was featured synthetic tracks in the East Berbice/Corentyne and in the 2018 National Budget Linden regions. as part of the government’s “I am happy to report ongoing drive to boost the that already the two sites, level of sports across the that is the one in Linden, country, while improving particularly Wismar the level of Track and Field with the local and the other in New along Amsterdam at Burnham’s athletes.

Park, they were visited by the consultant and the engineer and they reported to me, it was favourable. The consultant told me that it is a very suitable area and he is looking forward to starting work as early as possible”. Said Norton.

The Minister was aware that the move was a lift for track and field as well as the ent i r e sport Minister of Social fraCohesion with responsibility for sport, Dr George Norton

guyanatimesgy.com

sunDAY, january 7, 2018

23

CWI/ Digicel Regional 4-Day Championships 2017-18

Jaguars win 4th straight title …beat Scorpions in low-scoring thriller

G

uyana Jaguars romped to their fourth consecutive Digicel Regional Four-Day title on Saturday when they beat Jamaica Scorpions by

the Sabina Park track that was giving favourable assistance. Left-arm spinner, Nikita Miller followed up his first innings four-fer with a similar haul while part-time

bottom half of the batting in hand.

Hemraj got a good start but once again did not carry on after hitting two fours and three sixes from 53 balls

Gudakesh Motie mopped up the Scorpions tail just before lunch on Saturday

two wickets in their low scoring eighth round match at Sabina Park with a day to spare.

Set 136 to win their sixth match this season, the Jaguars stuttered but were eventually taken over the line by left-arm spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Gudakesh Motie with a tense 13-run stand for the eighth wicket.

It came down to the lower order after the Scorpions’ spinners combined for 46.3 of the 58.3 overs in the Jaguars’ second innings on

off-spinner John Campbell and leg-spinner Damion Jacobs claimed one a-piece.

The Jaguars used their fourth opening pair of the season in the run chase with Windies “A” middle order batsman, Vishaul Singh partnering Chandrapaul Hemraj. The pair batted three overs to lunch at six without loss but could not give the three-time defending champions a good enough start and they were eventually steering down the barrel at 76 for 5 at tea still 61 runs away and the

while no other batsman seemed comfortable enough to stick around in the chase except for Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

The 43-year old smothered the Scorpions potency for 83 balls with 14 singles as he once again guided the lower middle order. Keemo Paul, who struggled for runs since his opening round century, came and blasted three sixes from 11 balls in adding 30 much needed runs with Chanderpaul. The partnership, the best of the Jaguars innings, got the run chase

back on track but was soon ended when Paul charged Miller and missed.

At that stage, Chanderpaul was taking most of the bowling and was next to go when Fabian Allen took a sharp catch at silly mid-on to bring the Albion Cricket Club pair together in their quest for nine runs.

Earlier, the hosts began the day with a 90-run lead at 167 for 5 and were eventually bowled out for 212 shortly before lunch.

Overnight batsmen, Assad Fudadin carried his 61 to 70 as the last five Scorpions wickets fell for just 20 runs.

Aldaine Thomas who was on nine overnight made 36 and added 39 with Fudadin who put on 112 for the opening stand with John Campbell late on the second day.

The chief destroyer once again was Motie who toiled for 26 overs for his reward of four scalps.

The Jaguars who began the round with a 42.8 points gap on second placed Barbados Pride have mathematically taken their fourth consecutive title by widening the lead. The Pride are coming up against the Volcanoes in a game destined for a draw at the Kensington Oval and will not be able to catch the champions.

Following the formalization of the victory which lead to the fourth title on the trot, Assistant Coach and Manager of the champions, Rayon Griffith told Guyana Times Sport that himself and the entire team are very happy with the success. “We knew we had to accumulate points to win and we did

Chandrapaul Hemraj top scored for the Jaguars in the run chase

that and we are happy to know that we did it again.”

The Jaguars will have a day off before flying to Barbados for their ninth round match against the Pride before finishing the

tournament at home against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at Providence and the former Guyana fast-bowler said “now that the title is in the bad, we just want to finish unbeaten.”

SCOREBOARD Scorpions 1st Innings 106 Jaguars 1st Innings 183 Scorpions 2nd Innings (Overnight 167-5) J Campbell c Paul b Motie 62 A Fudadin lbw b Reifer 70 J Blackwood run out (Hemraj) 9 B King b Motie 0 P Palmer run out (Paul) 10 F Allen b Permaul 4 A Thomas+ b Paul 36 D Green c Johnson b Motie 0 N Miller not out 4 D Jacobs c Persaud b Motie 0 R Leveridge lbw b Paul 0 Extras (b-5, lb-4, w-0, nb-8) 17 Total (All out; 80.5 Overs) 212 FOW: 1-112, 2-127, 3-133, 4-149, 5-153, 6-192, 7-193, 8-197, 9-212, 10-212 Bowling Paul 13.5-3-33-2, Joseph 3-0-27-0, Reifer 13-4-261, Johnson 2-0-16-0, Permaul

23-3-62-1, Motie 26-9-39-4 Jaguars 2nd Innings (Target 136) C Hemraj c wkpr Thomas b Gre en 40 V Singh lbw b Leveridge 3 L Johnson* c King b Campbell 16 A Persaud b Jacobs 7 S Chanderpaul c Allen b Miller 16 A Bramble+ c wkpr Thomas b Miller 3 R Reifer lbw b Miller 6 K Paul stp wkpr Thomas b Miller 21 V Permaul not out 10 G Motie not out 6 Extras (b-7, lb-1) 8 Total (For 8 wickets; 58.3 Overs) 136 FOW: 1-21, 2-48, 3-64, 4-72, 5-76, 6-84, 7-114, 8-123 Did not bat K Joseph Bowling Leveridge 8-3-7-1, Miller 19-7-64-4, Campbell 20.3-6-37-1, Green 4-2-6-1, Jacobs 7-1-14-1

Wozniacki ends Serena pulls out of Australian Open Vickery’s dream run F in New Zealand U SA-based Guyanese Sachia Vickery memorable campaign at the ASB Classic in New Zealand came to an end on Saturday following a defeat to number one seeded Caroline Wozniacki.

Vickery lost the semi-final in straight sets 6-4 6-4, as Wozniacki set up a final clash with the number two seed Julia Goerges, who defeated Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1 6-4 in the other semi-final match.

The rising star had previously defeated former world number two seed Agnieszka Radwanksa 6-2 6-2 at the quarter-final stage.

Prior to that, she got past Veronica Cepede Royg 6-2 6-4 in the Round of 16 and Lauren Davis 6-1 6-2 in the Round of 32.

In the Qualifiers, she defeated Magdalena Frech 7-5 6-3, Conny Perrin 6-0 6-3 and Deborah Chiesa 6-4 6-3.

ormer world number one Serena Williams has withdrawn from this month's Australian Open in Melbourne.

The 36-year-old American last week played her first match since giving birth in September.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner and the reigning Australian Open champion, said: "Although I am super close, I'm not where I want to be."

On Thursday, Britain's Andy Murray pulled out of the tournament, which starts on 15 January.

Williams was eight weeks pregnant with daughter Olympia when she won her seventh Australian Open title in 2017.

The world number 22 said: "My coach and team always said 'only go to tour-

naments when you are prepared to go all the way'.

"I can compete - but I don't want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time.

"The memory of last year's Open is one that I will carry with me, and Olympia and I look forward to coming back again."

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said: "I've been in constant contact with Serena and her team and know this is why she has pushed it and pushed it until the 11th hour to make her final decision.

"Serena transcends the sport in the way she approaches all aspects of her life. It was never going to be good enough for her to just compete."

Williams lost an exhibition contest against Jelena Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi on 30 December 2017, in her first match since giving birth in September.

It is the first time since 2011 that Williams has missed the tournament.

O n

Thursday, men's world number 22 Kei Nishikori withdrew because of a wrist injury.

There are also doubts over the fitness of Spanish world number one Rafael Nadal and Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, who won the title in 2014.

Serb Novak Djokovic, a six-time Australian Open champion, may also miss out with an elbow injury.

(BBC Sport)

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

SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

CWI/ Digicel Regional 4-Day Championships 2017-18

Jaguars win 4th straight title Pg 23

…beat Scorpions in low-scoring thriller The Guyana Jaguars have played like true champions winning six of their eight matches so far this season

Pg 23

Wozniacki ends Vickery’s dream run in New Zealand Sachia Vickery

Kares Fitness Challenge

Pg 22

returns March 11 Semonica Duke and Dillon Mahadeo will be top contenders for individual honours come March 11

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

January 7, 2018

Star Times Bollywood:

29-year-old claims Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is his mother Page 14

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Page 4

Inside

Rupununi Petroglyphs: A brief photographic survey

Page 2

Guyana Premier continues to empower Page 3

Page 8

2 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Feature

image can be easier seen.

Unfortunately, decay of these prehistoric artefacts is becoming more rapid and is of great concern to the national heritage.

Weathering is a dominant cause of decay in most cases, whilst in some cases the rock being in a water body poses a challenge for conservation. In contempo-

rary times the greatest challenge however, is the damage caused by persons who have no care for such heritage items.

Fairview (North Rupununi) - The petroglyphs are on the bank of the river (Essequibo) in the Iwokrama reserve. Again, because of the erosion by water, these petroglyphs are becoming less distinct. A number of rocks are marked, one is depicted here.

By Lennox J Hernandez

P

etroglyphs are picture-writing images (pictograms - a pictorial symbol for a word or phrase; or logograms - a sign or character representing a word or phrase) created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading. Petroglyphs are found worldwide and the term is usually used in the context of prehistoric peoples.

Guyana has its own petroglyphs and these are strong evidence of human

presence here as much as 7,000 years ago (our Indigenous peoples). The late Dr Denis Williams (1923-1998) is still our greatest exponent on this subject, culminating in his posthumous publication, “Prehistoric Guiana”.

Williams defined three types of petroglyphs in Guyana: the Enumerative or Aishalton type; the Fish Trap type; and the Timehri type. Later, he discovered what he determined was a sub-type of the Enumerative Type which he named the

Cuneiform Type.

Simply put, the Enumerative Type gives an account of prehistoric events, while the Fish Trap type is associated with a severe drought in South America about 4,000 years ago – this particular petroglyph represents types of fish traps, indicating the type of fish that are found in a nearby pond.

These photographs depict a few of the Rupununi petroglyphs. The markings on the rocks are highlighted with white chalk so the

Aishalton - Because of the shape of the rock itself and the markings made on the surface, this rock is known as the Alligator (the name “Caiman” would be correct).

Rupunau - According to the villagers, the petroglyphs on this rock signify the journey of people by water, similar to the Aishalton rock. It also enumerates the animals which lived in the rivers such as turtles, snakes and fishes. The rock is about 1.7 metres (5 ft 5 ins) high.

Sand Creek - The Petroglyphs are on the bed of the Minisaruwau River, a tributary of the Rupununi River, and are easily seen in the dry season, but not so easily depicted because of erosion over the centuries.

C

acique Accounting College is an ACCA gold approved tuition learning partner (ALP) preparing students for the FIA/CAT and ACCA qualifications. For more than a decade, the College’s well-experienced, dedicated and qualified lecture team has been working to ensure that its students gain the cutting edge in their career development by providing a bridge of direct contact with the world of accounting. As a result, Cacique’s graduates are chartered accountants and accounting support practitioners working in almost every sector of business across Guyana.

A career in accountancy offers you a good salary, global job opportunities, job security, respect and success. To prepare you for these opportunities, Cacique guarantees tuition for all the FIA, CAT and ACCA papers. Over the years, some of Cacique’s lecturers have been awarded the Teaching Excellence Awards by the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants body.

Cacique is also an ACCA Computer Base Exam Centre which allows students the ease of writing their exams in a com-

fortable environment. With its conducive study environment, Cacique provides career guidance, counseling and encourages networking.

Programmes offered include Introductory Certificate in Financial and Management Accounting – ACCA; Intermediate Certificate in Financial and Management Accounting – ACCA; Diploma in Accounting and Business – ACCA; Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business – ACCA; A BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University; ACCA Professional Qualification; Global MBA - ACCA and Oxford Brookes.

If you are desirous of pursuing a career in accountancy for 2018, Cacique Accounting College is right for you. Its new term is commencing this week. To learn all about your path to success, an information session will be held on Wednesday, January 10, 2018 at 5pm. To book your seat, kindly call 227-1180/226-7407or visit Cacique’s office at 161 Pike & Alexander Streets Kitty, Georgetown (opposite Bounty Supermarket).

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine

3

Feature

G

uyana Premier is a young company, but one that is surely making its mark in communities. Led by its mission to empower youths and communities, Guyana Premier believes that “the key to true empowerment is through selfelevation and making the most of one's education at a tender age is essential to this since good buildings are built on strong foundations”.

That belief is what the energetic team at Guyana Premier lives by and is what motivates them to want to give back to society.

In July 2017, the marketing brand held its annual ‘Back to School Drive’, providing supplies to 250 underprivileged children living in rural Guyana. Later in October 2017, it was Guyana Premier who claimed the runner up position in The ScotiaBank Vision Achiever Live Business Pitch Competition.

In December 2017, Guyana Premier reached out once more in keeping with their promise to empower youths and enhance education by hosting their first annual ‘Medical/Dental Outreach and Christmas Cheer’. On December 16, 2017 the team of young entrepreneurs and volunteers journeyed to East Berbice to bring much-needed medical and dental care to the children in specific areas. Also in keeping with

the Christmas season, the children present were treated to a ‘Christmas Cheer’, which involved a packed programme with food and gifts.

The team took to Belvedere Primary School where 70 children were identified as coming from particularly disadvantaged homes in the community and invited to be a part of the day’s activities.

Their families were also allowed to join as a few activities planned were family oriented.

A team of three doctors were present and were able to talk to the children and their parents, after which they were provided with essential medical and dental supplies. In addition to this, the mothers who were present were given the opportunity to learn more about the various forms of cancer and the importance of early screening thanks to the presence of Bibi Sheonarine and the Sar&B Foundation. Free pap smears were also provided to those who were willing to be screened for cervical cancer.

What’s better than learning about your health and how to take care of yourself? Having a little fun while doing it of course, which was exactly what the children were treated to. As soon as they had finished with the doctors, all of the children came together for an afternoon of cheer and merry making.

Children display gifts received from Guyana Premier

Snacks were aplenty and it was evident from the glee in the children’s faces that they were truly grateful. After lunch, there was a brief talent show, and gifts were finally distributed to all of the children present. There was not a sad face in the room that afternoon.

When asked what prompted him and his team to want to give back, chief operations officer of Guyana Premier, Dave Lalltoo said, “It was a promise that we just had to keep and we couldn’t be more pleased.”

A few members of Guyana Premier spreading Christmas cheer last year

The team, consisting of Guyana Premier’s Marketing Executive, Omesh Balmacoon, its Events Coordinator, Yohlanda Kerr and its volunteers, Oslene Bailey, Dr. Joshua Ramah, Dr. Sara Scott, Dr. Afua Alder were all joy on the day as well as they interacted with the parents and children.

The team also expressed much gratitude from a number of businesses without whose support none of the activities would have been possible. These included: ScotiaBank

Guyana, Java Coffee Bar, Branderz Guyana, Shermol Cleaner Services, Hallmark Guyana, C&L Construction Company, The Outdoor Store and Pet Shop, New GPC, Vish Pharmacy and Bibi’s Halal Corner and the Guyana Medical Relief.

In an interview with Sunday Times Magazine, Dave mentioned that for 2018, Guyana Premier will be targeting 1,000 underprivileged children for its ‘Annual Back to School Drive’, which also entails a ‘summer’ workshop for 250 children. The main

aim is to enhance art and craft, while at the same time empowering children to be creative.

“Also another big thing is Guyana Premier will be partnering with Sar & B Nonprofit Foundation and Gicing Hope Foundation to do fundraisers in order to offer free pap smear and cancer screening to Guyanese especially in disadvantaged communities. This will be done continuously,” Dave noted.

For more information, visit Guyana Premier on Facebook.

One of the volunteer doctors works to create a better society via Guyana Premier

4

Sunday Times Magazine

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JANUARY 7, 2018

Feature

M

emories of British Guiana, specifically from 1959 to 1961, are forever cherished in timeless photos by

Philip Llyn-Jones, a contactor from England who came to work here in Guyana. The photos tell of a time when Georgetown was a “Garden

City” and people enjoyed the simplicity of life.

Llyn-Jones’s daughter Pauline Grimshaw generously shares his photos with

Sunday Times Magazine.

In an interview with this publication, Grimshaw recalled that her father worked for a small British

British Guyana Fire Brigade (left) next to Stabroek Market

construction company near London; he was a quantity surveyor. The company he worked for in London was contracted by Sprostons Ltd of Georgetown (she presumes) to help with the aluminium smelter construction, which may have been completed in March 1961.

“We would have arrived approximately two years before that, in 1959. On completion of the work we went back to England where my father spent the rest of his working life. My mum, dad, my younger brother and I came to British Guiana. My father enjoyed the experience of living and working in another country. He had been overseas during World War 2 and he worked in the merchant navy immediately after the war for about two years. He loved the bush and borrowing a Land Rover sometimes at weekends to explore. He also liked the river and the RH Carr,” Grimshaw recollected.

Grimshaw and her family lived at Watooka. She had her first trip on the RH Carr (a British-built steamboat) when she was eight years old. Her father had taken several photos of the steamboat as it worked on the river.

“I was eight years old when we arrived and ten years old when we returned

to England. I went to a Canadian school in Watooka, now part of Linden. We travelled on the RH Carr from Georgetown down to Linden (which we called Mackenzie) as there was no road then,” Grimshaw reminisced.

While in British Guiana, Grimshaw enjoyed travelling on the RH Carr.

Although she cannot remember much about the steamboat, she relies on her father’s photos to help jog her memory.

Reminiscing on life in British Guiana, Grimshaw said she remembers the “tropical flowers, swimming, kiskadee birds, the sun, blue sky, fabulous clouds, the bauxite trains behind our house and the Cannonball trees”.

Grimshaw returned to Guyana with her husband, John, and took many photos of the now derelict RH Carr on the Demerara River in Linden, which have sparked interest overseas to “save and preserve” the vessel.

Philip Llyn-Jones died in 2005 at the age of 85.

Grimshaw remembers her father to be a “keen photographer” who even developed and printed his own photographs (though not while he was in British Guiana).

(Cover photo : Stabroek Market, circa 1950s-1960s)

RH Carr and canoe on the Demerara River, McKenzie

RH Carr midstream

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JANUARY 7, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 5

Feature

Women’s Wednesdays Guyana

W

o m e n ’ s Wednesdays Guyana (WWG) is a weekly web-based broadcast in which conversations surrounding the experiences of women are done. The conversations often bridge the gaps between race, class, gender, and sexuality and how they all relate to the Guyanese experience.

WWG was born out of the formation of a Caribbean alliance of activists. This alliance came about following the Life in Leggings Regional Caribbean March. WWG’s host, Akola Thompson, was the organiser for the Guyanese leg. Guyana participated in this march along with eight other Caribbean countries united in the fight against sexual harass-

A

ment and violence. Out of the alliances formed, activists from across the Caribbean began collaboration with each other and sought sustainable ways to do their civil society work.

Bahamian rights activist, Alicia Wallace last year began a monthlybased broadcast called ‘Women's Wednesdays Bahamas’.

Recognising the importance and need of such platforms in Guyana, Akola contacted Alicia and shortly after began the creation of ‘Women's Wednesdays Guyana’.

Currently, WWG is streamed live from its Facebook page. The reason for having a live programme, according to Akola, is so that viewers are able to ask ques-

t a time when many cultural forces continue to stand in the way of women pursuing careers in the science and technology fields, Dr. Shabana Amanda Ali is proving to be a great role model for young female scientists.

A self-professed “multidimensional student of life”, her work speaks volumes of her level of commitment to the field of research science.

After witnessing the decline of her grandmother’s health due to osteoarthritis, Ali decided to dedicate her career to finding a solution for the debilitating disease.

In an interview with Ali

Women's Wednesdays Guyana host Akola Thompson (right) and founder of Equality Bahamas and Women's Wednesdays Bahamas, Alicia Wallace

done by Guyanese Girls Rock, Ali talks about her background, passion for research, and the significant contribution she is making to the STEM field.

Ali said her family moved to Canada from Guyana when she was the age of two. She has since returned to Guyana twice, where she still has relatives and the house where her father was raised.

Currently residing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Ali completed a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Toronto in 2007. She then pursued a PhD in Medical Science, also at the University of Toronto. After completing her PhD in 2014, Ali completed her first Postdoctoral Fellowship at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. She is currently pursuing a second Postdoctoral Fellowship

Dr. Shabana Amanda Ali

tions in real time and have them answered.

However, WWG is currently looking into other more effective ways of streaming and maintaining its programme due to several constraints and glitches within the current working model.

“While we only began our broadcasts in October 2017, the response to it has been exceptional and a bit surprising.

Many are happy to have a platform where they can learn and discuss issues that are too often considered ‘taboo’. So far we've covered several hot-button topics such as gender-based violence, abortion, postpartum depression, rape and sexual health and pleasure.

The topics discussed on Women's Wednesdays are

at the University Health Network in Toronto.

“I am a scientist pursuing research in arthritis, a degenerative disease of the joints that causes pain and disability. My approach to research is unique since I have a background in both basic science (analyzing genetically modified mice) and applied research (conducting interviews with arthritis patients). I have dedicated the past 10 years of my career to discovering the underlying causes and potential treatments for osteoarthritis,” she noted.

Her inspiration behind pursuing her field is due to her passion for knowledge. A career in research has allowed Ali to maintain a persistent quest for knowledge. She is excited to go to work each day knowing she will learn something new, that she is surrounded by extremely talented people, and that her research might improve the care of arthritis patients.

“I chose to focus my research on arthritis because I watched the toll this disease took on my grandmother. Suffering from arthritis for over 40 years now, she has lost much of her function and independence.

Unfortunately there is no cure for osteoarthritis and this truly motivates me to do what I do – improve the way in which arthritis care is delivered in order to prevent others from having to go through what my grandmother goes through daily,” the doctor recalled.

Ali has received multiple awards over the course of her studies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Kirkley Postdoctoral Fellowship in Musculoskeletal Health Research and Innovation in 2015 at Western University. She has also received over $100,000 in competitive awards and scholarship in support of

not meant to be limiting and as such vary widely,” Akola explained in an interview with Sunday Times Magazine.

As an activist and advocate, Akola said her job usually deals with her having to provide information. However, audiences are often limited, so the messages resound in an echo chamber.

Platforms, such as WWG, give activists a direct link to a larger audience.

Akola’s hope is to build WWG into an easily accessible information hub for Guyanese men and women at home and in the diaspora.

For more information, visit Women's Wednesdays Guyana on Facebook.

her research over the past 10 years.

The award-winning scientist’s longterm goal is to have an independent research programme with an interdisciplinary focus on arthritis. She plans to use her unique skillset to bridge gaps between basic science and applied research in order to improve translation of research findings from laboratories and clinics into communities. Ali believes that the breadth of experience she brings to her work, from both her professional and personal life, gives her the capability and motivation to achieve this goal.

In addition to her research, Ali is an active volunteer with the Arthritis Society in Toronto. She also recently authored a scientific article titled: “Evaluating the design and reporting of pragmatic trials in osteoarthritis research, published in Rheumatology, Volume 1, Issue 1”.

Her encouragement to youths is: “I would share with others some truly valuable advice that was once shared with me (by a random older woman sitting at the table beside me in a food court) – don’t be discouraged. When you encounter people (or even your inner voice) telling you that what you’re trying to do can’t be done, use it as motivation to prove them (or yourself) wrong. Work hard, stay focused, and surround yourself with people who inspire you to be your best self. Be positive and collegial with everyone you encounter, because in science as with many careers, your network will help you succeed.”

You can follow Dr. Ali’s journey on twitter @Amandality as she continues to make huge strides in her research to find a cure for osteoarthritis.

For the full interview with Dr. Ali, visit http://guyanesegirlsrock.com

6 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Literary Corner

Preserving our literary heritage by Petamber Persaud

For the Love of Books, Part Two parts of and, by extension, the world’s heritage.

West Indian history and literature” by Frank Birbalsingh

Sister Noel Menezes with her book, 'Guyana and the Wider World' (GINA photo)

Part one of this article featured the following books: ‘The Indentured Servants from Bengal to Bush Lot to Belize’ by Karan Chand, ‘Karma Curry’ by Jerry K. Durbeej, ‘Stories set in two Countries’ by Madan M. Gopal, ‘Red Coconut: Bridging the Racial Divide’

by Habeeb Alli, ‘Junta: The Coup is On’ by Ken Puddicombe and ‘Guyanese Writers of Indian Ancestry’

by Petamber Persaud.

for art and entertainment, stimulating the imagination and improving memory, a source of inspiration, among other usages. And the book has lived up to expectations even in its new forms and formats.

Below are some of the books that crossed my desk during 2017:

We, lovers of literature, can say goodbye to 2017 – the year marking the centennial end to indentureship and the second year of International Decade for People of African Descent with satisfaction, knowing that some of the books published in this year will follow us into 2018 while others will stay with us decades beyond.

From its inception, the book was treated with respect, even with awe, for man valued the book very highly with regards to its potential as a tool of education and instruction, as a repository for storage and retrieval of information, as a custodian of traditions and languages, as a forum

This book contains 43 aspects of European/Guyanese heritage showcasing the influence on and contribution to the country via the Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French and British through specialist scholarships on architecture, language, religion, foods and beverages, discovery and exploration, flora and fauna, history of wars and colonisation, sugar and slavery and a cursory mention to indentureship.

The book was a collaborative effort among three entities, namely, the European Union, National Trust of Guyana and the Guyana Heritage Society, all of which are deeply involved in the safeguarding particular

Aspects of EuropeanGuyanese Heritage” compiled and edited by the Guyana Heritage Society et al.

This very useful document contains 88 reviews of books by eighty-one authors, of which more than one-third are women writers. The themes explored are wide-ranging with farreaching effects, coming from way back in the past and reaching into the present, including exploitation, incoherence and innovation, psychological mimicry, identity, universal transience, emigration and the diaspora, divisions in race, colour and class, independence and its aftermath.

And the scope of coverage/scholarship extends to numerous countries, all with varying cultural, social issues and political backgrounds, even though all of these countries share a commonality in sugar, slavery, indentureship and colonialism.

Guyana and the Wider World”

by Sister Noel Menezes

This is a collection of articles written and addresses made by Sis. Menezes covering a variety of interests, including education, religion, indigenous issues, Portuguese in Guyana, short histories of educational institutions and a few biographies.

Sr. Menezes is the author of several books including Goodall's “Sketches of Amerindian Tribes”, “British Policy towards the Amerindians in British Guiana, 1803-1873”, “The Amerindians and the Europeans”, “Amerindian Life in Guyana”, “Scenes from the History of the Portuguese in Guyana”, “The Portuguese of Guyana: A Study in Culture and Conflict”.

“The Guyanese Culture - Fusion or Diffusion?”

by Rudy Insanally

This is another insightful scholarship by a career dip-

lomat with panache for languages. The book attempts to trace the evolution of Guyanese culture from the days of colonialism and slavery to the present time.

“National Bibliography of Guyana” by the Ministry of Education/GOG

The “National Bibliography of Guyana” is a very ambitious and commendable production despite a few lapses.

The foreword written

by Ms. Debra Lowe gives a background to the compilation and eventual completion and publication of the current national bibliography. Ms. Lowe writes that the compilation of this national bibliography “has a long history which began on the 9th October 1945 when His Excellency the Governor, Sir Gordon Lethem K. C. M. G. appointed a Committee for the purpose of ‘compiling and publishing a Bibliography of British Guiana’.” Almost five decades later, Dr. James Rose enters the picture during his tenure as Chairman of the National Library and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana making overtures to the National Trust and the Department of Culture to complete the bibliography.

Eventually, the project gained impetus as part of plans for the celebration of Guyana’s Golden Jubilee of Independence when “the idea… was presented to the National Commemoration commission as a marquee Jubilee Project and it was readily embraced”. Subsequently, in 2015 a new committee was formed, leading to the document that is now in the public’s domain.

please telephone 226-0065 of email: oraltradition2002@ yahoo.com What’s happening: Over GYD$1,000,000 in prize money up for grabs in the 2018 issue of The Guyana Annual. New closing date for entries to the various competitions is January 15, 2018. For further information go to The Guyana Annual on Facebook or email: theguyanaannual@gmail.com

“Mahaica Belle Rings”

by Collette Jones-Chin

Although this book is a memoir, set during the 1970s, in Mahaica – a rural village in Guyana – it is written in such a way redirecting our attention to social issues still traumatis-

The Cat, the Rooster and the Young Mouse

A

very young mouse made his first trip out of the hole and into the world. He returned to tell his mother of the wonderful creatures he saw.

"Oh, Mother," said the mouse, "I saw some curious animals.

There was one beautiful animal with fluffy fur and a long winding tail. She made such a tender vibrating noise. I saw another animal, a terrible looking monster. He had raw meat on his head and on his chin that wiggled and shook as he walked. He spread out his sides and cried with such a powerful and frightening wail, that I scurried away in fear, without even talking to the kind beautiful animal.

Mother Mouse smiled, "My dear, that horrible creature was a harmless bird, but that beautiful animal with the fluffy fur was a mouse-eating cat. You are lucky she did not have you for dinner."

Moral of the story: Do not trust outward appearances.

(An Aesop fable)

Notice to Readers

ing and influencing us in the 21st century. Some of those issues include racial animosity and racial harmony, the role of the family, community spirit in action, growing pains, dealing with sickness and death, the influence of superstition, the use of storytelling and folklore, overcoming fear, reaching for the stars - to be precise, parents and guardians steering their charges in that direction.

Responses to this author

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.

Bare Night Without Comfort In a bare night without comfort stood like an infant hearing a drum: Shadows and green grass spinning but clutched at a world without nearing Like dark ball rising from nothing hurling curse at me and full of scorn: Bare night without comfort stood like an infant hearing a drum.

On a Child Killed By a Motor Car Child, a moment of love ago you danced in the eye of the woman who made you. When another moment like the innocent wheat that made the loaf of bread she sent you for in this field of the heart's ploughed land you were threshed!

Poems by Martin Carter

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JANUARY 7, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 7

Feature

Pouring water from the Krishna River B y I ndrawattie N atram

G

rowing up, I had travel to many places in the Caribbean and North America, but one country that has always been captivating to me is India. Colourful and diverse, India is definitely a must-see destination – one I was fortunate enough to cross off on my bucket list.

With a population of approximately 1.3 billion people, this country needs to be experienced with all the senses. The spice-filled air when entering the markets, tasting the myriads of flavours of Indian cuisines or admiring the neat tealeaves filled hillsides, my time in India was truly a magnificent experience.

I was given one of the most golden and prestigious opportunity through the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India 44th Know India Programme.

The programme’s main objective is to familiar-

ise the Indian Diaspora youth, age group 18-30 who have contributed positively to the development of their country, with the land of their ancestors. The programme provides a unique forum for students and young professionals of Indian origin to visit India, share their views, expectations, experiences and to bond with contemporary India.

The 44th Know India Programme saw 40 participants from nine countries, namely Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Mauritius, Myanmar, Guyana, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa and Suriname.

The first and last phase began with participants exploring the capital city, Delhi, by visiting historical monuments, religious locations, universities, NGOs, industrial sites, cultural training institutions, and learning the art of Yoga.

Delhi, which is considered the soul of India, can be easily differentiated from other states due to

its usual hustle and bustle. On arriving in India, the lights of the city were enthralling. My tours included visiting the Jama Mosque – which was built in the 17th century and is known to be one of the largest and wellknown mosques in India.

The mosque is flanked by Red Fort on one side and the old city of Chandni Chowk on the other.

Other interesting places visited were Red Fort, Raj Ghat (which lies on the banks of the River Yamuna), Humayun's tomb, Qutub Minar, India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhavan (The President House), Akashardham Temple, National Museum, Laxminaryan Temple and the Lotus Temple.

One of the locations

I felt more privileged to be at is the Akshardham temple. The architectural design is indescribable.

The Hindu temple complex displayed millennia of traditional Hindu and Indian culture, spirituality and architecture. The Akshardham experience was truly an enlightening journey through India's glorious art, values and contributions to the progress, happiness and harmony of mankind.

Taj Mahal

I then visited Agra, a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Agra was truly inspirational. It is home of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal.

Taj Mahal symboliz-

The India Gate

es the love of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal is adorned with white marble cladded with the finest example of the Mughal architect, a style that combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Indian architectural styles.

Andhra Pradesh

At theTaj Mahal

The second phase of the trip was a visit to Andhra Pradesh, one of the 29 states of India.

There I was able to experience the different cultures in Viyayawada, Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam.

Visiting this state was monumental for me because it is where my ancestors came from and resided. Andhra Pradesh has major cultural landmarks including Triumala Venkateswara Temple, an ornate hilltop shrine to Hindu Vishu.

Its beaches are pristine and the people were hospitable. The team on arrival were greeted to tassa drumming and draped with fresh rose garlands.

My visits also included Telegana, one of the largest states in south India known for its hospitality and multicultural and pluralistic society; Hyderabad, the capital city and the fifth largest city in India; and some wonders such as Char Minar, Faluknama Palace, Chowmahalla Palace, Qutub Shahi Tomb, Golcoda Fort, Warangal Fort and Thousand pillar temple.

With its phenomenal, ancient buildings, history, delectable cuisines, India was an unforgettable experience of a lifetime. Blessed with natural beauty and biological diversity, India has much to offer tourists, students and those who are seeking to connect with their ancestry.

8 Sunday Times Magazine

JANUARY 7, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Travel and Tourism

Aerial view of Saddle Mountain Ranch (Photo from www.bushmasters.com)

L

ocated three hours south of the border town of Lethem, through rivers and remote land, lies Saddle Mountain.

Saddle Mountain is the backdrop to a Guyanese-owned working cattle ranch.

Days at Saddle Mountain Ranch are spent riding horses, rounding up cattle and relaxing while taking in the fresh, sweet air of the savannah. There is also a small creek nearby for a cool dip.

Though there isn't any electricity, phone or mobile coverage, and things are quite baSaddle Mountain Ranch

Breathtaking landscape of Saddle Mountain

sic at the ranch, a small solar-charged battery provides lights in the evening, and a water pump in a well provides running water to the house.

Visitors of the ranch can also climb Saddle Mountain, a tough, but short climb. The view from the top really puts it in perspective how in the middle of nowhere the ranch really is.

For birdwatchers, a trek to the mountain might provide an opportunity to see the fourinch Red Siskin bird.

Saddle Mountain is said to be culturally and spiritually significant to the people living in its vicinity (Photo from mike.teczno.com)

Scenic view of the mountain

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 9

Health

I

f you need an alarm to get up in the morning, you're probably not getting enough sleep. Ditch the alarm clock and make getting enough sleep one of your New Year's resolutions.

Your memory, waistline and even your employer may thank you for it.

Lack of sleep leads to junk food Our brains use sleep time to sort through our experiences. We "clean up" and get rid of information connec-

S

kipping breakfast can set you up for overeating later in the day.

For the new year, strive for a healthy morning meal, on the other hand, can give you energy, satisfy your appetite, and set the stage for smart decisions all day long.

“You want to aim for a breakfast that combines good carbs and fibre with some protein," Erica Giovinazzo, MS, RD, a nutritionist at Clay Health Club and Spa, in New York City tells health.com.

Oatmeal Oats contain beta-glucan, a type of fibre that's been shown to help lower cholesterol when eaten reg-

ularly; it also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, folate, and potassium.

Steel-cut oats, which take about 15 minutes to cook, contain more fibre than rolled oats or instant varieties, but any type of oatmeal is a healthy choice.

Just avoid the flavoured kinds, which can be packed with sugar. Instead, sweeten your bowl with milk and a bit of honey, and top with fruit and nuts.

Bananas Bananas are one of the best sources of resistant starch, a healthy carbohydrate that keeps you feeling

tions we don't need from the day just gone.

Getting enough sleep also ensures we are safe to drive on the roads and less likely to make costly mistakes at work and home.

Being awake for longer than 17 hours impairs your ability to think clearly as much as having a blood alcohol concentration above 0.05.

After 24 hours awake, your ability to perform cognitive tasks is as poor as if you had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10.

Getting enough sleep may also be helpful for managing our food intake.

The body's response to eating food changes when sleep is restricted; as little as one week of restricted sleep is associated with glucose (sugar) levels approaching pre-diabetic levels.

fuller longer.

"Slice it up and add it to cereal or oatmeal," Giovinazzo suggests. "It will add natural sweetness, so you may not need additional sugar."

Thanks to a healthy dose of potassium, an electrolyte that helps lower blood pressure naturally, bananas are a particularly good choice for people with hypertension.

morning.

What's less well known is this juicy fruit is among the best sources of lycopene—a nutrient found in red fruits and vegetables that's important for vision, heart health, and cancer prevention.

Best of all, watermelon contains just 40 calories per cup.

Coffee Coffee drinking has been linked to a lower risk of several diseases (such as diabetes and prostate cancer), and it may even help you live longer.

Eggs Once shunned for being high in dietary cholesterol (one yolk contains about 60 per cent of your daily allotment), eggs are now embraced as a healthy source of protein and nutrients like vitamin D.

Research has shown that the cholesterol in our food has less of an impact on blood cholesterol than previously thought.

"If, overall, you're choosing lean proteins and not eating a ton of fat and cholesterol, then eggs are a great thing to have in your diet," says Giovinazzo.

The American Heart Association recommends that people with normal cholesterol limit their cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams per day.

Watermelon Watermelon is an excellent way to hydrate in the

How much sleep do we need?

The American Sleep Foundation recommends adults aged between 18 and 64 get between seven and

Researchers suspect the combination of caffeine and antioxidants are responsible for many of the observed health benefits.

Of course, loading coffee up with cream and sugar may erase any potential benefits. So skip the fancy flavoured drinks, and stick with skim milk.

Tea Tea has a pretty impressive résumé of health benefits.

Because it has less caffeine, it hydrates you more effectively than coffee, and it's also a rich source of the immunity-boosting antioxidants known as catechins.

All tea (black, green, or white) provides antioxidants, but green tea may be healthiest of all.

Research suggests that

nine hours of sleep a night, while older adults should aim for seven to eight hours.

Your ideal sleep duration will be unique to you and fall somewhere within the recommended range. To find out how much sleep you need, try a week-long experiment and modified sleep regime: Cut back on how much you are doing during the week, particularly in the evening, to give yourself time to wind down Put away the technology.

A tech ban in the bedroom might be the best start Create a dark sleeping space Get rid of the alarm clock so your body has the chance to tell you how much sleep you need Keep a week-long diary of your sleep times and daytime energy levels to get a feel for how much sleep feels good the next day You might find you need to sleep longer than usual for the first couple of nights.

But remember, this is an ex-

ercise to work out how sleep can help you feel good rather than a test to see how much sleep you "must" or "can" get as this pressure may not help with sleeping well.

You might feel a little groggy the next morning which is normal, but you should wake up — and get up — when you feel wellrested.

By seeing where you sit on the sleep spectrum, you can work out the bed and wake times that best suit your needs.

ary as other fruit juices, but its high acidity can sometimes contribute to bladder problems besides UTIs so stick with small servings.

Cereal "Cereal can be tricky, because there are so many different kinds out there," Giovinazzo says. "Something with at least 5 grams of fibre and less than 5 grams of sugar is probably your best bet."

You'll find this win-

tein to supply all-day energy, and antioxidants to keep your immune system humming.

Whole-wheat bread Carbohydrates are a breakfast mainstay, but the type of carbs you choose can make a big difference in the overall health of your meal.

The simple rule to remember is that whole wheat and other whole grains— whether they're found in bread, toast, or English muffins—contain more fibre and

ning combo in many wholegrain or bran cereals (such as shredded wheat), which as an added bonus are often fortified with riboflavin, folic acid, and other essential nutrients.Top off your bowl with skim milk and fruit for the complete package: whole grains to fill you up, pro-

nutrients than their white, refined counterparts.

What you put on it matters, as well. "Slathering your toast with butter or jelly just adds empty fat and calories," says Giovinazzo.

"Instead, get some protein by adding an egg or some almond butter."

drinking five cups a day can increase your body's metabolism and help you lose more weight around the middle.

Orange juice Fresh squeezed OJ is a classic morning beverage.

For even more nutritional benefit, you'll want to opt for a store-bought variety that's fortified with vitamin D. Along with fatty fish and fortified milk fortified OJ is one of the few dietary sources of the sunshine vitamin, higher levels of which have been linked to a lower risk

of osteoporosis, depression, and certain cancers.

Stick with one small glass a day, Giovinazzo advises. Fruit juice is high in calories and sugar, she says, and shouldn't replace whole fruit in your diet.

Cranberry juice Cranberry juice, which helps limit bacterial growth, is best known for warding off urinary tract infections (UTIs).

The juice also appears to promote cardiovascular health, and preliminary research in Petri dishes suggests that compounds in cranberries can even increase the effectiveness of certain ovarian cancer drugs.

Cranberry juice—not to be confused with cranberry juice cocktail—isn't as sug-

10 Sunday Times Magazine Fashion

P

antone announced that purple will reign as the colour of the year in 2018 — specifically, the shade Ultra Violet, which comes from the melding of blue and red.

"It’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today," Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, told The New York Times.

A

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JANUARY 7, 2018

Pantone hopes the blue and red can become a more harmonious purple.

"It’s also the most complex of all colours because it takes two shades that are seemingly diametrically opposed — blue and red — and brings them together to create something new," added Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone's executive director.

The announcement

will certainly please Prince fans, who favoured the shade throughout his career.

Pantone honoured "The Purple One" in August with a custom hue called "Love Symbol #2." Prince died in April 2016.

Ultra Violet follows 2017's Pantone colour of the year, Pantone 15-0343, aka "greenery," a spring shade that represented hope

and closeness with nature. which Pantone, dubs itself "the global colour authority," began naming colours of the year starting in the new millennium, searching the world for trending colours in everything from cosmetics to cars.

"We wanted to pick something that brings hope and an uplifting message,'' Eiseman told The Times.

colour that stands for hope, discovery, limitlessness, and reflection, we’re ready to display ultra violet (purple) throughout 2018. Here are a few ways to incorporate into your wardrobe.

For guys, the easiest way to wear purple is to use it sparingly as an accent – wearing it head-totoe just screams Batman villain. It teams extremely well with beige, grey and shades of blue, from sky and duck egg to cobalt and teal.

Colour pairing guidelines for guys: Similar colours (easiest to pair): blue violets and mauves.

Contrasting colours (harder to pair): reds and greens.

Complementary colours (hardest to pair): yellows.

Recommended: navy, grey, white and beige.

Bored of the trousers you wear to work every other day? These purple paperbag pants are just perfect.

Tassel earrings were a huge accessories trend in 2017, and their popularity shows no sign of fading for 2018 (especially if in they're in ultra violet).

Embellished with shimmering gold, bronze, and silver sequins that create a leaf motif, let this satin pouch swing from the sleeve of an evening gown.

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 11

Home & Cooking

Recipe of the week

Ingredients: 1 lb ground chicken 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 egg, whisked 3 tbsps unseasoned whole-wheat bread crumbs 2 tsps Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp hot paprika

1 tsp onion powder 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves, about 5 sprigs 1 tsp brown sugar 1 lemon, zested Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tbsp unsalted butter 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Home Trends to Say Goodbye to in 2018

Open shelves are perhaps one of the most impractical trends yet. Who has that many beautiful, colour-coordinated dishes to display? Who is dusting around all those jars, tumblers and artfully stacked bowls? What about sticky kitchen grease that accumulates on everything? Though these shelves give an open and airy feeling to your kitchen, glass cabinet doors are better alternatives for displaying lovely kitchen items.

Method: In a large bowl, gently mix the chicken, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, Worcestershire, paprika, onion powder, thyme, brown sugar, lemon zest, 2 healthy pinches of salt and a few grinds of pepper in a bowl.

Form into mini meatballs, slightly smaller than a golf ball; it should make 28 to 30 meatballs.

Warm the butter and oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Transfer the meatballs to the pan and do not disturb for 3 minutes to brown well.

Turn, cooking another 3 minutes without disturbing. Keep cooking until browned and cooked on all sides, but still juicy and plump with a spring to the touch.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Serve atop Collard Green Pesto Linguine, if desired.

White walls are super versatile, but they just look too stark. Try instead deep, colours that make spaces look inviting and cozy.

Greatest Cooking Tips Add oil, vinegar, herbs and spices to the dregs of a mayo jar and shake.

You'll get instant creamy salad dressing and the jar will be clean so you can recycle it.

Every time you open the door, warm air floods into your fridge. If there’s a lot of empty space, that air hangs out for a while, giving food-spoiling bacteria a chance to take hold. Fill that empty space with containers of water to avoid wild temperature swings. You’ll also save energy because your fridge won’t have to work so hard to maintain the ideal temperature of 35 - 38 degrees F. Hide garlic and onions in holey paper bags. They’ll stay fresh for at least two months without moulding.

There's no need to fill your entire house with plants. Unless you're a super plant parent, ain't nobody got time for that.

Home Help

Use a shoe organiser to store your cleaners. In your laundry room, just hang a shoe organiser on the door and store all your cleaners in the pockets for an organised look.

If someone vomits on your sofa, don’t panic. Make a paste of baking soda and water, and take a spatula or spoon, generously spreading it onto the affected area (be sure to hold your breath or you might vomit too). Let it dry overnight and you’ll be able to easily vacuum or wipe the whole thing up. Also works for urine and carpets.

Use apple peels to remove stains from your aluminium pots and pans.

Use baby oil to polish stainless steel. It's natural and inexpensive.

Just because you like houseplants and textural fabrics does not mean you have to go completely boho in your home. Instead, blend aesthetics in a way that feels personal and timeless.

12 Sunday Times Magazine

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JANUARY 7, 2018

Puzzles

Crossword

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ACROSS Elvis' hometown Rose-petal oil Postgame discussion Peril Thrilled to the max Pry open Luau greeting Kassel's river Stock feeder Happy-go-lucky (3 wds.)

Lox purveyor Diet target Filled with fizz "-- No Way to Treat a Lady" Alloy components "En garde" weapon In judge's garb Portico Discounts Chill out Hirt and Gore Airport arrivals It may be scarlet Drizzling Sluggish Quick with a quip Be able to DJ's supply Geologic formation Tearooms Screenwriter James -Whizzes Chair's mallet Switch positions Blackhawk rival Tijuana kid Foreign film ender Hires a lawyer Fence stake Duds Garden green Ringo or Bart Brick worker Freud, to himself Await judgment Branch, often "Ugh!" Upper-left key Makes public Steamers' routes Enjoy a hot tub -- Nui (Easter Island) Motto Throng Length measure Bird or person Diver's hazard Marquette's title Make waterproof Persuading Gorbachev's domain Wassailer's tune Cab driver Vocalist -- Sumac Onetime telecom giant Be apprehensive

101 Prowl

102 High mountains

104 Royal emblems

107 Zoo enclosure

108 Ms. Zadora

109 Clean the slate

113 Sends again

114 Periscope sites

115 Formation flier

117 By word of mouth

118 Disentangle, in football

119 Farm unit 120 Hollered

122 Belly dance lute

123 Fritz's possessive

124 Black-eyed Susans

127 Public esteem

129 Hideous monster

130 Carnivore's delight (hyph.)

131 Committee

132 Van Gogh painting

133 Grass stalk 134 Tendon

135 Contest submission

136 Hemingway or Borgnine

DOWN

1 Hold your horses?

2 Not ready

3 Drive forward

4 -- de cologne

5 Links org.

6 Last box to check

7 Genially

8 Viennese desserts 9 Cornered

10 Zipped through

11 1930s util. program

12 Contacts a ship

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13 Helen, in Spanish

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14 Film, as of dust

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15 Sighs of relief

63 16 Installments

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17 Kind of sale (2 wds.)

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18 Form a thought 67 19 Merchant

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20 -- Kringle (var.)

70 27 Well-groomed 71

31 Chestnuts and bays

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34 Auction site

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36 Listener's need 75

38 "Blume in Love" lead

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39 Loan figures

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41 Craft knife (hyph.)

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43 Feliciano or Ferrer

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44 Squabbles

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46 Passports, etc.

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47 Name in jeans

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48 Thin cookie

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49 Dry-climate plants

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50 Impromptu (2 wds.)

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51 Close friends?

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53 Rider's handhold

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54 Trial venue

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55 Younger Guthrie of folk music

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56 Tailless pet (2 wds.)

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57 Drei minus zwei

Maze

U.K. part Mac rivals Apply gold leaf Wingding Groupies Lip, slangily Cram Razor-sharp Walkman brand Dactyl Middle Ages quaff Request earnestly Fray Susannah of films Devoted, as time Mooch Lab medium Director Mervyn -Polio vaccine inventor Fix, as an election Dallas sch.

-- Alamos Catcher under Stengel "Ick!" Car pedal Helen of Troy's lover Puffs along Bern's river

94 Ms. Thurman 96 Gathers

98 Baker's buy

100 Lament loudly

101 Brand name

102 Sanctimoniously

103 Bygone B'way notice

104 Break a promise 105 Realm

106 Made up time

107 Teen deadline

108 More hard up

110 Wake up

111 112 113 114 115 116 119 120 121 125 126 128

Browns lightly Heir, often Unfounded report Movie part 1814 treaty site A bit creepy Unknown auth.

Long-necked bird Earl -- Biggers "Shogun" apparel Unbar, in poetry Lapel ornament See Solution on Pg 13

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY'S WORD -- MEDICATED (MEDICATED: MED-ih-kateed: Treated with medicine.)

Average mark 50 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 67 or more words in MEDICATED? mace made maid mate mead meat media mediate medic meet mete mica mice mite edema edict edit emetic emit dace dame date dead

decade deceit decide decimate dedicate deed deem deet deice demit diadem dice didact died diet dime iced idea ideate item caddie cadet came

cede cite aced acid acme acted addict adit admit aide aided aimed amice amid tame team teed teem tide tied time

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.

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 13

Tech

Mark Zuckerberg says fixing Facebook is his ‘personal challenge’ for 2018

M

ark Zuckerberg says that Facebook has “a lot of work to do” when it comes to harassment, election interference, and making sure that it’s a meaningful platform to be on. So he’s making it his “personal challenge” for 2018 to “focus on fixing these important issues,” the Facebook co-founder and CEO wrote on his own Facebook page early Thursday.

Zuckerberg has given himself a personal challenge every year since 2009, but they’re usually more along the lines of “meet new people” or “read more books.” This year’s challenge comes from a very different place — and carries more of the gravity that’s expected from the top executive of such an influential company.

Facebook has grown more willing to accept its role as a central distributor of information over the past year, though this acceptance has come in phases; and Zuckerberg’s announcement today suggests the company is increasingly ready to address its many shortcomings in that role.

“We won’t prevent all mistakes or abuse, but we currently make too many errors enforcing our policies and preventing misuse of our tools,” Zuckerberg writes. “If we’re successful this year then we’ll end 2018 on a

much better trajectory.”

This is an important point for Zuckerberg to acknowledge. While Facebook often approaches issues like harassment with good intentions, they frequently go awry when its guidelines are misapplied — banning people who shouldn’t be banned, or allowing people to stay who are clearly acting inappropriately. It’s clear this is a systemic issue.

Facebook isn’t immediately announcing any changes to the product itself, but Zuckerberg acknowledges the company’s problems with more bluntness than he has used to date. He even points out the growing distrust of major tech companies and the immense power companies like Facebook have gained.

“A lot of us got into technology because we believe it can be a decentralizing force that puts more power in people’s hands ...

With the rise of a small number of big tech companies — and governments using technology to watch their citizens — many people now believe technology only centralizes power rather than decentralizes it,” he writes.

Zuckerberg says encryption and cryptocurrency are two “important counter-trends” that put power back in people’s hands. He writes that he’s interested in studying their impact and “how best to use them in our services.” This probably doesn’t mean that a FaceCoin ICO will launch in 2018, but don’t count it out either.

Much of this sounds like musing on Zuckerberg’s part. It’s impossible to imagine Facebook giving up its immensely profitable role as the central hub for online communication in favor of some idealistic, decentralized network out of its control, but Zuckerberg’s acknowledgement of the fears and concerns of his users is at least a foundation on which it can hopefully start to address those problems with more vigor. (The Verge)

Apple confirms all Mac and iOS devices are affected by Meltdown and Spectre bugs

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pple confirmed on Thursday that all Mac and iOS devices are affected by the Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws that have roiled the computing industry for the past 24 hours, resulting in a race to patch operating systems and cloud computing infrastructure at the highest levels. “‘All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected, but there are no known exploits impacting customers at this time,” the company writes in a blog post. “Since exploiting many of these issues requires a malicious app to

Fitbit invests in small patch to track blood sugar for diabetics

F

itbit has made its first-ever start-up investment, putting more than US$6 million into an enterprise called Sano, which is developing a coin-sized patch that tracks blood sugar levels to help control diabetes.

Building blood-sugar tracking into a future device could dramatically increase the market for Fitbit devices since more than 100 million Americans are now living with diabetes or pre-diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fitbit has recently suffered declining sales: It sold 3.6 million devices in the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from 5.3 million a year earlier.

Apple is known to have a research team working on a noninvasive glucose reader, as CNBC first reported in April. The New York Times in December reported that the

J

be loaded on your Mac or iOS device, we recommend downloading software only from trusted sources such as

Crossword Solution

the App Store.”

Apple was one of the last remaining holdouts to speak up about Meltdown and Spectre, although it was already widely believed Apple devices were affected due to the company’s use of components from chip manufactures like Intel and ARM. Apple says that it has already mitigated some of the potential negative consequences of Meltdown, which is the Intel-specific exploit, with patches to iOS (11.2), macOS (10.13.2), and tvOS (11.2).

The company says it plans to issue patches for Safari on macOS and iOS to better help devices defend against Spectre, which is more easily exploitable and affects devices using chips from Intel, AMD, and ARM. Apple Watch devices are not affected by Meltdown in any way, the company confirms.

(The Verge)

ohnson & Johnson-owned Neutrogena knows you buy a lot of its skincare products – it’s the number one facial skincare brand in the US, and at least $1 billion of J&J’s quarterly sales came from its beauty segment in the third quarter reported last fall. Now it wants you to buy even more Neutrogena, with the help of a skinscanning gadget and app.

The company announced recently a hardware product called SkinScanner that attaches to the upper portion of a smartphone and, using a combo of sensors, is supposed to give users the kind of magnified image of their facial skin that you usually see in before-and-after pics in ads. The scanner wirelessly syncs up with a mobile app, called Skin360, which will show a person’s skin health over time and suggest they improve their skin.

With Neutrogena products, naturally.

The Neutrogena SkinScanner will be formally unveiled next week at the annual CES in Las Vegas. It’s the latest in a series of connected beauty products that have been shown off at CES in recent years; and is part of a larger attempt by traditional consumer product goods companies to adopt digital strategies that appeal to younger, tech-savvy customers.

It’s also the latest in a series of beauty products that promises self-betterment through a Bluetooth attachment to a specific brand.

The SkinScanner product was made in

Fitbit CEO James Park

project was authorized by late Apple CEO Steve Jobs while embroiled in a personal battle with diabetes, and current CEO Tim Cook has been seen testing a personal glucose monitor.

The Apple Watch is Fitbit's most formidable competitor.

Fitbit CEO James Park confirmed the Sano deal this week to CNBC. The investment is part of a larger financing round that Sano expects to close in coming months.

"This fits into our strategy of looking beyond the device and thinking more about (health) solutions," said Park. "I think the complete solution comes in the form of having some monitoring solution that is coupled with a display, and a wearable that can give you the interventions at the right moment," he said. (Excerpted from CNBC)

partnership with a New York-based company called Fitskin. It’s a tool that slides onto the top of your iPhone and uses 12 LED lights and a 30x magnification lens to capture an up-close image of your skin. It also has a moisture sensor, around the rim of the lens. You open the app, press the device right onto your face, and take a series of images. Glamour shots these are not: these are close-up readings of your skin’s moisture levels, wrinkles, and pore size.

Using machine learning, the app compares your skin to other users in your age range. It then assigns a score, up to 100, for each of these three categories. Below that, the app shows a blue “Improve” button, which leads you to a Neutrogena store. This is where that nudge happens; it might suggest, for example, that you use a Neutrogena sunscreen, or cleanser, or a product with retinol or hyaluronic acid.

Right now the SkinScanner is entirely focused on aesthetics. It won’t attempt to treat acne, or detect signs of melanoma, which would require Johnson & Johnson to get FDA approval of the device. SkinScanner also only works on iPhones, and for now, will only point users towards Neutrogena products, though at some point it may expand to include products from some of Johnson & Johnson’s 19 other beauty brands.

The Neutrogena SkinScanner will start shipping in the US later this year and will cost US$50.

14 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Bollywood/Hollywood

T

here's always a certain curiosity that surrounds Bollywood's

kids.

How they look, what they wear, where they party, paparazzi are always on the lookout to catch a glimpse of them.

Thanks to them and the internet, Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan's daughter Aaradhya is no stranger to the world.

But now a 29-year old man from Andhra Pradesh has claimed that Aaradhya isn't the only child of Aishwarya.

Sangeeth Kumar, in his bizarre claim, says he was born to Aishwarya six years before she bagged the Miss World crown in 1994.

"I was born to her by IVF in London in 1988. I was brought up in Chodavaram from age three to 27. I was with my grandmother Brinda Krishnaraj Rai's family at the age of one and two in Mumbai. My grandfather Krishnaraj Rai died in April 2017, and my uncle's name in Aditya Rai,” Sangeet told media.

Hailing from Vishakhapatnam, Kumar

said that he was born in 1988 in London through IVF and was allegedly raised for two years by Aishwarya's parents Vrinda Rai and Krishnaraj Rai. With no documents to prove his bizarre claims (because according to him his relatives destroyed them all), Kumar goes on to say that Aishwarya and Abhishek have separated and now his "mother" lives separately.

"My mother got married in 2007 with Abhishek Bachchan and she is separated, living alone. I want my mom to come and live with me in Mangaluru. It’s already 27 years since I separated from my family, I miss her a lot.

"I’m getting enormous headache and anger at my native place, most of my relatives have manipulated things since childhood, otherwise I would have come back to my mother before itself with clear information.

Due to lack of information, I could not come to my mother, so now I got all clarity," he concluded. (Yahoo)

Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna featured together on magazine cover

T

he power couple of Bollywood - superstar Akshay Kumar and actress Twinkle Khanna - have raised the temperatures with their latest photoshoot for Hello Magazine. The magazine shared the cover of their latest issue on their official Instagram page.

Akshay Kumar was seen wearing a grey turtleneck while Twinkle Khanna gazed into his eyes and was seen wearing a simple black top.

The issue talks about “New Beginnings: Twinkle and Akshay” on their latest project and their passion to create a change.

Twinkle recently celebrated her 43rd birthday. Meanwhile, on the work front, Akshay Kumar is all set with his biggest release this year – “Padman”, hitting the theatres on January 26.

Directed by R Balki and produced by Twinkle Khanna, “Padman” is based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who brought a revolution by introducing a lowcost sanitary napkin machine for rural women who do not have access to menstrual hy-

A

giene products.

The movie also stars Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor. (Hindustan Times)

fter a record-breaking track in India, the talented Aamir Khan’s “Dangal” continues to prosper in China too. It’s the first film to garner overseas collections at parity with domestic markets and in fact, has been one of the most successful and biggest hits in China.

The film stars Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra and Zaira Wasim.

According to reports the blockbuster-hit flick ranked number one in an annual survey conducted by the IMDB in China.

The Aamir Khan-starrer not only witnessed an exceptional theatrical run in India and China, but also did amazingly well in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan and many other countries.

The movie was released on December 23, 2016. It was directed by Nitesh Tiwari, and is based on the life of Indian wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat. The movie revolves around how Phogat trains his daughters Geeta and Babita to become the world-class wrestlers. (The Express Tribune)

M

argot Robbie's portrayal of Harley Quinn in David Ayer's "Suicide Squad" was met with praises, and she has continuously gushed over taking on the role of the pig-tailed villainess.

However, the Aussie actress apparently has one regret about playing the character, as she told The Hollywood Reporter that she received death threats following the release of the film in 2016.

"You're about to be in a comic book film; now here's the worst-case scenario of how big and scary it can get," she said. "There's just all this stuff you learn along

the way, like, when you get those death threats, it's [smart] to have a security team do a background check on whoever sent them to see if there is any past history of violence because you'll need to know whether you need security to go to certain events."

"And every time you do a background check, it's going to cost $2000," the 27-yearold actress and producer told the publication, before adding, "so take that into consideration when you're getting yourself into this."

"And it's like, 'OK, that's a different kind of career,'" Robbie said. "Because then

you need to always do a job that can financially support that lifestyle; you can't just do indie films for the rest of your life because that film back there changed everything and now you have to be able to afford security," she explained. "I just wish someone had explained a lot of those things to me early on. I wouldn't have resented the position I found myself in because I would've known what I was getting myself into."

Of playing Harley Quinn, Robbie said, "I didn't get enough of her!" She gushed, "I was like, 'I need to keep playing her!' I love her so much."

Robbie is set to reprise the role of the baseball batwielding antihero in "Suicide Squad 2" and two other films, an untitled Joker and Harley Quinn project and "Gotham City Sirens". The actress recently revealed that she's also developing a completely new Harley Quinn movie that's separate from the three mentioned movies. (AceShowbiz)

N

ick Cannon recently announced that he and Chris Brown will star in an upcoming women's basketball film titled “She Ball”, which Cannon is also set to write and direct.

Twitter immediately pointed out the irony of the male stars headline a supposedly pro-female film, and dragged Cannon in particular for casting Brown, who has a history of domestic violence against his girlfriends.

Now, Cannon is doubling down in response to the anger, and it's clear this movie is off to a bad start.

Upon learning of Chris Brown's involvement in the film, many have taken to social media to express their disapproval of Cannon's choice, referencing Brown's past confirmed domestic violence case with ex Rihanna

as the reasoning for him being undeserving of the role.

TMZ has since caught up with the comedian at LAX where he openly defended the singer and stressed that he believes there is a double standard with Black men and the media.

"What about Sean Penn?

They ever hate on his past?" he asked the paparazzo.

Here, Cannon is referenc-

ing the long-running accusations made against actor Sean Penn where he reportedly attacked his ex-wife, Madonna, with a baseball bat in 1987. She has since denied the accusations. "[There's] definitely a double standard," he continued. "They want to turn a Black man into a monster anytime they can." (BET)

‘Game Of Thrones’ final season confirmed for 2019

A

fter months of speculation, HBO has finally confirmed that the last season of “Game Of Thrones” won’t be airing until 2019.

Although it had been thought the series would take a year off from the airwaves this year, it hadn’t officially been confirmed by the network. However they’ve now officially announced that it’ll be 2019 for the eighth and final season, which is only six episodes long. They also confirmed that David Benioff and DB Weiss will be among directors for the forthcoming series, along with David Nutter and Miguel Sapochnik. Season 8 writers, meanwhile, will be Benioff, Weiss, Bryan Cogman and Dave Hill.

Ben Crompton, who plays Night’s Watch brother Eddison Tollett in the HBO series, is cur-

rently filming the eighth season and revealed how there’s still a fair amount of shooting left on the project. Speaking to Metro.co.uk, Ben said: ‘We’re currently filming. I think the shoot goes on probably till next year. ‘Even though there’s only six episodes, there’s a lot to shoot because it’s the last one. We’re going out with a bang.’

(Metro)

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Sunday Times Magazine 15

16 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

JANUARY 7, 2018

Fun Times

Archie

ARIES Don't limit what you can (March 21- do. Look for alternative ways April 19) to combat any obstacle you face. Intelligence will win in the end. Think, strategize and come up with a game plan.

Share your interests with TAURUS someone special. Stick to (April 20- a set budget to avoid feelMay 20) ing stressed out at the end of the day. A gathering with friends or relatives will be informative.

GEMINI (May 28June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Dilbert

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Refuse to let anyone stand in your way. Consider the source of any suggestions offered to you. Be kind, but don't give in to emotional manipulation. Use intelligence to fight back.

Be careful not to sign up for too much. Temper your emotions and listen to the advice given you. Taking what's done or said the wrong way will cause uncertainty and confusion.

Look inward and question your motives and even your goals. Focusing on personal growth while taking a closer look at what is and isn't possible will help determine your next move.

Don't overspend on home improvements. Get additional quotes if you don't like the estimate that someone gives you. Take control of your finances and live within your means.

LIBRA Make changes at home (Sept. 23- that will suit your needs and Oct. 23) help you achieve your dreams.

Preparation and organization will help you overcome any obstacles that stand in your way.

Peanuts

Participate in events that SCORPIO will improve your environ(Oct. 24- ment or help a cause you beNov. 22) lieve in. Your intuitive input will make a difference and change the way you help others in the future.

Give your professional SAGITTARIUS and financial progress a close (Nov. 23look.

Consider if you are doDec. 21) ing what makes you happy or if advancement is possible.

Assess your affairs and make changes.

CAPRICORN Don't give in to persuasion (Dec. 22- or emotional tactics. You can Jan. 19) only do so much without damaging your mental, physical and financial health.

Calvin and Hobbes AQUARIUS Being a good listener will (Jan. 20- help you get a better hanFeb. 19) dle on what's required or expected of you to improve a stressful situation. Be open to suggestions.

PISCES Be willing to listen to sage (Feb. 20- advice from someone older or Mar. 20) more experienced. Home and personal improvements are encouraged. Review pending financial, medical and legal matters.