Guyanatimes international june 29 2018

‘The hunger is there to win the title’, says Warriors’ Rayad Emrit Page 51

INTERNATIONAL THE BEACON OF TRUTH

‘I worked really hard’

for FRee distribution guyanatimesinternational.com

You can also read Guyana Times daily edition online at www.guyanatimesgy.com WEEK ENDING JULY 1, 2018

ISSUE NO. 404

…says Guyana’s top Grade Six student See story on page 8

An ecstatic Nalia Rahaman, along with her parents, were in celebrations mood after the results were announced naming her as Guyana’s top NGSA student with 529 marks

‘I will continue to Guyanese lead struggle for terror a better life for all convict Guyanese’ – Jagdeo Page 8

Page 5

…says party’s democratic system of electing presidential candidate will not change

dies in US prison

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NEWS 3

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Sovereignty of the people case

CCJ overturns Guyana’s Court of Appeal decision

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he Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Tuesday ruled 6-1 in the Attorney General v Cedric Richardson case, holding that the presidential term limit in Guyana is constitutional.

The Court overturned the decision of the Guyana High Court and the Guyana Court of Appeal, which had ruled that amendments to the Guyana Constitution, which essentially limits the number of times a person could be elected President of Guyana were improperly done.

All seven Judges of the CCJ heard the appeal. The majority decision was delivered by separate judgements

from CCJ President, Sir Dennis Byron; Justice Adrian Saunders; and Justice Jacob Wit. On the other hand, Justice Winston Anderson offered a dissenting judgement.

Challenge Cedric Richardson had originally challenged the amendment on the basis that he should have the right to choose whomsoever he wanted to be President.

He also stated that the amendment disqualified Jagdeo, who had previously served two terms as President, from running for office in upcoming elections.

Richardson argued that the amendment was inconsistent with his rights under

CCJ President Sir Dennis Byron

Articles 1 and 9 of the Constitution, which declared that Guyana was

a “sovereign democratic state”. He said that in order for the National

Assembly to amend the Constitution, the amendment had to be supported by a majority vote in a referendum. He said that no referendum was held before the amendment in 2000 and therefore the amendment was unconstitutional.

He had noted in his challenge that with the changes, then voters of Guyana would have a choice of four classes of persons that were barred by Act 17 of 2001.

Amended Article 90 had specified that (A) only a citizen by birth or parentage can qualify to be the President; (B) a person must be residing in Guyana on the date of nomination for election; (C) a person must have been a resident for

seven years immediately before that date, and (D) citizens of Guyana who have served for two terms as President were barred from re-election.

In the ruling on Tuesday, the majority’s view was that Articles 1 and 9 of the Guyana Constitution did not confer on citizens an unlimited right to choose the Head of State. The Court vindicated that democratic governance allowed for reasonable qualifications for eligibility to be a member of the National Assembly and hence to be President.

This was supported by objective, international standards of what a democratic state entails. turn to page 5

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INTERNATIONAL To contact: Guyana Times International

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EDITORIAL

Concerns over Govt extravagance

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here have been, and continue to be, serious concerns over national spending since the APNU/AFC Government took office in 2015. While the D’Urban Park and the Sussex Street controversies may have come to epitomise these concerns, what continues to be revealed is equally alarming.

Just recently, it was disclosed that Special Prosecutors are receiving some G$20,000 per hour for services rendered and a G$2 million retainer against fees and costs.

This is not suggesting that legal skills must not be adequately compensated.

However, in the current circumstances it would be difficult not to question the amounts offered. This is against the backdrop of a contracting economy which has forced growth projections to be downgraded on more than one occasion.

That is part of the bigger picture and when specific areas are closely examined, the economic situation appears much direr.

The impact of the closure of sugar estates and the firing of thousands of workers continue to hit hard on many households and by extension, communities across the country. It may be safe to state that Guyanese who are not familiar with life on the sugar belt may not fully grasp the gravity of what continues to unfold there through the forced economic squeeze and its daily worsening.

Much has been said about the ongoing devastation inflicted by the plethora of new taxes which further cripple workers and naturally redound negative effects on the national economy; hence, it is a possible contributing factor for lower growth. Simply put, the nation’s workers have had unnecessary economic burdens foisted upon them resulting in an evaporation of disposable income thereby lowering standards of living and regressing progress.

Local and international trade have also taken a hit, and one of the eventualities is job loss which would further compound a worrying situation.

With a bleak outlook, one would not only ponder on what the future holds, but would also question what precipitated the situation and whether it could have been avoided.

This has to be viewed from what transpired in the beginning of the Government’s tenure. Guyanese were shocked at the seemingly unnecessary expansion of ministerial portfolios and the now infamous 50 per cent increase in salaries for them. The D’Urban Park Project began around the same time with millions eventually ploughed in to accommodate just about two national events annually. It should be noted that all the details of this project are yet to be revealed.

Just recently, it was reported that some G$265 million was spent on rental of the Sussex Street bond, the use of which, reportedly, should have been discontinued some time ago. While reasons have been offered for continuation, validity may pose an issue. Also, it was reported that some G$850,000 has been paid as monthly rental for a property in the city earmarked for the Law Reform Commission, with its latest status being “almost” set up.

While none can argue against the need for advance preparation, in the context of what has unfolded on aspects of Government spending and the questionable situations it triggered, the rental since six months ago for the Law Reform Commission seemed to have delivered another such circumstance.

When all of these, plus the reported exorbitant house rental for some officials, seemingly extravagant international travels and other areas of public funding are taken holistically, questions over whether most of that financial resource could have been channelled to mitigate current austerity measures appear far more relevant.

Had some been made available to help bolster sugar before closure of estates, the harsh economic impact on the fired workers, their families, and the thousands who indirectly depended on the industry could have possibly been avoided.

Extravagance, therefore, becomes the watchword. From all that have occurred, it makes a compelling case with a difficulty in trying to understand the rationale, given current realities. For those who lived in the pre-1992 Guyana it can appear a repetition of history.

During aspects of that period, extravagance seemed routine at the expense of the masses. The downward spiral of the economy, aided by that and some poor policy decisions, was profound. It resulted in economic hardships, a period during which some basic food items were banned.

Currently, while there is no ban on items in a free market economy, many are forced to curtail spending on commodities and services which could have been afforded just a few years back. There will be situations in almost every society, including Guyana, where a section of the populace would be so unable; but that is inherently due to existing poverty. Under the current circumstance, people are being moved from a position of affordability to poverty as a result of some national fiscal policies.

How big a factor extravagance is is yet to be determined. However, one can posit that if sums deemed unnecessarily spent were used differently, then some of the economic challenges could have been mitigated. As borrowing continues seemingly unabated, a worrying end result looms, bringing into focus the adage: the mode of transportation best suited for a particular type of economy.

Sunset at Yurong Paru. The tranquility of this place can be mesmerizing, especially between the golden and blue hours of the day. Yurong Paru is a small Amerindian village located in South Pakaraimas region 9, Guyana. This community is accessible by land. It has a population of approximately 375, whose main source of income comes from agriculture. Their primary products are meat (beef and pork) and cassava. (Photo by Girendra Persaud)

Ensuring accountability in Guyana’s health sector I t was recently reported in the media that a multi-million-dollar fraud was uncovered at the Ministry of Public Health, in connection with the Health Expo which was held from May 30 – June 2 this year. Subject Minister Volda Lawrence herself came out very emphatically on the issue, and indicated a detailed overhaul of her ministry to stamp out what she referred to as “misappropriation of funds and blatant attempts to steal”.

The minister emphatically declared, “Fraud had been ongoing a long time at the Public Health Ministry…and some parts of the ministry’s train have been derailed”. Minister Lawrence then boldly declared: “The madness has to stop. I will not compromise the issue of accountability within the public health sector”.

The minister should be applauded for grappling with this reality, since the quality of the ministry’s service to the public and her own success as a minister revolve upon running an efficient and clean ministry, where there will be no theft or misuse of public funds.

Very often, in recent years, whenever issues of corruption arise, ministers tended to be on the defensive, rejecting all criticisms and advice, as most emanated from the opposition party; although, in reality, much of it would have come from citizens who had no affiliation with politics, and would merely have desired to see ministries perform well and achieve their targets. Minister Lawrence seems to be freeing herself from the syndrome of defensiveness, and is taking matters in hand.

The Old Civil Service was known for its incorruptibility, and for its officers to act with transparency and accountability. One of the main reasons for this was that there were the General Orders, and the financial regulations were well laid out and explained in booklets.

Every public servant was ex-

Minister Volda Lawrence

pected to study these booklets which outlined the way administration works and how public funds are accessioned, received and used. The contents of these booklets are still part of the public service procedures, but they are obviously ignored, because, in most cases, they are not known to exist.

When Minister Lawrence cautioned her programme officers, “I am advising you to check what you sign, and ensure it meets the regulatory requirements and it is in keeping with your programmes”, it is quite obvious that those managers were not fully au fait with the financial regulations.

The fraud was uncovered in relation to the hosting of the health expo, but there are other areas of the ministry which need cleansing and strengthening, and these would include procurement, stores, and the public hospitals.

For example, Procurement: the rules affecting tendering and the quality of the goods and services received should be under constant surveillance. Once the rules are followed with full commitment, one would always be successful. If extraneous criteria are introduced into the processes, then this would

open the doors to corruption and ultimate failure.

The Government has a tender procedure whereby orders must be tendered for, and those tendering must be reputable suppliers with proper cold storage facilities etc. This tendering procedure was established to protect Government and prevent public funds from being siphoned away.

However, many believe that this tender procedure is very often being ignored by the officers of the GPHC and the regions.

Now that Minister Lawrence seems to have emerged from the ‘newness’ of ministerial office in relation to the stark realities of administration, she should be helped, once she is committed to acting objectively and strictly according to the rules and regulations. In this process, she may assemble a ‘think tank’ of capable persons irrespective of their political and other affiliations, and let them make recommendations as to how to achieve a health sector of which the nation could be proud. Such a ‘think tank’ would work for no more than three months, and may also consider other health sector matters of national importance, such as national drug security and the specialty hospital.

We had said before that the administrative structures of the health services are fairly good and workable, but they are not being worked by those employed to do so. We believe the time has come for an independent and thorough inquiry to be carried out with the aim of freeing the sector of corrupt and inefficient employees.

Citizens must be able to have confidence in the manner in which the health sector is being managed, hence all efforts must be made to ensure public monies are not fritted away or siphoned off.

NEWS 5

WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Former Guyanese MP and convicted terrorist dies in US prison F

ormer People’s National Congress (PNC) Member of Parliament, Mayor of Linden and convicted international terrorist, Abdul Kadir died at prison in the United States on Thursday morning.

He was in his 60’s and serving a life imprisonment sentence in the North American country.

Kadir served in the Guyana National Assembly from 2001 to 2006 as a Councillor

for Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice.)

Kadir, a chemical engineer by training, was convicted for the 2007 John F Kennedy International Airport attack which was said to be an extremist terrorist plot to blow up a system of jet fuel supply tanks and pipelines that feed fuel to John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in Queens, New York. These pipelines travel throughout the

CCJ overturns Guyana’s ... from page 3

The CCJ also stated that new qualifications can be introduced by valid constitutional amendments and that the National Assembly had the power to amend the Constitution by a vote of at least two-thirds of all members of the Assembly, without having to hold a referendum to decide on this matter.

Justice Winston Anderson, in his dissent, agreed with the Court of Appeal of Guyana that the amendment was unconstitutional.

He claimed that the decision resulted in the exclusion of probably thousands of otherwise eligible Guyanese citizens from being elected as President, without seeking the approval of the people by referendum. He said it was an unacceptable constraint on the sovereignty of the people of Guyana to choose their President as provided for in Articles 1 and 9 of the Constitution of Guyana.

The CCJ examined the historical background of the amendment to the Constitution and in its ruling noted that it was passed unanimously by the National Assembly during Bharrat Jagdeo’s term in office.

The CCJ said it felt that it was clear that the amendment did not emerge from the desire of any political party to manipulate the requirements to run for the office of President. Rather, the Constitution was amended after extensive national consultation and therefore represented a sincere attempt to enhance democracy in Guyana.

Guyana’s Court of Appeal ruled in February 2017 that the constitutional amendments by Parliament to limit the number of times a person

could serve as President were unconstitutional.

During that February decision, then acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh, was supported

by Justice of Appeal BS Roy in upholding then acting Chief Justice Ian Chang’s decision that the amendments were unconstitutional.

The decision which the Appellate Justices upheld signalled that an amendment to the Constitution on presidential term limits, which was enacted when the National Assembly altered Article 90 via a two-thirds vote in 2000, needs a referendum to make a final decision.

This enactment was recommended by an across-the-board Constitutional Reform Committee of 2000/2001.

This Committee received both Government and Opposition input, and the reform received bipartisan support.

Attorney General Williams had appealed the Appeal Court’s landmark ruling in February 2017 that declared that sovereignty resides in the people and not in the Parliament; and as such, certain fundamental clauses in the Constitution that serve to define its substantive nature can be altered only by a referendum of the people.

AG Williams and his colleague, Raphael Trotman, challenged the ruling in the CCJ. The decision to refer the matter to the CCJ was presided over by acting Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards, Appellate Judge Dawn Gregory and then High Court Judge Rishi Persaud.

The appeal was successful.

undergrounds of New York City in densely populated areas.

However, the alleged plot was foiled when an undercover law enforcement official was recruited to the homegrown terrorist cell. The main suspects in the terror plot were identified as Russell Defreitas, a Guyanese born naturialised United States citizen, and native of Guyana, who was suspected to be the alleged ringleader and was employed at the airport.

Kadir was also found guilty along with Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and Abdel Nur, another Guyanese and uncle of

Dead: Abdul Kadir

late former world welterweight boxing champion Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis.

Reports indicated that the Kadirs learnt of the convicted terrorist’s demise by authorities

in the US on Thursday morning. It was disclosed that the former MP was ill for some time and relatives had been informed of his condition. Reports are that he was rushed to a medical facility where succumbed to his aliments. Kadir was said to have nine children and over 15 grandchildren.

Despite Kadir always maintaining his innocence, US court documents had revealed that he was the disciple of Mohsen Rabbani, an Iranian diplomat accused of being one of the masterminds behind the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires.

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WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyanese in the Diaspora must also join the fight

Dear Editor, I refer to a letter written by Mr Vincent Alexander captioned `No basis for Jagdeo to conclude GECOM Chairman has been biased”, which was published on June 14, 2018.

This piece clearly illustrates how well adjusted Mr Alexander has become to defending the systemic injustices being imposed by the ruling “lumpen bourgeoisie” against the people.

This piece from Mr Alexander exposes the process by which four (4) of the seven (7) GECOM Commissioners are prepared to put the “boots on the neck” of the ma-

jority of our people in their quest to perpetuate administrative skullduggery and favouritism in public office. The facts would reveal that, after evaluating the job functions and interviewing the shortlisted applicants, the person with the highest score for Deputy Chief Elections Officer was still denied the role. WHY? First off, all the taxpayers of Guyana are funding GECOM, and therefore this organisation must, in principle, be seen to be serving the entire nation. The team at all times must reflect Guyana in all of its shades and forms.

If one were to look at the top 13 officeholders in GECOM, just like the sitting list of Permanent Secretaries and Regional Executive Officers, one would safely see that, as a collective, none of these groups of public servants reflects the rainbow of talent that constitutes Guyana. This is an excellent case for the ERC and the Ministry of Social Cohesion to investigate.

In 1990, when discussions were being advanced and the system was constructed to restore democracy in Guyana, President Hoyte and the then Leader of the Opposition, Cheddi

Jagan, agreed to the Carter Model as a check and balance system to prevent exactly this situation that is happening today at GECOM. Their vision was that GECOM was going to be an independent agency created by law to conduct and regulate free and fair elections and elections free from fair.

They provided GECOM and its predecessor with jurisdiction over the entire electoral process, and with systems to foster a collection of ethical people at the top, who at all times aimed to preserve its impartiality by fostering a course that was unbi-

ased and dispassionately balanced.

Unfortunately, today under Mr Patterson, this is not the case. In 2018, GECOM comes across as an organisation that is prejudiced and very biased.

So if Mr. Alexander was not stuck in that aloft gang of “pseudo-milquetoast” elites, he would have realised that he holds a view that does not necessarily reconcile to that of the majority.

Irrespective of what they do, if this course is pursued, this nation will, in the end, suffer. That is why the collective fight back must happen now, because unrighteousness

must never be allowed to conquer righteousness, and we must never allow the rulers to walk the nation back to the days of colourful elections as practised by Burnham.

I am therefore calling on Guyanese in the diaspora to internationalise this fight by writing to your Senators, House Members, Members of Parliament and other dignitaries.

The struggle must be taken to a different level.

The facts are there for all to see. Indeed, democracy is in crisis in Guyana today.

Regards, Sasenarine Singh

A blatant disregard for Need to be more proactive in tackling domestic violence taxpayers money by the APNU/AFC Govt

Dear Editor, I am pursuing a doctoral degree with a distinguished university and I struggle financially to pay the tuition and other fees. It is also a challenge to meet the high academic standards set by the university which includes exhaustive and comprehensive research.

According to one of Guyana’s online news sites, Junior Ministers of Education and Public Infrastructure, Nicolette Henry and Annette Ferguson, are currently pursuing studies in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively and have racked up G$3.3 million so far.

Other beneficiaries include former Education Ministry Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam, currently pursuing education policy studies in Jamaica to the tune of G$946,000; and the daughter of the former Education Minister, Alicia Roopnaraine, was listed as a first year psychology student in the UK, with a Guyana Government scholarship valued at G$2.5 million.

Ms Henry has had the audacity to place a “Dr” in front of her name though she has not completed the academic requirements.

Her justification for placing those letters before her name was because, as she claimed, “I am a doctor of scholar… at a Laureate University in the US”. I called the contact number given at that school website (1866-452-8732) and I was directed to a “Walden University.” I inquired how I could become a “doctor of scholar” and the person at the end of

the phone informed me that there is no such entity.

I queried about doing a PhD in public health.

I asked if they would consider an undergraduate degree from another country accompanied with an incomplete Master’s degree from a small, unrecognised college. I could not get a straight answer and was eventually directed to a website that required my details. It became obvious quickly that this appeared to be a sham school after spending hours trying to get straight forward information.

I did a bit of research into this ‘university’ and discovered it is a virtual diploma mill. In other words, if you pay the hefty tuition and other fees, you are virtually slated to get a piece of paper that says “Dr” besides your name. See reviews of the institution at https://www. gradreports.com/colleges/walden-university?stars=1#review-list-header.

Students who attended that institution commented: “The school is unprofessional; they do not reply to emails”; “they are interested only in getting your money,

not educating you”; “they keep you enrolled for many years to take your money” and “the institution is a diploma mill to get a doctorate without doing any work.”

It is a blatant disregard for the taxpayers by the APNU Government – especially in a poor country such as Guyana, to dole out millions of dollars on scholarships to favoured persons connected with the Government.

The situation becomes more asinine considering the dubious nature of the “Laureate University” (Walden) which appears to be a factory to embellish one’s name with “Dr” – and that which comes at a premium price.

Taxpayers need a detailed report of what each scholarship recipient has accomplished academically so far, what projects have been completed, curriculum details, requirements of the institution to gain a doctorate, research undertaken, and the title of the dissertation.

Where are those who assumed the roles as the conscience of Guyana?

Why are they silent on this matter?

Sincerely, Devanand Bhagwan

Dear Editor, As I sit here, I am saddened by the news of another needles life lost because of domestic violence. Almost every news site I visit features the story of the most recent victim. Countless persons continue to express their utter disgust or anger that this problem continues to plague our society.

The most recent incident, which occurred at Limlair Village, Corentyne Coast, East Berbice, was the last straw for me. I now feel compelled not just to speak of the issue, but also offer and highlight simple and practical solutions to this epidemic. I call it an epidemic because it is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in our society, and that is the definition of an epidemic. I believe that what we see being manifested by the actions of some men almost daily is the end result of men dreadfully lacking coping skills and not truly understanding their roles.

If you were to examine all the domestic violence cases that resulted in the demise of women, you would realise that domestic violence is not common only to a particular ethnicity or demographic. Instead, what is common is that, in

every case, the man did not understand his role, and failed to cope with the situation.

Men should have been equipped with this vital information, like so many other teachings they received, from a very young age. While many might argue that this should have been taught in the home, the almost daily heinous and callous acts being committed by men against women tell that this is not happening.

The genesis of this epidemic, like I said, is lack of coping skills and men not knowing their roles. My question therefore is: Why not address this from a tender age?

There is a famous colloquial expression which says “you need to bend the tree while it is still young”. Coping skills and other practical life skills should be incorporated with the other subjects being taught in the school system.

While I am not trying in any way to undermine its importance, research would have shown that, after leaving high school, over 85% of people do not utilise in their everyday living most of the theories they would have learnt in school.

However, 100% of persons leaving high school would

need life skills which, in most cases, they weren’t taught or didn’t learn from home. If teachers can now spend ten to fifteen minutes daily with their students teaching them these skills, I believe this would greatly aid the students as they get older. Ultimately, in time, this would inevitably lend to a reduction in domestic violence and casualties resulting from this epidemic in our society.

Further, to aid the older men, I strongly suggest that Government, more specifically The Ministry of Social Protection, be more proactive in its approach to tackling the problem.

Outreaches and establishment of more counselling centres manned by qualified volunteers, social workers or ministers of religion would provide alternatives.

The above are my thoughts. It is my desire that, even if not implemented, at least my recommendation can start, in regard to this epidemic, a national conversation that leads to steps being taken or put in place to end this dreadful situation.

Domestic violence most stop!!!

Sincerely yours, Shorlan Christian

Guyanese shocked at CCJ’s ruling

Dear Editor, The majority of Guyanese was shocked and demoralised by the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), when a majority decision of the CCJ denied Bharrat Jagdeo a third term presidency.

The ruling by the CCJ indicates that the justice

system in Guyana needs to be urgently fixed since both courts – the High Court and the Court of Appeal – ruled in favour of a third term presidency. The CCJ ruling also indicates that the rights of the Parliament is sovereign over the rights of the people. The erosion of the rights of the people

can lead to a dictatorship.

This ruling, showed that the CCJ is compromised since there is alleged close affiliation of some members of the CCJ and members A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition Government.

Meanwhile, state-

ments made by the Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo that the former President is battling for survival is actually referring to himself for his personal survival in the APNU/AFC coalition Government. Jagdeo is a dynamic leader and could be considered as one of the most success-

ful Presidents in Guyana and must remain at the leadership of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) to ensure supporters remains confident of supporting the PPP to win the 2020 Regional and General Elections.

Sincerely, Zamal Hussain

news 7

WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

GAWU ups fight against Govt over remaining 50% severance …legal challenge filed

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ix months after Government paid out only 50 per cent of severance payment to several categories of sugar workers, the legality of this move is being challenged by the workers’ union – the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers (GAWU) – which is calling on the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to pay all monies owed to its dismissed employees.

In legal documents seen by Guyana Times International on Wednesday, it was observed that the 4283 workers attached to the Skeldon, Rose Hall and the East Demerara Sugar Estates are calling for their full severance payments.

Earlier this year, sugar workers whose severance packages were G$500,000 or less were paid in full under a supplementary budgetary provision of G$1.931 billion in an effort to provide severance packages to the fired workers.

However, workers earning more than that specified amount were paid half of their severance and do date, Government still owes workers the

money. This outstanding payment is at the centre of the civil case.

In the legal documents, it was outlined that the redundant workers were to receive their redundancy allowance/severance payment no later than December 29, 2017, which was in keeping with the letter of Section 21 of the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act (TESPA).

The legal team, which is led by Attorney Anil Nandlall, stated that the over 4000 workers were paid only a portion of their severance payments.

The lawyers highlighted that even while this was ongoing, GuySuCo transferred all of its assets for those three estates under the Finance Minister to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) as per notice published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) of Guyana on December 30, 2017.

Lawyers also observed that GuySuCo has been collateralised as security for a G$30 billion loan that it has or is bor-

rowing from commercial banks. The attorneys are seeking an order from the court to direct the respondents –GuySuCo and NICIL, their officers, servants and agents – to “pay forthwith to the said 4280 employees of GuySuCo – and members of the Applicant, all severance or redundancy payments or allowances due, owing and payable under the provisions of TESPA. They are also seeking costs. The matter comes up for hearing on July 20, 2018, at 13:45h, before Justice Fidella Corbin-Lincoln, at the High Court.

Apart from Nandlall, Manoj Narayan, Sasha S Mahadeo-Narayan, Rajendra Jaigobin and Anuradha Deodasingh are all representing the applicants in this case.

It was in January that People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo announced that his party was ready to fund any legal challenge that sugar workers would bring against Government for their full severance. At that time, he pointed out that separate severance payments are “il-

Man who allegedly stabbed ex-lover to face High Court trial Court: “I’m not a troublesome person; I just got myself into this problem accidentally.”

He was charged for unlawfully and maliciously wounding Loshanna Boyce on April 17, 2018 at D’Urban Street, Lodge with intent to murder her.

Cleveland Williams R e p o r t s are Boyce had l e v e l a n d Williams, a just taken the cou46-year-old fa- ple’s daughter to school ther of one who alleged- when the incident ocly stabbed the moth- curred.

The two were said er of his child, was on Tuesday com-mitted to to be arguing when stand trial at the High Williams whipped out a knife and stabbed the Court.

The D’Urban Street, woman several times.

He, however, deGeorgetown resident nies wilfully stabbing was committed by city Magistrate Judy Boyce, explaining that Latchman after a pri- they were fighting and ma facie case was made ended up in a nearby trench where she was out against him.

Following the deci- accidentally stabbed.

Williams had presion, Williams told the viously taken out a re-

C

straining order after a report of domestic violence.

legal” and called for the Government to follow the law in its entirety.

The issue of 50 per cent severance came in a presidential address to the National Assembly read by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo at the January 10, 2018, sitting of the National Assembly. The coalition Government closed all, but the Albion, Blairmont

and Uitvlugt estates which was not in keeping with a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the industry that recommended no closures. However, Government has long held out that the “re-organising” of the sugar industry was necessary since the billions of taxpayers’ dollars have been expended to aid the ailing sector.

Since the closure of the estates the Government has been heavily criticised for not having a clear direction to steer the terminated workers. In fact, many observers had called for the Administration to conduct social impact studies before such decisions are taken.

(Shemuel Fanfair)

8 news

WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

‘I worked really hard’ – Guyana’s top Grade Six student

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leven-year-old Nalia Rahaman from the Westfield Prep made history in Guyana, having scored 529 out of the possible 530 marks at the 2018 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA). She was awarded a place at Queen’s College in Georgetown.

When Nalia wrote the NGSA back in March, she expected to

do well but never imagined that she would have scored 529 out of 530. Speaking with reporters on Thursday at the NCERD office, where the results were announced, Rahaman was ecstatic when she heard the results, telling reporters that she worked really hard to ensure she was on top of her game. She added that she and her parents had also fasted

and prayed during the Month of Ramadan.

The aspiring author is advising pupils preparing to write NGSA next year or even in the coming years, to work hard and study a lot. She said there will be lots of time to relax and play afterwards.

Meanwhile, her mother, Nabeenah expressed her elation at the news, telling this newspaper that her daughter has always been a consistent top performer throughout her school years thus far.

Mrs Rahaman is encouraging parents with children preparing to write exams to play an active role.

In brief remarks Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry said the improvements witnessed are a direct result of Government’s increased spending among other strategies employed in the education sector.

14,145 candidates sat the examination back in April. Of these, 46 percent gained 50 percent or more in social studies; a 1 percent drop compared to last year. Passes at science remained the same with 46 percent achieving 50 percent or more marks. There was a marked improvement of 60 percent in passes for English compared to 54 percent last year.

Meanwhile, mathematics saw a 7 percent reduction in those gaining 50 percent or more.

Minister Henry said this is a sign that there is need for Government to continue interventions similar to those undertook last year.

Nalia Rahaman - 529 marks

Arthur Roberts 525 marks

Kaydee Ali 524 marks

Esha Lakeram 523 marks

Cianna Barkoye 523 marks

‘I will continue to lead struggle for a better life for all Guyanese’ – Jagdeo …says party’s democratic system of electing presidential candidate will not change

G

eneral Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has clarified that the system by which a Presidential candidate is usually selected by his party will not change.

Addressing media operatives at his Church Street, Georgetown office on Thursday, Jagdeo said that for almost 25 years, the Central Executive Committee of the PPP has selected the candidate but the Congress decides on the list of people who would compete for the candidacy.

“I doubt that will

change for future elections,” he said, explaining that it is a democratic system which allows every nominated person the fair chance to contest for the candidacy.

Jagdeo also addressed concerns of PPP supporters, urging them not to get worried about the future as the party plans to work even harder to ensure that they win the next elections.

“We are not departing the scene. We will be here to keep the party united and strong and make the party victorious,” he added.

Jagdeo, who served

two terms in office as President, was effectively disqualified from serving another term after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Tuesday ruled in favour of the state in the case of the Attorney General of Guyana v Cedric Richardson.

In a statement prior, the Opposition Leader posited that he will “continue to spearhead the Party’s struggle for a better life for all Guyanese, especially the working people, the poor and the under-privileged, for racial and national unity and for victory at the

polls at the next Local Government, Regional and National Elections.”

When he was probed as to who the new candidate for presidency would be at a press briefing on Tuesday last, Jagdeo did not get into specifics but outlined that the candidate should be “hard working,” have “management skills” and be “courageous.”

Since then young attorney-at-law and PPP member Charles Ramson Jr has publicly expressed his desire to become a presidential candidate for the party.

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo

NEWS 9

WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Berbice man found hanging from tree

Guyana, Norway meet over forest, climate partnership agreement

…days after setting house on fire in attempt to kill wife

S

ixty-two-year-old Lionel Thomas, who set the house of his ex-wife on fire in an attempt to kill her, was on Tuesday morning discovered hanging from a dunks tree (also known as a dungs tree) at his farm at Rose Hall, Corentyne, Berbice.

The Ankerville, Port Mourant, Corentyne, resident was taken to Ramoo’s Funeral Home where his body awaits a post-mortem examination. It is suspected the man committed suicide.

On Wednesday last, Thomas attempted to kill his ex-wife using a knife, a piece of wood, and a broken glass, before allegedly setting fire to a G$27 million house, reducing it to rubble.

The victim, 47-yearold Owamawattie Alves, also called “Ann”, sustained injuries and was rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital where she was treated and admitted.

The mother of four told Guyana Times

T The now dead man, Lionel Thomas, and Owamawattie Alves in happier times

International that she walked away from the 28-year relation-ship two years ago, but the now dead man has been stalking her every move.

According to Alves, the relationship was very abusive and she decided in 2016 to put an end to it after her husband was jailed for two years for abuse perpetrated against her. She said ever since his release from prison, he has been threatening to kill her.

She related that on June 16, 2018, while she was at the Port Mourant Market, he approached her with a cutlass and threatened to end her life, but she was able to escape and reported the incident to the Police.

There were several other instances where by she was attacked and terrorised by the now dead man. The woman lived with her 17-yearold daughter in the house that was reduced to rubble on June 20.

Representatives of the Guyana and Norway Governments

he Governments of Guyana and Norway met on Thursday in Oslo, Norway, agreeing to move their climate, forests, and sustainable development forward with speed and determination. “I am delighted that we now have strong agreement with the Government of Guyana on a way forward for our partnership”, stated Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, Ola Elvestuen, after the meeting.

The two governments noted the impressive results of Guyana in maintaining its extremely low rates of deforestation, and President Granger’s administration’s strong push to maintain increasing parts of Guyana’s unique rainforests intact.

They also noted good

progress on forest governance issues, in accordance with the letter and spirit of their partnership. The partners also emphasized the importance of the Government of Guyana’s determination to move towards close to one hundred percent clean and renewable energy supply by 2025, and its desire in that context to embark on a strong push to increase the amounts of solar power in Guyana’s energy mix.

On this basis both governments agreed to move as expeditiously as possible to enable the deployment of Norway’s results based contributions – both those currently held by the InterAmerican Development Bank, and outstanding results based payments of 300 million Norwegian

kroners – towards the realization of this ambition.

“We are enthusiastic about this agreement on the way forward for our partnership. This is important to Guyana and Norway, and will also provide an example to the world”, stated Minister of State Joseph Harmon.

Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman and the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, also attended the meeting. “We will now move quickly to trilateral discussions between The InterAmerican Development Bank, Guyana, and Norway on how best to deploy Norwegian funding to push our renewable power ambition forward”, stated Patterson.

Minister Trotman also took part in the meeting with Minister Elvestuen.

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WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Brothers die after being hit by buses at WCD

A

Dead: Shemon West

former employee of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and his teenage brother were killed on Tuesday after they were run over by a minibus in the vicinity of the Den Amstel Police Station, West Coast Demerara (WCD).

Dead are Shemon West, 28, and Shalum Allen, 19, of Lot 8-9 Fellowship, WCD. Reports are the two brothers were returning home on a pedal cycle from the Leonora Police Station after uplifting car documents when they met their demise.

Preliminary investigations revealed that a minibus bearing registration number BVV 8882 had stopped to put off passengers and as the two brothers were in the process of overtaking, the vehicle suddenly drove off.

However, in the process, its right-side front hit the left handle bar of the bicycle thus causing the two men to fall onto

Dead: Shalum Allen

the roadway. It was at this time another minibus with registration plates BVV 7042, which was heading in the opposite direction, drove over them.

The teen reportedly died on the spot while his brother, a father of two, succumbed at the Leonora Cottage Hospital. When Guyana Times International arrived on the scene, which is a stone’s throw away from the Den Amstel Police Station, the traffic ranks were taking measurements on the road.

The mother of the two dead men was in the police station giving her statement while their eldest brother, Seon Moses, was being consoled by his wife.

Moses, who is an engineer at the GGMC, said he was not too familiar with the circumstances of the accident, but recalled receiving a phone call from a relative informing him that his brothers had died in an accident.

Without hesitation,

The traffic ranks taking measurements at the scene

The two minibuses involved in the accident

The bicycle that the two men were riding when they met their demise

he left his place of employment in Georgetown and travelled to the

Leonora Cot-tage Hospital where he saw the bodies of his two

brothers. He confirmed that both had sustained se-vere head injuries.

“My small brother had a gaping wound to the back of his head… the other had laceration to his body which suggested that he might have been dragged several feet…,” the grieving brother stated.

Moses explained that his brother had previously worked at the GGMC. “Up to this morning (Tuesday), I liked a photo on Facebook with my second brother and my daugh-ter…This is unbelievable and words

cannot explain how I feel at this moment,” he stated.

A friend, Shawnan Mc Donald, told this publication that Allen took a minibus to Leonora Police Station to uplift the documents.

He noted that after collecting the documents, West convinced his baby brother to ride home. “From what eyewitnesses say, the ‘pit bull’ driven by “Short Man” of Tuschen was speeding,” Mc Donald ex-plained.

The two minibuses were seen parked in the compound of the Den Amstel Police Station.

Following the accident, breathalyser tests were administered to the two drivers. None of drivers were under the influence. They however, remain in custody as Police continue their investigations.

The bodies of the two men were taken to the Ezekiel Funeral home awaiting a post mortem examina-tion.

(Bhisham Mohamed)

Troy Resources exploring other projects in Guyana N atural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman said Government will give its support to Australian mining company, Troy Resources, if it chooses to pursue other areas of production. The company has been exploring gold in Guyana through its “Karouni Project” since 2014.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Troy Resources, Ken Nilsson, said on Monday that the gold mining company could go into other areas of production by the end of the year. He made the disclosure during a visit by Minister Trotman and his team, to his Karouni, Region Seven mines, the Department of Public Information stated.

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman

“We are continually looking to see if there are any other projects in Guyana that we

could actually get involved in,” he told the Minister and his team. However, he stressed that this can only happen at the end of the year when the com-pany is in a better position to “free up more money.”

At the moment, Nilsson said the company has been investing heavily in training of locals, which he stressed will be good for them if the company has to move on.

“They are not working for Troy Resources, they are working for themselves. Because job satisfaction and security all depends on your input,” Nilsson said about the local employees of the company.

The Guyanese workforce at the company amounts to about 90 per cent.

Troy Resources CEO Ken Nilsson

Minister Trotman said the company has been doing an exemplary job over the period it

has been in Guyana. He said there was no reason why the Government would not support the efforts. “… there is an intention to remain in Guyana to provide jobs, we know that 90 per cent of the workforce here is Guyanese, so we are happy about that. It is about giving back, about adding value, about ensuring Guyanese have work,” the Minister told DPI continuing that the Government is “prepared to sit and work with them to look for new areas for mining.”

Minister Trotman said Government is “quite pleased with the company’s work ethic”, noting that there are frequent engagements between the two.

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WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana’s Finance Minister unbothered

by G$330B public debt …says debt to GDP ratio on par with int’l standards

By Jarryl Bryan

G

uyana has gotten a US$35 million ‘Development Policy’ line of credit from the World Bank, but with the country already owing billions of dollars to external creditors, questions are being raised about ex-actly what Government is doing about lowering the debt.

According to Finance Minister Winston Jordan, who was recently interviewed on the sidelines of Par-liament, said Guyana’s public debt rate is actually nothing to worry about. Jordan contended that as the economy grows, it could actually take on more debt.

“You must stop looking at debt in absolute terms. Debt must be looked at in relative terms. You look at debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Product), debt to revenue or something.

As the economy grows, it can take on more debt. So it’s not a question of the absolute amount of the debt. It’s the relative amount,” Jordan told this newspaper.

Pressed on exactly what the Government is doing to bring down the debt, Jordan would only allude to the international threshold of debt to GDP. The Finance Minister

did not mention any steps Govern-ment was taking to mitigate the debt rate.

“The Government… the external debt at the moment is well below 60 per cent of GDP. It’s still below 50 per cent of GDP. So not bad… The international threshold… is 60 per cent. So don’t even bother…”

The World Bank group approved the US$35 million Development Policy Credit to support Guyana’s ef-forts to strengthen the financial sector. The money will also go towards improving fiscal management to better prepare the country to benefit from its newly-discovered oil and gas reserves and transform its oil wealth into human capital.

But during a press conference on Tuesday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo was incredulous at the purpose of the loan. Making a point that spending millions of US dollars and bringing in foreign experts for this purpose was unnecessary, Jagdeo, an economist, challenged the Government to provide him with a legislative drafter and he would develop fiscal policies for the oil sector within a month.

Public debt The Public Debt Annual

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

Report released by the Finance Ministry last year had highlighted that since 2015, there has been a 4.1 per cent rise in Guyana’s indebtedness to creditors. The report details that Guyana’s total debt, inclusive of external and domestic, increased to G$330 billion as of December 2016.

The Ministry attributed this to disbursements from the Export Import Bank of

China towards the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project, as well as monies from multilateral credi-tors.

A breakdown of the figures shows that total external debt amounted to G$240 billion, a 72.6 per cent bite out of the total public debt. On the other hand, domestic debt stood at G$90.6 billion, or 27.4 per cent of the total.

“At the end of December 2016, multilateral creditors continued to be the predominant creditor cate-gory, accounting for 59.7 per cent of the external debt portfolio, a slight decrease from the 2015 posi-tion of 60.6 per cent.

Bilateral lenders and commercial lenders represented 38.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent of the public external debt portfolio, respectively,” the Ministry explained.

“Although the nominal public debt increased, the total external public debt to GDP ratio declined from 36.1 per cent as at end-December 2015 to 33.7 per cent as at end-December 2016, as a result of GDP growth outstripping the rate of growth of public external debt stock,” the Ministry said, in justifying the increase.

In 2012, the public external debt was G$277.8 billion but by early 2015, that had been reduced to G$236 billion.

In similar manner, the domestic debt had been reduced from G$93.4 billion in 2012 to G$81.6 billion in 2015 before a sudden flare up in the figures after the A Partnership for National Uni-ty/Alliance For Change took office.

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WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Deportee, wife get 40 years jail each for relative’s murder

By Shemuel Fanfair

T

wo weeks after being unanimously found guilty by a 12-member jury, Vishawantie Ragnauth, 38; and her reputed husband, Nyron Thakurdyal, 39, were on Tuesday sentenced to 40 years each in jail for murdering Ragnauth’s uncle.

The couple was found guilty of the murder of 39-year-old miner Sunil Ramsundar on December 26, 2014, at Skull City, Patentia, West Bank Demerara.

Moments after Justice Sandil Kissoon disclosed the term of imprisonment; the woman fell to her seat in tears and was escorted out of the courtroom in the same emotional state.

Her accomplice, meanwhile, reacted to his sentence without much reaction.

Ragnauth had earlier told the court that she was sorry for what happened and begged for forgiveness, while fellow killer Thakurdyal expressed his remorse and sympathy, telling the court he wanted to be a “constructive father” to his six

children. Attorney Lisa Cave, who appeared for the prosecution, how-ever deemed Ramsundar’s killing as senseless and unprovoked, stating the now deceased man was standing and cursing by himself when he was attacked.

In probation reports presented to the court, two contrasting life circumstances were disclosed. For Thakurdyal, it was stated that he migrated with his family to the United States in 1985 but was deport-ed on a narcotics possession charge in 2003. However, the court learnt that he obtained a work permit and lived in The Bahamas for nine years where he did construction work. He later returned to Guyana where he sold hygienic products, making a living for himself.

Thakurdyal came from Berbice and lived at Industry, East Coast Demerara, where he commenced the relationship with Ragnauth, whose past was described as “abusive”.

In her report, the court heard that Ragnauth, a waitress, was mother to three children. It was observed that she was

verbally and physi-cally abusive to partners and during her second relationship, her husband whom she married according to Hindu rites, fled the home due to her abusive nature.

Neighbours described the North Section, Canal Number Two native as an alcoholic who often behaved “disorderly”. The court heard that the woman allegedly sold marijuana and cocaine in the neighbour-hood.

After Attorney Hughes’ plea of mitigation, Justice Kissoon

indicated that rather than 60 years, he started at a base of 50 years, in keeping with a recent Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling. He subtracted a total of 10 years for time spent on remand, expression of remorse and Hughes’ plea which had ap-pealed for mercy.

The facts of the matter stated that Ramsundar was killed after he attempted to settle a dispute be-tween his sister, his niece and his niece’s reputed husband. Around 22:00h

on that fateful night, Ramsundar’s sister was being assaulted by her daughter Vishawantie and her partner, Nyron.

At that time, the now deceased man asked his sister why she was crying, and upon learning about the assault, the man approached his niece for an explanation.

However, this quickly turned into a heated argument, during which Ramsundar was stabbed about his body. Nyron Thakurdyal held the man while Vishawantie stabbed him. A teenaged

eyewitness said that she passed the kitchen knife to her spouse who completed the attack.

Ramsundar collapsed on the spot and was pronounced dead on arrival at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. After the duo stabbed the man, they ran away and flagged down a passing car. That vehicle happened to be that of an off-duty Policeman who said he heard the male offender say via his cellphone that he just “jookup” someone. He then drove them in the Wales Police Station where they were subsequently arrested.

M e a n w h i l e , Government Pathologist, Dr Vivekanand Brijmohan in his testimony gave the cause of death as shock and haemorrhage; and a stab wound to the neck. The pathologist had told the jury that there were injuries to the right forearm, right chest, left part of the neck and jaw, noting that a punc-ture to an artery caused excessive blood loss.

The late Ramsundar was described as a hard-working individual.

Berbice shallow grave murder:

Two face murder charge A

ntonio Balrup and Satrohan Madray, the two men accused of killing Corriverton butch-

er Saeed Hamid were slapped with a murder charge on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, there was a delay in the read-

ing of the charges after the Police Officer who had to swear to the evidence was absent. Hours later, when the mat-

ter was called for the second time, it was observed that it was filed for the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court and not the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court.

In light of this, Magistrate Rondell Weaver requested that the jacket be filed properly. That had to be done at Fort Wellington.

When that was corrected and returned to the court on Tuesday, the Magistrate said she had no jurisdiction to hear the charge as prepared. The prosecution sought advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and then returned to court with only two of the accused.

Magistrate Weaver then asked for the third accused, since there were three names on the file jacket.

However, on Wednesday, the Police finally got their administrative matters sorted out and the charges were read to Balrup and Madray by

The accused: Antonio Balrup and Satrohan Madray

Magistrate Weaver at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court.

The men were represented by Attorneyat-Law Marceline Bacchus. They were remanded to prison and the case was scheduled to continue on July 17, 2018.

Guyana Times International was told that the third person, Asif Hamid, the dead man’s son, would be charged at a later date as an accessory to the crime.

Saeed Hamid was supposed to testify against his son in connection with the murder of Henry Lallman,

whose body was found in a shallow grave under a mango tree in Hamid’s yard.

Lallman had disappeared and during investigations, Police stumbled upon the man’s partially decomposed body after they were informed that he went to Hamid’s home and never returned.

It is believed that Hamid while in prison met Madray and they plotted to prevent the now dead businessman from giving evidence against the former.

On April 16, 2018, the senior Hamid left his Corriverton home and never returned.

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Guyana gets another US$35M WB loan to help prepare for oil

T

he World Bank Group approved a US$35 million Development Policy Credit to support Guyana’s efforts to strengthen the financial sector development and fiscal management to better prepare the country to benefit from its newly-discovered oil and gas reserves and transform its oil wealth into human capital.

“This financing provides critical support to our reform agenda and efforts to strengthen institutions and build a resilient economy that is capable of withstanding both external and domestic shocks. These reforms will be key to guide the management of oil revenues for the benefit of present and future generations,” Finance Minister Winston Jordan is quoted as saying in a release from the World Bank.

While currently nearly one in four people in Guyana live in poverty, experts estimate that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will surge when commercial production of the newly-discovered oil and gas begins. In response, the Government has embarked on a series of reforms to diversify the economy and turn oil windfalls into human de-

Several Region 9 communities flooded …CDC, Govt ministries assessing situation

velopment and sustainable growth in the long term.

“Guyana is making important strides to promote financial resilience and improve fiscal management, and has embarked on a broad-based reform programme,” World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean, Tahseen Sayed said. “These reforms will be key to build a strong economy that is underpinned by a strategic management of public resources for the benefit of the Guyanese people.”

This financing focuses on strengthening fi-

nancial stability and enabling sound financial development to promote macroeconomic stability and long-term growth. In particular, it will support banking reforms and depositor protection, the establishment of a deposit insurance scheme, implementation of a new insurance law, and the country’s anti-money laundering efforts.

This Development Policy Credit, the first of a series of two programmatic financial and fiscal development policy credits, is financed from the International Development Association (IDA).

W

ater levels continue to rise in several parts of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), along with the Ministries of Public Health and Public Infrastructure and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), is currently assessing flood-affected communities while monitoring the region’s level of preparedness.

A team of high-level officials visited Karasabai in the South Pakaraimas on Saturday and evaluated the main access roads and the level of water at the Ireng and Takutu Rivers.

Acting DirectorGeneral of the CDC, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, said it was observed that Central Karasabai and its environs are being threatened, with some of the villages having been cut off because of the level at which the bridges

Various views of the flood-affected area

have submerged. Craig said the community of Aishalton is similarly impacted, and in other areas of the Deep South, the bridges are under water and accessing most of the communities is difficult.

An assessment was also conducted in and around Central Rupununi, particularly in Lethem, where it was observed that the water level in the Takutu River has risen and residents in close proximity to the Tabatinga Creek are affected.

The Director-General further noted that the CDC would continue to work with the RDC to determine if there would be need for long-term shelters, supplies, beddings, sheets, cots, food and cleaning agents.

He also commended the RDC and the Council for responding promptly to the situation. He added that the main aim of the visit is to locate deficiencies in the region’s preparedness and response capability, and

work towards enhancing those deficiencies.

Over the past week, heavy rains have caused flooding in the South Pakaraimas, Deep South, and Central Rupununi areas. Alternative routes between communities from Katoonarib to Karaudarnauwa have been identified so that residents and vehicles can safely travel to their destinations.

Annually, during the dry season, Rupununi suffers from drought, but that has been mitigated with the construction of reservoirs and the drilling of several wells. In the rainy season, waters from the mountains in the highland region enter creeks and streams, which lead to the rivers being unable to accommodate the large volume of water.

Some rivers overflow their banks, which ultimately leads to the flooding of some villages and large swathes of savannah lands.

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Repeat offender jailed for attempting to kill cousin

R

epeat off e n d er Lisa Bobb, a Campbellville, Georgetown resident, was sentenced to spend the next 12 months in prison for attempting to kill her cousin.

The 25-yearold woman has continued to deny the charge against her, stating that she was defending herself following months of provocation.

However, on Monday, she was informed that she was found guilty of the charge instituted against her.

This decision was made by city Magistrate Judy Latchman after the prosecution noted that Bobb failed to discredit the evidence given by several witnesses against her.

On February 14, 2018 at Royal Drive, Campbellville, Christel Bobb had just returned home when she was pounced upon by Lisa Bobb, who stabbed her once to her upper left arm.

This attack reportedly stemmed from another misunderstanding the two cousins had had the previous night. Christel was rushed to the public

Lisa Bobb

hospital where she was treated.

According to the prosecution, the defendant admitted in an unsworn statement to pulling out a knife and injuring Christel Bobb to her arm and leg.

As such, following a brief recess, the Magistrate sentenced Bobb to 12 months in prison.

As she was being led out of the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on her first appearance for the attempted murder charge, the Lot 84 Campbellville Housing Scheme resident had screamed, “If I had the chance to murder that b***h, I would!�

She has been a frequent offender since 2013.

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WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

No clear-cut policy Guyana Govt faces heat over huge to support growth of fees paid to Special Prosecutors small businesses in Guyana – Brijmohan I Manjula Brijmohan

M

a n a g i n g Director of the Small Business Development Finance Trust (SBDFT), Manjula Brijmohan has said in order for small businesses to truly develop and reach their true potentials, the Government needs to construct and implement a policy to steer small business owners.

Brijmohan made the comment during an interview with Guyana Times International where she discussed the development of small businesses. Currently, the SBDFT has over 600 micro and small business owners as clients and are providing both technical and financial support to them.

She explained that there is no doubt that small and micro enterprises are the backbone of any economy, but added that the backbone needs to be supported.

She further explained that larger businesses have always been there but they were in specialised fields but now every business is branching into the traditional small business fields, hence making the competition tougher. In addition, there are foreign entities coming to Guyana and establishing empires of medium-scale businesses, making the competition even more difficult.

“Many of the small vendors are finding it difficult to compete… that is a serious problem… when they buy wholesale from the Chinese and then the Chinese sells at a cheaper price on the road and these are the things that I think the Government and the bigger Private Sector need to work on,” Brijmohan opined.

Hammering the need for a small business development policy, Brijmohan said both Guyana and Trinidad produce honey but Guyana cannot export to Trinidad since it is on their blacklist, ulti-

mately protecting their producers. Additionally, she explained that even if honey is transiting through Trinidad to another destination, the authorities there do not allow it and it had to return and be rerouted.

“These are things the Government and Caricom Secretariat should take forward to ensure Guyanese get their fair share in trade.

There is no policy to help the business. It doesn’t need a lot of money but what it needs is a clear vision and thinking of what and where we want to be and that is lacking,” she explained.

Brijmohan added that in addition to the lack of a proper policy direction, consistency, sustainability and support are also missing; explaining that leadership is not only about making speeches, but rather is about putting the dollar where one’s mouth is. The SBDFT head said small businesses are often disadvantaged because of the lack of market and technological knowledge coupled with little or no finances.

“These are some of the reasons why businesses are not able to sustain. We do not have a very clear-cut strategy and policy for the future of this sector. We have no target planning and that affects both the producers and sustainable suppliers. It has always been our efforts to try to network with Government, local and overseas institutions and everybody but the bottom line is the one institution cannot do everything and we do need substantial support from the Public Sector and Private Sector…,” Brijmohan noted.

She also urged businesses to position themselves to take advantage of the impending oil economy by positioning themselves to be able to provide the goods and services required.

(Lakhram Bhagirat)

n response to questions put forward by the parliamentary Opposition, Government has come clean on its hiring of Special Prosecutors. Among the information provided are details of the number of prosecutors, cases and payment arrangements.

According to the written responses supplied, five Special Prosecutors were hired. These Prosecutors are to be paid a retainer fee of G$2 million, applied against the attorney fees and costs incurred by the client – the Attorney General’s Chambers.

According to the details presented, the Prosecutors will also be paid G$20,000 per hour for their services when prosecuting matters in the court on behalf of the State.

The order paper had detailed that questions would be put to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams by his predecessor, Anil Nandlall.

The questions are derived from the fact that estimates show G$109 million being allocated to the Attorney General’s Chambers in the 2017 Budget under programme number 523.

In addition, Nandlall had contended in his questions that in the 2018 Budget, undisclosed funds were allocated for hiring Special Prosecutors, including foreign

lawyers. He was, therefore, seeking answers on this issue.

“Could the Honourable Minister provide this House with information on the number of Special Prosecutors that have been hired, their salaries and benefits, travel and hotel costs, etc, incurred and the number of cases they have been handling for the period January 2017 to March 2018?” Nandlall had questioned the State.

In an interview with this publication, Nandlall stressed the implications for the State’s involvement in retaining Special Prosecutors on a scale of this magnitude. In the first place, he pointed out that this practice was not supported by the law.

“It is absolutely unlawful for (the State) to be paying Special Prosecutors. Since 1966, when we became independent, the prosecutorial functions of the State were taken away from the Attorney General’s Office and given to an agency called the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“That agency is an independent agency, and it ought not to be influenced in the discharge of those functions. Government has no role to play in the prosecution of criminal offences. That is not a function of the Government but the State agency.”

The former Attorney General also noted that while serious offences like drug trafficking and murder were being prosecuted

by Police Prosecutors, the State shelled out millions to prosecute members of the former Administration and perceived Opposition supporters on charges that were not even in violation of criminal laws.

“Millions of dollars are expended to hire Special Prosecutors.

And these Special Prosecutors are hired to prosecute us,” Nandlall noted. “They are not hiring Special Prosecutors to prosecute the serious offences being committed every day in this country, like robbery, murder, piracy, drug trafficking. These are the real ills of the society. So the public will judge whether that is the best use of taxpayers’ money.”

It had been reported that Cabinet appointed six Attorneys: Michael Somersall, Hewely Griffith, Lawrence Harris, Patrice Henry, Compton Richardson, and Trenton Lake as Special Prosecutors in the event that legal action might ensue from audit reports into the Pradoville 2 Housing Scheme and the 2007 Cricket World Cup, among other areas. (Jarryl Bryan)

Corentyne murder: Attacker who drank poison succumbs I

mran Lyte, 28, who consumed a poisonous substance after knifing his ex-wife to death over a week ago, succumbed while receiving medical attention at the Port Mourant Hospital, Corentyne, Berbice.

Reports reaching Guyana Times International revealed that Lyte took his last breath last Sunday evening.

At the time he was under Police guard at the medical facility. He consumed the poisonous substance moments after killing his ex-wife on June 20, 2018 and was rushed to the hospital where he remained in critical condition.

With his death and the death of his ex-wife, Tovonie Simmons, their four children are now left to live with relatives. In the wee hours of June 20, the 28-year-old mother of four was stabbed to death by Lyte at their Second Street, Limlair Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) residence.

Reports are the perpetrator had left his wife and was living with his newfound love – a next-door neighbour.

It was reported that Simmons was visited by her ex-husband and his sister, and they were sitting at the table having a discussion when he started stabbing her.

In a bid to escape, Simmons jumped from the veranda into the yard, but Lyte went after her.

He reportedly caught up with her and continued stabbing her. After stabbing her about 18 times, he ran away. However, he was later taken to the Port Mourant Hospital by his relatives after informing them that he had consumed a poisonous substance.

A few days prior to the brutal murder, the now dead

Tovonie Simmons and Imran Lyte in happier times

woman had gone to collect her children from a relative and on her way, she was confronted by Lyte, who accused her of allowing her friends to taunt his new lover.

Lyte reportedly hit Simmons, and in retaliation, one of her sisters reportedly kicked him, thus resulting in him falling into a nearby trench. One of the now dead woman’s brothers, who was passing at the time, went to his sisters’ rescue, but Lyte attacked him, stabbing him several times.

Simmons and Lyte had been together for nine years.

Their relationship ended after the man reportedly became abusive.

Taxi driver slapped with rape charge

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taxi driver who reportedly had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl was on Monday slapped with a rape charge and taken to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The 37-year-old Sebastian Hanichand, of Lot 91 New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD), was not allowed to plead to the indictable charge read to him by city Magistrate Judy Latchman.

The charge against him stated that between December 1 and December 31, 2017 at the Georgetown Seawall, he engaged in sexual penetration with a girl under the age of 16.

The matter came to the forefront when the mother of the teen reportedly saw a date, October 10th, marked on her calendar with a note which stated, “day I lost my virginity”.

As such, after questioning the

teen, the mother was told that Hanichand took her to the Seawall where he had sex with her.

The teen and the father of two reportedly developed a friendship, exchanged phone numbers and he took her to school on several occasions.

Police Prosecutor Shawn Gonsalves had no objections to bail, and Hanichand was granted G$150,000 bail. He will return to Court on July 5, 2018.

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G$200M lawsuit: Edghill says ready for court battle with Finance Minister O

pposition Member of Parliament Juan Edghill has said that the multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed against him by Finance Minister Winston Jordan is a move to intimidate him but he will not be silenced and will continue to speak out against the wrongdoings of the coalition Government.

Minister Jordan is claiming damages in the sum of G$200 million for “malicious prosecution” over the private criminal charge of misconduct in public office that was filed by Edghill back in April regarding the construction of the controversial D’Urban Park Project.

The Finance Minister and Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson were jointly charged with misconduct and abuse of public trust for authorising the payment of G$906 million to Homestretch Development Inc, while Public Service Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, who was a Director of the company, was charged with alleged misconduct and the abuse of public trust for receiving the money as Director of the company while serving as a Minister in Government.

However, those charges were subsequently discontinued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack. But despite this, Jordan moved to the court, saying in his application that

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

the private criminal charge was intended to embarrass, humiliate, and cause him to suffer public odium and contempt.

“I have suffered significant harm to my reputation and integrity as a direct result of the institution of the criminal proceeding by the respondent against me,” Jordan said in the court document.

Speaking with Guyana Times International last Saturday, Edghill said he is yet to receive the court documents from the legal action filed, but noted that he will be vindicated in court during the proceedings.

“This lawsuit is intended to intimate me and I would say they have failed miserably in

seeking to intimate me. I will continue to confront wrongdoings, injustices, corruption, cronyism, and all forms of Government’s manipulation of processes that benefit individuals… I will be vindicated when I have my day in court because that lawsuit that was filed is an abuse of the process of the court.”

He noted that he also feels that the lawsuit is “all about damage control, that’s what the Minister is trying to do right now – use the courts to do some damage control because… he knows that he is being held accountable and by his own admission, when he travels internationally, people are inquiring from him what’s really going on in Guyana and how the State is being managed in such a way. Well I’m not going to be intimidated, I will not be silent and I will continue to represent the people of Guyana as I did when I filed these criminal charges against members of the Government,” Edghill asserted.

According to the Opposition MP, it appears as though the Finance Minister is not benefiting from the best legal advice, since he filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit when the private criminal charges of ‘Misconduct in Public Office’ was never prosecuted in the first place.

“There must be a prosecution – this case was not pros-

Opposition Member of Parliament Juan Edghill

ecuted, it was null pros by the DPP. Secondly, if there was a prosecution the case would have had to be determined in [Jordan’s] favour. There was no determination of this matter because it was discontinued by the DPP, there is no finding of facts that the Minister is not guilty of the allegations that are conveyed in the charge because the matter was not prosecuted and it was not defended in court,” he told this newspaper.

Edghill went on to point out too that one of the grounds that Minister Jordan cited in his application was that he was merely carrying out the decision of the National Assembly, which had ap-

proved the G$906 million for the D’Urban Park project. To this end, Edghill, who is a former Junior Finance Minister under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/Civic) regime, called out Jordan for the Administration’s double standards.

“The Minister is part of a Government that has taken former Finance Minister Ashni Singh and former NICIL’s CEO Winston Brassington to court for their conduct in public office when all they were doing was carrying out decisions of the Cabinet, decisions of a Board of NICIL. It looks like the Minister would like to have it both ways,” Edghill said.

Nevertheless, the Opposition parliamentarian posited that he is awaiting the commencement of proceedings into this G$200 million lawsuit since he will be able to defend his private criminal charges, which were dismissed.

“While the charges may have been discontinued in the lower court, the fact that [Jordan] has now taken this matter to the higher court, the matter will be discussed there and the nation will be able to see if he really misconducted himself or not; so thanks to the Minister for engaging [me] so that these matter could be further ventilated in the High Court,” the PPP MP stated.

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Local Authority Amendment Act

APNU/AFC uses majority to vote down PPP amendments

By Jarryl Bryan

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abling of the Local Authority Amendment Act by Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, may have in principle received support from the parliamentary Opposition; but that support was not unconditional, as the Government was confronted with the ghost of its actions in the past.

Among other things, the bill addresses the terms of office, tie resolution, and plurality principle, among other issues. During Monday’s sitting, Bulkan noted that if passed, the bill would allow for democratic election of regional leaders at all levels.

“Honourable members would be aware of the agenda of this administration to allow for democracy; in this regard, to honour Article 12 of the Constitution, which speaks to the democratic organs of the state,” Bulkan explained.

He noted that the bill “seeks to amend six pieces of legislation; namely, the Municipal and District Council Act, Chapter 28:01; the Local Government Act, specifically to Section 28; the Local Authorities

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall

Election Act, the Local Democratic Organs Act, Local Authority Elections Amendment Act 1990 to Section 7, and the Election Laws Amendment Act 2000 to Section 7:1.”

But People’s Progressive Party (PPP) frontbencher Anil Nandlall reminded the Government of its track record of appointments in Local Authority Areas (LAA) when ties resulted from Local Government Elections (LGE).

“Bulkan has regaled us on the bill before the house. And the Minister should have accepted credit for himself for bringing a bill to cor-

rect the wrong that he himself has committed,” Nandlall noted. “The law is very clear: Where there is a tie at the level of Chairman and Vice Chairman, and there is what the law calls an inability to elect one or the other because of the votes, the law says that the returning officer within 10 days must fix a date for by-elections: go back to the electorate that voted at the last election (and) with the two candidates instead of the list of candidates,” Nandlall explained.

“Where is the ambiguity in that? If the Honourable Minister, in violation of that law,

imposes himself on the overseer? He challenged.

Attorney General Basil Williams has argued that Bulkan followed the procedure as spelled out, and with the resulting ties, acted according to the law.

He stressed that the bill only seeks to clear up the issue, and claimed the opposition “cannot lecture us.”

Opposition MP Colin Croal backed up Nandlall’s arguments, noting that Bulkan is seeking to correct the wrongs he had already done. Taking on Williams’s contention that the government has provided the “good life” for the LAAs, Croal challenged Government to provide evidence of consultations.

His colleague Parliamentarian Allister Charlie also claimed that no consultations were carried out in Aranaputa. While the PPP raised objections due to several clauses in the bill and sought to have their amendments carried, the Government remained resolute against the inclusion of the PPP’s amendments.

Bulkan claimed that had the amendments been received earlier,

they would have been considered.

Speaker of the House, Barton Scotland, revealed that the amendments were received on Monday.

The amendments were then read, at which time the numer-

by incumbent Mayor Rupert Henry Smith after he was re-appointed Mayor by Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan.

In April of 2017, Justice Diana Insanally quashed the appointment of Smith, an APNU

Attorney General Basil Williams

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan

ical advantage of the Government side caused each and every amendment to be voted down.

On that basis, the bill was passed as is.

It was only in March that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Councillors in Mabaruma had announced they had collectively decided to continue their boycott of all meetings chaired

appointee, as the Mayor of Mabaruma, Region One, and ordered that fresh elections be held.

The ruling was as a result of PPP’s Zulfikar Mustapha challenging the decision by Bulkan to appoint a mayor after there had been a 6-6 tie in the number of seats won at the 2016 Local Government Election. A runoff produced similar results.

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PPP taking concerns of UG prepping to play role elections rigging very in Guyana’s emerging seriously – Jagdeo oil and gas sector

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espite concerns over his comments about election rigging, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has set the record straight, explaining that his party will not peddle any form of violence but it will not sit idly by and allow injustice to take place, especially during the next General and Regional Elections.

His comments comes amid criticisms over his warning and that of his party, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), to the Government, of possible consequences to come if they make any attempt to tamper with the election, results both at the Local Government and national levels.

“We are not a violence peddling party. We are about progress, but we are not a walk over too. If the moment they (Government) believe they can walk over us, that’s the end. They will rig the election. If they feel we are not a walk over, they will have to think twice about doing it,” he explained.

Nevertheless, Jagdeo said despite these concerns, it is extremely hard for the coalition to rig an election. He said pre 1992, the electoral process was compromised for many reasons.

But based on the new system, while there still may be some loopholes, it is better and allows for greater scrutiny.

“We know they (Government) will try.

That’s the nature of the beast. But we can’t give up, we have to fight.

Look at what Cheddi Jagan did, when it was worst under (Forbes) Burnham. They didn’t even have a media. But open societies don’t allow dictatorship to strive and we could expose them,” he added.

The PPP/C General Secretary has advised his supporters against worrying over the issue. “If you think our party is not looking at it, then you’re wrong. We are looking at every single possible way they can rig the elections. From padding the list, the voters list, to the GRO (General Register Office),” he stated.

Jagdeo said his party is engaged in planning for the next elections already and is working assiduously to get into election mode from now.

He noted that polling agents will be recruited and stationed even at the some 300 plus A Partnership for National

…moves being made to open Dept of Petroleum Engineering

G

GECOM Chairman James Patterson

Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) strongholds.

“So, what we are doing? We’re checking. We are not sitting on our hands and just complaining about it. We have people who are checking to see if there is any spike in registration. We are going to be visiting some of those places that look suspicious. We are doing something about it,” he asserted.

For this reason, Jagdeo said that is why the PPP/C is arguing for greater diversity at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) as well. “We are arguing that they have to find a transparent way of scrubbing the list. We have started to train our polling agents to go into the places where we know they could steal.”

He continued, “We are not sitting down and letting this fear paralyse us. And so this is what I have been saying, and I noticed that some people have been saying Jagdeo preaching violence. But it’s not violence. We filed our election petition because we feel the last election had irregularities and we pointed out that.”

The former Head of State also pointed out that regardless, the PPP/C still treats the Government as legal and legitimate. The Party is also engaged in discussions and debates at the level of the Parliament and has been playing its part as the Opposition on many fronts and pertaining to many issues.

However, Jagdeo said if that changes and the Government allegedly rigs the elections, he is worried that the PPP/C might not be entitled to the same form of struggle. He said, “People of Guyana, not just PPP/C people, but all Guyanese will become then freedom fighters to liberate this country. That is how

we have to characterise the struggle. If they believe they can threaten to burn a couple of buildings in Georgetown and we will sit on our hands, then they will steal it,” he added.

The PPP/C General Secretary also used a scenario whereby he said if the PPP/C helps to shut down Berbice, Essequibo and the entire country, then Government may feel inclined to think about their decision.

“We don’t believe in violence. Look at the history from 1992 to now.

Look at the last elections.

We lost 4500 votes after they stole, you didn’t see us burn any building. When they lost the election by 30,000 votes, they were running down the streets and burning buildings,” he recalled.

Jagdeo said the PPP/C will be fighting for the future of Guyana.

“This is what bothers them a lot. Because a lot of APNU supporters from the past who supported them just in the last elections. They’re eyes have been opened. They realise that this Government has no intention of helping poor people even the business community.

Many of them are coming to the PPP, they are joining our party.”

Only recently, Jagdeo also raised concerns again about thousands of Haitian nationals who arrived in Guyana, but many of them have not left the country. He alleged that they may have been trafficked here.

He also raised concerns over the Government moves to create new townships as a means of trying to tamper with the current system and create an avenue for them to allegedly tamper with the votes.

Although this has happened previously, the PPP still managed to sweep a major victory at the last LGE.

uyana’s premier tertiary level education institution, the University of Guyana (UG), is moving aggressively to get on board with the impending oil and gas sector by putting certain measures in place.

During last week, the University hosted one of a two-part series lecture that focused on Guyana’s nascent oil and gas sector, which saw the attendance of several of its students and interested persons.

Deputy Vice Chancellor for Planning and International Engagement at UG, Dr Barbara Reynolds said her institution is actively engaged in talks with advisors to craft a strategy for the UG to play its role.

These advisors include Professor Andrew Jupiter and Professor Clement Imbert, both of Trinidad and Tobago eminent practitioners in the field of oil and gas, as well as Dr Vince Adams.

“We have a draft strategy that we will develop and finalise so that we can engage external partners on oil and gas. It is our intention to establish a Department of Petroleum Engineering within the next academic year,” Dr Reynolds revealed.

In addition to that, the University is in discussion with the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) where they are discussing plans to establish joint programmes in petroleum engineering and an associate in either engineering and a masters in petroleum engineering.

Dr Reynolds said, “Those are not the only two programme offerings we would need as a country but we intend to build out from them and offer more courses in oil and gas. Further, the University currently has a group of experts working to enhance and improve the world languages programme being offered.

“We are working on ensuring that over the next academic year, we have an updated and current Bachelor of Arts in French, Spanish and Portuguese and a pre university programme in Dutch and mandarin at the associate and masters levels,” she added.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor for Planning and International Engagement noted that this will be especially useful for persons working in the oil and gas industry, as the in-

UG Deputy Vice Chancellor for Planning and International Engagement, Dr Barbara Reynolds

dustry will attract a lot of foreign nationals who come from diverse backgrounds and speak various languages.

Three weeks ago, the University secured a G$100 million grant as part of Government’s effort to help the institution establish an oil and gas programme. Last year, the Natural Resources Ministry, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a G$100 million philanthropic education grant for the period 2017-2018.

The grant provided the UG, Faculty of Technology with much-needed equipment for its geology labs, curriculum development, training, outreach, and field research, all linked to the emerging oil and gas sector. It also provided specific allocations for all other faculties for student-centred enhancements at the university.

Professor Griffith had explained that this is one of the University’s most significant grants, with the GGMC. Griffith said it is an investment by the Government in the institution, in an area critical to the nation’s economy. He said the project is a result of UG long-standing relationship with GGMC. He highlighted the fact, that many of the Commission’s staff through scholarships has received their higher education at the institution. To date, 87 per cent of the finances have been pumped into realising UG’s oil and gas programme.

Guyanese miner kills Venezuelan after interfering in domestic spat

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27-year-old Venezuelan who was thrashing his girlfriend during a misunderstanding at Blackwater Backdam, Cuyuni River, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) on Saturday evening was stabbed to death by a Guyanese miner who intervened.

Rafael Angel Gonsalves Prieto, a punter of Venezuela, reportedly attacked his girlfriend at around 01:50h but was fatally stabbed by the Grove, East Bank Demerara miner who came to her rescue.

Based on information received, Laurens Susana Rodriquez Cabrera was dancing with a Brazilian national at a popular bar at Blackwater Backdam when the now dead man attacked and threw her onto the ground.

The man reportedly whipped out a knife, sat on the woman’s chest and started to cut off her hair.

The 27-year-old suspect, whose name was given as Francisco Hosea, went to the woman’s rescue during which he dealt Prieto several stabs to the body including his upper lip, left upper arm and his abdomen thus causing his intestines to protrude. The injured man reportedly fell to the ground where he died almost instantly.

The suspect then fled the scene but was later apprehended. Prieto’s body was taken to Eteringbang Landing where it awaits a post-mortem examination. The suspect is expected to be arraigned with the capital offence of murder.

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PI commences into murder case against ex-GDF Officer

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Reona Payne and Orwain Sandy in happier times

he Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the shooting death of Reona Payne commenced on Wednesday before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman.

Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Captain, Orwain Sandy is on trial for the murder.

The PI began with the testimony of Police Constable Kevin Noel who is attached to the Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) Crime lab, who processed the scene of the shooting via photographs.

Sandy, 36, reportedly shot Payne 14 times with his service pistol at First Street, Alexander Village, on March 31, 2018, following an argu-

ment over infidelity.

The prosecution is contending that the man turned himself in at the Ruimveldt Police Station where he reported what had occurred.

When ranks went to the scene, the body of the mother three children was found lying on the roadway.

The GDF Captain was later charged for the offence and appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman. However, following a request by his Attorney James Bond, Sandy was sent to be mentally evaluated by Dr Bhiro Harry who later declared that he was fit to stand trial for the murder of Payne.

The PI is expected to continue on July 4.

Guyanese authorities unearth 12lbs ganja in shipment from US

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The ganja was discovered in a container

rug enforcement ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) were called in on Wednesday to investigate the discovery of over 12 pounds (5.

578 kilograms) of marijuana found at the John Fernandes Wharf, Water Street, Georgetown.

According to the Force’s Public Relations Officer, Jairam Ramlakhan, the narcot-

ic was discovered in a container shipped from Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.

The drug was seized and when weighed by authorities, amounted to 5.578 kilograms.

Ramlakhan said no one has been detained as yet in connection with the drug find.

Nevertheless, investigations are in progress.

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edd's Dollar Wings and Kingdom Style Family Entertainment are quickly becoming household names in the Linden community, associated with friendly customer service and tasty dishes.

These businesses are owned and operated by young and enterprising businessman Kellon Nedd, a Lindener, and his wife Sharalin Nedd, who hails from St Lucia.

For the couple, the venture into the business

the Crescent River wall last year July and we branched off at Amelia's Ward Toucan Mall in November. Now, we have this restaurantKingdom Style Family Entertainment Restaurant Hall and Theatre in the Toucan Mall also", the businessman related. “On Mother's day we dedicated the restaurant and it was active from Mother's day until the official opening", he continued.

The restaurant can be considered a touch of class and

world started in 2017 with 'Dollar Wings', selling delicious fried chicken wings underneath a tent on the Mackenzie River wall.

As the name suggests, the chicken wings are sold at just $100 a piece, which many deem as quite affordable. The business later grew as another Dollar Wings outlet was quickly set up in the community, and earlier this month the couple launched the Kingdom Style Family Entertainment Restaurant Hall and Theatre.

This was marked by a grand opening ceremony on June 10 with numerous officials in attendance. “We have started the Nedd's Dollar Wings at

elegance, with a beautifully designed space and professionally dressed staff. Many have agreed that the service offered is also quite exceptional. At the Theatre, which also operates out of the Toucan Mall at Amelia's Ward, Linden movie lovers can catch affordable movies in 3D from Thursdays to Sundays each week from 16:00hr to 22:00 hr.

"Every 4 0'clock (16:00hr) we show a movie for the kids and then we continue with adults stuff for the next 2 movies", Kellon said.

Meanwhile, the restaurant caters for breakfast, lunch and dinner from Monday to Saturday and dinner on Sunday evenings. Its

By Utamu Belle

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space is also available for rental to accommodate events such as conferences, birthdays, anniversaries, showers,

p r o m s and weddings.

The couple noted that they will eventually cater for dinner and a movie.

Apart from the Theatre and restaurant, fast food lovers can also catch the delectable fried chicken wings from the Dollar Wings outlet situated just next door.

The response to both businesses have so far been positive in the community, owing to the affordability of the services offered.

In reflecting on his achievements, the young businessman who initially operated a mini taxi service and worked in construction said he is quite thankful to God since his dream in life was to become a successful businessman with no less than 20 employees. In addition, he is certainly living out his dreams with scores of employees in his employ, contributing greatly to Linden's employment

sector.

The businessman, whose parents were also successful entrepreneurs said he took a page out of their book as his dream was to one day follow in their footsteps.

The idea for 'Dollar Wings', he explained was birthed when he travelled to St Lucia.

It was there that he met his wife Sharalin who later joined him here in Guyana. The young couple has since decided to pursue their dreams in business together, venturing down a successful path of entrepreneurship.

In addition, the couple also lives up to their corporate social responsibility by beautifying the community and helping those in need. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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National Assembly approves nominees for service commissions

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he National Assembly on Monday evening adopted the nominees of the Police and Public Service Commissions, paving the way for President David Granger to appoint the nominated Commissioners.

Chairman of the Standing Committee on Appointments and Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Nor-ton, moved the motion for the adoption of the eleventh report of the Committee. That report was presented in the House in April.

The report recommended retired Assistant Commissioners of Police, Paul Slowe, Clinton Conway, Ves-ta Adams and Claire Jarvis as nominees for the Police Service Commission.

The nominations came from the Association of Former Members of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Police Association.

The life of the last Police Service

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Retired Assistant Police Commissioner, Paul Slowe is one of the nominees to the Police Service Commission

Commission came to an end in September of 2017 and there have since been calls for its reconstitution.

In fact, concerns were further raised after there were no promo-tions of senior officers last year.

New members of the Police Service Commission have already been selected. It was in January of 2018, that Police Commissioner (acting) David Ramnarine had called for the body

to be put in operation as soon as possible.

Before the life of the last Police Service Commission ended back in September of 2017, President Da-vid Granger had ordered in July of that year, to put a hold on the promotion of senior ranks.

Meanwhile, the House also adopted the Committee’s nominees for the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Vincent Bowman and Mortimer Livan were put forward in the eighth report of the Committee which was published in March.

The life of the Public Service Commission had expired in August 2017. Last year, the President had or-dered a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Commission which found serious breaches in the operations of the previous Commission.

Previously, the nonappointment of the Commission had been blamed for instances of

Trade unionist Mortimer Livan has been nominated for the Public Service Commission

delays in the public service system. For instance, this was one reason cited when Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), Denis Jaikarran, appeared before the Public Ac-counts Committee (PAC) at the National Assembly.

The Audit Office of Guyana had found inordinate numbers of contracted employees in the system. Providing an up-

date on the situation, the PAC was informed that they managed to regularise 102 con-tracted persons in 2016. The regional authorities claimed that confirmation of the remaining 182 con-tracted employees is dependent on the PSC. “Before the Commission went out of commission, we were able to propose persons who were on contracted employment, be placed on the permanent establishment,” Jaikarran had said, adding that the remaining employees were employed last year.

According to the report, “Amounts totalling G$2.592 billion were expended on Employment Cost for 2016. According to the National Estimates, the regional administration had a staffing structure of 2165; however, the actual staff of the regional administration exceeded the authorised strength by sixty-four.”

In response, the head of budget agency had in-

Rodney: A prophet of emancipation

ast week, I discussed the exacerbation of the “Indian Ethnic Security Dilemma” – originally formed by Indian Guyanese’ majority numbers catapulting them into office, but then checkmated by the 90 per cent dominated Armed Forces – with the loss of its majority since 2012. The PNC, as Desmond Hoyte did after 1997, when he brought its supporters into violent street protests which then segued into the “slow fyaah; mo fyaah” strategy, could always count on its “kith and kin” in the armed forces, as its Georgetown street elements rampaged against Indian Guyanese.

A friend wrote that while he appreciated the point, “if Indians were to enter the armed forces, especially from Berbice, he was worried about the impact on their culture.” In

truth, he was really talking about Hindu culture – so this will be the premise in this piece. I found his concern to be a rather ahistorical, since he knew no culture is ever static.

To begin with, the 165,000 Indians who decided to remain in Guyana, were removed from their cultural moorings and tossed into sugar plantations, which, for good very reasons, was called a “total institution” – like mental hospitals, for instance – designed to reshape their inmates’ identity into prefigured forms: here, servility.

While Indians like to believe they “recreated” village India in Guyana, the reality is much more nuanced.

Let’s look at their presence in the Police Force, for instance. In India, the Army and Police formed by the British to rule the 300-million populace were comprised of Indians from

all castes…just like the ones brought here. For instance, in 1894, the agriculture caste, Kurmis, of Lucknow protested new regulations that reduced their numbers in the Police Force. Today, India has the second largest standing Army in the world and no one has complained about its effects on Indian culture.

In Guyana, way back in 1855, a number of Indians were recruited en block into the Police Force – which has been formed in 1839 – and they performed very credibly.

The governor, however, felt the massive number of Indians on the sugar plantations with cutlasses represented a threat that would be exacerbated by having their “kith and kin” in charge of maintaining order. It was for this reason that in the beginning, Bajan immigrants were preferential-

ly recruited into the force, to quell expected revolts by the newly freed slaves.

Physical requirements like chest measurement and height, etc, were afterwards used to discriminate against Indians into the 1970’s – by which time Indians were convinced policing “was not their thing”.

But back to “Indian culture” in the total institution where the immigrant was expected to be “in the fields, in jail or in the hospital”. Take religion: since Hindus only got Sunday off, they started going to their Mandirs on that day…and initiated congregational worship, which was not the practice in village India.

Rum drinking became standard because rum shops were allowed to be set up opposite the pay offices, so that the labourers would fritter away their earnings on Saturdays

dicated that the regional administration has already taken steps to move its employees over to the permanent establishment and this process is expected to be completed by the end of October 2017.

It was recommended that the regional administration continue the process of moving staff over to the permanent establishment in order to minimise the number of staff employed on a contractual basis in keeping with circularised instructions.

Last month, Granger had revealed that he planned to meet Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo in a short while, where appointment of persons to both of these Commissions would be included in the agenda. This is in keeping with the Constitution of Guyana. Since then, there has been no word on a date for the meeting and Granger is presently overseas. (Jarryl Bryan)

By Ravi Dev

and needed to show up for work on Mondays. Rum drinking wasn’t part of Indian village culture – ganja, as “Bhang”, was. In 19th century village India, even during the famines, the suicide rate was 6.3 per 100,000 but jumped to 100 per 100,000 during Indentureship. Not part of “Indian Culture” – even with all the noise made by the West about “Suttee”, which is more akin to “honour” like the suicides of the Japanese Samurai warrior caste.

The point my friend should have made, was how could the Police Force, as an institution, been made more receptive to the culture of Indian Guyanese. Training centres were opened up in Berbice and Essequibo and the menus were supposed to be tailored to those recruits who had specific dietary requirements. Even though the

congregation in Mandirs are 90 per cent women, we are sure that the armed forces wouldn’t look askance of Pandits – like Chaplains – are requested. Was the request ever made?

Finally, there is the duty of Indian Guyanese to play an equal role to defend their country and to assist in keeping law and order.

We are sure if they are reminded regularly that Vishnu took incarnation in the ‘soldier” caste, maybe they will appreciate that being in the Police and Army are also part of Indian culture.

Guyana’s Health Minister says efforts being made to address high teen pregnancy rates

By Rupadai Seenaraine

I

n keeping with the recommendations that were made by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the successful reintegration of teenage mothers into the formal school system via multisectorial partnerships, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence has announced several activities that the Ministry has been involved in to address these issues.

Speaking with Guyana Times International on Wednesday, Minister Lawrence highlighted that there have

been efforts between the two Ministries – Public Health and Education – to spread more awareness and increase the number of teenage mothers back into the school to complete their formal education programmes.

She explained that officials from the Education Ministry have been stationed at the Adolescent Health Department where the issues surrounding the policy are being dealt with.

Additionally, it was related that a new policy is in the making which will focus on sexual and reproductive health. This was

done so as to ensure that teenagers are aware of the circumstances and is hoping to reduce the cases of pregnancies in young girls.

“With regards to collaboration, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education is working at our Adolescent Health Department on the issues and policies. We are now looking at the sexual and reproductive health policy and the Ministry of Education is a part of that team that is looking at that policy and strategies and plans. I’m extremely happy about that,” she said.

The Minister also highlighted that she is cognisant of the high rates of adolescent mothers in today’s society and these partnerships will ensure that the policy is easily implemented.

“I’m elated that Guyana has taken this high position. This is one of the issues with several women’s organisations groups, we have been fighting for to ensure that these young ladies, who may have made a mistake but they must be able to be given an equal opportunity to enhance themselves and the lives of their child,” the Minister explained.

feature 35

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W

e quite often dream of the day we can be truly independent and be our own boss, but in order for us to become successful business owners there are some key traits one must possess. Among those traits are determination, commitment and hard word.

Apart from possessing the three fundamental traits, there must be a complete understanding of the field of business one decides to enter and that is where the Small Business Development Finance Trust Inc (SBDF) comes in. The SBDF was formed with the main objective of providing financial and technical assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises.

Managing Director of the SBDF, Manjula Brijmohan, says the focus is mainly on those enterprises which are unable to meet the complicated demands of commercial banks so that they can develop their businesses and transform into sustainable entities.

“We work as small financiers to the people who need it urgently and badly to take a step to move up. Always finance remains the key factor and that is where we are trying to fill in the gap and deal with these people and provide the financial assistance, guidance and technical assistance so that they should be able to graduate to a level where they can go to bigger institutions,”

she said.

Since its establishment in 2002, the Small Business Development Finance has been able to assist over six hundred small and micro businesses develop their true potential and remain sustainable to this date. The intention of the SBDF is to have the business owners transition from micro and small status to medium-scale or even larger. Additionally, the Trust also provides training for their clients in every field of managing and developing their businesses and according to Brijmohan, education is paramount towards development since it positions one to make more informed choices.

“When a person says I want to do a business, particularly a young person, then that person must read a lot and acquire the knowledge they need to have about the field that interests them. Then they have to acquire the right technology and get a practical feel of the field they want to enter in because what they may think they will encounter will not be exactly what they encounter when they go out into the field,” Brijmohan advises.

“Confidence, determination and

knowledge is essential for running a successful business. Also’ one condition for a successful business is not to just make money but aim to be successful and the money will just be a byproduct,” she added.

With over 30 years in the financial field, Brijmohan says an inquisitive mind is great for business.

The facilities provided

by SBDF can be classified into two categories; financial and business services. The financial aspect includes retail micro lending, where all retail loan products are specifically designed to facilitate urban enterprises, rural small farmers and non-farm enterprises to take advantages of the economic opportunities and try to participate in the environment of increasing competitiveness. Additionally, the development finance aspect is generally geared to suit the requirements of the small

and medium size enterprise. These innovative products are based upon the principle that successful businesses need more than money.

Meanwhile, the SBDF also provides professional guidance and personalised investment advice to entrepreneurs in making sound decisions. They also provide technical training in the areas of business management, record-keeping, entrepreneurial skills, and marketing and product packaging.

SBDF tries to cover a wide spectrum of economic activities, which are suitable in the Guyanese environment, but limited to the following areas of (a) agriculture – small farming , fishing, poultry, dairy and ornamented fish for export; agroprocessing activities; manufacturing and processing; (b) craft – traditional and modern among other things.

Brijmohan advises everyone to capitalise and realise their full potential while being cognisant of the fundamental principles for managing a successful enterprise. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

36 FEature

by

Petamber Persaud

A

Play Subtitled Medal of Service.

(Extract of interview with Desiree Edghill, Georgetown, Guyana, November 2016. Edghill is Director of Artiste in Direct Support, a versatile theatre personality, a health activist and educator. Edghill was recently awarded a Medal of Service.)

PP: We cannot divorce the drama from theatre in Guyana because the history of theatre in Guyana is characterized mainly by highs [high drama] and lows [low gravy]. There is a school of thought that views the fortunes of theatre as a reflection of the state of country’s fortunes.

Theatre in Guyana started with the Coffee House Theatre and the Minor Theatre and the Theatre Royal, all the while evolving until the concerted effort that resulted in the founding of the Theatre Guild Playhouse in 1957. But just before that movement, there were other efforts like the Sugar Estate Drama Festival and the British Guiana Dramatic Society among others…

As we’re on highs and lows of theatre in Guyana, what period did you start theatre?

DE: I started theatre in 1979 with the Guyana Stores Group – the PEWITT (People Working in Total Togetherness); I was working with Guyana Stores at that time and I was asked to join the group.

I didn’t think I was a dramatist at that time but I was having an altercation on the floor when the PR passed and heard me extolling myself and he turned to me saying that they were putting on a play and he would like me to play a part. Of

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Preserving our Literary Heritage

course, I replied that I was not an actress to which he said that I didn’t know that I was acting with that attitude and that was the same attitude he was looking for to fill the part…so that was where it all started.

PP: What was the state of theatre then and the state of the country at that time?

DE: Well, a t that time theatre was not an important part of my life – I was a mother, a single mother, looking for a job so I was not a part of theatre when I started. I became a part of the theatre in 1982 at Theatre Guild when our group used to perform there. Also at that time we had Rolland Phillips who was part of our group while he was working at the radio station. Allan Cooper was part of the PEEWITT group, Sydney Benjamin was our choreographer and there was Leon Saul who was one of our directors…

PP: Ras Leon Saul has being around theatre quite a while!

DE: Yes, he has.

The chairman of theatre Guild at that time was John Rawlins and he came

and saw a production I did in 1981 at St. Rose’s – we used to perform at the St. Rose’s High School which had a beautiful auditorium – and the production was the ‘Porknocker’ wherein I played the prostitute….So John Rawlings came and saw me. At the end, he called me to say there was a reading for a play at the Theatre Guild – ‘Juno and the Peacock’. At that time there was Anthony Stewart, Ulita Anthony, G. Walcott, Godfrey Naughton, Howard Lorimar – they were the people in that production.

So when John Rawlings invited me to do the reading, I said I was not into acting to which he responded that I suited the part for I looked like Anthony Stewart’s daughter who was brown-skinned with bonnie long hair and I had lovely long plaits.

PP: We’d return to that later but I’d like for us to expand on the fact that a number of corporate entities were hosting their own little, in-house drama groups….

DE: Guysuco Drama Group, City Hall …

PP: Ian Valz…

DE: Yes, he was from the City Hall group and he was the one who did ‘House of Pressure’ with others from that group first performing ‘House of Pressure’.

Yes, there were many little drama groups around apart from the Theatre Guild but it was at the Theatre Guild where you really got your training to learn the stage craft.

I remember when I went to do production there; I had to become a member of the Theatre Guild workshop which was held every Monday evening ….

PP: You had to be a rounded person – theatre personality …

DE: …Yes, you had to be – you couldn’t just jump on the stage. We rehearsed for that play for over three months which means you had to take time to get to that point - into character.

I don’t think we do long rehearsals now…

PP: …And it shows in contemporary theatre – missed lines, missed cues, lighting off-cue, long blackouts….

Let’s dwell a bit more on that training.

That training was my DE: foundation….But that wasn’t all; you also had to learn backstage, stage management, lights, sounds, you also had to learn front of house apart from cleaning the theatre…you had to clean your house – that’s how it was presented to us.

PP: By doing all these things, theatre was getting into your blood.

DE: Yes! You became a part of the theatre and theatre became a part of you.

We never got paid when we did Theatre Guild workshop productions, that was our give-back in return for been trained in the arts. When we do a workshop production is when we gave back and importantly that’s when directors came and scouted for actors and actresses … so that’s another reason you gave of your best because that is how you will get cast.

I remember just after I did ‘Juno and the Peacock’, I went on to do ‘House of pressure’; right away Ian Valz cast me in ‘House of Pressure’ playing the girl friend to the Pressure Family’s daughter.

At the time though when I entered theatre at the Guild, local theatre was now becoming vibrant – we were having writers, Paloma Mohamed, Ian Valz, Ronald Hollingsworth, Harold Bascom, Mr Lloyd Grannum – a whole lot of people started to write local theatre, a lot of people was now gravitating towards local theatre….

Remember at the Guild, we were doing English and American plays where you had to speak the Queen ’s English.

PP: We’ll examine that change in a bit but let’s go back to something you said earlier. You said at the Theatre Guild, you were not performing for monetary gains.

DE: In my time, we use to have Theatre Guild awards every year and that was our reward for performing.

Now it’s monetary and I see nothing wrong with that. My concern is that the numbers of plays that people are in at the same time. In our days, if you’re in a production, you give your all to it. If you are in six productions in the Drama Festival, you can’t give your all; how much of you can you give to any one production.

For me, I think quality will be jeopardized. I remember I had done, once in my life, three plays in one month – performed the first one at the beginning of the month, that means, I was not rehearsing for that play in that particular month. I did one in the middle and I did one in the end. I rehearsed for the two simultaneously; one was for the Theatre Guild and one for the National Cultural Centre. I begged Kwesi Oginga to take me out of the one for Theatre Guild because I felt I wasn’t [present] there enough to rehearse with the others so I felt it was unfair and unjust to the rest of the cast but he wanted me to do the lead role so badly that he made them rehearse without me by putting a stand-in and I was not happy with this because I feel you owe it to the people you working on stage with to give them the vibes….

PP: You touched on one important aspect of working together. What other things come out of working together as a team?

DE: We all became one so there is no small role because the lead depends on someone even with one line for the progression of the play; you become family – this play is us, this is not me or you.

So that togetherness, that gelling really speaks volume and once you gel on stage, that gelling is thrown to the audience because the audience sees the family – we worked well together because we rehearse together. But once I was done with NCC, I gave all of my time to the production at the Theatre Guild, working in the day and working in the night. At that time, I had quit my day job and went into acting professionally - that was 1986....

PP: Wow, that was a concerted move because you knew or you had to know what you were getting into …

DE: I did know like I said earlier local theatre was just becoming popular and I was been asked to do a lot of plays and I couldn’t learn my lines while I was at work so I made a conscious decision to leave my job at Guyana Stores; my manager saying something like this D if you don’t make it, come back – you are a good staff and I said to her that there was no turning back…I am going to do theatre; I am going to act, I am going to write, I am going to direct, I am going into this wholly. Let me know wood [knocking the table] I am still there because that’s what I wanted, I found my first love in theatre and that’s where I wanted to be. So I continue in that same vein, when I came off the job, I remember I did ‘House of Pressure’ the second time when I played Mrs Pressure….

Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com What’s Happening: The eleventh conference of the Guyana Institute of Historical Research is set for June 30, 2018; for further information please contact Hazel Woolford at 2204759/644-8877 (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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Travel & Tourism 37 A glimpse of the village

S

anta Aratak is the only indigenous settlement in Region 3 (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and is located some 22 miles from the capital Georgetown. The community is the closest indigenous settlement to the capital city and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

With a population of approximately three thousand persons, the small village is located on the bank of the Camuni Creek with logging, farming and handicraft production being the main economic activities.

This small, yet dynamic community covers approximately 84 square miles of forest in Region Three. Founded in 1858, this village is populated mainly by the Arawak tribe and like other communities has benefited from significant investments. These include a health centre that provides improved medical care to villagers, nursery and primary schools, a community library and a craft centre.

Notwithstanding the many challenges, this Village is ideally set for further economic growth with its abundance of forests and agricultural resources.

A traditional benab

One of the most successful ventures undertaken in the area is the production of handicrafts through which a craft centre was established by a collaborative effort by the community, Government and its partners. This initiative now provides employment for a number of persons; particularly the women and residents are optimistic that more opportunities will be available with future expansion.

Santa Aratak with its sandy landscape surrounded by the Camuni River and dense forest is famed for its handicraft products.There is also a village monument representing the former Toshaos, a famous silk-cotton tree, and the Camuni Women Craft shop, where tourists can purchase a wide range of Indigenous Art and Craft at affordable prices.

Just recently, the community had its elections where it elected a young a vibrant Village Council. The newly elected Toshao is Hilton Williams and according to residents, he is all ready to breathe new life into the village.

(Photos from Santa Aratak Villagers, MoIPA) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Taking a plunge

The Village monument

Locally produced craft

The newly sworn in village council of Santa / Aratack Amerindian Reservation, Essequibo Islands West Demerara. From Left - Clifford Barker, Merly Campo, Irving Daniels, Toshao Hilton Williams, Harold Newton, Winston Smith and Zwantje De Cambra.

A typical Santa Aratak house

38 feature

By Lakhram Bhagirat

N

ot everyone wants to grow up, we just want to enjoy the perks of being a grown up. We want the nice things and privileges and not the

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responsibilities, but what do we do when we are a mere teenager and life reveals how ugly it can be, leaving us virtually alone. We adapt, right?

Being 15, for many of us, means a life where our mothers coddle us

and fathers take care of our every need or even our grandparents spoil us rotten, but the case is very different for Sharon Coylasar of Aishalton in Region Nine. You see, it has only been a few months since Sharon’s

Some of the items in Sharon’s shop

mother, Marina Browne, passed away but even before that, the teenager has always been independent and a selfstarter.

Sharon is a Fourth Form student of the Aishalton Secondary School in Deep South Rupununi and she is an inspiration to everyone in the small Amerindian community and even those afar. But what makes Sharon so unique? She is not your average teenager. She lives by herself and runs a small grocery shop to maintain the home and send her to school.

As we learned earlier, Sharon’s mother died in March of this year and since then she has been left to fend for herself, since her brother died last year and her sister is a doctor in Georgetown.

She explains that her father has been out of her life for over a decade and since the death of her mother, an aunt that lives nearby would “check-in” with her at night.

Sharon is preparing to transition from Fourth to Fifth Form where she is expected to sit eight subjects at the 2019 Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) examination.

Filled with teenaged giggles, she explains that her number one passion is business and it is only fitting that she sit the core business subjects at the upcoming CSEC exams.

“I want to be an

independent woman, a self-employed woman, a business woman so that I can show people what I am made of. I am strong, Indigenous and proud.

Our village (of Aishalton) is small, everyone looks out for everyone, and that is why I want to stay here and work and develop this village. I want the other young ladies to see what they can do and what we can do together,” Sharon says.

N o t knowing how to speak to someone about the loss of the only parental figure in their life, I casually asked Sharon “how has she been coping since her mother’s passing,” and the answer was one that surprised me; not because of how gutwrenching it was, but rather it was the level of maturity it was delivered with.

“Since my mother passed, it has been hard.

She used to run the shop and I would make snacks like puri and pulorie and so and take to school and sell because of a programme we were doing but all of that I had to stop. I couldn’t cope with all of that. I had experienced the loss of a close person when my brother died but when my mother died, it was like everything stopped.

I realised I was alone and had to take care of myself so I started to plan every day and adjust. It is a bit easier now but I miss her every day. But now I can cope with school and the shop,” she explained.

Quite frankly, even as an adult it is tough to imagine a life where mommy is not there and for a mere teenager to come to terms and understand the role of stepping up to the proverbial plate is not only commendable, but inspiring.

Growing up for Sharon has been fun and even though she does not have much spare time now, she spends whatever time she can get with her school friends and like any teenager, browsing social media sites. She enjoys a good movie but now with the pressures of completing labs work for her Integrated Science School Based Assessment (SBA), coupled with SBAs for every other subject, she cannot remember the last time she saw a good movie.

Sharon Coylasar

Sharon wakes up every morning at the crack of dawn, makes breakfast and opens the shop for about three hours before venturing to school. At school, she explains it is hard to focus since managing a household and studies takes its toll at times.

After school, she would hurry home and open the shop for another few hours because that is the only source of income she has.

“I have been trying ever since and I’m still maintaining the grades despite the struggles I have on a daily basis, which is no mom around to talk to,” she noted.

Now, whenever Sharon receives a good grade or any commendation from her teachers, she just taps herself on the back and says good work as her mother would have done.

Sharon has the drive to forge ahead despite the obstacles.

She sees herself expanding her business to that of a general store and furthering her studies in the field of Business Management and Accounting. She aspires to develop her community and make her mark.

“I like challenges.

Plenty people ask me how I do it but at the end of the day, I have to do it. Sometimes I do wish that I can just be like the other girls but then I am thankful for the experience. I like to be independent and I want to remain that way until I die,” Sharon said amidst giggles.

Fellow villager Immaculata Casimero describes Sharon as an “inspiration”, adding that the village of Aishalton is proud of her.

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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C

hoosing the right shade of foundation, the perfect lipstick or even eyeshadow palette is a task many underestimate.

It requires the help of some who not only knows the product but also understands the importance of the “perfect match” and for the past year Robert Hiscock and Tamera DaSilva created that space when the launched the Little Make-up Bag. Robert is a 28 year old Englishman but because of his love for Guyana and the fact that he spent most of his time here, it was only right that he became a Guyanese national and that he did in 2010. Meanwhile, Tamera is what we describe at the born and bred Guyanese millennial. Robert is the holder of a degree in Business and Caribbean Studies from the London Metropolitan University and was previously a Beverage Marketing Manager with Caribbean beverage giant- AnsaMcAL. Tamera is just 21 years old but has a passion for being independent and hence the reason for undertaking this joint venture with Robert. She has also worked several jobs in retain and marketing but never felt the level of comfort she now feels “I believe strongly in self-empowerment and being your own source of happiness. Perhaps the latter is the main reason why I chose this particular industry to get involved in,” she says.

Both Robert and Tameka strongly believes in Guyana's potential for growth over the next few years and thought that becoming entrepreneurs, "throwing out ya belly" as some may say, was the best way for then to benefit from this growth. Further, the duo says owning your own business is in many ways a stepping stone in life towards independence, like buying your first car or first house.

“Striving for this independence and to ensure we, as Guyanese, make the most of what our country has to offer, was key to our decision to open our own business.”

Little Make-up Bag is located at 129A Duncan Street, Bel-Air Park, Georgetown and retails cosmetics and skin care products. For the owners, seeing the smiles on customer's faces when they open their new

eyeshadow pallet or try on a new shade of lipstick is second to none.

“With this said, the focus on our customers, and thus our customer service and marketing initiatives geared towards giving back to those who give to us, is what sets us apart from others in the industry. At Little Make-up Bag, not only can a consumer expect the best variety and prices, but the homely nature of our business allows us to give our customers the time and attention they deserve.”

Unlike most stores that offer cosmetics in Guyana, make-up and skin care is not just a component at the Little Make-up Bag rather it is the entire focus of the business. As such, Tameka and Robert spends significant time testing products before they hit the shelves in order to ensure that they are satisfied with their quality and that customers will have the best experience possible.

“We also offer a wide variety of leading cosmetic brands and don't just focus on one particular portfolio.

This helps us to ensure that when customers come to Little Make-up Bag they stand a good chance of finding exactly what they're looking for.”

With cosmetics being a relatively new industry in Guyana, it leaves a lot of opportunity for young entrepreneurs to really capitalize.

For Tamera and Robert age is just a number that does not really affects the possibility of launching a successful venture. Their challenges, like many others, were the same. Finding the capital to launch their business was

among the major challenge, but for them starting small is not a problem and they did start small. Over the past year they have grown as individuals, business partners and so did the Little Make-up Bag. “We started as a small door to door retailer with a minimal investment. From there we continued to grow and re-invest whatever we earned. This, with support from our parents allowed us to open a physical location (but this is only the beginning). Another challenge associated with starting a venture is commitment.

Everything that can go wrong will! It will never be a walk in the park and there will be many sleepless nights if you want to get it right. However, pushing through and keeping your thoughts fixated on your overall objective will help you to remember why you started this journey in the first place,” they advised.

Managing your own business will also be tough at first especially if you came from conventional employment where you typically served one function of the business. Running your own show means getting familiar with all aspects of an operational business from accounting to inventory management and marketing. Time is also a challenge.

Start-ups very rarely become profitable right away. Research the industry you want to get involved in, ensure there is real opportunity to be exploited and know that Guyana has so much opportunity. Think outside the box and don't hesitate to come out of your comfort zone.

(Guyana

Times Sunday Magazine)

40 feature

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Aishalton Self Reliance Youth Group

“Food is about love and we out that in our food so when the customers eat it they can say ‘this taste just like my mommy own’ and that makes us happy.”

By Lakhram Bhagirat

I

t was Apple’s cofounder, Steve Jobs, who famously said, “great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people,” and knowing the value of teamwork was what led five Amerindian young women to forming the Aishalton Self Reliance Youth Group, which began the journey of feeding visitors and the people of Aishalton.

Aishalton is a titled Amerindian community located in Deep South Rupununi Region 9

(UpperTakutuUpper Essequibo). It has a land mass of 430.92 square miles and has a population of over 1,000 consisting mostly of the Wapichan nation and is approximately 60 miles Southeast of Lethem.

The Village has access to its own hospital, police station, sports ground, community centers, local electricity grid and the internet. It is considered the hub for other Amerindian Villages in located in the Deep South Area and is accessible by road and air. It takes approximately 18 hours to drive, and one and a

half hours to fly from Georgetown to Aishalton.

Now that we know some facts about the village, let us get back to the five heroines of Aishalton. After being a part of the first batch of the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) students, Carmen Ritchie, Sonita Ernest, Mary Realine, Francelyn Francis and Adena Robertson pooled together their financial grants and started a Snackette.

“We decided after we finished the theory part of the HEYS training, the five of us from the village decided to pool the grants

and we start the Aishalton Self Reliance Youth Group. After the group, we took the money and start building the Snackette and we open in June last year.

Now is just two members active, me and Sunita, the rest of them move to town and doing other things,” Carmen said.

Since establishing the Snackette last year, the Group has had nothing but challenges but would have it no other way. They put in hard work and are determine to make it a successful venture.

Carmen explained that after three of the founding members left, the work intensified and sales began decreasing. The

decrease is due to the fact that because of their location, the accessibility to goods is hampered resulting in them not being able to meet the demands of their customers.

Carmen says the Snackette is different from all others because of the variety afforded as well as the price. Now the Snackette serves traditional Amerindian cuisines such as the pepperpot, tuma pot, cassava bread and farine.

Additionally, there is the fusion of other cultures with food such as fried rice, cook-up, pasta, curries and pastries.

When the idea of the Snackette was for birthed, the group said the market demand was there and the people of Aishalton was hungry for variety without the hassle of travelling to Lethem. However, the initial demand has since decreased and now they are left to think about

new ways of diversifying the products they offer to appeal to the villagers.

“We have trouble getting materials we need to get the business developed more. But we are trying and not giving up. We will make it. Now we are looking at how we can make it better because business slow down,” Carmen said.

Carmen now focuses most of her time in developing the business and according to her, it is just a year now but the plan is to keep the Snackette open as long as possible.

She describes their food as the best because of the level of love they put into the preparation, making each dish as homemade as possible.

“Food is about love and we out that in our food so when the customers eat it they can say ‘this taste just like my mommy own’ and that makes us happy.”

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

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44 feature

A

drives her to achieve perfection.

“I am a strong, independent woman and about a year ago I opened my studio after years of doing house calls. Business is tough but you have to persevere and everything will fall in place,” she said.

Natasha’s studio, Tasha’s Touch of

pplying m a k e up is not only about taking a brush and dabbing a little powder on one’s face rather it entails finding your shade, products that work for your skin tone, applying foundation, contouri n g

and baking, eyeshadow, blush, highlight and a whole host of other things in order to enhance your features. It takes someone with the love for the craft to venture into the field and make a career of it because of the amount of patience and time it requires.

For Natasha Persaud, applying make-up to enhance her features or cover a pimple was

WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.

Elegance, is located in Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara and she explains that the journey to that accomplishment is one that was filled with challenges. She added that the misconception with Make-Up Artists is that they are too expensive but clients do not consider the costs of make-up, brushes and labour.

a lot right?

Yes! As

Natasha, a professionally trained makeup artist, says there is much more to make-up than what meets the eye.

To achieve the desired look, one would have to start with the basics.

Since some products absorbs the natural moisture and oils our bodies produce, one would have to first moisturize the area make-up is to be applied to. After moisturizing, then comes the application of primer followed by foundation and concealer.

Once concealing is finished, the artist then moves to the brows and gives the face time to bake which is letting translucent powder sit on your face for five to 10 minutes, which allows the heat from your face to set your base foundation and concealer, and then dusting it off your face, leaving you with a creaseless, flawless finish.

Once baking is completed then comes the highlighting, application of blush, eyeshadow and lipstick. Sounds like

it, the application of make-up is a lengthy process that requires commitment and knowledge of both the product and desired look.

“When I am finished with my clients, I want them to look good and feel good. Make-up shouldn’t be too much that it overpowers the person but it should be just enough to accentuate the client,” she says.

As a relatively young person now establishing a business, Natasha says

com

t h e

Natasha puts

something she always had a knack for at a very young age. She has the patience to stand, cower and contour for hours just to achieve the desired look.

It was that love for everything make-up that led the single mother towards becoming a makeup artist. Natasha is 27 years old; mother to a four-year-old daughter and the need to provide the best possible life for her daughter is what

challenges are many and they range from accessing the right product, equipment and getting clients to pay the correct amount without complaining.

For now, Natasha is focused on building her brand and expanding her reach. She is currently offering make-up classes for anyone who has the drive and passion.

(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Natasha and her daughter

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Readjusting our dress codes

By Ashley Anthony

E

verywhere we turn, we are greeted by dress codes. Dress codes are simply rules which people are expected to follow, and may vary based on the place, occasion and reason for attendance. Some events are incredibly formal, for example, that of the Royal Ascot, which has issued a 36page dress code; with males in the Royal enclosure being mandated to wear top hats.

However, most dress codes are not that specific, and can lead to much subjectivity in their enforcement.

Specifically, in Guyana, the main issue with dress codes are the fact that whoever made these dress codes seems to have never lived a day in Guyana themselves. In a country where we are constantly being faced with hot temperatures, our formal dress codes insist that we must be attired in sleeved shirts and long pants/dresses. There are numerous instances of people being refused entry to Government buildings on the grounds of a sleeve being too short, or a dress being above the knees. Now, I understand that dress codes serve a purpose.

They help to maintain

a standard, and create a particular aesthetic.

There is nothing wrong with an employer wanting their employees to look professional, but is there any reason that professional dress must also be uncomfortable? Is there any reason that a person in a professional looking armless blouse should be turned away from work?

Whilst I was in school, the enforcement of the dress code drove me insane. One of the things that I found incredibly peculiar was the school’s ability to decide what a person should do with their hair. I don’t mean in terms of styling, (I have nothing against schools asking students to tie their hair up in a professional manner), but I mean in terms of how long it should be, and what colours are acceptable.

Boys were not allowed to grow their hair out, even if they had intentions to comb it back or tie it up. Why? To what end? It’s not as if in the work place men are policed for the length of their hair. If a girl had dyed her hair, even if it was a shade of brown (or some other colour which would be considered ‘natural’), she would be forced to re-

dye her hair. Why? Which employer cares about such things?

We spend so much time policing what people wear, and to what end? Who sees a Queen’s College student and cares whether or not they are wearing a ribbon? Yet in the school, this is incredibly important. I myself, was once told I could not enter a lab because I was not properly attired (missing a ribbon), and I have seen students being told to wear a strip of a black plastic bag on their hair in the place of a ribbon.

Subjectivity comes into play usually in dress codes directed to the public. People are turned away from Government buildings because their wear is too short, or deemed otherwise inappropriate by some person.

The admission of someone to a building depends on the discretion of whoever is on duty at the time. That subjectivity is dangerous, and can lead to discrimination. In the United States, where many public schools do not have a uniform, there have been complaints that girls are ‘coded’ more frequently than boys, even though both break the rules of

the dress code. There are also allegations that people of different races are treated differently with regards to the dress code. What is deemed appropriate for one race is deemed inappropriate for another.

I don’t believe we need to do away with dress codes completely, but I do believe we need to reexamine the existing ones that we have. We need to readjust our standards to cater for Guyana being a tropical country. Professional and sleeveless clothes are not mutually exclusive.

That being said, the National Dress Code Committee (which apparently exists) has embarked on a survey to determine whether or not there should be a dress code for persons entering public service and Government agencies. If you have ever had a complaint about how you were treated entering one of these places of business, make your voice heard by placing your vote.

If this changes, maybe businesses and schools will begin to reassess their dress codes as well.

No room for divisive elements?

S

atiricus walked towards the Back Street Bar with a bounce to his steps. After all the gloomand-doom news about the political divisions in the country, he was happy as a kiskadee that the ERC – which he and his friends pronounced “erk”, rhyming with “jerk” – was up and running once again. His excitement bubbled over as soon as he took his first swig of beer.

“These people on “erk” represent every group in Guyana,” Satiricus enthused. “They’ll solve all our ‘us-and-them’ problems!”

“But yuh bin tell abee de KFC woulda do de same t’ing w’en yuh jine up wid dem!” said Bungi.

“Wha’ happen?”

“Let’s not go there,” said Satiricus rather crossly.

“You know the Trotter fell out with Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat, and the KFC became split along racial lines.”

“But if ‘erk” suh good, wha’ mek ayuh na tek de problem to dem?” asked Cappo earnestly.

“Well, if you go to ‘erk’, you have to point out the racial or ethnic bias,” interjected Hari on behalf of Satiricus, who was signalling the waitress for another round. He was buying.

“Well, rememba de time de KFC seh Nagga Man mus tu’n Speakah and Grain-Ja pick de Trotter?” pointed out Bungi. “Da na racial bias?”

“The ‘erk’ don’t deal with political problems,” said Satiricus with growing annoyance. The gyaaf wasn’t going the way he’d planned. “The people on ‘erk’ are above politics.”

“Me na know ‘bout da!” said Cappo. “Dis GECON case na political?”

“But I have another question for Sato,” interjected Hari. “What you mean the folks on ‘erk’ are above politics?”

“Well, take the chairman, who’s the most important member of ‘erk’,” said Satiricus. “He’s a big-time pastor and has all races in his flock! He won’t take sides.”

“Budday!” interrupted Bungi. “How laang ‘e bin a preach to ‘e flack?”

“Over thirty years!” boasted Satiricus.

“Suh if ‘e na salve de race problem in ‘e church in 30 year,” asked Bungi. “How ‘e guh salve abee race praablem in politics in one month?”

Satiricus said, “Let’s drink our beer.”

PassiveAggressive…

“P

…Nagamootoo

rime Minister” Nagamootoo has been reduced

by President Granger – the leader of the PNC – to writing a column for the Chronicle. Being the passive-aggressive personality he is, however, rather than confronting Granger directly over the latter’s failure to even honour the SPIRIT of the Cummingsburg Accord, much less its LETTER, he’s resorted to displaying his displeasure veiledly in his column.

What’s a “Passive-aggressive personality”, you ask, dear reader? Ahhh…it’s the behavioural repertoire of the child who’s smacked down so frequently by his parents – or other authority figures – for “talking back”, that he resorts to showing his anger towards them in surreptitious ways. More specifically, Nagamootoo is a “circuitous negativist” who displays opposition “…in a roundabout, labyrinthine, and ambiguous manner, e.g., procrastination, dawdling, forgetfulness, inefficiency, neglect, stubbornness, indirect and devious in venting resentment and resistant behaviours.”

Now that we have his clinical background, we can understand why he never took on fellas like Jagdeo directly in the PPP executive when he was convinced he should’ve been leader, but rather always sabotaged the party’s work through his slackness. But back to his present-day passive-aggressive behaviour in his column towards Granger. We all know Granger isn’t just a follower of Burnham, but a DEVOTEE who’s paid his hero the greatest compliment by swearing to complete his legacy! Who else but a devotee would want to complete a legacy of such unmitigated failure and disaster!!

In his column, Nagamootoo reminded us that, back in the sixties, tyrants and petty dictators – who then abounded – were referred to as “gorillas”. Now, before jumping aboard the PNC-coalition ship, Nagamootoo had consistently denounced Burnham as a “dictator”… and fully well knew that Walter Rodney had dubbed Burnham as the biggest gorilla of them all – KING KONG!!

It was an insult Burnham never forgot – next to Rodney’s other name for him and his pretentions about using the royal colour purple – King Midas. Unlike Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold, Burnham turned things into sh*t – thereby eventually turning the entire Guyana into a sh*thole. So, Nagamootoo’s reference to “tyrants-as-gorillas” is a circuitous dig at Granger for the latter not even deigning to let him know whether the PNC will rescue the AFC at the LGE!! Another passiveaggressive dig by Nagamootoo was his reference to the adulation of the progressive left back in the sixties for REAL revolutionaries like Che Gueverra, who were willing to FIGHT for their principles; unlike Burnham – who craved that adulation – yet sold out to the “imperialists” to be put into office!!

In declaring he “embraced Che”, Nagamootoo would have us believe he was a revolutionary “guerrilla” who would “hit and run”.

Sadly, all Nagamootoo could do was run!! …and coalition fissures On the same day the AFC announced it was tired of waiting for PNC-leader Granger to give them the time of the day – much less whether his party would go to the LGE polls with them — Nagamootoo declared the PNCled Coalition “formidable”!! David Hinds – whose party, WPA, is also in the coalition — showed Nagamootoo was whistling strenuously in the dark when he revealed the coalition’s one only in name, since the members don’t meet to discuss, much less vote, on issues!!

Now, not a single Guyanese would be surprised by Hinds’s contradiction of Nagamootoo, but what some folks do wonder is: why would he reduce himself to parroting such blatant excuses for the PNC’s paramountcy in the coalition? Is his compulsion to “get back” at Jagdeo so deep he’d humiliate himself at this stage of his life?

Does he, for instance, really believe talks on coalition between PPP and PNC led to a “new political culture” based on “consultation and inclusivity”??

Is this what Hoyte’s “mo fyaah; slow fyaah” was about? …on Jagdeo It is sick that the old boys network in the Caribbean – after going along with the farce of Burnham’s elections rigging for two decades – would now sing from the same hymnbook in the CCJ’s decision.

It’s the same ole, same ole.

news 47

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Funding…

H

…for “we own”

alf of the PNC supporters live in Georgetown and its environs. And with politics in Guyana dominated by the doling out of patronage, the cash spigot of the City has always been seen as crucial to the party’s fortunes. But the handouts have never been so blatantly disbursed. Take that G$57 million that the PNC-at-the Centre gave to the PNC-at-City Hall to hand out as it pleases to its councillors to fund “projects” in their wards.

The PPP’s complained this is nothing more than campaign funding for the upcoming Local Government elections. And, OF COURSE, it is…but so what?

How’s it different from the G$500 million the PNC-at-the-Centre doled out two years in a row to “spruce up” the City? Does anyone think the good burghers of our fair capital are in the least concerned that more than G$1billion was squandered to build that wood-ants Jubilee Stadium?? Workers from their ranks got a piece of the action!

Does anyone think those same burghers give a hoot about the daily revelations – via letters to the press – about the overseas junkets by City officials?

Or their hiring of relatives to do jobs that are never done, but the payments are pocketed? Or of friends and relative getting to break all sorts of rules on vending etc?? Or the Auditor General’s revelations?

It’s “a-wee own”, dear readers. G/town’s a cash cow for the PNC folks, and the cow’s maintained by the party through YOUR taxes. That’s what the annual bailouts mean. But they don’t exhaust the gift that keeps on giving.

In addition to “bread,” there must also be “circuses” for the faithful…and those don’t come cheap. Take the Carnival that was just introduced – putatively by “private bodies”. Are you aware of the cost for just the Police protection provided for the wine-down? It took the Cricket folks months to negotiate players’ protection – but wasn’t even mentioned for the Carnival insiders!! It’s “a-wee own”!! And let’s not even mention the clean-up costs!!

But while you may not realise it, dear readers, the funding for the faithful in the City goes even beyond the legal channels. Take, for instance, the Stabroek Market Square, that’s been in the news recently for being a den of iniquity and all that. But it’s ALWAYS been so, hasn’t it?? “Marks” – especially from the countryside – have always been fleeced there. Even though the largest Police Station in the country is a block away, there’s a Police Outpost, and the City has hundreds of Constabulary in its employ!!

It’s just another way to ensure that loyalty to the PNC from its underclass is rewarded.

Who knows when they’ll be needed for another riot?? …for global leadership For a while, BRICS was riding high. You remember them, don’t you, dear reader? Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa? They were the “emerging economies” that were going to step up to the crease of global leadership after the US and Europe stumbled into their financial meltdown in 2008. After all, they were literally the locomotive for global economic growth with their stellar GDP growth rates – and as the pundits said money talks and bullshit walks!!

Well, after a decade, it appears money doesn’t talk as loudly as everyone thought!! While the other members of BRICS might’ve slowed down, China and India are still leading in global growth rates, with the latter now taking the lead; but “global leadership”? Naah! Part of the problem is it wasn’t always “money” that delivered leadership. It was money BACKED by force…and if the money wasn’t there, force could move mountains!! Like Chairman Mao said, “Power comes out of the barrel of a gun!!”

The question is whether BRICS can project their guns globally! …AFC’s survival Granger and his PNC haven’t even deigned to speak to the “dead meat” AFC about whether they’ll prop up the latter at the upcoming LGE. There isn’t even a word for “to raise from the dead”!! It’ll take The Second Coming!!

Small businesses in Guyana facing tough times due to influx of Chinese

T

he steady influx of Chinese businesses and the change of consumers’ preference are some of the major challenges that micro businesses are facing, according to Small Business Development Finance Trust Inc (SBDF) Director Mohamed Ali. Speaking at the Trust’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, Ali outlined that SBDF granted a total of G$279.3 million in loans last year, compared to G$307.3 million in 2016. He noted that the micro-loan sector, which caters for vendors and small shops, was mostly impacted by this decline.

“The very small micro-businesses continue to face major competition from Chinese influx and the shifting of consumer preferences to shop at large and smaller supermarkets for their needs.

If you travel around, you will notice a lot more supermarkets are being opened up so the bottom house-style shop business is gradually being eroded.

You will also notice that the vending business has declined tremendously,” Ali noted as he read the Chairman’s report.

According to the SBDF Director, the number of loans granted by the Trust has declined in 2017 by 80 when compared to the previous year, with females and single mothers, who are the dominant players in the micro-loan sector, being the ones mostly affected. Of the total amount of

Central Bank Governor, Dr Gobind Ganga

loans granted last year, 45 per cent went to the agriculture sector, 30 per cent to retail trade/services, 10 per cent for consumers, and four per cent each for the fisheries, livestock, and manufacturing industries; while two per cent went to other miscellaneous sectors.

In the agriculture sector, a total of G$338.8 million was invested, with 199 loans granted to mainly cash crop and rice farmers. This is compared to 225 loans granted in 2016.

“During the early part of 2017, many farmers stayed away from the first crop owing to previous crop losses in 2016, which was mostly due to diseases, drought and carry-over financial difficulties from 2015 when you had low paddy prices and late payments by millers to farmers…However, in the latter part of 2017, many of those farmers who stayed away, returned for the second crop with increased demands; hence, the aver-

age loan price was G$1.6 million per farmers,” the SBDF Director stated.

Decline in loans

Meanwhile, Ali pointed out that the commercial sector, which represents manufacturing and fisheries, and carries an average loan size of G$206.8 million, has recorded relatively low growth over the years since the Trust is unable to cater for high-value loans given its limited capital base. However, the SBDF managed to grant 17 loans last year, two less than 2016.

Nevertheless, the SBDF Director went on to say that despite the overall decline in loans granted in 2017, the Trust managed to record a surplus in revenues last year.

“In terms of our financial performance, SBDF created a surplus of G$28.4 million from revenues…, and was able to retain 37 per cent of these revenues verses 35 per cent in 2016. This

means that although we may have generated less revenues in 2016, our retention factor in terms of a surplus was greater than what we did 2016 – bearing in mind this surplus is being reinvested in SBDF… for relending to you our clients,” Ali asserted.

The Finance Trust 2017 records also show that 150 loans were granted to females, which is 22 more than those granted to males; while 117 joint loans were granted.

Moreover, with Government’s allocation of the development, growth and sustainability of small and medium enterprises, Ali posited that with this new access to capital for budding entrepreneurs coupled with linkages to a national economic strategy, this sector has a major role to play and is committed to providing a better life for all.

Several clients of the SBDF received awards for their successful businesses.

Children of WBD ex-sugar workers get G$2M in donations

A

A section of the students at the handing over on Tuesday morning

s former sugar workers and their families continue to face the many impacts resulting from the Wales Sugar Estate closure, 22 of the affected children who attend the nearby Patentia Secondary School received donations of items totalling G$2 million.

Nearly two years af-

ter the official shutting down of operations at the Estate, many sacked sugar work-ers are still dealing with reduced employment and financial challenges.

As a result, some parents chose to rotate sending their children to school which caught the eye of the education officers.

Recognising many of these concerns, an overseas-based businessman, through prominent Attorney-At-Law Christopher Ram, made the timely donation.

Among the items are stationery supplies and haversacks; one student from the distant community of Free and Easy was given a bicycle to

travel to school.

Headmistress Collette Reedon, who has been stationed at the school for about one year, says that these timely donations give the school a more positive image while assisting parents in the community who have encountered difficulties.

She told this newspaper that a study was conducted to select the students who were most in need.

Attorney Ram noted that four other schools on the West Bank of Demerara are slated to receive simi-lar donations while there are also plans to give a few scholarships to students.

Wales Sugar Estate officially ended operations in December 2016.

To date, many of the workers have not been paid severance packages.

48 Bollywood

D

ia Mirza bid for and bought an original six-sheet poster of the landmark film Mother India depicting the iconic Nargis Dutt for Rs 1.45 lakh in an auction. The actor, who features in a pivotal role in Sanju, a movie on Sanjay Dutt’s life, wants to gift it to the Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. star.

Dia bid for the poster at Osian’s IIFA Auction at the recently concluded International Indian Film Acad-emy (IIFA) Weekend and Awards in Bangkok.

The poster of the 1957 movie Mother India was much in demand but the winning bid of Rs 145,000 came from the UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador

WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Dia, known as much for her community services and activism as for her acting in cinema. She mentioned that she was buying the iconic poster and would like to offer it as a gift to Sanjay, read a statement.

In Sanju, a Rajkumar Hirani directorial, Dia essays the role of Maanyata Dutt, Sanjay’s current wife, op-posite Ranbir Kapoor. The Osian’s and IIFA collaboration saw the film fraternity put its weight firmly behind preserving and nurturing of India’s rich cinematic culture and its fragile paper-based heritage.

The auction saw Neville Tuli, Chairman of Osian’s Group, give vital insights into the need of preserving film memorabilia.

An exhibition was on view for aday-and-a-half prior to the auction that saw much competition for most of the 109 lots that went under the hammer.

Actor Anil Kapoor got his hands on the iconic first release three-sheet poster of Mughal-e-Azam for Rs 210,000. Anupam Kher made successful bids for the re-release half-sheet poster of Bandini for Rs 26,000, and a rare poster of Kabuliwala for Rs 34,000. This was the first public auction in which this rare version of Bimal Roy’s 1961 Kabuliwala poster came up for sale. (Indian Express)

A

ctor Shraddha Kapoor, who will share screen space with Rajkummar Rao for the first time in Stree, says working with him has been a dream come true for her. “It’s the first time that I am doing a horror comedy. It was a lot of fun and Rajukummar Rao is such a fantastic actor.

To work with him was a dream come true. I got so much to learn from him,” Shraddha said on the sidelines of the 19th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards.

Stree is reportedly based on an urban legend, which originated in Chanderi village in Bhopal. The film is directed by Amar Kaushik and it releases on August 31.

Written by Raj and D.K., it stars Shraddha Ka-poor and Rajkummar Rao in lead roles.

When

Mallika Sherawat: Mallika Sherawat is bold, fearless and outspoken. The actress, who works closely with an organisation that fights against human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children, says she wants to be the voice of women who don’t have one and that activism is important for her.

Mallika was teargassed and beaten up in her Paris apartment in 2016. She also had to deal with a crazy terrible stalker. When asked about

whether she fears for her life, she replied, “I can’t stop living my life. What’s good if I don’t get to use my voice for the cause that I believe in? I believe in women em-powerment and to be the voice for women who don’t have a voice.

I get mails from Haryana… from women saying, ‘Show us the way’. They want to make something of their life. My activism is very im-portant to me,” Mallika told IANS. The Murder actor wants

S

ushant Singh Rajput has bought land on the moon.

The actor will also be seen in Chanda Mama Door Ke which is touted to be India's first space movie.

Sushant Singh Rajput is reaching for the Moon, literally. It could be a unique way to promote his film Chanda

Mama Door Ke or simply a dream come true for his inner nerd, Rajput has bought what he claims to be a piece of lunar land on the far side of the Moon, in a region called the Mare Muscoviense, or the “Sea of Muscovy”.

The actor is already an owner of an advance telescope called the Meade 14″ LX600, which can help him keep an eye on this prime piece of real estate from his home on Earth. Rajput’s land is on the blind side from the Earth.

The actor has bought the property from

stalker in ZEE5’s anthology series, The Story. Talking about the episode of the digital project, she said, “It was kind

the International Lunar Lands Registry, making him the first Bollywood actor to do so though Shah Rukh Khan has already been gifted a piece on the Moon by a fan.

Rajput got the property registered on June 25 but it may not amount to a legal ownership as an international treaty states that “outer space, including the Moon and other celes-tial bodies” are the common heritage of mankind and cannot be owned by any nation.

Apart from Chanda Mama Door Ke, Sushant Singh Rajput is also working on Drive, Kedarnath and Sonchiriya.

Kedarnath is scheduled to release on November 30 and will mark the debut of actor Sara Ali Khan. (Indiaexpress)

says her co-actor is a gentleman with inspirational energy levels. “He is such a gentleman and an amazing human being.

I think it translates into his energy on set and is so inspiring for everybody.

Saaho” is being shot simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. It will showcase high-octane action sequences for which the makers are leaving no stone unturned. (Indian Express)

I want to be the voice for women

to inspire women across the country through her story of faci n g h e r

Sushant Singh Rajput now 'owns' a part of the moon

asked about her progress in the Saina Nehwal biopic, Shraddha said, “I have finished shooting for Stree. Now I am almost done shooting for Batti Gul Meter Chalu and I am shooting for Saaho.

Those are the films that are on floors right now.

The Saina Nehwal biopic will happen later this year.”

Set to make her Telugu debut in Prabhas starrer Saaho, Shraddha

B

of reliving the nightmare, but it was important for me to speak up about the experience. In India, a lot of people think that the life of a famous person is very simple… but actually, it’s not. We all have our own challenges and problems. I had this crazy, terrible stalker. Also, what’s happen-

obby Deol returned to Bollywood in a big way with Race 3. He will next be seen in Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se. Bobby Deol, who has made a comeback on the silver screen after four years with the Salman Khan starrer Race 3, says his main aim in life is to work hard and get good projects. Race 3 crossed Rs 100 crore at the box office in India since releasing on June 15. Directed

by Remo D’Souza, the film got an opening day collection of Rs 29.17 crore.

Asked if he feels that the success of Race 3 will get more films his way, Bobby said, “That is my main aim in life... To work hard and get good projects. It does not matter if I am playing the main lead or not.”

Bobby, 49, says he wants to be a part of mov-

ing in India right now with all these gang rape cases… there is a need to take self-defence seriously.”

Recalling the incident, Mallika said, “This took place a few years ago in Mumbai. This crazy guy was against the idea of me wearing short skirts. He said ‘You are going against your culture. Women like you should be put behind bars’. My clothes were an obsession for him. He just couldn’t believe that a girl from Haryana could

ies with good subjects.

“I’m just looking forward to get-ting good characters to play and some great subjects to be a part of.”

The Barsaat actor is particularly keen to star in an action entertainer. “I would love to do action. I have been doing a lot of comedy right now, so I want to do some action and I hope I get some scripts,” he said.

His next Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se is with his father and veteran actor Dharmendra and brother Sunny Deol. On working with family again,

he said, “It is always great to be in movie with my dad and brother. I grew up watching him. He is my inspiration.” (Hindustan Times)

Hollywood 49

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P

riyanka Chopra is in Goa with her family, friends and rumoured boyfriend Nick Jonas. The actor, who has kept mum so far about her feelings for the American singer, seems to be opening up bit by bit. PeeCee posted a photo on her Instagram stories where we can see Nick and her brother Siddharth enjoying the sea view. But it is the caption that has caught our attention. Priyanka wrote on the photo, “My two favourite men” with a love-struck emoticon.

This is the first time that Priyanka has posted a photo of Nick. Earlier, we saw the 25-year-old

D

singer posting a video of Priyanka getting drenched in Mumbai rains. On the video, he wrote, “Her” with a lovestruck emoji. The two have been exchanging cute comments and compliments on Instagram.

We now hear that Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are going to take their relationship to the next level. According to a report by Filmfare, Nick and Priyanka made their India trip so that the singer could meet Priyanka’s family. The couple will, reportedly, get engaged by the last week of July or in early August.

Priyanka and Nick

isney and Marvel’s upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp has received positive early reactions. The critics who were lucky enough to see it are calling it funny and action-packed. Ant-Man and The Wasp follows 2015’s Ant-Man. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) team-up as Ant-Man and the Wasp to explore the quantum realm wherein Janet van Dyne, Hope’s mother and the original Wasp disappeared. The

grabbed headlines when they first met at the Met Gala event. They have been spot-ted spending some quality time together in Los Angeles.

In fact, Priyanka was Nick’s plus one at his family wedding.

On the work front, Priyanka will soon start work on her next Bollywood project, which also stars Sal-man Khan.

Titled Bharat, the film will be Priyanka’s second collaboration with director Ali Abbas Zafar after Gunday. She last appeared on screen in Prakash Jha’s 2016 film Jai Gangaajal. (Indian Express)

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hose who went to see Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom were disappointed as he had only a very brief role towards the end. The chaotician Ian Malcolm, who famously warned the Jurassic Park creator John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) about the dangers of genetically recreating dino-saurs by saying, “No, I’m, I’m simply saying that life, uh… finds a way”, made an appearance at the end when the dinosaurs were set loose in the wide, wide world.

He made a similar warning in Fallen Kingdom saying, “These creatures were here before us, and if we’re not careful, they’re going to be here after. Life cannot be contained. Life breaks free. Life finds a way.” Sadly, his role was only to give this ominous warning in the film.

For the third and final film in the series, though, Goldblum hopes for a bigger role.

Here is what he said when he was asked about it in an interview, “Who

film is set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff focussed on the film’s humour. She tweeted, “What a year for Marvel! Abso-lutely loved #AntManAndTheWasp.

Stellar ensemble and the humor is spot on. (Laughed myself to tears during one sequence!) The tech is used to great effect yet again. Unique, highly entertaining ride I can’t wait to go on again.”

Slashfilm’s Peter Sciretta

about the next two or three, of where I want to go. I’m not ready to discuss it now, but you’ll be able to see when you see this movie. It’s very much the epic in all of this series.

“McQ (director Christopher McQuarrie) and I talked about it and I was like, ‘We’ve earned it with this franchise to blow it out of this way’,” Cruise told Total Film magazine.

The actor has been

knows? I’m curious about it. If nothing else happened, I’d be entirely satisfied and nourished and lucky and thrilled to have done all of this. If I can be of any service, that’s my posture and authentic feeling…I’ve kind of nosed around, ’cause I’ve had such a great time, and [Jurassic World 3 director Colin Trevorrow’s] so good. We did that Jeep commercial; he directed that. He’s awful good. I’d like to work with him more on anything. I can imagine, but it’s up to them. Steven Spielberg and Colin Trevorrow and Emily Carmichael, who I think is writing the script with him.”

Colin Trevorrow directed Jurassic World and JA Bayona took over the duties for Fallen Kingdom. Tre-vorrow will return for the third film. The new Jurassic World series had previously featured BD Wong from the original series. Wong reprised the role of Dr Henry Wu in both Jurassic World and the sequel. Jurassic World 3 is set for a June 11, 2021 release. (Indian Express)

said Michael Peña’s Luis has once again managed to make the audiences laugh out loud.

He tweeted, “AntMan and The Wasp is a lot of fun. At its best when it’s almost an over the top silly comedy, less so when it’s about the comic booky villain driven moments. Some fantastic miniature/maxature action sequences. @ realmichaelpena steals the show again.”

Uproxx’s Mike Ryan also talked about Michael Peña’s performance and said while he didn’t like the first film, this one is a sure upgrade. “ANTMAN AND THE WASP is for sure an upgrade from the first film (I didn’t love the first AntMan).

Lilly’s Wasp has at least the same, or probably more, action scenes than Rudd’s Ant-Man. Also: Michael Peña has a scene halfway through that brings the house down,” he said. (Indian Express)

Motion Picture Academy invites 928 new members, including Shah Rukh Khan, Naseeruddin Shah and Tabu

Tom Cruise planning more Mission: Impossible films

ollywood star Tom Cruise says he has ideas for at least two or three more Mission: Impossible movies.

The 55-year-old actor, who returns as Ethan Hunt in the sixth movie of the series with the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Fallout, believes there is still a lot of mileage in the character.

“I have a lot of ideas about the next phase,

Jeff Goldblum wants to return for Jurassic World 3 T

a part of the franchise since 1996, but he does not find it easy to make the movies.

“You think you know how to make them until you start making the next one. It’s very humbling. I’m always like, ‘I know how to make these movies.’ Then you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what I’m doing.’ That’s ‘Mission’ y’know. And you just keep at it,” he said. (Indian Express)

S

hah Rukh Khan, Tabu and Naseeruddin Shah are among a record 928 new members invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as the body behind the Oscars seeks to enhance diver-sity.

In an announcement, the Academy said the new members will increase the diversity in a major way as 49 per cent of its invitees are female and 38 per cent are people of colour. Artistes from 59 countries have been invited as members. India features prominently in the list of the new invitees that also includes Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor and

Ali Fazal.

Other Indian celebrities who have been invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are: Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Aditya Chopra, Guneet Monga, Anil Mehta, Dolly Ahluwalia, Manish Malhotra, Subrata Chakraborty, Amit Ray, Ballu Saluja, Usha Khanna, Sneha Khanwalkar.

A R Rahman, Irrfan Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan are already Academy members. The Academy seems to have taken these changes into consideration by diversifying its membership.

(Indian Express, with inputs from PTI)

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Caribbean’s best Chahar, Agarwal sink Windies to attend Aliann A team by 7 wickets Pompey Track & M Field Invitational

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ome of the Caribbean’s top stars of track and field will be in Guyana to compete at the Aliann Pompey Invitational, which speeds off on June 30 at the Leonora Track & Field Centre.

Athletes from across the region, including Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Grenada and the Dominican Republic, and others will be vying for top honours at the synthetic track.

The invitational was officially launched last week with a number of events in both male and female categories.

Some of the events were: the Men’s 100m, Men’s 400m, Women’s 400, Javelin, and others being contested.

Winston George, Kevin Abbensetts, Compton Caesar and Alisha Fortune are among some of the confirmed high-profile Guyanese who are set to participate in this phenomenal track and field meet.

Meanwhile, the Level 1 category prize bracket will see the winner tak-

Aliann Pompey

ing home US $1,500, while second and third place winners receive US$1,000 and US$600.

The races which attract these prizes include the Men’s and Women’s 400m, Men’s Triple Jump, and Women’s 100m.

Level 2 top finishers will cart off US$1,000, US$600 and US$400 respectively.

These races are the Men’s and Women’s 400m

Hurdles, Men’s 110m and Women’s 100m hurdles, Men’s 100m and Women’s Triple Jump.

The other category, Level 3, attracts US$500, US$200 and US$100, which will be awarded to the top performers in the Men’s and Women’s 200m, Men’s and Women’s 800m, Men’s Javelin, Men’s 5000m and Women’s 1500m.

ayank Agarwal stroked a century while seamer Deepak Chahar snapped up five wickets to hand the Windies A team a seven-wicket defeat in the ongoing Tri-Series.

After losing to the hosts England Lions team, the Caribbean side suffered another defeat as the combined force of Agarwal and Chahar proved too much for the Island Boys in a low-scoring match.

Batting first, it was a gutsy 64 not out from Devon Thomas and a robust 45 from Guyanese opener, left-hander Chandrapaul Hemraj ,which saw Windies A to 221 all out in 49.1 overs.

Chahar, the star with ball in hand, grabbed a magical 5-27 from his 10 overs, finding meagre support from a few of his teammates who grabbed a wicket each.

Captain Jason Mohammad scored a de-

Deepak Chahar

cent 31 while all-rounder Rovman Powell hit 24 as they rounded off the primary scorers for Windies A team. Chasing a low score, the Indians were equal to the task as the 27-year-old Agarwal set the tone for the chase with a sublime knock of 112 from just 102 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes.

Shubman Gill saw things home for India with

a composed innings of 58 not out with nine boundaries, along with the everaggressive Rishbah Pant who cracked 18 off 10 with two sixes and a four.

It was a day to toil for wickets as the Windies.

Left-arm seamer Dominic Drakes was the most successful operator with the ball, grabbing 2-37, with Chemar Holder chipping in with 1-48.

Agarwal has now shot to the leading run-scorer position, racking up some 402 runs at an average of little over 100 while Chahar’s 11 wickets gave him the edge over his teammates for most wickets. India A currently sit on two points while the Windies will desperately want to grab their first point.

Meanwhile, the West Indies will look to rebound from their backto-back losses when they play the Indians again on June 29. (Clifton Ross)

Archery Guyana hosts successful Olympic Day competition

The winners’ row after the competition

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ike many other sport disciplines, Archery Guyana took the time out over the past weekend to commemorate Olympic Day. In their celebration, the local archers took to the National Gymnasium to compete for medal prizes which were donated by the National Sports Commission (NSC).

Despite getting off to a late start, the local archers, many of whom recently received their Level 1 certificate, were pumped and ready to showcase their ever improving skills. Operating under World Archery rules, the competition kicked off with the blow of the whistle

by Director of Shooting Frederick Ewing-Chow.

In the Senior Women’s Class, four ladies competed.

They were Shereeda Yusuf, Samira Duncan, Narda Mohamed and Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon. While in the Junior Class, Jessica Callender was the lone competitor.

Action began with the females starting off the competition with a qualifying round, each shooting five ends of three arrows each (a total of 15 arrows) to qualify for the final round. The three ladies to make it to the final

round were Narda Mohamed – 46 points; Samira Duncan – 53 points; and Shereeda Yusuf – 10 points. This final round was hotly contested by the ladies resulting in a tie between Narda Mohamed and Samira Duncan which provided some extra excitement with a shoot-off of one end of three arrows each.

The winner of the shootoff, and gold medal winner was Mohamed with 16 points, while Duncan got the Silver with six points.

The Bronze went to Yusuf.

The Junior Class saw lone competitor Jessica Callender taking away the Gold.

In the Senior Men’s Class there were seven competitors.

Antiono Hackette, Colin Loncke, Robert Singh, Ryan McKinnon, Anand Mangra, Umasankar Madray and Nicholas Hing shooting the same five-end qualifying round.

The first four to the targets were Anand Mangra, Robert Singh, Ryan McKinnon and Antonio Hackette, while the other three men were Colin Loncke, Nicholas Hing and Umasankar Madray. There was heated competition

during the first round with the results of the final three men showing McKinnon who gained 106 points ahead of Mangra’s 95, followed by Hing’s 88 points.

The final three-end round saw action with McKinnon, Mangra and Hing contesting the coveted Gold medal ending with Mangra taking away Gold with 83 points ahead of McKinnon’s 72 for Silver, and leaving Hing behind with 65 for Bronze.

The only X (10) points of the finals were shot by McKinnon and Mangra, while Hing shot an X in qualification round.

In an act of benevolence and support, wheelchairbound potential Paralympic archer Uttamkumar Isurdeen – who met with many of the Archery Guyana coaches and members on Sunday – was afforded the opportunity to try out the Olympic recurve bow under proper instruction. Isurdeen was very enthusiastic about this opportunity and is eager to take up archery as a sport.

Persons who are interested in becoming involved in the Olympic sport of Archery can email archeryguyana@ gmail.com.

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South African Johan Botha to coach Warriors

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he Guyana Amazon Warriors have appointed South African Johan Botha as their Head Coach and current Guyana and West Indies ‘A’ Team Manager Rayon Griffith as Assistant Coach.

Botha has had previous coaching experience with Islamabad United and Multan Sultans at the Pakistan Super League. Botha has also played at the Hero CPL, winning the title with the Trinbago Knight Riders in 2015.

As a player, Botha represented South Africa in Tests, ODIs and T20 Internationals, claiming 126 wickets for his country. Griffith has represented the Guyana National Team and the West Indies B side in regional tournaments, and has had a very successful stint as the current Assistant Coach/Manager of the Guyana Jaguars, contributing to them winning the West Indies Four-Day Professional League for four consecutive years.

In speaking about his appointment, Botha expressed excitement at the challenge ahead. “I really enjoyed my time with the Hero Johan Botha

CPL as a player, and I can’t wait to get underway as a coach. The squad that the Amazon Warriors have put together for this year is really impressive, and I am sure we will be challenging for the title at the end of the season,” he declared.

Team and Operations Manager of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Omar Khan, expressed optimism on Botha’s and Griffith’s appointments. He said: “The management of the franchise puts in continuous effort to do things differently with the aim of winning the title.

After getting so close over the years, we are delighted to have Johan and Rayon at the helm of our coaching staff this year. They are both very professional, are very much involved in cricket coaching and development, and are expected to bring new ideas and initiatives to the team set-up.”

The new coaches will take charge for the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League from 8th August to 16th September.

Holder reaches careerbest in ICC rankings

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WI captain Jason Holder

ONDON, United Kingdom (CMC) — West Indies captain Jason Holder has leapt to a careerbest 25th spot in the International Cricket Council Test bowling rankings, following his outstanding performance in the day/night third Test which ended in Barbados on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old seamer finished with career-best figures of nine for 60, though the effort proved in vain as West Indies lost the match by four-wickets inside four days at Kensington Oval.

He has moved up 11 spots, climaxing a series that saw him take

12 wickets overall in the three-Test rubber, which was drawn 1-1.

Holder has also moved up in the batting rankings, climbing 10 spots to 54th, following his top score of 74 in the first innings at the Oval.

A stylish right-hander, Holder tallied 198 runs in the series at an average of 39.

The Barbadian’s excellent effort has also seen him jump three spots in the all-rounder’s rankings to sixth.

West Indies wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich, meanwhile, has also enjoyed movement in the batting rankings, leaping 14 spots to 51st posi-

tion.

The right-hander, who was adjudged Manof-the-Series against Sri Lanka, struck 71 in the first innings of the Barbados Test. He finished with 288 runs at an average of 57.

Opener Kraigg Brathwaite is the highest-ranked West Indies batsman at 21st while speedster Shannon Gabriel is the bestranked Windies bowler at 12th.

West Indies players can improve their rankings even further when they face off against Bangladesh in a twoTest series starting July 4 in Antigua.

‘The hunger is there to win the title’, says Warriors’ Rayad Emrit

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he Guyana Amazon Warriors have come close to winning the Hero Caribbean Premier League, but they have never got over the line, having been losing finalists in 2013, 2014, and 2016.

In 2017, they finished in third place despite a poor start to the tournament. Rayad Emrit, the man that stepped into the captaincy when Martin Guptill returned home for family reasons, felt that they did well to make the play-offs.

“I thought having to win the last five games to qualify to the knockout stages; I think we came up pret-ty well. We didn’t get the start that we wanted, I thought if we had gotten a couple of wins where it came down close in the last over – we had a couple of games coming down to the last over that we needed eight runs and we didn’t go through the line. I think if we had those victories it would have been a different season, but all in all I thought it was pretty decent coming down to the back end of the tournament.”

Looking forward to the 2018 season, Emrit thinks that the additions that they made to their squad at the draft mean that they can get close t h i s year as well. “We always there to win the trophy. I think the hunger is still there; to be honest it’s just that w e haven’t been finishing well, and coming down to the back end of the tournament where we

need to finish well, that’s where we don’t.

“It’s a bit different this year, we have Shoaib Malik who has the wealth of experience, with him coming in to the team, especially with the batting, he knows how to win games and hopefully he can do that for us. We have a decent bowling attack. Rashid Khan isn’t there, but Imran Tahir is there as well as Sohail Tanvir. so I think we’re covered pretty OK.” The Amazon Warriors had three of the top five wicket-takers at the 2017 tournament, with Emrit him-self finishing third on the list with 15 victims.

The man with the most wickets was Tanvir, who has been retained by the Guyanese team for 2018. Emrit says having Tanvir bowling at the other end makes his job easier.

“Tanvir knows how to swing the new ball; a lot of guys don’t swing the new ball in the Caribbean. On his day, when he starts swinging it, he causes a lot of trouble for the opponents. He started to swing the ball later on in the tournament and that’s where we got our momentum. If he can do that from the start, definitely he’ll be a handful again.

“It’s easy when he does the job; it’s easier for the other guys at the end, even though it’s going to be a lot of pressure on us to maintain the pressure. It’s always easy having a bowler like that at the other end. He’s been brilliant and as I said, if he can do the job again for us, it’ll make the other bowlers’ job a lot easier.” Emrit ended.

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Guyana survive double over-time for CBC win C

lad in green, the male national basketball team on Monday evening endured two rounds of overtime to clinch their second victory at the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships/FIBA Americup pre-qualifiers in Suriname.

Early on in the match-up, Guyana found themselves with an eight-point deficit to St Vincent and the Grenadines, a lead that often extended within the first two quarters of the game, but the local boys dug deep to put on another stellar performance at the Anthony Nesty Sporthal in Paramaribo.

With a few keen words from Coach Junior Hercules and a change of their game plan, Guyana found themselves back in the game after trailing St Vincent.

By the end of the third quarter, both teams were tied up on 62 points. With Guyana capitalising on quick plays and SVG using their height advantage, the match-up could

The national men’s basketball team

have swung either way, but as fate would have it, the scores remained tied on 81 at the ring of the final buzzer.

However, it is no secret that the narrative of the game would have been different had Guyana been consistent with their free throw opportunities. The local team were only able to sink fewer than 50

per cent of their 34 attempts.

Going into their first overtime, Guyana had a newfound burst of energy which they used to match every shot that the SVG made. Another tie on 96 meant that the Stanton Rose-led Guyanese side would have another shot at victory.

Producing a se-

ries-high 41 points, the 18-year-old captain copped a critical rebound near the ending of the second overtime. Surrounded by the five St Vincent and the Grenadines players, Rose set up Ray Victor’s last two-pointer, which turned out to be the winning points of the game. The nail-biting match-up eventual-

ly ended on 102-104 in Guyana’s favour.

Alongside Rose’s stunning 41 points, which consisted of nine three-pointers, Ray Victor contributed 15.

This is the second win in two games that Guyana have recorded – the first being a 93-64 blow-out vic-tory over Grenada. In that matchup, Kevon Wiggins’

18 points and Shaine Webster’s 16 points allowed the Guyanese team to get away from Grenada at an early stage in the game, a lead that the Grenadian team were never really able to recover from.

In their next CBC encounter, the national team will play Suriname later today at 21:00h.

Guyanese athletes can expect incentives under new sports policy – Norton A

demand by athletes, who represented Guyana at regional and international events to be rewarded for excellent performances, is finally being heard.

Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr George Norton said that is one of the issues being addressed in the National Sports Policy. The minister explained that while the issue is complex, careful thought must be placed as the government does not want to shortchange any athlete.

“Whether it is a Junior CARIFTA gold, whether it is a Pan American gold, whether it is a Commonwealth gold or whether it is an Olympic gold, we want for it to be well established what level of incentives we will offer because we want to encourage our athletes and we have to do that.”

According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) release, the draft document that was made public by the government, there is an incentive package outlined for individual athletes or teams who attain gold, silver or bronze at regional, sub-regional and international championships.

The package includes acknowledgements in the form of promotional tours, formal re-

Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr George Norton under the watchful eye of renowned international archery coach, Phillip Graves as he pre-pares to shoot an arrow

ceptions and me-dia engagements. The financial package will be a pre-determined amount of money compared to re-gional standards and a tangible reward in the form of a piece of land or a built house through a state-supported

scheme. However, the package can become more lucrative as the draft policy depending on feedback from ongoing national consultations.

Minister Norton said “it is not an overnight something.

We vote for a change but we

want the change overnight, it is going to take some time but we are getting there and that policy that we are develop-ing, will tell you how much we can help because we can only do that which our resources permit us to do.”

He said that while in other countries athletes are usually well compensated for their efforts, the same cannot be done in Guyana at the moment until the policy is completed and passed in the National Assembly.

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Guyana’s Williams looking forward to challenging James at AP Invitational O

n June 30, Kirani James, the Grenadian 400-metre Olympic and World Champion, wants to add the Aliann Pompey Invitational title on the long list of his accomplishments, but, 18-year-old Daniel Williams will be hoping to make a name for himself in his attempt to outrun the man known as the “Jaguar”.

James, at the JN Racers Grand Prix on June 9, 2018, in Jamaica, clocked an impressive 44.35 seconds to win the 400 metres in his first race in over a year after recovering from Graves’ disease (an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones).

The Grenadian’s time of 44.35 seconds is the eighth-best time in the world this year. James’ personal best in the 400 metres is 43.74 seconds, set in 2014.

“I had him down to

do the 100 metres and 200 metres, but he said that he wants to do the 400 metres to rub shoulders with Kirani James,” Johnny Gravesande, the coach of Daniel Williams said.

Williams will be joined by Deshana Skeete and Kenisha Phillips on Guyana’s contingent for the July 10-15 IAAF World U-20 Championships, set for the Ratina Stadium in Tampere, Finland.

Williams qualified for the 200 metres when he clocked 21.21 seconds, a personal best, in the Boys’ U-20 final at the just concluded CARIFTA Games. The qualifying standard time set by the IAAF is 21.35 seconds.

However, last year, at the IAAF World U18 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, Williams clocked 46.72 seconds in the boys 400 metres to win silver for Guyana; the country’s first at the championship

which was the last of its kind, given the fact that it has since been cancelled by Athletics world governing body.

To date, Kadecia Baird owns Guyana’s lone medal at the IAAF World U-20 Championships, running 51.04 seconds to finish second behind Americas Ashley Spencer but ahead of Erika Rucker (USA) in 2012, Barcelona, Spain.

“Given the fact that he’s going to Finland to do the 200 metres, I had him down to only compete in that race on Saturday, but he insisted that he wants to run against Kirani. I mean, he has a mind of his own and I think the fact that he’s that passionate about running the 400 metres, I’ll support him,” Gravesande said.

The qualifying standard time for the U-20 championships 400 metres is 47.70 seconds, and according to Gravesande, the Aliann Pompey

Guyana’s Daniel Williams

Invitational presents a perfect opportunity for Williams to reach the time, especially since he the Linden-based athlete has been “healthy and putting in the work.”

“He has been doing great, even though the weather got us a little bad in terms of using the track, but I think he’s in good shape to really put in a good time,” the award-winning coach pointed out.

Meanwhile, Williams will truly have to show his worth in the 400 metres on Saturday, with Nigerian Chidi Okezie, the African Championships 400 metres bronze medallist, Guyana’s 400 metres record holder (45.25 seconds) Winston George, US-based Guyanese Stephan James, Arinze Chance, Carlwyn Collins, Dequawn Nkosi Vancooten, Brian Roman, Shawn Semple and Joshua Walcott.

ICC revenue model favours wealthy cricket nations, says CWI A

more equitable distribution of ICC revenues, a wider spread of hosts for global events, pooled broadcast rights, and the sharing of bilateral-series revenues between home and away boards; these are the cures international cricket needs, according to a paper authored by Cricket West Indies (CWI) and to be presented at the ICC's annual conference this week in Dublin.

The proposals are part of "Economics of Cricket", a paper that aims to safeguard the competitive balance of international cricket.

It is the second such document the CWI has authored, after a paper in March, which cautioned against the cannibalisation of international cricket by franchise T20 leagues, and urged a review of the system of No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) that players need in order to play in these leagues.

This paper is far broader in reach. Here are some of the key proposals: Revisit the ICC's revenueshare model While the financial model adopted by the ICC last year somewhat levelled the field compared to the Big Three model, the CWI argues that it still falls short of an equitable distribution. The BCCI, for example, is set to receive USD 405 million in the 201623 rights cycle, while CWI and five other Full Members will

ICC CEO David Richardson addresses a press conference (Photo: Getty Images)

get USD 128 million each.

"Less wealthy cricket nations are disadvantaged by the current ICC distributions model, which has a significant imbalance of distributions and favours already wealthy cricket nations. The gap between wealthier and less wealthy cricket nations is widening and will contribute to less wealthy nations being less competitive, therefore devaluing the international cricket product. The gap immediately expedites the flight of talent away from bilateral international cricket as the less wealthy cricket nations are disadvantaged in funding their professional domestic and national retainer contracts. In the longer-term the gap will widen further as the less wealthy cricket nations won't be able to sustain investment in cricket and player de-

velopment, infrastructure and administration."

A fairer spread of hosts for ICC events From 2015 to 2023, seven major ICC events - three World Cups, one Champions Trophy and three World T20s (one of which, in 2021, was originally supposed to be a Champions Trophy) - have been hosted, or will be hosted, by either India, England or Australia (with New Zealand co-hosting the 2015 World Cup).

In the short term, CWI wants ticket revenues from these events to be distributed among all the Full Members, "as is done with broadcast, digital, sponsorship and licensing revenues from such events". In the long term, starting from the cycle immediately following the 2023 World Cup, CWI wants the hosting rights spread more evenly among the

ICC's members, and proposes that an Associate Member gets to host every alternate World T20.

An IPL payment recognising the unofficial window for the tournament There is no international cricket in April and May in the 2019-23 Future Tours Programme (FTP), which effectively means an unofficial window for the Indian Premier League (IPL). West Indies are one of two Test teams who traditionally have part of their home season in April and May, the other being England.

CWI has argued that the BCCI should make a payment to Full Members who have "agreed not to play" international cricket in those two months.

"Whilst the BCCI, through payment of release fees, acknowledges the need to com-

pensate Full Members for "producing the player", there is no similar recognition of the loss of opportunity experienced by Full Members by giving up two months of the season when they could have played international cricket and thereby earned revenue, or of the additional value added to the IPL by virtue of being played in an exclusive window, with no conflicting content of a similar standard."

Pooling of commercial rights Much of bilateral Test and ODI cricket will come under the umbrellas of the World Test Championship and ODI League from 2019. The CWI wants overseas broadcast rights to all series falling under the 2019-23 FTP and the title rights to the Test Championship and ODI League to be sold on a collective basis, with the revenues going into an ICC FTP revenue pool and distributed among members, "as is done for ICC events".

CWI has further recommended that 20% of the revenue from domestic broadcast rights earned by home boards also go into this pool. It also wants Full Members to explore the "creation of new communal digital and commercial properties such as an OTT platform, mobile app, fantasy cricket, etc, which can introduce new revenue streams and be similarly distributed among members". (ESPNCricinfo)

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Japan booed off but reach last 16 despite Poland loss V

OLGOGRAD, Russia (AFP) — Japan and Poland were booed from the pitch in Volgograd after a farcical end to their final Group H match which saw the Blue Samurai qualify for the last 16 despite a 1-0 defeat.

Japan went through by the slimmest of margins – their fair play record – after the last 10 minutes were played out like a training match as both sides settled for the result.

They will meet either Belgium or England after reaching the knockout stage for the third time in their history.

When Jan Bednarek scored his first international goal in the 60th minute for already eliminated Poland, the score between Colombia and Senegal stood at 0-0 meaning Japan were going out.

But once news filtered through of Yessy Mina's 74th minute goal for Colombia the match changed for the worse.

The strike meant Colombia would win the group and Japan was ahead of Senegal despite identical points, goal difference and goals scored, because they had

The Japan World Cup team (Indian Express photo)

received fewer yellow cards.

A cacophony of boos rang out as hardly any tackles were made in the last 10 minutes as Poland decided any sort of win would be enough and Japan decided not to risk any yellow cards Japan coach Akira Nishino made six changes including bringing in attacking pair Shinji

Okazaki and Yoshinori Muto for his World Cup debut.

And it was they who fashioned the first real opening in the 12th minute of a game played at sedate pace in 36 Celsius temperatures.

Bednarek played a blind pass across his penalty area straight to Muto who shifted it to Yuto

Nagatomo motoring down the left flank.

His whipped cross was met by a diving Okazaki header which flashed wide.

Moments later Muto won possesion again outside the box and his fierce shot was parried out of harm's way by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, one of five changes in Poland's starting line-

up.

The Polish captain Robert Lewandowski is renowned as a worldclass goal scorer for Bayern Munich but, as in the rest of Poland's sorry World Cup campaign, he was seeing little of the ball.

Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima kept his place for the Samurai Blue despite a howler

for Senegal's first goal in the 2-2 draw and repaid Nishino's faith with a wondrous save to keep the score goalless at halftime.

Piotr Zielinski crossed from the right and Kamil Grosicki found himself unmarked near the penalty.

His cleverly directed header looked destined for the bottom corner until Kawashima made up huge amounts of ground to claw it to safety with a right hand at full stretch.

Goalline technology confirmed he had kept it out by less than half the width of the ball but that was just about all Poland had offered as they headed for the shortish plane ride back to Warsaw.

Kawashima did it again in the second half to prevent what would have been Tomoaki Nakino own goal.

Okazaki had run his heart out in the sapping conditions and gave way to Yuya Osaka in the 47th minute as Nishino introduced fresh legs.

Kawashima did have to pick the ball out of his net on the hour mark as Bednarak got on the end of a Rafal Kurzawa long free-kick to volley home at the back post.

World Cup: Mina winner sends Colombia through as ill-disciplined Senegal go out

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Senegal v Colombia: Luis Muriel of Colombia collides with Khadim Ndiaye of Senegal (Photo: Getty Images)

AMARA, Russia (AFP) — A powerful header from Barcelona's Yerry Mina fired Colombia into the last 16 of the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Group H rivals Senegal, who crashed out due to a poorer disciplinary record than Japan.

Colombia and Japan will play either England or Belgium, who were playing later today.

The South Americans, looking to reach the latter stages after reaching the quarter-finals in Brazil, risked going out

of the tournament at the first hurdle.

But after seeing the video assistant referee come to their rescue in a disappointing first half, Colombia were handed a last-16 lifeline 13 minutes from the end when Mina rose to meet a corner from the right and direct a header into the roof of Khadim Ndiaye's net.

Poland's 1-0 consolation win over Japan meant the Asians finished level with Senegal, who were agonisingly eliminated because they were issued six yellow cards in the

competition, two more than Japan.

In Samara, Colombia coach Jose Pekerman kept faith with the attacking front line that thumped Poland 3-0, with midfielders Juan Quintero, James Rodriguez and Juan Cuadrado providing the support for striker Radamel Falcao up front.

But by the end of an entertaining first half, Pekerman was forced to tinker when Rodriguez was forced off with an injury problem and replaced by Luis Muriel.

Before then, Senegal had

shown attacking potency but, all too often, failed to threaten David Ospina's goal.

Colombia's best first-half chance came from a free-kick that saw Ndiaye dive to parry Juan Quintero's powerful effort after Falcao had been sandwiched in mid-air.

Yet Colombia lacked pace and punch, and the trickery of Juan Cuadrado, so effective against Poland, failed to impress Senegal as they caught the Juventus man out more than once.

When Cuadrado lost possession cheaply at the halfway line, Keita Balde sent Sadio Mane on his way towards goal before the Liverpool man fell under a challenge from defender Davinson Sanchez.

Serbian referee Milorad Mazic pointed to the spot but amid Colombian protests he was called to consult the VAR, which showed Sanchez's boot had made contact with the ball first.

From another free kick Falcao was flagged offside when he headed Quintero's floated delivery high and wide.

Senegal responded, but

Keita shot straight at Ospina after the 'keeper had spilled a powerful drive by Mane.

There was excitement among the Colombian fans when they learned Poland had scored against Japan, but Los Cafeteros struggled to do their bit.

Hopes were raised when Quintero's powerful free kick from the right was blocked in the area and fell to Muriel, whose shot was deflected out.

From the corner, Falcao's header was bundled wide.

Penalty claims were waved away when Muriel fell dramatically under a challenge by Ndiaye as the 'keeper rushed out to close him down.

But the Samara stadium erupted as Colombia finally broke the deadlock.

Cuadrado's attempt to dribble into the area earned a corner, and Barcelona defender Mina rose highest to flash a header downwards that bounced up into the top of Ndiaye's net on 77 minutes.

Senegal rallied in the closing minutes and it took a series of great saves by Arsenal shot-stopped Ospina to keep Colombia in the tournament.

WEEK ENDING JULY 1 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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