2015 9 14

GUYANA

The Chronicle is at http://www.guyanachronicle.com

Body of Kaieteur tourist sighted No. 104312

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Laleta Sivanand

Herstelling murder

“What mommy did is just messed up”- son Page

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Nathan Persaud

Take it to the people!

Ramkarran urges Page full-blown public 3 campaign for unity govt

New head to 14 tackle corruption at Land Registry

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Santa Aratak came alive on Saturday for this year's Heritage Day celebrations. In this Adrian Narine photo this group of young dancers perform for the hundreds of patrons at the event

CANU, police narcotics unit to be merged

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, September 14, 2015

Body of Kaieteur tourist sighted LAST evening, members of the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force were enroute to Kaieteur Falls where they plan to rappel down to the gorge in an attempt to retrieve a body believed to be missing tourist Laleta Sivanand.

The discovery comes in the wake of her disappearance on September 1 while on a tour of Kaieteur Falls.

On Saturday, officials received word from Kaieteur National Park rangers that they had spotted a body in the gorge of the falls, which they suspected to be that of the missing woman.

It was confirmed yesterday that the remains are indeed that of the woman, given the attire she wore at

the time she went missing.

Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, who also has oversight responsibility for the management of the nation’s natural resources, confirmed to Guyana Chronicle that his ministry had also received said information, and that a team was on its way to the area to retrieve it.

The minister explained that it is suspected that the remains of the woman would be in an advanced state of decomposition, given the time she was reported missing.

Asked about the likelihood of burying the body on location or bringing it to the city, Minister Trotman said that the government, through the relevant agencies, will try its best to ensure that the

Laleta Sivanand

remains are brought out of the area, so that the woman’s family can accord her a decent burial.

Trotman said the team

will take some time to meet to the area, as they have to do some trekking before moving into the gorge, after arriving at the park by plane.

Persons familiar with the terrain said that the team will reach the location sometime today.

Up to yesterday, it was reported that the inclement weather in the area would also impact on the team’s achieving its goal.

Gyaneshwarie Sivinand reportedly plunged to her death earlier this month, while accompanying several other persons on a tour to the Kaieteur Falls.

The woman did not indicate to any relative that she was going to the location, and it was only after she was reported missing that contact

was made with her family, who only then became aware that she was in the interior location.

Persons on the tour with her said they had been very uneasy throughout the flight; she’d been crying and generally appeared to be in distress.

However, it was not her first visit to the area, according to persons close to her.

On the day the woman disappeared, she and the other tourists had visited the falls, and while they were heading back to the airstrip, she reportedly made an about turn and jumped to her death.

When it was realised that she was not among the other tourists, an alarm was raised, and a search party went

looking for her but came up empty-handed.

There are unconfirmed reports that the woman was having relationship issues, and had planned to travel out of the country the same week that she disappeared.

After she was reported missing, the GDF Special Forces joined the search and completed a search of the gorge below Kaieteur Falls to no avail.

The Kaieteur National Park was temporarily closed as investigations were being led by the Guyana Police Force.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h e re were immediate moves to review the Park’s operational protocols to ensure the continued safety of visitors to the magnificent site.

Berbice NGO protests BBCI rigid stance on toll – also wants subsidy for NIS contributors

By Jeune Bailey-Vankeric THE Justice for the Unjust, a non-governmental organisation (NeGO), does not want the coalition Government to subsidise the Berbice Bridge.

Instead, it wants the administration to use the monies it has set aside for that purpose to assist persons whose limited contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) prevent them

from benefiting from the programme.

Further, the recently registered NGO is calling for the bridge toll reduction, while advocating the return of a ‘roll on, roll off’ ferry, which will benefit the New Amsterdam township economically.

The group aired their views as they carried out a peaceful protest at the Berbice River Bridge last Friday, calling on management, the

Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI) “to come clean with the records.”

According to Vice-Chairman Ishmael King, “The feasibility study showed if the bridge had been built along the East Bank, it would have cost less, about half of what it costs now to travel; all the villages along the East Bank would have benefited…”

He had quite a mouthful more to say on the matter.

“We calling on the coalition government not to give subsidy to the bridge; instead, the subsidy should be given to the old-aged persons, who have short benefits and short contributions so that they

Members of the Justice for the Unjust protesting Friday at the entrance to the Berbice bridge

can get a pension from NIS, because fewer persons are living to get a pension,” King said, adding: “We are advocating for the return of a ‘roll on, roll off’ ferry, so that persons in New Amsterdam can be better off, as, since the bridge is situated at Palmyra, it is killing economic development... New Amsterdam is a town, the boat allowed for the flourishing of business in

the Berbice oldest township.

“With the bridge at its present location, New Amsterdam is bypassed, resulting in deprivation. Previously, with the ferry in operation, students, along with daily travellers were privileged to buy a contract, for an affordable sum, from the Transport and Harbors Department, but currently, there is no such choice. They have Turn to page 10 ►

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, September 14, 2015

Take it to the people!

Ramkarran urges full-blown public campaign for unity govt

FORMER House Speaker and political commentator Ralph Ramkarran says the government should press its case for a government of national unity by launching a full-blown public campaign targeting and mobilising support from both supporters of the coalition as well as from the People’s Progressive Party.

Ramkarran’s calls come on the heels of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo's announcing that he will be leading a team of government officials in talks with the opposition.

The coalition had promised to forge a national unity government once elected into office and last week President David Granger reiterated his administration’s commitment to this. “We have at all times aimed at having inclusionary democracy and inclusionary government, so that the 49 per cent don’t feel locked out,” he said, pointing out that Prime Minister Nagamootoo was on spot when he told Berbicians two Saturdays ago that the administration is open to a national unity government with the PPP.

Granger said that national unity is part of the philosophy of the coalition, pointing out that there should be some form of sharing, some form of national unity and some form of inclusionary governance. However, amid the President’s optimism, the PPP has said that they would not engage in talks with Nagamootoo and seems to be dithering on the whole idea of national unity.

But Ramkarran, a senior counsel who was forced to resign from the PPP due to internal party strife said that while the PPP is united in its bitterness against Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan, it may not have a united position in relation to the talks. “In fact, the invitation to talks has not been rejected. The PPP’s refusal to sit down with Nagamootoo should not be an obstacle. There are creative ways around these matters,” Ramkarran wrote in his weekly blog Conversation Tree. He said talks leading to a national unity government should be seen as a process, not an event. “If the coalition wants to maintain focus on

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

the larger picture, it will work through the sensitivities of the PPP. It will be prepared for the long haul and endure the painful negotiations but with purposeful commitment, serious compromises, the use of skilled interlocutors who are available within its own ranks and above all, persistence and patience.”

Ramkarran said with each political party seeing the other as its nemesis, as its sole obstacle in its path to its rightful place at the top of the ladder of ethno-political dominance, a recipe already

Ralph Ramkarran

exists for failure. Statesmanship, vision and patience, if deployed, will succeed.

IMPORTANT STEP Ramkarran said too that The APNU+AFC coalition has taken an important initiative towards transforming Guyana’s culture of ethno-political dominance. He said the decision by the APNU+AFC coalition to invite the PPP to share the government is a major and welcome departure from earlier positions.

“While it is true that President Granger had indicated support for a national unity

government involving the PPP at the time of President Carter’s visit, most of his public pronouncements had projected the APNU+AFC alliance as the multi-ethnic government of national unity.

The reality, of course, is that only an alliance of the two major political parties can be considered as the foundation for national unity.”

He recalled that in 1977 the PPP’s announcement of its National Patriotic Front proposals designed to end ethno-political dominance was a major development in Guyana’s politics. “The PNC had rejected these proposals.

It was not until 2002 that Desmond Hoyte announced support for ‘shared governance.’

By this time, however, the PPP had long departed from any intention to create national unity by coalition. It had succumbed to the ‘attractions’ of ethno-political dominance that has bedevilled Guyana since the split of the PPP in 1955.”

By 2011, so entrenched within the PPP was the culture of ethno-political dominance, that it was prepared to lose political office rather than act in its own interests and those of Guyana's Ramkarran

observed, noting that when asked after the 2011 elections if he intended to invite the opposition into the government, President Ramotar, heading a minority government which was bound to fail said, “that will not happen.” “President Ramotar could still have been president today had he allowed his vision to soar. And he could have served a second term as president heading a second national unity government.”

Ramkarran said it is to the credit of the APNU+AFC coalition that it has now taken such a monumental step of offering discussions. “The internal pressures within the coalition, or specifically within APNU, against ending the culture of ethno-political dominance will loom large in the coming period. Thus it is necessary to launch a public campaign in support of talks for national unity. Such a full-blown public campaign should target and mobilise support from both the supporters of the coalition as well as from the PPP. Supportive public opinion will aid resistance to the coalition’s own opposing elements or those from the PPP.”

Harding blames Gold Board for sector irregularities – should have never closed outlying offices

By Ariana Gordon THE Guyana Gold Board should be held accountable for some of the illicit activities in the mining sector.

This is the view of outgoing president of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) Patrick Harding.

“Hold the Gold Board accountable for some of these activities,” he said, noting that since the closure of the Bartica, Port Kaituma and Charity Gold Board offices, miners have been forced to sell their gold elsewhere.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “the closing of offices in Bartica, Port Kaituma and Charity means the buyer now has nowhere to sell his gold other than the licensed buyer. What you see happening now is the industry is getting blamed.”

He noted that the opening of the Bartica Gold Board Office in 2013 saw approximately 40% of gold being sold there. “When you close the Gold Board there, where is that gold going now?” he asked.

But while some have called for the disbandment of the Guyana Gold Board, Harding believes that it shouldn’t be, as it still serves a purpose.

“We should keep the Gold Board, at least for the time...,” he stated.

NO SMUGGLING He is of the view, however, that small and medium-scale miners are not involved in the smuggling of gold, since they do not have the capacity to do so, much less in large quantities. “We (GDMA) are not involved in that,” he said, adding: “The Association insists that our members sell gold to the Gold Board and demand a receipt; we are required to pay our 5% royalty up-front, and 2% tax as part of the mandate.

So the average miner does not smuggle gold.”

Obviously upset at the mere thought of it, he said passionately, “How can we smuggle gold? In order to smuggle gold, you have to hoard gold…we are not involved in that.”

Over the past few months, billions of dollars worth of gold have been smuggled to North America and Europe, but the GGDMA says it does not condone, support or encourage smuggling in any form or fashion.

“Smuggling does not benefit Guyana, and only serves to enrich a few greedy individu-

Former GGDMA President Patrick Harding

als. Additionally, it opens up several avenues for additional illegal activities,” the Association said in a statement.

The GGDMA believes that legitimate miners “are in the business of mining, and work hard to ensure that our practices are free from hassles, and are compliant with the law.”

ELECT GGMC BOARD Harding has also called on the current administration to appoint a board of directors to manage the affairs of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), and by extension the mining industry.

“We don’t have a board of directors,” he said. “The com-

missioner is limited in what he can do, so their committees cannot function…

“What is happening? Who is running the mining industry? We have a minister; is he running the mining industry?

I hope not!

“We are calling on the minister responsible for mining to elect the chairman and board…we submitted the names of Terence Adams (newly elected GGDMA president) and Anthony Shields as our new members for the

board and we hope that is done earliest.”

Harding hopes that miners are not forced to picket the subject ministry so as to receive the required attention necessary for the industry to go forward.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

Germany re-imposes border controls to slow migrant arrivals

By Michelle Martin and Alastair Macdonald BERLIN/BRUSSELS, (Reuters)-Germany re-imposed border controls yesterday after Europe’s most powerful nation acknowledged it could scarcely cope with thousands of asylum seekers arriving every day.

A day before deeply di-

vided European Union ministers tackle the migrant crisis, the U.N. refugee agency also called on every member state to take in a share of asylum-seekers under a Brussels plan which some countries are fiercely resisting.

Berlin announced that the temporary measure would be taken first on the southern frontier with Austria, where

migrant arrivals have soared since Chancellor Angela Merkel effectively opened German borders to refugees a week ago.

“The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country,” said German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.

Open borders among the European countries which signed the Schengen Treaty are a crucial part of the EU project but controls can be re-introduced, provided they are only temporary.

“The free movement of people under Schengen is a unique symbol of European integration,” the EU’s executive Commission said in a statement. “However, the other side of the coin is a better joint management of our external borders and more solidarity in coping with the refugee crisis.”

At an emergency meeting on Monday, interior ministers from the EU’s 28 member states will discuss Commission proposals to redistribute about 160,000 asylum seekers across the bloc.

“We need swift progress on the Commission’s proposals now,” the Commission said

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in a statement issued as tens of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in Syria and other parts of the Middle East, Asia and Africa made their way north.

EU envoys meeting on Sunday evening in Brussels failed to break the deadlock, with some eastern states still refusing to accept binding quotas of refugees. They argue the plan will draw more people to Europe and disrupt their homogeneous societies.

Amid the political bickering among European governments, the crisis claimed yet more lives. On Sunday 34 refugees, almost half of them babies and children, drowned off a Greek island when their boat sank, the coastguard said.

LIMIT OF ABILITY Germany, Europe’s largest and richest economy, has become a magnet for migrants making journeys by sea and land, often via Turkey and the Greek islands, and then onwards through the Balkans, Hungary and Austria. Police said around 13,000 arrived in the southern German city of Munich alone on Saturday, and another 3,000 on Sunday morning.

Now Germany has joined smaller and poorer countries

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such as Greece and Hungary that are struggling to manage the huge flow of desperate people.

As trains for Germany were stopped, groups of refugees and migrants camped out in an underground car park in the Austrian city of Salzburg, near the border. Traffic backed up along one of the highways between the two countries.

Austrian news agency APA quoted Chancellor Werner Faymann as saying that Vienna would not introduce additional border controls for now but the effect of Germany’s decision on Austria was hard to predict.

Trains from Austria to Germany would be stopped until 5:00 am (0300 GMT) on Monday, the interior minister of the state of Bavaria said. A Reuters photographer also saw a German police checkpoint on one of the Austrian roads into Germany.

Berlin made clear it wanted EU partners to share the burden of welcoming thousands of refugees.

“It’s true: the European lack of action in the refugee crisis is now pushing even Germany to the limit of its ability,” Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who is also vice-chancellor, told the website of Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

With large numbers of migrants stuck in squalid and chaotic conditions on European borders, or trudging along the side of motorways, Merkel last weekend stopped enforcing the EU’s “Dublin” rules under which asylum seekers should register in whichever member state they first arrive in.

De Maiziere defended her decision but insisted the Dublin rules were still valid.

“We need to quickly return to orderly procedures now,” he added. “We can’t allow refugees to freely choose where they want to stay - that’s not the case anywhere in the world.”

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Most asylum seekers are refusing to stay in the poorer southern European countries where they arrive, such as Greece, and are instead making their way to Germany or Sweden where they anticipate a warmer welcome. Many Germans have greeted the arrivals with cheers and volunteers are flooding in to help.

CENTRAL EUROPE WARY Central European countries are hostile to European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker’s plan for spreading refugees around the bloc, and reject any suggestion of compulsory quotas.

“We are helping, we are ready to help, but on a voluntary basis,” Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Sunday. “The quotas won’t work.”

In neighboring Slovakia, Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said he would try to block quotas. “They don’t make any sense ... and don’t solve the crisis in any way,” he said in a TV interview.

Poland said it might accept more migrants, but only if the EU secures its external borders; separates those who need help from economic migrants; and allows Warsaw a say in screening them from the point of security.

Meanwhile, the migrants continued to risk all on their journeys. The Greek coastguard said the 34 drowned off the island of Farmakonisi, almost certainly the largest death toll in those waters since the migrant crisis began.

In the space of 90 minutes, a Reuters photographer saw 10 dinghies packed with refugees arriving from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Further up the refugee route, 8,500 migrants entered Macedonia from Greece between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, the UNHCR said.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

CUBA-POLITICS

- ‘Substantial progress’ made in EU-Cuba talks HAVANA,Cuba, (CMC) – THE head of the European Union’s (EU) delegation to Cuba Christian Leffler says there has been “substantial progress” in talks with Cuban authorities on normalising ties between the EU and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean country.

“There has been substantial progress, including in the areas of human rights, democracy and governance, and the remaining differences were narrowed even further,” Leffler said.

The EU suspended relations with Cuba in 2003 over a crackdown on journalists and activists, according to EUbusiness.

The EU began talks on restoring relations with Cuba in April 2014, aimed at persuading Havana to improve its human rights record.

Leffler said that it is “no secret” that the European view on human rights is not the same as the Cuban view on the issue, according to EUbusiness.

“So we have to find an area of understanding,” Leffler told

reporters, adding that the talks “allowed for the mutual increase of understanding on both sides.”

He said this could smooth the talks at the next meeting in Brussels, Belguim in November.

The EU and Cuba have moved to accelerate the process since Havana and Washington announced a historic rapprochement in December and reopened embassies in July, EUbusiness said.

It said Brussels and Havana have now set themselves a deadline of December 31.

Cuba wants the EU to scrap its nearly 20-year “common position,” which makes restoring European ties with the island contingent on democratic reforms, said EUbusiness, adding that the 28-member bloc is pressing Cuba to sign a slate of international human rights treaties.

Meanwhile,the U.S. Department of State said it sent a small delegation to Cuba on Friday to participate in the inaugural session of a bilateral commission with the Cuban

Government.

On Thursday, the department said that Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary Alex Lee is heading the delegation, which includes the Director of the Secretary’s Policy Planning Staff David McKean.

Charge d’affaires ad interim, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, leads the team from the US Embassy Havana, the department said.

During the bilateral commission, the State Department said the team will meet with members of the Cuban Foreign Ministry “to discuss next steps in the normalisation process and schedule dates for future discussions on shared priorities.”

“The delegation will seek agreement on priority issues for future negotiations and discuss the scope, timing, delegation level, and frequency of engagement on each issue,” the statement said.

“The delegation does not plan to enter into extensive discussion on each topic during this meeting,” it added.

C’bean achieves key Millennium Development Goals — ECLAC SANTIAGO (CMC) – TWO weeks before the 193 member-states of the United Nations approve the sustainable development agenda for 2030 in New York, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says Latin America and the Caribbean have achieved several key objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“Although these goals were formulated in a limited way, their results are the starting point to address new Sustainable Development Goals that will be more ambitious, comprehensive and universal,” said ECLAC in a new report entitled “ Latin America and the Caribbean: looking ahead after the Millennium Development Goals”.

From 1990 to 2015, ECLAC said countries in the region have made “important progress” on reducing extreme poverty, hunger and infant mortality, incorporating girls into education, and ensuring access to safe drinking water.

But ECLAC urged them to “make greater efforts” to reduce maternal deaths and greenhouse gas emissions, among other indicators.

“The new 2030 agenda represents an advancement

versus the MDGs, moving to a more holistic, collaborative, interdisciplinary and universal view whereby development must be oriented towards closing structural gaps with environmental sustainability, to achieve greater equality,” said ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, about the report.

ECLAC noted that the MDGs were approved in September 2000 by 189 United Nations member-states, constituting the roadmap for development during the last 15 years.

According to the report, the region achieved the first MDG, oriented towards eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, “since, between 1990 and 2015, it managed to more than halve the proportion of people whose income is below one dollar.”

The report says 4.6 per cent of people lived with less than US$1.25 dollar per day in 2011, compared with 12.6 per cent in 1990.

The proportion of people suffering from hunger fell from 14.7 per cent in the twoyear period of 1990-1992 to a projected 5.5 percent in 20142016, the report says.

Additionally, today’s figures for labor participation and

unemployment are at their best levels in 20 years.

Regarding the second MDG, devoted to achieving universal primary education, the report says the net enrollment rate at that level in Latin America and the Caribbean is estimated at 93 per cent as of 2015.

The level of illiteracy among people from 15 to 24 years of age in the entire region decreased to 1.7 percent in 2015 from 6.9 per cent in 1990, “although functional illiteracy continues to be a matter of concern,” the report says.

Injured goat thief turns self in TWENTY-one-year-old Phillip Rodney, of Buxton Sideline Dam, last evening submitted himself to the police outpost at the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was being held under police guard.

He later checked himself back into the institution after escaping the day before.

Rodney and three other men were arrested last Wednesday after being caught with two stolen goats in a car trunk at Mahaicony. He was subsequently shot in the buttocks after reportedly attacking a police rank with a pair of scissors.

Late last evening, the Guyana Chronicle learnt that Rodney showed up at the hospital with several marks of violence about his body and was more interested in seeking medical attention at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the public hospital.

Police sources confirmed that the young man returned to the facility, but failed to

--after daring hospital escape

provide any information on his reasons for returning and how he came by his injuries.

It was also unclear at the time whether he told the police where he’d spent the day after escaping custody.

Rodney and his three accomplices, one a Buxtonian like himself and two from Mon Repos, had prior to their arrest last Wednesday, eluded police ranks at Mahaicony, where they were caught trying to bundle two stolen goats into the trunk of a Toyota 212 motorcar, PKK 831.

The police were alerted by persons from the Mahaicony area of the men’s presence in the village, and what they were attempting to do. They were given the description of the car, and its registration number, and as they headed in the general direction of where the goat thieves were last seen, they encountered them on the way.

The police signaled the

driver of the vehicle to pull the car over, which he did, and to pop the trunk.

Immediately after popping the trunk of the car, the four men made a run for it. But even though the police were hot on the men’s tail, they eventually lost them.

As the police were heading back to the station, however, they spotted the men crossing a bridge some distance away and immediately resumed the chase to intercept them. But again, the men made a dash for it, running in different directions in an attempt to frustrate the police.

A police rank who was closing in on one of the fleeing suspects, who happened to be Rodney, was reportedly forced to resort to the use of force when the would-be escapee pulled a pair of scissors on him.

The other three men were arrested without incident.

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Guyana

EDITORIAL

The T&T elections

THERE has been a change of government in Trinidad and Tobago, where the multi-party People’s Partnership (PP) was voted out of office after a single term.

The PNM (People’s National Movement), under a new leader, Dr. Keith Rowley, has returned to power.

Despite the final seat allocation in the National Assembly (23-18), it was a very close election. According to an official report, the PNM won just over 51% of the popular vote.

This seems to be a trend in recent Caribbean elections.

Here in Guyana, the APNU+AFC coalition won with just 50.3% of the popular vote. In the St Kitts Nevis poll held earlier this year, the ruling coalition actually won less votes (49.9%) than the opposition (50.1%).

It is thus a reflection of how polarised our electorates have become, but more than that, it calls into question our persistence with the winner-takes-all model. Clearly, half of the electorates do not support their governments; this is a recipe for instability. In Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, the ethnic dynamics add fuel to the situation.

Although analysts and Trinidadians themselves like to make a distinction between the hostile ethnic politics in Guyana and the more friendly engagement in Trinidad, the evidence does not always support that evaluation.

The recent election, which, from all indications, came down to an ethnic contest, was as intensely fought between the two major groups as any in Guyana. The final result seems to bear this out. Ethnic hostility comes to the fore when the stakes are high.

And the stakes were high in both the Trinidad and Guyana elections. Regardless of the rhetoric of the new governments, they will ultimately be seen as representing one side of the ethnic divide. In fact, both the PP and the PPP lost government, largely because they were perceived as representing Indian interests, which, in turn, served as a source of mobilisation for the opposite group.

Something has to be done sooner rather than later to halt this vicious cycle which continues to cripple joint nationhood in these countries.

The situation in Trinidad and Tobago is compounded by the first-past-the-post system, which has, more often than not, produced skewed results. In this most recent election, although the PPP would have still lost the election (based

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

Harvesting favourable in Region 2

HARVESTING of the present rice crop has commenced in Region 2, where farmers are making full use of the sunny weather.

While harvesting has not commenced in the southern parts of the Essequibo Coast, the exercise is moving apace in the northern and central sections.

In the Northern sec-

tion, farmers have reported harvesting an average of 35 bags per acre.

Although the paddy has been affected somewhat by ‘red rice’, farmers are optimistic about a bumper crop. Some 31,500 acres are expected to be harvested without any difficulty in the region.

For this crop, there has been a general decline of prices for paddy in the

region; millers are at the moment paying $2200 for the highest grade of paddy, which is: ‘A’ and ‘B’ $2,100; and ‘C’ $1,900.

Presently, the industry can hardly escape the vagaries of the free - market economy in which allocations for rice and paddy are determined by demand and supply. Only those millers who have paid off the rice farmers are purchasing

paddy. Those who are indebted are not buying.

The implications for this crop can be quite serious indeed, if new markets cannot be found.

Farmers will have to pay greater attention to the cost of production and efficiency, considering the critical nature of the current situation.

MOHAMED KHAN

PPP never intended for Constitution to work TIME-honoured principle respects the right of every group to identify its participants. The claim by the PPP that it will not engage in “national unity talks” with the government once Moses Nagamootoo is on the team is an affront to this principle.

That being said, there are legitimate concerns that are deserving of clarification from our elected leaders.

This nation needs to be advised about the intent of national unity talks and the guiding parameters for the engagement. Clarification is needed from the backdrop that: 1: Our political system is competitive, and has enshrined an Opposition and Government, both of whom are members of the legislature; 2: ARTICLE 13 of the Constitution, in outlining the Principal Political Objective of the State, mandates inclusionary democracy, built on the involvement of groups in the management and decision-making processes of the

State that directly affect their wellbeing; 3: Under the Constitution, the President and Leader of the Opposition are required to engage in meaningful consultation on specified matters; 4: In ARTICLE 5, the Leader of the Opposition is identified under the Executive. The opposition leader heads the parliamentary opposition. Parliament, which is the nation’s supreme organ of democratic power (Article 50), has responsibly for law-making and Executive oversight. A member of the opposition heads the Public Accounts Committee, which oversees the Executive’s fiscal management of the nation. Parliament has the authority to bring before it any member of the public or expertise to aid its deliberations and decision-making. Members of Parliament (MP) engage in public outreach, in keeping with assigned parliamentary committees. The society expects MPs to be integrally involved with happenings in their constituencies, and

on the preliminary results), it would have gained an extra two seats. The promised challenge to the election results by the PP is an interesting development moving forward. In the case of St Kitts-Nevis, if they had a proportional representation system, the opposition party would have been in government.

Whatever the merits of the constituency system, it has serious deficiencies that should be corrected. It is a good sign that the parties in Trinidad are considering a change in favour of PR. This election in Trinidad has lessons for Guyana. Our new coalition government may be interested in learning what went wrong with the partnership in Trinidad. The PPP may also be interested in learning what went wrong with Indo-Trinidad solidarity in the sister country. As they say, when your neighbour’s house is on fire, help to put it out.

engage their constituents; 5: ARTICLE 171 (1) allows for any member of the National Assembly to introduce any Bill, propose any Motion for debate and petition the House and these ought to be treated consistent with the rules; 6: The role of the opposition is to propose, support and oppose the government where necessary. A responsible opposition would strive to do so sensibly; 7: Regional Government allows for groups participation. Based on the proportionality of votes, seats are assigned on the Regional Democratic Councils. The chairman and vice chairman are elected from among the councillors; 8: Local Government allows for groups participation. Based on the proportionality of votes seats are assigned. The mayor, deputy mayor, chairman and vice-chairman are elected from among the councilors; 9: Division of seats in regional and local governments has been made more pronounced from 1992 onward. The 2015 election sees the PPP controlling seven regions and the APNU+AFC three. This nation awaits local government elections.

Given the dynamics in the society it is expected that the local authorities will have similar, diverse composition; 10: ARTICLE 75 and 76 allow for autonomy in the local democratic organs, which includes the power to raise and dispose of revenue for the areas’ benefit and

welfare.

Thirty-five years into this Constitution and where the initial caretaker position provided for in ARTICLE 77 requiring of the government funding the projects of the local democratic organs, little has changed. No effort was made by the PPP in their 23 years in office to establish legislation(s) that would have seen the deepening and strengthening of the devolution of power to the people.

The PPP had the longest stewardship under this Constitution. Clearly, it was never their intent to make the Constitution work.

Instead, the government was comfortable misrepresenting this instrument, and hiding behind widely held misperceptions as they trampled on the citizens, and conducted their dastardly deeds.

This nation is not witnessing an absence of national unity in the political structure; this nation is witnessing an absence of political will and commitment to make the system work, respect the will of the people and their right to association, and guarantee them the enshrined protection from discrimination for such association/identity consistent with ARTICLE 147 and 149.

To disregard the spirit and intent of the constitutional builts - in competitive (checks and balances) structure is not only to disSee Page 7

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

More private sector investment needed in indigenous communities I DECIDED to send this information to you in the hope that, firstly, it will be published in your respected newspaper. And secondly, that it may inspire others to do likewise.

Some time ago, I was chatting with the family of Joseph B Simon (including his wife and adult children - all of whom have families of their own), and everyone was in agreement that one excellent way of providing employment and preserving their natural, pristine environment at the southern end of Pakuri Lokono-Arawak Territory in Region 4 (aka ‘St. Cuthbert’s Mission’), was via Eco-Tourism, based on the inspirational lead taken by Guyana’s foremost pioneer of indigenous tourism and our new Minister of Indigenous Affairs, The Honourable Mr. Sydney Allicock.

I have personally been doing my part to attract

visitors to Guyana over the last 20 years, and by my records, I have been able to send 1,000 satisfied visitors to this great country of ours during these past two decades, mostly by putting them on to other operators.

However, this is not the focus of my few lines here.

To make a very long story short, I’ve decided to provide US$10,000 (GY$2M) to Mr Simon and his family to achieve what I am now pleased to announce is the only completely indigenous-owned and operated combined Homestay EcoLodge & Wildlife Sanctuary in all of Guyana.

The beauty of this place lies in the careful blend of tradition with modernity; you can watch cassava bread and cassava beer making (and consume both when done!); palm straw manufacture; basketry, bow and arrow making, dug-out canoe-making etc, just to

name a few activities, ALL from beginning to end, and enjoy three square meals daily, with two different sleeping options by night: Either in cotton hammocks furnished with mosquito nets under troolie leaf roofed traditional huts outdoors, or sleep in Queen or King-sized beds with modern mattresses, pillows, sheets, mosquito nets, etc.

Though you also have a handmade five-foot long traditional bow and quiver full of arrows hanging in your room to practise on their archery range whenever you want to, that Mr. Joseph Simon made himself.

He also makes the dugout canoes, and was featured in the BBC documentary, ‘Spirit of the Jaguar’, easily found on YouTube, making a canoe on Pakuri Territory years ago.

Simon is also featured in the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology, since he

is one of the last Arawak master traditional craftsmen left alive in Guyana, and he does the full range of traditional Mukru basketry, as well (from sifters to Matapis and all the baskets in between).

It is truly an honour and privilege to be able to spend time with this respected and beloved elder of his tribe; and I am proud to call him my father-in-law.

Of-course, hiking in the jungles or savannas by day or night, fishing, canoe paddling, swimming in the river, engine boat rides to see the rare Canje Pheasant (Hoatzin) nesting sites, etc.

Even having yourself temporarily bodily tatooed in traditional, ancient designs - are all options available for you to spend the days, but these things can ALSO be done in other indigenous communities across Guyana as I know for a fact (from

Burma Rice Research Station selling poor seed paddy ONE of the main sources farmers expect to get high quality seed paddy from at the head of the rice production seed chain is the GRDB Burma Rice Research Station.

But this might n o t be the case, since many farmers are concerned and complain about the quality of the seed paddy purchased from the GRBD Burma Rice Research Station over the past couple of seasons.

There has been a great decline in the quality produced and sold. It is alleged by thousands of farmers that seed paddy sold to them by the GRDB Burma Rice Research Station has a high percentage of ‘red rice’ and ‘off-types’, contamination with other

weed seeds such as ‘monkey tail’.

In some cases, it also has a high percentage of paddy bug damaged grains, shelled grains etc. In more serious situations in some cases, the seeds have very low germination capacity, which results in poor growth and establishment under field conditions.

This is a very serious problem, and many farmers can attest to the fact that they have been victims of this dreadful act; that after they purchase the paddy and sow it in their rice field, only to see an abundance of ‘red rice’ and offtypes showing up in their fields.

It is also alleged that many seed growers and farmers who purchase pad-

dy from the Burma Rice Research Station received paddy that was far below the seed quality standard, and paid a very high price for the paddy, while many would not know this because they were ‘duped’ into believing that this is some so-called ‘C3 seed class of paddy’ which, in actual sense, may be lower that ‘C grade’ of commercial grains normally sold to the mill.

I was reliably informed that the head Dr. Mahendra Persaud and team of the Burma Rice Research Station know about these poor-quality seeds that do not meet the seed standard, but yet try to keep it a secret from the Board, and push for the sale of this paddy to the farmers at the

premium prices.

It is my view that the paddy that do not make the seed quality standard should not have been sold to farmers and sent to the mill as commercial grains.

Looking retrospectively at the situation in the rice industry, one can safely conclude that these poor quality seeds sold farmers is one of the main contributing factors for the high increase in the ‘red rice’ and other serious weeds in the rice industry in Guyana.

The government and the Rice Board should investigate this development, and have an independent body certify the seeds before they are sold to farmers.

T. ROSS

visiting multiple communities) that people with great ideas exist everywhere in our country.....and very often they only need someone to back them up with some financial support.

As a founder-member and immediate past president of the Caribbean Amerindian Development Organization (CADO), based in Barbados, I even flew our Guyana born Belgium trained construction project manager and volunteer, Mr. Steve Campbell, to Guyana to help the Simon family get all they needed done professionally. Surely other small businessmen such as myself can do similar, as I am by no means a wealthy person by any stretch of the imagination!

This is the MAIN reason for my letter today: To encourage OTHER members of the private sector to reach out in a meaningful way and help make someone else’s great idea become a reality, that not only will benefit an individual, but an entire family and even an entire com-

munity, because for every visitor that overnights at Mr Simon’s place, G$1,000 (per night) will be donated to the Village Council to help the Tribal Government raise much needed funds for other community projects.

The facility is days away from officially opening, but already is providing full & part time employment for 20 members of the community up to GY$5,000 in daily wages - including many of Mr. Simon’s family members (who are thankful NOT to have to return to dangerous ‘bush work’ farther in the interior - which takes them away from their families for long periods of time). It is truly a win-win situation for all involved, one would have to be a very narrow-minded and envious or spiteful person to oppose such a history - making and positive endeavour such as this one.

DAMON GERARD CORRIE

PPP never ...

From Page 6

regard the laws, but moreso to create an environment where the politicians would gang up against the citizens. This would intensify their disregard for feeling they are answerable and accountable to the people in our representative democracy. Where lawlessness permeates this society in all facets, even moreso by public officials as revelations unfold daily, the people will suffer.

Further, the PPP’s contention that national unity talks is “an attempt by the Coalition to throw dust in the eyes of the Guyanese people and at the same time pushing a commitment to fulfil a self-serving pre-electoral promise

made to external forces” is deserving of attention.

Let it be known, any external force that requires the society to discard the competitive, inclusionary and devolution principles which are characteristics of democracy and similarly practised elsewhere, has no regard for our laws or theirs. Regard for this nation’s laws, from which the base of national unity talks must spring, would encourage the politicians to take the needed time to understand the laws, the spirit and intent behind them and abide by them at all times, in totality. This is the best starting point for national unity talks and actions.

LINCOLN LEWIS

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, September 14, 2015

now calling Return and serve Guyana PPP for reduction – Attorney Persaud tells Chevening scholars ATTORNEY-at-Law and Chevening scholar Gino Persaud has called on the 2015 recipients of the British scholarship programme to return to Guyana and contribute to her development.

Persaud made the appeal on Wednesday at a reception for 12 locals who will be pursuing studies in various disciplines at universities in the United Kingdom.

Addressing the scholarship awardees, Persaud said it is hoped that they are driven by the moral imperative, which compels them to do the right thing. “I strongly believe that a commitment by a scholar to return to Guyana to serve and work towards national development is also a decision made with ethical considerations and driven by the “moral imperative.

I believe you already know whether you intend to return to serve Guyana in the short term or the long-term,” the attorney said.

He added: “Whether you will use your skills to contribute towards nation building or like some Chevening scholars before you, you will use it as a stepping stone to migrate to greener pastures.

I say you already know because as I read somewhere integrity has no sliding scale.”

According to him, integrity is not a “90% thing” or a “95% thing”, contending that “you either have it or

promoting and improving upon our fledgling and fragile democracy. Stake your claim in this journey of nation-building. Guyana needs a new political culture. This will not happen with the current generation. You belong to a new generation that has the potential to achieve this,” he said.

Attorney-at-Law and Chevening scholar Gino Persaud

you don’t!”

Persaud told the scholars that he trusts that they all have it and are driven by the moral imperative, that is, an unrelenting and unrepentant disposition to return to serve for the long haul and make outstanding contributions towards nation-building and improving the country’s fragile democracy.

“I wish to throw out to you a few challenges on your return to Guyana. As Chevening scholars with newly acquired skills, you will be more equipped than others, with the intellectual capital, the authority and the wherewithal to challenge the status quo and make a difference.

Hold your new government accountable.”

“You will now be additional guardians charged with preserving, protecting,

BE FEARLESS He told the scholarship awardees that as Chevening scholars, they are expected to be fearless, have the coverage and the fortitude to hold their elected leaders accountable and call them to account publicly when they deviate from the national agenda.

Persaud pointed out that the greatest infractions are occasioned when those who are educated and learned are indifferent towards injustice and excesses and refuse to act. “Do not return to Guyana and become a bureaucrat, losing yourself in the comfort and convenience of a cushy 9-5 job, pushing pen and paper and watching the clock. I’ve seen a few Chevening scholars return to public service doing exactly that. They’ve made no useful contribution to Guyana.

Stand for something!

“We live in a modern world of increasing individualism. But individualism is sometimes a euphemism for selfishness. We are all in this Guyana boat together. We sink or swim together or as

Martin Carter so powerfully put it,” Persaud said in his erudite charge.

The scholarship awardees are Tiffany Castello who will pursue an LLM in International Human Rights Law at Brunel University; Mark Greene an MSc in Civil Engineering at the University of Birmingham; Alicia Primo an LLM in Law and Economics at University of Reading; Dr Quincy Jones an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Amir Dillawar an MSc in Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy Systems at University of Leeds; Vivianna Critchlow an MSc in Hydrogeology and Water Management at Newcastle University; Omattie Madray an MSc in Conflict, Displacement and Human Security at the University of East London; Dinesh Persaud an MSc in Web Technology from the University of Southampton; Abbygale Jeffrey-Alvin- an MSc in Cardiology at Canterbury Christ Church University; Denise Jourdain an MA in Childhood and Youth Studies; Cleveland Sullivan an MSc in Computing at the University of Dundee; and Vishal Persaud an MSc in Energy and the Environment at the University of Leeds.

Govt seeks stronger pact with Barama …as company’s agreement up for renewal MINISTER of Governance, with responsibility for Natural Resources and the Environment Raphael Trotman on Saturday toured the Barama Company Limited’s Buck Hall, Essequibo operations, assuring the company that the administration will renew its operations licence, but is also seeking a stronger pact.

The tour was organised amidst discussions between the company and the Government of Guyana for a renewal of Barama’s operations agreement which expires in October, 2016, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported. Trotman had an opportunity to get a first-hand look at the company’s work environment and operations which currently exist.

Minister Trotman also took the opportunity to interact and listen to the concerns

Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman being shown around the Barama Company Limited, Buck Hall Operations

by General Manager Mohindra Chand (GINA photo)

of some of the staff members. At Buck Hall, Minister Trotman met with Chief Executive Officer of Barama Company Limited Mr. Choo Siong Liew, General Manager Mohindra Chand, and Senior Manager with responsibility

for Human Resources Patricia Mingo. The Minister was briefed on the company’s operations, expansion plans and impact on the Guyanese economy.

Chand said that Barama has been one of the longest

standing foreign companies in Guyana and while the challenges were many, giving up on the country will never be a consideration. Noting that more than $43 billion has been invested into its Guyana operations, Chand said that further growth and development can be expected through the company once the renewal of operations agreement is completed.

Trotman said that the visit was timely and high on his agenda since the Government would like to build on the partnership which was established with the country in 1991. “This visit was high up on our agenda. On our last visit here, some anxieties were expressed by the Managing Director and the General Manager and the investors back in Malaysia about whether the agreement will be renewed with the government. We have given an assurance that yes, there will be a renewal but like

in Essequibo ferry fares

MERE months after it was voted out of office the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is now calling for a reduction in the cost to use the Essequibo ferry service, some which it had ignored saying it was supporting the call by a small group of residents of Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) who ply the Supenaam–Parika route.

“The PPP maintains its position that there must be equitable distribution of resources and wealth across the country and therefore insists that the David Granger administration forthwith reduce the ferry fares,” the party said in a statement.

Observers say that the PPP was engaging in petty politics and was behind the calls by a few residents urging a reduction of the fares.

The party said the call for a reduction in the cost to use the Essequibo ferry is a just one, since the ferries are owned and operated by the State. The cost to cross the Berbice River Bridge return with a minibus and 15 passengers is $1,900, while the same minibus with 15 passengers pays $7,680 to cross with the ferry from Supenaam to Parika and back,

the PPP stated. “A significant reduction in these fares will no doubt have a positive impact on businesses as well as the farming community, the poor and vulnerable in Region 2,” the PPP added.

Further, the PPP said it supports the call for the establishment of an oversight committee made up of primarily residents in good standing of Region 2, to oversee a total review of the operations of the two vessels, inclusive of their schedule. This review must take into consideration the need to give priority at all times to vehicles transporting perishable items, as well as those transporting the sick, elderly and the disabled, the party stated.

According to the PPP, this review must also take into consideration allegations of favouritism, discrimination, bribery and corruption by persons employed at the Transport and Harbours Department levelled by those who utilise the ferries on a constant basis. These complaints and allegations have been around for years and were never addressed by the PPP in its 23 years in government.

all agreements there will be a need for negotiations to see how best we can make it stronger. We want to make it stronger not weaker,” he told the company representatives.

Further, he praised the company for choosing to stay and overcome the challenges faced in setting up its operations in Guyana.

“I want to congratulate you for achieving 24 years here. I know that it has been very difficult because sometimes you come to a country to invest; you see photographs and you see it on paper but getting on the ground and transforming it from an idea into a reality

is something completely different. We know that there were challenges, but you’ve overcome those,” Minister Trotman added. Minister Trotman was accompanied

by Permanent Secretary at the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Joslyn McKenzie, Ministerial Advisor Clayton Hall, Technical Legal Officers of NRE Tamara Khan and Joanna Homer, Technical Assistant Teresa Gaime, Technical Assistant Imole McDonald, Technical Officer, Environment, Euileen Watson, and Technical Officer-Mining Jerome Agard.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, September 14, 2015

Herstelling murder…

‘What mommy did is just messed up’ – son

By Leroy Smith SEVENTEEN-year-old Nathan Persaud, also known as Junior, yesterday expressed his disgust at the alleged role his mother Gwendolyn Persaud played in the murder of his father Nathan Persaud, also known as “Andrew”, who was found dead in his Herstelling, East Bank Demerara home on Thursday last.

He said that the entire ordeal was shocking and “messed up” as it came from a family member. “That right there is shocking to see your own family ending up doing that, you would believe that she might be part of it but to actually plan it, that is just messed up, what mommy did is just messed up,” the young man told the Guyana Chronicle.

Asked if he will ever find it in his heart to forgive his mother for allegedly playing a role in ending the life of his father, the junior Nathan Persaud said that he will have to forgive his mother at some point but he will never forget what she did. “I could forgive but I cannot forget, you have to come to the point in life where you have to forgive in order to live in peace because if you do not forgive it will always be with you like a kind of grudge,” the young Persaud related.

Nathan Persaud’s wife

allegedly hired a hitman to kill him in order to seize total control of a property that the couple owns in Diamond, also on the East Bank Demerara, according to what she told the police on Sunday when questioned over her role in the man’s demise. She was arrested on Saturday when word broke that she and the man were locked in a bitter property dispute.

Also on Sunday, the mother of the dead man said that she is heartbroken and felt betrayed by a daughterin-law that she treated as one of her children. “That girl never worked for anything, me and my daughter helped him to start his life, I don’t know how I will go my way, I don’t know how I will walk because that son was the apple of my eyes,” the elderly woman lamented. According to the United States-based woman, Sylvia Persaud, she has not seen her son in three years but they would usually converse very often on the phone.

She said too that since he began having issues with his wife following their divorce petition, they spoke almost twice daily as she would encourage him to stay strong.

“I feel very sad, betrayed by that girl because I was a good mother-in-law to her. If she sick I am there, if anything wrong to her I am there, I am now 76-yearsold and have to go through

Mrs. Sylvia Persaud speaking with Chronicle’s crime reporter Leroy Smith yesterdays when she expressed how heartbroken she was to learn that her daughter-inlaw had hired a hitman to kill her eldest son

this at my age and it is very hurtful, I am distressed,” the grieving mother told the Guyana Chronicle. Mrs. Persaud explained that “things were very hard for her son” when the breakup started and his wife kicked her sons and husband out of the house that they shared in Diamond at the time, forcing him to seek refuge at Herstelling where his parents own a house.

The woman stressed that all Nathan Persaud was fighting for, was that his sons should have access to the house and the property should something happen to him in life, but from all indications his wife wanted it all. “This is my house here in Herstelling, he came here to live with his sons because

she put him and the children out, put all of them out and leave her smallest son at the Diamond house. Things started to get rough with her, she wanted all and she also wanted my son gone,” the mother added.

SCARED FOR HIS LIFE Sylvia said that on the day that her son was murdered she spoke with him for 45 minutes. During that conversation he reportedly told her that he was scared for his life and she encouraged him to visit the police station and make a report but for some reason her son did not. The man also reportedly communicated his fears to his lawyer who also encouraged him to visit the police station after he heard

that the woman was planning to kill him. The man reportedly told his mother that he was not willing to go to the police because women have a way of having the upper hand at police stations when they make counter reports against men.

Nathan was himself a Rural Constable, according to his mother.

The man then made a decision to call the woman and warn her against harming him since according to his mother he told her that if anything happened to him it would make things bad for his sons, whose papers are being processed to travel out to the United States, this publication was told.

Nathan is presently the holder of a 10-year United States visa but decided that he was not leaving the country with his children behind because two of them are still in school and he wanted to ensure that he remained in Guyana to see his sons get access to the family property at Diamond and get their papers completed to leave the country.

Mrs. Persaud who sang high praises to the Guyana Police Force and the ranks of the Criminal Investigation Department, said that she was pleased with the work done so far to crack the case of her son’s murder but lamented that the actual killer of her son was still out there in the public

space and he needs to also be brought to justice. The mother of the dead man told the Chronicle that if her daughter-in-law wanted $15 million, the family would have found that money and provided her with it rather than her killing the father of her children. She went on to state that based on her information the lawyers for both sides were to meet on September 25 to discuss the way forward with the disputed property.

According to her, her son did indicate to his wife that all he wanted was for a little piece of the said property at Diamond to live while ensuring that his sons occupied the home also and that the woman could have also kept the small drinking bar that she operates at the premises.

Mrs. Persaud said that her daughter-in-law was a bully who controlled her son’s life and had him doing everything that she wanted. However, Gwendolyn Persaud, the dead man’s wife had told persons that she was the object of abuse at the hands of the man while they lived together. “He is a good father to his children, he cook meals, buy groceries and look after them because they live here with him,” the mother added.

She said that they are preparing to bury Nathan Persaud.

Gov’t to fast-track new Demerara crossing – to accommodate heightened traffic

By Rabindra Rooplall WITH the growing volume of traffic on the Demerara Harbour Bridge, government is to pursue the drafting of plans to bridge the river at another point, according to Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson.

“I know currently the government has reviewed the feasibility study that was done under the previous administration, but I can assure you that this administration will be pursuing avenues to ensure that a

new bridge is constructed,” Minister Ferguson said, adding: “With regard to what we are doing with the current bridge, is that in the meantime, while we are pursuing the construction of the new bridge, we will be ensuring that full maintenance is done on the current bridge to ensure passengers get to and fro on a daily basis.”

The Demerara Harbour Bridge had moved to introduce night retractions to help reduce the daily congestion that occurs when it is closed to vehicular traffic.

But the biggest problem

continues to be the increasing volume of traffic, with a record 11,000 vehicles crossing one way, particularly during the Christmas season rush. This is significant, as one-way traffic on a regular day has been averaging around 8,900 vehicles. While the bridge’s management had been looking at the 10,000 mark, traffic volumes on the aging structure continue to exceed projections.

General Manager Rawlston Adams had noted that the facility, which provides a critical link between the East Bank Demerara and

traffic.

Revenue from vehicular toll, on the other hand, accounted for the year ’s biggest earnings at $462M, an increase of some $50M on 2013’s performance.

It, however, spent close to $675M on repairs and maintenance, among other expenditures

Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson

the West Coast corridor, saw a 15 per cent increase in income last year at $533M, despite the slight dip in toll, at $20M, from marine

NIGHT OPENINGS To help prepare the facility for night openings, new navigation lights and cluster piles, which are placed strategically to protect the bridge against collision, were installed last year. Several sections of the bridge were also strengthened as part of the work

programme for the structure. These included buoys, pivots, beams and A-frames.

Last year, management installed technology that now allows the police to monitor traffic at the bridge in real time.

The Demerara Harbour Bridge is a 6,074-foot (1,851 m) long floating toll bridge, which was commissioned on July 2, 1978.

It spans the Demerara River from Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara, to Schoonord, West Bank Demerara. There is a pedestrian footwalk, a raised section that allows small vessels to pass under, and a retractor span that lets large vessels pass.

10

Herstelling murder...

Police still questioning wife, niece THE police continue to keep in their custody the wife of murdered carpenter, Nathan Persaud, as well as his niece, while seeking to locate the man the wife reportedly hired to carry out the hit.

Police sources yesterday told this newspaper that while the two women are cooperating with investigators, they have thus far failed to provide any substantial information other than that which they did on Saturday.

From all indications, the police already have a name and other pertinent information on the prime suspect, who entered Persaud’s home and carried out the ‘hit’.

There is also new information saying that the hitman, after finding out last

Thursday where his quarry lived, had actually had a conversation with him on the day in question; and that it was when Persaud turned his back on him to enter the house that his assailant pounced on him and dealt him the deadly blows.

On Saturday, Persaud’s wife reportedly told the police that she had hired a "hitman" for fear of losing the property, over which the two had an ongoing dispute.

She reportedly confirmed that the "hitman", whom she met through her niece, wanted money to pay his girlfriend, who lives in another country, a surprise visit for her birthday. So he willingly accepted the contract, after she told him what she wanted done, and assured him that she would

help him travel to see his girlfriend.

The woman, however, failed from her promise, as she didn’t give him an advance, much less pay him off in full. And after he had done the job and went to her for his money, she told him she was still trying to put it together; that he should leave, and wait until she called him.

The woman was, however, unable to secure the cash, as the police picked her up less than 24 hours after the commission of the crime.

This was following intelligence that the police had picked up on the woman from speaking with persons who knew her.

The police are continuing their investigations into the matter.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, September 14, 2015

CANU, police narcotics unit to be merged GOVERNMENT plans to merge the duties of the Police Narcotics Unit and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) under one agency.

President David Granger says he prefers a single unit that is stronger. “I agree that the duties of the Police Anti-Narcotics Unit and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit should be merged,” he told reporters on ‘The Public Interest’ last Thursday.

He acknowledged that while the roles of the two agencies are similar, CANU has greater responsibilities as the police unit, which is smaller, is more or less responsible for mobile and eradication exercises.

“The two functions have to be harmonised; we don’t need two, we need one strong unit,” the President emphasized.

President Granger stated that while CANU has more responsibilities than the police unit, the police unit’s involvement is critical to the narcotics fight as laboratory and forensic work have to be done to determine whether items seized are illicit.

“The police have to be involved,” the president said, while noting that the enforcement aspect which speaks to patrols, aircrafts, and vehicles will all come under one unit yet to be determined.

Asked whether CANU’s

President David Granger

head James Singh would be replaced, President Granger said, “We are not anticipating a change in the head of CANU at this point.”

Berbice NGO protests BBCI... to pay in excess [of] about a thousand dollars per day.”

BENEFIT FOR THE RICH Further, the group noted that while giving credit for the bridge, the structure was mainly for the benefit of the rich and the elite, as no provision was made for the pedestrian, or the cyclist.

“The underprivileged are not allowed to walk over the bridge, nor ride a bicycle so one can see this bridge was built to benefit the rich people, and the elite.”

However, Chairman Dion Thomas, while agreeing with his members, diverted, and issued a call for Minister Simona Broomes to visit Region 6, where the issues of underpayment and exploitation of employees are high.

“From Crabwood Creek

to New Amsterdam females are working at supermarkets from 7am to 10pm, and are not being paid any overtime monies. Minister Broomes, come here and rectify the affairs here.”

Another member, Shannon Gopaul, reiterated the call for the removal of the labour officer, (name given) who is suspected to be "in bed" with the business operators.

Last week, the NGO took to the streets of New Amsterdam and protested in front of the Regional Democratic Council where they called for the removal of the lone labour officer in Region 6 (East Berbice/ Corentyne).

The group noted that whenever an employee airs a grievance, with respect to being underpaid, overworked, or physically

From page 2

or sexually assaulted; denied lunch breaks, non-payment of workers’ contribution to the National Insurance Scheme, amongst others, the complaints are not addressed.

Instead the labour officer would inform the respective employer of the complainant and the worker would be fired. As a result some persons have lost confidence in the officer and are calling for his removal.

“So many people not finding jobs, and they got a man there who already attain the age of retirement still seated in the position. Imagine a large region like this, they only got one labour officer. They should appoint at least four officers, who can effectively address the concerns of the labour force,” workers complained.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

At Dominican Republic meet...

Ministers, business leaders discuss broadband development MINISTERS and business leaders within the telecommunications sector from over 20 countries from the Caribbean and Latin America convened last week in The Dominican Republic to launch the Second Ministerial Forum for Broadband Development.

At the event, which was sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Government of Korea, participants discussed new growth alternatives in the area of information technologies and communication.

Activities at the forum included a presentation on “Broadband for Socio-Economic Development” presented by Diego Molano, former Minister of Telecommunications of Colombia, followed by a series of ministerial round tables and panels on public frameworks to boost access to broadband, the adoption of new legal frameworks and challenges facing public/private investment to bridge the digital divide.

Through its broadband platform, the IDB is working with governments in the Region, supporting their priorities to bridge the digital divide, especially in rural areas. The risk of being left behind in the adoption of broadband services may affect the efforts of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean in the fight against poverty and inequality. Broadband has become an axis for all sectors of development and a catalyst for social inclusion, economic growth and social welfare.

According to the Broadband Development Index, a data set from the digiLAC platform, Panama moved up from 4th to 3rd place in development of the sector among 26 countries of the Region, Costa Rica rose five positions to 7th, and Colombia advanced one position to now rank 5th. The gap between the countries of the Region and the OECD increased from 1.77 in 2013 to 1.89 in 2014 (4.51 and 6.40, respectively, out of a pos-

Programme, the goal of which is to promote an institutional and regu l a t o r y e n v i ro n m e n t that facilitates comple-

sible 8 points).

Ana Maria Rodriguez-Ortiz, Manager, Institutions for Development, IDB, noted during the opening

divide. One of our main objectives in the development agenda should be focused on creating a connected world and a connected Region.”

tion and investment to speed up access to, as well as adoption and use of, broadband services in the Region.

said, “Through broadband, distances are eliminated, creating a shortcut between the citizen and government, and thus we can truly put the

‘We cannot leave our citizens outside of the digital society; we cannot create a new digital divide. One of our main objectives in the development agenda should be focused on creating a connected world and a connected region’ -- Ana Maria Rodriguez-Ortiz, Manager, Institutions for Development, IDB ceremony of the forum, “We cannot leave our citizens outside of the digital society; we cannot create a new digital

Gideon Santos, Chairman of the Board of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications, INDOTEL,

citizen at the centre of public policy.”

DigiLAC is part of t h e I D B ’s B ro a d b a n d

Monday September 14, 2015 - 05:00 hrs Tuesday September 15, 2015 - 05:00 hrs Wednesday September 16, 2015 - 05:00 hrs

Helter-skelter par

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

--as efforts heighten to clean, re-green Georgetown

By Tajeram Mohabir DOWNTOWN Georgetown is beginning to have a cleaner, greener appearance, and while this is an encouraging sign, more has to be done to stop the helter-skelter parking in the busy city streets.

President David Granger said he is happy that the idea of greenness is catching on, noting that reckless parking will also be placed on the radar. “I believe that it (greening of Georgetown) is gaining momentum… they (City Hall) have to tackle the problem of solid waste, tackle the problems of litter, tackle the problem of destruction of trees and parapets and vegetation, and the parking of vehicles helter-shelter in the city.”

October 3 is national tree-planting day, and the President said he wants to see more controlled vegetation. “We want to see the parks being restored, the National Parks, the Parade Ground, the Promenade Gardens, Botanical Gardens; we want to see a re-greening of Georgetown and we want to take this message to other places -- Bartica, Mahdia, Lethem, Mabaruma. We want to see Guyana greening again. It is not just cleaning but making Guyana more environmentally-friendly as well,” he told the Guyana Chronicle and Stabroek News last week.

Granger said the efforts to keep the city green will be maintained largely by the City Council, pointing out that the once sordid state of Georgetown was the product of a cold war between PPP Government and the municipal authorities. “We feel the cold war is now ended. We now have a Town Clerk who is responsive to the needs of the council, the elected council. We’re now moving towards to Local Government and Municipal Elections and we have cordial relations with the City Council. We want to help the City Council to help itself,” the President said.

WILL STOP He noted that for the past 20 years, many visitors to Georgetown had to contend with an unkempt city, and promised that this will stop.

“This is an effort being pioneered by the ity Council itself and we want to give them all possible support; it is not the central government responsibility but we will help the city Council to help itself to clean-up the city,” Granger said.

The green drive Town Clerk Royston King said involves what was deemed most important, “a vigorous education initiative to instil in citizens the necessity, and long-term benefits of a clean, green city”.

He pointed out that this new approach to the city

“demands a new attitude from all citizens occupying or traversing the capital”. This is especially so, since work is currently on-going to address matters that have caused the decay of the capital of Guyana. These include the revision of legislation related to offences and penalties, and additional regulations to ensure the continuance of what city administrators envision.

As it stands, Georgetown has been plagued by flooding due to blocked drains, canals and other waterways. The city is congested given its layout, while citizens – particularly the business community – have confiscated city alleyways, reserves and other open spaces.

Overgrown bushes and grass characterise almost every inch of Georgetown, while huge buildings have risen; some not adhering to the construction or zoning rules and regulations of the Council. “This will be no more,” King charged. “Until the requisite legislation is passed to seriously arrest acts that contribute to the city’s deterioration, we will boost enforcement of all existing laws.”

King also warned that citizens should be mindful now of how they treat the city, before indicating a “no-tolerance” policy for persons who, among other violations, arbitrarily destroy or occupy city property, and dump or cause waste to be dumped illegally.

Efforts will be made to stop the helter-skelter parking in the city

rking in City to end

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

Georgetown has been known as the Caribbean’s “Garden City” since the 19th century (Ian Brierley/Caribbeanbeat photo)

Caribbean achieved several key goals of the MDGs-ECLAC TWO weeks before the 193 Member States of the United Nations approve the sustainable development agenda for 2030 in New York, ECLAC concludes in a report that Latin America and the Caribbean achieved several key objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Although these goals were formulated in a limited way, their results are the starting point to address new Sustainable Development Goals that will be more ambitious, comprehensive and universal.

According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), from 1990 to 2015 countries in the Region have made important progress on reducing extreme poverty, hunger and infant mortality, incorporating girls into education, and ensuring access to safe drinking water, but they must make greater efforts to reduce maternal deaths and greenhouse gas emissions, among other indicators.

“The new 2030 agenda represents an advancement versus the MDGs, moving to a more holistic, collaborative, interdisciplinary and universal view whereby development must be oriented towards closing structural gaps with environmental sustainability,

ECLAC Executive Secretary Alica Bárcena to achieve greater equality,” ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, highlighted regarding the report entitled Latin America and the Caribbean: looking ahead after the Millennium Development Goals.

The MDGs were approved in September 2000 by 189 United Nations Member States and constituted the roadmap for development during the last fifteen years. According to the document, the Region achieved the first MDG, oriented towards eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, since between 1990 and 2015 it managed to more than halve the proportion of people whose income is below one dollar—4.6% lived with less than $1.25 dollar per day in

2011, compared with 12.6% in 1990—as well as the proportion of people suffering from hunger, which fell from 14.7% in the two-year period of 1990-1992 to a projected 5.5% in 2014-2016. Additionally, today’s figures for labor participation and unemployment are at their best levels in 20 years.

Regarding the second MDG, devoted to achieving universal primary education, the net enrollment rate at that level in Latin America and the Caribbean is estimated at 93% as of 2015, while, in the case of Latin America, around 92% of young people between 15 and 19 years of age have finished a complete cycle of primary education.

Nevertheless, in neither of

these cases (regarding access to and completion of studies) has the goal of universality been achieved. Meanwhile, the level of illiteracy among people from 15 to 24 years of age in the entire region decreased to 1.7% in 2015 from 6.9% in 1990, although functional illiteracy continues to be a matter of concern.

Inside the third MDG, on promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, the region achieved the goal of guaranteeing girls’ access to primary, secondary and superior education, although this has not translated into an equivalent improvement of their situation in the labor market, where they participate less and receive lower salaries than their male colleagues. In the political sphere, the proportion of women in national parliaments grew to 27.4% in 2015, close to the threshold established for achieving that target (30%).

Latin America and the Caribbean also achieved the fourth MDG, since it reduced by two-thirds the deaths of children under 5, which fell from 54 to 18 per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2013, although in that latter year there were still 196,000 deaths among children of this age group. Meanwhile, the Region managed to almost completely

eradicate measles at the beginning of the 2000s, and in 2013 most countries had achieved immunisation against that disease of more than 90% of infants under one-year-old.

In the framework of the fifth MDG, which aimed to improve maternal health, the region still shows high levels of maternal mortality and adolescent births. In 2013 there were 85 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in Latin America and the Caribbean, which indicates a 39% reduction versus 1990, far from the proposed 75%. In addition, in the Region there are 75.5 live births among mothers aged 15-19 for every 1,000 women of that age group. That said, there has been progress made in family planning, prenatal care and births attended by skilled health personnel.

The sixth MDG referred to combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Latin America is lower than the global average (0.4%), but this figure rises to 1.1% in the Caribbean, the second highest rate after sub-Saharan Africa.

All in all, Latin America and the Caribbean is the Region of the world that has the greatest coverage of antiretroviral treatment. In addition, it has advanced in the control of preventable infectious diseas-

es, such as tuberculosis and malaria.

With regard to the seventh MDG, relating to ensuring environmental sustainability, Latin America and the Caribbean emitted 7.7 tons of greenhouse gases per capita in 2012, above the global average of 6.7 tons. However, it reduced the consumption of substances that deplete the ozone layer and increased protected terrestrial and marine areas (from 4.9% in 1990 to 13.3% in 2014). It also achieved the target of sustainable access to safe drinking water (95% in 2015) and nearly achieved the one referred to the use of improved sanitation facilities.

Within the eighth MDG, related to the creation of a global partnership for development, the document emphasises that Latin America and the Caribbean went from receiving 14% to 7.6% of total global official development assistance (ODA) between 1960 and the current decade. This can be linked to the trend among donors to give priority to low-income countries, to the detriment of middle-income nations, which are a majority in this Region. Presently, ODA flows to Latin America and the Caribbean are smaller than foreign direct investment (FDI), remittances and portfolio flows, but they continue to be important for several smaller lower-income countries.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, September 14, 2015

New head to tackle corruption at Land Registry

– declares new Registrar of Lands THERE is no place for corruption at the Land Registry, according to newly-appointed Registrar of Lands, Rosalie Robertson.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Robertson said she has “zero tolerance” for corruption.

“If anyone in my office is accused and found guilty of being corrupt, we will get rid of him immediately.

We have to weed him out,” the new Registrar of Lands stated.

Notwithstanding her zero

tolerance approach to corruption, Robertson believes that “the source of allegations of corruption (in the Land Registry) might have come from the backlog of cases.” She noted that persons visiting her office may have felt that they “could pay an incentive to get their documents back readily.”

The Registrar of Lands noted that she is working with staff to ensure that they provide the best quality service to the public. “We plan to deliver a professional service, make it (Land Reg-

Registrar of Lands Rosalie Robertson

istry) a model department delivering excellent service…We will not entertain any form of corruption,” Robertson declared.

Over the years, many lawyers have complained bitterly about the levels of corruption that existed at the Land Registry under its former head. However, Robertson stressed that corruption will not thrive under her, noting that she will ensure that all matters are dealt with as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, she is calling on the public to report any incidents of corruption at the Land Registry, noting that the service offered at the Registry is public and not private.

CHALLENGES AND PLANS The current accommodation for the public has been described as “woefully inadequate” due to the number of backlogged cases. “Staff is inadequate but it is a chicken and egg situation…I can’t

overtop the staff because when we are through with the backlog there won’t be a real need for the extra staff.”

Robertson stated that the hiring of temporary staff is neither feasible nor realistic.

“I am hoping the backlog is done with quickly,” she said.

Given the number of accumulated cases to be completed, it is a challenge for staff at the Registry to flip through thousands of stacked records. “We are working with what we have at the moment…but I plan to dedicate staff to specifically deal with our records. These records are very important, so there will be the strict supervision of the vaults.”

SYSTEMS TO BE DIGITISED In the future, Robertson plans to have the systems at the Land Registry digitised.

“This is a long-term plan, but at the moment we are working with what exists.

It will be a while before the process starts…we haven’t

come to grips with the volume, as you know records don’t die, we have been preserving records here since 1968 or thereabout.”

Accordingly, every title or any updates to same are kept in one portfolio so it can be properly traced. “Every change is documented… but I am optimistic that we can have the process started soon enough,” the Registrar of Lands said.

While challenges exist at the Land Registry, Robertson remains optimistic that they will be conquered. “I believe with the support I am receiving from all stakeholders, we shall overcome them (challenges). I am looking to better the institution; I expect hurdles and I will deal with them as they arise.”

She said she has a vision for the Land Registry and she is working towards it. “We (Registrar and Deputy Registrar) will take the department where it should be,” she told the Chronicle, confidently.

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Leicester storm back to beat Villa and go second LONDON, (Reuters)-Leicester City staged a thrilling comeback from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and go second in the Premier League table yesterday, scoring three times in 17 minutes.

Substitute Nathan Dyer’s brave header, seven minutes after Jamie Vardy’s 82nd minute equaliser, completed the turnaround to leave Leicester with 11 points from five matches, four behind Manchester City who still boast a 100 percent record.

Leicester are now unbeaten in nine Premier

tle United play at West Ham United on Monday.

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri praised his side’s spirit after goals from Jack Grealish shortly before halftime and Carles Gil’s superb curled finish just past the hour seemed to have put visitors Villa in control.

“It’s fantastic, fantastic spirit, good character,” former Chelsea manager Ranieri told Sky Sports.

“After we went 2-0 down I looked at them and I could see they believed anything was still possible... that’s what I love.”

Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring their second goalReuters / Darren StaplesLivepic League games stretching back to last season’s escape from relegation while shellshocked Villa languish on four points.

To t t e n h a m H o t s p u r claimed their first win of the season thanks to Ryan Mason’s late winner in a 1-0 win at Sunderland although he was then carried off on a stretcher.

The win lifted Spurs to 12th in the table and dropped champions Chelsea, beaten 3-1 at Everton on Saturday, down to 17th and in danger of falling into the bottom three when Newcas-

Grealish stroked home his first Villa goal when the ball came out to him on the edge of the area.

Leicester pushed Villa back throughout the second half but a lightning counter-attack in the 63rd minute ended with Gil wrapping his left foot around the ball to give Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel no chance.

Rather than deflate Leicester, they attacked with renewed vigour and were given a lifeline in the 72nd minute when Ritchie De Laet’s flicked volley hit the

underside of the bar but was correctly adjudged to have crossed the line.

With Riyad Mahrez causing havoc, Villa were hanging on desperately when the Algerian drove into the area and picked out Vardy who planted his shot past Brad Guzan.

Seven minutes later Mahrez clipped a ball goalwards and the diminutive Dyer stooped to head into the net despite being clattered by Villa’s keeper.

Dyer, who needed treatment, was unaware he had scored.

“The physio treating me told me I scored. I didn’t know beforehand. It was a nice feeling. I was just dazed -- it was easy to get back up,” he said.

Tottenham’s match winner Mason was also in the wars.

Mason’s 82nd-minute dinked effort, with Erik Lamela splitting the defence after combining with Harry Kane, broke the deadlock at the Stadium of Light.

It was a rare burst of brilliance in an otherwise uninspired encounter but Mason was carried off shortly after following a collision with Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino said the player’s condition would be assessed on Monday.

“It was a big knock on the knee. It was a great goal and we showed how we try to play,” he said.

Sunderland, still searching for their first win after five games this season and now with 11 goals conceded, dropped to the bottom of the table and behind Stoke City on goal difference.

Jack Rodwell might have grabbed a late equaliser but his shot smacked against the crossbar.

“We had the better chances at the start, we knew we were playing against a good side and the speed of the game was unbelievable. Some players could not handle it in the end,” Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat said.

Bangladesh’s Hossain suspended after facing allegations DHAKA, (Reuters)-Bangladesh fast bowler Shahadat Hossain has been suspended from all forms of cricket after facing allegations of torturing an 11-year-old housemaid, officials said yesterday.

“The law will take its own course. He has to prove himself innocent,” Nizamuddin Chowdhury,

chief executive of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), told reporters.

The 29-year-old Hossain, who has played 38 Tests and 51 one-day internationals for Bangladesh, last played a Test against Pakistan this year but was then dropped because of injuries.

SHAHADAT HOSSAIN

Team Gillette Evolution’s Raul ...

From back page Paul DeNobrega seized the opportunity to separate themselves from the other ten.

No one from the group of 10 responded and this allowed the quartet to open a sizeable lead and maintained it to the turn back point (Bushy Park) and eventually to the home straights.

With approximately 250 metres from the finish line, Leal jumped the others and sprinted across the line, two lengths ahead of second place finisher John, while Leung and DeNobrega placed a close third and fourth respectively.

Shortly after, Andrew Hicks out-pedalled Shaquile Agard to take the fifth place. Agard was sixth.

John and DeNobrega won two of the eight prime prizes each, while Leal, Hinds, Leung and Hicks took one each.

For placing second overall, John took the first place prize in the junior category, while Leung and Hicks occupied the second and third spots respectively.

The veterans, mountain bikers and ladies did not ride to Bushy Park, instead, they turned back at Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara and Jude Bentley won the veterans’ category in a time of 1.20:47.55. Second was Talim Shaw while Shameer Baksh placed third.

Ozia McAully who won the Mountain Bikers category last year, repeated that performance on Sunday.

Keon Thomas and Julio Melville placed second and third respectively.

There were just two ladies that faced the starter and the more experienced Toshawnna Doris of Sophia romped home an easy winner ahead of Whitney Poyer of Corentyne, Berbice.

The oldest cyclist to complete the course was Walter `Buck Man’ Issacs who was rewarded for his efforts.

Prior to making the presentation of prizes to the respective winners, race organiser and national cycle coach Hassan Mohamed thanked the sponsors for their contribution and the participants who he said were all winners since without them, there would not have been a race.

Mohamed stated that each year, Banks DIH sponsors five events on his (Mohamed) racing calendar and he is grateful for that.

The presentation of prizes to the winners was done by the company’s marketing representative Elias Van Buckley.

SOUTH AFRICA RACING TIPS Flamingo Park 08:50 hrs Soviet Crackdown 09:20 hrs Yesan Star 09:50 hrs Prolan 10:20 hrs Wolf’s Girl

STRATFORD 09:20 hrs Maputo 09:50 hrs Top Spin 10:20 hrs Bob Lewis 10:50 hrs Binowagh Bay 11:20 hrs Manger Management 11:50 hrs Shout It Aloud

ENGLISH RACING TIPS Brighton 09:00 hrs Matilda’s Law 09:30 hrs Young Jackie 10:00 hrs Duc De Seville 10:30 hrs King’s Concerto 11:00 hrs Pelagian 11:30 hrs Good Luck Charm 12:00 hrs Quickaswecan 12:30 hrs Captain Ryan

IRISH RACING TIPS Listowel 09:35 hrs Rose Of Tralee 10:05 hrs Zakhrafa 10:35 hrs Out Of Context 11:05 Set To Fire 11:35 hrs Hello Sweetie 12:05 hrs Just Call Me 12:35 hrs Fill Your Hands

WOLVERHAMPTON 09:10 hrs Barwah 09:40 hrs Symposium 10:10 hrs Pickle Lilly Pearl 10:40 hrs Azerelle 11:10 hrs Malimbi 11:40 hrs Hakka 12:10 hrs Cote D’ Azur 12:40 hrs Ya Latif

AMERICAN RACING TIPS Philadelphia Park Race 1 Street Icon Race 2 Spurs N Bows Race 3 Sidisinforthree Race 4 Diez Dancer Race 5 Speeding Train Race 6 Arecibo Race 7 Happily Discreet Race 8 Littlemissperfect Race 9 Noble and a Beauty Race10 Amblin Man

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

Mayweather beats Berto in farewell, ends 49-0

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

LAS VEGAS, (Reuters)-Floyd Mayweather Jr. cemented his place among the pantheon of boxing greats with a unanimous decision over fellow American Andre Berto on Saturday in what he has repeatedly said would be the final fight of his career.

Mayweather, 38, easily outboxed his younger opponent over the 12 rounds to retain his WBC and WBA welterweight titles and improve his perfect career record to 49-0, matching the benchmark set by former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano.

Five-division world champion Mayweather dominated most of the exchanges in the MGM Grand Garden Arena with his lightning jabs, control of space and agile movement about the ring to finish well ahead on all three judges’ scorecards.

Berto, a 30-1 underdog against one of the best defensive fighters of all time, dropped to 30-4 as he suffered his fourth loss in his last seven fights.

“Andre Berto has heart, a tremendous chin, he wouldn’t lay down,” Mayweather said in a ringside interview after sinking to his knees after the final bell sounded before looking up at the rafters as the fans snapped pictures with their cell phones.

“It was a good fight. I knew he would be a tough competitor. Experience played a major role tonight. He is a very athletic boxer. What can I say? I was the better man tonight.”

Asked if he might be tempted to come back for a 50th fight, Mayweather replied: “My career is over. It’s official. I’m financial-

ly secure and I’m in good health.

“You’ve got to know when it’s time to hang it up, so I think it’s about time for me to hang it up. I’m close to 40 years old, I’ve

has made more than $700 million during his stellar career.

Back in the ring for the first time since May when he beat Manny Pacquiao in a

Floyd Mayweather (black trunks) and Andre Berto (white trunks) box during their WBA/WBC welterweight title bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mayweather won via unanimous decision. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports been in this sport 19 years, been world champion for 18 years, I’ve broken all records.

“There’s nothing left to prove in the sport of boxing,” said Mayweather, who

‘mega-fight’ that became the richest bout in boxing, Mayweather landed 232 of 410 punches thrown while Berto connected with just 83 of 495.

Mayweather also dominated the jabs count, connecting with 83 of 191 compared to his opponent’s paltry 39 of 301.

LOW ON ENTERTAINMENT However, it was a welterweight showdown that failed to capture the public’s imagination given Berto’s relatively low profile globally and his mixed run of results over the past four years, and it was low on entertainment value on the night.

Barely five hours before the start, the MGM Grand box office said “a bunch of tickets” were still available for the arena in the price range between $300 and $1,500, and the official attendance ended up at 13,395 -- 3,000 short of full capacity.

Among those in the crowd were American actor, singer and comedian Jamie Foxx, Canadian pop star Justin Bieber and boxing Hall of Famers Evander Holyfield and Thomas Hearns.

“I was in shape but he was difficult to hold on to, he’s really, really slippery,” said Berto, a 32-year-old twice former welterweight world champion who overcame a career-threatening shoulder injury in 2013 to knock out Josesito Lopez in March.

“I was coming forward, I used a lot of speed but he was really crafty, he was using little things to kind of get me out of my rhythm. It is what it is.

“Tonight I felt like we put on a great performance. We pushed him to the limit but we fell short. He’s where he is for a reason. Floyd is definitely one of the best out there, for sure.”

Australia crush England to win ODI series 3-2 (REUTERS) - Australia thrashed England by eight wickets in their fifth and final one-day international at Old Trafford yesterday to win the series 3-2 and take some consolation for the pain of Ashes defeat.

The result looked inevitable long before lunch, with England dismissed for 138 and captain Eoin Morgan retiring hurt after being hit on the head by a bouncer from Australia’s Mitchell Starc in the seventh over.

With England winning the toss and opting to bat, Australia’s bowlers let rip and seized crucial early wickets -- reducing the hosts to 22-3 and 72-6 before wrapping up the England innings in only 33 overs.

Both England’s openers fell for four, Jason Roy given out lbw to Starc, although had he gone to the third umpire he may well have been reprieved. Alex Hales went shortly after, slicing a John Hastings delivery to point.

Only Ben Stokes offered any real resilience but when he was lbw to Mitchell Marsh for 42, leaving England on 857, the hosts were already

in Sydney.

“The way Morgy had to depart was unfortunate and I think that probably cost us,” said Taylor.

“Then we lost clumps of wickets, which you can’t afford to do against the world champions”.

Smith hailed his bowlers, with Marsh man- of- thematch.

Australia celebrate their 3-2 series victory over England in the 5th ODI at Old Trafford, yesterday (Getty Images). staring at a crushing defeat.

Marsh also took the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and David Willey for a haul of four for 27.

Adil Rashid hung around for 35 but England were all out before the scheduled interval.

Australia, who had Aaron Finch 70 not out in a 109-run unbroken partnership with George Bailey, cruised to victory with more than half their overs to spare.

Fielders rushed to help

Morgan after he was struck on the back of the head, with Starc visibly shaken by the incident. The captain was replaced by Bairstow at the wicket while James Taylor assumed his role.

“It was a nasty knock and I really hope his health and well-being is OK,” said Steve Smith after his first series win as full-time Australia captain. “ T h i s t e a m ’s b e e n through a few tough things, none more than last summer

and you never want to see anything like that happen out on the cricket field.

“It was a tough couple of moments but I thought the boys put in a really good effort today.”

Taylor said Morgan was groggy and being treated for concussion.

Last November, Australian international Phillip Hughes died two days after being struck on the head by a ball while he was batting in a first-class state match

“I think that’s one part of the series we haven’t done so well in the first four games, starting with the ball and we addressed that,” he said.

“Today we were able to get out there and hit some good areas and let the wicket do the work. It was an early morning start and it was probably a good toss to lose in the end.”

England captain Morgan retires hurt after blow to head

MANCHESTER, (Reuters)-England cricket captain Eoin Morgan retired hurt after being hit on the head by a bouncer from Australia’s Mitchell Starc in the fifth and final one-day international at Old Trafford yesterday.

Fielders rushed to help Morgan after he was struck on the back of the head in the seventh over. He was given treatment before being replaced by Jonny Bairstow.

Starc was visibly shaken by the incident.

Last November, Australian international Phillip Hughes died two days after being struck on the head by a ball while he was batting in a first-class state match in Sydney.

England Cricket said on Twitter that Morgan, who was wearing a helmet, was being treated for concussion and will take no further part in the game.

James Taylor captained the side in his absence.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

Hingis, Mirza end perfect DCC joins Malteenoes U.S. Open with doubles title in Carib Beer T20 semis

By Steve Keating

NEW YORK , (Reuters)-Top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza beat Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3 6-3 to win the U.S. Open doubles title yesterday

It has been a productive and busy visit to New York for Hingis who also captured the U.S. Open mixed doubles title with India’s Leander Paes.

Having only joined forces in March, Mirza and Hingis

New York, NY, USA; Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India with the US Open Trophy after beating Casey Dellacqua of Australia and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the Women’s Doubles final on day fourteen of the 2015 U.S. Open tennis. and cap off a perfect visit to Flushing Meadows.

Switzerland’s Hingis, the former singles world number one and her Indian partner Mirza, tore through the doubles tournament without dropping a set to claim backto-back grand slams after their victory at Wimbledon.

have enjoyed a successful partnership reaching six finals in 12 events and winning two majors.

“We started playing in March, obviously in America, and we won three out of three. That rarely happens,” said Mirza. “We hit it off and

Shastri to continue as India team director till World T20

MUMBAI, (Reuters)-Former captain Ravi Shastri will continue in his role as India’s team director until next year’s World Twenty20 at home, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said yesterday.

The 53-year-old Shastri will continue to be supported by assistant coaches Sanjay Bangar (batting), Bharat Arun (bowling) and Ramakrishnan Sridhar (fielding), whose tenures have also been extended until the March 11-April 3 tournament.

India have been without a head coach since Duncan Fletcher left in March when his term came to an end after India’s semi-final defeat at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

RAVI SHASTRI The BCCI had named former batting greats Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to a cricket advisory committee, which advised the board to extend Shastri’s tenure.

“Based on the recommendations of the Cricket Advisory Committee, the BCCI has extended the appointment of Mr. Ravi Shastri as the Team director of the Indian Cricket Team till the ICC World T20 2016,” the board said in a statement.

India recently recorded their first Test series win in Sri Lanka since 1993 under new captain Virat Kohli and will welcome South Africa next month for a series comprising four Tests, three T20 matches and a five-game ODI series.

obviously we have become more friends now.

“I think we trust each other on and off the court. I think that helps us through a lot of tough moments on the court.

“Obviously our games match, kind of complement each other, you know, with her at the net and from me at the back. I think that’s the best combination.”

After easily taking the first set Hingis and Mirza broke to open the second and apart from a late wobble were never really threatened by the Australian Dellacqua and Kazakhstan’s Shvedova.

For Hingis it was her second U.S. Open doubles title coming 17-years after she won her first in 1998 with Jana Novotna.

“I won the doubles in ‘98, and that was like finishing off the Grand Slam,” recalled Hingis. “I won all four in that same year. It was just like incredible.

“We all felt like there was a little bit of nervousness, definitely, especially today because... it’s been a while.

“I know I have the support and the trust that I have for her (Mirza) shots and for her game. It’s even building up every time we step out together.”

THE Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) Carib Beer T20 First Division Competition continued over the weekend as Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) defeated Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and Transport Sports Club (TSC) sank Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

DCC hosted GCC on Saturday and claimed a 22-run victory over the visiting side. Batting first, DCC posted 179 – 8 in their allotted overs as they were led by and unbeaten knock of 40 from Jahron Byron while Sherfane Rutherford (40) and Christopher Barnwell (30) supported.

Anthony Adams and Renaldo Ali Mohamed were the most effective bowlers for GCC as they finished

with 2 – 11 and 2 – 42, respectively.

In reply, GCC were restricted to 157 – 9 when the overs expired.

LEON JOHNSON A spirited unbeaten 44 from West Indies Test batsman Leon Johnson could not prevent the DCC win, which put them at top of Zone ‘B’.

They will join Zone ‘A’ winner, Malteenoes,

in the semis.

Rutherford, Barnwell and Kemo Paul all picked up two wickets in the victorious effort.

Earlier in the day, TSC recorded a 17-run win over GDF. The eventual victor posted 172 – 4 with the help of Ryan Hemraj who blasted a solid 82, which was laced with eight fours and two sixes.

Suresh Budhoo (28) featured in a partnership of 70 with Hemraj for the third wicket. Gilford Moore with 2 - 38 was the best bowler for GDF. M a rc u s Wa t k i n s ( 4 9 ) t o p s c o re d i n GDF’s chase but with the only other solid contribution coming from Leon Andrews (28) they could not hold on for the win.

Orin Fernandes (225) and Budhoo (2-7) bowled TSC to victory.

Moses Malone, NBA’s ‘Chairman of the Boards’ dead at 60 (REUTERS)-Basketball legend and the extraordinary work ethic he Moses Malone, a three-time most brought to the game throughout his 21valuable player for the National year pro career,” NBA Commissioner Basketball Association(NBA), died Adam Silver said in a statement. early yesterday in Virgnia at age 60, The 76ers expressed grief for their authorities said. former player in a statement on Sunday.

Malone was found unresponsive “It is difficult to express what his in the Norfolk Waterside Marriott contributions to this organization - both hotel in Norfolk, Va., according to as a friend and player - have meant to us, a statement from Norfolk police. He the city of Philadelphia and his faithful was pronounced dead at the scene a fans,” the statement said. short time later, police said.

Malone was born in 1955 in PetersThe cause of his death has burg, Virginia. The six- foot, 10-inch not been determined, police said.

(2.1 metres) player was one of the first League officials declined to comin the modern game to go straight ment further. from high school to playing professionMalone was in Norfolk for a charally, according to the league. ity golf event planned for yesterday.

Malone was named to the NBA’s 50 Malone spent much of his progreatest player list when it was compiled fessional career with the Houston Hall of Fame forward and former in the mid 1990s, it noted.

NBA All-Star Moses Malone acRockets and the Philadelphia 76ers, knowledges the crowd as he is When he retired in 1995, Malone according to his biography on the introduced in Game 5 of the NBA was one of the league’s top scorers and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Western Conference playoff semi- rebounders, having made more free of Fame. final series between the Phoenix throws than any other player, accordNicknamed the “Chairman of the Suns and Los Angeles Clippers ing to his hall of fame biography.

Boards,” he averaged more than 20 in Phoenix, Arizona, in this May He helped to lead Philadelphia to a points per game for eleven straight 16, 2006 file photo. Reuters/Jeff championship in 1983. seasons and was named the NBA’s Topping/Files “Moses holds a special place in our most valuable player in 1979, 1982, hearts and will forever be remembered 1983, the biography said. as a genuine icon and pillar of the most storied era in “Even more than his prodigious talent, we will miss the history of Philadelphia 76ers basketball,” the team his friendship, his generosity, his exuberant personality, said in a statement posted on its website.

22

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

Mayweather’s legacy still up for debate

By Mark Lamport-Stokes LAS VEGAS,(Reuters)Should Floyd Mayweather’s boxing career now be over, as the undefeated American insisted after easily beating Andre Berto in their welterweight showdown on Saturday, his place among the sport’s very best is assured.

He will certainly be remembered as one of the greatest defensive practitioners of all time because of his remarkable ability to stay away from danger in the ring, right up there with fighters such as Pernell Whitaker and Willie Pep. As for his brash claim to be ‘TBE’ (The Best Ever), that will fall to historians to judge, though many pundits would be reluctant to put him on a pedestal alongside true greats like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Roberto Duran.

Part of the problem for Mayweather is public perception directly caused by the way he promoted himself as a boxer, both inside and outside

the ring, with an extravagant lifestyle.

His career-long pursuit of perfection, with his focus on iron-clad defense to stay out of trouble, and his frequently arrogant showmanship helped him compile a stellar 49-0 record to match former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano.

All too often, though, he has been criticised for hand-picking his opponents, and there is also the question of his relatively low knockout rate, just 26 for a boxer who prides himself on his brilliant defensive skills and agile movement.

Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield felt that Mayweather’s legacy was all about the ‘numbers’ game with the American bowing out as boxing’s richest ever prize fighter after setting records in the sport when it comes to annual earnings, pay-per-view buys and gate receipts.

“Mayweather has made more money than anybody else in the game of boxing,” Holyfield, who has been

crowned world heavyweight champion a record five times and watched Saturday’s fight at the MGM Grand, told Reuters.

“He’s brought the game

FLOYD MAYWEATHER up in a way that no other fighter ever has. He took boxing and turned it to a whole other level, whether people believe it or not.

“I don’t think we ever thought a welterweight or a middleweight would make more money than a heavy-

weight but that is what this man has done.”

Mayweather, 38, topped the Forbes list of the world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities in June with an estimated $300 million in earnings over the previous 12 months.

ROCKY GROUND Holyfield expressed mixed feelings, though, over Mayweather’s legacy as a fighter.

“He is undefeated, which speaks for itself,” said the 52-year-old American, who was nicknamed ‘The Real Deal’ for his own exploits in the ring. “He can fight. He’s everything that a lot of people may not give him credit for.

“But he has done things his own way, which has been good but has been bad too.”

Outside the arena, ‘Money’ Mayweather’s pursuit of an equally accomplished life has often hit rocky ground.

Over the last decade, he has been accused of assaulting five different women on at least seven different occasions, including a 2010 incident that resulted in a

90-day prison sentence.

“I’m a little different from everyone else,” said Mayweather who on Saturday tied Louis with his 26th world title fight triumph.

“I am only human, I make mistakes. I try to be a perfectionist but no one is perfect.”

Overall, though, Mayweather believes that he has been misjudged by the media and the public.

“I’ve had a great career,” he said during a postfight news conference that lasted almost an hour. “I’m very comfortable and I’ve made great investments.

I’m A-okay.

“I’ve heard a lot of things about me: ‘All he does is hold. All he does is run. He’s cocky. Arrogant. No one likes him. He can’t write, can’t read.’ And you all believe it.

“It’s okay. If you all believe it, you’re dumb for believing it.

I think everyone needs to go the Floyd Mayweather way.”

Of course, there is still the chance that Mayweather’s career is not yet over, with the doubters pointing to his unexpected U-turn when he came back from a 21-month

retirement to fight Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in September 2009.

Mayweather insists he is done. “My career is over.

It’s official. I’m financially secure and I’m in good health,” he said ringside after finishing well ahead of Berto on all three judges’ scorecards.

“You’ve got to know when it’s time to hang it up, so I think it’s about time for me to hang it up.”

However his trainer and father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., is less sure and has cautioned his son -- if he does return -- to do so no more than six months after Saturday’s fight because of his advancing age as a boxer.

“Fighting is never easy to do,” Mayweather Sr. told reporters shortly before his son’s post-fight news conference. “If you don’t want to fight, you better quit right then.

“When your mind is telling you, ‘I don’t want to do this no more,’ you better not do it no more. Because if you continue to do it, you’re going to get hurt.”

Australia set to name new-look Test squad AUSTRALIA will name the first squad of the Steve Smith era today; 15 players that will travel to Bangladesh for two Tests in what is expected to be one of the least experienced squads in nearly four decades.

It could also mean a recall for enigmatic allrounder Glenn Maxwell, who has played his three previous Tests in Asia. The 26-year-old played two Tests against India on the ill-fated 2013 tour, and another in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan 12 months ago. He is yet to taste victory in the Baggy Green.

With coach Darren Lehmann confirming performances in the one-day series against England would count towards selection for the Test team, Maxwell has put his name in lights with runs, handy off-spin and some outstandingly athletic fielding.

Maxwell is determined to prove he is more than just a limited-overs star and has gone to great lengths to try to prove it – including playing second XI fixtures with Yorkshire this winter in order to get more red-ball cricket under his belt.

With a heavy schedule of limited-overs cricket, including the World Cup and Indian Premier League, Maxwell’s first-class opportunities to prove his wares

were limited, forcing him to look at the lower standards to play against the red ball.

“If you look at the guys that were playing Ashes they were playing non-stop,” Maxwell said.

“They had the tour games in between and they’re getting their match practice.

“I needed to be doing the same thing if I was going to be playing any upcoming tours this summer, hopefully Bangladesh, hopefully the Aussie summer.

“I need to be playing first-class cricket if I want to be picked in those kind of tournaments and tours.”

Despite meagre returns at Test level – where he is also yet to bat in the same position twice - Maxwell has an impressive first class record, averaging 40.42. Like they did in Abu Dhabi, his selection would allow Australia to play a second allrounder alongside the pace of Mitch Marsh.

With the Australian squad in a transition phase following the retirements of Ashes tourists Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Ryan Harris, plus the thumb injury to opener David Warner, there are many questions surrounding the make-up of the next team.

Reports suggest selectors are likely to opt for an open-

ing combination of Joe Burns and Shaun Marsh; the former recalled to the side after impressing at home last summer against India and the latter reprieved after a failure under difficult circumstances in his one Ashes appearance.

Burns has opened during the ODI series and this week was given praise by coach Lehmann for his performances.

“We always take international cricket in any format and how they play into consideration when you’re picking Test sides,” the Bupa Support Team head coach said.

“So for us when you play at the highest level if they perform well that’s certainly a big tick for you.”

Lehmann has already indicated relative Test newcomer but experienced first-class veteran Adam Voges is unlikely to lose his spot as Australia undergoes its greatest upheaval since World Series Cricket in the late 1970s.

Setting the batting order is the captain’s prerogative and new skipper Smith has already publicly wondered if his future lies at No.3, with new Queensland captain Usman Khawaja expected to be recalled.

Warner’s absence could also open a squad spot for young Western Australian

opener Cameron Bancroft, who impressed on the ‘A’ Tour of India with an assured 150 at the top of the order.

Glenn Maxwell may be recalled to the Test squad.

Pacemen Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson are expected to be rested, pending a medical report, leaving Mitchell Starc to lead a pace attack that could feature a return to the Baggy Green for young tearaway quick Pat Cummins and veteran Peter Siddle who impressed on his recall to the Test XI in the fifth Ashes match at The Oval.

Australia could also load up their spin stocks for the Tests in Chittagong and Mirpur. Fawad Ahmed failed to impress in his stint

on the West Indies and Ashes tour and is likely to have slipped down the pecking order with left-armers Stephen O’Keefe and Ashton Agar now thought to be ahead of him.

It is conceivable Australia could take O’Keefe, Agar and Maxwell as spinning backup to No.1 choice Nathan Lyon on the tour, as hinted at by chairman of selectors Rod Marsh when naming the current one-day squad a month ago.

O’Keefe was capped in Dubai a year ago and has been a consistent and reliable performer for NSW on the domestic scene for several years, while Agar is seen as a definite star of the future.

The wicketkeeping spot, at least, seems secure with Peter Nevill cementing his position as Australia’s No.1 Test gloveman with solid performances with glove and bat since making his debut at Lord’s. He was endorsed

by Brad Haddin today as the man for the job “for as long as he wants it”.

Possible Australia squad: Joe Burns, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Stephen O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Patrick Cummins, Glenn Maxwell.

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Monday September 14, 2015) COMPLIMENTS OF THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market &The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & AUDREY’S TASTY SNACKETTE-176 Charlotte Street, Georgetown (Tel: 226-4512)

Answers to yesterday’s quiz:

Lawrence Rowe-214 (WI vs NZ, Jamaica, 1972) (2) Fidel Edwards: 7-1-22-6 (WI vs ZIM, Harare, 2003)

Today’s Quiz:

Who is the first WI player to score a debut ton in Tests?

Who has taken most ODI wickets without claiming a five-wicket haul?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

23

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday September 14, 2015

‘Little Kenyan’ Forde looking to add COURTS 10K run to his tally

By Michael DaSilva

GUYANA’S premier male 10K athlete Cleveland `Little Kenyan’ Forde will be seeking to add Sunday’s COURTS anniversary 10K run to his tally of victories over this distance both on local soil and the regional and international levels.

Speaking to Chronicle Sport recently, Forde said his chance of winning on Sunday is good, but one does not know what will happen on race day. “Every time you go out there you have to expect anyone can win,” Forde stated.

The winner of the Massy 10K run two Sunday’s ago said “once you start the race, you get the feeling of how it’s going to be…no race is ever the same every time, you have to expect anything can happen,” the holder of the men’s 1500, 3000 and 5000 metres national records stated.

Forde said he forgot to dedicate his Massy 10K victory to Amerindian Heritage Month, but come Sunday,

win or loose he is going to dedicate his efforts to the Amerindian peoples of Guyana.

Forde was born in

CLEVELAND FORDE the village of Mabaruma, North West District (Region 1) 30 years ago and is of Amerindian descent.

In winning the Massy 10K race, Forde clocked 33 minutes 18 seconds but said come Sunday he expects to lower that time and he

can only do this once he gets good competition and this competition he thinks could come from Cleveland Thomas who placed second in the Massy 10K two Sundays ago.

The soft spoken Forde is of the opinion that the organizers of the Courts race should look at starting the event in the afternoon on Sunday, since according to him, there are more persons who come out of their homes on Sunday afternoons to `hang’ on the seawalls and along the route the race will be run.

This Forde said might even encourage more persons to get involved in the sport as well as to start a new healthy life style.

Asked if the late start in the hot sun for the Massy 10k by anyway affected him, Forde replied in the negative saying that he preempted a late start and that was the reason why he prepared for the event during the mid morning period when the sun is really hot.

Forde, however, said

Jeffrey, Vieira mop up Bushy Park

By Stephan Sookram in Barbados, compliments of Hand in Hand Group of Companies, National Sport Commission, A & R Jiwanram Printers, Rent-a-Tent, GMR&SC and Buy Me Auto Sales.

STEPHEN Vieira and Kristian Jeffrey both dominated a wet day at the Bushy Park Raceway, Barbados, when the third leg of the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Championships concluded yesterday.

Vieira took two first place finishes and although he won the third race as well, he

was penalised for jumping the light and was demoted to third after a five second penalty.

Meanwhile, Kristian Jeffrey won two of his three Gp4 races, the first beating the Ford Focus of Roger Mayers who reset the lap record in that race (1:02:264) before mechanical troubles put the focus out of action.

He survived a battle with Trinidad’s Kristian Boodoosingh to take race two but succumbed to a broken back deferential which put him out of the last race; leaving Boodoosingh to take the chequered.

More Details in tomorrow’s edition.

while he used mid mornings to prepare, there were other athletes with work commitments and so they had to prepare for the event very early in the mornings or late in the afternoons when the place is cool.

He also opined that

the organisers should look at placing the water stations closer along the route since running on the roads of Guyana in the hot sun is more exhausting than road races in North America and Europe where the conditions are very much

cooler.

Forde said, also, if race organisers schedule races to start at 06:00hrs, then by all means it should start at that time and not 90 minutes later when the sun begins to get into its glory.

TTFA backs Nakhid for FIFA presidency bid

THE Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has thrown its full support behind the FIFA presidential candidacy bid of former national player David Nakhid.

Nakhid, who had already received the backing of former Trinidad and Tobago minister of sport Brent Sancho, saw the body unanimously announce their support of his challenge for the post late last week.

“At a meeting of the Executive Committee on Thursday, there was a unanimous decision taken to back Mr Nakhid in the next FIFA Presidential election.

We are one for improved

governance and transparency at FIFA and it is our belief that Mr Nakhid has the right

DAVID NAKHID intentions and qualities for the position,” TTFA president

Raymond Tim Kee said.

The governing body of the game in the twin island republic came to that stance after reviewing the manifesto of Nakhid, which highlights the need for a fresh start. “The focus now has to be on the best interest of the region and the world.

The executive committee was impressed by Mr Nakhid’s vision for the development of Caribbean football and he displayed the best understanding of the unique needs and great potential of the region.”

Nakhid, who is based in Lebanon where he runs the David Nakhid International Football School, needs the backing of five national associations in order to be a candidate

TTFA gives Sancho one week to answer accusations THE Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has given former minister Brent Sancho and his former employee Kevin Harrison one week to answer to charges of impropriety as it relates to several activities involving Central FC. The questionable activities involve the transfer of Rundell Winchester, the signing of then 16-year-old winger Levi Garcia, and alleged misappropriation of CONCACAF funds.

As it relates to the misappropriation of funds accusation T&T online news media Wired868 CONCACAF indicates that the issue stems from a request to the football body to deposit funds, intended for Central FC, to the personal account

of Sancho by Harrison, a

BRENT SANCHO transaction for which the TTFA requires clarification.

“As a member of CONCACAF and in keeping

with our regulatory obligations and responsibilities,” stated the TTFA letter.

“The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is requesting a written statement from your good self or your appointed representative addressing the following allegations for the purpose of providing you a forum to clarify and inform the TTFA in determining whether further action is warranted…”

T h e T T FA a l s o stretched its investigation to include Central’s hiring of then 16-year-old Shiva Boys Hindu College student Levi Garcia, who was signed to a professional deal without proper representation by his parents or an assigned guardian.

Sport CHRONICLE

The Chronicle is at http://www.guyanachronicle.com

‘Little Kenyan’ Forde looking to add COURTS 10K runSeetostory hisontally page 23

Team Gillette Evolution’s Raul Leal wins Powerade 50-miler

By Michael DaSilva DECKED out in his Team Gillette Evolution’s black and white skin suit, Raul Leal rode brilliantly to win the 5th Annual Banks DIH’s sponsored 50-mile cycle road race under the company’s `Powerade brand, yesterday, over in the West Demerara area.

Leal stopped the clock at one hour 55 minutes 10.83 seconds (1.55:10.83) to eclipse the 1.55.55 that his team mate Orville Hinds returned last year in winning the 4th edition of the annual event.

After the 35 starters in the various categories were sent on their way from outside the Wales Police Station, West Bank Demerara,

Prize winners of the various categories of yesterday’s 5th annual Powerade 50-mile cycle road race strike a pose with race organiser Hassan Mohamed (extreme left) and Banks DIH’s Marketing representative Elias Van Buckley standing behind Mohamed. (Samuel Maughn photo)

Raphael Leung and Cravis Jeffrey attempted a break, but were easily sucked back into the pack.

As the pedal pushers made their way along the West Bank road way headed for Bushy Park East Bank Essequibo, the bunch started to split with the senior and junior riders separating themselves from the veterans, mountain bikers and ladies.

Approaching New Road, West Coast Demerara, a bunch of 15 moved away from the others and stuck together while interchanging the lead until they approached the end of New Road and it was at this point, Leal, Raphael Leung, Jamaul John and See page 19

Jeffrey, Vieira mop up Bushy Park

See story on page 23

Stephen Vieira carries the chequered flag after winning one of his CMRC races. (Photo by S.E.A.G. Productions’)

The Ford Focus of Roger Mayers crumbles under the pressure of the reigning Group 4 Champion and Guyanese Kristian Jeffrey.

(Photo by S.E.A.G. Productions’)

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015