Chronicle 12 05 2015

GUYANA

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

Private sector must – Gaskin lead recovery No. 104393

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President David Granger serves lunch to ranks of the Guyana Defence Force at a Christmas Luncheon at Eteringbang

GRA officials snared in chicken-smuggling scam

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

GRA sacks two, suspends top official …in chicken- smuggling scam

By Alva Solomon A SENIOR Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) enforcement official has been sent on leave, and two junior officers were given marching orders in an incident involving a truckload of chicken suspected to have been smuggled into the country from neigbouring Suriname.

The instructions were handed down this week.

In September, a truck in

Berbice heading to Georgetown with approximately 400 packets of chicken was stopped by the police at a roadblock.

The police later arrested two officers who were attached to GRA’s Marine Operations Unit (MOU) after they had suspected that the operation was illegal.

When contacted yesterday, GRA Head Kurhsid Sattaur elected not to comment on the matter.

But a GRA source told

the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that on the day in question, the vehicle was being escorted by the two enforcement officers who were reportedly working in collusion with the smugglers.

The police were not familiar with the two GRA officers. This was strange, as the police work closely with the GRA enforcement officers and they have a close working relationship.

According to reports, the senior official who heads the GRA Enforcement Division

had intervened and attempted to have the two junior officers released.

Reports indicate that the chickens are owned by a senior official at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Following investigations, the GRA this week took the decision to dismiss the two officers while the senior officer was sent on leave.

A source explained that the two dismissed ranks are marine officers and on the day in question, they were expected to travel to Port

Kaituma, Region 1, as part of their official duties.

However, the ranks even after processing documents relevant to those out-oftown duties, remained in the city and later travelled to Berbice.

After the officers’ encounter with the police, GRA sources reported that the senior official in question attempted to sweep the matter under the carpet. The police however launched an investigation into the incident. Some GRA staffers were reportedly disgusted by

the incident.

“They doing it a while now… these men make millions by allowing these things to happen and the genuine ones in GRA would get the blame for their greed with money,” one employee told this newspaper.

The GRA has in the past been affected by fraudulent activities of its staff.

Employees yesterday told this newspaper that the culture of bribery within the organisation needs to be dealt with accordingly.

Miners cash in after Broomes intervention

A DREDGE owner was summoned to the Ministry of Labour and ordered to pay a total of $451,500 to seven of his workers who alleged that he refused to uphold their agreement and failed to pay them even as they travelled miles from Moruca in Region 1 to his home at Industry on the East Coast of Demerara.

The men – Arnold Rose, Jeffrey Cornelius, Trevon Vieira, Devon LaRose, Kevon Vieira, Densil La Rose, and Frank La Cruz –

approached the ministry’s Brickdam, Georgetown office Friday and after speaking to Labour Minister Simona Broomes on the matter, the owner of the dredge Angar Persaud called ‘Krishna’ of Industry, East Coast Demerara travelled to Broomes’s office where he made the payment.

The Guyana Chronicle spoke to the men who said they were each to be paid $64,500 after a series of ‘wash-downs’ in which they delivered more than 43 ounc-

es of gold to Krishna’s company in Granny Backdam in the Mahdia mining district in Region 7.

The Amerindian men, all of whom reside in Moruca, Region 1, said after the “boss” told them they will not be paid because they have not worked three months with his dredge, they travelled to the coast to visit the man at his office. He paid them each only $15,000, even less than their transportation costs to get back home, and sent them away. Also, they complained, Persaud informed them that he would have deducted a perentage of their monies to pay “taxes”, something they have never before experienced while working years in the industry.

The men decided to approach Minister Broomes for help. The men told the Chronicle that while they were in the interior, they

Minister of Labour Simona Broomes speaking to the Moruca, Region 1 residents who approached her for help to get payment from a dredge owner who refused to pay for their works done

heard of the Labour department and the help others had received there.

Minister Broomes sat in her office and listened to their cries before she telephoned Persaud and informed him of the complaints she received.

He admitted that he had a balance of $49,000 each for the men, totalling $346,500, and was ordered to travel to the Labour office where he would make the payments.

Persaud visited the Brickdam office around 4:30 pm yesterday and paid the seven men all he owed.

One of the men spoke to the Guyana Chronicle via telephone yesterday and said he is satisfied that he had received his payment, and is thankful to the labour Ministry.

“I feel good. I appreciate that,” he stated. But the men pointed out that they have

been travelling since 01:00 hrs and visited Persaud’s house early. He never paid them until 16:30 hrs, although he knew they needed to return home to Moruca.

Meanwhile, Minister Broomes also explained to the men that no employer could claim that they pay taxes unless they produce legible financial documents and issue pay slips to reflect such payments.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Private sector must lead recover – Gaskin

By Svetlana Marshall

THE decline of global market prices for key commodities continues to take a toll on Guyana’s economy, but Minister of Investment and Business Dominic Gaskin said the country will recover through prudent investment by the government with the support of the private sector.

Gaskin at the time was delivering remarks during the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GGCI) Annual Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony on Thursday evening at the Pegasus Hotel.

This year has been a challenging one for the commercial sector, he said, pointing out that the six pillars of Guyana’s economy: sugar, rice, bauxite, gold, diamonds and timber have all suffered major setbacks.

“Gold started the year at about US$1200 an ounce; it is now trading around the world for US$1017 per ounce. That is a 10 per cent price drop,” Minister Gaskin pointed out.

This apparently has had a domino effect on gold declarations in Guyana.

Gold declarations for the first half of the year was down to 165,000 ounces compared to 198,000 ounces during the same period in 2014, a 16 per cent reduction.

The rice, bauxite, logging and fishing industries are experiencing similar challenges with the export of bauxite down by 18.6 per cent due to

Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin and GGCI President Lance Hinds with the 2015 GCCI awardees Minister of Investment and Business Dominic Gaskin delivering the feature address at GGCI’s Annual Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony

low prices on the international market.

“In a nutshell, we need to keep increasing the amount of money entering our economy if we want it to keep growing. Exports do bring money into our economy and therefore when our exports are down our economy will feel it,” Minister Gaskin admitted.

OPTIMISM But he is optimistic that there will be an economic turnaround with the intervention of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government.

“Our government has signalled its intention to make

the necessary investments in our country’s infrastructure that will make Guyana a more attractive place for investment,” the Minister of Business stated.

The Linden-Lethem road project is among projects being targeted by the government. Though funding to execute an estimated US$10 million engineering design for the critical Linden-Lethem road is still to be sourced, government in early November had granted its no-objection for a number of contracts through which several sections of the stretch of road will undergo significant rehabilitation, using millions of dollars.

In addition to the Linden-Lethem Road, Minister Gaskin said attention is being given to the road from Parika to Goshen, while investments will be made in the energy sector, particularly alternative energy sector as well as

harbour development.

“Besides creating work and injecting money into our economy, what is being developed is an efficient national transportation network that would allow a faster, safer and more affordable movement of goods and people around the country,” he explained.

The impact, he emphasised, will be significant, benefiting the mining and agriculture sectors in particular.

“An improved transportation network would significantly improve the prospects of farmers, who will be able to get this produce to processing plant at a cheaper cost.”

RENEWABLE ENERGY Similarly, he said, investments in renewable energy will increase the country’s competitiveness in many sectors and simultaneously assist in the reduction of carbon emissions into the

atmosphere.

“The high cost of energy is being identified as one of the factors that reduces our competitiveness. Investment in this sector will certainly address this particular challenge.”

But even as the government leads the way in enhancing the country’s economic performance, the Minister of Business said the private sector must continue to play a vital role by investing in critical projects and initiatives.

“There isn’t anything we can do to influence global commodity prices…. Nothing that any government can do to develop our economy will be good in the long-term, unless the private sector and public sector has a clear understanding of what our priorities are,” he emphasised.

The Ministry of Business, he said, has committed itself to this process and will con-

tinue to engage the private sector on matters of mutual concern.

At the awards ceremony were GGCI President Lance Hinds, Professor Chad Perry of the Australian Institute of Business (AIB) and members of the corporate community.

In the award segment, Dorris Lewis received the Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Bank of Nova Scotia was presented with the Corporate Citizenship Award and Eureka – the Innovation Award.

The President’s Award went to Qualfon, while the Young Business Executive Award was presented to the Managing Director of Gravity Lounge, Clairmont Cummings. Umani received the Business of the Year Award (Small to Medium) and Guyana Gold Field – Business of the Year Award (Large). Stabroek News captured the Media Award.

Late rights activist Zenita Nicholson remembered PERSONS from various walks of life, including civil rights activists and other eminent individuals, gathered on Wednesday at Moray House to pay tribute to the late civil rights activist Zenita Nicholson.

During the course of the proceedings, Zenita was remembered for her bravery and spirit in fighting for civil rights and gender equality.

She had been Country Coordinator for the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities/ PANCAP Global Fund.

She was also described as a person who had embodied the principles and exemplified the traditions of personal freedom and equality, and those remain shared values between Guyana and the

U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Bryan Hunt, addressing the Wednesday gathering at Moray House

United States, U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Bryan Hunt, had said in presenting Nicholson with the

Woman of Courage Award in March, 2014.

Paying her tribute on this occasion, Hunt said: “She [had] been an energetic, effective and passionate advocate at both the national and international levels for the principle that both women’s rights and the rights of lesbians, gays, bi-sexual and transgender persons are human rights, deserving of equal attention and protection.”

Zenita Nicholson died on October 26, 2015, and was laid to rest on October 31 without ‘a proper sendoff’. This event of reflection was accordingly decided on during a month in which advocacy for equality is being touted.

Members of the Wednesday gathering paid tribute to the late civil rights activist Zenita Nicholson

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday December 5, 2015

California attacker supported IS

Flowers and candles have been left near the scene of the shooting THE female suspect in the California gun attack pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group on Facebook, US officials say.

Tashfeen Malik made the post under an account with a different name, the officials told US media.

Fourteen people were killed and 21 wounded in Wednesday’s attack.

Malik and her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, died

in a shootout with police after the killings at San Bernardino, west of Los Angeles.

The New York Times reported that there was no evidence that IS had directed the couple in the attack.

“At this point we believe they were more self-radicalised and inspired by the group than actually told to do the shooting,” the newspaper quoted an official as saying.

Tashfeen Malik is reported to have posted the

message on Facebook in support of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The post has since been removed.

After the attack at a social service centre, bomb equipment, weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in the couple’s home.

Authorities have since been trying to discover a motive for the killings. The FBI has taken over the investigation. (BBC News)

Floods kill 280, renewed rains stoke fear RAINS eased in the flood-hit city of Chennai on Friday, raising hopes that rescue efforts could pick up, after the death of 18 patients at a private hospital added to the official toll of 280 confirmed killed in the disaster.

The commercial airport of Chennai will also be partly opened on Saturday after being shut for the past three days, which should help move workers and relief materials badly needed in the city of six million.

Flood waters that had started to recede began rising again around noon after a new cloudburst that sent residents running for shelter under trees and in shopfronts. Parts of the flat, coastal city remained under as much as eight feet (2.5 meters) of water for a fourth day.

Many residents have spent days stranded on rooftops since more than 345 mm (14 inches) of rain fell over 24

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A woman stands at a fenced gate of a partially submerged temple in Chennai, India, December 4 beds in the rush to industrialihours on Dec 1, the most since the British ruled the city in Tamil Nadu state, then known as Madras, 100 years ago.

India’s fourth-largest city, Chennai has boomed in the 21st century as a centre for vehicle factories and IT outsourcing. But trash-filled drains and building on lake

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sation and prosperity has made it more prone to flooding.

Despite combined rescue efforts by the military and civilian emergency services, help has yet to reach many areas. Residents were angered by reports that authorities had released water from brimming lakes without much warning.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday December 5, 2015

Ecuador lifts multiple re-election ban ECUADOR’S National Assembly has approved a constitutional amendment allowing the President and other officials to be re-elected for an indefinite number of terms.

The change is part of a package of reforms backed

by President Rafael Correa.

After the vote, Opposition demonstrators clashed with police outside the Assembly building in Quito.

They say the reforms are an attempt by Mr Correa to tighten his grip on power.

But the constitutional change lifting restrictions on the number of re-elections only comes into force in 2021.

Mr Correa says he does not intend to run for re-election in 2017.

Other reforms approved include changes to the role of the armed forces, the media and labour relations.

The Opposition boycotted the session, but Mr Correa’s left-wing coalition had enough votes to secure the approval of the 15 amendments.

The measures were approved by 100 votes to eight, with one abstention.

“We will continue gov-

erning for the common good of the country, with full democratic legitimacy,” Mr Correa tweeted from Paris, where he is taking part in the COP21 World Climate Change Conference.

“In Ecuador, the people of Ecuador will rule!” he wrote.

The Opposition had asked for the constitutional amendments to be submitted to a referendum.

“More than 85 per cent of the people demanded to

have their voice heard [in a referendum],” said Opposition Assembly member Guillermo Lasso.

“But we will change that when we win the 2017 election,” said Mr Lasso.

Opposition politicians say Mr Correa was inspired by other Latin American left-wing governments, including Venezuela and Nicaragua, which changed their constitutions to allow the indefinite re-election of the President. (BBC News)

Energy drinks hike heart risk in young adults Alleged million-dollar money Rafael Correa has been in power since 2007

laundering in St Lucia

DURING his “90 Minutes” show on the government owned Radio Saint Lucia last Friday, local broadcaster Shelton Daniel revealed what he described as a million US dollar drop off of funds at a hotel in the north of Saint Lucia by a suspected money launderer.

“I know about a major drop off of funds that was done at a hotel in the north of Saint Lucia and these funds were brought to Saint Lucia by a retired or still functioning banker who is widely suspected of being a money launderer. I won’t tell you money launderer for whom.

This man is an American citizen not an American native.

He went to the United States in the 1960s,” Daniel said.

Although not directly accusing the Opposition United Workers Party (UWP) of any involvement, he claimed this

event took place “just before the last UWP convention”.

Daniel identified the banker in question as belonging to “a certain religion, a religion that is shared by a very prominent public figure in Saint Lucia”, without revealing whether it is a public servant or a politician.

“But the money was smuggled into St Lucia by another associate of his...

That person has been coming into and out of Saint Lucia by boat, a holder of multiple passports, one of which was seized by a foreign government when that individual was arrested in that foreign country but he somehow managed to escape and he has been moving between the Caribbean islands coordinating the money laundering operations and by slipping in and out of Saint Lucia illegally he is able to engage in his

activities as the coordinator,” he continued.

Daniel claimed this “coordinator” brought in the money but the American banker came in and arranged the hand over.

“The drop off took place at a hotel in the north of the island. The public figure who is the point man and facilitator here in Saint Lucia who belongs to the same religion, he was not there. Ordinarily, he would have sent a close relative of his, a female, to pick up the money but she didn’t go this time for some reason, she sent her husband and another person with the husband and they picked up the money. I’m told it was about a million US dollars,” he told listeners.

Daniel reiterated that this “occurred just a day or two before the last UWP convention”. (Caribbean News Now)

JUST one energy drink can cause potentially harmful spikes in both stress hormone levels and blood pressure in healthy young adults, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Lead researcher Dr Anna Svatikova, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said that after drinking a 16-ounce can of “Rockstar Punched,” young

adults had a 74 per cent increase in blood levels of the “fight-or-flight” hormone norepinephrine.

That’s more than double an average 30 per cent increase in norepinephrine that the same participants experienced when they consumed a sham energy drink, according to Svatikova.

The fake energy drink contained the same amount of sugar and nearly the same calories, but did not include

natural stimulants found in the Rockstar drink, she said.

The stimulants in the real energy drink included caffeine, the amino acid taurine, and extracts of guarana seed, ginseng root, and milk thistle.

(Caribbean360) According to the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), energy drinks can contain up to five times more caffeine than a typical cup of coffee.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday December 5, 2015

Guyana

This exclusion must be examined Dear Editor

EDITORIAL

Essequibo is we own THE high-level visit by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo to Essequibo today, for what has been carded as a “Rally for Guyana”, could not have come at a better time.

The slogans exhibited on banners and bumper stickers say it all. The visit comes on the heels of the landing at the Kaikan airstrip -- well within Guyana’s territory -- of a Venezuela military helicopter. Whether by design or by mistake, Venezuela had placed boots on Essequibo, the beautiful and bountiful county closest to her. The incident could be explained away as a mistake, but when viewed in the context of the expansionist design of the Venezuelan ruling oligarchy to annex the entire Essequibo county; the occupation of one half of Ankoko; the false claim to Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone, with our vast petroleum and natural gas resources; and the economic/trade embargo against Guyana, nothing could be seen as a chance occurrence.

Essequibo might long be seen as the “Cinderella County,” and has, no doubt, suffered more than her fair share of neglect. She has taken blows occasioned by contracting prices for rice and paddy, but Essequibians would not tolerate any action by Venezuela to take away the golden shoe of their country, which is her rich natural resources. On this issue, all Essequibians are united, and the chorus “Not a blade of grass” would pitch high today in an expression of patriotism and loyalty to Guyana.

Essequibians cannot forgive the Maduro administration for imposing a trade embargo against Guyana, which ended the sales of rice/paddy from Essequibo at prices higher than those on the world market. The scuttling of the PetroCaribe deal was a blow to Essequibians, for whom “Essequibo is rice and rice is Essequibo.” How much the former PPP regime knew about the conspiracy to stop the rice deal has been a matter for discussion; and although that party may wish to say that its hands are clean, when former President Bharrat Jagdeo stated that he could give away to Venezuela a channel that could lead to the precious oil resources in our maritime zone, we know on whose side than party’s leadership stands. No wonder the desire to give away our land did not find favour

MY good friend Dr David Hinds, in his latest “Hinds’ Sight”, deals with “The Black/African Guyanese intellectual tradition and a nation of hypocrites”.

He referred to a letter written by Dr Baytoram Ramharack, who had referred to another letter that asked, “Where is the Indian Intellectual” who should be “addressing issues germane to their physical existence?”

Ramharack aspired to offer an answer, but seemed to have created a Rorschach Test for his interlocutors: they read the text but each see something different. Even though one never gave much shrift to the speculations of Freud, one could be blamed for wondering: “projection?”

One of the newly-appointed members of the Board of Directors of the GNNL, in an extended admonition to Dr Ramharack, exclaimed primly, “Prefixing the term ‘intellectual’ with a particular ethnic identity is wholly and utterly to be rejected.” Since the GNNL Board had just confirmed Dr Hinds as a columnist for the paper, I waited a week for a similar “rejection” of Dr. Hinds’s violation of her rule in the aforementioned article.

Her studied silence gives credence that “African Intellectuals” do get a “free

pass”, and that Guyana might just be a “nation of hypocrites”, as Dr Hinds claims.

From far-off and not then ISIS-violated France, Abu Bakr, writing as a “Muslim”, saw Ramharack: “bemoaning his perceived absence of Indo-Guyanese intellectuals pushing a racial agenda and doing so to national applause”.

The irony was obviously lost on Bakr that he was merely confirming Ramharack’s contention: “In sum, Indians are seen as non-patriotic and as anti-nationalist as they come. As a result, Indians who publicly advocate for their community or group interests are viewed as “parochial” because they cling to their “primordial” sentiments.

Dr Hinds agreed with Ramharack who, in reference to the Caribbean, said: “There is no question that an intellectual tradition is firmly grounded in the African community.

This has been established over the years, largely complemented by many years of oppression and

even among that party’s leaders, one of whom -- former President Ramotar -- commented that Jagdeo should shut his mouth.

The new coalition government has placed on the front burner the defence of Guyana, and has spared no effort or resource, though limited, to rally support or strategise fora -- including the United Nations, the Commonwealth and CARICOM -- for Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. For the coalition, Guyana’s borders come first, as President David Granger told Parliament at the same time the new government mounted an aggressive campaign to seek alternative markets for rice and

discrimination and a historical experience that has created shared values and common positions around national issues, be it racism against Africans, reparations, etc.”

But there is another perspective, which I believe was articulated early on by Gordon Lewis. He pointed out that, in the 20th century, there were three main intellectual currents that swept the Caribbean: Marxism-Leninism, anti-colonialism, and Pan-Africanism/ Black Power/Negritude.

The first Pan- African Conference in 1900 prominently featured African-Caribbean intellectuals, and this tradition continues into the present. Co-sponsored by UWI, “The Inaugural Pan-African Colloquium” is scheduled for January 2016.

The three currents were all fused in the 1945 fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, which saw Trinidad’s Eric Williams and African leaders like Kenyatta and Nkrumah in attendance. Burnham became a member of the London LCP that was responsible for the papers out of the Congress, and he would have been exposed to the ideological positions.

CLR James, Marxist and close associate of Nkrumah, would mentor our own Walter Rodney during and after the latter’s student days in London.

CLR gave us the famous maxim that we ignore at our own peril today: “The race question is subsidiary to the class question in politics, and to think of imperialism in terms of race is disastrous. But to neglect the racial factor as merely incidental is an error only less grave than to make it fundamental.”

When Rodney returned to the Caribbean, he wrote in 1969: “Black Power in the West Indies means these three closely related things: 1) The break with imperialism, which is historically white racist. 2) The assumption of power by the black masses of the islands. 3) The cultural reconstruction of the society in the image of the blacks.

These are the areas with which we, as black people, must concern ourselves hereafter.”

To his credit, he did “include” Indians in the category of “black people”, but as I pointed out, two decades ago, the ambiguities and contradictions in that conflation were legion; and they are the germ of what has caused Ramharack and others to ask, “Where are the Indian intellectuals”?

This exclusion of the Indian intellectual from the canonical “Caribbean intellectual tradition” must be examined.

Sincerely, Ravi Dev

paddy; and the GRDB has reported some progress on this front.

Essequibo, however, needs greater help to ensure all pumps are working, farm-to-market dams are fixed, kokers are fixed and are operational, and other assistance is given to farmers and fishermen. Government has since moved to rescue coconut farmers with some $50 million allocated to fight red palm pests, and moves are afoot to re-introduce the police floating station in order to help combat piracy.

Our newspaper rallies with Essequibo as her children reaffirm -- with flags, slogans and songs -- their unity and love of both their county and our country.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday December 5, 2015

Op-Ed: Climate Change and COP21 By: US Ambassador Perry L. Holloway FROM rising seas across the globe and the melting of Greenland’s sheet ice to the bleaching of coral reefs around many coasts, the signs of climate change are all around us. As a global society, we are at a critical juncture where our decisions today will help shape the climate our children and children’s children will be born into.

But this is not just about the future. There are immediate benefits to keeping pollutants out of our environment: cleaner air, lower energy costs, and new growth industries. These are the stakes at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris, where representatives from almost 200 nations are gathering from November 30 to December 11 to negotiate a comprehensive climate agreement for the post-2020 world. Now more than ever,

there is social and political will to do something about the rise in global temperatures and its ripple effect through the environment.

More than 160 countries, responsible for around 90 percent of global emissions, have announced climate targets ahead of the conference. This is a clear step forward and a departure from the past. As a reference point, only about 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions were addressed under the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The United States is taking bold action on climate change at home as we work with partner nations to do the same.

Since President Obama took office, the United States has reduced carbon emissions, tripled domestic wind energy production, and increased solar power twenty fold. We’ve put in place stringent new fuel economy standards so that our cars

are using less gas, energy use is more efficient, and an historic amount of land and water has been protected for

U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway future generations. At the same time, the U.S. economy has expanded, proving that growth is not inextricably linked to carbon output.

Going forward, the Clean Power Plan will cut emis-

sions from the U.S. power sector – which makes up a third of the nation’s carbon emissions– by 32 percent by 2030 and will save more than $50 billion in climate and health-related costs in the process. With countries like China, India, and Brazil now pledging to reduce emissions, we have a serious chance to put in place a transformative plan. In Paris, the United States will push for an effective agreement that continues to drive ambitious climate action by all countries, while recognising the differences among them. It should provide a long-term framework – with high standards of transparency and accountability - that calls on nations to ratchet up their targets over time. And it must provide countries in need with financial and technical support for low-carbon development and adaptation to a changing climate.

Cities, businesses, and

individuals all play critical roles in turning climate policy into action. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is spearheading the C40 effort that links megacities in proactive steps to tackle climate change. More than 80 companies including Alcoa, Coca-Cola, and Wal-Mart have signed the American Business Act on Climate Pledge, committing to actions such as investing in renewable energy and reducing waste. Individuals make choices every day, from the type of coffee cup they use to the way they get to work, that have a huge cumulative impact.

Guyana has been a consistent leader in the global effort to combat climate change. Its decision to preserve and protect the Iwokrama Rainforest Reserve stands as a cutting-edge contribution towards global sustainable landscapes and carbon sequestration. The partnership

that Iwokrama has built both with local communities and with sustainable resource developers stands as a model in climate-change partnership that others should emulate.

The United States stands ready to continue to work in partnership with Guyana both at COP-21 in Paris and beyond in order to advance our shared goals in combatting climate change and in mitigating its impacts on the global community.

With leaders and representatives from almost every nation on earth convening in Paris, there is an historic opportunity to strike a far-reaching and durable climate agreement.

We have the political will and groundswell of social support to make it work, but we will need to come together and be pragmatic in order to reach a deal. For brighter skies today and a more secure tomorrow, now is the time to act.

Hung jury, third re-trial

Take the stick out of your eyes Dear Editor

I REFER to an article published on page 3 of Guyana Times newspaper of Tuesday 1st December, 2015 under the caption ‘Felix sends GRO’s Head on leave’ An article published on page 4 of Kaieteur newspaper on Tuesday 2nd December, 2015 under the caption ‘PP Pcastigates Ministry of Citizenship’ The PPP, through its General Secretary, seems inclined to be the advocate of the Registrar General who has been sent on leave for administrative reasons. It seems that the idea being posited is that she has been wronged by this administration.

Let me say from the outset that employees at all levels in the Public Service structure are subject to its rules and regulations. The General Registrar reports to the subject minister and is expected to follow instructions from same. There is a reason these structures are in place: to ensure the smooth functioning of our complex bureaucratic system. Without them chaos is the likely result, and our ability to perform our duties would be stymied with no clear line of communication.

In this particular instance it was the Registrar General who raised an issue with the minister and he instructed her not to proceed in the direction she outlined. She was directed on

the course of action to follow.

This officer then acted contrary to his instructions and as a consequence she was sent on leave for the purpose of investigating whether she was in contravention of her contracted role.

It is not the purpose of the Department of Citizenship to manipulate the voters’ list as Rohee so mendaciously declares, but to “develop to its fullest potential, Guyana’s Registration and Immigration Service” quoting from my Budget speech in the National Assembly on Monday 17th August, 2015. This includes ensuring that every citizen born in this country is registered appropriately, and that every death is also so registered.

Unfortunately, it seems, the last administration did not deem this to be a priority and there were several instances found of persons being registered multiple times under different names. I find it manipulative and duplicitous to suggest that what seems to have been your modus operandi you should now suggest to be this administration’s way of doing business. We would not countenance any suggestion that our intentions are anything but that which admits to the fullest scrutiny. Please let this administration do the job which you so flagrantly failed to perform in all of your 23 years.

In reference again to the matter of the Registrar Gen-

eral, Rohee’s reference to her “competence and worth” must be viewed through the prism of flawless character and integrity that represents the construct of any public servant committed to the process of representation of our people. I would also ask the question of how this woman of ‘competence and worth’ would have acquired her position. Was the vacancy publicised, were there other applicants to compete for the position and was she the most qualified applicant? There is more to the mortar than the pestle. I will ask what circumstance would have given this woman the position in which she now sits. I prefer to let sleeping dogs lie.

What I will not accept is the PPP/C attacking my character or my role as Minister of Citizenship. I have always been forthright and will not countenance anyone maligning my integrity. I have never contravened the attitudes of good behaviour in the discharge of my public office and I am willing to be subject to any scrutiny in this regard. I trust that the PPP/C will see it fit to take the stick out of their own eyes before they try to look into mine.

Yours in Service, WINSTON FELIX, DSM, MP Minister of Citizenship

A TWELVE-memebr jury was yesterday unable to arrive at a unanimous decision (verdict) as a result of a 10 to 2 proportion and as such there was a hung jury.

A re-trial was announced by presiding Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in the High Court re-trial of Anthony Morrison.

Following the disclosure, a seemingly upset Morrison was led away to prison to await his third re-trial.

The charge against the accused is that on May, 2012, he murdered Donna Thomas at their Lot 65 Cross and D’urban Streets, Georgetown home. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

State Prosecutor Stacy Goodings in her opening address to the jury said the duo shared a common-law relationship and resided at the said address where Morrison allegedly murdered the woman.

The lifeless and bloodied body of Thomas was found in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds to both hands.

Goodings disclosed that the state’s case was circumstantial.

At the end of Morrison’s first trial, before Justice Navindra Singh last year, a

The accused: Anthony Morrison being led away from the High Court to prison.

(November 27, 2015)

jury was unable to arrive at a unanimous verdict.

The cause of death was given as asphyxiation due to compression to the neck compounded by blunt force trauma to the head. Pathologist Dr.

Nehaul Singh testified and revealed the cause of death. in this trial.

He added that the deceased had 16 incised wounds to one hand while, the other had six such wounds which are considered to be defensive wounds.

Dr. Singh told the court that the wounds were not fatal but contributed to significant bleeding and the victim died as a result of being deprived of oxygen and the heart stopped.

The post-mortem was performed on the body on June 1, 2012, five days after the corpse was found.

It is alleged that the woman was murdered between May 26 to 27, 2012.

The case is being represented by Stacy Goodings in association with Siand Dhurjon while, the Defence Counsel is Arun Gajraj.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday December 5, 2015

Ming’s Services celebrates 25 years PRESIDENT David Granger and First Lady Mrs. Sandra Granger Friday evening joined with the Ming family, proprietors of Ming’s Products and Services (MPS) Limited to celebrate the company’s 25 years of existence.

The event, which was also attended by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, his wife, Mrs. Sita Nagamootoo and Cabinet members, was held at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston.

President Granger in congratulating the Ming family said that their company has always been in the vanguard of corporate responsibility and many humanitarian organisations have benefited tremendously from the MPS’s generosity. “We have a company that is not afraid to engage with the community; that is not afraid to be a visionary; that is not afraid to be a pacesetter and this is what we have seen from MPS over the last 25 years,” the President said.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MPS Limited, Stanley Ming spoke of how MPS has developed a close relationship with the residents of Tiger Bay by partnering with them and investing in their children’s education. The company has insured the lives of over 300 children from Tiger Bay and its environs and as such, they were

From L-R- Mrs. Sita Nagamootoo, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, Mr. Stanley Ming, Ms. Audrey Ford, Mrs. Michelle Ming, President David Granger and First Lady Mrs. Sandra Granger at the Pegasus Hotel able to access private medical attention at no cost to them.

“Our continuous investments in the community have certainly paid off; we could not have been where

we are today had we not worked with the community the way we have,” Ming said. MPS was incorporated in October 1989 and started business in

2 fired, one suspended in GRA chicken racket

By Alva Solomon

A SENIOR Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) enforcement official has been sent on leave while two junior officers were given marching orders in an incident involving a truckload of chicken suspected to have been smuggled into the country from neigbouring Suriname.

The instructions were handed down this week. In September, a truck from Berbice heading to Georgetown with approximately 400 boxes of chicken was stopped by Police at a road block.

The Police later arrested two officers who were attached to GRA’s Marine Operation’s Unit (MOU) after they suspected that the operation was illegal.

When contacted yesterday, GRA Head Kurhsid Sattaur offered not to comment on the matter.

But a GRA source told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that on the day in

question, the vehicle was being escorted by the two enforcement officers who were reportedly working in collusion with the smugglers.

The Police were not familiar with the two GRA officers.

According to reports, the senior official, who heads the GRA Enforcement Division had intervened and attempted to have the two junior officers released.

Reports indicate that the chickens are owned by a senior official at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Following investigations, the GRA this week took the decision to dismiss the two officers while the senior officer was sent on leave.

A source explained that the two dismissed ranks are marine officers and on the day in question they were expected to travel to Port Kaituma, Region One as part of their official duties.

However, the ranks, even after processing documents relevant to their outof-town duties, remained in the city and later travelled to Berbice.

Following their encounter with the Police, GRA sources reported that the senior official in question attempted to sweep the matter under the carpet.

But the Police launched an investigation into the incident. Some GRA staffers were disgusted about the incident.

“They doing it a while now… these men make millions by allowing these things to happen and the genuine ones in GRA would get the blame for their greed with money,” one employee told this newspaper.

The GRA has in the past been affected by fraudulent activities of its staff.

Employees yesterday told this newspaper that the culture of bribery within the organisation needs to be dealt with accordingly.

February 1990 at the upper flat of the Farfan and Mendes building on Urqu-

hart Street, Georgetown. owned by the then Guyana Eventually, the company Transport Services Limited. purchased the properties (Ministry of the Presidency)

Accused hit-and-run driver remanded over biker’s death A PICKUP driver was remanded to prison yesterday

by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for allegedly causing the death of 17-year-old motorcyclist Travis Bollers at Pike and Sheriff Streets last month.

Delon Duncan, 35, of 982 Block F, North Sophia denied the allegation that on November 26 at Pike and Sheriff Streets, he drove motor vehicle GHH 5201 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Bollers.

He also denied the charge that on the same occasion he drove the motor vehicle without being the holder of an insurance policy in relation to third-party risks.

Additionally, he was charged for failing to stop the vehicle after the accident and failing to report the accident to the relevant authorities.

Finally, he was charged for failing to offer assistance by taking the injured Bollers to receive treatment at a medical facility.

The court heard that the

The dead teen Travis Bollers. vehicle involved in the accident was discovered six days later at an auto-body shop in Sophia.

It was argued by Defence Attorney Mark Conway that the accused had turned himself in to the police, albeit six days later, and as such he requested bail for his client.

However, bail was denied on the causing death charge while the other matters were transferred to Court 7. Duncan will return to court on December 29.

The driver who was allegedly behind the wheel of the pickup in the Sheriff Street fatal accident.

On November 26 Bollers was riding a motorcycle along Sheriff Street with his cousin Quacy McCalman on the pillion when a vehicle sped out of Pike Street and collided with them. The driver reportedly exited the pickup and after seeing the two youths bleeding on the roadway made a getaway. Bollers died while receiving treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Dragnet takes aim at narco trade

…Granger says military offensive will target internal, external threats COMMANDER-in-CHIEF of the Armed Forces, President David Granger on Friday told officers and soldiers based at the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) location Eteringbang in the Cuyuni/ Mazaruni that they must be prepared to deal with both external and internal threats.

The President was at the time attending a Christmas luncheon for the ranks there.

According to a release from his office, he opined that between 2000 and 2010 crimes such as drug trafficking, Trafficking in Persons (TIP), gun running and smuggling brought the greatest destruction Guyana has seen in 50 years. It is for this reason, President Granger said, the Chief of Staff of the GDF Brigadier Mark Phillips, launched Operation DRAGNET. “Between 2000 and 2010 more Guyanese were killed by violence, by terror than any other time in our history. More policemen died in the first decade of this millennium than in the whole history of the police force...

Not because the Venezuelans attacked, not because the Surinamese attacked but because there are Guyanese criminals, who are pushing their drug trade and they were prepared to kill fellow Guyanese in order to take control of the narcotics trade.

They were prepared to bribe members of the police force and the defence force. They were prepared to bribe public servants”, he said.

The Head of State said that Operation DRAGNET is an ambitious approach to total national defence and that the GDF and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) have a responsibility to prevent internal civil violence [and] internal terrorism from ever returning to this country.

Referencing acts of terror internationally, President Granger said, “We have to ensure that no form of terrorism, domestic or otherwise, is allowed to take root in this country; any form of

Commander in Chief, President David Granger and Chief of Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Mark Phillips pose for a picture with ranks at Location Eteringbang

extremism. We live as brothers; Christians Muslims and Hindus… we have never had religious wars in this country and we never will if you continue to do your work.”

The President also used the occasion to thank the members of the GDF for their service and congratulated them for making the sacrifice to defend Guyana’s territorial integrity. He noted that were it not for the GDF, Guyana would not be what it is today. “We have suffered aggression from the east and from the west even within recent memory… these waters belong to us and your duty is to make sure that the country you inherited from your parents and foreparents is the country you pass on to your children and grandchildren. That’s your job and I am proud to say that is what you have been doing for the past 50 years”, President Granger said.

However, the Head of State noted that national defence is a work in progress.

He told the soldiers that at this time of year, while they may all prefer to be with their families, that as members of the military, service to country is more important. He said, “The price of security is eternal vigilance.” Granger, who joined the army on

Residents of San Martin greeting President David Granger at Location Eteringbang

December 29, 1965 declared, “…this year is important for me too because it marks my 50th year of signing on that dotted line; 50th year of attestation in the greatest profession that I have ever known; the Guyana Defence Force, the military profession of Guyana.”

The Commander-in-Chief also reminisced on his time serving at Eteringbang, which was his

second posting as a solder, telling those gathered of his memories of posting Guyana’s flag and signs along the river banks, which read “Guyana’s territory”.

Brigadier Mark Phillips, who also addressed the gathering thanked the soldiers for their service and encouraged them to continue in the same vein.

He said, “I would like to commend your service to

Guyana.” Commanding Officer of the first Infantry Battalion, with responsibility for Roraima and Kutari, Lieutenant Colonel Fitzroy Warde expressed gratitude to the soldiers and noted that overall their service was of a high standard. “Throughout the year you have demonstrated dedication and commitment in service to the Guyana Defence Force and

in service to the nation as a whole”, he said. Following some brief cultural performances by the soldiers, President Granger served lunch to the ranks.

Location Eteringbang lies opposite Ankoko Island, which is occupied by Venezuela. The Venezuelan settlement of San Martin lies on the northern bank of the Cuyuni across from Eteringbang.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Accused confessed to killing taxi driver – Senior cop says he took statement

By Michel Outridge During the murder trial of Balram Singh in the High Court before Justice Navindra Singh and a 12-member jury yesterday several police witnesses testified.

The first witness Assistant Commissioner Winston Cosbert said in January 2010 he was stationed at Brickdam as a senior superintendent and was the officer-in-charge of Crime for ‘A’ Division and relative to the murder committed on Bhomeshwar Sukhdeo between January19 to 27, 2010 he assisted in the investigations.

He added that he was present at Providence Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on January 27, 2010 when Detective Sergeant Nigel Stephens held

a confrontation between the accused Balram Singh and Bharat Narine and it was said that Singh had sold a wagon type car to him (Narine) for $600,000.

Narine told the police there that he paid Singh $400,000 and later gave the reminder of the cash which amounted to $200,000 to the accused.

Cosbert told the court that at that point Singh blurted out “Is me and Travis David killed the taxi driver, tek the car and sell Bharat.”

The senior officer added that Stephens who was elected by Singh to pen the caution statement also cautioned him after he said he would like to put his oral statement into writing.

Cosbert noted that the statement was given to Singh upon completion of writing

by Stephens and he was

asked whether he understood and he said yes and affixed his signature and he did the same as a witness.

Under cross examination by defence counsel Jermaine Jervis it was suggested to Cosbert that he was present when black plastic bags were placed on Singh’s head and he was threatened and beaten. Cosbert told that court that he is a senior officer and at no time in his presence such an incident had taken place and Singh signed and the caution statement on his own free will.

Lance Corporal Jermaine Laundry also testified and said in January 2010 he was stationed at Providence Police Station and assisted in the probe relative to a report of the death of Sukhdeo.

Lance Corporal Roderick Melville testified and Detective Devon Bowen was

The accused: Balram Singh

cross examined by defence counsel Jermaine Jervis. The two policemen were part of the ranks that accompanied Stephens and Singh to Agricola, Industrial Site Eccles and Mocha Arcadia Access Road.

The state is being represented by Narissa Leander in association with Teshanna James-Lake while, the

GNBS: Christmas shoppers beware

By Rabindra Rooplall As consumers begin to shop for the Christmas season, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) is advising shoppers to compare prices, compare quantity with quality while ensuring a warranty is provided on selected items.

GNBS Public Relations Officer Lloyd David said the season was here and it’s usually a time when consumers buy all sorts of items for themselves, gifts for loved ones or to improve their home decor. It is also a fact that at this time of the year more than any other time, businesses increase their advertising and sales promotion to encourage customers to buy what they are offering for sale.

He advised shopper to be very vigilant in their choices since shopping for products that are of quality

and making comparisons to find the most reasonable prices offered by different business establishments are the ways to go.

David explained that products that are produced according to the requirements of National or International Standards are usually of good quality.

Most of these products are tested to ensure confirmity to specified requirements and carry one or many standards marks, such as: UL, CE, CSA, NOM, and CCC.

“For example, on our locally manufactured PVC Pipes and gold jewellery manufactured by the certified jewellers, you can find the Guyana’s National Standards Mark – GNBS in a double wall circle.

Don’t shop in a rush and become confused. Take a moment to carefully understand your expectations of the product you intend to buy. Aspects to be considered should include quality, durability, performance, usefulness, alternatives and

price. “Sales” are generally enticing and consumers tend to buy products for which they have no need.” The standards official noted.

Adding that shopping smart takes time, skill and practice, David said all shoppers need to practice smart shopping to get “A Fair Share in the Market Place”.

He warned: “If you are purchasing an expensive item, be sure to understand the store’s return or exchange policy. If you buy a TV in November, you may not be able to exchange it in December if there’s a 30 day return policy at the store.

Don’t wrap the present ahead of time, especially if it’s not adequately labeled.”

The Guyana National Bureau of Standards encourages all consumers to always plan your purchases and buy quality products to get the best value for your money.

defence counsel is Jermaine Jervis and Clevann Humphrey.

In her opening statement at the commencement of the trial Leander told the court that the deceased was a taxi driver who was last seen alive on January 19, 2010 after which a search was launched for him and his car.

She added that on Jan-

uary 27, 2010 the car was found at a body- work shop in Herstelling New Scheme, East Bank Demerara and later the badly burnt body of Bhomeshwar Sukhdeo was discovered at Mocha Arcadia Access Road, also East Bank Demerara.

Leander said the accused; Balram Singh was arrested and charged for the offence.

The indictment stated that between January 19 and 27, 2010 in the county of Demerara, the accused, Balram Singh allegedly murdered Bhomeshwar Sukhdeo. The car was hijacked and sold to a taxi service owner in Grove.

The charred remains believed to be that of taxi driver, Bhomeshwar Sukhdeo was found at Mocha Arcadia Access Road. It is believed that he was shot in the head and set alight after which his body was dumped.

Lounge named after Dwayne Jacobs

By Rabindra Rooplall In honour of aircraft loader, Dwayne Jacobs, whose life was lost when Trans Guyana Airways’, Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, crashed on January 18, 2014, after take-off from Olive Creek on its way to Imbaimadai, Trans Guyana Airways (TGA) yesterday opened its new “Dwayne Jacobs” Passenger Departure Lounge at Ogle Airport. Canadian pilot, Blake Slater also lost his life during the crash.

Ms. Roslyn Jacobs, Dwayne Jacob’s mother, and his brother Shawn Williams were present at the opening of the new Lounge. The new Lounge will service Trans Guyana’s domestic scheduled and chartered flights to all of its hinterland destinations, including Lethem, Annai, Karanambu, Port Kaituma, Mabaruma, Ekereku, Kamarang and Imbaimadai.

Director of TGA operations Andre Farinha who

gave brief remarks said the event was a special one for the Correia Group of Companies..

“We have already named our company airstrip at Ekereku middle after Captain Blake Slater, now its Dwayne’s turn.”

In reflecting on Jacobs’s life, Farinha said he joined Trans Guyana airways as a handyman on 25, October 25, 2044 and due to his outstanding performance he was promoted to the position of aircraft loader. He said Jacobs’s appraisal form stated that he was exceptional in dealing with customers.

“Plait Hair as he was fondly known to us was everything you could ask for in an employee in the service industry. He was pleasant and with a great smile. He would often be the first to greet passengers and assist them with their luggage, in addition to this he also displayed great regard for authority,” the operations director noted.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Tourism session at Orealla

By Rabindra Rooplall

UNDER the Hinterland Tourism Development plan dozens of residents from Orealla/Siparuta Village, the only indigenous community in Region 6, participated in a Tourism Development workshop, which was held in the community and which was facilitated by the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) yesterday. The activity is part of the drive to develop the Berbice Tourism Circuit.

The objectives of the one-day session were: to broadly define tourism with specific reference to the communities’ potential and current offerings; assess the residents’ readiness for the tourism-related development in their communities; identify the benefits of tourism; discuss challenges and issues; examine possible tourism enterprises; to conduct a training-needs assessment;

and to elect a Tourism Committee to coordinate future initiatives and activities.

All of the participants, who came from the two adjoining communities on the Corentyne, were eager to learn how their small villages could benefit from tourism activities and they were also open to all the available possibilities for training and capacity-building.

While conducting the session, The GTA Director, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh stressed the importance of good leadership and collaboration and reminded those present that “everyone has a role to play” in the developmental process.

On charting the way forward, Mr. Haralsingh acknowledged that the communities possess valuable attributes which can be refined and marketed through a series of events including Fish Festivals, Heritage Day celebrations, Regattas, Pep-

per Pot festivals and Pineapple Festivals among others.

However, he emphasised that harnessing the existing potential will call for a clear action plan, proper time management, partnership and teamwork.

“Tourism is an investment. You need to ask yourselves if the community is ready to welcome investment in the area,” he posited.

During the interactive session, the attendees also learnt about the various elements of tourism and the importance of maintaining high standards and service.

On this note, the GTA Director assured the gathering that his organisation would provide the necessary support and training in the areas of Catering, Housekeeping, Food Preparation, Project Management, Proposal writing, Record Keeping and Bird Guiding, in accordance with the residents’ requests; the GTA

A section of the audience

will also produce a brochure to assist with the marketing and promotion of the area.

Before the end of the workshop, the residents had already established a Tourism Committee and they also agreed to send two representatives to attend the Tourism Industry Conference, which will be hosted by the Tourism Ministry on Monday.

The residents also ex-

pressed their gratitude for the information imparted and reaffirmed their willingness to work along with the Ministry of Tourism to further develop and enhance their communities.

Training and Capacity building in hinterland communities remain a top priority, in keeping with the administration’s pledge to ensure that the many tourism

products in the hinterland communities are utilised for the benefit of those communities; the overall aim is to generate vibrant and sustainable livelihoods within communities across the country.

The government’s 10-point strategic plan for hinterland development was unveiled at the National Toshaos Council meeting, earlier this year.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Natural gas solution mooted

By Ravin Singh

A COMPLETE natural gas solution which aims to lower dependence on diesel and Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) as a feedstock for power generation, and replace that with a less expensive and more environmentally friendly gas is to be realised in Guyana.

This has been made possible through the efforts of

Eric Shubert, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICON LNG – an energy company, new to the Guyanese market which will be providing Liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4) that has been converted to liquid form for ease of storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume of natural gas in the gaseous

state. It is odourless, colourless, non-toxic and non-corrosive.

Yesterday at a short ceremony at the National Park, Shubert expressed how challenging, but rewarding the move was, to introduce this product to the Guyanese market. Moves for the introduction of this type of energy to Guyana had commenced two years ago, when he came to Guyana.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ICON LNG, Eric Shubert explains to the attendees how one of ICON’s energy equipment works

The company, which was officially added to the list of energy providers currently competing in Guyana’s economic space, provides an alternative for fuel consumers who suffer routinely from swings in fuel prices and the long-term environmental impact of burning fuel.

This natural gas, the CEO related, has always been a possible solution to these issues which diesel fuel give rise too. However, the problem natural gas poses when entering a new market, he said, is the lack of appropriate infrastructure at ports for receiving large volumes, and the lack of infrastructure to move the gas from the port to the consumers.

ICON though, has been able to manoeuvre itself in such a way, that it removes these barriers by taking the equipment cost off of customers and installing needed equipment in the markets where they operate.

Benefits incurred from this introduction, include lower cost of energy production, more environmentally friendly form of energy consumption and job creation through the company’s local operations. Jobs according to the CEO will be in the transportation sector to unload containers and move them back and forth from the customers to the facilities, and training of engineers to install and maintain the conversion kits which allow large mining vehicles directly to LNG. Over the next few months, the company will be installing the first conversion kits on power-generating units and converting small and large vehicles. “We will continue to increase the sup-

ply of gas to Guyana as we expand our presence in Guyana and move into the additional markets” Shubert said.

Noting that energy infrastructure was the backbone of a country’s economic development, Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Annette Ferguson welcomed the initiative, which she said wouldl aid in boosting the energy industry and provide a solution to lowering electricity bills.

She explained too that this concept which opens Guyana’s market to diversity is one which is aligned to government’s plan of pushing a Green Economy agenda. “This initiative and its application could form part of an integrated strategy to ensure citizens benefit” the minister said, adding that the mining industry will now be provided with access to cheaper fuel which will reduce the cost of production.

The agricultural sector too, she added, will benefit significantly, since they rely heavily on energy to execute their operations.

Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin, who was also present at the short ceremony weighed in too, offering that for too long, the development of Guyana has been stymied due to constraints in energy provision. However, according to him, this initiative brings to Guyana an option of cleaner energy which supports a developmental agenda and reduces the operational cost of value-added goods.

This, he said, will tremendously benefit that part of the business community which solely depend on energy consumption for their operations.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Body of missing ‘Radio’ found week later

AFTER leaving his Crane Housing Scheme home on the West Coast Demerara last week Friday to do his regular taxi work, 57-yearold Colin Clarke, a father of three, was never able to return home alive.

His body was discovered Thursday at about 06:30hrs in a clump of bushes, where it was partly decomposed and lying face down at Uitvlugt, another West Coast Demerara community.

His sister, Jacqueline Clarke, who spoke with this publication said that her brother left home last Friday at about 15:00hrs to operate his taxi. The vehicle he drove was owned by the mother of one of his children.

According to his sister, the car would usually be picked up from Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara whenever the man is ready to work and it would be returned in the evenings around 19:00hrs.

However at that time last Friday, the woman said, she received a call from the daughter of the man stating that he had failed to show up and return the car at its Stanleytown address.

“Aunty Jacqueline, Colin can’t bring the people car and he supposed to bring in the people car at seven o’clock and I said ‘Shelly cool down, cool down, something mussy happen’, and I asked her if he normally comes in at 7 and she said ‘yea’ and up to now he cannot come with the car and I said alright and I hang up the phone,” the man’s sister stated, recalling the annoyed tone of the man’s daughter last Friday evening.

The woman said that she became suspicious and called her sister at the Crane Housing Scheme home where the man lived and it was confirmed that Clarke was not home as yet. Jacqueline then reportedly told the woman about the call she received from the man’s daughter about his failure to return the car on time.

She said too that she

Dead: 56-year-old taxi driver Colin Clarke whose partly decomposed body was found at Uitvlugt

continued to call the home, checking to see if her brother had returned home but he did not so from working the night shift on Friday she went to the family home in Crane and then they decided to go to the police and report him missing. The police did entertain the report but failed to take a statement, the woman said.

On Friday evening the owners of the car even showed up at the home of the now dead man after he was missing and they conducted a brief search for him but came up empty handed.

On Thursday morning family members were told by investigators after the man’s body was found that it appeared as if he had been strangled but that information would have to be confirmed after the post-mortem which is expected to be performed today.

Relatives described the father of three as someone who was always easygoing.

However, they also recalled that he would be argumentative and ‘talk up’ to anyone who tried to override him, hence his nickname ‘Radio’ because of all the talking he did.

Family members are of the view that the man was hired by persons posing as passengers who later killed him and dumped his body at Uitvlugt. The police are continuing their search for the suspects and the car which has still not been recovered.

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Bandits nabbed after city robbery Three bandits were on Friday arrested minutes after they robbed a city furniture retail outlet, police have confirmed.

In a release police said that about 14:45h three men armed with handguns entered the AH&L Outlet at Main Street, Georgetown, and held up the supervisor, a clerk and a customer and took away an undisclosed sum of cash

and two cell phones and escaped in a motor vehicle. Police anti-crime patrols responded to the report and the motor vehicle was later intercepted in Middle Street, Georgetown, with three men inside who matched the descriptions of the perpetrators of the armed robbery.

They are in police custody assisting with the investigations.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Cop, other man arrested for armed robbery A policeman and another man are now in custody for allegedly robbing a taxi driver of his vehicle late last month at Bachelor’s Adventure, East Coast Demerara.

In a statement police said that diligent investigations by ranks led to the arrest of two suspects on Thursday in connection with an armed robbery committed on a taxi-driver at Bachelor Adventure, East Coast Demerara Back in November 28, 2015. The two men, one of whom is a serving member of the Guyana Police Force, have confessed to the armed robbery and are in police custody. Charges will be made shortly. The two suspects and a female accomplice had hired the taxi-driver from Mahaica Market for Bachelor’s Adventure where he was held at gunpoint and his mo-

tor car, cell phone and $18,000 taken away.

The motor car was on Friday recovered in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market where it was parked. The keys were in the vehicle, and the stereo set was missing.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Alleged serial fraudster on $200,000 bail

THIRTY-five-year-old Leon Wayne of Lot 638 Third Street, Kaneville, a community in Grove, East Bank Demerara, was yesterday arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on several fraudulent misappropriation charges.

He is alleged to have obtained, between 2014 and October 2015, quantities of mon-

ey from several persons to acquire houses and lands for them, knowing his claims to be false.

Wayne pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and was placed on a total of $200,000 bail. His matter has been adjourned to January 6, 2016. (Clestine Juan)

Stepfather freed on two sex offences

THE jury at the Demerara Assizes yesterday freed Rene Gordon on two sexual offence charges accusing him of having sexual affairs with his l2-yearold stepdaughter.

Gordon was said to have committed the offences on May 19, 2012, in the County of Demerara.

The other offence is said to have occurred on July 1 and 31, 2010 when the girl was 10 years old.

The prosecution alleged that the ac-

cused had knowledge of the girl’s age and relationship But Defence Counsel Mr Satesh Kissoon cross-examined the witnesses and pointed out to the court, apparent inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the evidence, which might have influenced the jury in coming to their not-guilty verdict.

After Justice Roxane George’s summing up, the jury took over two hours to reach their unanimous verdict.

ECD man remanded for murder allegedly committed in Cuyuni River community TWENTY-two-year-old Samuel Anthony Gouveia of Lot 13 Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara was yesterday arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on an indictable charge which alleges that he murdered Cynthia Solomon on November

23 last at Cuyuni River in the Essequibo.

The prosecutor did not relate particulars of the charge, but Gouveia was remanded until December 30, and his matter was transferred before the Bartica magistrate. (Clestine Juan)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

Digicel launches ‘Merry Deals’ Christmas Handset Promotion EXCITEMENT filled the air as Digicel launched its “Merry Deals” Christmas Handset Promotion at the City Mall on Friday.

Guyanese from all walks of life were seen cashing in on the promotion at Digicel’s Cellular Plus location in the mall.

Head of Sales Nalini Vieira, said that Guyanese and visitors could benefit from significant price reductions

on 17 handsets from as low as $3,500.

The handsets launched in Samsung range from the NEW Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Samsung Galaxy S6 EDGE PLUS. Two new brands – the Avvio and XOX Series were also launched.

Vieira informed the eager crowd that prices have been slashed by as much as 30 per cent, giving customers the

opportunity to get that great smartphone they have been wanting all the years.

“With this promotion, customers will be excited to know that with any smartphone purchased, they will get one month free data!”

“With the continuing expansion of its network across Guyana, Digicel prides itself on delivering the best to their customers. Customers can

enhance their everyday lives through Digicel’s commitment in ensuring that everyone can benefit from access to Internet, voice and SMS services at affordable prices.”

It was explained that customers can also get the DL750 for the promotional price of $12,000 this Christmas and other reduced handsets such as the Huawei Y520 and BLU Star 4.5.

“We are continuously delivering on our promise to offer value for money, and at the same time offering the best smartphones at the lowest prices in Guyana during this Christmas season,” she said.

Customers are encouraged to visit their nearest Digicel store to benefit from these offers while stocks last. All Digicel handsets come with a one-year warranty and are all

Right to left: Digicel Communication Manager Vidya Sanichara, Head of Sales Nalini Vieira, Pramela Gorbhadan and Terrence Jones pose with Santa Clause during the launch

brand new.

Also at the launch, two long-standing customers who have been with Digicel since the commencement of its operations here in Guyana were rewarded with gifts. Terrence Jones and Pramela Gorbhadan were the two lucky customers.

On November 19, Digicel launched its ‘Merry Mansion

Reloaded’ Christmas Promotion, whereby customers topping up $500 or more get the chance to spell M-A-N-SI-O-N and INSTANTLY win $100,000. Winners also stand the chance to search for up to $20 million in cash and prizes.

Customers can collect letters both electronically and scratch cards.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

GSB calls for more confidence in, focus on, employment for, persons with disabilities

By Navendra Seoraj THE International Day for Persons Living with Disabilities -- Thursday, December 3 -– was celebrated this year under the theme “Inclusion matters, access and empowerment for people of all abilities”; and the Guyana Society for the Blind (GSB) used this opportunity to call on government to place more emphasis on persons living with disabilities by focusing more on implementing components of Guyana’s Disability Act, which became law in 2010.

In an interview with this publication on the day in question, members of the GSB contended that not enough is being done for persons living with disabilities, given that the employment level for disabled persons is currently low. They say that although much emphasis is being placed on educating persons living with disabilities, the other aspects of their survival are being overlooked.

Ganesh Singh, a com-

missioner at the National Commission on Disability, contended that the International Day for Persons Living with Disabilities was first recognised by the United Nations in 1992 after a resolution had been passed to recognise December 3 as that day; and the day has since been used to raise awareness about the rights and abilities of persons living with disabilities.

He called on Government to ensure that provisions of Guyana’s Disability Act, which became law in 2010, are implemented, given that Guyana is way behind other countries in this respect; and he charged that the following areas are being neglected in the lives of persons living with disabilities in Guyana: the need for employment, access to information, access to buildings, an accessible society, and independent lives for persons living with disabilities.

Ms Rosemarie Ramitt, a young teacher in training, who is also living with a disability, contended that there

Members of the GSB are, from left, Mr. Cecil Morris; Ganesh Singh; Rosemarie Ramitt; and Ms. Theresa Pemberton

should be inclusionary access to the Disability Act and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

She charged that nothing is being done for disabled persons in this regard, and that Government must ensure that relevant provisions are implemented.

“Every person with a disability can have access to everything just as a normal person (has), given that (disabled persons) always raise the issues that we face. We are trying to reach more people, to make society more aware, and (to) change the

attitude of society towards differently-abled persons,” she declared.

DISABILITY GRANT Ganesh Singh said nothing has so far been done for disabled persons in terms of employment. He highlighted that the previous administration had allocated a $20M grant to ensure that an income-based development plan affecting disabled persons could be crafted, and training could take place; and he called for renewal of this grant, so that employment can be created for persons living

with disabilities.

“Deaf persons are working,” he conceded, and added, “but those are usually porter jobs and so forth. This is so because there are no policies for employing persons with disabilities. There are a few persons who got employment, but those jobs are not of a high standard, just because of the lack of confidence (in persons with disabilities),” he charged.

Asked if any approach has been made to government to consult on an employment strategy, Singh said: “We had meetings with the new government, and discussed training and education; because once you are qualified, we can lobby for jobs. But, so far, we are advocating for qualified persons to get proper jobs.”

Singh has disclosed that a number of activities are planned for the National Disability Week of activities. This year, the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities has planned a number of activities, such as church services,

distribution of awareness materials, an extensive media campaign to highlight issues affecting persons living with disabilities, a capacity-building exercise at Red House for young leaders within their movement; and, on Saturday, a blind cricket match.

Vice Chairman of the Guyana Council of Organisations, Cecil Morris, asserted that persons with disabilities have been sidelined over a number of years, and “as such, we must use the media campaign to let people know what is happening.”

Morris and Ms. Theresa Pemberton, a volunteer at the Guyana Society for the Blind, are contending that businesses do not employ persons living with disabilities because they believe that such persons cannot efficiently perform tasks assigned them. They are accordingly calling on society to abandon its lack of confidence in persons living with disabilities and to give those persons their deserving equal rights.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday December 5, 2015

Flooding to lessen around Vlissengen Road T

BY Leroy Smith

HE Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) has embarked on apparently urgent works on the drainage system along Vlissengen Road, between Durban and Princess Streets, to alleviate flooding in that area.

The Chronicle on Thursday encountered MPI engineers mingling with their counterparts from the contracting firm, carrying out preparatory works along one section of the project’s right of way. Speaking with this publication, Engineer Dwayne Roland who is responsible for the works, explained that the contract had been in the pipeline for some time, but could not be executed because funds were not available.

He explained that funds are now available through the 2015 budget, hence works have commenced.

The contract for the project, being funded by the MPI at a cost of Gy$12M, has been awarded to the Mohamed Ramzanalli Khan Construction Company, which won the bid after the works had been advertised.

Roland gave the assurance that the contractor has the requisite experience and expertise to deliver top-quality work. He said the project is expected to run for three months, but could be completed in time for Christmas and still be of good quality.

The works, he said, are being supervised by the MPI. Roland said the drain -- approximately three feet, two inches wide and approximately four feet deep -- would be fully concreted and be outfitted with wooden covers.

“We see the need to extend this drainage network in this area, given the situation of flooding whenever it rains, and also because drainage is very important. This road also is a man carriageway, and if you look at this area, we had to deal with it as a priority area. It has been in the pipeline for some time now, but the monies were not available. We have it now, so we decided to look at it,” Roland explained.

In order to facilitate acceptable work on the project, several walkways and bridges had to be dismantled, but their replacement has been budgeted for.

Roland said that based on an assessment of that portion of Vlissengen Road between Norton and Princes streets, nine driveways and three walkways would have to be reconstructed after drainage works have been completed.

Some slight adjustments would also have to be made to the initial scope of works in order to accommodate additional tasks that need to be done, he disclosed. Those tasks were discovered after the team of engineers had visited the location and had comprehensively assessed the work that needed to be undertaken. Those additional undertakings would, however, not have impacting influence on the cost of the entire project, he explained.

The Chronicle understands that the MPI also plans to do some work on that stretch of Vlissengen Road, but that work cannot be financed from the budget that presently exists to deal with the drains.

An MPI employee interacts with a resident along the affected area

“We are going to cast back all the driveways and walkways for the residents. As you can see, it is a very tight area, and we will have to put a lot of care into what we do here.

We have issued some notices to the residents, because we understand the nature of the area,” Roland explained.

It is not anticipated that the presence of utilities would stymie progression of the works, as the buried utilities were mainly service connections belonging to the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI). However, one cable suspected to belong to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company was noticed, but its position would likely not affect or disrupt progression of the works.

The MPI expects to continue similar works along Cemetery Road in the new year. Work is also expected to be performed on the bridge located at the junction of Princess Street and Vlissengen Road.

A gesticulating engineer makes a point at the work site

This Samuel Maughn photo shows contractors and engineers along the area where works are being executed

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Saturday December 5, 2015

Disabled bemoans lack of employment

By Navendra Seoraj

Members of the GSB. From left: Mr Cecil Morris, Ganesh Singh, Rosemarie Ramitt and Theresa Pemberton

THE Guyana Society for the Blind (GSB) is calling on government to place more emphasis on persons living with disabilities by focusing more on implementing components of Guyana’s Disability Act. The call was made as Guyana joined countries the world over on Thursday in observing International Day for Persons Living with Disabilities under the theme:

“Inclusion matters, access and empowerment for people of all abilities.”

In an interview with this publication on the day in question, members of the GSB contended that not enough is being done for persons living with disabilities, given that the employment level for disabled persons is currently low.

They said that although much emphasis is being placed on educating persons living with disabilities, the other aspects of their survival are being overlooked.

Ganesh Singh, a Commissioner at the National Commission on Disability, contended that the International Day for Persons Living with Disabilities was first recognised by the United Nations in 1992, after a resolution had been passed to recognise December 3 as that day; and the day has since been used to raise awareness about the rights and abilities of persons living with disabilities.

He called on government to ensure that provisions of Guyana’s Disability Act, which became law in 2010, are implemented, given that Guyana is way behind other countries in this respect; and he charged that the following areas are being neglected in the lives of persons living with disabilities in Guyana: the need for employment, access to information, access to buildings, an accessible society and independent lives for persons living with disabilities.

Rosemarie Ramitt, a young teacher in training, who is also living with a disability, contended that there should be inclusionary access to the Disability Act and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

She charged that nothing is being done for disabled persons in this regard, and that government must ensure that relevant provisions are implemented.

“Every person with a disability can have access to everything just as a normal person [has], given that [disabled persons] always raise the issues that we face.

We are trying to reach more people, to make society more aware, and [to] change the attitude of society towards differently-abled persons,” she declared.

DISABILITY GRANT Ganesh Singh said nothing has so far been done for disabled persons in terms of employment. He highlighted

that the previous administration had allocated a $20 million grant to ensure that an income-based development plan affecting disabled persons could be crafted, and training could take place; and he called for renewal of this grant, so that employment can be created for persons living with disabilities.

“Deaf persons are working,” he conceded, and added, “but those are usually porter jobs and so forth. This is so because there are no policies for employing persons with disabilities. There are a few persons who got employment, but those jobs are not of a high standard, just because of the lack of confidence (in persons with disabilities),” he charged.

Asked if any approach has been made to government to consult on an employment strategy, Singh said: “We had meetings with the new government, and discussed training and education; because once you are qualified, we can lobby for jobs. But, so far, we are advocating for qualified persons to get proper jobs.”

Singh has disclosed that a number of activities are planned for National Disability Week. This year, the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities has planned a number of activities such as church services; distribution of awareness materials; an extensive media campaign to highlight issues affecting persons living with disabilities; a capacity-building exercise at the Red House for young leaders within their movement; and, on Saturday, a blind cricket match.

Vice-Chairman of the Guyana Council of Organisations Cecil Morris, asserted that persons with disabilities have been sidelined over a number of years, and “as such, we must use the media campaign to let people know what is happening.”

Morris and Theresa Pemberton, a volunteer at the Guyana Society for the Blind, are contending that businesses do not employ persons living with disabilities because they believe that such persons cannot efficiently perform tasks assigned them.

They are accordingly calling on society to abandon its lack of confidence in persons living with disabilities and to give those persons their deserving equal rights.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, December 5, 2015

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ENGLISH RACING TIPS Sandown 08:15 hrs O O Seven 08:45 hrs Brise Vendeenne 09:20 hrs Doctor Harper 09:55 hrs Bristol De Mai 10:25 hrs Savello 11:00 hrs Vibrato Valtat 11:35 hrs Carole’s Destrier CHEPSTOW 08:20 hrs Mont Choisy 08:50 hrs Deputy Commancer 09:25 hrs Kingswell Theatre 10:00 hrs Ocean Venture 10:30 hrs Top Wood 11:05 hrs Walk In The Mill 11:40 hrs Head To The Stars AINTREE 08:30 hrs Morning Reggie 09:05 hrs Braavos 09:40 hrs Goonyella 10:45 hrs Virgilio 11:20 hrs Rocky Creek SOUTH AFRICA RACING TIPS Turffontein 08:20 hrs Wedgewood 08:55 hrs Bouclette Top 09:30 hrs Val Et Al 10:05 hrs Shea Devon 10:40 hrs Tiger’s Touch 11:15 hrs Modern Muse IRISH RACING TIPS Navan 08:35 hrs sthuria 09:10 hrs Mac’s Legend 09:45 hrs Lord Scondrel 10:20 hrs Black Hercules 10:50 hrs Do Be Doin’ 11:25 hrs Delegate AMERICAN RACING TIPS Aqueduct Race 1 Carysfort Reef Race 2 Send It In Race 3 King of Spades Race 4 Sourcesandmethods Race 5 King Kranz Race 6 In Trouble Race 7 Black Tide Race 8 Room for Me Race 9 Touch of Paradise

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday December 5, 2015

Rahane and Jadeja put India … Another Test ton for Khawaja in box seat in Delhi Test

By Amlan Chakraborty NEW DELHI, (Reuters)-India rode Ajinkya Rahane’s cultured century to post a series-high 334 before returning to skittle out

onto his stumps, Hashim Amla (three) fell after his 34-ball ordeal and Faf du Plessis recorded his third duck of the series after playing an outrageous scoop shot.

Anjinkya Rahane looks skywards after reaching a century in Delhi on the second day.

South Africa for 121 to take full control of the fourth and final Test yesterday.

Rahane (127) crafted the first century in the low-scoring series over five painstaking hours and also featured in a 98-run eighth-wicket stand, the highest in the series, with Ravichandran Ashwin (56).

Spinner all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (5-30) then orchestrated South Africa’s rout in glorious sunshine at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium as the hosts thoroughly dominated the second day’s play but did not enforce the follow-on.

India paceman Umesh Yadav dismissed Dean Elgar (17) to draw first blood but it was Jadeja’s triple strike soon after the tea break which completely unhinged the visitors.

Temba Bavuma (20) dragged a Jadeja delivery

The India pacers, content playing the second fiddle to their spin colleagues in the series, drove home the advantage with Yadav uprooting JP Duminy’s off-stump and Ishant Sharma castling Dane Vilas.

With wickets tumbling at the other end, AB de Villiers waged a lone battle before holing out for 42.

Earlier, India resumed day two on 231-7 and Rahane, on 89 overnight, stitched a third 50-plus partnership in the match with Ashwin before bringing up his fifth test century with an immaculate straight drive past fast bowler Kyle Abbott.

An industrious batsman in a lineup teeming with flamboyant strokeplayers, the 27-year-old raised his arms and looked skywards in a mixed sense of relief and elation, having

failed to go past 15 in the ongoing series.

Celebration followed with Rahane launching off-spinner Dane Piedt over mid-wicket and long on for two sixes in three deliveries.

The number five fell to a soft dismissal, driving Tahir to AB de Villiers at cover to depart after crafting a stellar knock over five hours with the help of four sixes and 11 boundaries.

“I felt (I should be) spending time in the middle -- taking my time and just playing normal cricket, rather than look to play some attacking cricket,” Rahane said.

“It was not easy for shotmaking but it was not diffi-

cult (to bat) either.”

Ashwin, currently the leading wicket-taker in the series, hit Tahir for a six to bring up his sixth test fifty to prove he was no dud with the bat either.

Abbott dismissed Ashwin and Ishant Sharma in three deliveries to finish with 5-40 but the visitors could not stop India from posting the first 300-plus score in the series.

“It’s a good thing when your lower order is batting well. That partnership was crucial,” said Rahane.

“Guys at eight, nine, 10 and eleven -- if they can contribute, the opposition’s morale goes down. The partnership with Ashwin was really important.”

SCOREBOARD

INNDIA 1st innings (Overnight: 231-7) M. Vijay c Amla b Piedt 12 S. Dhawan lbw b Piedt 33 C. Pujara b Abbott 14 V. Kohli c Vilas b Piedt 44 A. Rahane c de Villiers b Tahir 127 Ro. Sharma c Tahir b Piedt 1 W. Saha b Abbott 1 R. Jadeja c Elgar b Abbott 24 R. Ashwin c de Villiers b Abbott 56 U. Yadav not out 10 I. Sharma lbw b Abbott 0 Extras (b-8 nb-3 w-1) 12 Total (all out, 117.5 overs) 334 Fall of wickets: 1-30 M. Vijay,2-62 S. Dhawan,3-66 C. Pujara,4-136 V. Kohli,5-138 Ro. Sharma,6-139 W. Saha,7-198 R. Jadeja,8-296 A. Rahane,9-334 R. Ashwin,10-334 I. Sharma Bowling: M. Morkel 24 - 5 - 58 - 0(nb-1 w-1),K. Abbott 24.5 - 7 - 40 5(nb-1)D. Piedt 38 - 6 - 117 - 4(nb-1)I. Tahir 16 - 2 - 66 – 1, D. Elgar 11 - 0 - 33 – 0, J. Duminy 4 - 0 - 12 - 0 South Africa 1st innings D. Elgar c Saha b U. Yadav 17 T. Bavuma b Jadeja 22 H. Amla c Saha b Jadeja 3 A. de Villiers c I. Sharma b Jadeja 42 F. du Plessis c Rahane b Jadeja 0 J. Duminy b U. Yadav 1 D. Vilas b I. Sharma 11 K. Abbott lbw b Ashwin 4 D. Piedt c Rahane b Jadeja 5 M. Morkel not out 9 I. Tahir c sub b Ashwin 1 Extras (b-5 nb-1) 6 Total (all out, 49.3 overs) 121 Fall of wickets: 1-36 D. Elgar,2-40 T. Bavuma,3-56 H. Amla,4-62 F. du Plessis,5-65 J. Duminy,6-79 D. Vilas,7-84 K. Abbott,8-103 D. Piedt,9-118 A. de Villiers,10-121 I. Tahir Bowling; I. Sharma 12 - 5 - 28 - 1(nb-1), U. Yadav 12 - 3 - 32 – 2, R. Ashwin 13.3 - 5 - 26 – 2, R. Jadeja 12 - 2 - 30 – 5.

Real thrown out of Cup over ineligible player MADRID, (Reuters)-Real Madrid have been thrown out of the King’s Cup after they used an ineligible player in Wednesday’s last 32, first leg match at third-tier Cadiz, Spanish radio station Cadena Ser reported yesterday.

Real included Denis Cheryshev in their starting lineup for the match and the Russia forward opened the scoring in his side’s 3-1 victory, even though he should have been serving a one-match suspension.

Cadena Ser, which did not

identify the source of its information, said the Spanish football federation (RFEF) had told Cadiz of the decision to expel Real, who had said they would appeal if they were thrown out of the competition.

The RFEF is expected to announce its decision later on Friday.

Cheryshev earned a third yellow card, which carries an automatic one-game ban, playing on loan at Villarreal in last season’s Cup. Real took him off at halftime when they apparently realised

their error but Cadiz filed an official complaint.

Real president Florentino Perez said on Thursday he believed the club had not broken the rules as neither Cheryshev nor the club were notified he was banned.

It is the latest embarrassment for the world’s richest club by income, whose attempt to sign Spain goalkeeper David De Gea from Manchester United on the final day of the transfer window in August ended in farce when the paperwork did not arrive on time to complete the deal.

Kobe would love to play at Rio Games, fitness permitting (REUTERS)-Kobe Bryant, who is retiring after 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers at the end of the NBA season, would be very happy to give an encore performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“I would love nothing more than to be in an international environment and be around some of the other great athletes one more time,” Bryant told ESPN Radio on Friday when asked about the Rio Games.

The 37-year-old Bryant won gold medals with the U.S. Olympic team in 2008 and 2012.

Bryant, who began his Lakers career as an 18-year-old in 1996, has won five NBA titles and stands third on the league’s all-time scoring list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone despite being plagued by injuries in recent seasons.

He said his physical condition would be a factor in an Olympic decision.

Bryant is one of 34 players in the U.S. men’s national team pool from which 12 will be selected for the Olympics.

“If my body can’t do it, there’s no sense in doing it,” the 17-times NBA All-Star said. “(If) I feel I can make a contribution and my body is up for it, I would love to play.”

Notable Dates

ANDREW ‘Six Head’ Lewis became the World Boxing Association North American welterweight champion after he pounded out 12-round decision over Teddy Reid on December 5, 1998. The bout was held at the Convention Centre in Atlantic City, New Jersey and marked the first time that Lewis had gone past six rounds in a fight.

The southpaw Lewis was 27 years old at the time and undefeated in 15 fights. All 14 victories were by way of knock outs with South Korean Han Kim being the only escapee. Kim was let off the hook via a 2nd round Technical Draw in June 1994.

Five fights after the Reid encounter, Lewis faced James Page for the WBA world title and in stunning fashion became Guyana’s first world champion. Page was TKOed in the seventh round at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas on February 17, 2001.

The Guyanese decisioned Larry Marks in his first defence of the title but later came up against Ricardo Mayorga who lifted the crown. Lewis died in May following a vehicular accident on the East Bank Public Road. He was 44 years old.S

Beckham says new site secured for Miami football stadium

By Zachary Fagenson MIAMI, (Reuters)-After a two-year-long search, retired English football star David Beckham and a team of investors said yesterday they had secured a site in Miami where they hope to build an arena for a Major League Soccer team.

Miami Beckham United said in a statement that most of the nine-acre tract just west of Interstate 95 in the urban Overtown neighbourhood was private property that it had under contract to buy for an undisclosed sum.

Miami-Dade County owns the remainder of the land, which the group said it plans to buy at “fair market value” once the site is approved by the MLS Board of Governors, which is expected to meet on Saturday.

The league’s Commissioner Don Garber said this week that if a deal for a stadium could not be finalised, then Miami was not going to have a MLS team.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday December 5, 2015

South African authorities deny issuing arrest warrant for Pistorius JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters)-South African authorities yesterday denied issuing an arrest warrant for Oscar Pistorius, who was convicted on appeal of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp,

rejecting an earlier report by a local television station.

“It is not the case,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku told Reuters. “No such warrant has been is-

sued.”

The Supreme Court on Thursday upgraded the 29-year-old athlete’s sentence to murder from “culpable homicide”, South Africa’s equivalent of manslaughter, for which he had

received a five-year sentence. A murder conviction normally carries a minimum 15-year jail sentence.

ENCA television had earlier reported that a warrant of arrest had been issued for the paralympic

champion.

Pistorius had been meant to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest on his uncle’s property in a wealthy suburb of the capital Pretoria.

Oscar Pistorius

Arrested FIFA officials banned from football for 90 days

ZURICH, (Reuters)-`FIFA executive committee members Juan Angel Napout and Alfredo Hawit have been suspended from football for 90 days after their arrest in Switzerland, the ethics committee of the football’s governing body said yesterday.

The pair, who are facing extradition to the United States, were among 16 football officials charged by U.S.

prosecutors on Thursday with taking part in multimillion-dollar bribery schemes for marketing and broadcast rights.

FIFA’s ethics panel routinely bans officials who are under criminal investigation and the suspensions amount to a formality after their arrest, the latest blow to a global football body in turmoil since a first round of indictments in May.

Napout is president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) and Hawit is head of the CONCACAF confederation that runs the sport in North, Central America and the Caribbean.

Both of them were in Zurich for a FIFA executive committee meeting to discuss reforms aimed at cleaning up the sport and wiping out corruption.

Smalta Girls 11-and-Under Tournament THE Ministry of Education (MOE) Ground comes alive yet another weekend as the Smalta Girls 11-and-Under Football Tournament continues with the culmination of the event just one week away.

Today the Petra organisers have prepared a packed schedule which includes the quarterfinals and semi-finals. The first two matches are scheduled to kick off at 10:00 hrs while

the final two matches of the day commence at 15:15 hrs.

The above-mentioned competition is schedule to continue on Saturday 2015-1215 with matches in the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals. The tournament is schedule to culminate on Saturday, 12th Dec, 2015.

See fixture below and attachment for info and guidance

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday December 5, 2015

European clubs attack proposed FIFA reforms

By Brian Homewood ZURICH, (Reuters)-A package of reforms proposed by FIFA to clean up the scandal-plagued governing body of soccer was angrily criticised yesterday by Europe’s powerful clubs, who said it would increase frustration among the sport’s stakeholders.

across South and Central America were among 16 people charged on Thursday by the United States with multi-million-dollar bribery schemes for marketing and broadcast rights, bringing the total number of indictments so far to 41 in a probe spanning dozens of countries.

The same day, FIFA announced a package of

between FIFA and the clubs, which allow them to be released for their national teams on certain dates.

If the clubs were to pull out of those agreements, it could throw international soccer into chaos.

“INCREASED FRUSTRATION” ECA was particularly

One of Europe’s top football clubs Real Madrid.

The European Club Association (ECA), which represents more than 200 clubs including top sides like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, said its members were “not prepared to be further ignored” and were leaving “all options open.”

FIFA is in the throes of an unprecedented crisis, with criminal investigations into the sport under way in the United States and Switzerland.

Its president Sepp Blatter is among officials who have been suspended by its own ethics committee.

Soccer bosses from

planned reforms including limits to the number of terms top officials can serve and a new separation of policy and management positions, with a 36-member FIFA council replacing the 25-member executive committee.

“ECA will now take the required time to assess how it wishes to position itself in relation to this latest development, leaving all options open,” said the club association in a statement.

Nearly all the world’s top players are with European teams. FIFA’s international competitions depend on a calendar, agreed

angry that a proposal had been discussed to increase the four-yearly World Cup to 40 teams from the current 32, even though the idea has now been put on hold.

The proposal had been made “without prior consultation with the clubs (in full knowledge of the impact this will have on the professional club game),” said ECA, which is chaired by former West Germany forward KarlHeinz Rummenigge.

This was proof “that the proposed reforms are not at the required standard allowing for a new and modern FIFA,” it added.

LABA Banks Malta Supreme Christmas basketball tourney bounces off tonight

By Joe Chapman

THE Banks Malta Supreme Open Christmas Basketball championship organised by the Linden Amateur Basketball Association bounces off tonight at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.

The red hot Half Mile Bulls will face Block 22 Flames in the opener at 19:00 hrs and the other at 21:00 hrs brings together Retrieve Raiders against Bankers Trust Falcons in the other.

The six clubs contesting this preliminary round are Half Mile Bulls, Retrieve Raiders, Amelia’s Ward Jets, Bankers Trust Falcons, Victory Valley Royals and Block 22 Flames and they are seeking to reach the final four after round robin play which is set for December 28 and the final on January 2, 2016.

The first game will see Half Mile Bulls, led by recent national selectees Terron Welch and Michael Turner, leading the Wismar side with veteran Shane Lewis steadying their challenge while their op-

ponents’ Block 22 Flames are hopeful of causing a surprise as they seek an opening victory.

Their main players are Keith Sullivan, Keion Sullivan, Patrick Clarke, Selwyn Henry and Gavin Clarke.

The second game is between Retrieve Raiders who will see another national selectee in Keiron Cameron included in the side which is spearheaded by former national forward Neil Marks, Dwayne Roberts, Abdulla Hamid, Geoffrey LaRose, Dwight McKinnon, Yannick Primo and Marvin Hartman.

Their lesser known opponents are the Bankers Trust Falcons which will have among their players Dale Sauers, Marlon Persaud, Leonard Caleb, Devon Thompson and Lawrence Simon.

The competition continues on Monday when another double-header is planned when Retrieve Raiders face Block 22 Flames in the first game and Amelia’s Ward Jets take on Victory Valley Royals in the other.

ECA added that its members had not been involved in the FIFA Reform Committee, which consisted of representatives from the six continental soccer confederations such as Europe’s UEFA and Africa’s CAF. “The proposals relating specifically to the governance reform are missing the involvement and greater recognition of all stakeholders,” said the statement.

ECA dismissed a proposal to create a stakeholders’ committee representing clubs, leagues and players, saying it did not address the issue.

“ECA believes that rather than reduce the risk of tension within the soccer family, the proposed recommendations will only lead to increased frustration among stakeholders,” it said.

“ECA had misgivings towards the manner in which FIFA managed this reform process, but agreed to give FIFA the benefit of the doubt.

“Given the recommendations that have now been presented, ECA was right to believe that a reform process led from within is unable to deliver a sustainable governance model which is fit for the 21st century.”

34

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday December 5, 2015

Modi set to sue Cairns for fraud

LALIT Modi, the founder of the IPL, is set to launch a £1.5 million fraud claim against Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder who was last week found not guilty of perjury at Southwark Crown Court.

Modi was successfully sued by Cairns at the High Court in 2012, an action that stemmed from an infamous tweet two years earlier, in which he stated that Cairns had been omitted

from that year’s IPL draft due to his previous history of match-fixing in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League.

In the course of the High Court hearing, at the end of which Cairns was awarded £90,000 and Modi was ordered to pay costs of £1.4 million, Cairns stated that he had “never cheated at cricket and would never contemplate doing so”, words that formed the basis of

the Crown Prosecution’s perjury allegation.

Despite Cairns’ acquittal, new evidence came to light during the nine-week perjury trial, with both Brendon McCullum, the current New Zealand captain, and Lou Vincent, the former batsman, testifying in court that they had been approached by Cairns to fix matches.

A civil case requires a lower standard of proof than a criminal case and

LALIT MODI

SUNBURST / EBFA U-17

Soesdyke stun Agricola; Grove hammer Warriors, Mocha into semis SOESDYKE Falcons recorded the first real upset of the SUNBURST / East Bank Football Association (EBFA) Under-17 league on Saturday last when they upstaged Agricola Red Triangle 4-0, bouncing back from a 1-4 defeat to defending champs Grove Hi Tech one week earlier.

The Timehri based side gave themselves a chance to advance to the final four with the win. Mocha Champs defeated Diamond United 3-1 to book their place in the final four ending as the second placed team in Group A to the #1, Herstelling Raiders.

In the lone fixture last Sunday, Grove Hi-Tech continued their menacing form with a comprehensive 8-0 win over Kuru Kururu Warriors to almost seal their quest for the final four which will be contested next Saturday.

Falcons, whilst losing to Grove did show that they have a promising group of youngsters and rose to the challenge against Agricola in style. The first half of the encounter did not produce any goals as the two sides kept things tight in the defensive third.

It was not long into the second half of the one hour match that Soesdyke were able to break the deadlock.

Tyrone Khan it was that rocked the nets in the 33rd minute and four minutes later, Tevin Marshall doubled the advantage as Agricola started to fall apart.

The lead was further extended in the 50th minute when Deyonte Grant-Stuart found the target and the deal was settled five minutes

to full through a Nicholas Billeson, an effort which handed Soesdyke valuable points that can see them advancing to the final four but they will have to defeat Kuru Kururu Warriors in

their final game and the last group match on Sunday from 14:30 hrs.

Mocha Champs, onetime powerhouse in East Bank football is on a path to return to those days.

They took care of Diamond United 3-1 to advance to the semi-finals and will play the winner of Group B having ended as the runner-up of Group A. Deeshawn Ellis recorded Mocha’s opening goal in the 12th minute as the first half ended unchanged. Five minutes into the second, the lead was doubled, compliments of a William France goal while Ian Mars netted the final goal in the 58th minute.

Diamond was able to salvage some pride when Troy Forde found the back of the nets in the 52nd minute.

Grove was in a no nonsense mood in their clash with the Warriors which ended 8-0 matching the largest margin of victory to date which was achieved by the top team of

Latest Points Standings to date: Group A Club Played Won Draw Lost Herstelling 2 2 0 0 Mocha 2 1 0 1 Diamond 2 0 0 2 Group B Grove 2 2 0 0 Agricola 2 1 1 0 Soesdyke 2 1 1 0 KK Warriors 2 0 2 0

GF 10 3 1

GA 0 3 11

12 6 5 1

1 4 4 14

Group A, Herstelling Raiders against Diamond.

In rampaging form for the winners was Kevin Dalton who blasted a helmet-trick to become the leading goal scorer of the league to date with five goals. Dalton also has the distinction of scoring the fastest goal to date (22 seconds). He followed that up with goals in the 16th, 33rd and 58th minutes.

Dalton’s efforts were complimented by Denzil Crawford who scored a double while there was one each from Randy Smartt and Akel Forde. Grove will play their final group match tomorrow against Agricola Red Triangle which will also be the latter’s last match and a must-win one for them if they are to advance further.

GD Points +10 6 0 3 -10 0 +11 +2 +1 -13

6 3 3 0

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Saturday December 05, 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:

(1) Andy Ganteaume (WI) & Rodney Redmond (NZ) (2) Clive Lloyd

Today’s Quiz:

(1) What is the highest score made by a WI wicketkeeper in a Test innings?

(2) What is the highest score made by a WI wicketkeeper in an ODI innings?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

so, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph, Modi’s lawyers are seeking to overturn the original libel verdict and sue him instead for fraud.

Cairns would be required to appear in person, although neither McCullum nor Vincent would be expected to travel back to the UK as they both live outside the jurisdiction of the court.

Asked about the prospect of a further legal bat-

tle with Modi, Cairns told Newstalk ZB radio in New Zealand: “In the words of [Winston] Churchill, it is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end but the end of the beginning.

“I think a man with his means and his power, he lurks out there and I have to be very, very conscious of that. I will take stock and deal with that situation and, if it does come about, I will take it in my stride.” (ESPN Cricinfo)

GSA Farfan and Mendes Junior Christmas Team Tournament

Team Minions, Team Rising Stars Dominate

TEAM Minions and team Rising Stars were successful on the second night of the Farfan and Mendes Christmas team squash tournament at the Georgetown Club.

Team Minions swept seven games enroute to a demolition of their opponents team Bungatuffies, while team Rising Stars were equally dominant with seven wins over team “D”.

Gianni Carpenter was the sole victor for team “D” when he defeated Dominic Collins of Rising Stars in straight games.

Despite that loss Rebecca Low fought to a 3-2 win over Jael Gaskin to spare team Rising Stars any further blushes on the evening.

Georgiana Fernandes ensured team Bungatuffies had at least one victory as she beat Haley Carpenter (team Minions) 2-1, while Makeda Harding recovered well from a first game loss to Maya Collins to win 3-1, capping off a dominant night for team Minions, who have now beaten both their opponents.

The tournament is expected to conclude tomorrow.

Complete Results: Nyron Joseph beat Larissa Wiltshire 3-0 (11/9, 11/4, 13/11) Louis DaSilva beat Isabella Ramjohn 2-0 (11/5, 11/6) Mashal Allicock beat Teija Edwards 2-0 (15/13, 11/4) Nechemiyah Levans beat Mohryan Baksh 2-0 (11/6, 11/3) Gianni Carpenter beat Dominic Collins 3-0 (11/4, 11/9, 11/2) Michael Alphonso beat Madison Fernandes 3-1 (5/11, 11/7, 11/7, 11/4) Shomari Wiltshire beat Anthony Islam 3-0 (11/2, 11/4, 11/5) Rebecca Low beat Jael Gaskin 3-2 (11/6, 11/6, 6/11, 11/4) Ben Mekdeci beat Alec Melville 3-0 (11/2, 11/6, 11/2) Noah Rahaman beat Shiloh Asregado 2-0 (11/0, 11/5) Georgiana Fernandes beat Haley Carpenter 2-1 (9/11, 11/7, 11/8) Aliyah Persaud beat James Mekdeci 2-1 (8/11, 11/2, 11/4) Mikhail Persaud beat Beau Fernandes 2-0 (11/1, 11/6) Demetrius DeAbreu beat Kirsten Gomes 3-0 (11/7, 11/4, 11/0) Makeda Harding beat Maya Collins 3-1 (7/11, 11/7, 11/7, 11/2)

35

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday December 5, 2015

Fenty/Leacock retain Men’s Trophy Stall Doubles title

THE Trophy Stall Doubles Championship closed with nail biting matches with the best of the best squaring off for the title of Mixed Doubles Champion.

Daniel Lopes and Aretta Dey who have become a formidable force in this category after their recent decision to become partners had a battle in the first set of the finals.

Nicolas Glasgow and Nicola Ramdyhan outplayed them in the set and proved to be better in almost every department of their game and closed an easy set of 6-3.

However, the momentum shifted in the second set

Dey/Lopes finish year end season strong

Aretta Dey and Daniel Lopes

CGI inaugural Local Franchise League bowls off today THE inaugural Cricket Guy Inc. (CGI) Local Franchise League bowls off today with the first round of matches nationwide.

In an effort to widen the pool of players to select from, and to provide greater opportunities for local players, eight league teams have been set up across the country, namely: Upper Corentyne, Lower Corentyne/New Amserdam/Canje, West Berice, East Coast Georgetown, East Bank/Upper Demerara, West Demerara, and Essequibo.

All of which are assigned professional guest players.

Action between Upper Corentyne and East Coast Demerara franchises will be contested at the Enmore Community Centre ground; Georgetown versus Lower Corentyne/New Amsterdam/Canje at Albion Community Centre ground; West Berbice against Essequibo at Georgetown Cricket Club ground; and West Demerara versus East Bank Demerara/Upper Demerara at Wales Community Centre ground.

According to a release from CGI, the League seeks to uphold the highest professional standards, where players are committed to team goals and other task-related player development assignments. CGI has a set goal to catapult the competitive standard of the game locally to new and unassailable heights through this league.

It also seeks to model the cricket development methodology utilised by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Professional Cricket League, thereby widening the pool of players locally who can participate in a purposeful and meaningful career path.

VEERASAMMY PERMAUL Such a purposeful pathway, sees the Local Franchise League seeking to encourage talented and emerging players to utilise this professional arrangement as an effective career pathway, in which they can dedicate time to their game, be tutored under a proficient coaching education programme, be guided through a psychological development programme, be groomed under a vibrant mentorship system, and par-

ticipate in a highly competitive tournament – league, which attracts favourable payment packages for all players and coaches. The League is also staffed by remunerated Scorers, Match Referees, Umpires, and an Umpire `Coach.

Meanwhile, the Local Franchise League will feature the contracted and Academy players being assigned to the eight teams, with Upper Corentyne having the support of Devendra Bishoo, Anthony Bramble and Assad Fudadin; Lower Corentyne/ New Amsterdam/Canje featuring Veerasammy Permaul, Raun Johnson and Shimron Hetymer, while Keon Joseph, Kandasammy Surujnarine and Gudakesh Motie will turn out as professionals for West Berbice.

East Coast Demerara will include Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Paul Wintz, Rajendra Chandrika and Steven Sankar, while Georgetown will feature Leon Johnson, Christopher Barnwell, Raj Nanan and Kemol Savory as their professional guest players; East Bank/Upper Demerara have Robin Bacchus, Tevin Imlach, Dexter Solomon and Vishaul Singh; West Demerara will have Javon Searles, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Akshaya Persaud, Steven Jacobs and Kemo Paul, while Essequibo will feature Ronsford Beaton, Raymon Reifer, Kevon Boodie and Anthony Adams.

as Lopes/Dey took an early break of serve to move ahead 2-0. It appeared that that break was all they needed as they quickly settled and secured the second set 6-2.

Both teams held to open the pivotal set however breaks were traded. The will power and determination of Lopes and Dey gave an extra edge in the game as they etched another break to close the set at 6-4, crowning them this year’s Trophy Stall Mixed Doubles Champions.

The race to the semi-finals by Jason Andrews and Daniel Lopes in their inaugural partnership came

to an end as they were dispelled from the competition by the defending champions Nicholas Fenty and Leyland Leacock 6-4, 6-4.

Fenty/Leacock had an early break of serve and took a 5-2 lead. While the game appeared to be quickly slipping from the grasp of Andrews/Lopes, they held and immediately broke to go back on serve 5-4. Serving to stay in the set proved to be a tougher challenge for the pair which Fenty/Leacock took great advantage of by holding their nerves and broke again to secure the set.

Once again, Fenty/Leacock took an early break in the second set and was broken later in the set to go back on 4-3. Fenty, who held serve comfortably throughout the match found himself 15-40 down on his serve but he wasted no time in erasing break opportunities and secured the set at 6-4. Fenty/ Leacock then went unto the finals to face Harry Pandy and Anthony Downes. Unfortunately, one of their opponents had an emergency travel which gave the pair a walkover, crowning Fenty/Leacock as 2016 Men’s Doubles Champions.

West Indies on the brink of an innings defeat JASON Holder’s West Indies are staring humiliating defeat in the face after three days of their opening tour match against a Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane.

The visitors are 7 for 125, still needing another 76 runs to make the modest CA XI bat again, six of whose members are making their first-class debuts, while only Jordan Silk (his 22nd match) and Cameron Boyce (45th) have played more than 10 fixtures apiece.

After resuming at 4 for 245, the CA XI progressed to 444 thanks to solid con-

tributions by Jimmy Peirson (64), Matthew Short (76), and James Bazley (50), before the tail wagged via the blades of Tom Andrews (33) and Boyce (32).

In addition to claiming four wickets, Holder was the only West Indian to concede fewer than four runs an over on the smallish Allan Border Field. Then, and not for the first time, he was as his side’s only prospect of forcing the hosts to bat again on the final day.

Holder was stranded on an unbeaten 26 after the top order melted away

JASON HOLDER in disconcerting fashion.

Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels could manage just 26 runs between them.(ESPN Cricinfo).

Current Windies crop lack fire

COURTNEY WALSH

WEST Indies fast-bowling legend Courtney Walsh believes the major issue facing regional cricket these days is a lack of passion.

The paltry results of the modern team stand in stark contrast to some of the legendary teams Walsh would have been part of, a unit that dominated world cricket for almost 20 years.

“We have to try to rekindle that passion and that pride. I don’t think there’s anything else wrong with what we’re doing. We just have to have a little more passion and pride and thinking about what we have to do,” Walsh said.

Walsh isn’t the first to believe that players of his era played more with the maroon jersey in mind, some believing that the lure of the Twenty20 game has added to many problems, with many accused of preferring money over regional pride.

“If you’re thinking about the under 19 guys or the Under 15 guys, they’re ­competing very well but when we seem to lose it’s at the age of 21 to 25. We lose a little in that t­ ransition there. That’s what we need to focus on more and ­toughen them up.” (Sportsmax.com)

Sport CHRONICLE

Uthman Mohammad raises his bat after reaching a half-century on debut. (WICB Media/ Ashley Allen.

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

Medium-pacer Chris Barnwell celebrates taking his fifth wicket at the Queen’s Park Oval Yesterday

By Brij Parasnath in Trinidad & Tobago DEBUTANT fast bowler Uthman Muhammad featured prominently with the bat and together with Marlon Richards fought a brilliant rear-guard battle to give the T&T Red Force

the initiative at the end of the first day of the WICB PCL Fourth Round match against reigning champion and current leader Guyana Jaguars at the famous Queen’s Park Oval yesterday.

In the rain-affected day, medium pacer Christopher

Red Force fight back after Barnwell’s five for 32

Barnwell, who returned to the team’s starting eleven after missing out on the action in the previous round against Barbados Pride because of a niggling back injury; provided the Guyana Jaguars with the right impetus to strive for outright victory and maintain their unbeaten streak that has

and a decision would be made next week on whether to suspend him,” the source said.

The coach has been asked to give a written response following which deliberation on the way forward would begin. The source added that both the GBBC and the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association are bent on stamping out indiscipline in the sport.

‘The plan is to make it known that no one is above the sport be it administrator, coach or boxer. Anyone found in breach will be dealt with condignly,” the source said.

The October 24th fight ended in controversy after Atwell, who was well ahead

also bettered the previous highest ninth wicket stand of 82 between Joseph Rogers (51) and CR Smith (62) for Trinidad against British Guiana at the same venue in 1910. They, however, missed out on the ground’s First Class record of 112 which was set by Barnwell (65*) and Veerasammy Permaul (50*) during their PCL encounter last year.

Barnwell finished with excellent figures of 12-4-325 after he put the skids on the Red Force top order and prised out Yannic Cariah, caught by Hetmyer at third slip for 6; Kyle Hope LBW for 11, Narsingh Deonarine, caught by Leon Johnson at third slip for 9 and Imran Khan, caught by Shivnarine Chanderpaul at mid-on, for 10.

WICB regional firstclass season aggregate record-holder Permaul grabbed three for 59 while new-ball bowlers Raymon Reifer and Ronsford Beaton took one each.

Kobe would love to play at Rio Games, fitness permitting

Boxing coach in hot water with GBBC A local boxing coach could be in hot water for his behaviour during the Clive Atwell/Dexter Gonsalves lightweight championship fight held on October 24 at the Giftland Mall.

A usually reliable source told the Chronicle Sport that the coach was on Thursday summoned in front of the Disciplinary Committee of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control to explain his behaviour during the Atwell/ Gonsalves fight which was won by the latter.

“The board is of the belief that this particular coach acted in a way that was indicative of disrespect for the sport. He was called in by the professional board

lasted over ten matches.

In his 38th first-class match, the 28-year-old Barnwell collected his third career five-wicket haul and left the T&T Red Force tottering at 102 for 8 after 42.3 overs.

But newcomer Muhammad joined Guyanese-born Richards and they attacked

the bowlers and established a new first-class ninth-wicket partnership against Guyana when they added 108 vital runs before both were dismissed for 53 a-piece.

T&T Red Force first innings ended at 210 while Guyana Jaguars closed the day at 9 without loss with openers Asad Fudadin (2*) and Shimron Hetmyer (7*) set to resume the battle today with all hopes of overhauling the homesters’ total and securing a decent first innings lead.

Muhammad stole the spotlight with his belligerent stroke play and slammed two huge sixes and six fours off 116 balls faced while Richards struck three fours off 126 balls. Their 82-minute partnership bettered the previous best ninth-wicket stand of 67 between Raphick Jumadeen (40) and Alec Burns (31*) for Trinidad and Tobago against Guyana at the QP Oval in 1979.

The Richards/Muhammad 108-run partnership

See story on page 31

CLIVE ATWELL on the judges score sheets fell to the ground claiming an injury to his leg. Unable to continue, the fight was awarded to Gonsalves.

Atwell has since undergone surgery to rectify massive intracranial hemorrhage and general swelling to the brain which according to one medical practitioner could signal the end to the boxer’s career.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) drives to the basket against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half at Wells Fargo Center

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2015