Guyana chronicle 03 03 14

GUYANA No. 103756

MONDAY MARCH 3, 2014

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

GUYANA’S MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED NEWSPAPER

President upbeat about progress of expansion works on East Bank Road, CJIA –following yesterday’s

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inspection of both projects

President Donald Ramotar (fourth right); Minister of Public Works, Mr Robeson Benn (second left); Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh (second right) and several engineers at Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara, where workers are currently driving piles for the construction of a bridge

AG gives Kaieteur News 24 hours to 3 apologise or face legal action

Three caught red-handed!

–during armed robbery at businesswoman’s home

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–for making false charges against him just to sully his character

Gov’t flays Kaieteur News over depraved obsession Page 6 with former President Jagdeo –charges it’s ‘the greatest disservice’ ever done to a leader as selfless as he

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Two of the three bandits in the police pick-up yesterday

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

President upbeat about progress of expansion works on East Bank Road, CJIA –following yesterday’s inspection of both projects

President Donald Ramotar looks on as Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn does a quick test of the soil at the airport

PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar has expressed satisfaction with the progress being made on the East Bank Demerara four-lane road, and the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) following a visit yesterday to both projects.

He was accompanied by Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, and several engineers.

After he and his team had inspected three segments of the East Bank road expansion project, namely at Mocha, Little Diamond and Diamond New Scheme, President Ramotar said he was satisfied with the way things were heading so far.

Speaking to the Government Information Agency (GINA) at the CJIA, the President noted that the new-look airport will bring Guyana up to world-class standards, which is very important for the country. This project is expected to meet its deadline of August 2015 as works are scheduled to commence on several aspects of the building during the course of this year. The East Bank four-lane expansion has a June deadline.

Meanwhile, Minister Benn explained that there were some delays with the East Bank Road expansion, due to several factors, including inclement weather, supply of road materials, and the removal of utilities. He noted now that the weather has improved, works are progressing, and the latest completion date is June month-end.

CJIA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ramesh Ghir said the airport expansion project is proceeding as planned, and the contractor is currently carrying out excavation work at the end of the runway.

Ghir further said that excavation and back-filling works have started on a test section of the runway, which is about 10 per cent of the runway extension, and that that in itself is about 70% complete.

“We anticipate that in a few months, we will begin the designs for the terminal building and start construction works on that building,” Ghir said.

The US$150M project is funded by the Government of China, through the Chinese Exim Bank. The expansion will cater for a new terminal building with eight boarding bridges, elevators and CCTV. The runway will be extended by 3,500 feet, and there will be eight international parking positions. (GINA)

President Donald Ramotar, Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn and Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh at the Diamond end of the four-lane road, where some level of work has been completed

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

AG gives Kaieteur News 24 hours to apologise or face legal action –for making false charges against him just to sully his character

THE following is the full text of a letter sent to Kaieteur News Editor, Mr Adam Harris, by Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr Anil Nandlall, through his attorney yesterday, demanding that he either retracts the damning accusations and apologise for making them in the first instance, or stand ready to face legal proceedings.

Re: Proposed legal proceedings I act on behalf of Mr. Mohabir Anil Nandlall, Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs and Member of Parliament.

I am instructed that on Friday, the 28th day of February, 2014, the Kaieteur News column titled, ‘Dem boys seh’ bore the caption ‘Tax dollars going to Sleep-In’.

The article, inter alia, refers to an MR ANIL NANDLALL event of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, ‘Publication of the Revised Laws of Guyana (2014)’ hosted at SleepIn International Hotel, Brickdam, Georgetown. The article further refers to the friendship between my client and the owner of

that establishment, and alleges that taxpayers’ dollars is [sic] being improperly used to fund that event.

I am instructed that as a result thereof, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Legal Affairs wrote to you, explaining in very clear language, that the decision to host the event at that establishment was exclusively hers, and that that decision was motivated by the singular consideration that the facility was offered to the Ministry of Legal Affairs for that event, free of cost. You published the said letter in the edition of Saturday, 1st March, 2014.

Notwithstanding the publication of that letter, and inspired, presumably, by malice, you published another article in the said ‘Dem boys seh’ column, bearing the bold caption, ‘Ah Kneel deh pun a hustle’, in the Sunday, March 2, 2014, edition of the MR ADAM HARRIS Kaieteur News, again, clearly referring to my client. In the said article, the libel published is of greater elaboration and gravity.

Both of these articles used words, which, in their natural and or-

dinary meaning, meant, and were understood to mean, that my client: 1. dishonestly and intentionally used taxpayers’ dollars; 2. instructed the Permanent Secretary to lie as a cover up; 3. is corrupt; 4. stole and is stealing taxpayers’ dollars; 5. has committed a criminal offence or several criminal offences; and 6. is unfit to hold the office of Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and a seat as a Member of Parliament; Please be informed the aforesaid publications are indisputably libellous, and have caused my client great public ridicule, odium, contempt, embarrassment, humiliation, both locally and internationally, and have caused disparage to the offices of Attorney-General, Minister of Legal Affairs and Member of Parliament, which he holds.

In the circumstances, I am instructed to demand, as I hereby do, that you publish a retraction of the libellous statements of and concerning my client, along with an unreserved apology, giving same equal or greater prominence than that enjoyed by the libellous statements within 24 (twenty-four) hours from the date hereof. If you fail to do so, I have instructions to institute legal proceedings against you and the publisher of the Kaieteur News.

I hope that good sense prevails.

SASE R. GUNRAJ ATTORNEY-AT-LAW

Wakapao miner relates near-death experience at Puruni

By Shirley Thomas THIRTY-two-year-old gold miner Ulric Rodrigues of

Wakapao, Pomeroon River, suffered a broken leg while working in a mining pit, but considers himself lucky to

be alive.

He said that two Mondays ago, he was ‘jet hosing’ in a mining pit when a huge por-

Ulric Rodrigues is lying in a bed at the GPHC with his broken leg.

tion of the walls broke away and came crashing down on him. He said he was covered from the waist down with heavy, wet mud until his colleagues were able to extricate him from the pit.

In his own words, he said: “I was at Puruni, Region 7, doing ‘jet mark’ work; and as I moved the hose along the wall, the force of the water caused the mud to suddenly cave in on me and cover me from about my waist down.

My workmates – about five of them -- ran to my rescue and got me out.

“When they tried to lift me and I began feeling the pain, that was when I realized that my leg (was broken) break,” he recounted.

Rodrigues said his colleagues placed him into an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and transported him to Bartica

Father of motorcyclist in Embankment Road accident thanks strangers for rendering help

By Shirley Thomas TWO weeks after losing his left leg and suffering a fractured left hand in an accident on the Sophia Embankment Road, 28-yearold motor cyclist Joel Karan remains warded at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

He is evidently experiencing pain, and even though his spirit seems low, he says he is eternally grateful to the Creator for sparing his life.

Tragedy struck on the evening of February 15 when, as he was riding out of a cross Street in Sophia onto the Sophia Embankment Road, his motor cycle collided with a motor car and he was severely injured. So serious were his injuries that doctors were forced to amputate his left

leg. However, his left arm, though fractured, is recovering slowly.

His father, Samlal Karan, recalls that Joel, a painter living at Dr. Miller Street, Triumph, ECD, had left home earlier in the afternoon to get a haircut; but while out on the road, he decided to visit a colleague who lives at Sophia. He was apparently heading home when the accident occurred.

The elder Karan expressed gratitude to persons for coming to Joel’s rescue. He recalled, “When he (Joel) get knocked down, four negro fellows in the area at the time rushed and picked him up and put him in a vehicle and took him to the hospital.

“I don’t know these people, but I am really, really thankful to them for helping out my son so he could get medical treatment.

They took him to hospital,” the elder Karan said forlornly.

Hospital; but it was a rough ride, and each time the vehicle jerked, the pain intensified. His left leg was broken below the knee.

Although he has been injured on the job and hospitalized for two weeks, his ‘boss man’, known as ‘Rats’, who lives at Second Avenue, Bartica, has virtually abandoned him, he said. Whatever cash he had is virtually exhausted, and his mother, who lives at Wakapao, Pomeroon River, does not have the wherewithal to travel to the city to be of

help to him.

Rodrigues is hoping his ‘boss man’ would ‘have a heart’ and put systems in place so he could be financed during his illness.

He anticipates being unable to work for at least another eight months.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

Ukraine mobilises after Putin’s ‘declaration of war’

By Natalia Zinets and Alissa de Carbonnel

KIEV/BALACLAVA, Ukraine -(Reuters) - Ukraine mobilized for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically, after President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbour in Moscow’s biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War. “This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, head of a pro-Western government that took power when Russian ally Viktor Yanukovich fled last week, said in English.

Putin secured permission from his parliament on Saturday to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine and told U.S. President Barack Obama he had the right to defend Russian interests and nationals, spurning Western pleas not to intervene.

Russian forces have already bloodlessly seized Crimea - an isolated Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has a naval base.

Yesterday they surrounded several small Ukrainian military outposts there and demanded the Ukrainian troops disarm. Some refused, leading to standoffs, although no shots were fired.

All eyes are now on whether Russia makes a military move in predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow demonstrators have marched and raised Russian flags over public buildings in several cities in the last two days.

Russia has staged war games with 150,000 troops along the land border, but so far they have not crossed. Kiev says Moscow is orchestrating the protests to justify a wider invasion.

Ukraine’s security council ordered the general staff to immediately put all armed forces on highest alert. However, Kiev’s small and underequipped military is seen as no match for Russia’s superpower might.

The Defence Ministry was ordered to stage a call-up of reserves - theoretically all men up to 40 in a country with universal male conscription, though Ukraine would struggle to find extra guns or uniforms for sig-

nificant numbers of them.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned Russia for what he called an “incredible act of aggression” and threatened “very serious repercussions”.

“You don’t just, in the 21st century, behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on a completely trumped-up pretext,” Kerry told CBS program Face the Nation.

Kerry said Moscow still had a “right set of choices” to defuse the crisis. Otherwise, G8 countries and other nations were prepared to “to go to the hilt to isolate Russia”.

“They are prepared to isolate Russia economically. The rouble is already going down.

Russia has major economic challenges,” he said. He mentioned visa bans, asset freezes and trade isolation as possible steps. A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment after Kerry’s remarks.

the nation, we will go and defend the nation,” said Oleh, an advertising executive cooking over an open fire at the square where he has been camped for three months. “If Putin wants to take Ukraine for himself, he will fail. We want to live freely and we will live freely.”

The new government announced it had fired the head of the navy and launched a treason case against him for surrendering Ukraine’s naval headquarters to Russian forces in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, where Moscow has a major naval base.

With Russian forces in control of majority ethnic Russian Crimea, the focus is shifting to eastern swathes of Ukraine, where most ethnic Ukrainians speak Russian as a native language.

Those areas saw more demonstrations on Sunday after violent protests on Saturday, and

new leaders, who took over after Yanukovich fled huge protests against his repression and rejection of a trade deal with the European Union.

Ukraine, which says it has no intention of threatening Russian speakers, has appealed for help to NATO, and directly to Britain and the United States, as co-signatories with Moscow to a 1994 accord guaranteeing Ukraine’s security.

NATO ambassadors met in Brussels to discuss next steps.

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen accused Russia of threatening peace and security in Europe.

SYMBOLIC RESPONSE Washington has proposed sending monitors to Ukraine under the flags of the United Nations or Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, where Moscow has a veto.

So far, the Western response

Military personnel, believed to be Russian servicemen, stand guard outside the territory of a Ukrainian military unit, with a Ukrainian serviceman (top R) seen in the background. (REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko) Ukraine’s envoy to the United Nations said Kiev would ask for international military support if Russia expanded its military action in his country.

THREAT TO EASTERN UKRAINE At Kiev’s Independence Square, where anti-Yanukovich protesters had camped out for months, thousands demonstrated against Russian military action. Speakers delivered rousing orations and placards read: “Putin, hands off Ukraine!”

“If there is a need to protect

for a second day pro-Moscow activists hoisted flags at government buildings and called for Russia to defend them. Kiev said Russia had sent hundreds of its citizens across the border to stage the protests.

Obama spoke to Putin for 90 minutes by telephone on Saturday after the Russian leader declared he had the right to intervene and quickly secured a unanimous yes vote from his parliament.

The Kremlin said Putin told Obama Russian speakers were under threat from Ukraine’s

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has been largely symbolic.

Obama and others suspended preparations for a G8 summit in Sochi, where Putin has just finished staging his $50 billion winter Olympic games. Some countries recalled ambassadors.

Britain said its ministers would stay away from the Paralympics due next in Sochi.

Britain’s International Institute of Strategic Studies estimates Kiev has fewer than 130,000 troops under arms, with planes barely ready to fly and few spare parts for a single submarine.

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

Russia, by contrast, has spent billions under Putin to upgrade and modernize the capabilities of forces that were dilapidated after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Moscow’s special units are now seen as equals of the best in the world.

In Crimea, Ukraine’s tiny contingent made no attempt to oppose the Russians, who bore no insignia on their uniforms but drove vehicles with Russian plates and seized government buildings, airports and other locations in the past three days.

Kiev said its troops were encircled in at least three places.

It pulled its coast guard vessels out of Crimean ports. Ukraine said its naval fleet’s 10 ships were still in Sevastopol and remained loyal to Kiev.

Scores of Russian troops with no insignia were camped outside a base of Ukrainian troops at Perevalnoye, on a road from Crimea’s capital Simferopol towards the coast.

A representative of the base commander said troops on both sides had reached agreement so no blood would be shed.

“We are ready to protect the grounds and our military equipment,” Valery Boiko told Reuters television. “We hope for a compromise to be reached, a decision, and as the commander has said, there will be no war.”

Igor Mamchev, a Ukrainian navy colonel at another small base outside Simferopol, told Ukraine’s Channel 5 TV that a truckload of Russian troops had arrived at his checkpoint and told his forces to lay down their arms.

“I replied that, as I am a member of the armed forces of Ukraine, under orders of the Ukrainian navy, there could be no discussion of disarmament.

In case of any attempt to enter the military base, we will use all means, up to lethal force.”

A unit of Ukrainian marines was also holed up in a base in the Crimean port of Feodosia, where they refused to disarm.

Elsewhere on the occupied peninsula, the Russian troops

assumed a lower profile on Sunday after the pro-Moscow Crimean leader said overnight that the situation was now “normalized”.

Putin’s justification - the need to protect Russian citizens - was the same as he used to launch a 2008 invasion of Georgia, where Russian forces seized two breakaway regions.

In Russia, state controlled media portray Yanukovich’s removal as a coup by dangerous extremists funded by the West and there has been little sign of dissent with that line.

PROTESTS IN EAST Pro-Moscow demonstrators flew Russian flags on Saturday and Sunday at government buildings in cities including Kharkiv, Donetsk, Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk. In places they clashed with anti-Russian protesters and guards defending the buildings.

Ukrainian parliamentarian Hrygory Nemyriya, a spokesman to foreign journalists for the new authorities, said the pro-Moscow marchers were sent from Russia.

The worst violence took place in Kharkiv, where scores of people were hurt on Saturday when thousands of pro-Russian activists, some brandishing axe handles and chains, stormed the regional government and fought pitched battles with a smaller number of supporters of Ukraine’s new authorities.

In Donetsk, Yanukovich’s home city, the local government building was flying the Russian flag for the second day on Sunday. The local authorities have called for a referendum on the region’s status, a move Kiev says is illegal. A pro-Russian “self-defence” unit held a second day of protest, attracting about 1,000 demonstrators carrying Russian flags.

Ludmila Petrova, 35, described the new authorities in Kiev as “slaves of the European Union” and said she favoured Putin’s declaration of the right to intervene.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

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Senior UN official calls for Haiti cholera compensation

A senior United Nations official has broken ranks with his organisation and called for “full compensation” for the victims of a cholera epidemic in Haiti.

Gustavo Gallon, the UN’s top human rights officer in Haiti, also said in his report

that “those responsible” for the outbreak should be punished.

It is the first such call by a representative of the UN, which has so far rejected compensation claims.

Evidence suggests UN peacekeepers introduced cholera to Haiti in 2010.

The outbreak - which has killed more than 8,300 people and infected hundreds of thousands - has been blamed on leaking sewage pipes at a UN base.

The UN has never acknowledged responsibility for the epidemic, arguing that it is

More than 600,000 people are thought to have been infected since 2010

Freed Cuban spy Fernando Gonzalez gets hero’s welcome A Cuban spy released from US jail after serving a 15-year sentence has received a hero’s welcome on his return home.

Fernando Gonzalez landed on Friday in the capital, Havana, where he was greeted by Cuban President Raul Castro.

State TV interrupted its programming to announce the arrival of “the hero”.

Gonzalez is the second of a group of agents known as the Cuban Five to be freed.

They were convicted in 2001 on charges including conspiracy.

Prosecutors said the five had sought to infiltrate US military bases and spied on Cuban exiles in Florida.

‘UNJUST SENTENCE’ “The hero of the Republic of Cuba and anti-terrorist fighter, Fernando Gonzalez, arrived in our country after completing a long and unjust sentence,” state TV announced in a special broadcast on Friday.

The channel showed Presi-

dent Castro saluting Gonzalez at the Havana airport before giving him a long hug. Gonzalez’s wife and mother were also present.

In brief remarks to the press, the freed spy thanked Cubans for their support and expressed gratitude for his return.

“It’s a happiness that is difficult to describe,” he said, adding that “a piece is still missing”, referring to the three Cuban agents who remain in US prison.

Since their conviction, the men have been at the centre of a vociferous campaign by the Cuban government to free them.

Fernando Gonzalez, 54, was arrested in 1998 along with Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero and Rene Gonzalez.

Cuba has always maintained they posed no threat to the United States as they were only monitoring anti-communist exiles in Florida with the aim of preventing attacks by exiles on the communist-run island.

Fernando Gonzalez was originally sentenced to 19 years but his jail term was later reduced. At the time of his release in the early hours of Wednesday he had served more than 15 years in prison.

He is the second of the group to be freed after the release in 2011 of Renee Gonzalez, who has been campaigning for the release of his fellow detainees since his return to Cuba.

Antonio Guerrero is set to be released in September 2017, while Labanino’s release is due in October 2024.

Hernandez, the third of the group still in prison, is serving a double life sentence as he was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder over the shooting down in 1996 of two planes flown by a Cuban exile group, Brothers to the Rescue.

The case of the Cuban Five has long been a source of tension between the US and Cuba. (BBC News)

Fernando Gonzalez stands surrounded by his wife (2nd left) and relatives at Havana airport

impossible to pinpoint the exact source of the disease.

The organisation says it has legal immunity from a lawsuit filed for Haitian victims at a New York court last year.

‘HUMAN ACTION’ BLAMED Mr Gallon made the comments in a report on the human rights situation in Haiti.

“The diplomatic difficulties around this question have to be resolved to stop the epidemic as soon possible and pay full compensation for suffering experienced,” he wrote.

“It is advisable to shed light on what really happened and to punish those responsible, whoever they may be.”

Mr Gallon said the UN “should be the first to honour” the principle of compensation for victims of human rights violations.

He added that “silence is the worst of responses” to a “catastrophe caused by human action”.

BBC international development correspondent Mark Doyle says the report has once again exposed what is an unprecedented legal and moral crisis for the UN, It is not yet clear how Mr Gallon’s remarks may affect the ongoing lawsuit in the US, our

correspondent adds.

Lawyers for the victims are demanding compensation of $100,000 (£62,000) for every person who died and $50,000 for each of those who became ill.

But the UN argues it is immune from such claims under its Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN. No cases of the bacterial in-

fection, which causes diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and muscle cramps, had been recorded in Haiti for a century until the outbreak in late 2010.

Cholera is spread through infected faeces. Once it enters the water supply it is difficult to stop - especially in a country like Haiti which has almost no effective sewage disposal systems.

Thousands in Guatemala facing evacuation as Pacaya volcano erupts

A volcano has erupted in Guatemala, prompting the authorities to consider the evacuation of some 3,000 people living in the area.

The Pacaya volcano began spewing ash and lava after a powerful explosion on Saturday afternoon.

New explosions were seen on Sunday, with ash clouds reaching a height or at least 4km (3 miles).

Flights have been diverted from the area, some 50km (30 miles) south of the capital, Guatemala City.

The Pacaya is one of three active volcanoes in the Central American nation. The other two are the Fuego and the Santa Maria.

“We are assessing with the National Disaster Management Centre (Conred) whether we will need to evacuate the 3,000 people who live in the villages of El Rodeo and Patrocinio,” said the Pacaya National Park director, Humberto Morales.

“Access to the areas around the volcano has been suspended,” he told the Prensa Libre newspaper.

The Guatemalan authorities have issued an amber alert, the third highest. It means people must remain alert and be prepared to leave the area at short notice.(BBC News)

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GUYANA

EDITORIAL

Public-private partnerships and youth, community development

WHEN newly elected Executive President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan assumed office in 1992, the social, economic, and physical infrastructures were completely devastated, and this stymied the government’s thrust to empower vulnerable communities.

As a result, many successful interventions to assist depressed communities -- especially Albouystown, Tiger Bay, and Agricola -- were undertaken by the government, with support from primarily the private sector and the Guyana Police Force under then Commissioner, Mr. Laurie Lewis, with various arms of the State providing assistance wherever it was possible. Many of those programmes have subsequently become integral to the government’s social development drive.

One of those successful collaborative programmes has assumed a synergy that has evolved to envelop communities on a national scale, and it all began with a simple request from then Chairman of the True Vision Foundation in Albouystown, Mr. Randolph Thorne, for Dr. Jagan to help his badly depressed, problem-prone community out of the morass of criminality, depression and hopelessness into which it had it sunk over decades of neglect.

Dr. Jagan delegated ‘Dollar-a-Year’ PR adviser, Mr. Vic Insanally, who had put all the resources of his business agency, GuyEnterprise, to help with the restorative process of the country.

Vic’s immense standing in the business community was exploited to the fullest, and the response by the private sector was immediate and satisfactory.

But two programmes that have been sustained began in Albouystown and Tiger Bay (Rosemary Lane). Tony Amres, of Readymix Concrete Ltd, did an initial survey of the situation in Albouystown. What he discovered was that even on the hottest of days, many sections of the community remained under water, with faeces and garbage swirling around stairways. Young people congregated and planned destructive things, because there was no outlet for their energies; and the poverty was stark and searing.

The canal on ‘The Boulevard’ had been filled in by a myopic PNC administration, and the Sussex Street canal was so clogged up that persons and animals could comfortably traverse its width without being bogged down.

The Sussex Street koker had been defunct for many years, thus the silting up of the channel made it absolutely impossible to open the sluice door. In addition, there was a fish-processing complex built on the government reserves immediately next to the sluice, so it was impossible to get machinery close enough to dig the channel.

A Guyenterprise representative spearheaded a team, which strategized on ways to address all the burning issues that needed immediate redress. Then, the Ministry of Local Government sent a backhoe to clear the Sussex Street canal. Toolsie Persaud Ltd undertook to clear all the sections that the backhoe could not reach, right up to the koker. And Mr Tony Amres prevailed upon Eddie Vieira, of EC Investments Ltd, to load a hymac onto a pontoon to dredge the outfall, while then Public Works Minister, Mr Tony

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

Gov’t flays Kaieteur News over depraved obsession with former President --charges it’s ‘the greatest disservice’ Jagdeo ever done to a leader as selfless as he THE Government Information Agency (GINA) has noted the recent report published by the Kaieteur News relative to the illness of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, and can only describe same as yet another prime example of this publishing house’s continuous obsession with this outstanding Guyanese leader, who has become a target for personal vilification and scurrilous attacks.

In an article on February 24, 2014, captioned, “Jagdeo air-dashed to Florida”, Kaieteur News again gave another abysmal display of unethical and unprofessional journalism, with its inevitable strategy of misrepresentation, and attempt at misleading. This is best described as insensitive and inhumane, to report on the illness of someone, and at the same time attacking their character.

As in the case of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, the Kaieteur News has demonstrated gross disrespect for his condition, while subtly attacking his stewardship, as the paper, in the said article, mentioned that the President was mired in controversial projects.

Decency would have dictated a courteous ‘get-well’ from any professional publication that understands the meaning of protocol, and what ethical reporting is all about. Instead, the publishing house has chosen a most delicate period for another lurid display of dishonesty in its attempt at misleading the public into believing that the four projects mentioned are all that the Jagdeo administration has ever implemented with regard to Guyana’s development. In essence, what this private, daily print has attempted to do is to narrow the former president’s contribution to Guyana’s internationally lauded economic success.

In keeping with the mandate of the PPP/C-led administration to modernize Guyana and provide a better life for its people, Jagdeo’s tenure saw an unfolding of a plethora of socio-economic projects that have irrevocably laid the platform for, thereby setting into motion, the transformative process that is so evident throughout Guyana.

Led by this visionary former President, Guyana rose from a State that was once the ‘eye-pass’ among its sister CARICOM island member states, where Guyanese were painfully disrespected, and the country a virtual pariah in the international community, to one that has been lauded by all the multilateral financial agencies, basking in their fulsome praises for what they have all described as responsible fiscal management of the local economy by the PPP/C government.

The attack by the Kaieteur News on the former President is not only akin to the greatest disservice that could ever have been done to a leader who must be credited for his selfless devotion to making Guyana what it is today – a middle-income state-but a demonstration of the publisher’s relentless personal vendetta. In toto, the remake of Guyana must be credited in many ways to President Jagdeo, and the following projects stand as a monument to his vision for a modern State, underpinned by the Information Technological revolution that is emerging in all spheres of national life: *The gradual modernization of the country’s state health system that has resulted in the building of infrastructure such as hospitals, inclusive of four state-of-the-art diagnostic centres, new in-patient facilities at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, newly established departments for cardiology and kidney surgical procedures and dialysis, cancer treatment, burns, diabetic foot treatment, health centres, and numerous training programmes for post-graduate medicine and upgrading of medical skills. *The construction of numerous schools, upgrading of teacher

training that now includes teachers from the hinterland; and, other programmes, notably the free uniform and school-feeding initiatives, and the Hinterland Scholarship Programme that have resulted in an improved delivery of education throughout the nation’s classrooms. *The University of Guyana, Tain Campus *The Hinterland Development programmes that are transforming the Hinterland communities into self-sustaining socio-economic units. * The National Stadium *The National Aquatic Centre *The Guyana International Conference Centre *The re-building of Guyana’s international image *The realization of the dream of the Berbice Bridge *The upgrade of major roadways, culverts and bridges *The fibre-optic cable project that is intended to revolutionize the telecommunications sector *The innovative programme of distributing 90,000 laptops to low-income families, coupled with the installation of a computer laboratory in every school. *The internationally acclaimed Low Carbon Development Strategy with its accent on development of a green economy, and its development components for Amerindian communities. *The on-going Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion FORMER PRESIDENT Project DR BHARRAT JAGDEO *The Amaila Falls Hydro Project, that when actualized will completely transform Guyana, both socially and economically. * The proposed Specialty Hospital A pivotal factor that has been indisputably responsible for the sustained economic development and growth of Guyana has been the prudent management of its fiscal affairs that has been concomitant with its socio-economic development policies. This astute policy has been responsible for the insulation of Guyana from the severe economic consequences of the international financial meltdown, which effects are still evident, both regionally and internationally.

Only recently, the President of the Caribbean Development Bank(CDB), Dr William Warren Smith had this to say: “Guyana is a good example of a country that has done some of the right things …They have come a very, very long distance in terms of their fiscal situation. They have been responsible in terms of addressing it…Generally; there is a lot of vibrancy in the Guyanese economy. Just by casual observation, one can see that there is a lot of construction that is taking place in the country…you can almost see the country changing in front of your eyes, and so is just a casual indication of the extent to which economic activity

Xavier bought tools and paid a labour force from the community to clean the drains and streets in their environs.

The objectives of the project were multi-pronged. Residents of the community were provided employment, while the community itself was cleansed of decades of filth. During that exercise, it was discovered that Albouystown has probably the best drainage system in the city. Also, for the first time in decades, Albouystown became completely dry on sunny days. Pride slowly returned to the community, and residents began cleaning their yards and personal spaces, including their parapets.

The filled-in canal on ‘The Boulevard’, popularly called ‘PuntTrench Dam’, had become a mountainous garbage dump, from one end to the other. Tony Xavier sent in equipment, and members of the private sector provided trucks to haul away the garbage, after which Tony Amres covered the length of ‘The Boulevard’ with sand, which provided the youths of the community with a practice area for sports; the children a play area; and the entire community with wholesome recreational space.

For the first time in history, Albouystown held a massive 24-hour family affair to celebrate Mashramani, with then Prime Minister Janet Jagan an honoured visitor. Street football tournaments and boxing matches returned to their former glory days in the community. All these activities were collaborative endeavours among the private sector, the Police Force, the communities and the government.

Similarly, on a lesser scale, but just as effective in nurturing children and a community, is the Rosemary Lane (Tiger Bay) project initiated by Guyenterprise, the private sector, and then Police Commissioner Laurie Lewis, with the police being the facilitators.

Today, it still remains a vibrant programme which has indubita-

bly saved many young persons from that depressed community following wrong pathways, and leading them towards pursuing productive lives.

Young school drop-outs of depressed communities were also afforded the opportunity to learn skills and garner experience in various disciplines by several business houses, and today, many of those once aimless young people have become valued and loyal members of staff of those business entities, plying their respective trades in various areas of expertise.

The Board of Industrial Training (BIT) was established in 1910 under the Industrial Training Act, Chapter 39:04, Laws of Guyana.

At the time of its promulgation, the Act was described thus: “An Act to provide for the promotion of Industrial Training”. As such, the focus of BIT was formal Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as it relates to apprenticeship within the industrial sector.

These apprenticeship programmes have four-year duration, with provisions made for shortened two-year programmes in special cases where the applicant would have had previous technical training.

Training is offered in various engineering fields, such aspects as mechanical, electrical and building construction with funding sometimes provided through collaboration with the private sector and other non governmental agencies.

The President’s Youth Choice Initiative, established by former President Bharrat Jagdeo and many ‘Techvoc’ and other youth education and empowerment programmes are also contributory efforts through public-private partnerships to give youths of the nation the right direction in charting pathways to a progressive future, bright with promise for individuals, communities and the country in general.

(PLEASE SEE PAGE 7)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

7

Gov’t flays Kaieteur News over depraved obsession with ...

(FROM PAGE 6) is vibrant and buoyant in that country”.

Obviously, this is an independent assessment of the nation’s economic growth and development. Such comments could have only been made because of the numerous growth and development initiatives of the former President over time and which has continued under the astute stewardship of President Donald Ramotar.

No country that is serious about advancing its development process to modernization status will implement miniscule programmes of a piecemeal nature, for such will not usher in the development socio-economic revolution necessary for the qualitative changes in the lives of its citizens. The highly successful housing programme which has afforded tens of thousands of Guyanese of all strata, affordable homes is a perfect signpost of life-changing projects that have characterized the changing socio-economic landscape of Guyanese.

Therefore, this further explains why ground-breaking projects such as the Amaila Falls Hydro-electric project, the Marriott Hotel project, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport project and the Skeldon Modernisation project have been undertaken. An objective analysis of each of these monumental undertakings, relevant to the nation’s development needs, will explain their entire relevance towards the changes necessary: first, for making the country self-sufficient in energy supply that will encourage further domestic investment particularly for industrialisation, manufacturing and value-added products; secondly, for improving Guyana’s hospitality sector as a genuine locale for tourists; thirdly, as a destination that has been attracting increased tourist arrivals, hosting international conferences, attracting other larger airlines, since Guyana can become a hub for flights to Africa and Asia; and, for safeguarding the future of one of Guyana’s major foreign exchange earners, while concomitantly ensuring the employment security of the thousands that participate in its daily production.

Of course, there have been challenges with the Skeldon project, but that does not categorise such as a ‘failure’, as is being touted by the Kaieteur News especially. In fact, it must be emphasised that while many sugar-producing countries were forced to close their sugar factories, President Jagdeo and the PPP-led government rose to the challenge of the Skeldon Project, thereby ensuring the continuation of the economic livelihoods of the thousands who depend on the industry.

It begs the question as to why should such interventions, with their tremendous transformative potential, that when realised will forever change the lives of its beneficiaries and upgrade the country’s economic standing, be constantly derided by the Kaieteur News.

No government, that is as responsible as the PPP/C, and has taken its mandate of providing an improved quality of life for its citizens, irrespective of party support, seriously, will conceive, plan, negotiate for loans/grants, then execute such projects for mere grandiose. It must be emphasised, that governments are rated for their individual competence and ability to govern, among other factors, by how well they understand the development imperatives of their respective states, especially with regards planning and funding for projects.

The reality is that Guyana has been found to be on the right pathway to economic development, because its development projects are impacting positively on, and daily changing the lives of, its citizens.

The former Bharrat Jagdeo-led PPP government must therefore, be warmly commended for its many wise initiatives taken with regard to Guyana’s development thrust. And what better testimony is there than its recorded seventh consecutive year of economic growth.

In continuing to examine this, another putrid presentation by this publishing house, one is forced to make an observation on its narrow-mindedness, and frenzied dedication to its daily, political vendetta.

Former Deputy Speaker and APNU’s senior MP, Ms. Deborah

Backer’s illness had been covered by this very newspaper; but, never had any mention been made of her ties with her husband who had been at the helm when the Globe Trust Bank collapsed and ruined so many hundreds of account holders. Juxtapose this with the report on the former President, and one will discern the haste to defame.

In one of its jaundiced paragraphs, mention is made of the cost of Jagdeo’s medical treatment. This is the kind of convenient and narrow minded culture that has been the publishing modus operandi of his newspaper.

The Kaieteur News must be reminded that the PPP/C Government is on record for covering all the expenses of the former PNC/R leader Robert Corbin, when he was flown to the United States, for urgent medical treatment. Government never disclosed Corbin’s bill, and neither did Kaieteur News endeavour to seek the amount. Yet, the paper has expediently stated what it believes to be the cost of the former President’s medical cost.

So much has been written about the well known proclivity of the Kaieteur News to use its media for the unedifying, and slanderous programme of misrepresentation, culture of misleading, and vilification of state functionaries. It’s an orchestrated strategy that spearheads its on-going political vendetta with an administration, which tolerance must be applauded for its overwhelming patience.

One would have expected a maturity and respect for an occasion such as the illness of a former Head-of State. Instead, it has been met with another show of journalism that belongs to the pits.

Finally, one can judge the vision and soundness of these and other projects that have been conceived and set in motion by the former President Jagdeo administration, by the fact of their seamless transition to, and continuation by, the President Donald Ramotar administration. No amount of misrepresentation or misleading by the likes of unprofessional media, inclusive of the Kaieteur News, will ever be able to refute what is already known and accepted, that Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo is the architect of the modern Guyana. (GINA)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

Three caught red-handed!

–during armed robbery at businesswoman’s home

By Michel Outridge and Ravin Singh POLICE came in for strident praise yesterday afternoon after catching three armed bandits red-handed in the Lime Street, Newburg apartment of dredge owner, Elizabeth Hernandez, called “Ann”. The incident reportedly occurred shortly after 13:00 hrs.

The trio -- two males and a female -- were subdued and arrested minutes after entering the premises. They reportedly gained access after the female accomplice, who is known to the businesswoman, telephoned her saying she was on her way to see her.

Upon her arrival at the location, the usually secured gate of the apartment complex was opened by the businesswoman’s young daughter, which is how the two male bandits, one of whom was armed with a gun, gained access to the apartment.

Speaking to this publication just before the police whisked her away to give a statement on the robbery, the visibly shaken Hernandez said the female accomplice was a friend of hers. “She give me a call and told me that she is coming at me. And I tell her that I was tired and I am taking rest, (but) you could make a visit if you wish.

And when she reached here, she called me and said, ‘I’m at the gate.’

I said, ‘OK, my baby will open the gate for you.’ So my baby come downstairs and open the gate for her,” Hernandez related.

Realising that her friend was not alone, but had brought along two young men with her, Hernandez said she asked: “Who is y’all?”

Noting that tenants of the building don’t normally open the gate for anyone unless they are known to the occupants of the apartment complex, Hernandez said the bandits told her they had come to meet Patricia, called “Aunty Pat”, an occupant of the complex.

Hernandez said she was in the process of calling out to Pat, when one of the two men, after looking around to ensure no one was

watching, suddenly ran upstairs to her apartment,grabbed her by the arm, and demanded that she go inside with him.

Once in the apartment, she said, the youngster whipped out a gun from a bag he was carrying and demanded that she give him everything of value she owned, since he knows her, and had worked with her before.

Hernandez said she responded: “I don’t know you; and you never work with me.” To which he replied: “Yes! I know your name is Ann!” As she observed: “All my valuables were in the wardrobe, but I told them I don’t have anything. But I allowed them to tumble the wardrobe, since I know my things are hidden in a safe place in the wardrobe, where no one can find it.”

She however told them, “Take all my bags! Everything I have!

But they didn’t take the bait, she said, because they knew she had money. At this point, she said, she told them, ‘Y’all will have to kill me, because I don’t have anything. If not, go your way in peace, if you know what is good for you.” To which the one with the gun replied, “I am going to kill you.”

Asked which of the bandits had the gun, Hernandez indicated that it was the one without the dreadlocks. “The same one hit me in the forehead with the gun,” she said, adding: “And they began searching the entire home. And, not satisfied, [they] returned to me and pointed the weapon [at me], asking me for the valuables once more.”

But she stood her ground, Hernandez said. “Right up to the last, I keep telling them I don’t have anything; and they pulled the door in and I locked myself inside. When I lock myself inside, probably they were trying to go out, but the police was [sic] there, and that’s how they got caught.”

Initially, a single mobile police patrol responded to the robbery

The shaken victim, Elizabeth Hernandez, detailing her experience to her neighbours yesterday (Photos by Ravin Singh)

The female accomplice (in white vest) accompanied by a policewoman call after someone called telling the police that a robbery was in progress. That lone patrol was soon reinforced by two others, accompanied by ranks from the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) and the Brickdam Police Station.

Hernandez, who was in tears by this time, said the police arrived just in the nick of time.

As news of the incident spread, residents of the area came out in droves, but stood at a safe distance, in the event gunplay ensued.

Everyone waited with bated breath to see what would happen, but it was not until after 14:00 hrs that the police brought out the two young bandits, one a well-known character, and the other a young Rastafarian who seems to be in his late teens.

They were both placed in the tray of a police pick-up as the crowd descended, snapping photographs.

Onlookers were moved to remark on the youthfulness of the dreadlocked bandit, and to reprimand the trio for their action yesterday.

The female accomplice was taken away in a separate vehicle as the crowd cheered the police and gave advice on how to deal with banditry.

Several persons wanted to take the robbers out of the police vehicle and give them a sound thrashing, while others advised them to mend their ways once out of prison.

Man suffers near fatal injuries

... as Thursday night ‘hang’ goes awry

By Shirley Thomas WHAT began as a Thursday night ‘hang’ outside a fish shop at Hadfield and John streets in Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown almost ended fatally for 33-year-old Mark Waldron and his brother and a cousin.

Waldron is now a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital, nursing multiple stab wounds to his face, inflicted inches away from his windpipe and above his left eye, and recuperating from a gaping wound which almost cost him his right hand.

The wounded man recalled that he and his party were standing at the side of the road next to an icebox when a car drove by and pinned his left foot so that he was unable to move. He called out in pain to the driver, who could not immediately drive off because the place was congested and another car was blocking his movement.

Waldron said he was still writhing in pain when two men, not knowing his plight, started shouting at him to “Move out the way!” He said he was just going to open his mouth to let them know what was happening when one of them broke a bottle and dealt him multiple stabs to the face and a gaping wound to his right arm, which caused the tissues to protrude frightfully. When the blood started to spurt, the men bolted, leaving the injured man behind; but his brother and cousin took him to the hospital, where he was treated and admitted.

But even though Waldron’s brother and cousin reported the matter to the police, no rank has as yet visited him in hospital to take a statement.

Some of the injuries inflicted on Mark Waldron last Thurday night

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

Old Kai: Chronicles of Guyana...

Granger concedes...

Latest slur on business community’s integrity based on mere conjecture GUYANA’S history is replete with attacks against the business community, and throughout the years, there has always been one commonality; and that is a single source behind this evil scheme.

There are some out there who are not aware that the base for modern Guyana was laid by the People’s Progressive Party and Dr. Cheddi Jagan as Premier of British Guiana in the early 1960s. It is Dr. Jagan and the PPP which constructed Guyana’s first industrial park at Ruimveldt, on the lower East Bank, to create the foundation for our private sector. This was just one of many initiatives started

by Dr. Jagan and his government then to create a strong, vibrant business community in our country, which would be the catalyst for our future economic development.

But then, the US, British imperial forces, and Forbes Burnham, with his offshoot of the PPP, the PNC, teamed up to undermine the Cheddi Jagan government. Their main target? British Guiana’s economy.

In ‘Guyana: A Country Study’, we are told that “the British authorities permitted, and even encouraged, a destabilisation campaign by the opposition PNC. Anti-government demonstrations and riots increased, and, in 1963, mobs destroyed parts of Georgetown, the capital, when labour unrest paralyzed the economy...”

Central to this plan of destabilisation was the Trades Union Congress. Do we see something similar playing out today with Lincoln Lewis and the TUC’s recent instruction to the PNC/APNU against supporting the ammendment of the AML/CFT Bill, which will result in Guyana becoming economically blacklisted by the international community?

In the 1964 election, which was won by the PPP, the British refused to follow their own established parliamentary system and call upon Dr. Jagan to form the next Government. Rather, they encouraged the PNC to team up with a leader of the private sector, Peter D’Aguiar, and his United Force party, which, when combined, gave them a parliamentary majority to form the next government.

However, true to form, Burnham would later be quoted, in declassified CIA documents during a meeting with US authorities on how he planned to rig the 1968 elections, as saying that he would evict businessman D’Aguiar from his next illegitimate Government. An excerpt from the document reads: “At this meeting, Burnham stated unequivocally that he plans to conduct the registration and voting in such a manner that the PNC will emerge with an absolute majority in the Guyana National Assembly. Burnham

said that he will never again allow the life of his government to depend upon his coalition partner Peter D’Aguiar…”

A few years later, the restrictions on importations, including basic food items and essential raw materials, by the PNC Government would prove another massive blow to the business community. There is no need to repeat the historic economic lows which were achieved in the 1980s, including the drying up of foreign currency, rise of the ‘Black Market’, and interest rates spiralling out of control, which combined to devastate the private sector.

The PNC attack on the business community did not cease when it was evicted by the Guyanese people in the first free and fair elections, post-independence. It was this sector which felt the brunt of the specifically targeted attacks by the ‘Puppet Master’ of APNU with their carefully orchestrated post-elections violence in Georgetown.

The looting and the destruction all tied into the ‘slow fiya, mo fiya’ publicly stated policy of the opposition.

Fast forward to the 2011 elections, which saw the PPP winning a majority of votes, but with the APNU and AFC combined gaining a one-seat majority in the National Assembly. This presented the opposition with the ideal opportunity to advance its clear agenda of making the country ‘ungovernable’, and, of course, in achieving this end, its partner the AFC warned that anyone and everyone would be ‘collateral damage’ in this process.

The AFC clearly has not given much thought of the fate of Mr. Peter D’Aguiar and his UF party after the PNC had finished using it to achieve their ultimate agenda of regaining political power.

Would there be a déjà vu, as is the case with our private sector suffering currently? At this point, you will recall that during and after the 2011 regional and general elections, APNU and its youth arm were circulating a list of names of particular businesses which they were urging their supporters to stay away from.

Their concern was not that these businesses were involved in anything illegal, but rather that they would not dance to the tune of the opposition. Some of the businesses were run by Afro-Guyanese, which further provoked the wrath of APNU, who accused them of being on the side of the Government.

In hindsight, this admission nullified an earlier contention by the very party, in their usual exploitation of ethnic insecurities prior to elections, that Afro-Guyanese were not part of the business community, and, more specifically, were not accessing Government contracts.

In the two years since (slashing consecutive national budgets aside), the business community has found itself suffering at the hands of their traditional tormenter once again. Based on the preceding facts,

the APNU and AFC steadfastly plan to ensure that Guyana’s being economically blacklisted by the international community should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Old Kai had pointed out recently, where, by the mere slip of a tongue, another old tormenter, the TUC via Lincoln Lewis, confirmed that there was a plan in place that APNU would not support the amended AML/CFT Bill, despite their public assurances that they would.

Not surprisingly, APNU and AFC have now ensured that Guyana has missed the latest deadline before which our country will officially be recommended for international sanctions. Even before this, many businesses had already begun complaining of the effects of the additional financial scrutiny now being applied by overseas partners and firms, and had warned that ‘every man, woman and child’ will be seriously affected.

But, as if this were not enough, the opposition has now moved to new levels in its vicious attack against the business community by publicly announcing that a significant (substantial, major) number of them are involved in illegal activities.

APNU, with the support of the AFC, has, with this accusation, now reduced years, in some cases decades, of hard, honest, and unrelenting work of our business people to zero.

All those who have struggled and stayed in Guyana, throughout the rough periods; those who made the commitment to return home and invest; the small man who scrimped and saved to invest and is now seeing his way; those major companies who took up the challenge to come to Guyana, despite the opposition-instigated violence, have all had their sacrifices denigrated.

They have been cheated out of their success stories with APNU labelling them crooks who depend on ‘dirty money’.

Please bear in mind that these are the very people this party and the AFC turn to when they need financing to campaign for elections. Their money was not ‘dirty’ when Mr. Granger needed it for the 2011 elections, but when they have placed him in a position of power in the National Assembly, he has suddenly awoken like ‘Rip Van Winkle’ and realises their money is tainted.

Surely, a responsible opposition would provide facts to make such a damaging statement against the business community; but according to the media, Mr. Granger has based his position on a perception.

This is coming from an individual who is hoping that he can be the next leader of Guyana. Old Kai’s advice is to go back to sleep, ‘Rip Van Winkle’, and keep on dreaming.

Lucky couple wins second annual ‘Race to the Altar’ competition ––to wed March 29 at Roraima Holdings’ expense

By Michelle Gonsalves IN the month of February, many couples make an extra effort to show their love for one another; and this was even truer for 10 couples, as they competed throughout the month for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid wedding in the second Annual “Race to the Altar” competition, which was launched on January 31.

Alas, there could only be one winner! And the lucky couple, announced last Friday evening on the last day of the month, were Ryan Fletchman and Maria Prince, who had to compete against the four other finalists for the honour.

During the course of the competition, the couples were taken on trips and filmed in a reality-like television show where they competed in various races, including kayaking. The public

was invited to vote for their favourite couple via Facebook or text messages.

On the night of the announcement, which took place at the Roraima Duke Lodge in Kingston, Georgetown, attendees were asked to vote for their favourite couple in a secret ballot, after watching each couple perform a presentation together. On a scale of one to 10, the couples were rated on: magic (chemistry together), genuiness, overall impression and [whether they were] good ambassadors.

The pieces were interesting, as to be expected. Couple Number One, Denzel Dublin and Felicity Smith, performed a skit involving their three sons. That skit depicted the family preparing for church.

Couple Number Two, Pride Bacchus and Devina Narine, who have been together for 21 years (which is most of their life,

since they are a young couple) performed admirably, with Pride reciting to his ‘intended’ a poem he wrote himself, and she, in turn, singing “You are my sunshine” to him.

Couple Number Three, Nigel Canterbury and his fiancée, Fareeda Gharry, sang a duet of “Your love is my love”, a song made popular by the late famous American singer, Whitney Houston.

The winner of the ballot voting on Friday night was couple Number Five, Romel McLean and Nazeema Kalil, who performed a skit which depicted them getting engaged, then deciding to enter the “Race to the Altar” competition.

However, in the end, it was Maria and Ryan who won the coveted prize, and they will be married in a public ceremony on the second day of the Sixth Annual Wedding Expo, which

CEO of Roraima Holdings, Captain Gerald Gouveia (centre), with winning couple, Maria Prince and Ryan Fletchman, and other “Race to the Altar” competitors last Friday (Photo

by Michelle Gonsalves) takes place from March 28 to March 30.

On the night of the announcement, Maria had serenaded her ‘intended’, while he publicly declared his love, telling Maria and those present that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.

We d d i n g E x p o w a s

launched in 2009, marking an initiative by Roraima Holdings to introduce Guyana as a wedding destination, and creating a public profile for wedding tourism, by which other countries in the Region are already making famous their name, internationally.

Wedding Expo also sought to provide a meeting place for couples contemplating tying the knot and sellers and buyers of goods and services. In 2013, the first “Race to the Altar” wedding competition was launched, and was won by Rudolph Davis and Oshani Waithe.

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Litter Prevention Regulations...

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

It is an offence to litter from a moving vehicle!

UNDER the Litter Prevention Regulations, littering from a moving vehicle or a trailer in motion is an offence. Motor vehicles include those used for transportation of people and goods such as cars, buses, speedboats, ferries, etc.

A person who litters or causes litter to fall off or blow off from a motor vehicle or trailer in motion is guilty of an offence. As such, persons who transport goods are advised to: (a) Secure their materials in such a way to prevent it from falling off the motor vehicle or trailer; and (b) Cover materials in such a way as to prevent them from blowing off the motor vehicle or trailer.

If a person fails to heed this advice and litter falls or blows off the vehicle/trailer, then the person is guilty of

an offence. (a) A n i n d i v i d u a l found guilty of this offence will be fined fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) (b) A c o m p a n y found guilty of this offence will be fined one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

Encouragement of offence against littering from a moving vehicle A person who causes or knowingly permits another person to litter from a moving vehicle shall also be guilty of an offence, and be convicted for the same offence together with the person who committed the act.

Increased penalty for subsequent offence A person having been convicted of littering from

a moving vehicle, and is convicted a second time for the same act, will have to pay double the amount of the maximum fine attached to the offence or face three (3) months imprisonment.

Owners of public transportation are required by law to provide containers for the disposal of litter!

A person who breaks this law shall be guilty of an offence under the Regulations and shall pay a fine of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).

You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O EIT Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN; or email us at eit.epaguyana@gmail.com.

GCFA the only entity authorised to lobby on behalf of Cuban people MR. SAMUEL Abdool, president of the Guyana/Cuba Friendship Association (GCFA), and members of the executive committee of that association have issued a press release notifying the general public that the GCFA is the only entity authorised by the

Embassy of Cuba to carry out activities and action for the solidarity and support of the people of Cuba.

This includes activities in relation to the freedom of the five Cuban heroes and for the removal of the U.S. blockade against Cuba.

The release emphasised that “no other body or organisation” claiming representation, affiliation or membership with the Guyana/Cuba Friendship Association for such purposes is duly authorised by the association and/or the Embassy of Cuba in Guyana.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

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New York cops arrest wanted former GRA cashier --Was on Interpol radar since 2009

NEW YORK Police officers Justin Haag and Shawn McAdams of the Cheektowaga district pulled over a fourdoor, gold-coloured Infiniti sedan on Genesee Street near Heritage Court, last Monday evening about 6.30 p.m., to determine whether the licence had expired and whether the tinted windows were illegal.

It turned out that the driver, 32-year-old Gregory Alistair Ewan Barnes, of George Urban Blvd. in Cheektowaga, was wanted by Interpol, Cheektowaga police said on Friday.

A computer check revealed that, through Interpol, an active warrant had been issued for Barnes who was suspected to have embezzled from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) somewhere between G$6M300M, the US equivalent of between US$29,000 and US$1.4 million, and had been wanted since 2009.

Three arrested in Parika drug bust

TWO women and a man were arrested after police had searched two buildings on Old Road, Parika, East Bank Essequibo around 7.30 on Saturday night, and had seized one kilogramme, 482 grammes of marijuana, and 78 grammes of cocaine.

The warrant was confirmed through U.S. National Central Bureau, a division of Interpol, U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C., Cheektowaga

police said.

Barnes was turned over to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol for a visa violation, and may be deported to Guyana.

Aries March 21 - April 19

You love cutting to the chase, even when you’re just chatting, so you need to keep folks from playing games today -- even if they’re flirty, sexy games. You’ve always been able to spot a liar -- or someone who’s holding something back. They’re pretty much the same thing in your book, and they make you suspicious. If your intuition tells you you’re in the company of either, make your excuses early. You’re not legally bound to stay for dessert.

Taurus April 20 - May 20

You don’t usually have that much of a temper. It takes a lot to rile you, and by the time you actually get around to being mad, you’ve usually realised that it isn’t worth the energy.

You’ve trained yourself to have enormous self-control -- usually. Every now and then, though, like right now, the dam breaks, and some fool ends up dealing with the blunt end of your anger. Better hire a bodyguard -- for your antagonist!

Gemini May 21 - June 21

Keeping secrets isn’t exactly one of your strengths -- in fact, you may have a serious problem there! You much prefer talking about anything that crosses your mind as soon as it happens by. At the moment, though, one particular secret has gripped your brain and doesn’t want to let go. If you feel the need to share it with a close friend, go right ahead.

Choose the right one, and you should get the advice of someone smart and caring.

Cancer June 22 - July 22 For Monday March 3, 2014 -05:00hrs For Tuesday March 4, 2014 -05:00hrs For Wednesday March 5, 2014 -05:00hrs

You have a real gift for entertaining at home, and you love it like little else. plus, you’re a natural born nurturer and caregiver, so when you’ve got the people you love under your roof, that’s as close to heaven as it gets in this life. It’s time to treat yourself, your family and your friends to something big and homey. Get everyone together for an impromptu party at your place.

Leo July 23 - August 22

You don’t mind working overtime, but you’re certainly no workaholic. You just do whatever it takes to get the job done well, but when it’s time to play, you dive right into the good times. For quite a while, you’ve been thinking about taking some time off. You may have come close to taking off without leave. It’s now officially time to stop thinking and start talking. If you haven’t earned this, no one has.

Virgo August 23 - September 22

For you, there’s nothing quite as dangerous as boredom. It can cause you to behave in quite erratic ways, despite your rational and objective nature. Rather than let that happen this time, why not take some of your saved leave or ask your mate to take a break with you? If you don’t, you may end up getting so frustrated that one tiny mishap sets off an explosion that can be heard for miles. Wouldn’t a quick break be a better solution?

Libra September 23 - October 22

Anyone who tries to fast-talk (or sweet-talk) you by using surface blather or meaningless chatter had better be prepared, because it just doesn’t work this time. You’re ordinarily perfectly happy with pleasant small talk, because you generally get along well with everyone. Your current mood, however, isn’t especially conducive to lighthearted chit-chat. You don’t want to argue, but you’re impatience with frivolity is definitely showing.

Scorpio October 23 - November 21

Making it through today’s weirdness may seem tough, but if anyone is up for the challenge -- or any challenge, really -- it’s you. The good news: Once you’ve done your duty and you’re heading home, you should find a wonderful surprise waiting for you, courtesy of your mate or best friend. Their senses are just as keen as your own (for now, anyway), and they’ve figured out just what you need. The even better news is that tomorrow looks better.

Sagittarius November 22 - December 21

You’ve never afraid to dig into hard work, but you’ve been doing more than your share lately, and you’re badly in need of a break. Let yourself go! You tend toward the excessive, extravagant and lavish when it comes to recreation, so break a few rules and take care of your own business first. All your recent self-discipline may be good for your soul, but it’s crimping your love life. Walk away from that project and get out there.

Capricorn December 22 - January 19

There’s only one cure for any problem today: Direct action. Unfortunately, you’ve almost certainly been feeling stuck lately. Let that urge for activity lead you in a new, more social direction. You’ve earned it and so have your people -- and besides, don’t you want fresh opinions on those major changes you’re thinking about? While they’re all present and accounted for, pass out a sign-up list for your next big party.

Aquarius January 20 - February 18

Whether you realise it or not, you’ve decided that your current situation just isn’t working.

It’s not in your nature to sit there and take it, and you’ve got little patience with anyone who does. Make some changes, and move quickly on them -- so quickly that those closest to you may wonder exactly who you are and what you’ve done with the person they knew.

Resist the urge to nurse them through it all!

Pisces February 19 - March 20

You’ve just broken out of a metaphorical cell of some kind. It sure wasn’t easy, but now that you’ve decided to stay out here in the sunshine, you don’t take kindly to anyone who tries to drive you back. Those trying to provoke guilt are special targets of your wrath, so let them have it. Better still, confront their manipulators and straighten them out. You might be able to reach a compromise, or a cease-fire, at the very least.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

Shivraatri at the Guyan

By Parvati Persaud-Edwards THE transcendental ambience of the Guyana Sevashram Sangha headquarters at Cove and John on the East Coast of Demerara is one that has provided solace and comfort to many troubled souls.

Its aura of peace and spiritual bliss has encapsulated, enervated, and elevated many who subsequently became devotees, and a few chosen ones who take vows to pursue the life of a sanyasi.

Former President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said, in the video production on the Life of His Holiness Guruji Swami Vidyanandaji Maharaj, the first Swami of the Caribbean and a giant among men and monks, that as a young man, long before he became Minister of Finance or President, he often sat under the trees and submerged himself in the ambience of peace and spiritual tranquility of the Ashram. So has great Shivbakht, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who is convinced

that it is only by the devotion to Lord Shiva that he learned to practise at the Ashram, and through the guidance of Guruji that he has achieved all he has

Mother Parvati and Lord Shiva, as creators of mankind, with the symbol of procreation – the lingam and Yoni -- in the foreground. They are also known as the Shivalingam

today.

The Guyana Sevashram Sangha, known to everyone as the Cove and John Ashram, has been described as the spiritual

and academic capital of the Caribbean. It is certainly the holy place of pilgrimage in Guyana for Hindus, who journey from all over Guyana and

Principal of the Hindu College, and Ashram executive member, Ms. Rajkumarie Singh, First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar, and President Donald Ramotar during last year’s Shivraatri observances

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

na Sevashram Sangha all over the world especially to celebrate Shivratri at this holy place that has been sanctified by the great sacrifices of the monks and devotees, who have worked unremittingly and made tremendous sacrifices to serve mankind through educational, spiritual and empowerment pursuits.

It is an amazing phenomenon that the Hindu College takes children with the lowest assessment passes, those who did not gain entrance to recognised high schools, some of them with serious disciplinary problems, and churn out the most rounded personalities who straddle the world today in achievements at the highest levels in various spheres of endeavour What is interesting to note is that a top student of the Hindu College two years ago, Cliffon Chichester, had been transferred to the Hindu College from President’s College (PC) at the request of her dad, former principal of PC, because she had been doing badly at what is supposed to be Guyana’s premier institution of learning.

Through this local branch of the universal Bharat Sangha, Guyana has produced the only monks originating from the western hemisphere, and today they serve the Lord in various parts of the world. It is a miracle to see the transformation of what was once 20 acres of swampland donated

by Mrs. Resaul Maraj, “Big Mai”, largely through unremitting toil and sacrifices of the monks, bramcharis, and devotees of Hindu dharm; and it is an even greater miracle to witness what is achieved from extremely little resources at the Ashram. Food is cooked for thousands with the most basic of kitchen facilities, with no modern equipment, such as a simple blender, where even a grater to strip carrots had to be borrowed because the one at the Ashram was falling to pieces.

Until Mrs. Seeta Sharma of the Sharma Foundation donated a washing machine to the Ashram, washing had been done for dozens of boys at the dormitory in the most primitive way, yet the environment is kept scrupulously clean by a handful of very dedicated and committed adherents of Hinduism, who have followed their religion’s precepts of service to mankind without expectation of reward.

Under the stewardship of Guruji, after the departure of His Holiness Swami Purnanandaji Maharaj, founder of the Guyana Sevashram Sangha, despite the trying times when the Sangha’s school was usurped and converted to public institutions with a consequential degradation of its once pristine standards, the complex continued its transformation into a modern institute of academia and theology.

Place of pilgrimage From the inception of its establishment, the Ashram has

been Guyana’s place of pilgrimage for Hindus, especially during the auspicious Shivaraatri festival.

During Shivaraatri observances, Hindus flock the Ashram from all parts of the world, and last Thursday was no exception.

The Bharat SevashramSangha celebrates Maha Shiva Ratri at all its worldwide Sanghas for 24-hour worship, commencing at 05:30 hrs with Shri Guru Aarti and Procession with the Tulsi Plant, and concluding the following day at 05.30 hrs with the concluding Aarti.

Every year, the Guyana Sevashram Sangha is blessed with the presence of its spiritual and administrative head, His Holiness Swami Vidyanandaji Maharaj (Guruji).

During the 24 observances, devotees from every part of Guyana and all over the world make what has become an annual pilgrimage to pay obeisance at the holy feet of the Lord, and seek His divine blessings.

Swami Purnanandaji Maharaj had been sent to Trinidad by the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, where he was working when he was sent an invitation to establish a mission of the Sangha in Guyana. He came for a brief visit on a one-way ticket, but never returned. He had just been gifted land in Cove and John by the great devotee who is lovingly and respectfully called “Big Maie”, the wife of businessman Resaul Maraj, to build the Ashram.

Today, the Guyana Sevashram Sangha and its various arms in Guyana stand testimony to the courage, determination and commitment of Swami Purnanandaji Maharaj and his disciples. A shrine of many miracles, the Ashram at Cove and John has become a holy place of pilgrimage for Hindus in Guyana and the world over.

Every year, the Ashram invites everyone in the fraternity of humanity to join with its devotees to seek the blessings of the great Lord of the universe, Lord Shiva, and incarnate Sri Sri Guru Maharaj, founder of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, during the auspicious observances of Maha Shiva Ratri.

Some adherents who always grace the occasion are Indi Beharry; Presidential Advisor Charles Ramson and his wife Leila; their son Charles (Jnr); with the family being joined this year by Charles’s new bride, the former Alana Seebarran; Prime Minister Sam Hinds, former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, Dr. Bobby Ramroop, and a galaxy of devotees of Lord Shiva. Former Finance Minister Sasenarine Kowlessar, a product of the Sangha’s gurukul system, is the annual Master of Ceremonies during these auspicious occasions.

During a Havan ceremony in the main auditorium of the Hindu College last Thursday, the venerable Guruji expounded on the way ancient Hindu philosophies propagated down

President Ramotar at the podium, with MC, Sasenarine Kowlessar and right is Prime Minister Samuel Hinds the centuries through various theological instruments; and quoting extensively from the Gita, elucidated on the dynamics of religion as it shapes existence on planet earth, especially on the lessons it imparts for perfect leadership. According to Guruji, all religions should be respected because they all chart one path to the supreme father; and he adjured everyone to be the best they could be within the pathway they choose to reach the Lord.

President Donald Ramotar spoke of the nation’s dilemma at this juncture, and expressed the hope that the blessings of the Supreme Lord will move the country in the right direction, so that all Guyanese should unite to chart a pathway to peace and progress.

Indi Beharry paying rapt attention. Sitting at

A section of the audience listening to Guruji’s sermon

Seelall Persaud to assume ‘Top Cop’ duties from April 1 –Sources

DEPUTY Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud will assume control of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) from April 1, usually reliable and well-placed sources have disclosed.

Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell has reportedly been given one month to hand over to Persaud, 50, who is currently responsible for law enforcement in the GPF. Brumell’s last day on the job should have been Friday, February 28, but he would remain on the job until March 31, according to sources.

Opposition Leader David Granger is already

on record as saying that when Brumell reaches retirement age, he should leave the post.

Brumell’s departure from the GPF comes almost four months after he had been confirmed as police commissioner. He succeeded Henry Greene, who stepped down from the post after he had been disgraced by a rape allegation. A High Court ruling prevented Greene from being charged, although the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had recommended that he should face the courts.

Greene subsequently died in a road accident on the West Coast of Demerara.

Persaud is the holder of a Bsc. Degree in Public Management, a Post Grad-

Deputy Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud

uate Diploma in International Studies, and a Certificate Course for Senior Executives in National and International Security from Harvard University.

He was Head of the Narcotics Branch of the GPF, Secretary to the Joint Anti-Narcotics Operations Committee, Chairman of the Caribbean Working Group of the International Drug Conference, and Chairman of the Caricom Standing Committee on Intelligence.

Persaud has pursued the Standard Officers Course at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and investigative courses at the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Scottish Police College.

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Forde and T&T’s Tonya Nero dominate Wartsila Half-Marathon Classic CLEVELAND Forde and Trinidad and Tobago’s Tonya Nero were winners in the men’s and women’s categories when the inaugural Wartsila Half Marathon Classic was held yesterday.

The race, which was run as a commemoration of the company’s 20th anniversary, started from Paradise on the East Coast Demerara and concluded at their Kingston head office.

Over 46 athletes started the race but most persons were focused on the rivalry in the Men’s and Women’s categories.

Nero is probably the best in the Caribbean over the 20km distance and she maintained her dominance to win the $300 000 first prize; the most lucrative road race ever in Guyana, clocking a time of one hour 19 minutes 37 seconds.

Euleen Josiah-Tanner had to settle for $240 000 after finishing second, running a one hour 30 minutes 27 seconds.

Twenty-year-old Alicia Jack finished third (1:33:10) and went home with $200 000 while Alika Morgan, local favourite to win the event, came in fourth as she posted a time of one hour 34 minutes 10 seconds. Morgan pocketed $140 000 for her effort.

Ashanti Scott (1:46:42), Tiffany Williams (1:46:59), Shion Boyer (1:51:53) and Nikita Wilson (1:51:55) rounded off the top eight finishers in the Women’s category.

Meanwhile, the men’s category lived up to all the pre-race hype as the athletes certainly delivered as promised.

The who’s who in the sport locally were all in the mix but it was Forde who was able to distinguish himself from the strong field.

Forde, 29, has been one of Guyana’s brightest stars over the past few years, representing the country at almost every possible international event.

Yesterday, he won the race in a time of 1 hour 10 minutes finishing ahead of Cleveland Thomas (1:10:38.90), Dennis Horatio (1:10:52.60), Lionel D’Andrade (1:11:03.90), Kelvin Johnson (1:12:34.90), Nathaniel Giddings (1:16:21), Jamoul Chisholm (1:17:06) and Carl McKenzie (1:17:48).

Lingfield 09:45 hrs India’s Song 10:15 hrs No Refund 10:50 hrs Double Up 11:20 hrs Club House 11:55 hrs Temple Road 12:25 hrs Dance Of Heroes

12:55 hrs Turnbury Southwell 10:00 hrs Workbench 10:30 hrs Dashing George 11:00 hrs Cloud Creeper 11:35 hrs Balinderry 12:05 hrs Kodicil 12:35 hrs Walter De La Mare 13:05 hrs Blue Heron Kempton 10:40 hrs Spirit Of Gondree 11:10 hrs Maahir 11:45 hrs Persumido 12:15 hrs Shalambar 12:45 hrs Mill I Am 13:15 hrs Valmina 13:45 hrs Royal Etiquette South Africa Racing Tips Flamingo Park 08:20 hrs Mean Like Mom 08:50 hrs Victoria Park 09:20 hrs Irrebuttable 09:55 hrs Imperani 10:25 hrs Kandahar

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3, 2014

17th Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle Road Race

Anthony outsprints Greaves to win title for first time

By Michael DaSilva LINDENER Michael Anthony outsprinted Alanzo Greaves to win the open category of the 17th Annual Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle road race that was staged in the West Demerara area yesterday.

The event, which was organised by national cycle coach Hassan Mohamed, wheeled off from outside the Wales Police Station and saw several cyclists trying to go on breaks. The leading bunch included top female cyclist Naomi Singh who contested the open category challenging her male rivals as far as Uitvlugt when she was

dropped.

She, however, failed to finish among the top riders and could not have been awarded a prize.

On the return journey from Bushy Park, East Bank Essequibo, Anthony, Greaves, Paul DeNobrega, Robin Persaud, Delroy Hinds and Hamza Eastman broke from the pack and established a sizeable lead which they maintained until the end of the race, and Anthony outsprinted his rivals to take first place ahead of Greaves.

DeNobrega placed third and last year’s champion Robin Persaud fourth.

Hinds placed fifth and Eastman sixth.

Orville Hinds, Eastman and Junior Niles each won two of the eight prime prizes that were up for grabs while Delroy Hinds and Marlon `Fishy’ Williams won one each.

Anthony, who is still a junior by virtue of winning the overall race, also copped the junior category ahead of Steffano Husbands and Silvio Innis respectively.

Ravendra Roopnarine, Talim Shaw and Kennard Lovell placed first, second and third respectively in the veterans category while Michael Holder won the mountain bike category ahead of Wayne Nurse and Nigel Jacobs respectively.

Toshanannah Doris won

the female category. Before the presentation of prizes to the respective winners, race organiser Mohamed congratulated the participants and noted that all of them were winners since their participation in the activity to commemorate the life of late Dr Cheddi Jagan is of essence.

Chairman of the Dr Cheddi Jagan Commemoration Committee, Navin Chanderpal, in brief remarks, reminded that Dr Jagan was always keen to see sports as a unifying force among Guyanese.

He said Dr Jagan had a special interest in seeing sports and culture go hand in hand.

Chanderpal said cycling

especially has grown tremendously.

He noted that the cyclists who have been a part of the event over the years have proved that they want to move the sport and activity forward.

“Your participation is an indication that you want to move the sport forward,” Chanderpal declared.

Chanderpal thanked Jiffy Auto Sales and Spares for coming on board at the last minute and sponsoring the first stage of the three-stage event which continues on Sunday in Berbice.

Jiffy Auto Sales and Spares representative Javid Shadick said his company is pleased to

be associated with the event.

He congratulated the participants and committed his company’s sponsorship for years to come.

Former Minister of Government Bibi Shadick in brief remarks said it is always a pleasure to witness a cycle race in the West Demerara area, but is saddened by the fact that since Dr Jagan died 17 years ago, it is only the sixth year that the Region is hosting a cycle race in his honour.

She congratulated Singh for competing against the males and expressed the hope that the race would only get bigger and better in the Region.

Magic moments help City sink Sunderland in League Cup final

By Martyn Herman LONDON, England (Reuters) - Two moments of magic inside two second-half minutes helped Manchester City avoid a second successive Wembley meltdown yesterday, as they landed the season’s first silverware with a 3-1 victory over Sunderland in the English League Cup final.

Memories of last season’s FA Cup final defeat by relegation-bound Wigan Athletic were re-surfacing as Manuel Pellegrini’s side trailed to Fabio Borini’s clinical 10th-minute strike.

This time, however, City’s slickers showed their pedigree with Yaya Toure’s spectacular curling shot and Samir Nasri’s piledriver turning the final on its head.

Relegation-threatened Sunderland continued to dream of a first piece of silverware since their epic 1973 FA Cup final defeat of Leeds United with an impressive response before Jesus Navas finished them off in the 90th minute.

It was City’s first League Cup title since 1976 and keeps alive their hopes of an unprecedented domestic treble in Pellegrini’s first season - but it was never straightforward.

“Maybe what happened last year at Wembley was in

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany (C) celebrates with team mates after winning their English League Cup final soccer match against Sunderland at Wembley Stadium in London, yesterday. their minds in the first half,” Chilean Pellegrini, who picked up his first major trophy as a European coach after a lengthy but fruitless spell in Spain, told reporters.

“But the important thing was to calm the players and let them trust in what they can do.”

With City in the last eight of the FA Cup and six points off the

top of the Premier League with two games in hand, Pellegrini said capturing the League Cup could prove pivotal.

“This gives us a lot of confidence to go forward,” he said.

“If you have a chance to win a title and don’t it affects you. We are the only club to have the chance to win all the trophies and for a big club, one trophy is never enough.”

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet shrugged off the defeat, saying there was little his team could have done.

‘BANG BANG’ “I’m sad, I hate it, but I’m proud of them,” the Uruguayan said. “We were more than decent for 45 minutes - then bang, bang. From the football side we couldn’t do better but

in the end the quality decided the game.”

Sunderland spent the opening minutes deep inside their own half as City zipped the ball around on the lush Wembley turf but, after knocking out Chelsea and Manchester United to reach the showpiece, they soon showed some attacking intent.

City were jittery at the back and, after Sunderland had a goal rightly flagged offside, they fell behind after an uncharacteristic mistake by skipper Vincent Kompany.

He was caught in two minds as Borini closed him down and instead of booting the ball clear he was dispossessed and Borini raced into the box to thump a shot with the outside of his right boot past Costel Pantilimon.

City dominated possession for the rest of the half without ever carving open a Sunderland rearguard, well-marshalled by former Manchester United stalwarts Wes Brown and John O’Shea.

Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone was never seriously tested and it was Sunderland who could have doubled their lead when Borini ran through on goal from a suspiciously offside position.

This time Kompany rescued his side with a timely interven-

tion just as the Italian cocked his leg to shoot.

A city onslaught was expected at the start of the second half but again, it was Poyet’s Sunderland who impressed.

Ki Sung-yueng, part of the Swansea City side that lifted the trophy last season, let fly from 30 metres, forcing Pantilimon to tip his dipping strike over the crossbar.

Then the wheels fell off Sunderland’s bandwagon.

One nonchalant swing of Toure’s right leg sent a curling 30-metre shot beyond the fingertips of Mannone after 55 minutes and two minutes later Nasri met Aleksandar Kolarov’s half-cleared cross with an unstoppable shot.

It was cruel on Sunderland but they refused to capitulate and once their heads had cleared from the shock of two lightning bolts they began to pose some serious questions of a City defence that still looked vulnerable.

With Sunderland throwing men forward substitute Steven Fletcher hit a shot straight at Pantilimon and they battled gamely until the end to no avail.

Substitute Navas made absolutely sure there was no way back for Sunderland with a clinical third on the stroke of full time.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3 2014

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Clarke passes 150 before rain ends play early

By Nick Said

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) - Michael Clarke remained unbeaten on 161, one of the more heroic of his 27 Test hundreds, as Australia reached 494 for seven before rain brought an early end to the second day of the series-deciding third Test against South Africa yesterday.

Clarke reached 150 for the 10th time in his Test career and in doing so moved past three Englishman on the all-time run-scorers list - Geoffrey Boycott, Kevin Pietersen and David Gower.

His innings was interrupted just past the midway point of the afternoon session by a downpour, together with high winds, which forced the players from the field at Newlands for the remainder of the day.

“The advantage now is we start at 10:00hrs every day, so we’ll still get some overs back,” Clarke told reporters. “The forecast is pretty good for the next three days.”

He added he would be happy to give up the chance of a double-hundred if the team decide to declare and put South Africa in to bat.

“If we think declaring overnight is the best way (to win) then it doesn’t bother me.”

Should Australia not declare overnight, Clarke will resume today with Ryan Harris (four).

The Australian captain took a battering on day one from pace bowler Morne Morkel, who struck him a number of times, including a sickening blow to the back of the head.

But he showed admirable composure to tough it out on what is a flat wicket and having been unbeaten on 92 overnight, was able to bring up his hundred, though not before spending 24 balls stuck on 99.

He reached his century off 215 deliveries with 11 fours and Newlands is now the first ground outside of Australia where he has two tons to his name.

Clarke thanked Australia

… Australia closing in on 500

Elgar. It ended a fourth-wicket stand of 184 in 50 overs between Smith and his skipper.

Shane Watson looked to attack the bowling with 40 from 32 balls but perished when he picked out Hashim Amla at long-off off Duminy.

The spinner then claimed two wickets in as many balls, first Brad Haddin (13) caught at mid-off by Amla following a brief juggling act then Mitchell Skipper Michael Clarke celebrates a hard-fought hundred in Cape Town on the second day of the third Test.

South Africa picked up just physio Alex Kountouris and one wicket in the morning sesdoctor Peter Brukner for ensursion but added three more after ing he was able to resume his lunch, including two in consecuinnings on Sunday morning. tive balls from part-time spinner JP Duminy (four for 73), who LONG NIGHT took his career-best figures.

“It was a long night, a lonSteve Smith (84) had looked ger morning to be honest. Within immaculate touch before he out their help, no way would I played onto his stumps off Dean have got on the park today.”

AUSTRALIA first innings C. Rogers c Smith b Steyn 25 D. Warner c de Villiers b Duminy 135 A. Doolan c Steyn b Philander 20 M. Clarke not out 161 S. Smith b Elgar 84 S. Watson c Amla b Duminy 40 B. Haddin c Amla b Duminy 13 M. Johnson c de Villiers b Duminy

0

Johnson (zero) who got a feather edge to a leg-side delivery and was caught by wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.

The South African pace attack has been blunted by the absence of the world’s top Test bowler Dale Steyn, who limped out of the game on Saturday with a hamstring strain. He is unlikely to bowl again in the match.

The teams are level at 1-1 with South Africa not having beaten Australia in a home Test series for 44 years.

R. Harris not out 4 Extras: (w-6, nb-6) 12 Total: (for seven wickets, 127.4 overs) 494 Fall of wickets: 1-65 2-138 3-217 4-401 5-456 6-489 7-489.

Bowling (to date): Steyn 10.1-0-441, Philander 26.4-2-116-1 (nb-1), Morkel 23.5-2-94-0 (nb-4, w-2), Duminy 17-0-73-4, Abbott 28-11-680 (nb-1), Elgar 22-0-99-1.

Confident Afghans see no surprise in taming Tigers

By Sudipto Ganguly

MUMBAI, India - (Reuters) Afghanistan have high expectations of achieving success on the cricket pitch and despite being relatively new to the sport, their breakthrough 50-over victory against a Test-playing nation was met with only muted celebrations among the players.

Cricket gained prominence in Afghanistan after the refugees who had fled while the country was ravaged by the Soviet war started returning home in the 1990s.

And it was only in June last year that the International Cricket Council (ICC), the world governing body, granted Afghanistan associate status, which is the second tier of membership behind the 10 Test-playing nations.

Making their Asia Cup debut in this year’s edition and playing only their fourth one-day international against a full member side, Afghanistan stunned hosts Bangladesh with a 32-run victory on Saturday.

However, the landmark triumph itself failed to surprise cricket’s newest party-poopers.

“We were expecting this,” Noor Muhammad Murad, the chief executive of the country’s cricket board, told Reuters from Fatullah in Bangladesh yesterday.

“Whenever I spoke to the team, they told me they were confident of at least beating the lower-ranked full members.

“That’s why the players were hesitant and the celebrations were restrained.”

Noor, however, planned to throw an official dinner for the

The Afghanistan players celebrate their landmark win.

team later yesterday to formally salute the victory.

Back home the reaction was far more enthusiastic as thousands of fans flocked to Kabul’s cricket stadium, forcing authorities to open the gates for them to celebrate while President Hamid Karzai also called to congratulate the team, Noor said.

PLANS IN PLACE For a team made up of

cricketers who got their first taste of the sport while living at refugee camps in neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan have improved rapidly and also qualified for their maiden 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year.

And victories like the one on Saturday would force the top cricketing nations to sit up and take them seriously, Noor said.

“We have a comprehensive

plan in place for the World Cup. We are working on fitness and each player has been set personal targets,” Noor added.

One aspect the team would definitely need to improve on is their fielding.

Afghanistan had Pakistan under pressure in their Asia Cup opener but dropped crucial catches to let them off the hook and fluffed several more chances on Saturday to help Bangladesh reduce the margin

of the victory.

“We have noticed the errors and have to work on our fielding. We plan to add a specialist fielding coach to our support staff from April,” Noor said.

The mood in Bangladesh was one of gloom and disappointment, evident from the headline “Afghans tame toothless Tigers” in English newspaper Dhaka Tribune.

Bangladesh skipper

Mushfiqur Rahim termed the loss as the “most embarrassing” of his career.

“I don’t think I can remember a worse instance. This is the most embarrassing defeat,” Mushfiqur told reporters. “I did not think even for a second that we could lose this match.”

India and Sri Lanka are the other two nations competing in the Asia Cup which reaches its climax with the final in Mirpur on March 8.

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Thirteen wickets fall on day two at Warner Park

BASSETERRE, St Kitts - Leeward Islands’ Round One Regional 4-Day match against the Combined Campuses & Colleges is set up nicely with both teams still in the mix to go for an outright result.

Day three, however, will be pivotal after 13 wickets fell on Day 2. The students resumed their first innings on 90-2, trailing Leewards’ first-innings

Raymon Reifer

score of 164 all out by 74 runs.

Shacaya Thomas, who was 56 overnight, could only add three runs to his score before he was bowled by Gavin Tonge.

However, Raymon Reifer batted solidly for the College students, stroking 56 from 97 balls. He struck eight boundaries during his stay at the crease. But wickets continually fell around him. His skipper

All Seasons reign supreme in Sunflower Jewellery dominoes

Steven Jacobs battled to 23 off 48 balls but eventually he fell too.

Leading the charge for the Leewards on Day 2 was Hayden Walsh Jr, who ended with 4-59.

Tonge and Kelbert Walters both picked up a couple of wickets.

CCC were eventually bowled out for 202, gaining a lead of 38 runs.

The Leewards lost opener Lyndell Richardson with just 26 runs on the board and things didn’t get any better for the hosts. Mali Richards followed six runs later. The Leewards continued to lose wickets steadily throughout the rest of the day.

At 85-5, Jahmar Hamilton and Tonito Willett offered some hope as they have put on an unbroken stand of 50 runs. Hamilton ended Day 2 on 44 not out while Willett is with him, unbeaten on 15.

Ryan Austin took 3-46 while Reifer and Jacobs both had one wicket each.

LEEWARDS Islands 1st innings M. Hodge run-out (Dewar) 27 L. Richardson c McClean b Williams 2 M. Richards lbw Dewar 50 S. Joseph c Dewar b Austin 39 D. Thomas c Corbin b Austin 8 T. Willett c Hodge b Austin 9 J. Hamilton c Corbin b Dewar 15 H. Walsh Jr c Jacobs b Austin 0 G. Tinge Williams b Austin 2 K. Walters run-out Thomas 0 A. Martin not out 0 Total: (all out, 60.4 overs) 164 Extras: (lb-8, nb-4) 12 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-55, 3-124, 4-47, 5-47, 6-47, 7-48, 8-57, 9-64..

Bowling: Kevin McClean 8-4-20-0, Kesrick Williams 7-2-19-1, Steven Jacobs 16-6-30-0, Raymon Reifer 4-1-14-0, Ryan Austin 14-2-31-3, Akeem Dewar 11.4-2-42-4.

COMBINED Campuses & Colleges 1st Innings S. Thomas b Tonge 59 A. Alleyne c Martin b Tonge 9 K. Corbin Martin b Willett 18 R. Reifer c Richardson b Walsh 56 C. Walton c Thomas b Walsh 0 S. Jacobs c Thomas b Walters 23 K. Hodge c Walters b Walsh 4 A. Dewar c Willett b Walsh 11

K. McClean not out 8 R. Austin lbw Walters 0 K. Williams lbw 7 Total: (all out, 66.2 overs) 202 Extras: (lb-1) 1 Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-83, 3-110, 4-125, 5-160, 6-166, 7-181, 8-185, 9-189..

Bowling: Gavin Tonge 12-4-28-2, Kelbert Walters 12-2-57-2, Anthony Martin 15.2-5-43-3, Tonito Willett 11-5-10-1, Hayden Walsh Jr 162-59-4.

LEEWARD Islands 2nd innings (Trail; 38) M. Hodge c Corbin b Austin 23 L. Richardson c Dewar b Reifer 14 M. Richards c Corbin b Jacobs 0 S. Joseph c Corbin b Austin 10 D. Thomas b Austin 25 J. Hamilton not out 44 T. Willett not out 15 Total: (for 5 wickets, 48 overs) 135 Extras: (b-8, nb-1) 9 Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-30, 3-49, 4-60, 5-85.

Bowling: Kevin McClean 5-4-4-0, Kesrick Williams 3-0-13-0, Kavem Hodge 2-1-5-0, Raymon Reifer 3-06-0, Ryan Austin 17-3-46-3, Steven Jacobs 6-2-10-1, Akeem Dewar 12-1-43-0.

Windwards beat Barbados by nine wickets Sponsor Parmanand Dindial (right) of Sunflower Jewellery hands over the winning trophy to ASRS’s Raymond Alli in the presence of other players and jubilant supporters. ing the second spot on 219 and players in the winning team, the a depleted International Six top two in the second and the REIGNING F&H countrywide in the cellar on 216. A few of top in the third. champions All Seasons Racing ASRS top three players International Six key players Service (ASRS) made light were Bennett (44 games), Freemissed the final leg. work of their rivals to emerge The top players for ASRS man (42 games) and Frankie winners of the Sunflower Jewwere John Freeman with 17 Seaforth (40 games). For Canal ellery-sponsored three-way aggames, skipper Frankie Seaforth Six, Chibar Seopaul topped gregate dominoes tournament and David Bennett with 15 games with 41 games while Scotty which climaxed at Ernest Shop, Ramroop played two sittings each and Raymond Alli with 14.

Canal Number One, West Bank For Canal Six, Buddy and made 27 games, Edmund Demerara last Monday.

Pretipaul and Scotty Ramroop Sammy led the way for InterEntering the final leg, on 151 made 15 games each while national Six with 42 games. games, a mere four games ahead Avinash Persaud got 14. of Canal Six (147) and InternaRon Callender who played tional Six (146), ASRS showed through for International Six, why they are considered one of totalled 25 games in his six sitthe better teams around as they tings while Edmund Sammy and romped to a comfortable victory captain Manniram Shew scored with 82 games, leaving their op14 and 13 games respectively. ponents on 72 games each.

Trophies were presented to With that win, ASRS endthe winning and second-place ed clear winners with 233 teams as well as the top three games with Canal Six occupy(REUTERS) - Shahid Afridi smashed an unbeaten 18-ball 34, including two consecutive sixes in the final over, to take Pakistan to a tense one-wicket victory over arch-rivals India in the Asia (Monday March 03, 2014) Cup in Dhaka yesterday.

Compliments of THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & Chasing a target of 246, The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & Pakistan were on the cusp of CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL CO. LTD-83 victory at 235 for six but sudGarnette Street, Campbellville (Tel: 225-6158; 223-6055) denly lost three quick wickets to complicate things for themAnswers to Saturday’s quiz: selves.

100* vs NZ, Bourda, 1972 & 101 vs NZ, Trinidad, 1972 Former Pakistan capWasimAkram (PAK)-356 ODIs tain Afridi, known for his hard-hitting abilities, came on Today’s Quiz: strike with his team needing Sir Everton Weekes played 48 Tests. nine off four deliveries off How many centuries he scored?

Ravichandran Ashwin.

Who is the first WI player to score an The all-rounder, who turned ODI century against England?

34 on Saturday, needed just two balls as he slammed the Answers in tomorrow’s issue

GROS ISLET, St Lucia, (CMC) – Windward Islands beat Barbados by nine wickets on the third day of their opening round Regional Four-Day Championship match at the Beausejour Cricket Ground yesterday.

Resuming on six without loss in their second innings, Barbados were bowled out for 90 early on the third day in the day/night match.

Scores: BARBADOS 213 (80.5 overs) Kraigg Brathwaite 82, Carlos Brathwaite 44; Kevin Stoute 19, Tino Best 19, Jon-

athan Carter 16; Nelon Pascal 5-61, Alston Bobb 2-27, Kenroy Peters 2-29 and 90 all out (32.4 overs) Kraigg Brathwaite 15, Rashidi Boucher 14, Roston Chase 14; Kenroy Peters 5-16, Nelon Pascal 3-42, Delorn Johnson 2-28 WINDWARDS 252 for nine decl. (66.3 overs) Lindon James 62 not out, Liam Sebastien 62, Keddy Lesporis 43, Andre Fletcher 21, Johnson Charles 20, Tyrone Theophile 13; Miguel Cummins 4-49, Jonathan Carter 2-23 and 53 for one (11.0 overs) Johnson

Charles 33 not out At Sabina Park: Third day’s play.

GUYANA 117 all out (Chris Barnwell 34, Assad Fudadin 21; Jamie Merchant 4-29, Andre Russell 4-33) and 219 for eight (Vishal Singh 73, Narsingh Deonarine 38, Aasad Fudadin 33; Jerome Taylor 5-29) Ahead by 42 runs JAMAICA 294 all out (Nkrumah Bonner 62, John Campbell 50, Horace Miller 46, Andre Russell 44; Veerasammy Permaul 5-76, Devendra Bishoo 2-82)

Afridi blitz gives Pakistan tense win over India

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

Shahid Afridi is joined by team-mates after winning the Asia Cup match, Mirpur, yesterday.

off-spinner for two sixes to spark wild celebrations among his team mates.

Mohammad Hafeez topscored for Pakistan with 75 after openers Ahmed Shehzad (42) and Sharjeel Khan (25) gave them a solid start with a 71-run stand for the first wicket.

Earlier, Pakistan spinners Saeed Ajmal and Hafeez took five wickets between themselves to restrict India to 245 for eight after captain Misbahul-Haq won the toss and opted to field.

Opener Rohit Sharma scored 56, while half-centuries from Ambati Rayudu (58) and Ravindra Jadeja (52 not out) took India to a respectable total.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 3 2014

23

Bopara, Broad help England square ODI series ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – A significant partnership between Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad helped to lead England to a three-wicket victory and to square the three-match One Day International (ODI) series

the visitors to reach the target of 160 without much incident.

However, West Indies made England fight to the end with Bopara (38) and Stuart (28) featuring in a 58-run eighth-wicket partnership to reach 163 for

endl Simmons helps steady West Indies with an innings of 70. seven with 31 balls remaining. against West Indies at the Left-arm spinner NikiSir Vivian Richards Stadium ta Miller with two for 28, yesterday.

Dwayne Bravo two for 41, The victory sets up a final Sunil Narine one for 25 and and deciding match in the ODI Ravi Rampaul one for 40 were series, ahead of the three Twenthe successful bowlers for the ty20 Internationals between West Indies. both teams in Barbados.

Earlier, England won the Bopara and Stuart came toss and decided to bowl for together when many expected a second straight time. This

time the hosts’ batting didn’t turn up, with the exception of Lendl Simmons who made 70 and his captain Dwayne Bravo with 20. Only Kieran Powell (16) and Darren Bravo (13) got into double figures as the West Indies folded for 159.

England’s Broad did everything right by rotating the bowlers effectively and frustrating the West Indies’ batsmen.

The top four batsmen were removed and West Indies were left to rebuild at 4-81 in the 23rd over. Simmons and DJ Bravo then added 52 for the fifth wicket before Bravo was dismissed under controversial circumstances with West Indies on 133.

The West Indies were clearly unhappy with the stumping decision on Bravo that was eventually given out despite replays indicating the ball may have been out of wicketkeeper Jos Buttler’s gloves when the stumps were broken.

England dismissed the last six batsmen for 26 runs and set the stage to square the threematch series.

Debutant Stephen Parry

took 3 for 23 to be named man-of-the-match with Joe Root 2 for 15 and James Tredwell 2 for 39 and a wicket each for Moeen Ali, Tim Bresnan and Broad.

Bravo admitted that the lower order batsmen didn’t deliver and they were far from a reasonable target.

“It was a poor batting display. I expected better. We keep losing early wickets and it’s something we have to look at,” he said.

“I am happy with the effort of the bowling group but at the same time let down by the batters. They (lower order) will get some harsh words,” said Bravo.

The England captain said: “Delighted to have won, we made it hard work. The bowling was awesome, the way the guys learnt from the other day.

We had a wobble but great to get over the line. There’s some turn for the spinners and hard to score off.”

The third and deciding match will be played on Wednesday at the same venue before both teams travel to Barbados for the T20 series.

Debutant England left-arm spinner Stephen Parry takes 3 for 23 to be named man-of-the-match.

WEST INDIES innings 159 all out (44.2 overs) Dwayne Smith c Wright b Root 5 Kieran Powell c & b Ali 16 Kirk Edwards c Tredwell b Root 9 Darren Bravo b Broad 13 Lendl Simmons c Stokes b Parry 70 Dwayne Bravo stp. +Buttler b Tredwell 20 Darren Sammy c Broad b Parry 3 Denesh Randin b Bresnan 5 Nikitta Miller not out 2 Sunil Narine stp. Buttler b Parry 4 Ravi Rampaul c Lumb b Tredwell 1 Extras: (lb-5, w-6) 11 Total: (10 wkts; 44.2 overs) 159 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-30, 3-30, 4-81, 5-133, 6-145, 7-151, 8-151, 9-155.

Bowling: Joe Root 5-0-15-2, Stuart Broad 8-0-25-1 (w-1), Moeen Ali 3-0-11-1, James Tredwell 9.2-2-392 (w-1), Stephen Parry 10-1-32-3

(w-1), Tim Bresnan 5-2-13-1, Ravi Bopara 2-0-0-0, Ben Stokes 2-013-0 (w-2) ENGLAND innings 163 for 7 (44.5 overs) Michael Lumb lbw b Miller 39 Moeen Ali c Miller b Rampaul 10 Luke Wright b Narine 0 Joe Root c & b DJ Bravo 23 Ben Stokes c Ramdin b Miller 4 Jos Buttler c Ramdin b DJ Bravo 0 Ravi Bopara not out 38 Tim Bresnan run-out (DJ Bravo/+Ramdin) 10 Stuart Broad not out 28 Extras: (lb-5, w-5, nb-1) 11 Total: (7 wkts; 44.5 overs) 163 Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-30, 3-79, 4-81, 5-81, 6-89, 7-105.

Bowling: Dwayne Bravo 10-1-41-2 (nb-1, w-2), Ravi Rampaul 10-040-1, Sunil Narine 10-0-25-1 (w-2), Nikitta Miller 10-1-28-2, Darren Sammy 4-0-19-0.

‘Awo’ Abrams hits hat-trick to guide Slingerz FC to final

IN football, a striker’s sole purpose on the pitch is to score goals – something Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams knows more than anything. In fact, the Slingerz FC forward has now scored seven goals in two matches for the club who acquired him during the last transfer window from Alpha United.

N i c k n a m e d ‘ Aw o ’ , Abrams scored a hat-trick on Sunday evening, to help guide Slingerz FC to a 6-0 win over Uitvlugt in the semi-finals of the 2014, Stag Beer/West Side Mashramani Champions Cup at the Uitvlugt Community Centre.

The win also means that

fans on the West Side will see a rematch of the 2013 championship, after Den Amstel brushed aside Pouderoyen 3-2 in the other semi-final.

It was just his second game at the club and following his helmet-trick scoring performance in his first game, pundits were eager to see what his next performance would be like and Abrams certainly did not disappoint.

Pairing up once again with Devon Millington up front, Abrams gave Uitvlugt defenders a scare off the first touch from centre field when he received a flick from midfielder Deon Charter over the heads

Den Amstel goalscorers Jeffrey Perreira (left) and Delon Lanfeman

Den Amstel set up 2013 final rematch of the Uitvlugt players but the opposing custodian reacted fast enough to take the ball off his foot.

However, two minutes later, Abrams replicated his run, this time receiving a ball from Millington and using his superior speed he was able to reach the ball before the advancing goalkeeper and calmly placed it at the back of the net.

It was basically a one-sided affair with Slingerz controlling the position which saw Abrams score his second goal in the 23rd minute then set up Millington to score his only goal of the game in the 32nd minute.

Abrams rounded off his hattrick performance five minutes later (37th minute) as Slingerz ended the first half 4-0.

Uitvlugt never put up much of a fight and Slingerz FC went on to score their other two goals from the boots of Clive De Nobrega (55th minute) and Olvis Mitchell (83rd minute).

The night’s opening game was nothing much to cheer about, though the score line

Slingerz FC strike squad! (L-R) Clive De Nobrega, Olvis Mitchell, Anthony Abrams and Devon Millington for Pouderoyen who will now have to settle for the third and the game as Den Amstel ended would reflect differently. fourth-place playoff against the first half 3-1 after Delon Den Amstel were able to Uitvlugt.

Josiah scored for Pouderoyen register the game’s first goal in The finals will be played in the 32nd minute. the 11th minute through Jeffrey on Saturday at the same Referee Stanley Lancaster Perreira and doubled the lead venue and fans would be handed out the second penalty in the 16th minute when Delon eager to see if Den Amstel of the game just twelve minutes Lanfeman scored from the pencould avenge the 3-0 loss in into the second half and Josiah alty spot. last year’s final, to upset the stepped up and scored his secLanfeman extended the tournament’s hosts and claim ond goal but his one-man army lead seven minutes later when the $500 000 first prize. style on the pitch didn’t pay off he scored his second goal of

Sport CHRONICLE

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

Bopara, Broad help England square ODI series (See story on page 23)

Forde and T&T’s Tonya Nero dominate (See story on Wartsila Half-Marathon Classic page 19)

Trinidad and Tobago’s Tonya Nero wins the Women’s category of the Wartsila Half-Marathon.

Cleveland Forde crosses the finish line to win yesterday’s Wartsila Half-Marathon Classic.

(See story on page 20)

Anthony outsprints Greaves to win title for first time

Michael Anthony raises his hands in triumph as he crosses the finish line to win the first stage of the Dr Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle Road Race. (Adrian Narine photo)

17th Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle Road Race

Prize winners of the various categories of the Dr Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle Road Race strike a pose for photographer Adrian Narine. Eighth (left) is Member of Parliament Bibi Shadick while at extreme right is Director of Sport Neil Kumar.

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MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014