Guyana chronicle 10 03 14

GUYANA No. 103763

MONDAY MARCH 10, 2014

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Mammoth gathering overwhelms Babu John Memorial site Page 2

–As a nation pays homage to its ‘Fallen Father and Hero’

Over 300 members of the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) march to the Babu John Memorial site chanting, “Cheddi Jagan, Man of the People!”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Mammoth gathering overwhelms Babu John Memorial site –As a nation pays homage to its ‘Fallen Father and Hero’

By Vanessa Narine

First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar making remarks at yesterday’s memorial on behalf of President Donald Ramotar, who was unavoidably absent because of the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting

REMEMBERING Dr. Cheddi Jagan

“In my early political career (1945-1953), I had taken a radical stand: Pro-working class and pro-socialist. Had it not been for this militant radicalism, there would have been neither the raised political understanding of the Guyanese people, nor, in such a short time, our remarkable 1953 electoral victory. Having preached to the workers the gospel of scientific socialism, I could not somersault. The art of deception is a quality I find detestable and difficult to practise”

THE vision of the ‘Father of the Nation’, the late former president, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, continues to inform the policies of his party, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), with the intent to improve the lives of all citizens of Guyana.

And at yesterday’s memorial for Dr. Jagan, First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar -- who spoke on behalf of her husband, President Donald Ramotar, who is away on government business –- was the first to make note of this when she said “...this ‘Man of the People’ remains alive as a living guide for as long as his vision remains alive.”

The First Lady’s observations were preceded by a massive march of over 300 members of the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) who, decked out in red, yellow and black, moved along the Port Mourant Public Road shouting: “Long live Cheddi Jagan!” “Long live the PYO!” “Cheddi Jagan: Man of the People!” and “Long live the PPP!” The energy of the PYO enthused the already mammoth gathering at the Babu John memorial site, where the march ended.

With accommodation for the large gathering being insufficient, many had to squat on the ground, as encouraged by the host, Navin Chandarpal, whose squatting quip was one of the many light moments at the solemn occasion.

Bob Marley’s ‘Don’t worry’ added to the tangibly charged atmosphere, where the gathering was united by their intention to pay tribute See page 2

A section of the massive crowd gathered to celebrate the memory of the ‘Father of the Nation’, Dr. Cheddi Jagan

Former of Local Government Minister, Harripersaud Nokta (centre), is seated on the ground with PYO members, due to insufficient seating to accommodate the mammoth gathering

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Mammoth gathering overwhelms ...

From page 2 to a man who was unquestionably a man of and for the Guyanese people.

VISION RELEVANT TODAY This charged disposition was evident when Party General Secretary, Clement Rohee took the platform and underscored the relevance of Dr. Jagan’s vision even today.

He said, “His life and work has been enduring, and has stood the test of time, and all leaders of the PPP have drawn examples from his life as guidance.”

Rohee added that the party’s legacy is a rich one, grounded in a “fight” against political bullies for democracy, for peace and progress, and to create a new Global Human Order.

The New Global Human Order was adopted at the 62nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2007. The

crux of Dr. Jagan’s New Global Human Order is that there is enough food and resources in the world to feed every man, woman and child. The problem essentially has to do with the distribution of such resources, which are heavily skewed in favour of the rich. In addition to the uneven distribution of resources, there is also the question of valuable resources being spent on weapons of mass destruction; whereas, if that money were mobilized for human development, it could end hunger, death and ignorance in the world at large.

As the name implies, the New Global Human Order speaks to a more humane and caring society; one in which the resources of the world are spent on the uplifting of humanity as a whole, and not to fatten the already rich and powerful. In this regard, the resolution acknowledges that human development is inextricably linked to peace and security.

It is to the credit of Dr. Ja-

gan and the diplomatic efforts of the Foreign Affairs Ministry that the resolution received co-sponsorship of some 74 countries, including China and India, two of the most populous countries of the world. The resolution received co-sponsorship from the neighbouring countries of Suriname, Brazil and Venezuela, in addition to that of the CARICOM grouping of countries.

The PPP General-Secretary stated that while much has been done, there is still much to do; but he said that the party’s programmes are a work in progress, even as he reiterated the commitment expressed by the President and members of the current Administration to the flagship development projects, such as the Amaila Falls Hydro-power project.

“The PPP will remain solid as a rock!” Rohee assured.

ELECTIONS HINT Addressing the ongoing

political gridlock in the National Assembly, the General-Secretary hinted at the possibility of elections.

“The Parliament is a forum for a struggle for political power,” Rohee said.

He made it clear that the people are tired of the ‘shenanigans’ of the combined Opposition.

Rohee referred to the challenges being encountered with regard to passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, on which there is agreement, but the Opposition are withholding their support until several demands are met.

He said the people’s disgust would be best demonstrated at the polls.

“Guyanese have had enough of messing with their lives by their political predecessors,” Rohee opined.

According to him, the Opposition’s “game-plan” is clear

Acting President Samuel Hinds was the first to place a wreath in honour of the late former President Dr. Cheddi Jagan

Former Minister of Local Government, Harripersaud Nokta, is seen with the sisters of the later Dr. Cheddi Jagan (Photos by Adrian Narine)

for all to see, and it is one that would land Guyana into economic ruin.

He acknowledged that the PPP/C has made mistakes, but noted that the party is “bold and big” enough to admit to such errors, and work to make up for them. “The PPP/C remains the strongest political force in this country!” Rohee posited.

Rohee said that the best way to pay tribute to Dr. Cheddi Jagan is for all of his supporters to work “hard, ceaselessly and indefatigably” to retake the majority in the National Assembly.

“The struggle continues, but victory is inevitable,” he said.

Acting President Samuel Hinds echoed similar senti-

ments, and called for the Guyanese people to recommit to the ideals that were Dr. Jagan’s.

The desire for such a commitment was evident by personal encounters with longstanding fighters in the party and Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s two sisters, who were present for the memorial, as well as by emotive responses by some as they laid wreaths to pay homage to the fallen leader; and even by some of the attendees as they listened to the tributes being made.

Strikingly evident was consensus on the potential Dr. Jagan’s vision has to see Guyana advance, and have the Guyanese people truly participate in a New Global Human Order.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Missing Malaysian jet may have disintegrated in mid-air - source

By Siva Govindasamy and Nguyen Phuong Linh

KUALA LUMPUR/PHU QUOC ISLAND, Vietnam, (Reuters) - Officials investigating the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner with 239 people on board suspect it may have disintegrated in mid-flight, a senior source said yesterday, as Vietnam reported a possible sighting of wreckage from the plane.

International police agency Interpol confirmed that at least two passports recorded in its database as lost or stolen were used by passengers on the flight, raising suspicions of foul play.

An Interpol spokeswoman said a check of all documents used to board the plane had revealed more “suspect passports” that were being further investigated. She was unable to say how many, or from which country or countries.

Nearly 48 hours after the last contact with Flight MH370, mystery still surrounded its fate.

Malaysia’s air force chief said the Beijing-bound airliner may have turned back from its scheduled route before it vanished from radar screens.

“The fact that we are unable to find any debris so far appears to indicate that the aircraft is likely to have disintegrated at around 35,000 feet,” a source involved in the investigations in Malaysia told Reuters.

If the plane had plunged

intact from close to its cruising altitude, breaking up only on impact with the water, search teams would have expected to find a fairly concentrated pattern of debris, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the investigation publicly.

Asked about the possibility of an explosion, such as a bomb, the source said there was no evidence yet of foul play and that the aircraft could have broken up due to mechanical causes.

Dozens of military and civilian vessels have been criss-crossing waters beneath the aircraft’s flight path, but have found no confirmed trace of the lost plane, although oil slicks have been reported in the sea south of Vietnam and east of Malaysia.

Late yesterday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said on its website that a Vietnamese navy plane had spotted an object in the sea suspected of being part of the plane, but that it was too dark to be certain.

Search planes were set to return to investigate the suspected debris at daybreak.

WIDENING SEARCH “The outcome so far is there is no sign of the aircraft,” Malaysian civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said.

“On the possibility of hijack, we are not ruling out any

A relative (front) of a passenger of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries as she walks past journalists at a hotel in Beijing, yesterday.

(Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee). possibility,” he told reporters.

The Malaysian authorities said they were widening the search to cover vast swathes of sea around Malaysia and off Vietnam, and were investigating at least two passengers who were using false identity documents.

The passenger manifest issued by the airline included the names of two Europeans - Austrian Christian Kozel and Italian Luigi Maraldi - who, according to their foreign ministries, were not on the plane. Both had apparently had their passports stolen in Thailand during the past two years.

The BBC reported that the men falsely using their passports had purchased tickets together and were due to fly on to Europe from Beijing, meaning they did not have to apply for a Chinese visa and undergo further checks.

An employee at a travel agency in Pattaya, in Thailand, told Reuters the two had purchased the tickets there.

Interpol maintains a vast database of more than 40 million lost and stolen travel documents, and has long urged member countries to make greater

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use of it to stop people crossing borders on false papers.

The global police organisation confirmed that Kozel’s and Maraldi’s passports had both been added to the database after their theft in 2012 and 2013 respectively. But it said no country had consulted the database to check either of them since the time they were stolen.

“Whilst it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol’s databases,” Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said in a statement.

In a sign that Malaysia’s airport controls may have been breached, Prime Minister Najib Razak said security procedures were being reviewed.

FOUR SUSPECTS Malaysian Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said authorities were also checking the identities of two other passengers. He said help was also being sought from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

(FBI). However, an attack was only one of the possibilities being investigated.

“We are looking at all possibilities,” he said. “We cannot jump the gun. Our focus now is to find the plane.”

The 11-year-old Boeing 777-200ER, powered by RollsRoyce Trent engines, took off at 12:40 a.m. on Saturday(1640 GMT Friday) from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.

It last had contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu. Flight tracking website flightaware.com showed it flew northeast after takeoff, climbed to 35,000 ft (10,670 metres) and was still climbing when it vanished from tracking records.

There were no reports of bad weather.

“What we have done is actually look into the recording on the radar that we have and we realised there is a possibility the aircraft did make a turnback,” Rodzali Daud, the Royal Malaysian Air Force chief, told reporters at a news conference.

The search was being ex-

tended to the west coast of the Malay peninsula, in addition to a broad expanse of the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, he said.

Vietnamese naval boats sent from the holiday island of Phu Quoc patrolled stretches of the Gulf of Thailand, scouring the area where an oil slick was spotted by patrol jets just before nightfall on Saturday.

Besides the Vietnamese vessels, Malaysia and neighbouring countries have deployed 34 aircraft and 40 ships in the search.

China and the United States have sent ships to help, and Washington has also deployed a maritime surveillance plane.

U.S. officials from Boeing, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration were on the way to Asia to help in investigations, NTSB said in a statement. Boeing said it was monitoring the situation but had no further comment.

The airline has said 14 nationalities were among the passengers, including at least 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French and three Americans.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

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Fresh deal to end Rio rubbish collection strike

Sugar workers threaten to take industrial action

KINGSTON, Jamaica, (CMC) – More than 4,000 thousand sugar workers have threatened to take industrial action following weeks of failed negotiations, involving their unions and the Sugar Producers Federation (SPF) for improved wage and fringe benefits.

The three unions representing the workers and the Sugar Producers Federation (SPF) are still at a stalemate in hammering out a wage and fringe benefits agreement as a marathon meeting on Friday at the Ministry of Labour ended without a settlement.

The SPF has offered to increase wages to 7 percent in year one and 3 percent in the second year. However, this has been rejected by the unions.

First Vice President of the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU), Clifton Grant says the SPF›s offer has only served to anger the workers.

“The union wants a 13 percent (increase) in the first year for the employees and an 8 and a half percent in the second year.

The federation says they are not in a position to change. So we have communicated this to the employees. They are very very upset. The feedback that we are receiving is that the workers wanted to take industrial action, but we have asked them to give the Ministry of Labour an the Minister and opportunity to try and broker an agreement between the parties,” Grant said.

However, the SPF is insisting that the industry stands to lose millions during this crop season due to increased international competition. But the unions are insisting that they produce figures for both rum and sugar production to

support the prediction.

Another meeting is scheduled be held on Thursday at the Ministry of Labour.

RIO de Janeiro authorities and street cleaners say they have reached a new agreement to end an eight-day strike which has left tonnes of rubbish on the streets of the Brazilian city.

The rubbish collectors have reportedly accepted a pay rise of 37% after an earlier deal was rejected by some of the workers.

Earlier, dozens of cleaners staged a protest outside the mayor’s office.

The strike had been timed to coincide with the start of Carnival festivities.

Authorities, strikers and representatives of the union reportedly took part in Saturday’s meeting in Rio. The new agreement will take the collectors’ starting salary to 1,100 reais ($470; £280) a month.

At the start of the week, municipal authorities said they had sealed a deal with leaders of the 15,000 rubbish collectors after

Grenada joins ‘above-30 percent’ club for highest electoral gain for women GENEVA, ,( CMC) – The United Nations says Grenada is the only Caribbean country to join the “above-30 percent” club for the highest electoral gain for women in the world.

In the latest annual review of Women in Parliament – released at UN headquarters here by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international organization of parliamentarians, which works closely with the United Nations – 39 countries have reached the “above-30 percent” club.

Newcomers to this “30 per cent club” include Austria, Cameroon, Grenada and Zimbabwe (both houses), the review said.

It said the region on a whole recorded the highest electoral gain with women in Ecuador, Grenada and Argentina occupying more than 30 percent in those three countries – “a percentage considered a critical mass to effect change.”

Rwanda led the list of 189 countries surveyed, with its Chamber of Duties recording more than 60 percent women.

But at the same time, the IPU said a new growing concern has emerged regarding the rise in violence against women candidates running for political office.

“We know more about what is going on around elections.

Thanks to social media, we know about negative elections, also more about violence, threats of violence, against women candidates,” IPU Secretary-General Anders B. Johnsson told reporters at the report’s launch. “There are worrying reports we need to address.”

He said the Americas, which include the Caribbean and Latin America, topped the chart in 2013, with one out of every four Member of Parliament being a woman.

He said the United States and Canada are “not doing as well,” with the former ranked 83rd out of the 189 countries surveyed as of January 1, 2014 and the latter 54th.

Of the top 10 performing countries globally, Johnsson said four are on the African continent, which recorded a “very, very healthy increase.”

offering a salary increase of 9%.

But a group of street cleaners – whose starting monthly salary is 803 reais – wanted 1,200 reais plus other benefits.

‘TREATED LIKE RUBBISH’ On Friday, hundreds of refuse workers stopped traffic in central Rio, despite threats from authorities to sack collectors who did not show up to work.

The strikers said that more than half of collectors were continuing the industrial action and had vowed to stage fresh demonstrations over the weekend.

They said they were being “being treated like rubbish” and

even threatened to cause further disruptions during the football World Cup finals, due to start on 12 June.

“The mayor wants to hold the World Cup, bin men want to go shopping,” read some of their banners.

The street cleaners’ union said the strikers were a minority.

Tonnes of rubbish had been left after Carnival parties on the streets.

The president of Rio’s rubbish collecting company, Comlurb, had appealed to people to store rubbish at home whenever possible, the BBC’s Julia Carneiro reports from Rio. Some workers had already started to clean up the rubbish

left in some parts of Rio by this year’s Carnival festivities, which ended on Wednesday.

They were escorted by security officers to protect the workers from striking colleagues, authorities said.

Our correspondent says the local culture of littering had made the situation worse.

Even Rio’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, was caught on video throwing rubbish.

Mr Paes said he did not remember the event, but asked the authorities to fine him to serve as an example.

Last year, his government announced a “zero tolerance” policy towards street littering.

(BBC News)

Rio’s famous Ipanema beach remained cluttered with litter for days

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EDITORIAL

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

GUYANA

Trading patriotism for the politics of opportunism GUYANA is a Paradise-like country. Except for some occasional minor flooding, it has no natural disasters, but abundant natural resources and breathtaking beauty, with a variety of natural wonders to rival, and even surpass, glorious landmarks in the rest of the world.

But Guyana is plagued with one unrelenting curse; that is, politicians currently in the opposition, who are vainglorious, unpatriotic, so very relentless in their quest for power that they do not care if they destroy the country and the lives and standard of living of their constituents. The Chronicle will revisit one of their continuums of anti-national forays that left death and destruction in its wake.

This, it is hoped, will alert their supporters not to be swayed anymore by the travesty they present as leadership, and be persuaded to act rashly as a result of the Opposition combo’s fault-finding, with one objection after another, on spurious grounds, to the Commission of Inquiry into the death of Walter Rodney.

The following is meant to act as a timely reminder that it is not the political opportunists, but their supporters, who suffer from the combined opposition’s relentless, opportunistic politics.

In 2012, the Opposition, in collaboration with private media practitioners, riled up the Lindeners to begin a protest, buttressed by bussed-in criminal elements. They were aware, as the Chronicle had warned, that it would escalate into criminal action, which was the opposition’s intent, as always; and there is great suspicion on who really caused the deaths of the three Linden protesters, because those deaths suit the time and historically proven agenda of the Opposition.

Certainly, the Government could and would not wish such an eventuality, for fear of consequencing just such actions as precipitated by those deaths.

During the budget debate, the Government had acceded to Granger’s menu of measures as conditions for supporting the new electricity tariff structure for Linden, a necessity acknowledged years ago by even Burnham; so, essentially, the PNCR/APNU configuration recognised the need for this gradual weaning away from a subsidised energy sector in Linden.

Immediately after, piqued at being sidelined by the APNU in these talks, the AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan and Moses Nagamootoo -- mainly because of political adventurism, opportunism and expediency -- ran to the mining community and began agitating the anger of the Lindeners by misrepresenting the terms of the new tariff arrangement, and telling Lindeners that the PNC and Granger were selling them out.

To protect the turf of the PNCR, Granger immediately reneged on the agreement with Government, and rushed down to the community to compete with the AFC in trying to convince the Lindeners that the PNCR had not abandoned them. And because they could not stem the tide of the misinformation that the AFC had fed the community about the proposed tariff restructuring, the APNU went along with the AFC’s call for that community to start a protest, which, in any case, fitted in with the PNCR’s traditional agenda of destabilization and destruction to impede the PPP/C administration’s governance of the country. The rest is history.

What happened in Linden is to be blamed squarely on the AFC and PNCR/APNU leadership, and on their satellites in the NGOs and private media, which displayed absolutely no sense of responsibility nor remorse over what they had foreknowledge would occur subsequent to their inflammatory rhetoric, as they -- as one AFC leader put it -- continued to “rile up” the members of that community.

There are many villages in rural areas that have many pressing needs in various areas that they consider of vital importance.

In some instances, roads are impassable, and youths have no recreational facilities and so get into bad practices. These villages also have a security dilemma that causes sleepless nights, as people have to stay awake in turns, fearful of the predatory armed bandits rampaging all over the country, with no one knowing when again they will strike, or who will be their next victim, as in the case that caused the protest in Albion.

Yet Lindeners -- whose roads are paved and drainage and irrigation concerns have been addressed to the optimum; whose needs the Government has been continually trying to meet in various ways and forms since 1992, subsidising practically everything in that community, especially with the provision of practically

free electricity that provides them with no motivation to conserve, resulting in that tiny community consuming in excess of three times the amount of electricity used by the entire rest of the country -- can destroy all the facilities; private and public property; rob, assault and victimise law-abiding citizens; and attack ranks of the police force; and at the end be rewarded with even more goodies, as a result of opposition-called-for CoI, the findings of which they eventually rejected, as is their wont to do when faced with the unpalatable truth of the consequences of their actions.

After years of a large chunk of the national budget going to subsidise free electricity for Lindeners, which started when that community was really depressed and needed much infusion of resources in other ways to upgrade the lives and living conditions of its residents, the Government felt it was time to regularise the electricity rates, and gradually bring it in line with those being paid throughout the rest of the country, on a staggered basis to minimize the impact to the community.

The rates proposed was no real increase up to a usage of 50 kilowatts; and many persons in the rest of the country use less than that on a monthly basis. Any usage additional to that would incur a rate of $50 per kilowatt, which is still much less that the rate paid by the average consumer. This, as a start, was basically a mechanism to encourage conservation; because if there was no wastage, then their bill would still have been negligible; but their protest was to ensure that there are no limitations placed on their consumption, which is unsustainable for a country such as Guyana.

No country in the world, not even the most developed ones, provides free electricity to its citizens, because there are involved tremendous cost factors that no economy can absorb and sustain.

The shooting incident that followed is highly suspect, given the PNC’s history of strategising violence in this country, with destroyed lives of supporters being considered by all Opposition leaders as “collateral damage”.

Yet, in spite of the Government’s many concessions, mainly in efforts to stop the suffering of the innocent, including hinterland dwellers and businesses who were being deprived of vital commodities essential for their survival, among which is the restoration of free and unlimited use of electricity to Linden, along with other goodies, the atrocities being committed by the Linden ‘protesters’ continued unabated; and even escalated, as did the demands made on Government.

The rules of engagement were changed daily by the joint Opposition.

The actions of the Opposition protesters destroyed private and public property; caused much suffering and loss to hinterland communities and the business community; drove the national economy into a downward spiral; and produced great trauma to Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese supporters of the PPP/C who live in that community, with Lindeners like Phillip Bynoe becoming the latest victims -- like Buxtonian Idris Chester was -- as voices of reason and conscience were being silenced.

Part of a Government release stated: “Guyanese deserve to know the facts of what really transpired in Linden, and it is time that the people of our nation know exactly who the agents of division in our society are.

“The campaign of dividing our people along ethnic lines is nothing new in Guyana; and even today, the scars of past events still haunt all our people, but Guyana has made significant strides since then, and despite the efforts of a group of extremists who appear to be hell-bent on always coming up with a racial dimension to each and every single aspect of decisions undertaken by the PPP/C Government, the party remains confident and proud of its record and the role it has played in that, whereas despite numerous and constantly evolving challenges, it has been successful in working to create that environment which facilitates the improvement in the standard of living of citizens all across our nation.

“It is against this backdrop that the PPP calls on all Guyanese to condemn the actions of these individuals, who are seeking to destroy all our hard work as a people, all our achievements to bridge what has served to divide us in the past; every single perception which we have worked to dispel, and all the gains we have made in racial harmony are now at stake because of the misguided and reckless actions of a few.

“The party wishes to state that much has been made by these elements, especially racial connotations about the fact that senior officials of the PPP/C Government have not visited the scene of the protests.

“ The public, however, needs to be reminded that not one of these individuals condemned their colleagues in the AFC and APNU for encouraging the protestors in the early stages of threatening to kill the Prime Minister of Guyana, Hon. Samuel Hinds, as was clearly spelt out on one of their placards during a demonstration.

“Despite this fact, Prime Minister Hinds, who is responsible for the electricity sector, journeyed to Linden, where his visit was rebuffed at the instigation of the Opposition through the protesters.

“It is most surprising that even the Opposition has now turned around and is questioning Government for not visiting the scene of the protests; and at the same time, they are supporting the continuation of the actions of the extremist fringe, who are blocking the various access roads to Linden, and also vital roadways inside the community itself; digging up roads and placing logs across roads to halt any traffic; attacking and robbing persons attempting to navigate their way either to the capital city or back to the hinterland, or extorting some for safe passage through the township.

“The PPP has, however, noted that the large majority of Lindeners do not support the actions of the protesters, led by the APNU Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon; and against this backdrop, fully supports the growing calls -- the latest being from the Private Sector Commission -- for the Joint Services to clear all obstacles hindering the smooth and safe passage of persons and vehicles inside the community, as the current situation is not in keeping with a ‘peaceful demonstration.’

“The party also supports the decision of President Donald Ramotar to visit and engage with Lindeners when these blockades would have been removed.

“This is not the first occasion Lindeners have voiced concerns over various issues, and Guyanese would recall, in the past, that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government has been more than willing to interact and work along meaningfully with the mining town to address their concerns.

“The party reaffirms its commitment to the people of Linden through its policies and programmes at the level of central Government, as with every other community in Guyana, to constantly and consistently work to improve the standard of living of all our people.”

When former President Jagdeo warned that an aspiring president of this country has ‘blood on his hands’ and would take this country decades back through violent strategies if he does not get his way, he was severely criticized; as was the Chronicle when it warned that the Opposition’s inflammatory rhetoric could incite confrontations that would lead to deaths, destruction and mayhem in Guyana; especially in light of a mad columnist’s constant call for an “Arab Spring” in Guyana; and constant calls for a revolution by elements in the joint Opposition.

As usual, the GHRA makes statements only on behalf of criminals, because while it was strident in its condemnation of the Chronicle, it was loud in its silence of the Opposition’s destructive actions; and one wonders where the conscientious Roman Catholic bodies and NGOs so conscious of racial verbiage were, as well as the international community. Or would it suit all their purposes for a massacre of one community to decimate PPP supporters to the extent that next elections the Opposition would have a cakewalk into Government?

Once more, the farce is being played out, but instead of free electricity to Lindeners, the Rodney Commission of Inquiry is being made into the issue in this instance, with the usual suspects objecting on their various spurious grounds, and pontificating on every possible ground – all nebulous and groundless -- in efforts to cause dissension and eventual mayhem in the nation once more.

Guyanese, even supporters of Opposition parties, should be warned, and not allow themselves to be made once more into ‘collateral damage’ by an unpatriotic and opportunistic opposition combo.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

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Defiance against judicial decision

THIS recent pronouncement by the Leader of the Opposition, “If they don’t hear, they will feel”, is, to all intents and purposes, an undisguised threat directed at the staff of both the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA). They describe it as the latest defiance by this Opposition leader against the judicial decision that ruled his Opposition-led motion to cut Budget 2012 as unconstitutional.

But it again mirrors two stark contradictions of the mental facet of a Guyanese whose cumulative career and background, which encapsulates service in the military to the level of army commander, security advisor and specialist, publisher and academic, consciously ought to debar him from such language. It is fair to conclude that it is a betrayal of first his military training, with its very strict adherence to the dogma of discipline; and, as a sequel, gross disrespect for the law.

In so many columns following the Honourable Chief Justice’s ruling, despite some dissenting opinions, the common advice has been that the court’s ruling must be respected until whatever further action the Opposition may wish to pursue concerning a possible appeal. Such is indeed fair, and in keeping with time-honoured principles.

Granger, from the onset, by his many statements, signalled that he was not going to respect, much less honour, the judicial decision. Thus this threat is not a surprise.

Surely, Granger ought to be reminded of the rules which he would have obeyed while a serving junior officer, and which he expected others to similarly follow when he rose to commander status. He must think carefully of his actions in threatening staff of both state media houses. Is this what young people who earn an honest living from their dedicated toil expect from someone who had promised so much while on the campaign hustings?

Searching for newspaper clippings MY name is Arlene Mattai, and I live at 85 Lamaha Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, Guyana. I was crowned Miss Diwali 1972 at the Mahatma Gandhi Youth Building.

I would love to retrieve the newspaper clippings/advertisements that were published in the newspaper in 1972. The commercials were advertising B.H. Paints, who were my sponsors.

Anyone with this information is kindly asked to let me know how I can acquire these newspaper articles, clippings, and commercials.

ARLENE MATTAI

You got to get in line with the big ones to go against the PNC OF COURSE GINA will see Granger’s comments as a grave threat, because Granger said: “…if they don’t hear,

they will feel…”

GINA said it interprets this comment by Mr. Granger as a threat to its existence and well-being of its staff. Moreover, the agency believes that such a comment may not be devoid of security implications for its employees, and is in the process of registering its concerns with the related authority.

GINA is registering concerns about a threat to related authority. Who is the related authority? If it is the Guyana Police Force, then GINA should think again, because the police are supportive of the PNC and Granger is ruler of the PNC. Remember how police bodily ejected GINA, Chronicle and NCN media workers from polling booths last elections, and said openly that only Stabroek News, Kaieteur News, Prime News and Capital News’ reporters would be allowed in?

The Guyana Press Association is pro-PNC. The Caribbean Press Association is “kith n kin” of the PNC. Whichever way it is looked at, you got to get in line with the big ones to go against the PNC, and the big ones are USA/UK/ Canada/UN. But PNC beat PPP to the punch and hooked up with those countries mentioned above, and this is why PNC can do no wrong in Guyana, even if it goes on a killing spree.

PNC is alleged to have killed Rodney and many other freedom fighters, and no one was held accountable.

GINA can huff and puff all it wants, but Granger can take you all out at any given time, if he so chooses, with no repercussions, because he and all Opposition to Government are supported by the big ones, so state media entities will never get any redress.

T. KING

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Ministry eyeing technology to monitor compliance in extractive sector

By Clifford Stanley

THE Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNR&E) is reviewing a range of technology which can be utilized in early detection of illegal mining and forestry activity in remote areas in the hinterland.

The options include use of satellite imagery, the use of cameras on private and commercial aircraft crisscrossing the hinterland and even the use of drones, unmanned aircraft, for early detection and effective corrective action.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Mr. Robert Persaud disclosed this while lamenting the current inability of regulatory agencies to effectively stamp out the illegal exploitation of the country’s natural resources.

During an address to stakeholders at an environmental stakeholders workshop at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, Kingston, Georgetown on

economic future of the country He stressed that Guyanese must be aware that use of the natural resources has enabled the country to survive the economic difficulties and minimize the hardships of the economic crisis.

“We cannot ignore that our prosperity, our survival as a country economically and socially depends on how well we use our natural resources.”

He noted that he was happy with the wide range of legislation and policies which protect the environment.

“We in Guyana have the

issues, including the Protected Areas Commission (PAC), the Wildlife Conservation and Management systems, the comprehensive wildlife bills that will be going to the National Assembly soon, I think we have been proactive and we have done very well.”

He said that the area of weakness, however, is in the institutions which have the job of conservation and preservation of the environment.

He said: “We have had some good cases but ensuring compliance in the natural resources sector is an area

‘With respect to technological support for field staff, the GGMC is currently working on its capability to process satellite images so that operatives can get early warning of illegal mining and illegal forestry’ most comprehensive legislative framework in terms of manag-

in which we have been weak in terms of consistency. Our

Participants at the environmental stakeholders workshop at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre.

Friday, he stressed the need for the MNR&E and all other stakeholders to ramp up the activities needed to ensure that illegal activities in the extractive sector are eliminated in the interest of preservation of the Guyanese patrimony and the

ing the environment. From the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) to the various other agencies which look at regulations for environmental

agencies have not been able to fully ensure that there is compliance. We recognize that there is a weakness in terms of consistent monitoring and in ensuring compliance.”

He said that with respect to the issue of compliance

Police detain four in vehicle around McDoom gas station –unearth 9mm pistol,six live rounds

THE police have reported receiving a report about four men in a parked motor car loitering in the vicinity of the Rubis Gas Station at Mc Doom, East Bank of Demerara

at about 10.30 hrs on March 06, 2014.

Upon arrival of the police in the vicinity of the gas station at Mc Doom, the motor vehicle with the four men sped away.

The police gave chase and were able to apprehend the motor vehicle and the men, along with an unlicensed 9mm. pistol with six live rounds.

Investigations are in progress.

Lone gunman on bicycle shoots, robs youth in Blygezight INSHAN Ramlakhan, 21, of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara was walking along the Railway Embankment Road at Blygezight, Georgetown, at about 05:15 hrs on

Thursday when he was attacked by a man armed with a handgun.

The perpetrator shot Ramlakhan to the left shoulder, and relieved him of three cell-

phones and $8,000 in cash before escaping on a bicycle.

Inshan Ramlakhan has been admitted to hospital and police investigations are in progress.

Minister Robert Persaud addressing participants at the environmental stakeholders workshop. with forestry regulations there had been some mixed results but greater diligence is needed in terms of ensuring that operators both at the community level as well as concession holders are responsive to regulations and are responsible in their extractions.

In view of this, he said, he was appealing to all stakeholders, including residents of hinterland communities, to support the regulators such as the GGMC and the GFC to become more efficient in terms of monitoring issues such as illegal forestry, pollution of waterways, land degradation and inadequate work on land reclamation and rehabilitation after mining.

All concerned, he stressed, should seek to involve communities in becoming key players in managing the environmental impacts of activities which involve the utilization of the forest for biodiversity activities and for the extractive purposes such as mining and forestry and not merely be spectators, he said.

ENVIRONMENTAL BONDS In connection with the issue of land reclamation after mining, he disclosed that local gold and diamond miners will soon be required to lodge more money with the GGMC for the purpose of Environmental Bonds which aim at ensuring the successful rehabilitation and reclamation of mined-out areas.

According to the mining regulations, every large and medium-scale prospecting and mining licence and holder must lodge an Environmental Bond in the form of money in favour of the GGMC for the restoration of mined-out lands to a safe and usable form after mining is completed.

If after the mining activity the area is not restored to the satisfaction of the GGMC, the GGMC will give the miner three months to restore the environment of the mined-out area.

If the miner fails to do this, the GGMC will use part or all of the Environmental Bond to restore the environment.

With respect to technolog-

ical support for field staff, he said that the GGMC is currently working on its capability to process satellite images so that operatives can get early warning of illegal mining and illegal forestry.

He said that drones have been used to monitor forests in some countries and this is an area the ministry will want to explore in terms of knowing what is taking place in remote areas.

The ministry will also take steps to further strengthen manpower and the skills of staffers in the regulatory agencies.

He said that the challenges in managing the environment in an expanding extractive sector are many. However, he urged all stakeholders to assist in bringing harmony and balance in natural resources development and the environment. Minister Persaud also called on them to assist with helping the country to do so and at the same time stay on track in terms of developing a green economy consistent with the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

BACIF cops award at GM&SA Awards Ceremony

By Clifford Stanley THE local Brass Aluminum and Cast Iron Foundry (BACIF), which produces engineering castings of any size for industries and infrastructure, last year produced for the Guyana National Bureau of Standards(GNBS) 48 MASS sets to be used for calibrating industrial scales around the country.

This was the second time that BACIF had produced these facilities for the GNBS and it has been established that it is the only foundry in the Caribbean to have accomplished such a feat.

At the same time, BACIF maintained its Jamaican clientele and last

year manufactured two of the largest, most complex Crystalliser Worm Gears for Jamaica’s sugar industry.

BACI accordingly was one of the 10 companies which won awards from the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GM&SA) during its recent annual dinner and award giving ceremony.

BACIF received the GMSA 2014 award in recognition of its innovativeness with production of metallic products and sustaining markets within the ambit of the CSME Mr. Peter Pompey, General Manager of the local foundry received the award.

Awarded also for outstanding performance were Pritipaul Singh Investments Incorporated; Caribbean Containers Inc.

(CCI); Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Inc.; Air Services Limited (ASL); TCL Guyana Inc.; Gafsons Industries Ltd; Dutch Bottle Café; Ministry of Tourism Industry and Commerce; and New GPC Inc. (Limacol).

Seven companies, namely Gafsons Industries Ltd; John Fernandes Ltd; Toolsie Persaud Ltd; BACIF; Banks DIH Ltd; Edward B. Beharry Group of Companies; and Demerara Oxygen Company received special longevity awards.

Mrs. Doreen De Caires of Stabroek News received a Lifetime Award for long and dedi cat ed servi ce in promoting the development of the private sector.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Old Kai: Chronicles of Guyana...

Exposed! David Granger’s recent parley with Berbice ‘gangsters’ OLD KAI was not surprised to have read that APNU, led by David Granger, visited East Berbice/Corentyne on March 8 2014. Ironically, it was the day before the PPP’s annual tribute to the legacy of the Jagans at Babu John, Port Mourant.

This clearly is a sign of desperation, no doubt brought on by the damning revelations of a recent opinion poll which shows both the APNU and AFC losing considerable support among the masses.

However, while Mr. Granger is free to visit whichever community he chooses today (unlike what obtained in the past, when PPP members were prevented from visiting parts of their own country; and I can recall how Mr. Harrypersaud Nokta was brutally beaten and sent back to Georgetown by the dictatorship when he had attempted to visit an interior community), there is something despicable that emanated from the APNU visit to East Berbice, and it should be condemned by all Guyanese.

Rather than going to Berbicians and showing some remorse for his past actions, including the fact that he had labelled those who were struggling for free and fair elections as ‘gangsters’ in a subsequent book he wrote, Mr. David Granger went there and insinuated that these citizens were not committed to national unity and racial reconciliation. This is a dangerous attack upon the integrity of the people in Region 6, who showed that they were way above the devious political machinations of Mr. Granger and the Opposition by allowing him into their communities.

To then turn around, in the APNU press statement on March 9, 2014, and attack Berbicians by asking them to “…commit themselves to national unity and racial reconciliation, and renounce thoughts of retaliation and recrimination”, is clearly telling the nation that the people of Region 6 have not been committed all along to these ideals.

This is a disgraceful attack, especially coming from no less a person than David Granger, who has staunchly refused to admit that the PNC Government, of which he was a senior figure, used

every undemocratic measure, including the rigging of elections, to stay in office until 1992.

He has refused to repent for openly praising the actions of soldiers in shooting down innocent citizens, ‘the ballot box martyrs’, who were simply asking for their votes to be counted at the polling station, rather than being mysteriously whisked away by Mr. Granger’s people.

In fact, when questioned recently, Mr. Granger said he was not aware of any such plans, nor had he any involvement; yet he wrote extensively about the incident, for a man with no knowledge, including praising the soldiers for their actions by saying they ‘behaved splendidly in the face of provocation’.

He further notes that “the sound political education that the soldiers received in 1971 and 1972 enabled them to act with tact, discretion, and firmness in 1973, and this saved the day (for Mr. Granger’s dictatorship).”

This is the man who now went to Berbice and promised that “APNU will put power back in the hands of people”. Clearly, he is a few decades late.

Old Kai will now help to rejig Mr. Granger’s memory, as he claims he cannot recall any rigging of elections by the PNC. Below is a declassified telegram sent to the State Department by then US Ambassador to Guyana, Delmar Carlson, who met with Burnham in early June 1967 and in which he detailed part of Burnham’s plan to rig the votes in the next elections: “In course discussion with Prime Minister Burnham last night, I raised subject[of] coming elections, and explained election mathematics at my disposal tended[to] show that the PNC majority over the PPP and the U.F. would require at minimum 60,000 votes additional. Even Prime Minister Burnham does not consider that overseas vote can be blown up to that extent; even [the] 50,000 figure used by him very hypothetically, and 30,000 accepted as more realistic (Embassy finds in excess of 25,000 not believable).

“Earlier, Prime Minister Burnham said that overseas vote figures could be manipulated pretty much as he wished, and he tentatively had in mind, say 25,000, for a new coalition government and 5,000 for the PPP. When pressed by these mathematics, Prime Minister Burnham said he “would not break his lance” over the PNC majority, meaning that if the U.S.G. (United States Government) made issue of it, he would not pursue it. Clear however, he intends to follow (a) number of election tricks to add to the PNC totals and detract from the PPP votes.

Accumulated total of these may well produce a surprisingly good showing for the PNC, though falling short of absolute majority.

Adds that he [is] well aware of [the] need that these election tricks be done smoothly and without controversy.”

Despite this damning revelation, when questioned by the media, Saint Granger is quoted as saying: “I don’t have evidence that they (elections) were rigged”, and we are further told that “Granger is unapologetic about having always espoused the values of the PNC and its founder leader Burnham…”

This is coming from a man who, among several other government appointments, was also the planning officer for the establishment of the Guyana National Service (1973-74) and the Guyana People’s Militia (1976-77). He was also made Commander of the GDF from 1979 to 1990. Yet he claims he is unaware of what occurred during this dark time in our history, and during which time he held such ‘influential’ posts.

The facts above clearly indicate that Mr. Granger cannot bring himself to lead by example and show that he is genuine about his calls for reconciliation and national unity in Guyana. Therefore, APNU’s statement ordering Berbicians to “commit themselves to national unity and racial reconciliation and renounce thoughts of retaliation and recrimination” should instead be directed to Mr. Granger and his party’s leadership.

Police statistics reveal Man furious at betrayal of one-per-cent increase close friend who disappears in serious crimes with his vehicle –robbery-under-arms by as much as 42%

By Michel Outridge THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) has said that based on its statistics, the offences of murder and robbery under arms for the period January 1 to February 28, 2014 compare with the same period in 2013 as follows: There has been an increase of 42% in armed robberies.

At the end of February 2014 robbery under arms overall had increased by 42%, with 206 reports being recorded, compared to 145 for the same period in 2013.

The statistics indicate an increase of 62% in the number of armed robberies involving the use of firearms; and a 12% decrease in armed robberies in which instruments other than firearms were used by the perpetrators.

However, an overall increase of 1% in serious crimes has been recorded at the end of February 2014, compared to the same period in 2013.

The total number of reports of serious crimes made between January 1 and February 28, 2014 was 642, compared to 637 for the same period in 2013.

Some of the offences monitored are murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, larceny from the person, breaking and entering, and larceny, burglary, rape and kidnapping.

Police added that a total of 24 murders were recorded at the end of February 2014, compared to 20 murders for the same period in 2013, showing a 20% increase.

Of those 24 murders, four were of the disorderly type, five were committed during armed robberies, and three were domestic related, while the other 12 are so far undetermined.

TRAFFIC SITUATION In relation to traffic, 19 road fatalities from 18 accidents have been recorded at the end of February 2014. A total of 19 road fatalities from 17 accidents

had been recorded for the same period in 2013. The other categories of accidents – serious, minor and damage – have seen reductions up to the end of February this year in comparison to last year.

Pedestrians have been the main road users affected, with eight such persons having lost their lives at the end of February 2014. In addition, six motor cyclists, four pedal cyclists, and one passenger of a motor vehicle lost their lives by accident.

Speeding continues to be a major contributing factor to fatal accidents, and was the cause of 12 of the 18 fatal accidents recorded at the end of February 2014.

Traffic enforcement by the police has resulted in a total of 13,321 cases being made against errant motorists up to the end of February, 2014. Of this total, 3,418 cases were for speeding.

To date, one person has lost his life on the road for the month of March, 2014.

By Alex Wayne WITH great swearing and anguished tears of regret, Ragindranauth Mooniram, a resident of the Roraima Housing Scheme at Versailles, West Bank of Demerara, told this publication yesterday that on February 24, 2014 he rented his white Dodge Ram vehicle, number PMM 3712, to Michael Henry, aka ‘Carmichael’ since his friend’s vehicle had allegedly been stolen and he needed one urgently to conduct marketing for his logging business in Linden.

Mooniram said the man was supposed to return the vehicle with an undisclosed sum of cash to him by March 1, 2014, but when the man failed to return the vehicle on the agreed date, he telephoned him and was given a promise that the vehicle would be returned to his residence on March 3.

Mooniram said he waited all day on March 3 and when

Henry did not show up, he telephoned him; but the man did not respond to his calls. He said the man has since apparently switched off his cellular phone, and has not contacted him.

Moreover, investigations have revealed that Henry does not reside in Linden, as he had indicated, but at Kwakwani.

Mooniram firmly believes that Henry has stolen his vehicle, since Henry reportedly has had a few brushes with the law.

And to compound Mooniram’s misfortune, the vehicle does not belong to him, but to a family member named Imram Boodram.

Expressing great disgust at what he deems a betrayal of trust by a very close friend, Mooniram has since reported the matter at a few police stations, and is asking anyone who knows the whereabouts of Michael Henry, aka Carmichael, or the vehicle # PMM 3712, to contact the nearest police station or call him personally on phone number 600-4502, or even dial 614-3280.

Ragindranauth Mooniram bemoans the disappearance of a vehicle entrusted to his care.

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Mahaica felony murder trial ...

Judge to rule this morning on defence no-case submissions

By George Barclay JUSTICE Franklyn Holder, the presiding judge in the Mahaica felony murder trial, has completed the hearing of defence no-case submissions, which he began conducting in the absence of the jury some days ago.

He has reserved his ruling for this morning when he will deliver his decision in relation to the no-case submissions by defence counsel, Mr. Trenton Lake for the number one accused Orrin David and Mr. George Thomas for the number two accused, Shawn Thom.

According to the prosecution’s case, the accused Shawn Thom and Orin David, on a motorcycle on August 20, 2010

staged a robbery/murder at Hope, East Coast Demerara, which led to the death of Lakhram Bishundial, called ‘Mohan’ They have pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution, conducted

by Senior State Counsel Mrs. Judith Mursalin, has called 14 witnesses, including three eyewitnesses who gave an account of what they had seen to the jury.

But at the close of the prosecution’s case, the defence counsel elected to make no-case submissions in the absence of the jury, expecting that their clients would be freed on points of law at this stage, without the matter having to be determined by the jury.

The prosecutrix suitably

replied and the judge disclosed that he would rule this morning.

In the event that the nocase submissions are accepted in relation to both accused, the judge will free the accused at this stage and direct the mixed jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty, But should the submissions be overruled, the judge is expected to call on the accused for a defence before the jury - the judges of the facts - at the substantive trial, when the jury after hearing the defence and addresses by counsel on both sides and the summing-up of the evidence, with directions on the law by the trial judge, will retire to consider their verdict of guilty or not guilty.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Merundoi may have to scrap garbage woes series LOCAL radio drama series Merundoi has taken the initiative to highlight the ills of improper garbage disposal in Guyana, with the hope of creating behavioural change among citizens.

Speaking to Clean and Green Guyana on Monday, Merundoi’s Executive Director, Margaret Lawrence said the drama group felt that the garbage situation in Guyana had become overwhelming and therefore decided to play its part to help eliminate the ongoing scourge.

“We embarked on it because it needed to be done,” she said.

The drama series on this topic has been ongoing for some four months

–for want of funding

and it has received positive feedback.

Lawrence pointed out that aside from its airing on local airwaves, the series has had over 10,000 hits from countries worldwide, due to its Online streaming.

The series is currently in its fourth season, and has so far highlighted the need to pick up plastics, clean drains and properly dispose of medical waste, among other practices.

LACK OF FUNDING Regrettably, however, Lawrence said Merundoi will have to discontinue this series on garbage disposal

due to a lack of funding.

She noted that the drama team would usually ensure its messages are enforced through community and school interventions.

These activities, she said, call for funding which is currently not available.

Lawrence said she had approached government but is awaiting feedback.

Persons desirous of sponsoring the Merundoi radio drama on correct garbage disposal can contact the following: Margaret Lawrence on 602-3838; Derwin Humphrey on 6823017; or Merundoi office on 218-3417.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Dharmic Sabha starts annual Phagwah celebrations with grand mela

By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally

THE Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha started their annual Phagwah celebrations Saturday with a grand mela at the Guyana International Convention Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

Scores of persons graced this annual event to be entertained by the colourful dances, melodious singing and scrumptious food. There were dancers from across Guyana participating in the Indian folk dance competition.

International singers like Paransh, Omesh Singh and Jeffrey Iqbal graced the stage and energized the crowd with their renditions. Also participating at this year’s mela were the contestants from the E-Networks Inc. song competition.

President Donald Ramotar couldn’t help but say how excited he was to be able to attend the mela, given his stringent schedule, and commended the Dharmic Sabha on their continued progress over the last 40 years of their existence. He also encouraged them to continue the development of their traditions.

This year’s event was sponsored by Digicel, l-Cee, Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) and E-Networks Inc. The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha was established 40 years ago on January 8, 1974.

Its founder was Pt. Reepu Da-

man Persaud, who served as president for 39 years until his demise in April 2013.

Since its inception, the Sabha has initiated, crafted and sustained diverse pro-

11

grammes and events that have catered to the needs of Guyanese. The Sabha comprises eight branches/ Praants and has over 125 affiliated mandirs throughout the country. It is supported by its women and youth arms, Mahila Mandalee and Dharmic Naujawaan.

Paying rapt attention to what is taking place onstage are, from left, First Lady Mrs Deolatchmee Ramotar; President Donald Ramotar; and President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Dr Vindhya Persaud

Jeffrey Iqbal and a Guyanese fan

Hindu Folk Dancers from Essequibo One of the many cultural items on the evening’s programme of events

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Putting the sp

The lives and accomplishments of rema

By Michelle Gonsalves IN honour of International Women’s Day, celebrated the world over on Saturday, March 8, the Women and Gender Equality Commission last Wednesday, at the Parliament Chambers, launched an exhibition to highlight the lives and accomplishments of remarkable women both local and international. The exhibition showcases 12 women, seven of whom are from Guyana’s shores.

JUNE RAMSAMMY A HUMBLE woman who blazed a trail for many women in Guyana, the late June Ramsammy quietly bore the banner of the “first” woman in Guyana to be appointed in a number of prominent positions in both her private and professional lives.

She was the first female Head of Human Resources in Banks DIH, one of Guyana’s major employers where she had responsibility for one thousand, five hundred (1,500) employees.

She was a founder-member of the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Guyana. She was the first female Personnel Manager at the Guyana Graphic newspaper in the late 1950s and the early 1960s and the first woman to sit on the Labour Board of Guyana.

One of the first women to be accepted into the Rotary Club of Guyana, June eventually earned the coveted Rotary recognition of service with the title of Paul Harris Fellow conferred on her; an honour awarded as a tribute to a Rotarian whose life demonstrates a shared purpose with the objectives of the Rotary Foundation and as appreciation for contributions to the Rotary’s humanitarian and educational programmes.

A devout Anglican, she was the first to represent her church on the Diocesan Synod and to serve on JUNE RAMSAMMY its Board of Trustees. June was also a member of the Church Committee of the Aloysius Anglican Chapel and was keenly involved with the Anglican diocese youth culture.

In her formative years, June Ramsammy started out in a teaching career and completed a course in Secretarial Studies before undergoing formal training in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, graduating with a Diploma. She attended several Advanced Courses in Personnel Training in St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Kitts, Puerto Rico and Barbados.

She was a facilitator and participant at several local forums. At an international Breweries Convention, held in Guyana, she presented a paper titled, “Employees as an investment Asset”, and at a similar convention in Puerto Rico, gave a presentation titled: “Labour Relation in the Caribbean”.

Her life of service to both state and civil society was exemplified in the number of corporate and voluntary organisations in which she was actively involved. A sample of these included in the arbitration tribunals of the Guyana Electricity Corporation on two occasions under the chairmanship of Justice Prem Persaud and Justice Loris Ganpatsingh respectively. She was a committee member of the councils of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security and the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry (CAGI). She was also actively involved in the Mildred Mansfield Youth Club Board.

June Ramsammy deftly and convincingly broke the proverbial glass ceiling for women in the corporate sector here and stands as a role model for generations of business and professional women that followed in her wake.

ALICE MUNRO Alice Ann Munro born on July 10, 1931 and is a Canadian author whose work, written in English has been described as having revolutionised the architecture of short stories, and she is regarded as “one of our greatest contemporary writers of fiction”. Her work has been compared to Anton Chekov and in 2013 she was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature for her work as “master of the contemporary short story”. She had previously won the 2009 Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime body of work, and is also a three-time winner of Canada’s Governor General’s Award for fiction. She is the first Canadian and the 13th woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Munro’s fiction is most often set in her native Huron County in southwestern Ontario.

Her stories explore human complexities in an uncomplicated prose style.

ALICE MUNRO EARLY LIFE Munro was born Alice Ann Laidlaw in Wingham, Ontario to a father, Robert Eric Laidlaw, who was a fox and mink farmer and her mother, Anne Clarke Laidlaw née Chamney) a schoolteacher. Munro began writing as a teenager, publishing her first story, “The Dimensions of a Shadow,” in 1950 while studying English and journalism at the University of Western Ontario under a two-year scholarship. During this period she worked as a waitress, a tobacco picker, and a library clerk. In 1951, she left the university, where she had been majoring in English since 1949, to marry fellow student James Munro. They moved to Dundarave, West Vancouver, for James’s job in a department store. In 1963, the couple moved to Victoria, where they opened Munro’s Books, which still operates.

CAREER Munro’s highly acclaimed first collection of stories, Dance of the Happy Shades (1968), won the Governor General’s Award, Canada’s highest literary prize. That success was followed by Lives of Girls and Women (1971), a collection of interlinked stories. In 1978, Munro’s collection of interlinked stories Who Do You Think You Are? was published (titled The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose in the United States). This book earned Munro a second Governor General’s Literary Award. From 1979 to 1982, she toured Australia, China and Scandinavia for public appearances and readings. In 1980 Munro held the position of writer in residence at both the University of British Columbia and the University of Queensland. In 2006, Munro’s story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” was adapted for the screen and directed by Sarah Polley as Away from Her, starring Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent.

Since the 1980s, Munro has published a short-story collection at least once every four years, most recently in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2012. First versions of Munro’s stories have appeared in journals such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Grand Street, Harper’s Magazine, Mademoiselle, and The Paris Review. Her collections have been translated into 13 languages.

TAWAKKOL ABDEL-SALAM KARMAN Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman, is a Yemeni journalist, politician and senior member of the Al-Islah political party, and human rights activist. She leads the group “Women Journalists Without Chains,” which she co-founded in 2005. She became the international public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising that is part of the Arab Spring uprisings. She has been called the “Iron Woman” and “Mother of the Revolution” by Yemenis. She is a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman, and the second Muslim woman to win a Nobel Prize and the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate to date.

Karman gained prominence in her country after 2005 in her roles as a Yemeni journalist and an advocate for a mobile phone news service denied a license in 2007, after which she led protests for press freedom. She organised weekly protests after May 2007 expanding the issues for reform. She redirected the Yemeni protests to support the “Jasmine Revolution,” as she calls the Arab Spring, after the Tunisian people overthrew the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.

Tawakkol Karman was born on 7 February 1979 in Mekhlaf, Ta’izz province, Yemen. She is married to Mohammed al-Nahmi and is the mother of three children.

Karman earned an undergraduate degree in commerce from the University of Science and Technology, Sana’a, a graduate degree in political science from the University of Sana’a. In 2012, she received an Honorary Doctorate in International Law from University of Alberta in Canada.

TAWAKKOL ABDEL-SALAM KARMAN Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) with seven other female journalists in 2005 in order to promote human rights, “particularly freedom of opinion and expression, and democratic rights.” Although it was founded as “Female Reporters without Borders,” the present name was adopted in order to get a government license.

Tawakkol Karman was affiliated with the Al-Thawrah newspaper at the time she founded WJWC in March 2005. She is also a member of the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate.

RIGOBERTA MENCHU (Menchu photo) RIGOBERTA Menchú is an indigenous Guatemalan woman, who has dedicated her life to publicising the plight of Guatemala’s indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996), and to promoting indigenous rights in the country. She received the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize and Prince of Asturias Award in 1998. She is the subject of the testimonial biography I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983) and the author of the autobiographical work, Crossing Borders.

Menchú is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

She has also become a figure in indigenous political parties and ran for President of Guatemala in 2007 and 2011.

Rigoberta Menchú was born to a poor indigenous family of K’iche’ descent near Laj Chimel, a small town in the north-central Guatemalan province of El Quiché. After leaving school, she worked as an activist campaigning against human rights violations committed by the Guatemalan armed forces during the country’s civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996.

In 1981, Rigoberta Menchú was exiled and escaped to Mexico. In 1982, she narrated a book about her life to Venezuelan author and anthropologist Elizabeth Burgos, “Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia” (My Name is Rigoberta Menchu and this is how my Con-

RIGOBERTA MENCHU

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

potlight on ...

arkable women the world over (Part II) science was Born), which was translated into five other languages including English and French. The book made her an international icon at the time of the on-going conflict in Guatemala.

Since the Guatemalan Civil War ended, Menchú has campaigned to have members of the Guatemalan political and military establishment tried in Spanish courts. On 23 December 2006, Spain called for the extradition from Guatemala of seven former members of Guatemala’s government on charges of genocide and torture. Spain’s highest court ruled that cases of genocide committed abroad could be judged in Spain, even if no Spanish citizens have been involved. In addition to the deaths of Spanish citizens, the most serious charges include genocide against the Mayan people of Guatemala.

Menchú has become involved in the Indian pharmaceutical industry as president of the company Salud para Todos (“Health for All”) and the company “Farmacias Similares”, with the goal of offering low-cost generic medicines. She served as presidential goodwill ambassador for the 1996 peace accords.

In 2006, Menchú was one of the founders of the Nobel Women’s Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire. Six women representing North America and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa decided to bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. It is the goal of the Nobel Women’s Initiative to help strengthen work being done in support of women’s rights around the world.

She is a member of PeaceJam, an organisation whose mission is “to create young leaders committed to positive change in themselves, their communities and the world through the inspiration of Nobel Peace Laureates who pass on the spirit, skills, and wisdom they embody.”

Rigoberta Menchú is also a member of the Foundation Chirac’s honour committee, ever since the foundation was launched in 2008 by former French President Jacques Chirac in order to promote world peace.

In 2007, Menchú announced that she would form an indigenous political party called Encuentro por Guatemala and that she would stand in the 2007 presidential election. Had she been elected, she would have become Latin America’s fourth indigenous president after Mexico’s Benito Juárez, Peru’s Alejandro Toledo and Bolivia’s Evo Morales.

In 2009 she was involved in the newly founded party Winaq. Menchú was a candidate for the 2011 presidential election, but lost in the first round.

CHIMAMANDA ADICHE CHIMAMANDA Ngozi Adichie (born 15 September 1977) is a writer from Nigeria. She has been called “the most prominent” of a “procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors [that] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature”.

Born in the city of Enugu, she grew up in the university town of Nsukka in south-eastern Nigeria, where the University of Nigeria is situated. While she was growing up, her father James Nwoye Adichie was a professor of statistics at the university, and her mother Grace Ifeoma was the university’s first female registrar. Her family’s ancestral village is in Abba in Anambra State.

Adichie studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria for a year and a half. During this period, she edited The Compass, a magazine run by the university’s Catholic medical students. At the age of 19, Adichie left Nigeria and moved to the United States for college. After studying communications and political science at Drexel University in Philadelphia, she transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University to live closer to her sister, who had a medical practice in Coventry. She received a bachelor’s degree from Eastern, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2001.

In 2003, she completed a master’s degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, she received a Master of Arts in African studies from Yale University.

Adichie was a Hodder fellow at Princeton University during the 2005– 2006 academic year. In 2008 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She has also been awarded a 2011–2012 fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

Adichie published a collection of poems in 1997 (Decisions) and a play (For Love of Biafra) in 1998. She was shortlisted in 2002 for the Prize for her short story “You in America”.

In 2003, her story “That Harmattan Morning” was selected as joint winner of the BBC Short Story Awards, and she CHIMAMANDA ADICHE won the O. Henry prize for “The American Embassy”. She also won the David T. Wong International Short Story Prize 2002/2003 (PEN Center Award) and a 2007 Beyond Margins Award for her short story “Half of a Yellow Sun”.

Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003), received wide critical acclaim; it was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (2004) and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (2005).

Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, named after the flag of the short-lived nation of Biafra, is set before and during the Biafran War. It was awarded the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. Half of a Yellow Sun has been adapted into a film starring Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor and BAFTA award winner Thandie Newton and is set for release in 2014. Her third book, The Thing around Your Neck (2009), is a collection of short stories.

In 2010 she was listed among the authors of The New Yorkers “20 Under 40” Fiction Issue.

Adichie’s story, “Ceiling”, was included in the 2011 edition of The Best American Short Stories.

In 2013 she published her third novel, Americanah which was selected by the New York Times as one of The 10 Best Books of 2013.

Adichie spoke on “The Danger of a Single Story” for TED in 2009. On 15 March 2012, she delivered the “Connecting Cultures” Commonwealth Lecture 2012 at the Guildhall, London. Adichie also spoke on being a feminist for TED. Huston in December 2012, with her speech entitled, “We should all be feminists” This speech was sampled for the 2013 song “***Flawless” by American performer Beyoncé, where it attracted further attention.

Adichie, who is married, divides her time between Nigeria, where she teaches writing workshops, and the United States.

ARUNDHATI ROY Suzanna Arundhati Roy is an Indian author and political activist who is best known for the 1998 Man Booker Prize for Fiction-winning novel The God of Small Things (1997) and for her involvement in human rights and environmental causes. Roy’s novel became the biggest-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author.

EARLY LIFE AND BACKGROUND Arundhati Roy was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, India, to Rajib Roy, a Bengali Hindu tea plantation manager from Calcutta and Mary Roy, a Malayali Syrian Christian women’s rights activist from Kerala. When she was two, her parents divorced and she returned with her mother and brother to Kerala. For a time, the family lived with Roy’s maternal grandfather in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. When she was 5, the family moved back to Kerala, where her mother started a school.

Roy attended school at Corpus Christi, Kottayam, followed by the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, where she met architect Gerard da Cunha. The two lived together in Delhi, and then Goa, before they broke up.

Roy returned to Delhi, where she obtained a position with the National Institute of Urban Affairs. In 1984 she met independent filmmaker Pradip Krishen, who offered her a role as a goatherd in his award-winning movie Massey Sahib. The two later married. They collaborated on a television series on India’s independence movement and on two films, Annie and Electric Moon. Disenchanted with the film world, Roy worked various jobs, including running aerobics classes. Roy and Krishen eventually split up. She became financially secure by the success of her novel The God of Small Things, published in 1997.

EARLY CAREER: SCREENPLAYS Roy attracted attention in 1994, when she criticised Shekhar Kapur’s film Bandit Queen, based on the life of Phoolan Devi.

In her film review entitled, “The Great Indian Rape Trick”, she questioned the right to “restage the rape of a living woman without her permission,” and charged Kapur with exploiting Devi and misrepresenting both her life and its meaning.

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS Roy began writing her first novel, The God of Small Things, in 1992, completing it in 1996.

The book is semi-autobiographical and a major part captures her childhood experiences in Aymanam.

SUZANNA ARUNDHATI ROY The publication of The God of Small Things catapulted Roy to international fame. It received the 1997 Booker Prize for Fiction and was listed as one of the New York Times Notable Books of the Year for 1997. It reached fourth position on the New York Times Bestsellers list for Independent Fiction. From the beginning, the book was also a commercial success: Roy received half a million pounds as an advance; it was published in May, and the book had been sold to eighteen countries by the end of June.

LATER CAREER Since the success of her novel, Roy has written a television serial, The Banyan Tree, and the documentary DAM/AGE: A Film with Arundhati Roy (2002).

AWARDS Arundhati Roy was awarded the 1997 Booker Prize for her novel The God of Small Things.

The award carried a prize of about US$30,000 and a citation that noted, “The book keeps all the promises that it makes.” Prior to this, she won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1989, for the screenplay of In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, in which she captured the anguish among the students prevailing in professional institutions.

In 2002, she won the Lannan Foundation’s Cultural Freedom Award for her work “about civil societies that are adversely affected by the world’s most powerful governments and corporations,” in order “to celebrate her life and her ongoing work in the struggle for freedom, justice and cultural diversity.”

In 2003, she was awarded ‘special recognition’ as a Woman of Peace at the Global Exchange Human Rights Awards in San Francisco with Bianca Jagger, Barbara Lee and Kathy Kelly.

Roy was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in May 2004 for her work in social campaigns and her advocacy of non-violence.

In January 2006, she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, a national award from India’s Academy of Letters, for her collection of essays on contemporary issues, The Algebra of Infinite Justice, but she declined to accept it “in protest against the Indian Government toeing the US line by ‘violently and ruthlessly pursuing policies of brutalisation of industrial workers, increasing militarization and economic neo-liberalization.’ In November 2011, she was awarded the Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Writing.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

Aries March 21 - April 19

If you keep a hopeful attitude and stay focused on the positive, you should start to sense a new beginning coming soon. Deep inside of you, exciting new ideas are finally starting to gel. If you have been looking for new romance, this could be the start of a special relationship that takes you in a different direction. You are definitely ready for the emotional challenge of it.

For Monday March 10, 2014 -12:30hrs For Tuesday March 11, 2014 -13:30hrs

Taurus April 20 - May 20

You didn’t choose your family like you did your friends, but you still have a certain amount of responsibility when it comes to their well-being. Try to be as helpful as possible. Accept responsibility for your mistakes, admit when you’re wrong and accept any apologies headed your way. Taking the first step down the path of reconciliation isn’t as difficult as you think. This is your chance to set things straight between you and an estranged relative, and you should make the most of this opportunity.

Gemini May 21 - June 21

You’ll be in the right place at the right time and at the top of your game today! This will naturally put you in a great mood, which will undoubtedly rub off on others and lift their spirits too. You’ll come up with the perfect answer at the perfect time, and you’ll toss out the wittiest comebacks ever. In short, everything you need will be on the tip of your tongue or at your fingertips. Spread that good fortune around -- it’s contagious.

Cancer June 22 - July 22

Just because you’ve been close to someone for years doesn’t mean you know them inside and out. This realisation is actually somewhat exciting. You might never fully understand who they are -- after all, still waters run deep. But you’ll catch a glimpse of that depth today when this person impresses you and serves as an inspiration. Why not cultivate your own skills in a new endeavour? It’s the perfect day to pick up a new hobby that will surprise people.

Leo July 23 - August 22

It’s going to be a very social day whether you like it or not. Your sunny personality will melt any nasty moods in your midst, so start smiling and chatting up absolutely everyone.

From small talk with a stranger at the store to a surprisingly deep conversation with a distant relative, it’s all working in your favour. This day offers enriching exchanges that will make you pause and see people in a new light.

Virgo August 23 - September 22

You are gaining a whole new level of appreciation for the value of your friendships. The warmth you feel from these connections will maintain your great mood today and bring you to life. This is a wonderful opportunity to figure out what kind of friend you want to be in return. How do you get there? Speak of other people in a way you would want them to speak of you and listen without interrupting or looking over their shoulder.

Libra September 23 - October 22

If you’re thinking about travel, today’s amazing mental energy should make it just about impossible for you to resist any longer. If not, why not? You don’t even have to decide exactly where you’re going -- not just yet, anyway. All you really have to do, is inform the powers that be that you need some time off soon. Once that’s done, the situation becomes real and puts you in the mood to choose your destination.

Scorpio October 23 - November 21

Be mindful of others -- not everyone has your stamina or ambition. Just because you want something doesn’t mean others feel the same way or will join your cause. Your personal goals are a little out there and not accessible to those of average intellect. If you want certain folks on your team, you’ll have to do some pretty fancy footwork to get them on board. Don’t expect them to want it as badly as you do -- you may have to go this one alone.

Sagittarius November 22 - December 21

You can accommodate whatever the stars have in store for you. This is a great day to develop a new ritual and leave an old habit behind. You’ve been yearning for more spontaneity in your life, and today you’re going to get it. An exciting surprise is coming your way, and it’s going to push a few of your plans into chaos, but that’s a good thing!

Ultimately, you’ll find new appreciation for the unknown.

Capricorn December 22 - January 19

Today you need to move forward with purpose -- even if you don’t know what that purpose is. You finally have a chance to do something that will change your life -- all you have to do is greet it with an open mind and lots of willingness. It could be disguised as a new friend, an old foe or even a chance encounter. Don’t be afraid and don’t let yourself get stressed out with opinions and bogus information.

Aquarius January 20 - February 18

This is a great time for cleaning up clutter in your life and in your relationships. You’ll be ready to welcome a new challenge soon enough, but right now the tried and true feels doable. Your routine is calming -- it brings you structure and peace of mind. So what if you’re not in the middle of the action right now? You don’t mind. Whatever comes your way will be easy to deal with, so don’t sweat the small stuff.

Pisces February 19 - March 20

You’re getting a surge of confident energy now -- all the pieces are finally starting to fall into place. You will capture the leading role in someone’s life today, whether you know it or not. When you’re in a social situation this afternoon or evening, step into the spotlight and give your best performance! Meanwhile, positive reinforcement is headed your way -- someone is looking to you for inspiration, so don’t disappoint them!

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Greaves wins Cheddi Jagan second leg in convincing fashion

By Michael DaSilva ALANZO Greaves returned to winning ways yesterday, by copping the second leg of the 17th Annual Dr Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle Road race in Berbice.

Greaves, who dominated the cycling season last year, both in the National Park and on the road, returned a time of two hours 17 minutes 8 seconds in winning the event ahead of Paul DeNobrega, Junior Niles, Orville Hinds, Geron Williams and Delroy Hinds in that order.

Greaves rode a very intelligent race by joining the expe-

rienced Godfrey Pollydore who made a break from the Number 19 road in Berbice and stuck with him to the turn-back point at #55 Village Corentyne, but was joined by DeNobrega on the upward journey and the trio worked in tandem and led until they turned back when they were sucked in by the chasing pack which included Niles, Orville and Delroy Hinds, Geron Williams and Robin Persaud.

However, with approximately 200 metres to go, Persaud launched an attack which was short-lived as he was swallowed up by Greaves who was hotly pursued by DeNobrega. The two sailed past

him and Greaves went on to win by about one cycle length.

Prior to the start of the race from outside Freedom House, New Amsterdam, Berbice Office, Chairman of the Dr Cheddi Jagan Commemoration Committee Navin Chandarpal congratulated the participants for their presence saying regardless of who wins the race, all the participants are winners since they are observing the death of a son of the soil in the late Dr Jagan.

Regional Chairman of Region Six, David Armogan, in welcoming the participants from outside of Berbice, said yesterday’s race was one with a difference since it’s honouring

Dr Cheddi Jagan and his dream for sports to be a unifying force among the races in Guyana.

In other results, Tooran Harris won the veterans category ahead of Jaikaran Sukhai and Wilbert Benjamin.

The juniors category was won by Alonzo Ambrose. Second was Andrew Hicks and third was Stephano Husbands.

Clyde Jacobs won the mountain bike category ahead of Nigel Jacobs and Wayne Nurse while Naomi Singh won the female category ahead of Toshannah Doris and Deance Welsh.

Anthony Farriah was the oldest rider at age 73 to complete the course.

REGIONAL 4DAY

Bishoo claims five but Guyana catapult to 136-run defeat

By Calvin Roberts ASKED to score 231 to record a come-from-behind victory after Devendra Bishoo claimed his 10th five-wicket haul at the first class level to bowl Barbados out for 186, hosts Guyana put on another pathetic batting display in the face of some disciplined bowling to be all out for 94.

This meant they lost t h e i r s e c o n d r o u n d We s t Indies Cricket Board Re gional four-day match at the Guyana National Stadium, last night by 136 runs inside three days, as Carlos Brathwaite (4 for 35) and Ashley Nurse (3 for 39) and Sulieman Benn 2 for 8 bowled their side to victory.

Scores in the match: Barbados 184 and 186, Guyana 140 and 94.

Barbados resumed on 116 for 4 with Kevin Stoute and Shane Dowrich on 15 and 9 respectively, but lost both

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Devendra Bishoo batsmen on the stroke of the first hour of play, after they added 13 and 14 to their overnight scores.

Stoute was caught by Christopher Barnwell at slip off Bishoo, while Dowrich edged one to Anthony Bramble off Veerasammy Permaul (2 for 54), with both wickets falling at 146.

Shortly after, Nurse (02) picked out Keon Joseph at midoff, also off Bishoo while Assad

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Fudadin dived forward at forward short leg to take a chance from Carlos Brathwaite off Permaul.

The Guyanese mopped up the visitors’ innings 24 minutes before the dinner break, as Bishoo removed Tino Best (02) and Benn 20 (4x4, 16 balls), finishing with 5 for 71, leaving Miguel Cummins unbeaten on 5.

The Guyanese openers in Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Sewnarine Chattergoon (09) safely negotiated the three overs prior to the lunch interval and after the break, both openers got boundaries off Best and Nurse.

Chattergoon was bowled by Carlos Brathwaite in the 11th over at 22 for 1 and at the end of the first hour’s play, Guyana had moved to 38 without further loss, with Assad Fudadin who got boundaries off Nurse and Carlos Brathwaite on 12 and Chanderpaul 14.

Carlos Brathwaite removed Fudadin (12, 2x4) and Narsingh Deonarine (0) off successive deliveries, with Deonarine falling for a ‘golden pair’, which was also the third time he failed to score in four innings for this tournament, while Vishal Singh (1) failed to beat Jonathan Carter’s throw from point.

From 22 without loss, Guyana were shakily placed on 43 for 6 as Barnwell (4) edged one through to Dowrich, while Chanderpaul’s long vigil came to an end when he was lbw to Nurse for 14 (72 balls, 2x4).

The 50 was posted from 30 overs with Bishoo 3 and Anthony Bramble 5, but Carter took a low catch at gully to remove Bishoo and at tea, Guyana were 55 for 7, with Permaul 1 and Bramble 7.

A hat-trick of fours by Permaul off Carlos Brathwaite, coupled with a six back over the said bowler’s head by Bramble 21 (38 balls, 1x4, 1x6) pushed Guyana to 81 before Bramble picked out Carlos Brathwaite at mid-off, when he looked to hit Nurse over that area.

Barbados’ Kraigg Brathwaite brought on Benn, Guyana’s first-innings destroyer into the attack, but Permaul continued to show resistance, hitting the lanky left-arm spinner for two fours in his first over.

Benn trapped Permaul lbw in his next over, while the visitors wrapped up the win, their first of this year’s tournament when Joseph (3) hit one back to Benn at 20:28hrs, leaving Raun Johnson unbeaten on 1.

BARBADOS first innings 184 Guyana 1st innings (140) BARBADOS 2nd innings (o/n 116 for 4) K. Stoute c Barnwell b Bishoo 28 S. Dowrich c Bramble b Permaul 23 C. Brathwaite c Fudadin b Permaul 9 A. Nurse c Joseph b Bishoo 2 T. Best c Permaul b Bishoo 2 M. Cummins not out 2 S. Benn b Bishoo 20 Extras: (b-6, nb-1) 7 Total: (all out, off 75 overs) 186 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-61, 3-90, 4-100, 5-146, 6-146, 7-159, 8-160, 9-164.

Bowling: Joseph 11-5-15-1 (nb-1) Johnson 6-1-18-1 Permaul 26-654-2 Deonarine 10-3-20-1 Bishoo 21-6-71-5 Chattergoon 1-0-2-0

GUYANA second innings S. Chattergoon b C. Brathwaite 9 T. Chanderpaul lbw b Nurse 14 A. Fudadin lbw b C. Brathwaite 12 N. Deonarine b C. Brathwaite 0 V. Singh run-out (Carter) 1 C. Barnwell c Dowrich b C. Brathwaite 4 A. Bramble c C. Brathwaite b Nurse 21 D. Bishoo c Carter b Nurse 3 V. Permaul lbw b Benn 21 K. Joseph c & b Benn 3 R. Johnson not out 1 Extras: (nb-1, b-3, lb-1) 5 Total: (all out, off 42.3 overs) 94 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-38, 3-38, 394, 5-43, 6-43, 7-53, 8-81, 9-89.

Bowling: Best 5-3-8-0 Nurse 20-839-3 (1nb-1), C. Brathwaite 15-7-354 Benn 2.3-1-8-2.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10, 2014

T&T register big win over Windwards ... Akeal Hosein finishes with 11 for 67

By BRIJ PARASNATH In Trinidad & Tobago PROMISING all-rounder Akeal Hosein emerged as the unlikely hero when he finished with magnificent match figures of 11 for 67 in only his third outing in the WICB Regional 4-Day competition.

Yesterday, the left-arm spinner spearheaded Trinidad and Tobago’s comprehensive 186run victory over Windward Islands in their second round encounter at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday.

After Hosein had grabbed his first five-wicket in the first innings with 6 for 33, it was surprising that skipper Reyad Emrit persisted with his quicker bowlers as Windwards set about chasing 311 for victory after T&T mustered 210 in the second innings.

The 20-year-old QPCC

Akeal Hosein player relished the conditions and he made an instant impact just as he did in the first innings.

While veteran opener Devon Smith played a patient hand once again, there was no stopping T&T from celebrating a convincing victory after Hosein destroyed Windwards middle-order with another stunning spell of tantalising spin that left his opponents completely mesmerised and unsure of how best to deal with the extra bounce and turn that he extracted at

will.

In his inspired spell, Hosein prised out Keddy Lesporis (caught Darren Bravo) for nine, Romel Currency (lbw) for two, Liam Sebastien (bowled) for zero and Lyndon James (caught Jason Mohammed) for five.

Having been in a more comfortable zone at 63 for 2 when the quicker bowlers Shannon Gabriel, Marlon Richards and skipper Emrit operated; Windwards soon found themselves experiencing bitter feelings of anxiety and tragedy as well as sad memories when youthful Hosein struck crucially at 64 (20.4 overs), 68 (22.5), 70 (24.2) and 80 (28.2).

Gabriel had removed opener Tyrone Theophille (bowled) for eight at 22 (7.3 overs) and Dalton Polius

(caught Yannic Cariah) for ten at 47 (15.2 overs).

Emrit introduced off-spinner Imran Khan who did the trick and outfoxed Alston Bobb (caught Adrian Barath) for 14 and then captured the obdurate Smith (also caught by Barath) for 55 that was studded with nine boundaries off 110 balls.

Left-handed Smith became the third player, after Leewards’ Stuart Williams and Barbadian Floyd Reifer; to amass 6 000 Regional First Class runs when he registered his first run in the second innings, a boundary stroke off Gabriel in the first over.

His overall tally stands at 6 054 from 83 matches and 157 innings.

Khan finished with three wickets for 16 from 5.1 overs while Hosein took his match

tally to eleven wickets when he dismissed Delorn Johnson (caught by Cariah) for zero. He ended the second innings with analysis of 10-1-34-5.

Earlier in the day; Darren Bravo (57 not out) and Yannic Cariah (7 not out) resumed with T&T’s second at 127 for 7 from their overnight position. They held a lead of 217 after having dismissed Windwards for 122 in their first innings in reply to the homesters first innings score of 222 made on Friday.

Both Bravo (66 n.o.) and Cariah (24 n.o.) survived the first hour’s play and took the total to 160 for 7 after 60 overs. But seven runs later Bravo departed foe a wellplayed 67 that contained ten fours off 188 balls. His 242-minute battle of attrition ended when he edged medium

pacer Kenroy Peters to Theophille at first slip position.

He had shared a crucial 61-run eighth wicket partnership with Cariah who narrowly missed his second regional fifty when he was ninth out at 209 (77.1 overs), caught by Romel Currency off left-arm spinner Alston Bobb.

Cariah’s innings lasted 140 minutes and he struck six fours off 103 balls for his 49. He featured in a 42-run ninth-wicket partnership with Richards who smashed two towering sixes in his 21 scored off 54 balls.

T&T second innings (209 for 9 off 77 overs) closed just after resumption from the lunch interval. Only twelve balls more were bowled when Richards was caught by Theophille off speedster Nelon Pascal who finished with 3 for 40. The other wicket-takers were Peters (3 for 37) and Johnson (2 for 24).

Wigan stun City as Sheffield Utd, Hull make semis

By Stephen Wood LONDON, England (Reuters) - FA Cup holders Wigan Athletic proved Manchester City’s nemesis for the second time in less than a year yesterday with a shock 2-1 quarter-final victory over Manuel Pellegrini’s talent-laden side.

Second-tier Wigan, who upset City 1-0 in the final at Wembley last May to secure the Cup for the first time, went ahead through Jordi Gomez and James Perch before holding off a rousing City fightback to set up a semi-final against Arsenal.

They were joined in the last four by Sheffield United and Hull City after the third-tier Blades upset Championship (second tier) side Charlton Athletic 2-0 and Hull beat Premier League rivals Sunderland 3-0 in yesterday’s other sixth-round ties.

Arsenal had already booked their place in the last four with a 4-1 win over Everton on Saturday.

City secured the English League Cup last Sunday in what fans hoped would be the first leg of an unprecedented quadruple.

Wigan Athletic’s James Perch (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Manchester City during their English FA Cup quarter-final soccer match at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, northern England, yesterday.

(Credit: Reuters/Phil Noble) Fourth in the Premier of Wigan.

League, and needing to overBut the Championship side, turn a two-goal deficit at Barmanaged by former City striker celona in the second leg of their and terrace hero Uwe Rosler, Champions League last-16 tie executed a perfect game plan on Wednesday, City were strong and capitalised on a tired City favourites to negotiate the visit display to go 2-0 up after 46 minutes.

“The only chance we had of doing the same here (beating City again),” Rosler told BT Sport, “was to keep the ball. You have to get the ball down ... It is (Monday March 10, 2014) high risk, but our back five, and Compliments of THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & the midfield, were very good.

The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & “I talked (to the players) CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL CO. LTD-83 about bravery as well. We had Garnette Street, Campbellville (Tel: 225-6158; 223-6055) Lady Luck on our side, but overall we are delighted.”

Answers to Saturday’s quiz: City defender Martin DemAlvin Kallicharran and Len Baichan ichelis, under the spotlight after Dennis Amiss and Michael Lumb recent poor performances, gave away the penalty that allowed Today’s Quiz: Wigan to take the lead in the 27th minute.

Who is the first WI player to score twin hundreds in a The Argentine bought a Test? Where and when? dummy from Marc-Antoine Sir Vivian Richards won 31 Man of the Match Fortune at the byline, tripped the Awards in ODIs. When and where did he win his first?

French striker in his desperation to make amends and Gomez Answers in tomorrow’s issue

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

stroked home the spot-kick.

City were stunned again two minutes after the break, when James McArthur was given time and space to cross and Perch embarrassed a sleepy Gael Clichy at the far post to bundle over the line from two metres.

It took 63 minutes for the home side to seriously threaten the visitors’ goal when substitute striker Edin Dzeko headed against a post.

They made their breakthrough four minutes later.

Dzeko used his aerial strength to meet a corner, Micah Richards laid off to Samir Nasri and, from 20 metres the Frenchman drilled a left-foot half-volley through a crowd of players - including Joleon Lescott standing in an offside position - and into the bottom corner of the Wigan net.

“I felt their goal was offside,” Rosler said. “Lescott was interfering with (the line of sight of) our goalkeeper.”

‘GREAT INTENSITY’ Seconds later, defender

Richards whistled an angled effort inches wide of Scott Carson’s upright as City piled on the pressure.

Dzeko came within inches of forcing a replay but Emmerson Boyce produced a remarkable last-ditch block, and then Dzeko again was agonisingly wide with another header.

“It is disappointing,” Pellegrini said. “I did not think we could be eliminated here against Wigan, and we had chances to draw, but they played with great intensity and deserved to go through.”

Earlier at Bramall Lane, second-half strikes from Ryan Flynn and John Brayford caught second-tier Charlton cold, as Sheffield United became the first third-tier team since 2001 to reach the competition’s last four.

Midfielder Flynn put fourtime Cup winners United ahead in the 65th minute, when he sneaked in at the far post to nudge home a left-wing cross from Jose Baxter.

One minute, 42 seconds later the home side doubled their

lead when defender Brayford’s low, 20-metre effort took a cruel deflection off the visitors’ Richard Wood and rolled into the net.

At the KC Stadium, Hull reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1930 after striker Sone Aluko missed a first-half penalty against Sunderland.

A game of poor quality was brought to life in the 68th minute when defender Curtis Davies headed the opener.

Four minutes later David Meyler was too quick and strong for Lee Cattermole, who allowed the midfielder to burst past him at the halfway line and slip the ball past goalkeeper Oscar Ustari for the second.

Meyler celebrated by running towards the sideline and head-butting the corner flag in an apparent reference to an incident last week when Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew was sent off for aiming a headbutt at the Irishman during a Premier League game.

“It was just a bit of banter,” Meyler told ITV Sport.

“The lads were cheering me on ... that’s why I did it.”

New Zealand women complete series sweep against Windies MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New Zealand (CMC) – New Zealand Women beat West Indies by 34 runs to complete a clean sweep over the West Indies in their Twenty20 series in Mount Maunganui here yesterday.

New Zealand dismissed West Indies for 90 in reply to their 124 for five.

New Zealand captain Suzie Bates led the scoring with 57, and Sophie Devine clinched three Windies

Suzie Bates wickets for just nine runs.

The win gave the hosts the series 4-0, after sweeping the

one-day contest 3-0.

On Saturday, the West Indies lost by eight wickets after being restricted to 99 for seven and New Zealand reaching 103 for two with more than three overs to spare.

Bates was named Playerof-the-Match and the T20 series.

Both sides will soon depart for Bangladesh for the upcoming World Twenty20 tournament starting later this month.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday March 10 2014

23

Samuels, Badree take Windies to victory over England in first T20I BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Marlon Samuels provided a support act to openers Dwayne Smith and Chris Gayle to help West Indies to a 27-run win over England to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match Tw e n t y 2 0 I n t e r n a t i o n a l series at Kensington Oval yesterday.

Samuels played an unbeaten 69 as West Indies reached 170 for three and then restricted England to 143 for nine.

The West Indies won the toss and decided to bat first with a challenging start from Smith and Gayle. Smith was off the mark with the first ball, hitting Stuart Broad for six and West Indies piling 19 runs off the first over.

When Smith was bowled

by Ravi Bopara for 27 in the sixth over, West Indies were already 57 runs rich and a showpiece of batting display

by Gayle and Samuels.

Gayle scored a quick-fire 43 off 35 balls including five fours and two sixes before he was leg-before-wicket to James Tredwell.

A 54-run partnership from 38 balls between Marlon Samuels and Andre Russell took West Indies to 170 after Lendl Simmons was dismissed for three.

Samuels’ half-century came up off 28 balls and he was un-

beaten on 69 with Russell on 24, setting England a challenging 171 for victory.

Bopara (2-23) and James Tredwell (1-16) were the successful bowlers for England.

The visitors never seriously threatened the Windies’ total and were reeling on 55 for 5 midway their innings.

Only Tim Bresnan and Ravi Bopara made useful scores to England’s total of 143 for 9.

Bopara made 42 and Bresnan

WEST INDIES innings 170 for 3 (20 overs) Dwayne Smith b Bopara 27 Chris Gayle lbw b Tredwell 43 Marlon Samuels not out 69 Lendl Simmons c Lumb b Bopara 3 Andre Russell not out 24 Extras: (lb-3, nb-1) 4 Total: (3 wkts; 20 overs) 170 Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-87, 3-112.

Bowling: Stuart Broad 2-0-26-0 (1nb), Jade Dernbach 4-0-36-0, Tom Bresnan 4-0-36-0, Ben Stokes 2-030-0, Ravi Bopara 4-023-2, James Tredwell 4-0-16-1 ENGLAND innings 143 for 9 (20 overs) Michael Lumb c Rampaul b Badree 18 Alex Hales stp. Ramdin b Badree 3 Luke Wright stp. Ramdin b Badree 0

Marlon Samuels unbeaten 69 leads West Indies to a strong total of 170 for 3.

England captain to miss rest of West Indies T20 series ENGLAND captain Stuart Broad will miss the two remaining Twenty20 matches in West Indies with a knee injury.

Broad, who is suffering from patellar tendonitis, may need an injection to get him through the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Bangladesh.

He aggravated the condition during Sunday’s 27-run defeat.

England have two more games in Barbados tomorrow and Thursday. Their first World T20 game is against New Zealand in Chittagong on Saturday, March 22.

Vice-captain Eoin Morgan will lead the side in Broad’s

Stuart Broad

absence.

“I’ve had a patellar tendonitis problem in my right knee for quite a long time,” explained Broad, 27, who played more international matches on the recent tour of Australia than any other England player.

“With the workload I’ve had all winter I’ve not really had any breaks, so it’s got worse and worse.

“I just caught my knee in the sandy ground at Antigua and got a lot of inflammation and fluid on it. It was touch and go today, but I won’t be playing the next two games, and I’ll have to have some kind of injection to get me through the World Twenty20, I’d think.”(BBC Sport)

was unbeaten on 47 as Samuel Badree and Samuels closed in on the victory.

Badree finished with 3-17 and Samuels 2-21 for the manof-the-match award.

Sunil Narine bowled only two overs (1-8) as he was troubled by a knee injury.

West Indies take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series and will look to take an unassailable lead in the second match tomorrow at the same venue.

Eoin Morgan c sub. (Charles) b Samuels 19 Jos Buttler c sub (Charles) b Narine 0 Ravi Bopara c & b Bravo 42 Ben Stokes stp. Ramdin b Samuels 4 Tim Bresnan not out 47 Stuart Broad run-out (Ramdin) 5 James Tredwell run-out (Russell) 1 Jade Dernbach not out 1 Extras: (b-1, lb-2) 3 Total: (9 wkts; 20.0 overs) 143 Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-36, 4-40, 5-55, 6-73, 7-101, 8-123, 9-133.

Bowling: Samuel Badree 4-0-173, Ravi Rampaul 3-0-31-0, Sunil Narine 2-0-8-1, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-30-1, Marlon Samuels 4-0-212, Darren Sammy 1-0-12-0, Andre Russell 2-0-21-0.

Chanderpaul climbs to number three

DUBAI: Veteran left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul has climbed one place to third in the latest ICC Test batting rankings released last Thursday.

The 39-year-old, who has topped the rankings in the past, has capitalised on South Africa’s Hashim Amla’s fall to fourth, following the just concluded three-Test series against Australia. Chanderpaul is the only West Indies player in the top 20, with exciting left-hander Darren Bravo lying 23rd and opener Chris Gayle at 29th.

The Guyanese scored his 29th Test century last December on the tour of New Zealand in what was his 153rd Test. He has scored 11 219 runs at an average of nearly 52.

There is no change at the top of the rankings, however, as South Africa’s AB de Villiers remains number one with Sri Lankan stroke-maker Kumar Sangakarra in second spot. In

Shivnarine Chanderpaul the bowling rankings, fast bowler Kemar Roach is the highest placed West Indies player at 15th, despite not having played a Test in a year.

Off-spinner Shane Shillingford, who was last December suspended by the ICC from bowling because of an illegal bowling action, lies 18th. South African speedster Dale Steyn remains number one. (CMC)

Sport CHRONICLE

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

Bishoo claims five but Guyana catapult to 136-run defeat

(See story on page 21)

Greaves wins Cheddi Jagan second leg in convincing fashion (See story on page 21)

Alanzo Greaves uses his shoulders to shake off Paul DeNobrega on his way to winning the second leg of the Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle Road Race in Berbice yesterday.

Prize winners of the various categories of the Dr Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle Road Race strike a pose after the presentation ceremony.

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MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2014