GNN Online Newspaper - Dec 29, 2015

Tuesday December 29, 2015

Gov’t satisfied with achievements so far Rohee sympathises with Brassington -PAGE 4

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President assesses capability of Diamond and Leonora Diagnostic Centres President David Granger has pledged that his Administration will develop the capacity of the Diamond and Leonora Diagnostic Centres, following a tour of those facilities, yesterday.

He said the objective of the exercise was to assess the capabilities of both institutions.

During the visit, the President also used the opportunity to observe the maternity care capabilities of the institutions. He was accompanied by Minister of State, Mr. Joseph

Harmon, Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, and other senior medical officials.

“We wanted to see the challenges that face the ordinary patients who came in off the road.

Mothers particularly, and we want to see what measures needed to be put in place in order to provide a better quality health care,” President Granger said.

These two visits followed closely on the heels of the President’s visit to the Maternity Ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital

Corporation (GPHC) on Christmas Day. During that visit, the President saw first-hand some of the challenges facing both nurses and patients and promised improved conditions.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Health, Dr. Norton, said while the tour of these facilities has highlighted various challenges that will be addressed, one of the aims of the visit was to look at opportunities to build capacity, in maternity care. The Minister noted that it is unfortunate that at both facilities there is capacity for vibrant maternity units but this potential has not been developed.

Speaking on

Administrator of the Leonora Diagnostic Centre, Mr. Dev Hira (centre) explains the functions of this piece of equipment in the X-ray Department of the Leonora Diagnostic Centre to President David Granger, Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon; Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton and other members of the team while hospital staff look on

overall challenges the Minister noted that is critically important that the issue of nursing

Gov’t commissions two new pumps in Berbice

The drainage pump station that was commissioned at Gangaram, Berbice, Region Six

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday commissioned much needed drainage pump stations at Gangaram and at Joppa, No 43 village Corentyne. Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder, was also part of the event.

According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the Gangaram facility costs $310M while the Joppa’s was $277M. Both projects

were completed by contracting firm Roopan Ramotar Investments and were completed ahead of the deadlines in spite of earlier challenges.

Both drainage pump stations have the capacity to drain 200 cubic feet of water per second which translates to 90,000 gallons of water per minute.

Residents welcomed the facilities and cautioned on the proper dispose

of their solid waste Na g am o ot o o said that the commissioning is linked to a larger dream of draining and irrigating thousands of acres of land countrywide.

“When we came into government we got baptised, not once but twice…and we said no more…since then monumental work was done on the drainage and irrigation network in the city which

shortage be addressed.

He added that plans are in train to provide better conditions for

nurses as well as patients in the maternity ward at the GPHC. (MOTP)

will be replicated in other parts of the country…so that when it rains the city would not experience the flood,” he explained.

He added that the investments made by the Coalition Government explicitly indicate that they care about the people and their livelihoods, and as drainage is linked to the livelihood of most of the Guyanese people. He added that emphasis is being placed on establishing proper drainage systems.

Minister Holder said that water management is a critical area of focus for the Ministry of Agriculture since

almost all agriculture is practiced in the low lying regions of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, “ Hence the need to be able to adapt to climatic changes where our water resources and management are concerned, moreso the height of the El Nino period, we are still faced with some occurrences of heavy rainfall that can cause flash floods in many high risk areas.”

David Armogan, Regional Chairman for Region Six indicated that the commissioning of the two pumps constitutes a timely intervention which will seek to boost the overall production of agriculture in the areas.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Minister of Agriculture Noel Holder look on as the drainage pump at Joppa, Number 43 Corentyne Berbice Region Six is being switched on

Rohee sympathises with Brassington The Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) through its General Secretary, Clement Rohee, has noted the spate of attacks against Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Winston Brassington.

At a press conference on Monday Rohee spoke out against what he described as a trial in the media and by persons with personal vendettas against Brassington.

“Nobody is guilty, everybody is innocent until proven guilty,” Rohee asserted.

According to Rohee, justice must be allowed

-Says natural justice must take its course

to take its course, while adding that persons who are calling for speedy actions have their own vendetta that they would like to see fulfilled.

He alluded to the adage that a person is innocent until proven guilty.

“Until such time I think it makes no sense for either sections of the media or individuals who have a personal vendetta to be insisting on their agenda,” Rohee stated.

Brassington along with his deputy Marcia Nadir-Sharma was sent on immediate leave last week to

facilitate a “transaction audit” that is to be conducted by the Office of the Auditor General.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon said that reports regarding his handling of the entity’s business are being sent to the Police and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to determine criminality.

Cabinet believes that there is sufficient information provided in the report to the agencies for them to explore further and basically for them to dig deeper.

Brassington last Monday at a press

conference denied having committed any crimes and accused a forensic auditor, Anand Goolsarran of divulging contents of the draft report without giving the company’s principals an opportunity to comment.

M e a n t i m e , owner and Publisher of Kaieteur News Glen Lall has been accused of using his newspaper to push his personal vendetta against Brassington, especially with the numerous stories being churned out on a daily basis by the Kaieteur News alleging that Brassington was involved

Clement Rohee

in corruption even before the completion of the forensic audit report.

It was reported that Lall was upset over Brassington’s move to go through the Court to recover some $2M from

his friend Tony Yassin for the sale of Guyana Store.

Lall has since denied this allegation, insisting that Brassington is corrupt and should be prosecuted.

Stakeholders tells gov’t more consultations needed T h e s e comments came after Minister of Legal Affairs; Basil Williams questioning the need for consultations on every issue given that, some of the bills have a timeline. He also questioned how the relevant stakeholders are determined.

He said “do every bill that comes out of our chambers, do we have to send

The consultation on the Anti-Terrorism and Related Activities Bill 2015

Members of the Private sector and other stakeholders are calling on the government to engage in more consultations on matters of public importance.

D u r i n g a Stakeholders consultation on the Anti-Terrorism and Terrorist Related Activities Bill 2015 on Monday, participants flogged the Government for not engaging in proper consultation to get the buy-in from affected persons on pertinent laws.

Private Sector representative; Gerald

Gouveia stated that “there is no issue in Guyana that is offlimits to consultation.

We really expect in good faith, to be consulted on every facet of development of our country. There may be some things that are in-depth and others that are cursory…I don’t think it’s a choice, I think it is something we must do and we must continue to do.”

A n o t h e r stakeholder said “dealing with something as sensitive as law, where there might be very serious things, e.g abolition of the death penalty, we

need to have to have in mind, law is not based on logic but on people’s experience.”

Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Norman Mclean stated that “what we want to see is cooperation… in every facet of our development… we want to work with the government in this regard.”

Att or n e y - at law; Avette Richards stated that “I totally disagree that there should be some level of cherry picking as to who should have knowledge as to what is going on.”

the bill out for consultations? Or we would determine the contents of that bill and decide on the questions of consultation. As a government, we have to make decisions; not the people in civil society.”

Before the last sitting of the National Assembly, the government was chided for not consulting on the Anti-Terrorism and

Terrorist Related Activities Bill 2015.

In the past, government was also flacked for not consulting on critical decisions taken in the education sector including the scrapping of the National Grades two and four assessments and the shifting of the National Grade Six Assessment by a month.

OHIO, United States, Tuesday December 29, 2015 – A Guyana-born cardiologist has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for performing u n n e c e s s a r y catheterizations, tests, stent insertions and causing unnecessary coronary artery bypass surgeries as part of a scheme to overbill Medicare and other insurers by US$29 million between 2006 and 2012.

Dr. Harold Persaud, 56, was convicted earlier this year of one count of health care fraud, 13 counts of making false statements and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from criminal activity.

A hearing is scheduled for

Guyana-born cardiologist jailed for fraud in the USA January 27, 2016, to determine restitution.

According to court documents and trial testimony, he used billing codes that reflected a service that was more costly than what was actually performed; performed nuclear stress tests on patients that were not medically necessary; knowingly recorded false results of patients’ nuclear stress tests to justify cardiac catheterization procedures that were not medically n e c e s s a r y ; performed cardiac

catheterizations on patients at the hospitals and falsely recorded the existence and extent of lesions (blockage) observed during the procedures; and recorded false symptoms in patient records to justify testing and procedures on patients.

He also improperly referred patients for coronary artery bypass surgery when there was no medical necessity for such surgery, which benefitted him by increasing the amount of follow-up testing

Dr. Harold Persaud

he could perform and bill to Medicare and private insurers; and performed medically unnecessary stent procedures, aortograms, renal angiograms and other procedures and tests.

As a result of

the scheme, Persaud overbilled and caused the overbilling of Medicare and private insurers in the amount of approximately US$29 million, of which Medicare and the private insurers paid approximately US$5.7

million, according to court records. “ T h i s defendant used his medical license as a licence to steal,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Carole S. Rendon.

“This prison sentence is well deserved.”

Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Office, reacting to the sentence, said Dr. Persaud violated the sacred trust between doctor and patient, ripped off taxpayers and put patients’ lives at risk.

Gov’t satisfied with achievements

so far-President

Closing in on seven months into office for the A Partnership for National Un it y + A l l i anc e for Change (APNU+AFC) Leader and President of Guyana David Granger has expressed satisfaction with its achievement thus far.

Speaking during his weekly television programme, the Guyanese leader is confident that he has been able to steer the country in the right direction during the short period

that the coalition assumed office.

According to him, “we have been able to hit the ground running and I think next year will be even better.”

In every area according to the President there have been substantial successes and some of the benefits are already visible.

He said there have been success stories in all sixteen Ministries, in addition to the Ministry of the Presidency. “I would say in every single

area, in all sixteen of our Ministries we have seen progress over the last seven months,” said Granger.

Turning his attention to social protection, Mr. Granger alluded to the increase that pensioners benefited from following the laying of the 2015 budget in the House.

In terms of Communities “we’re moving ahead with local government elections for the first time in maybe twenty years. There will be

local government elections in this country in March and I am very satisfied with that,” the Head of State said.

With regard to citizenship he said the coalition government has detected many instances of fraud and is working to discover those responsible.

He went onto state that “we know that authentic or paper was used to facilitate malpractices so we got a new Ministry of Citizenship which is paying close attention to that.”

In the area of finance, Mr. Granger alluded to the 2015 National Budget that was presented in the House in a short period after coming into office.

He promised another budget before the end of January 2016.

In addition, the 2017 budget the President

said will be presented at the end of 2016, a move that will be record breaking.

In the area of Foreign Affairs, the biggest challenge the Head of State pointed out is in relation to the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy.

C h a l l e n g e s Despite the many successes, there have also been challenges on all fronts that the coalition has faced since coming into office. The President alluded to the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy as chief among those challenges. “For the first time we have had to confront a change in the Venezuelan government which is not necessarily going to be in Guyana’s favour but we’re looking at the situation” “We are not provoking a quarrel with Venezuela, we would like to bring this controversy

to an end” He alluded to his engagements with United Nations Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon and expressed confidence in the leadership that he has given in the controversy.

Reference was also made to hiccups in the agriculture sector over the past seven months, especially with regard to rice and sugar.

However, the President is confident that his government is in a better position in understanding the sugar and rice industries and is in a better place to propel those sectors.

The increase in production in the sugar for the last crop was highlighted.

T h e government is moving to attract new investors in the agriculture sector, the President assured.

Gov’t wants Guyana Times to retract “misleading headline”

Ministry of the Presidency

Government is refuting a headline carried in the Monday, December 28 edition of the Guyana Times Newspaper captioned “No evidence of corruption against PPP/C – President Granger.”

A statement from the Ministry of the Presidency pointed out that nowhere in the content of the article, nor in the source of the content, which was a recording of ‘The Public Interest’ aired on December 25 on the National Communications Network, does President Granger say or imply that there is no evidence of corruption

against the People’s Progressive Party/Civic.

The Ministry said the headline has no basis in fact and was clearly designed to mislead the readers of that publication.

It was noted that “During the recording of ‘The Public Interest’, responding to a question posed by Mr. Mondale Smith, a Journalist from Kaieteur News; “…will there ever come a time when people will be held accountable in the true sense of accountability for the things or the atrocities of the past, as it relates to especially to our finances?” The President said that there is a need for evidence to

be first established before criminal charges and prosecution can follow.”

The Ministry stated that this is the verbatim response provided by the President: “The answer is yes. There is a difference between anecdote and evidence. There is a difference between speculation and surmise and actually providing proof and sometimes people make allegations and you ask them for the evidence and there is no evidence to prove; that is why we have a Court system that is why we have a criminal justice system.

“If people were assumed to be guilty,

simply because of a newspaper article or a letter to the editor, the country will be in chaos.

So over the months since the new administration has been in office, we have been conducting some inquiries, some investigations, some audits and when there is sufficient evidence, which we feel establishes the blame-worthiness of the persons concerned, we will go to the Courts.

“In some instances, some people have been sent on leave to permit investigations to take place, but you can only go to the Court when you have evidence. We can’t go to the Courts and say, ‘look there is a letter to the Editor alleging that you did so and so’.

We’ve got to get proof.”

As a follow-up to the first question, Mr. Smith then posed the question, “So your message to those who are a bit antsy as a result of all of those supposed exposé in the media quoting your

Ministers of course, would be what exactly?”

The President responded saying: “When we get the evidence, we will embark on prosecution. We are not interested in condoning malpractice but sometimes the evidence has been concealed, sometimes the evidence is not there for us to see so we have to find out and that is what has been taking place. In the meantime, we have work to do.

“We have to run the country. We can’t spend all the time simply investigating, we’ve got to move the country forward so we are doing both at the same time.

We are walking on two legs. We want to ensure that malpractices are brought to an end and there is no reoccurrence of any wrongdoing that has occurred in the past.

At the same time we have got to provide a quality of governance to make sure that the country does not slip backward.

“So it will take time, it will take time but we are not unaware of the wrongdoings of the past. We were in the Opposition for three years and we ourselves made complaints.

Now we’ve got to provide the evidence.”

According to the statement, the Ministry of the Presidency condemns the misleading headline, particularly since it purports to be comments of the President of Guyana.

The government says while it promotes and stands solidly in support of press freedom, the Ministry of the Presidency calls on the Guyana Times to pay attention to the ethics and responsibilities that ought to be observed in the profession of Journalism.

I m p o r t a n t l y, the media must take seriously its responsibility to provide accurate information to the members of the public, the Ministry said.

New housing scheme targeting low income earners for 2016 President Granger

Minister Keith Scott

The A Partnership for National Un it y + A l l i anc e for Change (APNU+AFC) government is assuring low income persons that access to house lots and owning their own homes will be much easier come 2016.

This was one of the promises made on the campaign trail leading up to the

May 11 General and Regional elections, “to deliver to the ordinary Guyanese man a better house at a cheaper price and the land at a lower price.”

“A lot more low income earners will have access to house lots, President David Granger said in a recent interview.

R e sp ond i ng to the question on

whether there is a lull in the housing sector, the President conceded, but assured that things will improve in 2016.

“Maybe things have not been going as quickly as other persons would like, we were astonished at the high rates some persons had to pay in order to acquire house lots and we are examining a scheme by which lower income persons will not have to pay such high rates to acquire house lots,” the President said.

The coalition government regards

housing as a very important sector in development, the President assured.

Government has employed s p e c i a l i z e d engineers to aid in the development of cost-effective infrastructure to use in the development of New Housing Schemes, a move aimed at reducing the cost for House lots.

Howe ver, those schemes that have already been developed will not see reduced lands, as much monies would’ve already been spent on

the infrastructure development.

J u n i o r Minister of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Keith Scott has said that the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) is working to bring down the 25,000 backlog of applications which was found when the coalition government took office in May of this year.

He has also said that efforts are being made to open up new lands for housing purposes.

On the issue of repossession of lands, the Minister cited examples of persons who have lands since 2004 and are not using it, adding that it is not a situation whereby they cannot afford to utilize the lands.

Hefty Fines for Cybercrimes in new Bill Cybercrime is a fastgrowing as more criminals are exploiting the speed, convenience and anonymity of the Internet to commit a diverse range of criminal activities that know no borders, either physical or virtual, cause serious harm and pose very real threats to victims worldwide.

The Government of Guyana has released wide-ranging draft legislation to tackle cybercrime including child pornography, hacking, identity theft,

spam and cyberbullying.

The Cybercrime Bill 2015 provides for the creation of offences related to cybercrime and related matters.

In dealing with child pornography, the draft bill states that an individual “is liable on summary conviction to a fine of five million dollars and to imprisonment for five years; or on conviction on indictment to a fine of ten million dollars and to imprisonment for ten years” if he/she “produces child pornography

for the purpose of its distribution; offers or makes available child pornography; distributes or transmits child pornography; procures or obtains child pornography for himself or another person; possesses child pornography in a computer system or on a computer data storage medium; or obtains access to child pornography, through information and communication te chnolog ies, commits an offence.”

It also clarifies that a person who uses a computer system to arrange a meeting with a child with the intent of abusing or engaging in sexual activity with a child or producing child pornography, whether or not he takes any steps to effect such a meeting, commits an offence and is liable.

According to

the bill, anyone below the age of eighteen is considered a child while ‘child pornography’ is any material that visually depicts- a child engaging in sexual activity or sexually explicit conduct; a child in a sexually explicit pose; a person who appears to be a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct; or realistic

images representing a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and includes, but is not limited to, any visual material including images, animations or videos, or audio or text material ;but does not include any visual representation produced or reproduced for the purpose of education, counselling, or promotion of reproductive health or as part of a criminal investigation and prosecution or civil proceedings or in the lawful performance of a person’s profession, duties and functions”

Social Cohesion Ministry working to quell racial tension as LGE approaches The Ministry of Social Cohesion is hoping that it can quell the racial tensions associated with Elections (given the perception that citizens of a particular race gravitate to a specific political party) at the upcoming Local Government Elections.

During an interview with GNN, Minister of Social Cohesion Amna Ally says she “trust that we can quell the racial tensions…we’ve got to look at situation where we look for the best leaders in a community; I would not say the best leaders will be from

this political party or that political party; they must be able to have a developmental mind, to be able to help the people in their community and help to develop them. So I will trust that we don’t only focus on which party they belong to; but we focus on how well we can lead in our community.”

However, she said she is hopeful that the culture of racism and other divisions will be changed as the government continue to promote unity.

Though one of the major issue dividing Guyana’s population is ethnicity,

the Minister explained that Social Cohesion is not necessarily focusing on the things that separates us but on the common things that brings people together.

She said “our main challenge is to assist people to have a broader view of what Social Cohesion is. It is not only about race, it is

not only about ethnicity, it is those elements that bring people together and hold them together, because you will agree with me that our society is divided but we have to advance brining our people together as well as holding them together.”

She said 2015 has been a successful year for the newly

established Ministry as it was able to lay the foundation for future developments and form lasting partnerships. She said also, the Ministry was able to garner much support from community groups to promote unity and bring about the change it is looking for, during its outreaches to the ten

the period 25th October, 2011 to 31st December, 2014.

In addition, Financial Paper No. 2/2015 – Statement of Excess (Current and Capital) totaling $6,471,145,418 for the period 1st January, 2012 to 16th June, 2014 will be considered.

Coming from the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) benches, Member of Parliament

Juan Edghill is expected to move a motion that requires all MPs to file annual income tax returns to the Guyana Revenue Authority in compliance with the Income Tax Act, Cap 81:01.

In the interest of transparency and accountability in public office, all MPs will be required to make available to the public their tax returns to

the Guyana Revenue Authority for the last 10 years on or before December 31, 2015, if the motion succeeds.

In addition, PPP/C

administrative regions.

In 2016, the Ministry will be training several persons to assist in pushing the social cohesion agenda forward and garner enhanced public participation. She added that there would also be pursuing strategic partnerships to increase citizen awareness through culture, poetry, songs and exposition of people’s way of life so they see themselves as one.

“We intended to go to the RDCs (Regional Democratic Councils), the Municipalities, we have go start somewhere…to create an enabling environment in communities for citizens to work together” the minister said.

Final sitting of Parliament for 2015 tomorrow A packed agenda is scheduled for tomorrow’s (Wednesday) sitting of the National Assembly.

The House reconvened last Thursday after an almost two-month break, and tomorrow’s sitting will bring the curtain down for sessions for this year.

Based on the Parliamentary agenda,

Finance Minister Winston Jordan is expected to move a motion after the National Assembly would have resolved itself into a committee of supply for the consideration of Financial Paper No. 1/2015 – Supplementary Estimates (Current and Capital) totaling $3,239,601,366 for

MP Joseph Hamilton is expected to table a motion that deals with Election Day violence which occurred on May 11, 2015.

Escaped prisoner wanted The Police have issued a wanted bulletin for Jagmohan Neshan who escaped from the New Amsterdam prison yesterday.

According to the police, the twentyfive year-old convict was a remanded

prisoner who was charged for the murder of Devindra Deodath which occurred on October 07, 2013.

Neshan is an East Indian with last known address being Belvedere Squatting Area,

Corentyne, Berbice

Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Jagmohan Neshan are asked to contact the police on telephone numbers 333-3876, 333-2191, 333-2151 to 3, 226-9941, 225-

6411, 911 or the nearest police station.

All information will be treated with strict confidence.

JAGMOHAN NESHAN

Police refute Rohee’s claim of pending disciplinary matter against Ramnarine

his

weekly press conference

yesterday expressed concern over impending promotions in the force and stated that a number of disciplinary matters were before the Police Service Commission that was headed by Cecil Sullivan, whose contract was terminated by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan.

The former Minister’s concern was that in the absence of the Commission and its

recommended that the EPA work with stakeholders to promote use of recyclable, biodegradable and other environmentally friendly products.

Previous governments and citizens have complained that Styrofoam has been a major solid waste problem, with canals and waterways backing up because of illegal dumping.

In recent months, Government has been pushing for especially biodegradable containers as an alternative for Styrofoam.

Earlier this month, at the Square of the Revolution, Georgetown, there

was a public awareness session ahead of the January 1st ban.

The EPA will collaborate with the Ministries of Legal Affairs and Finance, via the Guyana Revenue Authority, to implement the Styrofoam ban.

EPA’s Executive Director, Dr. Indarjit Ramdass, had noted that with respect to alternative products, the agency is promoting 100 percent bio-degradable and ‘compostable’ plant fibre-based products which must also be certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI).

The containers to be allowed by the EPA include aluminium, glass and recyclable

plastic and paper.

Chairman of the Trade and Investment SubCommittee, Ramesh Dookoo who also spoke stated that the private sector welcomes the initiative.

Dookoo also warned against not putting measures to stop illegal importation of Styrofoam. “Let us not be caught in a dilemma like our Caricom sister,

Clement Rohee

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) says it is unaware of claims made by former Home Affairs Minister Clement

Rohee that there is any pending disciplinary matter against Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine, DSM.

Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine

Rohee,

at

work in limbo whether the senior officers would be further promoted.

He singled out Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine as one such person with a pending disciplinary matter.

However, the force in a statement today denied having knowledge of any such matter.

Haiti, who has banned Styrofoam for two consecutive years and yet it is still one of the worst environmental issues in the country.

Importing or manufacturing Styrofoam can cost you $50,000 fine from Friday The ban on Styrofoam will is expected to be implemented from Friday, Jan 01, 2016, any person or entity found importing or manufacturing polystyrene products could face fines of no less than $50,000.

Government has gazetted subsidiary legislation-: The Environmental Protection (Expanded Polystyrene Ban) Regulations earlier this month which explained that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be the entity to implement the ban with Syrofoam-made food containers, plates, hot and cold beverage cups, meat and vegetable trays and egg

cartons to be prohibited from being imported, manufactured or distributed locally.

The legislations when it comes into effect will apply to all food service establishments operating in Guyana and any food establishment found possessing and selling food in the Styrofoam containers will be served warning and could face fines from a summary conviction upwards of $100,000.

The gazetted legislations said the EPA or authorized persons from the Director of Public Prosecutions can bring prosecutions in a court of summary jurisdiction.

It was

Venezuelan military helicopter crashes in Colombia A Venezuelan military helicopter crashed in Colombia on Monday, injuring the pilot and co-pilot.

The Bell helicopter belonging to Venezuela’s National Guard was carrying out a routine inspection along the border when it fell about 10 meters (yards) to the

ground. It crash landed on the Colombian side of the La Guajira peninsula, South America’s northernmost tip.

It’s unclear what caused the crash but Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said it posed no security threat.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy

Rodriguez said adverse climatic conditions may have been behind the accident.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in August closed all major crossings along the 2,200-kilometer (1,400-mile) border and deported scores of Colombians to stamp

out what he said is large-scale smuggling of price-controlled goods.

Although tensions have died down, with no plans to reopen the border any time soon the potential for another flare up remains high. Many Colombians who for years lived in Venezuela say they are too afraid or

unable to easily return home to loved ones that were left behind.

The two crew members were rescued by local residents and escorted to Venezuela for medical attention. Rodriguez in

a message on Twitter thanked Colombian authorities for helping the stranded crew members.

(Yahoo)

based on Government’s financial position.

Former Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran announced early this month that the country was in a recession.

Many public servants are yet to be paid their outstanding backpay, estimated to be over $5 b.

Parents yesterday raised concerns that the additional cost of textbooks for them would be approximately more than $1,000 per family.

President of the National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) Zena Ramatali

yesterday said the Garcia needed to give more details on this latest announcement.

Ramatali also raised concerns about students from low socio-economic backgrounds.

“The well-to-do parents could go purchase books but the people who will be most affected are those from the lower socio-economic backgrounds.

(Adapted from the Trinidad Guardian)

In its defence filed in response to the suit, the AG says the drug administered to Campbell does not cause erections.

It is contending that at all material time,

correctional officers discharged their duty of care to Campbell.

The matter has been adjourned to early in the New Year.

(Jamaican Gleaner)

T&T government to halt provision of free Text Books

The Trinidad and Tobago government will no longer be providing free textbooks to the majority of students as it seeks to cut costs, says Education Minister Anthony Garcia. In the current system, students are

given use of books for the school year, which they must return.

The ministry then replenishes the stock of books as some are lost or damaged. This year, only ten per cent of the books will be replenished for two classes, Form One and

primary school infants.

The replacement of special education resources will continue to be 100 per cent funded by Government.

This means other students would need to rely on their parents to provide all of their textbooks.

Garcia said Government was set to save $119 million as a result of cutting back on the provision of textbooks.

He said the measure, which was decided by Cabinet, followed an ongoing series of fiscal adjustments since the 2015/2016 budget was read in October.

The total cost to provide books prior to the decision for the most recent school year would have been $138 million. After the Cabinet’s decision, the new cost for school books is $19 million.

Garcia said the decision was taken

The Jamaica Supreme Court has started hearing a lawsuit brought by a former prisoner who is suing the government for negligence on the grounds that the action of correctional officers left him impotent.

Forty-six year-old labourer, Rupert Campbell, is claiming that on February 21, 2006, while he was an inmate at St Catherine Adult

Correctional Centre, he had a seizure and was given medication by correctional staff.

Campbell is further claiming that after taking the medication he developed persistent and painful erections.

He says he complained to correctional officers and made repeated requests to be taken to the hospital. But he says no immediate steps were taken to take him there.

The former inmate claims that five days later, on February 26, he was taken to the Spanish Town Hospital and he had to be immediately transferred to the Kingston Public Hospital where an emergency surgery was performed.

Campbell says he’s now impotent and the condition has been caused by the negligence of

the correctional personnel who gave him inappropriate medication.

The Attorney General (AG), who is the defendant in the suit, has denied the allegations.

Former prisoner claims impotence; sues government

E-Cigarettes could actually cause Cancer, study finds Electronic cigarettes are often marketed as a ‘safe’ way for people to stop smoking - but there could be hidden risks, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System found that e-cigarettes damaged cells in ways which could lead to cancer.

The researchers wrote, ‘Our study strongly suggests that

electronic cigarettes are not as safe as their marketing makes them appear to the public.

Current Public Health England advice is that while the products are not entirely safe, they are 95% safer than smoking - and can be used as a ‘low-cost, effective intervention’ to help smokers quit.

The researchers

extracted the chemicals from e-cigarettes, and used them on human cells in a Petri dish.

Cells treated with the chemicals were more likely to show DNA damage and die.

There haven’t been many good lab studies on the effects of these products on actual human cells,’ says Dr. Jessica Wa n g - R o d r i q u e z of the University of

California, San Diego, ‘There have been many studies showing that nicotine can damage cells. But we found that other variables can do damage as well. It’s not that the nicotine is completely innocent in the mix, but it looks like the amount of nicotine that the cells are exposed to by e-cigarettes is not sufficient by itself to

cause these changes.

‘There must be other components in the e-cigarettes that are doing this damage.

So we

may be identifying other carcinogenic components that are previously u n d e s c r i b e d .’ ( Y a h o o )

The breathing trick that puts you to sleep in seconds

through your nose for a mental count of four.

4. Hold your breath and count to seven.

5. Next, exhale completely through your mouth, making another whoosh sound for eight seconds in one large breath.

6. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three times for a total of four breaths.

Remember: All inhaling breaths must be quiet and through your nose and all exhaling breaths must be loud and through your mouth.

Nothing is worse than lying awake willing your brain to shut down so rest. Warm milk, lavender oil, and sheep — we’ve all tried them. But

solution could be simply learning to breathe.

The 4-7-8 breathing technique was pioneered Dr. Andrew Weill from Arizona, who describes the yoga-inspired method as “utterly simple, takes almost no time, requires no equipment and can be done anywhere.”

Dr.Weill claims that 4-7-8 breathing can help people fall asleep in just 60 seconds by acting as 1. It takes on more oxygen relaxes parasympathetic nervous system a “natural tranquilizer for the nervous system” the that reduces stress and tension in the body. and promotes a state of calmness.

2. It helps rebalance the nervous system which can 1. Before you begin, place the tip of your tongue become over stimulated during times of stress. on the roof of your mouth just above your 3. It helps you connect with your body at night, teeth and keep it there throughout the exercise. and your breathing and distract you from you can 2. Exhale completely through your mouth quite everyday thoughts that can prevent you from counting forcefully so you make a “whoosh” sound. sleeping. (Yahoo/Good Housing Keeping-UK) the new 3. Close your mouth and inhale quietly and softly

Ultrasound may be useful supplemental test for breast cancer A new study adds to the evidence that ultrasonography can help diagnose cancer in women with dense breasts.

Researchers examined data from 2,809 women from across the U.S., Canada and Argentina. All of them had dense breasts, plus at least one other risk factor for breast cancer.

Each woman had three screenings over three years with mammography and ultrasonography,

according to a report in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Overall, 111 breast cancers were found. Most - 80 percent - were invasive.

Both tests identified about the same number of cancers, with 129 women needing an ultrasound or 127 women needing a mammography for doctors to find one cancer.

Mammography was better at picking up cancers with so-called calcifications,

such as are characteristic of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the most common non-invasive form of breast cancer.

DCIS may spread and become invasive cancer, but is not life-threatening on its own - and some researchers question whether it should be called “cancer” at all.

Ultrasound was better at detecting invasive cancers and those without calcifications, said lead author Dr. Wendie Berg, of

Magee-Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“It’s likely the cancers we find on ultrasound will make a bigger difference than those we find in mammography,” Berg said. However, ultrasound also produced more false alarms - or false positives.

In the meantime, Berg urges women with dense breasts to consider supplemental screening with ultrasound but says high-risk

women who follow the American Cancer Society recommendation to receive

a supplemental MRI don’t need ultrasound screening.

(Adapted from Yahoo)

Terror in Australia as Crocodiles swept into Town by floodwaters Floods can be scary and wreak havoc no matter where they happen.

But after flooding in Australia’s Northern Territory, people are faced with an unusual horror: Huge, deadly crocodiles brought by the floods are roaming through town, some apparently snatching up dogs.

After heavy rains caused devastating floods this

weekend, Australian officials are warning that saltwater crocodiles have been swept close to population centers in Daly River, about 200 miles south of Darwin.

“The [area] is obviously populated by a large population of crocodiles, and already we’ve seen reports of crocodiles sighted within the community,” said

Andrew Warton, director of the state’s emergency services, according to the Telegraph.

Residents have reported seeing several crocs across town, according to the Guardian.

One resort owner, Stuart Brisbane, of the Daly River Barra Resort, said he saw a giant crocodile swimming less than 200 feet from the resort. There

were also sightings of crocs swimming around the local soccer field, and witnesses claim they saw two dogs dragged away by the creatures.

Resident James Parry, who was evacuated, told the NT News: “You can be sleeping back at Daly and you’d be thinking about the water and where is the croc going to come from.” (Yahoo)

A Puerto Rico policeman fatally shot two highranking officers and a policewoman on Monday following an argument at work that temporarily shut down

the station in the U.S. territory’s second largest city, authorities said. The suspect was immediately placed under arrest.

The suspect held a female lieutenant, a

male commander and a policewoman hostage in an office before he killed them, police said.

Other police officials identified the officer as Guarionex Candelario.

Authorities were about to start negotiations with the suspect when the victims were killed.

Police did not yet have information on a motive.

The shooting occurred inside the lieutenant’s

office at the police headquarters in the southern coastal city of Ponce. Authorities evacuated the station to investigate threats of a possible explosive device in the suspect’s car, but they did not say whether anything was found.

Police said at a press conference that the suspect previously had been stripped of his weapon but received a

psychological evaluation nearly two years ago and his weapon was returned.

Authorities declined to provide any other details, saying the investigation was barely starting.

Officials said the victims were Lt. Luz Soto Segarra and Cmdr.

Frank Roman, both 49, and policewoman Rosario Hernandez.

Soto’s husband also was a police lieutenant, said

Who has ever overcooked an egg, undercooked a chicken breast or totally massacred a seemingly benign grilled cheese sandwich?

Pantelligent is an app-enhanced pan that alerts you when your food is perfectly cooked.

The pan has a central temperature gauge and a Bluetoothequipped handle that, when it touches your phone, connects to the app.

The activated app then shares helpful hints, for example, when the pan is hot enough to add oil or when your steak reaches a medium rare temperature.

The app itself comes loaded with recipes, but it’s easy to make the pan work with your own creations.

For example, you don’t need to make pancakes from scratch; even using a mix, the pan takes the guesswork out of wondering when you

need to flip them.

This has the potential to take a lot of frustration out of cooking.

Now, assuming you

enter the proper information in the app, your phone tells you how to cook your food — without a meat thermometer,

a taste test or soda and gummy (Yahoo) even a cookbook. worms.

All you need to do is stock your fridge with something more than diet

Puerto Rico policeman kills 3 officers after fight Jose Cruz Martinez, vice president of the Puerto Rican Police Union.

Soto and Roman each had been with Puerto Rico’s police department for more than 20 years, said Cruz, adding that they had been his friends for 15 years.

(Adapted from MSN)

Bluetooth frying pan senses when your food is done

Pakistan suicide bombing kills ‘at least 22’ A suspected suicide attack at a government office in north-west Pakistan has killed at least 22 people, police say. The bomb went off outside the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office in the town of Mardan.

A faction of the Pakistani Taliban said

it carried out the attack, which left more than 30 others wounded.

The attack is one of the deadliest since last December’s massacre of 150 pupils and teachers in Peshawar.

The bomber in Mardan reportedly arrived on a motorbike and blew himself up when stopped

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are statistically tied in the latest hypothetical match-up as the Republican frontrunner escalates his attacks against the leading Democrat.

When 1000 likely voters nation-wide were asked who they would support if the presidential election were held today, 37 percent said Clinton while 36 percent said Trump, according to the Rasmussen Reports telephone survey.

The poll’s margin of error is 3 percentage

points meaning Clinton and Trump are in a statistical dead heat. The poll is consistent with another recent survey by CNN/ ORR which had Trump and Clinton within the margin of error.

But in an average of recent Clinton-Trump match-up polls, RealClearPolitics has Clinton leading Trump by 5.5 points. Trump has spent the past few days attacking former president Bill Clinton for his treatment of women, suggesting his wife has no right to call Trump out for sexism.

by a security guard outside the Nadra building. The office is usually crowded with people lining up to get ID cards.

If the attacker had not been stopped by a security guard at the office’s gate, the death toll would be significantly higher, Mardan police Deputy

Inspector General Saeed Wazie told BBC Urdu’s Adil Shahzeb.

He said up to 12 kilograms of explosive

2014, said it carried out the attack on what it called the “heathen Pakistan state”.

The group, along with others, claimed responsibility for an explosion that killed more than 50 people at the Wagah border crossing with India in 2014. Offensives against insurgents have reduced major militant attacks from dozens every month in material may have 2014 to no more than been used in the blast. one or two a month J a m a a t - u l - A h r a r, this year. (Adapted the BBC) which split from the from Pakistani Taliban in

Trump v Clinton? New Poll says ‘dead heat’

Polls have indicated that in a general election Clinton would have an easier time against Trump than she would against some other Republican candidates. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson have both beaten her in previous match-ups.

(MSN)

Islamic State ruling aims to settle who can have sex with female slaves

Islamic State theologians have issued an extremely detailed ruling on when “owners” of women enslaved by the extremist group can have sex with them, in an apparent bid to curb what they called violations in the treatment of

captured females.

Among the religious rulings are bans on a father and son having sex with the same female slave; and the owner of a mother and daughter having sex with both. Joint owners of a female captive are

similarly enjoined from intercourse because she is viewed as “part of a joint ownership.”

The United Nations and human rights groups have accused the Islamic State of the systematic abduction and rape of thousands of women

and girls as young as 12, especially members of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq. Many have been given to fighters as a reward or sold as sex slaves.

The Fatwa lists 15 injunctions, which in some instances go into explicit detail; e.g., “If the owner of a female captive, who has a daughter suitable for intercourse, has sexual relations with the latter, he is not permitted to have intercourse with her mother and she is permanently off limits to him. Should he

have intercourse with her mother then he is not permitted to have intercourse with her daughter and she is to be off limits to him.”

The fatwa also instructs owners of female slaves to “show compassion towards her, be kind to her, not humiliate her, and not assign her work she is unable to perform.” An owner should also not sell her to an individual whom he knows will mistreat her.

Professor Abdel Fattah Alawari, dean of Islamic Theology at Al-Azhar University, a 1,000-year-

old Egyptian center for Islamic learning, said Islamic State “has nothing to do with Islam” and was deliberately misreading centuriesold verses and sayings that were originally designed to end, rather than encourage, slavery.

(Adapted from MSN. Additional reporting

by Ahmed Aboulenein in Cairo and William Maclean in Dubai, editing by Ross Colvin)

Australia trash Windies to claim series

Australia wrapped up a comfortable 177run victory over West Indies on day four of the second Test in Melbourne to take an unassailable 2-0 series

lead. An overnight declaration on 1793 set the tourists an unlikely 460 to win.

Wickets fell regularly but Denesh Ramdin (59) and Jason Holder

Well-known cricket commentator Fazeer Mohammed has been banned from interviewing any West Indies player currently in Australia taking part in the Sir Frank Worrell cricket series.

Mohammed has been commentating since the first Test in Hobart.

He told Guardian Media yesterday that he was banned after he made comments about the team on a radio talk show prior to the start of the second Test that is currently on in Melbourne.

According to Mohammed: “I

got banned from interviewing anyone in the squad.” He added that coach Phil Simmons did not take lightly to criticisms of the team’s training heading into the Test match.

“Simmons apparently didn’t like what I said about the team’s training ahead of this Test. I made the comments on Andrew Mason’s show last Tuesday.

Someone obviously told him what I said and he didn’t like it.” Asked if he was contacted by Simmons, Mohammed said, “No, he hasn’t

(68), who came together at 150-5, hit half centuries in a 100-run partnership.

Mitchell Marsh, who finished with 4-61, dismissed both

men as the Windies lost their last five wickets for 32 runs.

On a decent batting surface, all of the top five made reasonable starts to their

spoken to me.”

Mohammed found that Simmons’ action was not necessary as it can bring no good to the squad.

“It is disappointing because it doesn’t really achieve anything other

than bring unnecessary and unwanted negative attention to a squad that has already been facing severe criticism from the Australian media,” he said.

Since arriving in Australia the team

respective innings.

Opener Kraigg Brathwaite knocked 31 off 34 deliveries before edging spinner Nathan Lyon to Steve Smith at slip, while Darren Bravo reached 21 before he pushed at a fine delivery from Peter Siddle and was caught by wicketkeeper Peter Nevill.

Rajendra Chandrika was trapped lbw by James Pattinson for a patient 37 off 130 balls and Marlon Samuels became the first of Marsh’s victims, caught

by Nevill for 19, to leave the tourists 1184. Jermaine Blackwood was the fifth to depart, adjudged lbw to Lyon for 20.

However, Ramdin and Holder dug in to take the Windies within 210 of Australia but when the former edged to Nevill, the Windies

resistance ended.

Carlos Brathwaite lasted just four deliveries before being bowled by man-ofthe-match Lyon, who claimed 3-85 for seven wickets in the match.

Holder’s 86-ball knock, which included two sixes and seven boundaries, ended in tame fashion when he looped a simple catch to Josh Hazlewood at mid-off.

Kemar Roach then fended a short Pattinson delivery to David Warner in the slips before Pattinson raced in take a steepling catch at fine leg to dismiss a swinging Jerome Taylor and spark scenes of celebration.

The final Test is due to start in Sydney on Sunday.

(Adapted from the BBC)

has been put under the gun on and off the field and skipper Jason Holder has been the centre of attacks.

Only yesterday, former Australian great Ian Chappelle said that the West Indies

Cricket Board (WICB) made a grave error in putting the young player in charge of the Test squad, due to his inexperience in the role. (Adapted from the Trinidad Newsday)

WI Cricket commentator banned from interviewing players

Tuesday December 29, 2015

New Year’s cycling action set for Berbice

Randolph Roberts

The 2016 cycling season will get going on Sunday January 3rd in the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) 40-miler affair which is open to all cyclists countrywide and is set for Corentyne highway from 10:00 hrs.

The race is set to pedal off from in front of the Lewisons’ Auto Parts, Cycle and General Store at Rose Hall Town, proceed to No. 51 Police Station and back to the starting point.

Prizes will be awarded to the first six finishers, first three juniors and the first three club cyclists.

There will also be 10 prime point prizes up for grabs.

Among the donors are Mark and Neil Lewis of Lewisons’ Auto Parts, Cycle and General Store of Rose Hall Town, Peter Lewis of Peter Lewis Construction, overseas based G u y a n e s e Kenrick Taylor of Canada, Sherwin Photo Works

among others.

Officials of the Government are expected to be on hand to start the race and help with the distribution of prizes.

Cyclists are reminded that they must participate in their club colours. Interested cyclists are asked to make contact with coordinator Randolph Roberts.