Kaieteur News

Thursday Edition April 04, 2013 - Vol. 6 No. 14

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Ex cop, barber shot in execution attempt

A bigger turnout of protestors outside the Plaisance Community Centre Ground yesterday

Plaisance protests bear fruit…

Govt. rescinds decision to erect tower on playfield Colin Jones Budget 2013 debate ... Commissioners sets fire to 'Hero' says still undecided Camp Street budget to help cronies on Boodoo’s Prison financially once again …blasts Govt on corruption place at GECOM

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Kaieteur News

Thursday April 04, 2013

Consideration of national estimates is no occasion for politicking - PPP/C’s Kwame Gilbert G o v e r n m e n t parliamentarians are appealing for an end to political pettiness which can create a sense of panic and fear in the minds of the international community with regards to Guyana’s viability as an investment destination.

Delivering their contribution on the opening day of the parliamentary debate on the 2013 national budget, at least two Government members, Rev. Kwame Gilbert and Dr. Vindhiya Persaud, both called for the opposition to be responsible in their actions which they said could derail the development of Guyana.

Gilbert described the current budget debates as a battle, while Persaud urged

that the Opposition’s slim majority should not be used as bragging rights.

According to Gilbert, while the nation expects the opposition to hold the government accountable and to hold their feet over the fire, they also expect the Opposition to be reasonable and responsible.

It appeared to be a direct reference to recent Opposition posturing, which points to the possibility of targeted cuts to the $205B budget that was presented last week by Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh.

Last year, the opposition with its one seat majority slashed significant portions of the budget, which led the government to move to the

vindhiya persaud

kwame gilbert

High Court for its restoration.

However, the damage was already done and already this year there are indications that more cuts are imminent.

Gilbert defended the 2013 budget as pro- poor, proyouth, pro-development and pro-Guyanese.

He said that he expects the Opposition to be very vociferous in their objections as they attempt to counter the arguments that will be advanced by the government.

“People expect the Opposition to do exactly that; they expect the opposition to hold the government accountable; they expect the Opposition to haul the government over the coals

and hold their feet over the fire. But people also expect the Opposition to be reasonable and responsible.

People also expect the Opposition to know when political posturing should end and when working in the national interest should begin,” Gilbert told the National Assembly.

He said that he does not believe that the consideration of national estimates is an occasion for politicking, since it is a deliberate determination of the destiny of the people of Guyana.

Gilbert said that he is optimistic that the Opposition will, in the interests of development, give their

wholehearted support to the passage of the budget.

He said that his optimism is based on the fact that the 2013 budget comes on the shoulders of previous budgets that had laid the foundation for Guyana’s consistent and sustained growth and development.

“Sometimes we deliberately ignore the strides that we have made; undervalue, undersell the developments that we have accomplished as a nation in order to make a political point, and that can be harmful to our country,” Gilbert said.

He pointed to Guyana’s sustained growth rate over the years. It is not by accident that Guyana’s economy has been insulated from the financial crisis that is plaguing the world.

He attributed this sustained growth to the prudent measures adopted by the government.

Gilbert said that it is a fact that more Guyanese have access to owning their own homes; young people now have access to loans and the national health care is the best it has been in decades.

In terms of education, Gilbert pointed to the allocation of 14 per cent of this year’s budget to the sector.

He stated that the Opposition seems to be in the habit of cutting the budget, but warned that cutting the budget will not only affect the 32 persons on the government side of the house but the entire nation.

Dr. Vindhiya Persaud noted that from all appearances the Opposition is approaching the budget with a particular mindset, which is tantamount to impeding progress.

She said that this year’s budget has responded to the changing dynamics of the local society-the widening middle class, the increasing number of young professionals, the accelerated expansion of communities through the highly successful housing driveand works towards alleviating the burdens of the poor.

She said that this budget should not see a repeat of 2012 when cuts were made acrimoniously with little regard to what she termed long term and far reaching impact that it had on lives of young people, women, children, the elderly and the indigenous people.

“We are Parliamentarians, yes, but we should be humanitarians first,” she added.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Plaisance protest bears fruit…

Govt. rescinds decision to erect tower on playfield

By Rehana Ahamad

Ashley

The Government is now seeking an alternative location to erect its transmission tower to support its e-governance programme. Up until Sunday, this tower was to have been constructed at the Plaisance Community Centre ground on the East Coast of Demerara.

This change of heart came as a result of three days of protest by residents of that community.

The scrapping of the project was last evening confirmed by Project Manager of the e-governance programme, Alexei Ramotar, who said that his team will be seeking an alternative site for the tower.

He said that the decision to site the tower at Plaisance had many considerations, one of them being the decision to supply the community with a wireless service since Plaisance would have been one of the hotspots for the egovernance programme.

The e-governance project is one that is expected to facilitate the linking of Government’s fibre optic cable that has been laid from Lethem to Linden, to the coastline, to enable internet access. It will be one of 54 towers that will be erected in densely populated areas along the coast.

Ramotar said that the team wan t e d t o a v o i d a n y charges of discrimination since towers would be established in other communities along coastal Guyana.

He said that proximity to the Sparendaam Police Station was another consideration. The egovernance programme would allow the electronic storing of information on cars, firearm licences, driver’s

A bigger turn out of protestors outside the Plaisance Community Centre Ground yesterday

licences and other similar documentations.

The construction of the tower which was to be placed on the actual playfield of the Plaisance Community Centre Ground was being done by a Chinese contracting firm named Huawei, in collaboration with local subcontractors, and the blessing of the government of Guyana.

Huawei workers were forced to pack up their equipment and leave, following a protest by angry villagers, last Sunday.

Raw materials like the huge wooden poles remain scattered on the field, with a huge hole in the ground where the foundation was being laid a few feet away from the stand.

As of yesterday, the protest had grown considerably.

The residents of Plaisance, during their last picketing exercise, described this move by the Government of Guyana as “downright disrespect” towards them as a people, especially since they were never consulted.

The residents had suggested that the tower

should be put where the old radio station was.

The people of Plaisance were seemingly determined to continue their remonstration, citing their community centre as part of their daily lives.

The facility not only facilitates fundraising activities and shows, but it also caters for school sports and a number of recreational activities for both the young and old.

The residents had said they have been honestly utilising and caring the facility ever since it has been handed over to them in the 1960s.

When asked if his team would consider another location in Sparendaam in the vicinity of the police station, Ramotar said that there were approaches for a plot of land north of the police station but that Central Housing and Planning Authority had contended that that plot of land was already allocated to Caricom.

Justifying the protest, Anisah Saunders, a school teacher of the community, said that apart from the night life activities, she was particularly concerned about the more important things like

$6.3M robbery…

Apprehended gunman admits tailing Lethem businesswoman The gunman who was apprehended minutes after he and his accomplice robbed a Lethem businesswoman of $6.3M on Tuesday evening last, has admitted that they had been following her.

The incident occurred around 18:00hrs in the vicinity of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, just minutes after the 26-year-old woman, Shireen Sheik, landed at the Ogle International Hotel.

Initially, Kaieteur News learnt that Sheik was in a car at a nearby traffic light when

two men on a motorcycle blocked their path. The men then approached the car, with their guns pointed at the woman and her driver, demanding her money.

In grabbing all that they could find, the men abandoned their bikes and escaped in a car which later ended up in a nearby ditch at Turkeyen.

While one of the robbers was able to make good his escape with all the woman’s valuables, the one who has been identified as “Gaza

Youth” of Georgetown, was swiftly apprehended by police. He has since identified his accomplice, according to the police. Kaieteur News understands that the getaway car is believed to be owned by another criminal who is known to the police.

Apart from the large quantity of cash, the robbers also took an ounce of gold, a cell phone, and some documents, none of which were retrieved.

Investigations are continuing.

recreation for her students.

She noted that such activities are just as important for a child as studying is.

The teacher explained that the Plaisance Community Centre Ground facilitates the annual school sports even beyond their community.

“This ground facilitates our school sports from Industry to Mon Repos. We have nowhere else to host these sports,” Saunders said.

She added that their situation is the same as somebody invading their home and taking their belongings.

Meanwhile, members of the Plaisance Football team told this newspaper that should their ground be taken away, the future of their team will be worrisome, since they use the ground to practice almost every day.

“We are the East Coast Champions for “Guinness in the Street”, and we make

good use of this ground every single day. It is not fair to us. People done get Plaisance as a bad place, and if them tek away this ground, it gon just get worse.

The youth not gon get nowhere to occupy their time,” one of the footballer said.

Meanwhile, the residents were also worried about the health implications that the radiation emanating from the tower might have.

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Kaieteur News

Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana.

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

EDITORIAL

From blunder to blunder The government keeps blundering from mistake to mistake. Sadly, though, when these mistakes are highlighted the persons highlighting these mistakes are roundly abused as an opposition element. If the medium highlighting the mistakes is a private-owned television station or a newspaper, then they are lumped into the category of hostile media.

If the people making the charges were the ordinary people then the consensus would have been that these are fanatical supporters of the government who would rise to object to anything negative about the very government. The consensus would have been that these people are blinded by loyalty.

However, some of them making the claims of media hostility are senior, very senior, Government officials. Some of them are decision makers and others are politicians who hold the highest office in Government.

No government likes to be criticized but where criticisms are due, they take stock of themselves and try to avoid a repeat.

Governments know that to have their shortcomings exposed day after day could be very costly. It seems to be different in Guyana.

Here the government insists on stepping from blunder to blunder and expects that no one would say anything because for them, to criticize the government is to commit a crime against the state.

The history of this behavior can be traced back to more than two decades when the new government appealed to the nation to give democracy a chance. Mrs Janet Jagan had kept repeating that Guyana now had a fledgling democracy and that people needed to give it a chance to work. People did give it a chance, unwittingly allowing some of the untenable characteristics to become chronic.

We saw the splitting of contracts to allow for the government to ignore the tender process and to make allocations to people who are desirous of being rewarded by the government. There were such actions in the award of pharmaceutical contracts worth billions of dollars. When this was exposed the government denied wrongdoing. It took years after the discovery before there was any change in the situation but by then a few people had been financially fortified.

Having corrected that issue one would have expected the government to operate under the rule of law but this must have been too heavy a task. There has been the pursuit of projects that appeared to be questionable from the start. Indeed the government did say that it wanted to make sugar competitive and to do this it needed an ultra-modern sugar factory.

This factory became the most expensive project to be undertaken by the Guyana Government. Two years after its completion the factory is still not performing as it should. In fact, to describe it as problem plagued would be an understatement.

Needless to say there have been criticisms of the contract and with good reason. The Enmore sugar bagging plant was another questionable project. An examination of the project revealed that it was too costly. The government denied this charge and then argued that the money was spent on other related things and not on the bagging plant alone.

Since then one is left to wonder whether the Enmore plant is indeed serving the purpose of giving Guyana value added for its sugar. And to make matters worse, the government is keeping the factory under wraps as though to provide any further exposure.

The most recent criticism surrounds the move to commandeer a community playground for the erection of a tower. The government not so long ago removed a tower from that location because it was said to have been in the flight path of planes using Ogle airport. Bharrat Jagdeo and some other people have since built some upscale houses there. There must be something wrong with the government’s perception of the people it leads.

Shortly before this recent blunder the government had awarded radio frequencies to people who are known to be his friends and his relatives in a clear case of nepotism.

Why should the people not criticize these obvious unpleasant and dictatorial actions? But the government is unfazed. It simply keeps doing undemocratic things and appears not to care about the public perception of its actions.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Letters... Where your views make the news

How the PPP and PNC have damaged the Guyanese psyche and morality DEAR EDITOR, There are three grave tragedies of the Guyanese condition created or magnified by our divisive politics since 1950. One is the scourge of racism and ethnic polarization. Another is moral and psychological degradation of the nation.

The third is economic impoverishment.

The first and the last elements have always existed in this land since the events pre- and post-Emancipation reshaped this landscape. The moral and psychological degradation of the Guyanese people before the arrival of the bitter struggles of the PPP and the PNC was limited to the immoral domination by the bourgeoisie of the working class.

The working class majority itself was peaceful, hardworking and decentminded people grounded in justice and fairness in a sharing and crime-free working class stratum despite their sufferings. That changed with the arrival of the PPP and the PNC. They introduced full-scale ethnic division and racial apartheid politics to Guyana.

They caused their constituencies who were 85% of the population to adopt morally fraudulent and catastrophic positions out of this racial division. It was no longer what was right, just or fair, but what was racially opportunistic.

Negative ethnic generalizations and

stereotyping became fullblown diseases under their reigns. All Africans were the PNC and all Indians were the PPP. Moral hypocrisy strutted supreme. A dictatorial PNC government was to be overthrown by a Stalinist PPP party that crushed democracy. PNC socialism injected with healthy communist action (see nationalization) was condemned by the PPP and its supporters who advocated in the same breath the replacement with a communist state. PNC supporters sinfully accepted the atrocities of the PNC government just like PPP supporters support the abominations of the PPP government today.

In the grand circle of irony, these two groups of supporters have become one and the same. This moral undermining of the nation that took place in the racialpolitical struggles of the fifties and sixties have left an indelible stain on this nation’s psyche and morality.

Even today, there are calls for the repetition of these stereotypes as evidenced during the 2011 election campaign when Bharrat Jagdeo reminded those who endured the PNC struggles to recall those experiences for the youths of today.

The moral damage was not limited to the psychological operations of the PPP and PNC and their race-driven political orgy. It

has to do with the economic woe the PPP and PNC left this nation. Both of these parties have been dismal economic managers. Despite its working class rhetoric, the PPP’s economic management from 1957 to 1964 was a failure that saw economic decline and hardship for the working class along with increasing corruption.

The PNC was handed an economy in gradual decline in 1964 and took it over the precipice with a reckless socialist policy accompanied by corruption and mismanagement. In 1992, the PPP got a destroyed economy that was beginning to grow again and has delivered modest growth in an era of the greatest worldwide economic growth.

The modest gains the PPP achieved have been largely shifted by deliberative government policy into the hands of a new upper class who benefit from the largesse and corruption of the PPP. All of this economic mismanagement has pushed the majority of this country to moral corruption in order to survive. Not only do they have to work for immoral government, they are constantly morally debasing themselves in order to obtain a basic modicum of decent living. Even worse, this is now instinctive and normal for many.

By allowing illegal activity like drug trafficking to flourish, the PPP has firmly destroyed the already

wavering moral core of this country.

Economic destitution leads to moral equivalency and Guyana since the fifties has been a prime example of this truism.

We have people who condone or execute all manner of atrocity for fear of losing that laughable paycheque in a country of rampant unemployment.

In dictatorial governments, people become afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation and harm. The mind becomes Pavlovian, directed by the dictates of the regime.

This is what has happened in Guyana since the fifties.

Slavery was abolished some 175 years ago while Indentureship ended 96 years ago, yet this nation remains very much a plantation moved by race and economic survival. This gives us the constant moral massacre or the annihilation of the moral code of this nation.

Right and wrong is relative in this nation because there is no moral line left that cannot be crossed. Wrong is very right in Guyana and right is often wrong and illusory.

We are a nation in a moral quagmire from which extraction requires sacrifice, which we lack.

In every country that has built itself from ruins, except Guyana, there is an unmissable connection between sacrifice and struggle and moral reclamation. In these countries, people struggle, Continued on page 6

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news

The antiquated way of using documents for identification needs to be reviewed DEAR EDITOR, Permit me to respond to Ms. Lyken-Ramdial’s reply of April 3 to Mr. Craig. Ms. Lyken-Ramdial, like so many people in Guyana, misses the point of identification.

I have travelled the world, and have done business in over twenty countries, and Guyana is the only country that I have visited that does not accept a driver’s licence for identification: It has a photograph and at least the address of the holder, and is usually renewable every three or five years.

For an individual to verify his most recent address, all they should have to provide, is any correspondence mailed to that address, providing they have another form of identification, as an individual address is usually based on their job or business at that moment.

The majority of people living or working in Guyana do not have the documents

being asked for at this bank.

It took me thirty months to get my name on my electric bill from GPL, even though I was paying my bill every month, so if I was waiting for that to prove my address, that’s how long it would have taken me to take care of a transaction similar to that of Mr. Craig.

What Guyana as a whole has is an antiquated way of using documents for identification, which needs to be reviewed.

We are way behind the power curve. This country is not ready for the 20th Century much less the 21st, and managers need to broaden their thinking process if they are to move this country forward.

Part of a manager’s job is to come up with innovative ways of making business more efficient, rather than quoting regulations and policies which make no sense.

Interested observer

Raising fees at the University of Guyana DEAR EDITOR, The recent public address by the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, has brought into focus the business of tertiary education.

Professor Opadeyi, in his inaugural address, has outlined restructuring plans for the university, which include a potential increase in tuition fees. The rationale is that increased remuneration is expected to attract qualified academic professionals who in turn will be able to provide Guyanese with qualifications of international merit.

Essentially, Professor Opadeyi has emphasized the nexus between finance capital and education.

There can be little resentment with these positions when one considers that tertiary education, even in the most developed countries, carries a price tag.

Sometimes an unbearably ponderous one. Published professors, administrative support, research databases, teaching resources and learning infrastructure are

only some of the recurring costs which have to be defrayed. Professor Opadeyi is right. Capital injection whether state or private - is necessary to improve the University of Guyana.

Be that as it may, Professor Opadeyi’s call signals an ideological shift that has been increasingly enshrouding Guyana.

Pervasive corporatization and commodification.

Students are now perceived as consumers who shall be purchasing a commodity called tertiary education.

Like the consumer strolling the aisles of a trendy store, they will utilize their purchasing power to appropriate the most desirable item.

Of course, purchasing education in Guyana is nothing new, except that the providers and procurers of such a good will prefer to see the transaction as serviceacquisition instead of plain business conducted in the marketplace.

Professor Toby Miller has analyzed this commodification of higher education in the United States and his conclusions are

worrying. He cites instances where universities in the US become “competitors for traffic in merchantable instruction”.

Though this trend is already evident among the proliferation of private secondary schools around Guyana, the University of Guyana will not be equally besieged, since it will have the academic monopoly. The concern though is that as with private secondary schools, commodifying education in the university does not guarantee commensurable results.

Here I think less of improved pedagogy and more about the country’s ability to retain its qualified citizenry.

As inevitably as globalization and neoliberalism impose a new social and economic structure in our society, we still have to be intellectually and politically equipped to address domestic “skill deficits” such as on Marriott projects.

Miller also charted the progressive decrease of public funding for higher education in the US, which has necessitated an increase

in tuition fees every single year since the 1980s. Perhaps the University of Guyana is confronting a situation where the current government has chosen to become fiscally conservative with higher education.

In a country where Marriotts have become top priority, perhaps “both government and university administrators construct corporate life as their desired other”.

It is difficult to imagine Guyanese responding favourably if governmental interest in the University of Guyana becomes nothing more than corporate oversight.

If the University of Guyana is framed as yet another governmental business venture, then as Professor Miller affirms, “paymasters and administrators [will] accrete authority over academics”.

This means that whether the funding is public or private, university administrators will be dancing to the tune of the investors.

More importantly, one can hardly conceive of critical Continued on page 7

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Kaieteur News

Thursday April 04, 2013

Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news

Are Guyanese witnessing an evolving dictatorship?

DEAR EDITOR, The type of governance being exercised by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has been described by its chief spokesperson as “Democratic Centralism”.

However, after taking note of recent happenings in Guyana, namely: 1) the disbanding of Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, and the wanton imposition of Interim Management Committees; 2) the secrecy surrounding the “Intelligence Gathering Centre”, NICIL, Lotto funds,

contracts, overpayment of contractors, Marriott hotel, Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Specialty Hospital, and other projects; 3) the still unexplained, unauthorized shipment(s) of gold bullion to another territory; 4) the lack of any meaningful punitive, or corrective measures in the NCN and NDIA scandals; 5) the lack of Presidential assent to the long promised “Freedom of Information Bill”; 6) the increasing arrogance on the part of several high-ranking government officials, and

their apparent contempt for the citizens of Guyana; 7) the importation of Chinese workers (and possible voters) using Guyanese taxpayers’ money; 8) the reluctance of functionaries to release information which one would expect to be in the public domain, unless sanctioned by the CEO; and especially, 9) the manner in which broadcasting licences were allocated and distributed, have vividly brought back to mind George Orwell’s “1984”, and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World Revisited”.

Given the foregoing, it begs the question: “Are Guyanese witnessing an evolving dictatorship”?

Huxley, commenting on “Propaganda Under a Dictatorship”, reports that Albert Speer, Hitler’s Minister for Armaments, at his trial as a war criminal after the Second World War, described the Nazi tyranny and analyzed its methods.

Albert Speer said: “Hitler’s dictatorship differed in one fundamental point from all its predecessors in history.

It was the first dictatorship in

the present period of modern technical development that made complete use of all technical means for the domination of its own citizens.

Through technical devices like the radio and loudspeaker, eighty million Germans were deprived of independent thought. It was thereby possible to subject them to the will of one man”.

Does the scenario described in the above paragraph bear any similarity to what has been taking place in Guyana for some time now, and to the obscene attempt by the former President Jagdeo, through his friends, to take complete control of Guyana’s airwaves?

Guyanese should bear in mind two things: 1) Guyana’s population is less than 800 000 people (under onehundredth of Germany’s 80 millions in the 1930s); and, 2) the broadcasting technology now available to former President Jagdeo and his friends is infinitely superior, and far more pervasive than it was in Hitler’s time some seventy odd years ago.

Would it not be much easier to peddle the various shades of “State propaganda”, exclude other perspectives, or views of the world, stifle freedom of expression, thus depriving Guyanese of alternative and independent thought while subjecting them to “former President Jagdeo’s” will?

Given the background that is described in the first and second paragraphs of this letter, it would suggest the following questions are not only valid, but extremely relevant, and warrant the

keenest attention of all patriotic Guyanese: 1) Does the control of Guyana’s airwaves suggest that “State” censorship of the electronic and social media could become a reality if the PPP were to win a majority in the next general elections?

It has been reported that the broadcast of a certain calypso that is critical of the government has been banned. 2) Is the PPP’s 2013 “gloss & glitter”, or “beads and trinkets for the natives” budget an election gimmick designed to lull Guyanese voters by way of deception into a feeling of benign benevolence by the government, and so improve its chances of strengthening the dictatorship?

All who love Guyana must awake from our lethargy, diligently scrutinize the 2013 budget, and pay keen attention to the debates in parliament. Among the numerous issues that need to be clarified: “Is the government giving its citizens “x” amount of dollars now only to take back “2x” later, and “4x” from our children, and even more from generations yet unborn, so that even the little that they have would be taken away from them?”

Put another way: “How heavily indebted to China would Guyana become if the 2013 budget is passed without changes?” “How many future generations of Guyanese will be faced with huge debt payments?”

“What could happen if Guyana were to default?

Could we be re-colonized by Continued on page 7

From page 4 scrimp, sacrifice and battle to improve their lot, but they also possess a powerful moral philosophy about it; that they will endorse those who will help them achieve their redemption and reject those who are morally abject.

In Guyana, we have a generally hardworking nation that somehow abandons that moral requirement that is vital to their ultimate advancement.

If people refuse to attach moral expectations and demands to their struggles, they will inherit societies constantly derailed by the immoral leadership and political parties they refuse to change.

Convenient moral blindness produces no economic profit or advancement out of poverty.

You cannot expect less chokeand-rob of your earnings when you allow more chokeand-rob of your taxes by the rulers of the state. Choke-and-

robbers at the top lead to choke-and-robbers at the bottom.

Moral hypocrisy allows crooks to bully a populace.

Moral convenience leads to an immoral society where vagabonds thrive and in such a society only a handful of the depraved are enough to demonize and crush the rest.

The PPP and PNC have destroyed the morale of this nation and wrecked its psyche. Too many are worried about how those of another race or class are voting or how their own race or class are voting and not focused on what is important to them.

That self-focus, which is evident in wealthy nations, and which allowed a Whitedominated society like the USA to elect a Black President, is grounded in that element of morality that is missing in Guyana.

M. Maxwell

How the PPP and PNC have...

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news

Raising fees at the University... Are Guyanese witnessing an ...

From page 5 intelligence and intellectual autonomy blooming in that atmosphere.

Higher education is most likely, therefore, to become conformist and sterile.

Thus, the university student, as consumer and investor, will enter the renovated lecture halls, bedecked with technological apparatuses and highly paid, qualified professors.

She will enter on the assumption that her education will be liberal and autonomous, and may actually receive such training.

However, she will leave to discover that her political and social environment is inimical to such tutelage and as a result she will become frustrated.

Maybe this is the point Professor Opadeyi anticipates when he references eligibility for a visa.

That leaves me wondering if educational upliftment at the University of Guyana will be less about national development and more about qualifying citizens for vocations overseas.

Of course, remittances have long benefited

economic growth in this country, but with shrinking federal budgets and fiscal austerity measures, it is hardly conceivable that educating - should that be the case - for such a purpose will be shrewd.

No quality education whatever that concept means - will realize its value unless there are corresponding s o c i o p o l i t i c a l transformations in the country. Increasing fees in higher education have known advantages, least of which is modernized training, but such skills require amenable milieus.

There has to be critical intellectual spaces which foster debates of government policies and failings without risks to physical and economic well-being.

There has to be political amplitude for peaceful protest without the spectre of economic exclusion and character assassination.

There simply has to be a welcome appreciation of all peaceful expressions of civil liberties and dissent without the blight of acrimony we constantly witness.

When these conditions are realized, we can effectively nourish intellectual potential for social and economic development.

Until that time all expectations of commodifying education with the expressed purpose of promoting national development will be an inoperative dream.

R. Khan

From page 6 a country with a dubious human rights record?”

Those of us who remain unconcerned need to become aware of the dire consequences of perpetuating the status quo in Guyana.

As the numbers of unemployed, unemployable (functionally illiterate), and miscreants increase not only will the available national tax base (revenue) to fund much needed social infrastructure, social services, and public amenities shrink, but each successive year an increasing portion of the nations’ revenue, and indeed an increasing portion of our own personal incomes will be consumed by the expanding non-productive sectors – the security services, law enforcement agencies, and prisons.

It should be noted that the 2013 allocation of approximately 8.5 billion dollars to the Ministry of Home Affairs represents an increase of nearly 7% of the 2012 allocation of approximately 7.7 billion. These agencies produce no products, nor create any wealth, but rather they consume, sometimes wastefully, the wealth created by the productive sectors.

Surely this is not prudent use of Guyana’s scarce resources.

As a consequence the quality of our social services (education, health, recreational facilities, potable water supply and waste disposal) will deteriorate even further. If the present deterioration in our social environment continues, all our lives and all our property will be at risk. Social advantages and privileges of birth that we now enjoy will be no guarantee

against the bitter harvest when chickens come home to roost. All will be consumed. None, not one shall be spared.

We must, therefore, in unity let it be assertively known that Guyanese are dissatisfied with policies, where the “odds” are continuously being stacked against ordinary citizens, the working poor, our children, and our generations yet unborn.

Let it be known, both here and abroad, that our nation’s patrimony, our freedoms, and our rights are not for sale!

The glossed-up, more-ofthe-same 2013 budget could well be the “would-be dictator’s” opiate, or “Trojan Horse”.

We must not be complacent and be caught unawares. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Clarence O. Perry

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Kaieteur News

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GUYANA NEEDS AN INVESTIGATION A very impressive report has just been completed in Trinidad and Tobago. The work of this report was spearheaded by Professor Selwyn Ryan, ably supported by a team of top class academics.

The report entitled No time to Quit: Engaging Youth at Risk made a number of interesting-- some may say controversial-- findings and recommendations that can form the basis for island-wide debate on the causes of criminality in Trinidad and Tobago and the possible solutions to this issue.

Crime is a serious problem in Trinidad and Tobago, as it is in Guyana. The size of population of the prisons and remand facilities in Trinidad and Tobago, as they are in Guyana, is source of worry.

The government in the twinisland republic is keen on not just stemming the high incidence of crime but also getting to the root causes of this behavior, particularly amongst the young people.

Many people will have their own theories about how to address this crime amongst young people but it requires a study to really test many of these theories. The study undertaken by Professor Ryan is one way of moving from beliefs and assumptions to confirmed facts. It is an expert study whose findings and recommendations that would allow for informed policy-making.

Guyana has similar problems to Trinidad and Tobago. There is also in Guyana grave concern about

the high incidence of criminality amongst young people. There is equally an abundance of anecdotal theories as to why Guyana has such a high incidence of criminality. Everybody has their own view as to what contributes to crime but those theories need to be tested.

The focus so far in Guyana has been one-sided.

It has been mainly about reforming the law e n f o r c e m e n t institutions. Fighting crime is however not just about institutions or security reform.

It is also about understanding the societal, familial and other contributors to criminal behaviour.

We often hear it said in Guyana that there are social factors that may force someone to turn to a life of crime: poverty, unemployment, poor parenting etc. Examining these factors and how some of them may contribute to criminal behaviour, especially amongst young people is the importance in devising successful strategies to combat crime and help shape a society that is law-abiding.

In the past Guyana has addressed its minds to reforming the security apparatus in order to improve internal security in the country. Guyana for example has had the benefit of a Disciplined Services Commission which made a number of recommendations as to how to improve the functioning of the security sector. There have been accusations by the

Dem boys seh...

Beware what you shooting Rum does mek people do some strange things. It does mek some people talk sheer stupidness. Some people does cry and some does fight. And de same rum does mek people talk dem mind. That is why dem boys seh that when people tell you certain things when dem drunk dem had it in dem mind to tell you all de time.

A young boy from Ireland come to Guyana and de hardship get to he. Guyanese got to live wid this hard time all de time suh till dem even get a Hard Times newspaper. The young boy from Ireland couldn’t tek it and he talk he mind.

He drunk as a fish and he claim how he would shoot Donald in he head. De poor boy never handle a gun. Is drunk he drunk and is joke he did mekking.

A party man hear de statement and he think he gun get promotion. He report and de police arrest de boy. Imagine if dem do that to a drunk man wha dem gun do to a sober man.

Dem woulda lost he way in jail.

Is de same thing dem do to a li’l boy who stick up he middle finger to Jagdeo motorcade. Jagdeo didn’t even see but de police claim how de boy shake he finger at Jagdeo.

This time Donald ain’t hear bout de threat and dem boys ain’t sure that de man seh President Donald Quack.

De other thing is that people got a way when dem sit down and drinking dem does shoot nuff thing. De White people does talk bout shooting breeze. Guyanese does shoot sh—t.

Dem boys don’t know if that is wha de boy did mean, that he would shoot sh—t wid Donald. He know that he was shooting nuff sh—t when he was drinking and that is wha put he in trouble.

When de case done dem gun ship de boy back to Ireland and only he know wha gon deh in he mind.

Talk half and don’t shoot sh—t.

opposition that many of the recommendations of that Commission are in cold storage.

This is the tragedy of Guyana. It seems as if we go about commissioning things and when the reports are in they are shelved. By the time they are taken off and dusted the situation would have changed so much that it would require another Commission to update those findings.

Guyana needs a holistic approach to criminality. All sides will readily agree to this.

Guyana needs to address its mind to both security sector

reforms as well as to implementing strategies that would address the economic, social and political factors that encourage criminal behaviour.

Guyana needs to undertake the sort of study that Trinidad has undertaken under the Chairmanship of Professor Ryan. We need our own report into the causes of criminality because police reform is not going to be sufficient in a country in which one third of the electricity generated is stolen off the national grid, in which water meters are bypassed on a massive scale and in which

produce and livestock are stolen at an alarming rate.

We h a v e a c r i s i s o f criminality that pervades our society and which needs to be studied because as we have seen in some studies what is often assumed to be true, when tested, can prove to be false.

Guyana should commission a study of criminality along the lines of what Trinidad and Tobago has done. It will be costly as the Linden Commission of Inquiry was costly but such a study will turn out to be far more valuable and will

certainly be worth every dollar spent because it will establish a factual and verifiable basis for what can only at this stage be deemed assumptions and presumptions about the causes of criminal activities in Guyana.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday April 04, 2013

Freddie Kissoon Column

Wakenaam’s wakeup call but does it matter?

I am fond of the island of Wakenaam. That is where my wife has her roots. Though born in Wortmanville, her parents were from there. She spent her school holidays there every year with her aunts, uncles and cousins.

The population of Wakenaam has declined drastically the past forty years; perhaps to less than fifty percent of what it is.

It is doubtful that it will remain a viable agricultural

settlement the next twenty five years. Migration has literally emptied Wakenaam.

One of the most enduring characteristic of Wakenaam is that since Dr. Jagan came on the political scene, Wakenaam has returned a ninety eight percentage vote for the PPP. When I read yesterday that farmers there stood to lose dozens of millions of dollars in rotting crops because the ferry that served the island “mystic” (to

use Rasta language) since Friday last and up to Wednesday morning there was ferry service, I couldn’t help smiling.

It is morally repugnant to take lightly the suffering of people especially the poorer classes but I just couldn’t help a little laugh.

Guyana is a goldmine for those who want to study the rich layers of the Freudian tragedies that are buried in the cemeteries of people’s

minds. Let us digress in a relevant context and come back to Wakenaam. I traveled with an AFC delegation in early 2012 to have a firsthand look at dust pollution from a rice mill in Cane Grove.

The citizens were irate.

They told us that the situation has been tormenting them for over ten years and that they complained to the President and right down to the office attendant at Freedom House but their torture went on.

To understand these villagers’ plight you have to see what happens when the rice mill is in operation. Within minutes your windscreen is plastered. Weeks later we returned to see a more frustrated village; nothing had changed. Khemraj Ramjattan discussed with them the possibility of taking legal action.

Now read the words to follow. These visits were just after the November elections.

Yet in Cane Grove the PPP won. If the dust monster was attacking them for ten years it meant their voted masochistically in 2001, 2006 and 2011. Even though they complained to politicians who could have stopped the pollution, they returned to power in three consecutive elections the very politicians that ignored their pleas.

Still months later, I was returning from Berbice with Gerhard Ramsaroop and Kojo McPherson and we stopped at Nauth’s gas station in Unity to get a few sodas. This young man came up to me and was angry. He said that he is still waiting on the AFC to help the villagers with the dust problem. I was less diplomatic than Ramsaroop and asked him which party he voted for in the 2011 elections. He said the PPP and I lost my temper.

My point was that he put into power the very people who refused their request to stop the pollution but the AFC must do it. This is what I mean by the Freudian tragedies buried deep in the inner recesses of the minds of certain sections of the Guyanese nation.

Back to Wakenaam. I will take a bet with any Guyanese that if an election is held tomorrow, Wakenaam will vote in a large way for the PPP. How do you explain this

Frederick Kissoon psychological nihilism which can also be described the abandonment of the spirit to masochistic self destruction?

If people vote on issues rather than on race and personality, they free themselves.

No greater example of this is the Hispanic voters in the United States. They went for Obama in large numbers because while Obama supported legislation on immigration that favoured the Hispanics, his opponent was anti-immigration.

Yog Mahadeo, the former CEO of GT&T sent me an email last year to say that I was too harsh on the residents of our community where we both live. Yog’s e-mail to me was in response to one I sent out when the residents were asked for their financial support to repair the roads in our community.

It is the most terrible network of roads anywhere in Guyana. These roads destroy your vehicle. The community has been begging the entire Cabinet since 2005 to fix the streets and the Ministers have been contemptuous in their rejection. I refused to donate any money, used harsh language to describe these owners and refused to have any relationship with them.

After the 2011 elections, I checked the GECOM comprehensive election voting results and the PPP won in this particular area where I live. The mind can be such a terrible thing.

Dissatisfied sex mate steals from customer, lands in jail After she was solicited for casual sex by an overseasbased Guyanese, who later refused to pay her for services rendered, an unemployed mother of two faced Magistrate Suanna Lovell on a simple larceny charge.

Renee Williams, 24, of Wismar, Linden, told the court yesterday that she had no other alternative than to steal the man’s belongings because she needed the cash to provide for her two children.

The charge before the court is that on March 16, 2012 at Gordon Street, Kitty , Williams stole from Jeffrey Moore, US$400, a gold chain valued $350,000, a Blackberry cellular phone and other articles. Williams claimed that her current circumstances

resulted in her actions.

“I meet this man pun a Linden bus and he tell how he want sleep me, that he gon give me US$10 but I tell he ‘no’, so he say he gon pay me. So I go wid he cause is me alone; I is mother and father for my children— one is seven and de other one is three. I got children to mine so he carry me to de hotel and then we went to he house and he sleep wid me and when he done he ain’t want pay me.

So when he drop to sleep I decide to take his things because he sleep wid me and didn’t want give me de money. I is not a prostitute yuh worship.”

After listening to the explanation, the presiding Magistrate sentenced Williams to 12 months’ imprisonment.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Mother Martha celebrates 102nd birthday

By Leon Suseran One of Berbice’s centenarians, Martha Bunwarie, of Number 64 Village, Corentyne, turned 102 yesterday.

‘Mother Martha’ as she is popularly called throughout the Upper Corentyne area, celebrated this important milestone with more than 100 residents from the area, including neighbours and friends. She even blew out the candles on her special birthday cake.

Born at Number 65 Village, Martha was an avid rice farmer in the area. She attended the New Market Primary School at Number 63 Village after which she started to do rice and fish farming.

She migrated to Skeldon in 1941 where she married Henricus Bunwarie at the age of 34. She returned to Number 64 Village in 1966. She bore one child who died by drowning in 1972.

Her husband, Henricus, died in 1988.

Kaieteur News has actively kept abreast with the various centenarians across the country, including Mother Martha and Mrs. Ismay Spooner, who was 112 when she passed away in January.

When Kaieteur News visited Mother Martha at her granddaughter, Corina Peneux’s residence, she was sitting in her chair upstairs.

The old lady remembered when we met last year.

Still very talkative, she

Mother Martha feeds her grandson, Jermaine, a piece of her birthday cake held on tightly to the reporter’s hand during the interview and in a very softspoken manner spoke about this birth anniversary.

“I feel proud to be 102 [years]…the only person in the village,” she said. She stated that her health is “not too up-to-date, but [I am] trying to keep fit.” Corina Peneux said that the old lady still visits her family doctor, Dr. Seepersaud for regular health check- ups.

Mother Martha said, “I eat anything…anything I am given to eat, I am content.”

Quite happy about the party held last Saturday in her honour, Mother Martha had the event planned and coordinated by her adopted son, Jermaine Smith, 25, who

visited Guyana specially from New York for the big 102. “I had a nice party on Saturday”, she said.

Peneux said that Mother Martha still enjoys reading and doing a few crossword puzzles. “She climbs stairs on her own and be in the yard.”

“Her eyesight is not too strong so her doctor restricted her from much reading, but she watches television now and again,” Peneux stated.

Mother Martha, though she never raised any children of her own, cared for numerous children from the area. “I grow lots of children.

People would come bring their children to go to school; they stay five years, six years; they go away then another set

Budget debate 2013…

Bulkan deems budget a recipe for more cronyism and corruption A Partner for National Unity, Ronald Bulkan, in his budget debate presentation deemed the budget as one which can see more cronyism and corruption and where political loyalty trumps merit.

The APNU Member of Parliament noted that the Minister of Finance should not boast of the budget’s size. “It seems to me and I am informed by experience and lessons of history that one should not boast of size but if at all, of effectiveness or in this instance what the proposed expenditure of over US$1.0 Billion will do to develop our country, create jobs, raise living standards, address the structural imbalance of our economy, improve access to and the level of education and health services, public safety and public security, reverse the deteriorating state of basic physical and economic infrastructure.”

Bulkan further told the House that it was indeed sad, that the priority and

preferences which the Minister has presented to this House fail to meaningfully address the above concerns in any structured manner all of which are of grave concern to APNU. “We have been told that a few flagship projects (the Marriott the CJIA and the Amaila Falls Hydo Project) are going to solve the structural imbalance to our economy, projects that have not been the subject of independent technical approvals.

“I would have thought that the fiasco of the Skeldon Sugar factory would have been of salutary value but evidently not so,” Bulkan lamented. The APNU Parliamentarian added that the financial plan for the management of the economy ought to be informed by a vision and it should also be one that places people at its centre. Bulkan said in APNU’s opinion factors such as jobs for people, improved living standard, good quality of education and accessibility by all should be a priority as

opposed to growth benefits for just a few.

Bulkan noted that in the National Budget the two largest allocations are for Regions Two and Six $367 Million and $383 Million respectively. The two regions, Bulkan told the House, are controlled by the PPP/C. The regions receiving the lowest allocations are Regions Eight and Seven at $151 Million and $134 Million respectively.

“Both of these regions are opposition-dominated regions. In the case of Region Four which has the largest population by far its allocation is smaller than every region with the exception of Regions Seven and Eight and the signal is unmistakable.”

Bulkan then argued that the 2013 budget suffers from the same terminal defect as its predecessor; it arose out of an illegitimate process given that the majority of the legislature was shut out of the process.

Hence he said the 2013 budget deserves to be declared DON— Dead On Arrival.

Mother Martha surrounded by her great- grands, Roseanne and Lynessa come,” she said.

“I always have people children. At Christmas, I bake cake; make little pans and given them [children] to share with their friends,” she said.

She said that she even ended up ‘buying’ a child.

After being a farmer, she became involved in helping mothers deliver their children and cared for them after the deliveries. She was also

known for creating concoctions for young mothers who had difficulty becoming pregnant; and they worked, she said.

She pointed to a bouquet of flowers in her living room; it was given to her two years ago at her 100 birthday by former Corriverton Mayor, Mr. Roy Baijnauth. “The Baijnauths are nice people”, she said.

Mother Martha said she was truly blessed to have her granddaughter, Corina, as well as her great granddaughters, Lynessa Vansluytman and Roseanne Seetal and her adopted son Jermaine around her for this special milestone. Blessed with good health and excellent mobility, Mother Martha is a gem in our midst today.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday April 04, 2013

Colin Jones sets fire to Camp Street Prison once again Shortly after 09:00 hours yesterday, officials at the Georgetown Prisons had to go into swift action after Colin Jones, a prisoner, had again set fire to a mattress in his cell.

Jones, now 23 years old, has been in solitary confinement from the time he was remanded and has already been sentenced for some crimes he admitted to committing.

This publication was told that prisoners in nearby cells smelled smoke and pretty soon they saw smoke billowing from Jones’s cell.

The cell is located in the newly constructed section known as the Strong Cell.

An alarm was raised and prison officers immediately responded as they removed the burning mattress. By this time they had also summoned the special unit that remains on standby for any eventuality at the prisons.

Not long after armed police ranks raced to the prisons and surrounded the facility.

A heavily shacked Jones was removed from the cell.

One source at the prison said that Jones wanted to attract the attention of the guards so he took a lighter to the mattress.

However, his colleagues say that even in solitary confinement the restraints are not removed. They say that he is regarded as dangerous and as a result he is hardly ever let out of his cell.

Colin Jones, called “Bunny”, was slapped with

charges ranging from murder to arson to possession of guns and ammunition to escaping from lawful custody and cultivating cannabis.

Jones also reportedly confessed to recently killing two of his accomplices, Kurt Thierens and Adriano Tracey by shooting them to death and burying the bodies in shallow graves at Linden.

These bodies were later exhumed.

It is alleged that Jones, between November 10 and November 26, 2010 at Amelia’s Ward, murdered Adriano Tracey.

Another charge stated that between the same dates, he murdered Kurt Thierens also called “Glasses”. It is further alleged that on November 25, at Amelia’s Ward, Linden, he discharged a loaded firearm at police officer Leslie Corlette. To that charge Jones pleaded guilty.

Further, Jones pleaded guilty to a charge stating that on November 26, he knowingly cultivated cannabis, a prohibited plant.

He also pleaded guilty to having in his possession 691 rounds of 7.62 x 3.9 ammunition, and to having in his possession three AK-47 rifles.

He has since been sentenced to four years in jail for the marijuana charge. This is not the first time that he has set a mattress on fire. Now other prisoners are at a loss to explain how he came by an incendiary device in a cell that he shares with no one.

The Guyanese community in Barbados did not miss out on the traditional Phagwah celebrations.

They came out in their numbers to celebrate in their adopted homeland. Holi activities on the island were

hosted Sunday by two temples, the Jai Lakshmi Mandir on Pinfold Street, and the Welches Terrace Mandir.

In these photos, Guyanese ate, partied, and played late into the night in the compound of the Welches Terrace Mandir.

Caribbean Auditors General to share experience - Plan to reduce wastage of public funds Caribbean Auditors General at Ninth Congress of the Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions

Audit offices across the Caribbean will be collaborating to share experiences, particularly in the area of revenue collection, to enhance their operations in individual countries, says Deodat Sharma, Guyana’s Auditor General.

According to Sharma, this decision was taken at the Ninth Congress of the Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (CAROSAI) which he attended recently in Trinidad and Tobago.

The conference was held between March 18 and March 21 under the theme “Collaboration to promote best audit practices”.

Accompanying Sharma to the congress from Guyana was

Audit Manager, Dhanraj Persaud.

Sharma stated, “The auditors are exploring opportunities to undertake a cooperative audit of revenue collection throughout the region and report the results to their respective Governments.

The audits will report on how well their Governments are assessing and collecting taxes, duties and fees.”

For instance, the auditors would be looking at the Value Added Tax (VAT) system and exchanging the information obtained. Sharma said that this would be an interesting exercise since VAT is relatively new in Guyana and would benefit from other

countries that implemented VAT years ago.

He said that Leigh Trotman, Auditor General of Barbados, would lead this initiative and works are expected to begin in coming months.

Auditors General of the Caribbean were informed by Lyn Provost, Auditor General of New Zealand, who was the Secretary General of the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit, about how their group of public sector auditors is dealing with similar challenges.

Sharma presented the lead paper on the congress’ theme. The paper was used as a base to discuss lessons learned from collaborative

initiatives used by individual members; assess the effectiveness of CAROSAI; and ascertain how CAROSAI could facilitate wider collaboration among members.

According to Sharma, auditors focused on the challenges facing Supreme Audit Institutions including the implementation of the United Nations resolution requiring independent national public sector audit institutions and implementation of new international auditing standards.

The auditors are implementing a plan to help their Governments achieve greater efficiencies and reduce wasteful expenditures.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Thursday April 04, 2013

‘Hero’ says budget to help cronies financially …blasts Govt on corruption Parliamentarian Sydney Allicock who was celebrated by the government as a “hero”, yesterday hammered away at the very government on corruption as he denied support for the 2013 budget.

“It is not a human budget.

Rather, the Government continues its trend of including projects in the budget to ensure that its cronies benefit financially,” Allicock declared yesterday.

Speaking in the National Assembly during the Budget Debate, Allicock described the budget as a miserable failure.

“This budge is a miserable failure of the government to understand the realities of the masses; to give expression to their needs and aspirations. It is a miserable failure of the Government to address the issues that abound in this beautiful piece of God’s earth called Guyana,” Allicock stated.

Regarding the Rupununi, Allicock said “the lack of vision, will, skill, the lack of prudent management and the abundance of corrupt practices have combined to render the Rupununi one of the most backward places in the entire Caribbean.”

He said that there was no proper consultation with residents or their representatives.

“The people of the Rupununi are very intelligent and know what is needed in their various communities.

They do not need someone sitting in their carpeted airconditioned haven in Georgetown deciding what they need,” Allicock stated.

Allicock bemoaned the fact that when the regional administration makes

suggestions, the bureaucrats do their own thing with the submissions.

He said that was a case of “speak democracy, act hypocritically.”

Allicock pointed to a severe lack of a range of services in the Rupununi.

Regarding employment opportunities for young Amerindians, he said that the majority are forced to seek employment in Lethem and Brazil.

He said that in Lethem the real prospect is for a job as a shop attendant.

“Young people with five and more subjects are working as shop attendants since there is hardly any other opportunity for them. Those who migrate to Brazil find themselves in somebody’s kitchen or on a farm as farm hands,” Allicock stated.

He called for the setting up of a Technical Institute in Lethem that would give the young people life skills.

“Instead of transporting workers of every category into the Rupununi, we can have a ready supply of skills needed for the type of development we need,” Allicock suggested.

He said that the Regional Administration requested the construction of Teachers’ Quarters in Toushida, Achawib, Kakikumbay, Hiawa, Annai, St. Ignatius and Crashwater.

However, he found it mind boggling that the first request was not approved.

He said the projects were listed in order of priority, but the foremost priority Toushida - was left out.

Another village was included for which none was requested.

That village, he said is

Sand Creek, a well known stronghold of the ruling PPP. He said that requests were made to construct sanitary blocks at Arapaima and Aranaputa Nursery schools and Yurang Paru, Kaikumbay and Kwaimatta Primary schools.

These were approved, he said, but two more, which were not requested were thrown in Shiriri and Kumu.

He said that the so-called state-of-the-art Lethem Hospital is woefully inadequate to serve the needs of the region.

“This facility is a glorified health centre at its best.”

He said that the hospital is currently not capable of diagnosing a simple case of typhoid.

“We need a hospital that is fully staffed, adequately stocked with equipment and

Georgetown Stabroek Lions Club on Saturday distributed kites to 150 children in Werk-en-Rust with a focus on the Leopold Street community. It also distributed

drugs, we need specialist doctors, we need at least a general surgeon, not periodically but full time,” stated Allicock.

He said in the Rupununi

pregnant mothers were required to travel to Lethem Hospital on motorcycles, over rough terrain.

He pointed to the case of a young mother, Ms. Rosaline Stephen.

He said that when she started having labour pains at Parishara, she was taken some 11 miles on motorcycle to another village from where a vehicle was sent to take her to Lethem.

When she got there she bled profusely and was rushed to Boa Vista in Brazil where she died.

Allicock lamented that nothing is being done to avoid a recurrence, since what has been requested is an All Terrain Vehicle and not an ambulance. The area needs a vehicle capable of traversing the rough roads of the Rupununi.

“The government is wasting taxpayers/ money and does not have a grasp and vision of the needs of the communities.

This is because the planners have the means to go overseas,” Allicock stated.

Allicock also pointed to other problems in the Rupununi and said that on the basis of the lack of vision in the budget to address those problems, he could not support the budget.

“I am calling on my colleagues to vote against this apology that we have for a budget.

I am calling on my colleagues to send a clear signal to this uncaring administration that we are not prepared to tolerate and give our blessing to mediocrity, which in turn fuels corruption and graft.”

25 kites to children of the Drop-in Center for street children and a further 25 to children of the scheme yard on Norton Street. First Vice President , Odessa De Barros,

said that the aim was to make sure that every child had a kite on Easter Monday.

This kite distribution is an annual event sponsored by the club. Spearheading this

year ’s programme were President M. Rajaram; First Vice President, O. De Barros; Secretary, C. Squires; and members , D, Smith , and J Trim.

Sydney Allicock

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Commissioners still undecided on Boodoo’s place at GECOM The fate of Gocool Boodoo, who formerly held the position of Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), continues to hang in the balance as a statutory meeting of the entity’s board last week Tuesday did not yield a definitive decision.

This newspaper was informed by an official close to the entity that “nothing happened; no decision was made as yet.”

Boodoo, whose contract this publication understands has expired, had at the Commission’s statutory meeting of March 12, 2013, requested that the Commissioners who make up the board renew his contract.

This publication was informed, too, that the Commissioners have quite a task on their hands as there are reports that “there seems to be several issues related to his (Boodoo’s) past performance.”

At the moment the position of CEO is being filled

by Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Calvin Benn. There were however earlier reports that some at the Commission were not in favour of Benn acting in that capacity. An official, commenting on the acting appointment of Benn,

Chief Elections Officer Mr Gocool Boodoo (L) and GECOM’s Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally engaged in a conversation following the announcement of the 2011 Final Election Results. insisted that “it is merely acting as if the CEO was on leave.” Following disclosures that Benn was identified to temporarily fill the void this publication had sought a

comment from him. “I do not know what decisions were arrived at...I do not attend statutory meetings,” he said.

This publication had also learnt that there have even

been reports of indiscretion within the entity by a named senior official which could affect the decision of the Commission which is headed

by Chairman, Dr Steve

Surujbally.

Dr Surujbally has been successful in eluding this publication’s attempt to solicit a comment on the state of affairs. A call placed to the office of the Chairman yesterday was answered by his secretary who informed that the Chairman was on another call. She however disconnected the call and during a subsequent call informed that the Chairman had left the office.

Along with gaining the attention of Dr Surujbally the matter is being reviewed by six commissioners among them Attorney-at-law Sandra Jones, who filled the void that was left when oppositionmember Robert Williams died, Mr Vincent Alexander and Mr Charles Corbin. The latter named three represent the parliamentary opposition.

Attorney-at-law Jaya Manickchand, Dr Kishav ‘Bud’ Mangal and Mr Mahmood Shaw are representing the ruling party in the Commission.

There are reports that Boodoo’s return to the position of CEO has not received a nod from either side as both sides are working as a team to review his performance. This publication understands that a thorough process has been engaged by

the Commissioners, who are said to be tight-lipped on the state of affairs.

Reports are that at the recent meeting a decision was made to have Boodoo’s past performances as CEO be evaluated at length. In fact there are reports that the Commissioners are looking to formulate an instrument with which to undertake their evaluation.

There are reports, too, that the Chairman is in favour of having the CEO position advertised in the Caribbean, a suggestion that was reportedly dashed by the Commissioners representing the parliamentary opposition.

This publication was reliably informed that based on deliberations at a previous meeting not all were receptive of suggestions that were made which reportedly included having the Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Mr Keith Lowenfield, being elevated to the position of Deputy Chief Elections Officer.

Another suggestion, this publication was informed, was a proposal reportedly from the Chairman himself to defy electoral management by recommending that the entity’s Public Relations Officer act in the DCEO capacity.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday April 04, 2013

Budget Debates …..

“Let Guyanese know that all is not well” – APNU’s Jennifer Wade - By Latoya Giles APNU’s Member of Parliament, Jennifer Wade, yesterday called for the government to tell Guyanese that all is not well within the country. Wade made the remark yesterday during the 2013 budgetary debates.

According to Wade, the 2013 budget will not remove the frustration and depression that exist within the country. “Shouting that

it’s the biggest Budget ever will not solve the problem, or will not make an impact on poor people’s lives when on a daily basis residents continue to face hardship.”

The Member of Parliament explained that the budgetary allocations to Region Five continue to be inadequate; hence this is hindering development in all sectors.

She said that the main purpose and function of any Government is to sustain the

welfare and well being of all the people rich or poor, young or old. As such Wade told the National Assembly that the budget is not a statement to be taken in isolation; it is a part of a design to bring great happiness and comfort to all Guyanese. The objective is and must always be the happiness of the people, Wade stated.

According to Wade prior to this budget APNU had embarked on a series of

outreaches in six of the 10 Administrative Regions.

They spoke to the residents in the various communities and listened to their stories and concerns and sought suggestions on how they feel their issues should be addressed.

One of the major concerns is the fact that many of those persons and groups claimed that they had also voiced their concerns to members of the Government.

Wade yesterday dubbed herself as the messenger from Region Five. She detailed how farmers were treated in her region. According to Wade, she had continuously said that Region Five is the largest Agricultural Region in the country and therefore “our input to the country’s development is very important.” All is not well in the Agriculture Sector in the region; a collaborative approach is required to address the key obstacles faced by farmers to ensure that the limited resources are used effectively and efficiently.

She said that priority must be given to the implementation of measures to reduce flooding in the flood prone areas on a timely basis. Maintenance of access roads, dams, drains, structures, canals embankment, kokers and sluices must always be ongoing.

Wade said that cattle continue to ravish farmers’ crops and destroy infrastructure, tractor owners continue to traverse the dams on a daily basis in and out of rainy season. She insisted that measures be put in place to deal with these unacceptable behaviours.

Wade spoke about the ongoing land related issues, where she said the MMA/ ADA had cause to publish the names of farmers who were delinquent with payment of their Drainage and Irrigation charges.

Wade told parliament that

facilities are not in place to access the land and the needed equipment to work the land is also a problem, hence the answer is not repossession but a meaningful solution. “These farmers have to put food on their families’ tables and they have no other means of doing so” Wade posited.

The MP suggested that the Minister of Agriculture should meet with the defaulters and listen to their stories.

HOUSING & WATER In the area of Housing and Water, Wade noted that, at No. 22 Bel Air, West Coast Berbice there is a Squatting Area. Residents there have been clamouring for years to get the area regularized in order to access electricity and pure water supply but to no avail.

She said that it was appalling to see the deplorable state of Government Houses in the MMA/ADA Compound and the Police Houses at Fort Wellington Compound, it seems like no effort is being made to renovate these buildings, taking into consideration the billions of dollars that will be spent in the Water & Housing Sector.

Henceforth, Wade said that during 2011 residents of Burma, Mahaicony, were forced to block the main access road to show their disgust with the state of the road there, yet today the situation remains the same.

“This is unacceptable,” she said.

Nankumar Puran, also called ‘Nose’ or ‘Renny’ lost his life during the preparations for his niece Vashti’s wake, yesterday. The child died earlier in the day after a sudden illness.

Puran, a route 63 minibus driver of Number 68 Village, Corentyne, was returning to the wake house in a Canter truck. As the vehicle was about to turn into the street from the public road, a speeding minibus slammed into the Canter and knocked him off the truck. He ended up pinned under the minibus.

His widow, Radika Assirbad, said that her husband went with six other relatives to borrow zinc sheets in preparation for his niece’s wake. Eyewitnesses were forced to push the bus in a nearby trench to free Puran’s body.

He was rushed to the

Skeldon Hospital in a critical condition before being transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital.

He died en route to the hospital.

Four of the occupants of the Canter truck were treated and sent away from the Skeldon Hospital while one remained a patient. The conductor of the minibus and a few passengers were treated and sent away all for lacerations and bruises.

Radika described her husband as a very quiet person. She said that she spoke to him around noon when she collected the keys to their home from him while they were at the home of the dead niece.

The minibus driver involved in the accident is in police custody at the Springlands Police Station assisting with investigations.

Man dies while preparing for niece’s wake

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Opposition councilors give “disrespectful” Region Three Chairman silent treatment Using another method of retaliation to cope with a “disrespectful and regardless” Chairman, opposition councilors in Region Three said yesterday that they are applying the silent treatment in support of their colleague who was unjustly gagged during the Regional Democratic Council meeting last February.

Kaieteur News was told that when the monthly NDC meeting was called yesterday, both A partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance for Change (AFC) councilors remained silent throughout the meeting.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) member, Kathlene Armstrong, was last month denied privilege to speak at meetings when she reportedly spoke to the chairman about his dismissive attitude towards opposition members.

The members had been complaining repeatedly about the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) chairman’s alleged lack of regard for their concerns and issues.

According to them, the chairman “is very disrespectful to councilors, hollering on opposition members and telling persons to shut up and sit down.”

They complained that when they sought to shed light on issues facing their areas their concerns are brushed aside and never addressed.

They also spoke about being left out of pivotal Council business. They said that finance information, projects and other NDC

business were being decided and dealt with among the PPP members of the Council while opposition Councilors were being left in the dark about these state of affairs.

It was on these grounds that APNU member, Armstrong said she had sought to address the Chairman on his behaviour in a bid to have him hear the difficulties of the members due to his attitude. Armstrong however said that the Chairman dismissed her claims and ordered that she not say another word at the NDC meetings unless she could prove her allegations.

The woman, said she had been, “barred from speaking because I raised the issue about the Chairman’s disregard for the members and he accused me of lying.

He told me to provide the proof of disregard and disrespect, or I would never speak at another meeting.” In the end, the woman said she was ordered to sit and be silent. At the gathering yesterday, Harry Narine Deokinanan, an AFC member said that the meeting occurred with none of the members uttering a word. He said that the Elderly Persons Commission had visited the Council to enlighten them on their line of business, and that took the meeting to the half day.

Deokinanan said that no NDC business was conducted. “Since our colleague cannot speak, we too will not speak.”

On January last, opposition members staged a walk out, citing the said

behaviour by the Region Three chairman. They said that they were fed up with the man’s attitude and charged that the RDC’s business was being stymied because of him.

Since that action, the Councilors again charged that the man maintained the said attitude and nothing had charged. They said the man had gone further; now using his power to silence Councilors.

Opposition members in expressing their frustration had told Kaieteur News in January that “they are unable to measure success in their Region because work programmes are not provided.”

“If one is not on the Region’s Finance Committee, then one cannot attain the work programme. The one and only opposition member that sits on that committee is not even informed or advised of any meetings,” they fumed.

The Councilors had further blamed the Chairman for the Region’s poor performance last year. “We are dissatisfied with the progress made in 2012.The region is in a state of stagnation. We cannot account for projects that were done in 2012.”

The opposition members pointed to the Chairman’s behaviour as “political games,” and accused him of trying to “frustrate and prevent” the work of the Opposition representatives.

They said that the chairman and colleagues were using their PPP majority to undermine opposition members.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Canje Bridge is deteriorating The gaping holes that have developed across various sections of the bridge

Motorists in Berbice are not happy with the current state of the Canje River Bridge. The structure is badly damaged where the sections of the bridge are joined.

There are growing craters at two sections, and as such, motorists swerve to avoid them but then in so doing, they swerve into the lanes of oncoming traffic.

Drivers related their confusion with this newspaper in that even the buffer rubbers at the various sections of the decades- old structure have disintegrated, causing much damage to their vehicle tyres.

“Tyres are very expensive and the buffer rubbers have worn themselves out…the government should so something quickly,” said one irate motorist.

In recent times, steel plates were soldered to a few of the joined sections of the bridge where the buffer rubbers were damaged; however, many of the joined sections are still sealed with

the worn- out damaged buffer rubbers.

Concerns are being raised, too, about the weight being carried on the structure.

The bridge was built to carry just 32 tons, however, large, heavy- duty machinery— sometimes several at one time—make their way across the bridge regularly.

When contacted, Region Six Chairman, David Armogan, acknowledged that works are needed on the structure.

He added that he has since alerted officials from the Ministry of Public Works several months ago but was made to understand that the special buffer rubbers have to be procured from overseas.

“I alerted people from Public Works [Ministry], months ago…the same time they came to do the lights; they didn’t fix the bridge,” he stated.

“I had raised the bridge lights [issue] as well as the openings on [sections of] the bridge, but apparently, they

got to get a [special] type of rubber that they got to bring in from overseas, so that is expected to arrive shortly.”

Additionally, several concerns have been raised by people about young boys who regularly jump off the Canje River Bridge into the Canje River.

The activity, which has been ongoing for years, usually takes place on weekends.

The boys would gather in groups and launch their jumps from the uppermost section of the bridge, into the Canje River below, a tributary of the Berbice River.

Residents of Sheet Anchor, Canje have told Kaieteur News that the police had warned the boys about the unsafe practice on a few occasions but the activities are still continuing.

Huge groups of onlookers would gather both on the Canje Bridge and at the bottom to have a view of the stunt.

Doctor files $20M lawsuits against lawyer for slander, libel Medical Superintendent of the New Amsterdam Hospital, Vishalya ‘Artie’ Sharma, of Number 64 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, is suing Attorneys at law, Charrandass Persaud for $20M for slander and libel.

The lawsuits were filed by Attorney at law Murseline Bacchus.

One lawsuit is for damages in excess of $10M for defamation. She is contending that the defendant has defamed her in her profession and is questioning her competence as a medical doctor. The slander was contained in his speech at a public meeting at Adelphi Village, East Canje Berbice on March 2, last.

The second lawsuit

which is for libel is also for in excess of $10M for defamation on a live television programme aired on March 9, last.

The writ filed by the doctor said that the lawyer described her at the public meeting as “a really oversized doctor”.

On television on March 9, Persaud offered an apology.

“My statements would appear to be that I was attacking women who were obese. That was not my intention. I will apologize to you people, to women in particular, women in Berbice.

You know I have never been abusive to women.

“I have never said or done anything derogatory and if you want testimony to that

ask Shabana -Zulfikar’s [Mustapha’s] wife, the lady who punched me at the (2011) Diwali Motorcade. She knows she did it, but for one reason or the other, the DPP nullified the matter. You can ask her that I did not lift a hand to wave at her, after she hit me.”

He had stated that if his statement about the doctor seems to convey abusive intent, “I apologize to women across the country—I was referring to the medical and administrative skills of this woman Vishalya Sharma.”

“Administration is what I am looking for, not your size, and I apologize to you [Dr. Sharma],” Persaud had stated.

He has 10 days to file a defence.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

Capriles mocks “skin-deep” revolutionaries ahead of Venezuela vote

‘A silent shame’ Uncle Sam shut the door Trinidad Express - It is a silent shame the United States government has not yet responded to queries by the Government on a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe linked to National Security Minister Jack Warner.

This was stated Tuesday

by Opposition Senator Fitzgerald Hinds in his contribution on the Miscellaneous Provisions (Defence and Police Complaints) Bill, 2013 at the Senate sitting at Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain.

In piloting the bill for debate in the Senate,

Venezuela’s opposition leader and presidential candidate Henrique Capriles sings the national anthem during a campaign rally in Caracas Monday. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins CARACAS (Reuters) Venezuela’s opposition presidential candidate tore into government leaders yesterday as false revolutionaries lining their pockets while professing faith to the late Hugo Chavez’s radical socialism.

Trailing in opinion polls ahead of the April 14 vote, Henrique Capriles is attacking acting President Nicolas Maduro and other senior officials as a corrupt and incompetent coterie unable to solve Venezuelans’ basic problems.

“They talk of socialism, but it’s on the surface only.

Look how those wellconnected ones live, what they wear, what cars they go round in, how many bodyguards they have,” Capriles said.

“They are skin-deep socialists only. Their behavior, I’d say, is savage capitalism. They love traveling. During Easter, they were all off to La Orchila,” he

added, referring to a militaryrun island in the Caribbean off Venezuela.

The 40-year-old state governor is trying to persuade voters that rival candidate Maduro is a far cry from Chavez, who died of cancer a month ago.

But passions are still running high over Chavez’s death, Maduro is presenting himself as the president’s “son” and “apostle,” and “Chavista” supporters are largely expected to obey their beloved leader’s dying wish to support Maduro.

Nevertheless, Capriles’ attack yesterday went to the heart of a common complaint from rank-and-file “Chavistas” that senior officials are out of touch with the people’s problems, and too concerned with feathering their own nests.

“My fight is against the corrupt ones,” Capriles added, in an unusual meeting with leftists who support him.

Perpetuating the class

rhetoric common during Chavez’s 14-year rule, Maduro and his supporters attack Capriles daily as a “little bourgeois” who is a puppet of Venezuela’s wealthy elite and their friends in the United States.

Maduro, 50, is a former bus driver who rose to become Chavez’s vice president, while Capriles, 40, comes from a wealthy family with extensive business interests.

The opposition candidate, who has governed populous Miranda state since 2008, said his record on building schools and anti-poverty measures spoke for itself.

“One ruling party leader said to me, ‘Capriles, a single finger of yours is more revolutionary than the whole body of the candidate they have imposed on us,’” said Capriles, referring to a recent visit to the coastal town of Punto Fijo.

Senate debate on Defence Bill adjourned

No support from independent senators Trinidad Express Government yesterday afternoon pulled the plug on the Senate debate on the Miscellaneous Provisions (Defence and Police Complaints) Bill, which, if passed, would have granted soldiers the powers of arrest.

It was expected that Bill would have gone to a vote late yesterday.

However, when the Senate took its usual 4.30 p.m break, Leader of Government Business Ganga Singh, rose and addressed the Senate sitting at Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain. He said

the House would be adjourned to April 23.

Speaking with members of the media later, Singh said the adjournment would give the Government time to retool and consider the concerns raised by the Independent Senators.

The House of Representatives had passed the Bill last month, and it went to the Senate, where the Government needed the support of at least four of the nine Independent Senators.

However, when debate began on Tuesday, Independent Senators senior counsel Elton Prescott, and

Corrine Baptiste-McKnight both expressed concern.

This despite an appeal for support from Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and other Government Senators.

Today Independent Senators Dr Victor Wheeler and Subhas Ramkhelawan also signaled that their support was not forthcoming as they all expressed grave concerns on the legislation.

The Opposition said the suspension of the debate was a clear defeat on part of the Government.

But Justice Minister Christlyn Moore said this was not so.

Page 19

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan had said if another country were to attempt to take over Trinidad and Tobago, assistance from “Uncle Sam” would be sought. Speaking just after Ramlogan, Hinds pointed out that Uncle Sam had not yet responded to this Government after two days.

“They called Uncle Sam over the last 48 hours, he shut the door on them either because he don’t trust them or because the Government is so suspect.

So don’t call Uncle Sam, he will not answer you, Attorney General. He doesn’t trust you. What a shame!

Uncle Sam doesn’t trust you.

I will leave the rest for another place, Madam Vice President.

Outside this House,” said Hinds.

Prime Minister Kamla P e r s a d - B i s s e s s a r, i n a release at the weekend, admitted there was no response yet from the US regarding the FBI probe.

She indicated she had requested Ramlogan and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran pursue the matter through diplomatic channels.

Ramlogan has written to US Attorney General Eric H o l d e r, seeking information on the issue.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday April 04, 2013

Chinese Kingston Hotel targets 2014 opening Jamaica Observer - The Chinese developer of a hotel behind Devon House hopes to start building in May. ZDA Construction Limited’s three-storey business boutique hotel will have about 46 rooms, according to its Deputy General Manager, Gary Zhong.

“If all goes well, it shouldn’t take more than 10 months to be completed,” he said.

The Bank of China gave funding for the construction, and the hotel will cost US$7 million ($685.6 million), Zhong said.

Already, the company has been granted planning permission and environmental permit with stipulated conditions by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).

The initial plan was to have a 56-bedroom hotel with a multi-purpose games room, an open-air party space on the roof, along with a gym, a meeting room, a pool and a restaurant.

But, the plans have since been modified to include a

restaurant, a meeting room and a pool, according to Zhong.

“We took off the fitness club and there will be no roof entertainment,” he said.

When the proposal to build the hotel was made last year, the resident of the Canterbury Manor Citizens Association objected to some aspects the development.

Residents complained that the hotel is out of character, as most adjoining buildings along Kingsway do not exceed two floors, and that it could restrict light and airflow, according to the citizen’s association.

Buildings on Kingsway are primarily residential and a hotel with large-scale business entertainment and recreational activities would be out of place, it said last year.

Even with an amendment, the residents have still raised some concerns.

“The proposed redesign still does not address our overriding concern that the development will adversely impact the residential

orientation of Kingsway and is consistent with the multifamily housing developments typical of the area,” the association said.

But NEPA’s chief executive officer and government town planner, Peter Knight said quite a bit of work has been done with the investors on the plans.

“They (ZDA) have redesigned it and have taken the plans to us many times,” Knight said. “We can’t keep going back and forth, the decision has been made by the board.”

ZDA’s lawyer, George Duncan, said the principal will do what is required by the authorities and the company will follow through with the plans.

He said the character of the area has changed with time and a three-storey boutique business hotel shouldn’t be an issue.

“The area was for single family homes, but has changed to multi-family homes, and some businesses are nearby,” he said. “Foreign direct investment would be brought to the country, value

An artist’s impression of the Shanghai Business Hotel, to be located near Devon House in Kingston. will be added to the land, and it will improve the aesthetics of area, because the area currently has an empty lot.”

ZDA constructed the Basic Medical Science Complex of the University of West Indies, Mona Campus

and according to Zhong, the company has its eyes set on building some low-income houses in the future.

Two of the island’s main private sector groups are voicing increased concern at the rapid slide in the value of the Jamaican dollar, warning that the situation is nearing crisis level.

Currency trading ended Tuesday with the US dollar at a record J$99.08. It was near J$93 at the start of the year.

The Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA) said the private sector is increasingly worried about the movement in the exchange rate especially since there is no sign that the slide will soon end. It has also sounded another warning that the price of goods will

continue to move up.

Brian Penngelly, JMA’s president, said the situation is compounded by the uncertainty surrounding Jamaica entering a new deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The slide of the dollar is definitely contributing to the weakening of the economy which as it continues, it is going to affect - if it is not affecting already - consumer pricing, so therefore it is affecting everybody in Jamaica and it’s almost a critical position,” said Mr. Pengelley.

Meanwhile, the Private Sector Organization of

Jamaica (PSOJ) said the sliding dollar and the decline in confidence do not augur well for the country.

“Well, the value of the dollar is a concern, but what is more concern is the lack of confidence that is showing itself by a continued slippage of the value of the dollar against the US dollar. The country is crying out for some stability and for a finality to the IMF agreement and a gross programme to be put on the table as well as some resolution to our energy crisis, at least a policy of a resolution,” said Christopher Zacca, PSOJ’s president.

(JRJ)

Private sector groups worried at slide in local currency

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Government plans to reduce food Mother charged following the import bill by US$300 million death of two children in a fire

KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC – The Jamaica government says it intends to significantly reduce the island’s food import bill, which stands at a staggering one billion (US) dollars.

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Roger Clarke said the intention is to reduce the bill to US$700 in the short to medium term. “We have targeted some 8,000 acres of government lands that we intend to put into the hands of farmers and we are committed to putting in the basic infrastructure to help to get those lands into production.

“We will be working on irrigation systems, we will be helping with extension services and whatever else that can be done …we are going to do it,” he told farmers and other stakeholders at the annual Montpelier Agricultural and Industrial Show in St. James, west of here.

Clarke said that thousands of acres of idle lands are available for production, and the Portia Simpson Miller government is determined to reduce the import bill, while putting money into the pockets of farmers.

“The Ministry of Agriculture is targeting, between the short and

medium term, to reduce that importation bill by at least US$300 million and I think we can do it,” he said, citing statistics to show that the importation of foods has been showing a steady decline, as farmers have increased production in many areas.

“In terms of ginger, which we can be proud of, we imported 101,000 pounds in 2011. Last year 53,000 pounds came in, but we exported one million pounds.

“When it comes to pork, we never had one imported leg of ham in this country last year … every pound of ham that was eaten last year was produced by our Jamaican farmers,” he added.

Clarke said the task at hand is for the country to continue to produce more of what is consumed, adding “we are going to produce as we

LA PLATA, Argentina (AP) — The governor of Argentina’s Buenos Aires province says at least 46 people have died in flooding due to torrential rains in his provincial capital.

That increases the overall death toll from three days of rains to at least 52.

More than a quartermillion people remain without

power in Argentina’s capital and surrounding province.

Nearly 1 million people live in and around the city of La Plata and many are struggling to recover even as more rain is in the forecast.

Gov. Daniel Scioli said We d n e s d a y that emergency workers are focusing on the people most in need.

have never produced before, because that is the only way we are going to survive”.

Clarke said what he saw at the show was evidence that agricultural sector is thriving and paid tribute to farmers whom he said “are the ones who are feeding us now and who will continue to feed us way into the future”

Roger Clarke

Argentina: flooding from torrential rains kill 52

HAITI-HEALTH-UN report warns of increased malnutrition cases in Haiti PORT-AU-PRINCE,Haiti – The United Nations says a growing number of Haitians are not getting enough to eat.

The U.N. mission in the Caribbean nation of 10 million people said in a monthly bulletin Tuesday that a spike in malnutrition has been recorded in some areas since October. At least one in five households faces a serious food deficit and

acute malnutrition despite efforts to reduce hunger, the report said.

The situation is of great concern in the country’s far western corner, and there have been reports of acute malnutrition in southeastern Haiti as well.

Widespread flooding damaged many critical crops when Hurricanes Sandy and Tropical Storm Isaac brushed Haiti last year.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

The mother of the two children who died in a fire at their home in Mount Himus in the central parish of Clarendon is scheduled to appear in court next week to answer to a charge of cruelty to children. Latoya Frasier was taken into police custody late Tuesday and questioned in the presence of her attorney.

According to information from the Chapleton Police Station, she was subsequently charged under the Child Care and Protection Act. Frasier was offered bail in the amount of J$100 thousand and is to appear in court on April 10.

Her children, Junell McKenzie, 10 and his sister Beyonce McKenzie, 7, who

were alone at home, died in the fire which broke out in the one room board structure between eight and nine o’clock last week Thursday night.

Residents went to save the children but the blazing inferno made their attempts futile. However their four year old brother was rescued. (JRJ)

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Kaieteur News

Thursday April 04, 2013

Taliban attack Afghan courthouse, leaving 53 dead KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Insurgents wearing Afghan army uniforms launched a suicide attack and stormed a courthouse yesterday in a failed bid to free Taliban inmates, killing at least 44 people, half of them shot in the basement.

The attack — one of the deadliest in the more than 11year-old war — began about 8:30 a.m. when nine men wearing suicide vests drove into the capital of Farah province in western Afghanistan, evading checkpoints by using army vehicles, according to the provincial police chief. The standoff ended some eight hours later when the last gunman was killed.

Insurgents have stepped up assaults targeting the Farah provincial government in recent months as they vie for control of an area bordering Iran to the west and Helmand province to the east. Farah has become increasingly volatile as the site of a growing drug trade after military offensives in neighboring areas.

“The Taliban seem to be exploiting the opium harvest and the unpopular

eradication efforts by the government to further establish their presence,” Fabrizio Foschini, of the independent research group Afghan Analysts Network, said in a recent blog.

Militants have staged high-profile complex attacks across Afghanistan in a bid to show their strength and undermine confidence in the central government.

Wednesday’s assault was among the most brutal for civilians, raising fears of deteriorating security as international combat forces withdraw by the end of 2014 and hand over control to Afghan security forces.

The attack began when two assailants blew themselves up inside one of the vehicles while the others jumped out and ran toward the courthouse and prosecutor’s office, provincial police chief Agha Noor Kemtoz said. Guards opened fire, killing one of the attackers, as the others engaged in a fierce gunbattle that left civil servants and government officials holed up in their offices.

Other civilians fled to the basement of the courthouse,

where gunmen found them and killed 21 people, officials said.

Kemtoz said the attack aimed to free more than a dozen Taliban prisoners who were being transferred to the courthouse for trial, which had not yet started.

“Definitely the plan was to free the prisoners with this attack, but thank God, they did not succeed,” he said.

“All the prisoners are accounted for.”

Deputy provincial governor Yonus Rasouli, however, said one of the inmates had escaped. He said the suspects had been arrested in different places and faced a range of charges, including planting roadside bombs.

Provincial Gov. Akram Akhpewak said those killed included 34 civilians, including judges and prosecutors, 10 members of the security forces and the nine attackers. Dr. Abdul Hakim Rasouli, chief of the Farah hospital, said 80 people also were wounded.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message sent to

This image made from AP video shows an injured Afghan National Army soldier taken off from a military vehicle outside the local hospital in Farah, western Afghanistan yesterday. (AP Photo via AP video) reporters, although some witnesses questioned whether the assailants were Afghans.

Provincial lawmaker Humaira Ayobi said a recent police operation targeting the drug trade may have been a factor in the audacious attack.

It was the deadliest strike since Oct. 26, when a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside a mosque packed with senior regional

officials in the northern Afghan province of Faryab, killing 41 people on a major Muslim holiday.

In Kabul, meanwhile, Afghanistan’s intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid returned to Kabul yesterday nearly four months after he was seriously wounded by a Taliban suicide bomber posing as a messenger of peace.

Billboards in the capital welcomed home the director

of the National Directorate of Security, saying he has fully recovered and “is ready to continue his duty to provide peace, security and prosperity to his homeland.”

In other violence, Taliban gunmen attacked a local police patrol late Tuesday in southeastern Paktika province and six insurgents were killed in the fighting, according to a statement from the governor ’s office. A roadside bomb then struck a

Spain king’s daughter suspected in corruption case MADRID (AP) — In another blow to Spain’s royal family, a court named Princess Cristina, the king’s daughter, as a suspect yesterday in a corruption case involving her husband.

The Palma de Mallorca court announced that the 47year-old princess will be called in for questioning on April 27. She has not been charged with any offense and faces no restrictions on her freedom. Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, a lead suspect in the investigation, has also not been charged with any crime.

The court summons is a first for a member of the king’s immediate family. The Royal Palace expressed surprise at the judge’s decision and would not comment about what the princess’ defense will be.

The announcement comes after a year of health and image problems for 75year-old King Juan Carlos, once one of Spain’s most popular figures, widely admired for his role in helping steer Spain to democracy in the 1970s after decades of

Princess Cristina dictatorship.

But the Mallorca corruption case and other issues have eaten away at Spaniards’ admiration for their royal family — especially as a crippling economic crisis has widened the gap between rich and poor.

“This is the toughest blow the royal family has received within the last few years, or ever since I can remember,” Jan Martinez Ahrens, deputy editor of El Pais, the country’s leading newspaper, told The Associated Press.

Investigating authorities allege that Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres funneled about 5 million euros ($6.4 million) in public funds to companies they controlled. The two ran a nonprofit organization called the Noos Institute, through which the funds were channeled and of which the princess was a board member.

In a court document yesterday, investigating magistrate Judge Jose Castro said the princess was a board member on two of her husband’s companies. The magistrate added there was evidence the princess was aware that her husband had used her name and status in his dealings, from which both had benefited. Castro said such evidence could lead the princess to be classified as an accomplice.

Urdangarin, 45, has already been questioned twice by Castro since the probe began two years ago.

The magistrate said for the investigation to be completed and to show that justice treats all equally, the princess must be questioned.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Rebels capture military base in southern Syria BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels captured a military base in the country’s south yesterday after days of heavy fighting, activists said, in the latest advance by opposition fighters near the strategic border area with Jordan.

Opposition fighters battling President Bashar Assad’s troops have been chipping away at the regime’s hold on the southern part of the country in recent weeks with the help of an influx of foreign-funded weapons.

Their aim is to secure a corridor from the Jordanian border to Damascus in preparation for an eventual assault on the capital.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the air defense base, home to the Syrian army’s 49th battalion, on the outskirts of the city of Daraa, the birthplace of the country’s

This image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows damaged buildings due to heavy shelling in the Damascus suburb of Daraya, Syria, yesterday. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) uprising, yesterday after battling Assad’s troops in the area for several days.

The capture follows a string of other rebel victories in the southern province of

Daraa, a largely agricultural region predominantly populated by Sunnis. Last month, opposition fighters seized Dael, one of the province’s bigger towns, and

Hagel tells U.S. military to brace for further belt-tightening

WASHINGTON Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the U.S. military yesterday to brace for a new round of belttightening as he carries out a sweeping review that could slash the number of generals, pare back civilian workers and stem spiraling costs of new weapons.

But Hagel, in his first major policy speech, also warned that the United States could not allow its current fiscal and budgetary crisis to force it to retreat from its role in the world.

“America does not have the luxury of retrenchment we have too many global interests at stake, including our security, prosperity and future. If we refuse to lead ... someone will fill the vacuum,” he said in remarks prepared for delivery to students at the National Defense University in Washington.

Chuck Hagel But at the same time, he stressed the limits of military power, saying that most of the world’s pressing security challenges have political, economic and cultural components and “do not necessarily lend themselves to being resolved by conventional military

strength.”

Hagel took the helm at the Pentagon in February as it was struggling with $487 billion in budget cuts over a decade beginning last year.

An additional $500 billion in cuts over a decade began March 1 under the across-theboard cuts known as sequestration.Under those cuts, the Pentagon must slash $41 billion by Sept. 30, the end of the 2013 fiscal year.

Next year it is facing another $50 billion in cuts unless Congress and the White House agree on alternatives to reduce federal budget shortfalls.

At the same time, Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, is winding down the war in Afghanistan and grappling with a host of security challenges, from North Korea’s threats to Iran’s nuclear advances and the possibility of cyber attack from several countries.

overran another air defense base in the region.

An amateur video posted online yesterday showed what appeared to be rebels from the Suqour Houran, or Eagles of Houran brigade, driving an armored personnel carrier inside the base of the 49th battalion.

Another video, posted by the Fajr al-Islam brigade,

showed the rebels walking around the base as the heavy thud of incoming artillery rounds fired by nearby regime forces is heard in the background. A destroyed rocket, army trucks and radars are seen on the ground inside the base.

The videos appeared consistent with AP reporting from the area.

The fighting has escalated across Syria in recent weeks, as the rebels and the Assad regime try to gain the upper hand in the 2year-old conflict that the U.N. says has killed more than 70,000 people.

The rebels control vast portions of northern Syria that border Turkey.

They’ve also captured areas in the east along the border with Iraq recently, but the strategic region between the southern outskirts of Damascus and Jordan — known as the Houran plains — is seen as a crucial gateway to the capital.

Both sides consider Damascus, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Jordanian border, the ultimate

prize.

Rebels have established footholds in a number of Damascus suburbs but have only been able to push into limited areas in the southern and northeastern parts of the capital.

They’re only major foray into the capital took place last July was brought to a swift end by a punishing regime counteroffensive that swept rebels from the city.

Millions of Syrians have fled the conflict, seeking refuge in the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey, raising fears that the civil war could spread across the region as the fighting occasionally spills over Syria’s volatile borders.In Lebanon, a Syrian jet fired a missile that slammed into a house on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal, according to Lebanese state media.

The National News Agency said the attack hit the edge of Arsal on the Lebanese side of the frontier, causing material damage, but no casualties.

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Thursday April 04, 2013

U.S. sends missile defenses to Hostilities flare along Guam over North Korea threat Israeli-Gaza border

North Koreans attend a rally held to gather their willingness for a victory in a possible war against the United States and South Korea in Nampo, North Korea, yesterday in this picture released by the North’s official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang yesterday. REUTERS/KCNA WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - The Pentagon said yesterday it was sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Guam in the coming weeks, as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cited a “real and clear” danger from North Korea.

North Korea has singled out U.S. military bases in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, and Hawaii among its potential targets in threats in recent weeks that have put the Korean peninsula on edge and triggered a change in the

U.S. defense posture and missile defense planning.

“Some of the actions they’ve taken over the last few weeks, present a real and clear danger,” Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington.

He said those actions had threatened the interests of South Korea and Japan, but he also cited their direct threats against Guam, Hawaii and West Coast of the United States.

Shortly after Hagel spoke,

the Pentagon said it was deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), which includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles, an AN/TPY-2 tracking radar and an integrated fire control system.

“The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and stands ready to defend U.S. territory, our allies, and our national interests,” a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) Israel pressed Hamas yesterday to rein in rocketfiring militants in the Gaza Strip after the most serious outbreak of cross-border hostilities since the ceasefire that ended an eight-day war in November.

The flare-up, sparked by anger in Gaza over the death from cancer of a Palestinian held by Israel, included Israel’s first air strike on the Hamas-run coastal enclave since the truce.

Confrontations spread to the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces clashed with dozens of Palestinian protesters in the city of Hebron, where Maysara Abu Hamdeya who died in jail on Tuesday aged 64, is due to be buried today.

Troops fired teargas and rubber bullets at youths throwing stones and petrol bombs; Reuters journalists saw several protesters escorted away with injuries.

The Israeli military said a rock had also struck one of its officers in the face.

Some 4,600 Palestinian prisoners declared a hunger strike for three days in protest at Abu Hamdeya’s death, accusing the authorities of poor medical treatment. Food trays were returned untouched on Wednesday, an Israeli prisons official said.

In West Bank towns, some shops were shuttered in solidarity.

The Gaza frontier fell quiet by evening and Israel and Hamas appeared to be

weighing carefully their next moves; four months of relative calm has enabled Palestinians in Gaza to rebuild and Israelis near the border to live without sirens and rockets.

Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip had struck southern Israel in a morning attack on Wednesday, causing no casualties, the Israeli military said. Hours earlier its planes had targeted “two extensive terror sites” in the north of the territory.

Israel launched the air strike after three rockets landed on Tuesday. An al Qaeda-linked group, Magles Shoura alMujahadeen, claimed responsibility for the attacks on both days, saying it was responding to the death of Abu Hamdeya, who was jailed for life in 2002 over a planned bomb attack on a Jerusalem cafe.

Tuesday was the third time since the November truce that rockets from Gaza had struck southern Israel. But with a new government and defense minister now in place after weeks of coalitionbuilding since a January election, Israel seems keen to

show resolve, putting the onus on Hamas to curb militants. “(Israel’s armed forces) decided to attack overnight in order to signal to Hamas that we will not suffer any strike on the south. And any shooting will meet a response, in order to restore quiet for the south soon,” BrigadierGeneral Yoav Mordechai, the chief military spokesman, said on Army Radio.

“I assess that Hamas has no interest in seeing the situation deteriorate,” he said. “Our goal is to maintain the quiet.”

Spillover from the civil war in Syria - mortar and machinegun fire toward Israeli troops in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has also heightened Israeli unease.

“We will absolutely not allow any sporadic fire toward our citizens and our forces,” Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement, referring to both Gaza and Syrian frontiers.

Israeli tanks fired at a Syrian post on Tuesday, though it was unclear whether rebel or government forces were manning it.

Saudi court said to order criminal to be surgically paralyzed DUBAI (Reuters) Amnesty International has condemned a reported Saudi Arabian court ruling that a young man should be paralyzed as punishment for a crime he committed 10 years ago which resulted in the victim being confined to a wheelchair.

The London-based human rights group said Ali al-Khawaher, 24, was reported to have spent 10 years in jail waiting to be paralyzed surgically unless his family pays one million Saudi riyals ($270,000) to the victim.

The Saudi Gazette newspaper reported last week that Khawaher had stabbed a childhood friend in the spine during a dispute a decade ago, paralyzing him from the waist down.

Saudi Arabia applies Islamic sharia law, which allows eye-for-an-eye punishment for crimes but allows victims to pardon convicts in exchange for socalled blood money.

“Paralyzing someone as punishment for a crime would be torture,” Ann Harrison, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director, said in a statement late on Tuesday.

“That such a punishment might be implemented is

utterly shocking, even in a context where flogging is frequently imposed as a punishment for some offences, as happens in Saudi Arabia,” she added.

A government-approved Saudi human rights group did not respond to requests for comment.

The Arabic-language alHayat daily quoted Khawaher ’s 60-year-old mother as saying her son was a juvenile aged 14 at the time of the offence. She said the victim had demanded 2 million riyals to pardon her son and later reduced this to 1 million.

“But we don’t have even a tenth of this sum,” she said.

Al-Hayat said an unnamed philanthropist was trying to raise funds to pay the blood money, but it was not clear how much time remained before Khawaher’s sentence was to be carried out.

Amnesty said the case demonstrated the need for Saudi Arabia to review its laws to “start respecting their international obligations and remove these terrible punishments from the law”.

Saudi judges have in the past ordered sharia punishments that include tooth extraction, flogging, eye gouging and - in murder cases - death.

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Ex-cop, barber shot in execution attempt

By Romila Boodram In what is believed to be an execution attempt, a gunman yesterday opened fire on an ex-policeman at a City’s barbershop leaving him in a critical condition and another nursing a single gunshot wound at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Up to press time, the expoliceman, Nandram Persaud, aka “Coolie Gangster,” 34, of Lot 78 La Grange, West Bank Demerara was listed as critical. According to sources, he was shot about seven times in his chest, neck and feet.

The second victim, a barber, Kintia Gobin, 30, of Lot 94 Meadow Brook Gardens, Georgetown was shot to his right thigh. His condition was listed as stable.

According to reports, around 17:00 hours yesterday, two men pulled up on a CG motorcycle at “Professional Cuts” Barber shop located at Lot 3 Railway Street, Kitty, Georgetown.

One of the gunmen entered the barbershop and opened fire on the ex-cop.

It is believed that the barber was hit by a stray bullet.

At the hospital yesterday, while the duo was seeking

medical attention, Anand Persaud, a neighbour who assisted them to the hospital said that he was in his kitchen garden when he heard gunshots.

“I run to the front and they (curious passersby) told me that there was a shooting in there (barber shop) so I go inside and I see him (Persaud) in a pool of blood and the barber tell me ‘Oww father, please help me’.

So I help to put him (excop) in the car and Kintia drive to the hospital,” the neighbour said.

The injured Persaud’s family was very tight-lipped last night. His mother arrived at the hospital in tears and had to be consoled by other relatives.

Meanwhile, Gobin who was waiting to do an X-tray said everything happened so fast, he could barely remember what transpired.

“Persaud is a regular customer; I was cutting his hair and I hear the door pushed and when I turned, is sheer bullets firing so all I could have done was pull aside and turn my face and when they left I see Persaud lying on the chair with bullet holes and blood all over,” a terrified Gobin recalled.

He said at that time, he

thought that Persaud was already dead given the number of gunshots he took.

“I can’t say what happened;

I don’t have any enemies.

These two men just came, one stay on the bike and the other one came in, stand there and

start shooting and then walked out.”

Last evening, the once lively street could be

compared to a ghost town.

There was not a single person on the street, while all doors were tightly locked.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

Local groups get U.S. Embassy Humanitarian aid

Mr. Persaud and other stakeholders receive the donations The United States (US) Embassy’s Humanitarian Assistance Programme made two separate donations of health supplies and sporting equipment to Guyanese organizations, recently, continuing its mission to provide assistance to social, economic and medical groups in need.

The Linden Community Youth Volunteer Group benefited from a donation of sports equipment which was handed over by the humanitarian group on March 19, in partnership with the Embassy’s Public Affairs Office. The American nonprofit organisation, also

provided school kits at the same event.

The donations, it was said, would play a key role in efforts to restore the Linden YMCA to its full operational capacity. “The accessibility of new sporting equipment and educational materials provides meaningful activities for children in the community in their after school hours,” representatives highlighted.

Another donation, the agency said, was made on March 26.

This included emergency supplies of medicine, water tablets and bleach to the Ministry of Health. This was

specially donated in collaboration with the Ministry’s efforts to counteract the Gastroenteritis outbreak in Port Kaituma, Region One area.

Upon receiving the donation, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, Chief Medical Officer, expressed gratitude to the U.S. Embassy on behalf of the Ministry of Health for what he termed a generous donation. He noted that the donated medicines and items would provide considerable aid to the residents of Port Kaituma community.

The donations to the Ministry of Health and the Linden Community Youth

Group were said to be two of the most recent initiatives in a series of community activities undertaken by the U.S. Embassy’s Humanitarian Assistance Programme.

The Humanitarian Assistance Programme was also said to represent the Embassy in providing assistance to Guyanese communities in the areas of social, economic and medical development.

This, it was stated, is a continued effort in working towards bringing together multiple local and international civic organizations in a quest to reach common goals.

GPL blames kites, faults for blackouts Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) says that a series of “unforeseen circumstances” over the last few days caused the power outages in the Demerara interconnected system, starting last Friday.

On that day, customers from Coldingen to Bygeval, East Coast Demerara, were without power due to an emergency shutdown of one of the Wartsila units at Kingston.

On Sunday around 19:22hrs, all of our customers in the Demerara interconnected system were affected for 10 minutes as a result of a malfunctioning relay for the station service transformer at the Garden of Eden (GOE) station.

In a separate incident on Monday around 03:59hrs, a fault on one of the transmission lines linking Garden of Eden and Sophia

resulted in customers along the East Coast Demerara, Georgetown and East Bank Demerara experiencing a power outage for approximately one and a half hours.

The blackouts continued Tuesday at 15:36hrs when a broken pole at LaRetraite resulted in a system disturbance which affected customers along the East Coast Demerara, Southern Georgetown and West Bank Demerara.

“Power was quickly restored to the former two areas, while residents along the West Bank were inconvenienced for an extended period while a replacement pole was planted and the network transferred,” GPL said in a release yesterday afternoon.

Regarding other instances of outages, GPL said that these were as a

result of “localized faults directly linked to kites being entangled in its networks.

“The company therefore wishes to remind the public who continue to fly kites to kindly do so in open spaces away from the power lines.

This will minimize unjustified inconveniences and will also create a safer kite flying environment for one’s self.”

Meanwhile, in the West Coast Berbice area, customers were without power from 02:34 hrs on Tuesday as a result of a fault on the transmission line linking the Canefield and Onverwagt stations.

“GPL teams worked diligently to examine the line from Ithaca to Onverwagt and located the fault aback of Bath Settlement. The problem was rectified and Seafield to Bath Settlement repowered at 13:45hrs;

S e a f i e l d t o B y g e v a l at 17:15hrs and Bath Settlement to Ithaca at 18:00hrs.”

The problems continued yesterday when in a separate incident, at approximately 10:00hrs, Canefield to Albion customers were affected as a result of a broken pole top on a transmission line aback of Tain, Corentyne Berbice.

“Power was restored to all affected areas within this perimeter at 16:25hrs. GPL extends sincerest apologies to its valued customers for these unplanned outages.”

GPL is currently conducting the running of new transmission lines along the coastlands and the construction of seven new sub-stations under a US$40M program to reduce technical losses.

Already, a new cable linking East and West Demerara has been laid but the outages have been often.

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Unlicenced gun lands man in jail A 21-year-old construction worker has been remanded to prison on a charge of being an unlicenced firearm holder.

Darwin Harding, a resident of Lot 1 Laing Avenue, denied having the .38 revolver that police claimed he had in his possession. In his defense, Harding told the court that the police had fabricated the case against him.

“I was riding my yellow bicycle on the road when some officers on motorcycles ride up behind me and start search me just so. So me and dem had a scuffle cause I say officer me ain’t do nothing.

Dem lift me and throw me in a van. Dem even try to lash me across me face with dem gun

and when I reach at the station dem say how dem gon charge me fuh firearm.”

The prosecution however told the court that Harding stopped on the road as police investigators conducted a probe into a robbery which had occurred in the North Ruimveldt area. The defendant was standing not too far from the scene of the crime when ranks on motorcycle patrol approached him. He attempted to run.

The ranks eventually caught up with the defendant and a search was conducted on his person and the .38 revolver fell out of the man’s pocket.

The prosecution objected to bail. Williams will remain on remand until April 22.

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Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

MTV CHANNEL 14/ CABLE 65 Sign on 05:30hrs - Dharma kai AwazThe Voice of Dharma 06:00hrs - Islamic Perspective 06:30hrs - Phagwah Scenes 07:00hrs - Day Break 08:00hrs - Dabi’s Musical Hour 08:30hrs - Avon DVD Club music hour 09:15hrs - Top Notch Music Break 09:30hrs - Caribbean Temptation Music Mix 10:00hrs - Amanda’s Costume Jewellery Music break 10:30hrs - Future Vision Music hour 11:00hrs - Comfort sleep Musical 11:30hrs - The View 13:00hrs - Village Talk 12:30hrs - The Young and The

Restless 13:30hrs - Days of Our Lives 14:00hrs - General Hospital 15:00hrs - Katie Couric Show 16:00hrs - The Bold and the Beautiful 16:30hrs - Cartoons 17:00hrs - Birthdays and other greetings 17:15hrs - Death Announcements/ In Memoriam 17:50hrs - CNN News 18:00hrs - Focus on GRA 18:30hrs - Jai Santoshi Ma 19:00hrs - Soul Melodies with Trans Globe 19:30hrs - News Update 20:30hrs - Winners Row Quiz 21:30hrs - Movie: Beverly Hills Cop 23:00hrs - News update 22:30hrs - Movie: Beverly Hills Cop continues Sign off

DTV CHANNEL 8 08:25 hrs. Sign On 08:30 hrs. This Morning 09:00 hrs. Live! With Kelly and Michael 10:00 hrs. Roseanne 11:00 hrs. The View 12:00 hrs. Prime News 12:30 hrs. The Young and the Restless 13:30 hrs. The Bold and the Beautiful 14:00 hrs. The Talk 15:00 hrs. Without a Trace 17:00 hrs. Charmed 18:00 hrs. World News 18:30 hrs. Nightly News 19:00 hrs. Greetings and Announcements 21:00 hrs. Person of Interest (New Episode) 22:00 hrs. Elementary (New Episode) 23:00 hrs. Sign Off

Guides are subjected to change without notice

Thursday April 04, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): It’s usually challenging to maintain your focus for a long period of time, yet it may be even trickier today. Don’t pretend that you are concentrating on what’s happening now if your mind keeps wandering off into future possibilities.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20): You are willing to do what is expected of you, even if you don’t want to be seen by too many people. But instead of making waves about your irrational desire for privacy, stay present in the real world and act in a responsible manner.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20): An exciting adventure may be awaiting you, but you must place yourself back into the picture before your dreams can manifest.

CANCER (June 21–July 22): The paradox of your day is that your emotions sink to a deeper place within your subconscious, while s i m u l t a n e o u s l y disconnecting from your body.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): You may think you need to clean up a situation from a recent disagreement, but you still haven’t received the stable, long-term answer that you seek. If you are frustrated because you feel misunderstood today, avoid expressing your anger at a wrong target — that won’t make anyone feel any better.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): Today’s high-frequency Aquarius Moon activates your nervous system, amplifies your anxiety and makes you more intellectually astute.

SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): The Moon is traveling through your 3rd House of Data Collection today, turning up the volume on all forms of communication. Although the noise can be distracting, you might enjoy it as a welcome relief to your recent boredom.

CAPRICORN(Dec.22–Jan.19): The nonconformist Aquarius Moon insists that you get to the core of your thinking and figure out a solution to overcome the obstacles in your path.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22): It’s not easy if a friend or coworker claims to know just about everything. However, you must be careful not to alienate others by dismissing them prematurely.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18): It’s time to tear down any artificial walls you previously built using fear as the primary ingredient now that the Moon is in your sign again.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): Seeking new ways to do your job might start off as an amusing pastime, yet it could pay off quickly if you make an improvement that others can use as well.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): The separation between objective reality and subjective perception continues to narrow now that the Moon is visiting your 12th House of Spiritual Mystery.

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T&TCB welcomes new WI cricket boss Guyana Wado-Ryu Karate Association holds grading exercise

The successful Mae’s Dojo Students.

On Sunday March 24th 2013, the Guyana Wado-Ryu Karate Association (GWKA) held its first grading exercise for the year with the testing of 43 students from its 4 dojos located at Banks DIH Sports Club; Mae’s Schools, Subryanville; Eccles Primary School and Farm EBE. The exercise was supervised and directed by Fifth Dan Sensei Winston Dunbar.

Exceptional performances came from Riley Nurse, Sadelle Britton, Aditya Mohanlall and Jason Roopchand of the Mae’s dojo, all of whom skipped from 3rd kyu to 1st kyu. The

lone 1st degree (Junior) black belt was awarded to Devindra Krishnalall of the Eccles dojo.

In total 1 student was promoted to junior black belt (shodan), 6 were promoted to brown belt (1st kyu), 1 was promoted to brown belt (2nd kyu), 5 were promoted to brown belt (3rd kyu), 4 were promoted to green belt (4th kyu), 9 were promoted to green belt (5th kyu), 6 were promoted to green belt (6th kyu) and 11 were promoted to yellow belt (7th kyu). Interested persons ages 5 and up can contact Sensei Dunbar on 650-6836 for enrolment.

THE Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board has joined the rest of the Caribbean community in congratulating Jamaican businessman Dave Cameron on his election as president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

President of the T&TCB Azim Bassarath said Cameron brings a wealth of experience to the job having served for ten years under outgoing president Dr Julian Hunte whom he beat 7-5 in last Wednesday’s election in Barbados.

“We are pleased to welcome Dave Cameron to the WICB presidency. He is well- positioned to bring about the changes we feel are necessary to continue the upward trend in regional cricket,” said Bassarath.

The T&TCB chief said he is confident that Cameron will apply the qualities that has propelled him into the top cricket job in the region to restore credibility,

transparency and accountability to the game’s administration.

Cameron narrowly defeated Hunte 7-5 while his running mate Emmanuel Nanthan , head of the Windward Islands Cricket Board beat ex-West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner 8-4 for the vice-presidency.

Bassarath expressed confidence that Cameron and Nanthan will make good on their pre-election promise to improve the board’s financial viability and increase the involvement of the region’s corporate sector in the regional game.

“We feel he is best prepared for this challenge as well as that of uniting West Indies cricket and charting a path for the success of the regional team,” Bassarath said.

“We will also press to have the items on the manifesto realized including improving and building the region’s immense talent,

increasing the revenues in the sport and uniting the region through cricket,” he said.

Cameron, 42, and Nanthan, 45, are two of the youngest ever leaders elected t o h e a d We s t I n d i e s cricket.

Their election ended the 73-year-old Hunte’s bid for a fourth successive two-year term and marked the second major administrative change in the West Indies cricket within the last seven months.

Last September, Ernest Hilaire stepped down as chief executive officer to take up a diplomatic posting on behalf of the St Lucian government in London.

He was subsequently replaced by Jamaican Michael Muirhead.

Bassarath also praised Hunte’s contribution to the game saying the former diplomat had done an exceptional job in challenging circumstances to rebuild West Indies cricket.

England take early lead Jamaica Observer JAMAICA’s Sunshine Girls suffered a 42-53 loss to England in the opening game of the three-match Supreme Ventures Sunshine Series at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC), Tuesday.

The visiting English Roses took the early lead and rushed to a five-point lead (83) by midway the first quarter.

The Sunshine Girls tried to pull themselves back into contention after a short timeout. After a few fumbled attempts at the goal post, the Jamaicans landed the ball in the target.

The long-range shooting skills of the Girls were on the improve as goal attack Thristina Harwood pumped in a ball from 10 yards out.

A few quick interceptions and the Girls were back in the game and had pulled

themselves level 10-10 with two minutes remaining in the first quarter and held on 1313 by the end of the quarter.

The Sunshine Girls held the competition for much of the second half to be behind by only a point, but with a few minutes remaining England went ahead and held the lead 28-24 at the end of the second quarter.

As the second half began, the English ladies added a point to their lead before the Sunshine Girls once again whittled the advantage to within two points, but it was a see-saw effort as England moved away yet again.

A timeout was called with England leading 36-32 as the Jamaicans looked bent on putting the pieces of the puzzle together. However, the locals failed to add to their score as England continued

to let it rip 40-32 at the end of the third quarter.

As though they could smell defeat but powerless to stop it, the Sunshine Girls saw the score drift away by another two points. In the dying minutes the eager England captain Pamela Cookey made a rare foul pass that went flying past wing attack Sasha Corbin, and the Jamaicans stole the interception but not for long as the English managed to retake the initiative and put away the goal.

“It was good, but in a lot of parts we just weren’t able to take care of the ball. It’s something that can be fixed,” Jamaica coach Oberon Pitterson-Nattie said. Sabrina Spence ended with 33 goals from 42 attempts, while England goal shooter Rachel Dunn had 25 from 28.

PM hails Jamaica’s dominance at Carifta Games Jamaica Observer - Prime Minister and Minister of Sport Portia Simpson Miller has congratulated the Jamaican team on its outstanding performances at the just concluded Carifta Games in The Bahamas.

The team’s performance was outstanding and spectacular, said Simpson Miller, adding: “The sheer brilliance, depth and dominance of Team Jamaica once again demonstrates to the world that we are indeed a sporting nation with talent

across a range of sporting disciplines.”

The prime minister said the success of our track and field athletes at the Carifta Games underscores Jamaica’s excellent sporting programme, which is serving to strengthen our already rich and vibrant sporting history.

Meanwhile, Minister without Portfolio with Responsibility for Sport Natalie Neita Headley, who joined in welcoming home the defending Carifta Games

champions, said: “With this latest achievement, we have once again sent a signal to the world of the richness of our natural athletic talents accentuated by our discipline, endurance and stamina. Our athletes are excelling at all levels and we say ‘thank you’ to the teams, the coaches and their families for extending the necessary love and support,” Neita Headley said.

Jamaica copped this year’s Carifta Games title with 68 medals for its 29th consecutive win.

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Kaieteur News

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Bath of West Berbice win Cheddi Jagan softball finals Farm, while exciting, saw the home team dominating the visitors. Batting first, Bath racked up 146/5 off their 10 overs with Feroze Khan scoring 50 not out and in reply, Herstelling/Farm could only manage 87/8 with Rawle Reid 27 runs being the highest when their overs ran out.

A sizable crowd was on hand to cheer the home team which walked away with the 2013 Cheddi Jagan Memorial Softball title as well

as the Most Valuable Player of the final trophy which went to Feroze Khan who apart from his 50*, returned to claim 1 for 13 from 2 overs with his bowling.

2nd place trophy - Herstelling/Farm 3rd place trophy – East Coast Demerara The competition was played during the month of March as part of activities by the People’s Progressive Party to celebrate the life and contribution of late Dr. Cheddi Jagan.

Intricate issues in football...

Mr Alexei Ramotar presents the trophy to winning Captain from Bath Shaun Kadim.

The Progressive Youth Organization on Saturday, March 30th 2013 hosted the annual Cheddi Jagan memorial softball finals at the Bath Community Centre, West Coast Berbice and the home team emerged the winner.

The four qualifying teams were from: ?Herstelling/Farm, East Bank Demerara; ?East Coast Demerara; Bath, West Coast Berbice; Port Mourant, Corentyne.

Playing in the first semi-final, Herstelling/ Farm prevailed over Port Mourant by 2 runs.

Batting first, Rawle Reid smashed a tournament high 120 as Herstelling amassed 178 from their 10 overs.

In a spirited chase, Port Mourant could

only managed 176 when their allotted overs were up.

Another close match followed in the 2nd semi-final as Bath overcame the ECD team by 7 runs. Batting first, Bath scored 128 off their 10 overs and in reply the East Coast Demerara team stuttered to 121/8 in their allotted 10 overs.

The 3rd Place Playoff: which was reduced to 6 overs saw ECD claimed the 3rd place trophy from Port Mourant. Port Mourant batting first scored 56/6 off their 6 overs and in return ECD reached the mark, 61/4 with one over to spare.

The final between Bath and Herstelling/

From page 31 personal perception for the betterment of the sport, then maybe he should have channeled his energies elsewhere? But he chose to stay and fight, in so doing “mud-slinging, maligning and accusations of corruption” will unfold! Nevertheless, it’s all in the game in pursuit of the GFF’s Presidency, apolitical I guess!

On a pertinent point pertaining to the Guyana Vs Mexico, home match that was shifted to Houston Texas! What role did the GFF, Finance Committee and the Guyana Soccer Foundation play? Maybe, proper investigative journalism should provide the relevant answer along with accusations of corruption.

Finally, Mr. Christopher Matthias, who in my estimation is Rawle’s perceived choice for the GFF’s Presidency! In a vascular bundle what exactly has Matthias and by extension the executive done over the past 2 years, to clearly show that football in Georgetown, has developed?

The concept of “La Liga” as the Premier League was termed was a dismal failure even before it started. Within this context I blame the GFF, since with their authority it should have been spelt out; in bold letters.

“COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORT”!

On the issue of the restoration of voting rights for Georgetown, of which Matthias was perceived as championing, Sir, didn’t Lumumba, with all due respect, played a meaningful role, upon engaging both FIFA’s and CONCACAF’s attention, with his perception of forming a parallel GFF? Wasn’t it based on that premise that both parties subsequently got involved.

In numerous letters I had written, wasn’t the restoration of voting rights one of my suggestion/recommendations, for both the GFA and UDFA? In the final analysis isn’t personal self-aggrandizement, taking precedence over inclusiveness, with an allGeorgetown slate?

Lester Sealey.

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Thursday April 04, 2013

Edward ‘Screw’ Richmond Memorial Schools Football Competition...

Linden Foundation no-show draws ire of Organisers - N.S.S.S, H.S.S latest teams to register wins The Linden Foundation Secondary School remained on course to draw the ire of tournament organizers when they once again failed to show up for their second round clash against Christianburg / Wismar as play in this year’s Edward ‘Screw’ Richmond Memorial Schools Football Competition continued, at the Wisburg ground in Linden recently.

In the second game of the double header, in-form New Silvercity Secondary marched through Marcia Craig’s Educational Institute 4-0.

Here are the results: Game 1 Linden Foundation Secondary 0 – 1 C/burgWismar Secondary (Walkover) Game 2

M. C’s Educational Institute 0 – 4 New Silvercity Secondary GoalscorersOneil Gentle (N.S.S.S.) – 1st Min. Mark Mc Lean (N.S.S.S.) – 39th Min. Kristoff Stanton (N.S.S.S.) – 48th Min. Orlanzo Thorman (N.S.S.S.) – 59th Min. In results of third round matches played on Tuesday, Harmony Secondary notched their second win in as many games, while defending champions Linden Technical Institute crumbled to another shock defeat. Here are the results: Game 1 Harmony Secondary School 3 – 1 Mackenzie High School Scorers

Kurd Johnson (H.S.S.) – 20th Min., 21st Min., 59th Min. Akeem Chapman (M.H.S.) – 30th Min. Johnson currently leads all scorers in the tournament with 6 goals in two games.

Game 2 New Silvercity Secondary School 1 – 0 Linden Technical Institute Scorer Kristoff Stanton (N.S.S.S.) – 53rd Min. Play in the competition continues today with another double header, at the Wisburg School ground. In the opening game, Linden Foundation Secondary take on Marcia Craig’s Educational Institute and that will be followed by the clash between Christianburg/ Wismar Secondary.

Kickoff is 14:30hrs.

GCB congratulates Cameron and Nanthan The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) extends congratulations to Mr. Wycliffe “Dave” Cameron and Mr. Emmanuel Nathan who were elected President and Vice President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on March 27, 2013 in Barbados, the board stated in a release yesterday.

The Territorial Board welcomes Cameron to the prestigious post and is eager to work with him in the development of cricket in the West Indies. The WICB is the oldest existing entity in the West Indies, after being formed in the 1920s, that still unites the Caribbean people.

Mr. Cameron and his deputy Nanthan continues a tradition of the honorable gentlemen that has led this unique ICC Member nation, the West Indies, in the past and we are assured they will both make us proud, it stated.

We are confident that after serving as a director for Ten (10) years, four(4) of them under former WICB president, Julian Hunte, Cameron is well equipped and capable of instituting the necessary changes, and continuing those that have already began, to bring back glory to West Indies Cricket.

The GCB is also supportive of Nathan who is

also the President of WICBC and the Dominica Cricket Association. We believe that the 45 year old is competent and the most suitable partner for Cameron.

The GCB wishes the new administration every success and pledges its support, hoping that the administration will work hand in hand with the various Territorial Boards in the West Indies to take cricket forward.

The GCB wishes to bid Dr. Julian Hunte farewell, noting that he has done an outstanding job during his tenure to rebuild West Indies Cricket, the GCB statement noted.

New Silvercity Secondary School goalscorers pose for a photo op following their in over Marcia Craig’s Educational Institute.

::: Letter to the Sports Editor :::

Intricate issues in football administration are being overlooked DEAR SIR, Sports journalist, Rawle Welch of your newspaper is one of the very few in the profession, that I hold in high esteem for his balanced writings, impartiality and efficiency in relation to sporting events and by extension coverage of major issues affecting various sports disciplines. As such I was totally surprised to have read in one of his articles captioned “Acrimony, disputes, accusations of corruption still permeate football landscape” published in K.N. 27.03.13, that the individual for all of his journalistic attributes, spent a considerable amount of time highlighting all the negatives of Messrs: King and Major, two of the four presidential nominees for the presidency of the Guyana Football Federation, while providing a perfect image of Christopher Matthias, but inadvertently fails to mention Ivan Persaud, who was nominated by East Bank, and seconded by the Coaches Association. Whether this was an oversight or not, nevertheless should allow Mr. Welch to provide coverage of Persaud subsequently.

Editor, while it’s not my intention to defend the track record of any nominee, since I maybe accused of favouritism. At this juncture however, kindly permit me the space to expound on a few

areas, along with the relevant rebuttals.

The General Council Structure of the GFF entails the executive consisting of 6 individuals; 9 associations; 2 of which Lethem and Essequibo are managed by IMC’s. While the two largest and most active Georgetown and Upper Demerara, in the past 10 years were, devoid of “voting rights” along with the Coaches Association, which at one time became defunct, as one of the 3 affiliates. The other 2 are the Referees and Women.

So, in actuality with meaningful attendance at a General Council Meeting, representation amounts to 31, compromising to 2 representatives per association/affiliate and the General Secretary. When was the last year, did this occur and would it be evident on April 12, 2013 when the Ordinary Congress is convened?

During the period of 20082010 and prior, attendance was around 24, with 19 having voting rights! As such whenever the restoration of voting rights for both Georgetown and Upper Demerara were tabled for discussion, in most instances at the behest of King, it was always outvoted. Likewise, financial affairs and “loss of membership”! The “clarion call” always used to be Kings’ perceived allegiance to the government, while serving as

PG (ag)!

Until a day like today, why is it King was never included on a sub-committee of the GFF that amounts to 19? This by extension would have been inclusive of a governmental functionary.

And by the way how many sub-committees are active?

On a point of edification King’s political ties in no way would affect his election to the GFF executive in contravention of FIFA’s statutes. Since former Prime Ministers of Italy and South Korea, were both FIFA Vice Presidents, with the former being a co-owner of AC Milan, and the latter, President of the Asian Confederation.

In relation Major, is/was anyone else on the Federation’s executive that could have generated more income by way of sponsorship, moreso, collectively for the Golden Jaguars? Also for edification both Major and Muhammad, Directors of the K&S Organization had previously indentified Land on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway, with the relevant paperwork for the Goal Project, many years ago, even before the present site was indentified!

And this was also years before Major, became Organising Secretary, but the rest is now history.

With the individual being outnumbered and outvoted on numerous issues from his (Continued on page 31)

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

Unity Lancaster Sports Club Cricket Academy starts today

Club secretary Ronald Goolghar (left) receives the gear from Surendra Nauth (right), while looking on are Sheik Mohammed, Club president Naim Chan, Treasurer R. Dyal among well wishers and participants of the academy.

The Unity Lancaster Sports Club (ULSC) will hold a three day cricket academy at its club’s venue starting from 9:00am today 4th April 2013.

The academy is being promoted free of cost to about 40 youngsters between the ages of 12 and 16 years of age, in a bid to establish Under-15 and Under-19 cricket teams which will represent the club in the future.

The participants were drawn from the host village, and from schools in neighbouring communities stretching from Strathaven Cane Grove to Golden Grove on the East Coast of

Demerara.

The three day event will see the youngsters receiving coaching in various aspects of the game of cricket spearheaded by former West Indies fast bowler Reyon King, former national wicketkeeper Sheik Mohammed and hometown national Under-19 players Lalchand Persaud and Hemraj Gharbarran. Senior local umpire T. Annanjit will lend a hand teaching the rules of the game.

Several high profile academics in various fields of professional work will also spend time with the youngsters teaching them various lifetime tips on health

and nutrition, focusing the mind and achieving targets, time management, strategising, field positions, ethics and morality among other subject areas.

Recently Club secretary Ronald Goolghar received a quantity of cricket gear donated to the running of the academy by Surendra Nauth of Nauth’s motor spares of Sheriff Street Georgetown.

Sheik Mohammed of Tiger Sports, Club president Naim Chan, Treasurer R. Dyal among well wishers and participants of the academy were present at the presentation which saw just over $100,000 dollars in gear handed over.

Regional Chairman Bradford deems Regatta 2K13 a success Bartica Regatta 2K13 has been deemed a resounding success according to Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford.

Speaking with Kaieteur Sport, Bradford stated that the move to team up with D&C Promotions proved to be ideal as it brought a new dimension to the table with regard to the organizing of multiple events, successfully.

D&C Promotions, a young promotional group from Bartica, Charles Jones and Dion Ferrier teamed up with the Bartica Regatta Committee to run off for the first time a Street Football Competition apart from the traditional Gospel Concert (2nd year), International Concert featuring Jamaican Regga artist Jah Cure, the Miss Regatta Pageant and the two-day Powerboat and Jet Ski races.

Bradford noted that all the events were successful and complimented the Bartica community as well as

those persons from other areas and the overseas based Guyanese who all combined to make this year’s activity another success story.

“I am pleased with the level of support we received again this year, from the fans old and new, Government of Guyana and all the other corporate entities. They all combined to add another successful chapter to this much looked forward to event on the Tourism Calendar in Guyana.” Bradford noted that every night of the football competition saw large crowds and the competitive nature of the games were very encouraging.

“The Miss Bartica Regatta Pageant, the Jah Cure Show and the Gospel Concert also saw the people coming out by the hundreds to support and to of course enjoy good clean entertainment which is what these events are all about.”

Regional Chairman Bradford complimented members of the corporate

Gordon Bradford community for their continued and unwavering support for all the events.

Those entities are Hopkinson Mining, Ryan Mahadeo Mining, Five Star Minerals, Scotia Bank, Banks DIH, Mings Products & Services, D & C Promotions, MACORP, The Trophy Stall, Courts, Digicel, Ansa Mc Al Trading. In memory of the late Monty Belle, one of the outstanding powerboat racers who passed away in August 2012 while competing at the Lake Mainstay Resort Regatta, the Belle family sponsored a special race in his memory.

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Mayor’s KO Football semis set for tonight at GFC After weeks of exciting football the curtains are about to come down on the at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ground, Bourda when the annual Mayor’s knockout football tournament reaches its semifinal round, the penultimate night of action, the grand finale set for Sunday. Football fans and pundits are hoping for the mouthwatering prospect of an Alpha United and Slingerz FC

clash in Sunday’s final, however, the pair must first overcome their semifinal hurdles tonight.

They are both expected to be in for a tough time but judging from their previous performances, the fans could very well get what they want.

Alpha United oppose Den Amstel in the opening game tonight at 18:30hrs shortly before Slingerz FC throw down the gauntlet against the Guyana Defence Force (GDF)

at 20:30hrs in two mouth watering semifinal matches.

Alpha, the number one club, is expected to throw everything at Den Amstel as they seek to move forward to the championship game.

Their firepower and ability is noteworthy hence their number one billing. Featuring Richard Reynolds in goal, Travis Grant, Bevon Mosley, Andrew Murray, Dwight Peters, Gregory Richardson

WICBC congratulates President Cameron and VP Nanthan St John’s, Antigua – The Windward Islands Cricket Board of Control (WICBC) has sent messages of congratulations to newly elected West Indies Cricket Board President Mr. Dave Cameron and Vice President Emmanuel Nanthan.

“On behalf of the Windward Islands Cricket Board of Control, let me extend congratulations to you, on your election to the illustrious post of President of the West Indies Cricket Board,” wrote Vice President of the WICBC Mr. Elson Crick in a letter to President Cameron.

“We view your election as a signal moment in the history of the development of the game in the region, and we stand ready to work with you, in the development of West Indies

cricket. We note the tenets of your manifesto as it regards your future plans as President, and we pledge as far as possible, our support for the work of your new administration,” Crick added.

Crick also congratulated Nanthan who is also President of WICBC and the Dominica Cricket Association.

“We recognise the role that you will now play in effecting the return of the game of cricket, to the glory days of the 1980’s and 1990’s, and we pledge our support in this regard. We wish you every success as you begin your term of office,” Crick wrote.

Cameron and Nanthan were elected at the WICB Annual General Meeting held in Barbados on March 27th last week.

and leading goal scorer Anthony Abrams among others, Den Amstel are definitely in for a torrid time.

The West Demerara side will depend on Jeffery Perreira, Travis Hilliman, Rodwell Hutson, Colin Wellington and Wycliff Simon to rebuff the charge of Alpha.

Slingerz of the Westside will also relish the opportunity to face Alpha and dethrone them in this Mayor’s Cup contest. But the GDF stands in their way.

Slingerz will depend on Dwayne Jacobs, Joshua Brown, Anthony Harding, Tichard Joseph, Andre Hector and Kester Jacobs to spearhead their challenge.

However, the GDF will have Royan Morrison, Eusi Phillips, Marlon Benjamin, Desford Williams and Delwyn Fraser leading their challenge, all tried and tested players who know how to take the fight to opponents.

Two exciting semifinals are anticipated setting the stage for Sunday’s final. The winner in this tournament will cart off $1,000,000, while the runner up will take home $500,000; the third and fourth

Anthony Abrams

Dwayne Jacobs

Jeffery Perriera

Royan Morrison

place finishers will receive $300,000 and $200,000 respectively.

The sponsors on board are Two Brothers Gas Station, Mohamed’s Enterprise,

General Equipment Guyana Ltd, Bakewell, Guyana Beverage Inc, MaCorp, CBR Mining, Digicel, GT&T, Guyana Lottery Company, CIDI and Ansa McAl.

Thursday April 04, 2013

Kaieteur News

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GTTA names team for World Championships

Edinho Lewis

Chelsea Edghill

Trenace Lowe

Godfrey Munroe

The Selection Committee of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) has selected a group of its senior national men and women players to represent Guyana at the May 12-20 World Table Tennis Championships in Paris, France.

According to a release from GTTA President, Godfrey Munroe, the Singles edition of the World Championships will attract over 1000 players from over 160 countries worldwide.

“The tournament is critical in establishing world rankings for national players given significance in establishing the overall team rankings in regional and international competitions,” the release indicated.

According to the release, Guyana’s participation at the World Championships and the seeding of the players is

critical to the type of draw the players receives. “It has an impact on which players our team encounters, which can definitely impact performance in competition,” it reasoned.

The GTTA has completed accreditation for the players and members of its delegation; the GTTA has the ability to field six male players and six female players, the press document continued, as it indicated that the tournament makes accommodation for countries to have six representative players in both the male and female categories.

The host France will be providing accommodation, meals and transportation for three males and three female players free for the entire tournament; the additional three players would have to provide their own accommodation, meals and

New Zealand’s Ryder discharged from hospital (Reuters) - New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder has been released from a Christchurch hospital and returned to his home in Wellington after spending almost a week recovering from serious head injuries, local media reported on Wednesday.

Ryder, 28, was taken to hospital early last Thursday after two altercations outside a bar and fast food restaurant in Merivale, a suburb of Christchurch. Two men have been charged with assault and are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. “He was thrilled to be back home, he just couldn’t wait. It’s been a hard week so he just wanted to get home,” the New Zealand Herald quoted Ryder’s manager Aaron Klee as saying. “He’s been doing well over the last couple of days so just needed to complete all the testing they wanted to do in hospital and then they were happy to let him go home.

“He’s still very tired and still struggling energy-wise with the effects of the concussion, but he’s obviously well enough to be discharged from hospital and travel home, it’s great.”

Ryder, one of New Zealand’s most gifted batsmen, has been in a self-imposed exile from international cricket after a series of alcohol-related incidents.

transportation.

The tournament will be utilizing the new format instituted which would see players participating in a plate competition to determine final positions of ranking.

According to the release, the plate competition would provide value for the experience of the players.

Guyana has had representation at these Championships in 2003 when Idi Lewis, Orin Hickerson and Godfrey Munroe played also in Paris. Paul David also

played in the Japan edition when the former junior VicePresident, Arron Fraser accompanied him. The female players named were Trenace Lowe and Chelsea Edghill.

The release said that Natalie Cummings would be missing the engagement owed to final year studies at the University of Guyana while Michelle John would also be out because of her Master’s studies at Lindenwood University, Missouri, United States where she is on scholarship.

The male players named include, Paul David, Edinho Lewis, Nigel Bryan, Christopher Franklin, Brad Belle and Idi Lewis (Coach/ Player). Meanwhile, it was disclosed that Arron Fraser, who successfully finalised the arrangements for the STAG International equipment grant to Guyana was selected to be one of Guyana’s leading representatives at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) AGM. “This would be his (Fraser) second time at a

World Table Tennis Championships. The AGM is the forum where a lot of the wheeling and dealing for grants, training stints, coaching, equipment and administrative grants are negotiated,” the release stated. The association said it is using the World Championships along with the domestic and regional schedule of tournaments as a basis to start engaging its national senior team players as it prepares for the Caribbean Table Tennis Championships.

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West Indies name Anthony’s 50 points fires preliminary squad for playoff warning shot to Heat ICC Champions Trophy ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board has named its preliminary squad of 30 players for the ICC Champions Trophy to be staged from June 6 to 23 in England and Wales.

Left-handed batsman Jonathan Carter and left-arm

fast bowler Sheldon Cotterrell are the only players in the squad yet to play for the Windies in any format on the international stage, while batsman Nkrumah Bonner and fast bowler Shannon Gabriel have not played in an ODI previously.

Squad: Adrian Barath Sulieman Benn Tino Best Nkrumah Bonner Darren Bravo Dwayne Bravo Jonathan Carter Johnson Charles Sheldon Cotterrell Narsingh Deonarine Shannon Gabriel Chris Gayle Jason Holder Nikita Miller Sunil Narine Veerasammy Permaul

Kieron Pollard Kieran Powell Denesh Ramdin Ravi Rampaul Kemar Roach Andre Russell Darren Sammy Marlon Samuels Ramneresh Sarwan Lendl Simmons Devon Smith Dwayne Smith Devon Thomas Chadwick Walton The final squad of 15 will be named at a later date.

Semi-finalists decided in Regional 4 Day Tournament St John’s, Antigua – The four semi-finalists for this year’s WICB Regional 4 Day Tournament have been decided following the last round of matches, which ended earlier this week. The four teams – Jamaica, Windward Islands, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago – have done enough to qualify for the semis. Defending champions Jamaica head the table with 48 points from four matches. Windward Islands also have 48 points from five matches. The Trinis and the Bajans are tied in third place with 36 points from five matches. The other teams Guyana (18 points), CCC (12 points) and Leewards (seven points) have all played five matches and are out of contention. There are still four preliminary round matches left in the Regional 4 Day tournament. The next round will be played from Wednesday April 10 to Saturday April 13. The

matches will be: Leewards vs Windwards at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground; Jamaica vs Guyana at the Guyana National Stadium; and Trinidad & Tobago vs Barbados at Queen’s Park Oval. The last preliminary match will see Jamaica hosting CCC at Sabina Park from Thursday April 25 to Sunday April 28. The semi-finals will be played from Thursday May 2 to Sunday May 5. The Grand Final will be held from Thursday May 9 to Sunday May 12. Meanwhile, the Regional Super 50 continues today with Barbados vs Leewards at Warner Park, St Kitts; Jamaica vs T&T at Sabina Park; and Guyana vs CCC in a day/night contest at the Guyana National Stadium.

The Final Four (Semifinals and Final) of this tournament will be played at Kensington Oval, Barbados on Thursday, April 18; Friday April 19 and Sunday April 21 under lights.

New Era Russians make presentation to Linden Hospital Two of the front men for one of Linden’s top street football team’s, New Era Russians join the other team members in presenting a

quantity of pillows to the Linden Hospital Complex after the team’s phenomenal ascendancy in Linden over the last year.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (L) argues with referee Bennie Adams after Adams called a technical foul on Anthony as they met the Miami Heat during their NBA basketball game in Miami, Florida April 2, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Skipper MIAMI (Reuters) Carmelo Anthony’s stunning 50-point performance led the New York Knicks to a 102-90 win over defending NBA champions Miami on Tuesday, extending their winning streak to nine games.

The Heat, already having sealed top spot in the Eastern Conference, were without LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers, all sitting out with minor injuries.

But a third win from four games against Miami this season is a major psychological boost for the Knicks, who could come up against the Heat in the playoffs.

Knicks head coach Mike Woodson was fulsome in his praise for Anthony, who hit

the 50-point mark for the third time in his career.

“He was unbelievable. He refused to let us lose tonight.

He made big plays and big shots,” he told reporters. “I have seen some games like this throughout the season from Carmelo Anthony. He had it going early and it was consistent all the way through. When we needed a big bucket, he came up with it.”

Anthony was 18 of 26 from the field and reached the 50-point mark with 16.9 seconds left on the clock as the Knicks dominated the fourth quarter.

“He wasn’t forcing anything. Some things come easy for great players and tonight he did everything he

was supposed to do to put us in a position to win,” added Woodson.

Anthony said he felt in form from the first touch. “It was just from the start of the game. It is a feeling sometimes you have out on the court, sometimes you get off to a good start and get cold throughout the game but tonight wasn’t one of those cases,” he told reporters.

Anthony has scored 112 points in his three games against Miami this season, averaging 37.3 points per game, but he said he was not thinking ahead to an eventual playoff clash just yet.

“When we meet them we will deal with that. We did what we had to do in terms of winning the game. We were

very successful against them this regular season,” he added.

“When the playoffs come, if we meet up with them we meet up with them, they aren’t on our mind right now.”

‘HAD IT ROLLING’ Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team have won 29 of their last 31 games, including a 27-game winning streak that was the second best in NBA history, was clearly concerned about how to guard Anthony better.

“Obviously we’ll look at it and we will have to figure something out, but boy, he was a shot maker tonight. You see a great performance by an opponent, you have to give them credit.

“He made tough shots over the top the entire game,” he added.

Miami forward Shane Battier suggested it was just one of those games where little could be done to stop Anthony, who nailed seven three-pointers.

“Carmelo had a hell of a game. That is a game that drives the analytics guys crazy. I don’t think he attempted a shot within 15 feet of the basket. Most nights, we would take that every single time. “He made a ton of shots ... there were some we had poor rotations on and he had really clean looks and that was just breakdowns in our defence.

“A lot were shots you would take times out of 10 and he just had it rolling”.

t r o Sp Total Fitness Mania 3 to take L East Bank by storm on Saturday

Some of the athletes that will compete on Saturday taking a pose during their workout at the Gym on Tuesday.

overs of the fine art of bodybuilding along with members of the Total Fitness Gym, located at Grove on the East Bank of Demerara are in for a treat this Saturday when the Total Fitness Gym hosts their 3rd annual in house competition.

Dubbed, ‘The Storm’, Total Fitness Mania 3 promises to showcase some seasoned campaigners along with many new kids on the block seeking to prove that they have what it takes to take on those who would have been around for some time.

The venue for all the action on Saturday evening is the Digital Technology building, situated at Diamond, East Bank Demerara with muscle flexing time set for 19:00hrs.

Athletes will compete in the Novice and Senior divisions. Those contesting the Novice segment will do so in the under 154 lbs and 155 lbs and over while the senior contestants will strut their stuff in the 164 lbs and 165 and over.

Preparations by the competitors have been ongoing with this week being used to fine tune in order to be in pristine shape for Saturday’s competition.

The new kids on the block seeking to take the stage by storm are Gregory Dainty, Anand Mangal, Edwin Charles, Kevin Bobb-Semple, Orin Hernandez and Isaac Guyadeen. Among the seasoned campaigners expected to face off are Travis Peters, Ebyo Orford, Akeem Inniss, Tyrone Eusibeo, William Ward, Adrian Andries and Michael Dos Santos.

Corporate support for the event has been very good to date with Fitness Express, Digital Technology, Trophy Stall of Bourda Market, Geeta Balram, Kasim Hardware Store, Pamela Veersammy, Lall Beharry, Gaitree and Community Pharmacy all chipping in.

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