Kaieteur News

Saturday Edition

Online readership yesterday 85,726

April 06, 2013 - Vol. 7 No. 14 - Price $80 kaieteurnews@yahoo.com Website:http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

Govt. vows to build tower at Plaisance Don't take chances with your chances!

This canter truck's owner gambled on a makeshift bridge and lost

Cop charged with four counts of assault

Marudi beating incident…

Teens steal ‘Red Dragon’ army officer's owner charged car, nabbed after driving with exploiting into ditch underage female Raymond ‘Clement’ Ali Corporal Nafaste Morris

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Kaieteur News

Marudi beating incident…

Saturday April 06, 2013

Infant ‘accidentally’ kicked by father…

locate child and mother Cop charged with four counts of assault Police The police have managed Police Corporal Nafaste Morris, of 7 Ogle Front, East Coast Demerara, appeared yesterday before Magistrate Sueanna Lovell at the Georgetown Magistrate’s court where he pleaded not guilty to four counts of assault when charges were read to him.

According to the facts of the prosecution revealed to the court by Alexis DavidHossanah, when police ranks accompanied officials from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) on February 27, to clear a number of illegal miners from the Marudi mining district, the 31-year-old defendant, with a piece of branch removed from a tree, inflicted several blows on Varona Prince, and her two on

Corporal Nafaste Morris sons, Errol Prince and Lorenzo Prince. The victims

were civilians who were lying a trail to protest their removal from a particular area, along with others. Further, it was alleged that on the same day in question, the defendant assaulted Otillo Perriera.

Appearing in Morris’ defence was Counsel Patrice Henry who requested reasonable bail for his client based on the fact that the allegations were never made when the defendant was acting in the execution of his duties.

The corporal was subsequently granted bail to the tune of $20,000 for each assault against the four complainants, which amounted to a total of $80,000.

Morris is scheduled to make his next court appearance on May 20.

to locate the infant, who was accidentally kicked in the head by her father and sustained a fractured skull.

Three-week-old Shamier Yankana has since been admitted to the nursery at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) since Thursday night. She is being monitored by doctors.

According to information received, the baby’s father and her mother were fighting during which the baby was kicked by her father on Tuesday night at their Quamina Street home.

It was only on Wednesday, the child was taken to the hospital where it was revealed via a CT-Scan that she sustained a fractured skull and there was bleeding in and around the brain. But by the time doctors were ready to treat the child, the mother had reportedly disappeared with her.

However, a social worker accompanied by three police officers managed to locate the infant and her mother Thursday evening.

At the hospital yesterday, the mother, Simone Yankana, told Kaieteur News that she did not escape from the hospital.

“They had me waiting long, long. It was almost 02:00am Thursday and I was there since 07:00pm Wednesday night and they had me waiting. I was hungry

The infant at the hospital yesterday and the child mess up her skin so I left the hospital and go home,” the woman said.

When asked about the incident, she related, “He (the child’s father) find out that I does talk with my other children father and he get vex and start beat me. I was sitting on the bed with the baby in my hand and he was going to kick me but he miss and kick the baby.”

According to the mother of six, she did not realize that the infant had been hurt until the following day (Wednesday) when she saw

a lump on the baby’s forehead, “I did not know that the baby was hurt, because she did not cry or anything.”

The woman further told Kaieteur News that the reason why her partner had lied to the reporter earlier was because he thought that it was a social worker.

Kaieteur News was told by the mother of the child that the doctors at the hospital told her that surgery has to be done on her baby.

There has been no word yet on what fate will befall the errant father

‘Red Dragon’ owner charged with exploiting underage female The 61-year-old owner of popular city nightclub, Red Dragon, is facing charges related to human trafficking.

It is alleged that he and another man held an underage Brazilian female against her will at the aforementioned place of business, which is located on Robb Street in Georgetown.

The businessman Raymond Ali, of 15 Delhi Street, Prashad Nagar, also referred to by his alias ‘Clement’ was brought before Magistrate Sueanna Lovell at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday to face the charge of trafficking in persons.

Ali was not required to

Raymond ‘Clement’ Ali enter a plea to the indictable matter.

His Attorney, however, made a request for

bail. Co-accused Selwyn Lewis, called ‘Selly’, of Nutmeg Street, Festival City, did not appear in court.

The charge states that from June 1, 2012, to June 30, 2012, the two accused, held hostage a female Brazilian under the age of 15, at the Red Dragon Hotel, for the purpose of exploitation.

Police Prosecutor Alexis David-Hossanah did not reveal details of the evidence in open court.

The matter was heard incamera. Hossanah, moreover, did not oppose the lawyer’s bail application and the defendant was subsequently released on $300,000 bail. He is expected to return to court on May 20.

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Govt. vows to build tower at Plaisance The government is now bent on returning to the very spot in Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, where protests by residents forced workers to abandon the setting up of a telecommunications tower.

Protests by the residents had forced the Chinese company Huawei off the community’s playground.

The hole which was dug by the workers to set up the tower has been refilled by the residents, but yesterday the government said it intends to dig another hole at that very spot. “Government will not allow this project to be hijacked and to be treated so irresponsibly,” the government’s main spokesperson, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon said yesterday.

Senior officials of the government had earlier indicated that after protests by residents of Plaisance, the

- Luncheon says administration bewildered by protests setting up of the egovernance tower would be shifted to another location.

This was indicated by the head of the project, Alexei Ramotar. His comments came after a protest by residents.

However, Luncheon, speaking at a news conference, indicated that the government wants to resolve the problem, but resolving the problem does not mean shifting locations.

“The e-governance team would be seeking to resolve the matter…I don’t believe I could contemplate another site identified as resolving the matter. Our intention in having the matter resolved is to have the matter resolved as planned,” Luncheon stated.

“If this matter is resolved

to our mutual satisfaction, we’ll have a new hole dug,” he added. That decision was taken Thursday when President Donald Ramotar met with his government ministers during the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Through the egovernance project, towers have to be set up from Moleson Creek to Charity.

One of the locations was Plaisance, and in the area used as a community centre and playfield. Dr. Luncheon said the government was at a loss over the reason for the protest.

He stated that all the necessary permission was sought and granted by the authorities of the village.

However, he could not say if

Government Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira

Deputy Speaker, Deborah Backer

categorically that Teixeira “not only missed the boat, but missed the entire river”.

“Sometimes I worry about my friend the most honourable Gail Teixeira.

Since 2011 she does not appear to be at her best and sometimes she not only misses the boat but misses the entire river. Sometimes the boat is in Berbice and she is in the Essequibo.”

The Shadow Finance Minister said that APNU has no quarrel with, and indeed welcomes Chinese investors to Guyana’s shores. She pointed that it was the People’s National Congress (PNC), the majority party that makes up APNU, which opened doors for trading with China when that party was in government in 1972.

Backer said that China is Guyana’s second biggest creditor behind Venezuela and “We (APNU) have the highest regard for that country…We have been constant with our support

since we opened that trade just over forty years ago.”

Backer acknowledged that Guyana continues to seek trading investment and continues to look both South and East for new trading partners.

The member described China as an economic giant that has, “if not come to us, met us halfway” and acknowledged that the country has contributed, in the form of loans, grants and construction.

However, even with that being said, the Deputy Speaker did not hesitate to point out that last year’s budget stated that in the implementation of Guyana’s trade and investment in China, shared values with regards to Guyana’s laws must be central to all agreements.

Backer moved to point out that the agreement between the government of Guyana and the Chinese construction company did not follow those principles.

Backer says Marriott deal ignored local laws - slams Teixeira’s racism comment

By Abena Rockcliffe Deputy Speaker Deborah Backer yesterday told the National Assembly that the Marriott construction deal signed by the government has ignored local laws.

Backer made no qualms yesterday, during her contribution to the budget debate, to tell presidential advisor and government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira that she has become irrelevant, especially when she dubbed the uproar by Guyanese over the Marriot deal as a form of racism.

Barker, who also serves as A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s shadow Minster of Foreign Affairs was at the time of her comment referring to Teixeira’s remark about the way Guyanese, especially the opposition and sections of the media, have responded to the fact that no local has been employed for the construction of the statefunded Marriott hotel.

At a press conference, held at Freedom House, Teixeira, during an attempt to justify the 100 per cent Chinese employment at the Marriott construction site; told media operatives “Everyone is up in arms, but it smells stink, because it smells of racism, it smells of anti-nationality. We don’t seem to have the same problem with countries that are coming in that are bringing in non Chinese.”

Those comments were made several weeks ago, but Backer used yesterday’s proceedings in the National Assembly to state

Government is bent on using the Plaisance Community Centre ground to set up the telecommunications tower the government gained permission from the elected representatives or from the interim management committee which was appointed by the government itself.

Alexei Ramotar had told Kaieteur News that his team would be seeking an alternative site for the tower.

He had 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. As a result, 55 towers have to be constructed in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine and 10.

Luncheon said that the first tower for Region Four is what was being set up at Plaisance, until protests by the community halted works.

The ground at Plaisance allows for fundraising activities and shows and 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 was handed over to them in the 1960s.

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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

Exerting significant influence on public opinion Letters to the editor in the daily newspapers in Guyana exert significant influence on public opinion, but there are certain suspicious aspects of this influence that are worth a closer look.

Many readers say that on some days the best parts of local newspapers are not the news reports but the opinions expressed in letters to the editor. These letters are plentiful and popular in Guyana and, like many other things with such qualities, their influence has an upside as well as a downside.

The good side is easy to see. Letters to the editors comprise a valuable service to the public by providing information and viewpoints that might not be reported in the mainstream contents of newspapers. Since they are often based on writers’ personal experiences, they can help the public gain vital new insights on important issues and encourage the relevant authorities to take action.

By writing to newspapers about matters affecting them, citizens show that they still care about what’s happening in their country and their communities. Since Guyana’s newspaper editors seem to be much more flexible with letters than in many other places, writers can usually express themselves straight from the heart.

Such plain talk is an encouraging sign that freedom of speech is alive in Guyana’s fledgling democracy. It is good to encourage persons to express strong opinions in public, even if they are sometimes unsettling. It is clear that most Guyanese believe the right to speak freely about whatever they want is an essential right. Sometimes letters are angry outbursts; other times they exude unreasonableness or bigotry; some letter writers prefer to hide their identities. But if Guyana is to become a truly open society, it is essential that newspapers provide an outlet for heartfelt opinions. An active democracy needs to bring all the people’s opinions to public light, including those of the dull, the ignorant, the cowardly and others of bad character.

But there is a downside to this. There is a phenomenon in Guyana where certain persons write letters to the newspapers daily to express their opinions about everything under the sun.

Many of these are retired citizens and others whose lives are sufficiently leisurely to leave them with lots of time on their hands every day to devote to writing letters to the editors of local newspapers. The opinions of these writers are valuable, and they have every right to express them as they see fit.

However, the trend of opinions expressed in their letters on any issue at any particular time is sometimes mistaken as the trend of public opinion in Guyana as a whole. It is not.

There are a lot of people in Guyana — the overwhelming majority — who do not write letters to the editor, but whose opinions ought to count as much as those who do.

Educators say the levels of functional illiteracy in Guyana are high, maybe as high as 60%, therefore many Guyanese may not be equipped to express their opinions publicly in letters to newspapers, and possibly never will. Therefore, when readers peruse the letters to the editors in the newspapers they should remember that in all likelihood they represent the views, individually and collectively, of the eloquent and articulate among us, and do not necessarily represent those of the common folk.

Also, when considering the influence of letter writers in the newspapers, it is useful to consider that the body of opinion that is reflected on any issue does not necessarily represent a balance of the letters received, but only those chosen for publication. To put it simply, if there are two letters published expressing a particular viewpoint and two published reflecting an opposing view, there might have been many others supporting one view or the other that were not published for various reasons.

Furthermore, the letter pages in newspapers sometimes reflect artificially contrived bodies of opinion. For example, an editor may subjectively balance the amount of letters published with opposing views, when in fact there was a preponderance of letters supporting one viewpoint instead of another. Indeed in this way some editors can manipulate the influence of letter pages on public opinion.

Undoubtedly, letters to the editor are invaluable to newspapers and the pursuit of democracy. But discerning readers should be wary of their influence and the accuracy of their reflection of public opinion.

Saturday April 06, 2013

Letters... Where your views make the news

First responders are an integral part of the health care system DEAR EDITOR, What happened to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Richard Allen, who collapsed in the National Assembly on Thursday, exposed some glaring deficiencies in our emergent health delivery system.

Mr. Allen collapsed on the floor of the house at exactly 1400hrs and it took a full fifteen minutes for an “ambulance” to arrive. He was eventually transported away from the Parliament Complex at 1420 hrs; (a full 20 minutes had elapsed from the time this medical incident started) and even though Mr. Allen was surrounded and assisted by many of his colleagues who are Medical Doctors, even they lacked the basic equipment (sphygmomanometer and stethoscope) to do a primary evaluation (check his vital signs… blood pressure etc). So even though highly trained first responders were present, these professionals were handcuffed by a lack of basic equipment.

The National Assembly, especially when in full session, is a vital point in the Leadership of Guyana and Thursday’s incident exposed many deficiencies and weaknesses that need to be addressed immediately. However, that this happened during the 2013 budget debate should serve to focus the attention of the relevant authorities on much needed priorities in our health delivery system.

As more and more people

move from the rural areas and our suburbs extend further and further away from the city and major medical centres.

Emergency medical care and the role of First Responders become more critical to the national health delivery system. First Responders are the first medically trained personnel to arrive at a scene. Usually in the First World they are Police Officers, Emergency Medical Technicians, Fire and rescue officers or Para-medics. In Guyana, sadly our ambulance service which has gone through several evolutions, has not kept pace with the technology and the advances of acceptable best practices in emergency medicine.

The Ambulance service in Guyana is a throw-back to a long gone era. It is limited to transporting patients, without the capacity or the capability to provide any emergent medical care. The vehicles that are used as ambulances are not adequately equipped with lifesaving equipment, and the fleet is small and not strategically placed geographically to meet the needs of a growing urban and interconnected rural population.

Most times when someone is the victim of some type of trauma they are hustled into a private vehicle and rushed to the nearest hospital or medical clinic.

The persons rendering assistance are usually not trained in basic first aid, pay no attention to spinal stabilisation or bone fracture mobilisation or have any training in cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The result

is that precious time is lost and sometimes more harm is done by moving these patients using such primitive and non-medical methods of transportation.

The time has come for the architects of our health delivery system to build an emergency medical network with coordinated communication centres, well-equipped ambulances and well-trained emergency medical technicians, Para-medics and Fire and Police officers, who are trained in providing basic pre-hospital care for medical emergencies.

This is the type of human service initiative that should be on the front burner of the Government of Guyana. It is an established medical fact that the initial care received by a patient has a profound effect on their

overall prognosis and recovery.

It is a sad commentary that in 2013, Guyana does not have emergency medical response centres and a modern ambulance service.

The controversial Marriott Hotel, an investment of over $51 million US dollars, will not add to the quality of life or improve the quality of the national health delivery system. However with the same investment dollars (51 Million US), the government would be able to build ten regional 911 centres and purchase and equip over 1000 ambulances and train the Emergency Medical Technicians to man them. This is the type of investment in human development that unfortunately is sadly lacking in Guyana today.

Mark Archer

DEAR EDITOR, In reference to “Stripped of presidential immunity” (KN April 5), I am pleased to read that former Minister Rashleigh Jackson is very supportive of actions to prosecute two former leaders of their countries.

Prosecutors in other countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia have also moved against the corrupt officials and those who were involved in gross violations of human rights of their people.

Mr. Jackson asked who is next. I hope it comes closer to our door step to include those

who rigged elections, denied people basic rights, murdered opponents including priests, and those who served an illegal government in his or her capacity as a Minister.

I hope Mr. Jackson would advocate for a removal of immunity from those in Guyana who committed wrong doing or engaged in corruption acts and I hope he would also call on those who served government and committed fraud or other forms of crimes to voluntarily give up immunity so investigations can proceed and indictments be handed down.

Vishnu Bisram

Remove immunity for officials guilty of wrongdoing

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

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

Clueless about the role of the private media DEAR EDITOR, Today one can easily tell that things are rapidly slipping away for the PPP. The most current example of this came in the National Assembly from the ruling party’s Chief Whip, Ms. G a i l Te i x e i r a , w h o i n response to Opposition Leader David Granger ’s comment about GINA not covering the views of the opposition accurately in Parliament, totally missed the concern of Mr. Granger.

F o r t h e r e c o r d , M r.

Granger was enquiring about GINA; check the Hansard, Ms. Teixeira. He was not talking about Stabroek News or Kaieteur News.

Mr. Granger clearly said “In the opposition we were quite distressed about the content and the quality and the character of reports of the budget on t h e f i r s t d a y, Tu e s d a y, particularly by the Government News Agency

Dr. Bisnauth certainly made his contribution

DEAR EDITOR, I wish to join with others to express my condolences to the family and friends of the late Dr. Dale Bisnauth who passed away recently.

I had the privilege of serving as his Permanent Secretary when he was the then Minister of Education and I can attest to his commitment and dedication to the cause of improving the quality of education delivery to the children and young people of Guyana.

Dr. Bisnauth would also be remembered as an author

and journalist, having been at one time a regular contributor to the Mirror newspaper and earlier to the Caribbean Contact, which was one of the most sought after newspapers in Guyana during the pre1992 period.

I used to enjoy his columns which were highly critical of dictatorial and undemocratic rule that obtained at the time.

He has certainly made his contribution to the cause of a better Guyana. May his soul rest in peace!

Hydar Ally

(Government Information Agency).”

Thus Ms. Teixeira’s response was absolutely uncalled for and should be rejected for its absurdity. Ms. Teixeira was cited as referring, instead, to a “perceived lack of balance in the privatelyowned newspapers and new media”.

She said “The government has long held that the volume of “antigovernment” reports emanating from the “opposition media” warranted the state media coverage heavily slanted in its favour since it needed to get word out about its policies and programmes.”

Talk about apples and oranges!

The taxpayers do not fund the private media and thus the taxpayers have limited influence over their editorial policy.

However the State media is owned by the people, not the PPP or Ms. Teixeira, and thus must have an editorial policy that serves all Guyanese, especially those who voted for the majority in the opposition ,and thus their respective parliamentary

representatives have a right to be heard on the State media.

But this abuse of the State Media by the PPP is naked political opportunism and vindictiveness.

They continue to use other people’s money as if their grandfathers left them a trust fund to finance all their wicked propaganda.

We l l t h a n k y o u M r.

Granger for exposing the NCN and GINA again and remember now – Zero for NCN, GINA and the Chronicle of Lies in the

2013 National Budget; let Freedom House pay their expenses since they are the mouthpieces of Freedom House.

The verbal attacks on the independent media over the years are obvious attempts to intimidate the journalists into selfcensorship.

The vitriolic and tyrannical statements from the PPP members often fuel rage among their unthinking supporters who then pose a threat to journalists doing

their jobs. But we have news for the regime; they cannot and will not bully the private media into submission.

Given the pompousness displayed by the Jagdeo/Ramotar administrations, especially when they are being exposed by the media for corruption, high crime rate and blatant disrespect for the people, we expect such responses as highlighted above.

Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh

DEAR EDITOR, Guyana seems to be full of surprises.

About the Irish-born young man who has been charged with “serious threatening behaviour”.

Given his age, should he have been allowed such duties in the first place?

Born in late-June 1995 and working voluntarily with a British Charity in Guyana in August 2012 means that he was barely 17 years old when assigned as “a volunteer

teacher”. A teacher of what, one wonders, having regard to the fact that the official school-leaving age in the UK is 16 years.

The official Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) conditions of service state that ‘as of December 2004, applications to volunteer (for work overseas) are accepted from people aged between 20 and 75, with at least two years’ experience in their field............’.

Elsewhere the minimum

age for voluntary service overseas is believed to be 18 years, and 18 years is also the minimum legal drinking age, in very many countries.

Not only did we allow an under-18 to serve as a volunteer teacher but we allowed him to ‘consume a number of alcoholic beverages’ in public.

We seem to be a very liberal-minded nation in some respects!

Geralda Dennison

We seem to be a very liberalminded nation in some respects!

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Kaieteur News

Saturday April 06, 2013

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Estate worker crushed to death by lorry Elderly Briton dies after plunge in Pegasus pool

- driver detained Yet another home is without a breadwinner, a housewife is in grief, and a dangerous overtaking move leads to a vehicle crushing someone to death. This time an estate lorry, GNN 3172, proceeding north along the Port Mourant Public Road shortly after 12:00 hrs yesterday, snuffed out the life of 47-year-old Joseph Harry.

Reports are that Harry and other sugar estate workers of the Albion/Port Mourant Estate were heading home for the day in the lorry when the vehicle overtook a horsecart on the road, “and like it [the lorry] lean for one side and he [Harry] fall off on one side and like the wheel crush him”.

That was according to the man’s grief- stricken wife, Kamroon Ali. “He fall back and slide under the wheel,” she cried.

Harry was taken to the Port Mourant Hospital where he was rushed to the emergency room. He had several injuries including broken ribs and damage to the head. After several x-rays were performed, the man was

Police are awaiting results of a post mortem examination on an elderly British National who died shortly after taking a plunge in the Pegasus Hotel pool.

According to a police statement, on Thursday last 77-year-old Julian Dere, was seen motionless in the swimming pool at the Pegasus Hotel. He was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Julian Dere was staying at

The estate lorry that crushed the man then transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital sometime after 15:00 hrs where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

His brother, Tom Harry, was very critical of this. He questioned why his brother could not have been rushed immediately to the Georgetown Hospital to receive medical attention, since his injuries were very serious.

“The doctor (at Port Mourant Hospital) took so long to come,” the dead man’s brother reflected. He added

that the lorry was said to have been speeding and that it may have been overloaded since it “leaned” while overtaking.

Ali also complained that “the ambulance took so long to transfer him to New Amsterdam”.

Joseph Harry was employed as a planter in the estate fields for over 14 years and apart from his wife, he leaves to mourn two daughters - Elizabeth, 19 and Diana, 20.

The driver of the lorry has been arrested and is assisting police with investigations.

Dead: Joseph Harry

the Touristville Hotel, Subryanville, Georgetown, and had visited the Pegasus, where he went swimming.

Meanwhile, persons who were at the poolside at the time recalled seeing the man take a plunge but not resurfacing. Mere seconds later, he was seen just floating, as some persons looked on helplessly while others panicked. The man was eventually taken out of the pool and a female was seen trying to revive him but to no avail.

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Budget debates…

Kaieteur News

“Oh what a tangled web the government has weaved …” – APNU’s Basil Williams

By Latoya Giles A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) frontbencher Attorney at law Basil Williams has described this year’s budget as a “tangled web” which the government has weaved.

Williams pointed out that the government has taken the time to describe yet another annual budget as the “biggest’ the country has seen, but questioned for whose good this development would be.

“The question is who will benefit from this “biggest” budget, the masses of people or the cabal and their friends?”

Williams asked whether the lives of ordinary Guyanese have undergone a qualitative change or are still attended by shortages.

According to the APNU MP, “there is a frightening arrogance, a callous disregard on the part of those in the minority government for the best practices in the government… Nepotism and corruption have become the

Saturday April 06, 2013

APNU frontbencher Basil Williams signature of the government”.

“What kind of mind in the full glare of an ever-present call for equity in the broadcast media would give its family and friends most of the frequencies allotted for radio and television…well knowing that it would be revealed to the world,” Williams posited.

He further stated that he could not understand what type of administration would seek to “covet the Plaisance

Community Centre ground to its own purpose without a care for villagers, especially the youths who have for generations meaningfully used it”.

“The truth is, life for many Guyanese is a continuous struggle, particularly those who have been marginalised and discriminated against since 1992.” Williams noted that it was Housing Minister Irfaan Ali who had “regaled” about a “dreamy Guyana”, but the country’s per capita income in 2012 was US$300.

He called this another deception by the government.

According to the APNU Member of Parliament, “the learned authors Hunt and Sherman showed that the per capita income to GDP was an erroneous measure of the prosperity of the masses”.

Williams said it was “an incontrovertible fact that most of the wealth of Guyana is distributed amongst a small 20 percent cabal while the other 80 percent of Guyanese have to scramble for the crumbs”.

He further asked whether the Finance Minister (Dr.

Ashni Singh) was serious about this year ’s budget theme, “Overcoming Challenges Together, Accelerating Gains for Guyana”.

Williams reflected that for consecutive years the Opposition Leader had written to the President requesting a “tripartite” approach to developing a budget in which all Guyanese would benefit. He said that since this sensible proposition was rejected, one could not argue that this “togetherness” call is yet another deception.

LEGAL Williams went on to say that it was apparent that the government believes that the delivery of justice lies in more infrastructure. He said that billions have been spent on constructing new courts and

refurbishing existing ones.

The APNU MP stated that some two billion dollars is allocated to continue the “splurge”, but the Leonora and the Georgetown Magistrates’ courts are not yet operational.

“With all this money which is being pumped into the system, why can’t there be any modernised courtrooms which are fully air conditioned, fitted with microphones and digital recording systems which would speed trials up?”

“The Deeds Registry is still afflicted by lost Transports and surely developing of standard forms would speed up transactions therein.” Williams also asserted that the Judicial Service Commission must be fully constituted. He said that there needs to be a fast-

tracking mechanism to the Caribbean Court of Justice and the division of functions and distribution of the responsibilities for the administration of the courts between the Chancellor and Chief Justice must be resorted.

He affirmed that although the Criminal Law (Procedure) Amendment Act (2008) introduced paper committals into law to avoid unreasonable delays, the question is if it is being applied by all magistrates or by “a few enlightened ones”.

Williams was forthright in expressing that the jury must remain sacrosanct in the country’s jurisprudence. He said that it would be an outrage to empower the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal a jury’s verdict.

C’tyne accident victim claims buses were racing

Station.

According to the dead man’s wife, Radica Assirbad, she heard a loud noise shortly before 18:00 hrs. on Wednesday and decided to go on the road to see what had happened.

Her husband and others had just left the premises to go for some material to make

a shed at the home.

“But when me reach up close and when dem turn over the bus, me see him lie down!” the woman tearfully recounted.

According to Kevin Pooran, they were sitting in the canter, all set to move off, when suddenly a speeding minibus making the turn to overtake another vehicle on the Number 69 Public Road, headed towards them.

He said that he quickly managed to escape or he too would have died. But his uncle was not that lucky.

“He was at the back and pitched out… and when the bus hit the truck it topple on top of he and stick he under.”

The minibus slammed into the canter truck’s side and pinned him beneath.

Five others who were in the canter suffered minor injuries.

Nandkumar Pooran died on the way to the New Amsterdam Hospital.

March 31, he broke into the dwelling place of Elizabeth Williams and stole one HP laptop valued $362,000 and $19,000 Guyana currency.

The accused pleaded guilty and asked the court to be lenient with him while noting he was sorry for his actions.

When asked by the Magistrate why he broke into the house, the accused told the court that he was drunk and could barely recall what happened. In response to the

question of how he got into the virtual complainant’s premises, Jeffmoore said he entered through a window after removing the panes. He went on to state that after entering the house he saw the computer on a bed and the money on a table, so he just took them and left.

Meanwhile, according to the Prosecution’s case, the accused was caught with the stolen items while breaking into someone else’s car and was arrested.

- Drivers arrested A post mortem performed on 43-year-old Nandkumar ‘Renny’ Pooran of Lot 98 Number 69 Village, C o r e n t y n e , o n Thursday, revealed that he died of a broken neck. Dr. Vivekanand Brijmohan conducted the autopsy at the New Amsterdam Hospital.

Additionally, one of the man’s nephews, Kevin Pooran, who was with him on the vehicle at the time of the collision, claimed that the minibuses approaching their canter truck on the road that afternoon (and which ended up slamming into the vehicle and pinning Pooran down), were racing, and performed a dangerous overtaking procedure.

The drivers have since been arrested and are assisting with investigations at the Springlands Police

Dead: Nandkumar ‘Renny’ Pooran

Burglary accused blames it on drunkenness - Jailed for 3 years

A 23-year-old Eccles, East Bank Demerara man yesterday told Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty at the Providence Magistrate’s Court that he was drunk when he ended up in his neighbour’s house.

Avinash Jeffmoore, who was charged with break and enter and larceny, will spend the next 36 months in prison.

The court heard that on

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WHEN THE OPPOSITION IS REASONABLE AND RESPONSIBLE, THE GOVT. SHOULD BE RESPONSIVE The government has had the upper-hand in the debates so far on the 2013 National Budget.

Where the opposition has fallen down is in not providing enough alternative solutions to government policies.

It is one thing, for example, to say that the Budget does not adequately address the issue of povertyreduction and job creation. It is another thing to advance solutions as to how poverty can be reduced and jobs created.

Bringing back National Service is a mitigation measure. It compensates for the social effects of not having sufficient jobs for high levels of poverty. National Service never was and never will be about reducing poverty. It was also never about job creation.

It was an ineffective and costly means of dealing with the social fallout from these problems. National Service has been a monumental failure and it is useless trying to resurrect this scheme, even for political vindication. It is not relevant today as a means to address poverty because the government’s record in reducing poverty has been impressive.

Despite adopting the neoliberal model of development, the gains made by the government in reducing

poverty have matched those of countries in Latin America which departed from the market model of development and which pursued interventions such as stateownership of the means of production and direct handouts to the poor.

The government of Guyana has not gone that far.

It has restricted itself to the promotion of economic growth, social investments and assistance and safety nets to at-risk groupings and social safety nets.

In many countries undergoing structural adjustment, these policies have failed to reduce poverty appreciably and in many instances, have even widened the gap between the rich and the poor.

Under the PPPC, the results on poverty have nonetheless been impressive, considering the approaches taken. When the PPP assumed office in 1992, in excess of 43% of the population lived below the poverty line set by the World Bank.

Both absolute and extreme poverty have since been considerably slashed and the government’s priority is to bring the extreme poverty rate down to below 15% within the next couple of years.

The problem with poverty in Guyana remains the

Dem boys seh...

Luncheon trying fuh pull wool Gerry got a problem wid de budget. All of a sudden he see a big flaw. De budget ain’t got nuff things fuh tourism. Nuff people find fault wid de budget but Gerry didn’t see nutten wrang till he notice that he hotel ain’t get no tax break and he still got to pay VAT. Now everybody does think bout demself. Gerry now notice that he ain’t getting nutten extra this year suh he criticize de budget. He ain’t get nutten to put in he pocket.

But while he grumbling Luncheon showing that he is a bully. De Plaisance people seh that dem don’t want no tower pun dem playground. The very government people who building de tower decide to back off, but not Luncheon. He announce that de tower gun build right pun de playground because he seh suh.

Dem boys know that is a big quarrel gun start and everybody gun join in, which is just wha Luncheon want. He want de confusion, because it gun distract people from de real issue. Jagdeo share out de radio frequency to he friend and family and Luncheon didn’t got shame.

He seh that de sharing out ain’t nutten, that all people gun remember is that radio free-up. But people ain’t tekking that.

Dem was de same people who hear when Luncheon seh that anybody who want can get one, but dem boys want to see what is right.

But Luncheon creating de distraction. Once people rowing and fighting over tower in a playground, dem ain’t got time to look at de real issue. Luncheon is a smart man, but he gun get outsmart.

But dem boys seh that dem got something else. Luncheon want to show Alexei and Walter de Wicked that he is de boss.

Dem two done shut down de project, but Luncheon determine that wha he seh is de law. He telling de world that dem two ain’t got no real say.

Talk half and don’t let Luncheon distract you.

differential between urban, rural and hinterland poverty, and it was therefore anticipated that the opposition parties would have been suggesting a strategy that would have been aimed at shifting public expenditure and investment away from urban locations towards rural and hinterland areas so as to address poverty.

In terms of employment, the statistics present something of an “explainable anomaly”. Despite the tremendous growth in the economy, the unemployment rate remains static. This, however, cannot be explained as jobless growth. Instead, and as many employers can attest, there is a crisis in finding workers rather than a crisis in jobs.

Recently, a timber processing company advertised for seven hundred and fifty jobs. It would be interesting to know just how many persons applied and how long it took them to fill those vacancies and what has

been the staff turnover thus far.

This would confirm what is suspected: that there are certain jobs available but not too many takers for these types of jobs.

During the debates on the 2013 Budget, one of the ruling party’s parliamentarians indicated that while the opposition was expected to hold the government’s feet to the coals, the opposition should be reasonable and responsible.

What was not said was that if and when the opposition is reasonable and responsible, the government should be responsive. And even when the opposition is not responsible and reasonable, the government should attempt to explain to them why it (the government) does not consider the opposition’s proposal reasonable and responsible.

Despite the disappointments with many of the opposition’s presentations so far, there were some useful

suggestions that emerged and to which the government should be responsive. The first of these is in relation to both GPL and GuySuCo. There is a need for the various plans that these corporations have to be examined.

This is a very reasonable and responsible suggestion.

It is hard to continue to ask for the support of the opposition in bailing out the GPL, and GuySuCo, and in providing a gigantic subsidy for the supply of electricity to Region 10 without there being some evaluation as to the state of play of these entities.

There is already in stream a plan for a technical study of the power situation in Linden and the opposition is likely to support the astronomical subsidy which is being provided to Region 10.

That technical study will help determine the future of that arrangement.

There is no reason also why there should not be a similar independent technical

team to examine the turnaround plans of GuySuCo and the financial viability of GPL since each year these entities are becoming a drain on the national treasury.

It would be a good gesture if the government as part of a negotiated compromise with the opposition agrees for the opposition to nominate two persons, not objectionable to the government, to be part of a five-man technical team to undertake these assessments.

The government in turn can have two reps and civil society the other one.

It would be responsive, reasonable and responsible of both the government and the opposition to reach such an understanding.

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Blacklisting looms for “lawless” taxi services, drivers

By Leonard Gildarie More than 50 taxi services across the country yesterday signed onto a new code of conduct which will spell out how drivers will have to operate.

The guidelines, which will come into effect in three months, will mandate services to not only ensure drivers are properly dressed, but that background checks are carried out when they are hired. The updated code of conduct will eventually see taxi services wearing particular colours to identify them, and even includes blacklisting services and drivers that are in breach.

Eventually, similar code of conduct measures will be introduced to speedboat operators and minibuses as part of a strategy to lift the standards of the public transportation system, Tourism Minister (ag), Irfaan Ali stated yesterday.

Ali was part of a team from the Tourism Ministry and Guyana Taxi Service Association which hammered out the details for the updated guidelines. A special hotline has been established by the ministry to take complaints.

The issue has indeed been a sore one for government for years now.

Experts in the transportation sector say that there are between 8,000 and 9,000 taxis in operations, excluding private hire cars. There are 94 taxi services listed across the country with just half registered with the association.

Over time, drivers of both minibuses and taxis have been accused of being illmannered, badly dressed, with little supervision to make a difference. All too often there have been reports of taxi drivers involved in robberies

and of passengers being deceived or robbed. There are even instances of some taxis, attached to services, being parked at drinking spots.

Taxis and minibuses have largely been blamed, also, for the lawlessness on the country’s roadways.

According to Minister Ali, many countries have standard guidelines for taxis to protect the customers.

Essentially, in the initial phase, the taxi services will have to monitor themselves.

It is the aim eventually to set up a database with approved taxi services and a system that will allow customers to make complaints that can even lead to a public blacklisting of the service and suspension of the driver, if warranted.

Penalties like public blacklisting and police information of drivers who have been charged will all be data that can be used in improving the sector, the Minister asserted.

Under the new codes, drivers will be barred from wearing vests or slippers and will more than likely have to be dressed in uniform, outfitted with identification of the particular taxi service.

Shortly, the Tourism Industry is set to start training drivers, dispatchers and managers also to sensitise them on the new expectations.

Regarding the taxi services, measures are being put in place to have them list details of customers who call for a ride, to ensure safety.

Cars will also have to be clean, well maintained and roadworthy.

The codes also warn about discrimination against passengers because of gender, sexual preference, disability, age and pregnancy.

Taxi services will have to take immediate disciplinary action against employees and

- mandatory dress code, complaints hotline to be established

Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali (third from left) and other stakeholders at the presentation of the new code of conduct drivers for serious breaches of customer service requirements, it was disclosed yesterday.

Then there is the issue involving taxis not attached to services.

In the coming months, these will also be addressed, the Minister informed. So will private cars moonlighting as taxis.

The officials yesterday warned that insurance does not cover passengers in these illegal operations.

Taxi services are paying up to $150,000 per car annually for comprehensive insurance.

Ali admitted that similar measures with the operations of minibuses have not met with success as there are several associations representing those drivers.

Efforts are now being worked on to facilitate the establishment of a National Transportation Association that will also address river transportation and the issues

Guyanese accused of killing stepson, 2, to face trial in Trinidad (Trinidad Guardian) Three years after he was charged with beating his two-year-old stepson, Etean George Smith, to death, Guyanese national Kamaldeo Singh has been committed to stand trial at the Port-of-Spain Assizes.

Singh, 23, appeared before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar in the Port-ofSpain Eighth Court on Wednesday.

He was represented by Attorney-atlaw Orrin Kerr, while the State was represented by Hema Sundarsingh. Kerr was appointed through the Legal Aid Authority.

Singh, of Freddy Street, Aranguez, San Juan, was before Ayers-Caesar, charged with beating Smith to death between October 19 and 22,

To stand trial for murder: Kamaldeo Singh 2010, at Freddy Street, Aranguez. He is accused of beating the child with a belt buckle during an argument with the child’s mother, Devika Rani Roopwah.

Ayers-Caesar ruled that a

prima facie case had been made out against Singh, hence the decision to commit him to stand trial for murder.

Etean Smith’s bruised body was discovered by relatives on a bed at an apartment at Freddy Street on October 21, 2010, after paramedics responded to a distress call. A post mortem revealed the toddler died of a brain haemorrhage, caused by a severe beating with a belt buckle. He had also been hit in the abdomen, which caused internal bleeding in the kidney, and was violently shaken. At the time of the incident, Roopwah told police she had a “usual argument” with Singh, and had sought refuge at her mother’s home, leaving Etean in Singh’s care.

New guidelines for taxi and minibus operators are soon to be introduced, the Tourism Ministry said yesterday.

affecting private hire cars.

There have been a number of deadly river accidents involving speedboats in recent months.

In 2011, the former administration in an effort to

streamline the sector had introduced a reduction in the import taxes for taxis, as a form of incentive for the operators to regularise.

In return, the taxi services agreed to use yellow as the

standard colour on their vehicles.

Signing the updated code of conduct yesterday were Minister Ali and Hema Khan, President of the Guyana Taxi Service Association.

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Caneloader operator drowns after vehicle topples into canal A 55-year-old cane loader operator of the Skeldon Estate drowned in a canefield canal in the Number 79 Village backdam last Friday, after the machine which he was operating, reportedly toppled into the waterway.

Dead is Gopaul ‘Bangalee’ Jagdeo of Lot 71 Number 59 Village, Corentyne. He had been employed with the Guyana Sugar Corporation for just over 16 years, 10 of which he operated the Bell threewheel cane loader in the backdam.

His grief-stricken wife, Sandra Gopaul, said that her husband left for work on the night shift of that evening and she received a telephone call from a senior official from the estate shortly after 20:00hrs, relating to her the tragedy that befell her husband.

“The [phone] call came in and they said that the Bell loader toppled and he died”, she stated.

A visit to the Skeldon Hospital shortly after confirmed the tragedy, with Jagdeo’s body being found at the morgue.

Mrs. Gopaul said she is unclear at this point as to how her husband drowned that evening and would like the officials from the estate to provide her with more information. According to the

A Bell three-wheel caneloader, similar to the one pictured here, reportedly toppled into a canal with Jagdeo

Dead: Gopaul Jagdeo woman there were no eyewitnesses on the night of the incident, since Jagdeo was the only one operating the equipment at the time in the backdam.

“He was there alone— that is what I heard from his rep. The vehicle toppled down in the canal at the estate backdam.”

Mrs. Gopaul related that it was perhaps difficult for her husband to free himself when the equipment ended up in the canal since he was “strapped down with seatbelt and had on gloves and earmuffs”.

She stated that the Estate’s Personnel Manager and other officials have visited the home regularly and have “helped with certain things”. “They came

and sympathized,” she added.

When asked whether the officials had told her anything about compensation for her husband’s death, the woman

answered in the negative, “they didn’t say anything about that”.

A post mortem conducted on Jagdeo’s body on Thursday last, by

Government Pathologist, Dr. Vivekanand Brijmohan, concluded that Jagdeo died of drowning. His remains will be cremated today.

Jagdeo is also survived

by his three children: Sarita, 35; Ryan, 34, and Rosita, 33.

Several efforts to contact the Estate Manager as well as Personnel Manager of Skeldon Estate proved futile.

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GCCI President says raising UG tuition fees would be rational move - calls for stringent entry standards

By Sharmain Grainger Raising the tuition fees at the University of Guyana was yesterday regarded as a rational move by President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Clinton Urling, who emphatically insisted that “if funding is not going to come from Central Government it has to come from somewhere else and raising fees is one of the initiatives.” A raise in the tuition fees would however require that efforts be made to review the university’s entire programme and curriculum that are currently being offered, Urling noted.

“Cut a few of those programmes that make no sense and consolidate so you can put valuable minimal resources into places where they are needed the most,” he outlined as he alluded to reports that there are some existing programmes at the tertiary institution that graduate a mere one person.

“I don’t know how true that is, but regardless, if a programme is graduating just

two or three and it is not a graduate level programme, I think we need to review those programmes and scrap some of them.”

It was at a recent press conference that Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, had offered the proposal for an increase in the tuition fees.

His suggestion has however not gone down well in all quarters. However, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon has noted that the renewed discussions in this regard could see Government making a definitive decision on the fee hike proposal.

Urling is of the firm view that a holistic and multitudinous approach be embraced in making such a crucial decision adding that “it is not as black and white as raising the fees or dropping the fees.”

He vocalised his belief that the local university offers programmes that are perhaps the cheapest in the world, even as he speculated that the fees have not increased since his stint there, which ended

GCCI President Clinton Urling in 2004.

Urling has since completed a master’s degree programme which, according to him, attracted a cost of approximately $2 million for a year.

“People are paying more than that for programmes, but at the University of Guyana people pay $127,000 for an entire year and yet expect to get quality education...”

The demand for quality education, he pointed out, has seen a number of regional and even international universities seeking to offer their programmes here at high fees that are paid on demand.

SUPPORTING THE FEE

HIKE Moreover, the GCCI President asserted that the private sector totally stands in support of a raise in tuition fees at the local university, even as he insisted that “we can’t delink a university from our private sector. If we are serious about diversification of our economy and fuelling some of these industries that are emerging, we definitely need a strong university, it is our main tertiary institution in Guyana and I believe it should, if given the proper resources and the proper management, be the premier tertiary institution in the Caribbean, not just in Guyana”.

Moreover, Urling is convinced that in order for the university to reach an acceptable level, there is need for it to maintain administrative independence, whereby it is able to manage all of its affairs. This, he said, is important even if Government plugs the requisite additional funding into the institution’s operation.

“I think even if Government is funding most of the work at the university, it has to allow the university to be an independent institution. Government can play an oversight role, but that’s about it; leave them to determine their own affairs and their own future...all those things have to tie in together, because even if you raise the tuition fees and there is bad or poor management, I don’t think that you will get anywhere in terms of the increased fees going in the right places.”

A move to increase fees, he opined, should also see the university seeking to set a

stringent standard in terms of its entry requirements and incorporating a curriculum that caters more to analytical and critical thinking. And while some would opt to view such a move as a political issue, whereby the less fortunate would be deprived of access to the university, Urling has a different outlook.

“It makes little sense if persons go into the university and the quality...the level of teaching and experience that they will have, sees them coming out no better. It makes no sense.”

He noted that this could, in fact, defeat the entire purpose and spoil the image of the University which could be reflected when graduates go overseas and when they enter the workforce.

“When they come to the private sector and they can’t even write proper letters...we would only see it as craziness,” Urling said.

RESEARCHAND DEVELOPMENT According to the Chamber President, a transformation of the university must occur in line with the position held by Head of State Donald Ramotar when he addressed the university’s convocation last year. Mr. Ramotar at the time had committed to reformulating the entire structure of the university, whereby it becomes a hub for research and development.

“That is something that the Chamber of Commerce endorses and it is something that we see as critical to improving Guyana’s competitiveness...our private sector’s competitiveness. We can’t delink our success from the University of Guyana.”

According to Urling “one

of the more significant barriers for us doing business is the skills shortage problems we have in Guyana...from the migration end and from the quality coming out of the university.”

As such, he noted that one of the things that the GCCI has been advocating for is to ensure that a higher quality and better prepared students are produced by the university, to ensure that the curriculum and the other programmes of the institution reflect the economy and the direction of the economy as well as what the private sector demands.

He stressed too that research and development is a critical factor, adding that if Guyana’s economy is to become diversified, and if companies are to be competitive globally, “we will need a knowledge-based economy and that is where we see the university coming in.”

Urling noted that at the moment the local university is very deficient in terms of its facilities and teaching quality, which will result in lower quality of students entering the labour force.

“There are a few anomalies that would come out from there ...one or two good students that you will always get, but generally I think that no one in the society, not just from the private sector, would dispute that a lot of funding needs to go into the University of Guyana,” he passionately asserted.

The recently unveiled national budget saw the university being allotted the sum of $1.7 billion of which $450 million will be directed to students’ loans.

GRA threatens to prosecute businesses that obstruct its officers Following instances of its officers being prevented from examining goods suspected to have been smuggled or for which taxes have not been paid, the state-owned Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has warned that it has the law on its side.

The entity yesterday threatened to prosecute persons who obstruct the process.

The Customs Act provides for a $10,000 fine along with up to three years of jail time, the authority said.

GRA reminded that its Law Enforcement and Investigation Department works to promote compliance with the Value Added Tax, Excise Tax and Income Tax Acts, and the Customs, Trade and Border Laws of Guyana.

“However, the agency has noted with concern, that there are a number of persons who

attempt to obstruct this process. In light of this, it is has become necessary for the agency to remind the general public of the authority vested in its Enforcement Officers and the ramifications of obstructing them in the course of their duties.”

GRA pointed out that under the Customs laws, all officers shall have the same powers, authorities and privileges as are given by law to members of the Guyana Police Force.

The statement also said that is specifically asserted that if its officers do not have free access to any place or any box or chest, or if the keys of any such place are locked or withheld, the officers can use force to open it. The officers “shall not be liable to any prosecution or action at law for so doing; and if any goods be found concealed on board,

they shall be forfeited.”

The Customs laws also allow GRA officers to “upon reasonable suspicion, stop and examine any ship, aircraft or carriage within Guyana to ascertain whether any uncustomed or prohibited goods are contained therein…”

GRA said that it will continue to put systems in place to ensure its enforcement activities are enhanced.

“The effectiveness of this, however, is dependent on cooperation from the public as it relates to sharing information on incidents of corruption and illegal activities that are geared at depriving the state of revenue.

It may also result in unfair competition with the local manufacturing sector and legitimate importers.”

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Stalled Diamond road project on Auditor General’s radar The contractor’s equipment parked in Diamond Housing Scheme

- CH&PA yet to submit documents

Avenue ‘A’ at present Stalled rehabilitative roadwork on Avenues ‘A’ and ‘B’ of Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, has attracted the attention of the Auditor General’s Office, following numerous complaints by citizens of the poor quality and the lengthiness of the project.

The multi-million-dollar contract was awarded to Kares Engineering. The project, according to a Government Information Agency article dated March 15, involves rehabilitating “Blocks 1 & 2 of Avenue A with asphaltic concrete, and

Avenue B and another cross street with crusher run”.

Works on the project commenced in April 2012 and were expected to conclude four months later in August.

However, to date, the job remains incomplete and the contractor’s equipment is still on site. It is unclear whether the contractor has been paid in full.

Attempts to ascertain information from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&P) on this project have proved futile.

Following several phone calls to the entity and repeatedly

being told that those who could possibly provide answers were unavailable, an email was sent to the Chief Executive Officer for a comment. There has been no response to the latter.

According to a resident, in February this year, the Ministry of Housing had given the contractor two weeks to complete the roads.

And, a Clerk of Works was placed on site to monitor the project. The roads have since been improved via Double Bitumen Surface Treatment, but residents are still disappointed with the

execution of the project as well as key aspects. For example, they are asking why the contractor can’t complete the job using asphaltic concrete.

One resident complained bitterly that the “roughness of the roads with small bricks” is damaging his vehicle. He stressed that for years many of the roads in Diamond have been deplorable and sometimes with heavy rainfall, are virtually impassable.

According to Phillip Smith, Audit Director of the

Audit Office, owing to the many concerns raised about this project, the Works and Structure Department has asked CH&PA, by way of engineer, to provide documents on the project. He related that the documents are reportedly being prepared for submission, but could not recall how long ago this arrangement was made.

He encouraged that citizens who want a project investigated “for reasonable reasons” could contact the Audit Office.

Defending the delay, a Kares Engineering

representative said that the contractor had experienced difficulty in accessing crusher run and tar for the project. It was explained that last November when the country experienced a shortage of crusher run, the company could not get any of the construction material for the road.

However, during that period, BK International announced that its storage yard at Kingston was filled with crusher run and had the capacity to supply material for most projects being executed across Guyana.

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Housewife’s ‘suspicious’ death…

Man claims cops ignored High Court Order for second post mortem Despite his suspicions that his daughter was the victim of foul play, the father of Mahaica housewife Tharmattie Ramsaram has decided to have her buried, rather than adhere to a High Court ruling that allows for a second autopsy.

Baljewan Singh says he was forced to make this decision because ranks from the Mahaica Police Station have repeatedly failed to turn up to witness the second autopsy.

In the meantime, his daughter’s remains, which are being kept at the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary, have begun to deteriorate, after being repeatedly taken from that area in preparation for the post mortem, Mr. Singh said.

Kaieteur News has confirmed that the second autopsy was scheduled to be performed Wednesday, but no police ranks turned up. It was then rescheduled for yesterday, but again, the ranks failed to show.

“The police not turning up for the PM. The body deteriorating. How long you gun go on like this? We will just bury the body; there is no justice,” said Mr. Singh,

who has travelled thrice from Rosignol, Berbice, to Georgetown in the hope of witnessing the second post mortem.

Tharmattie Ramsaram, 34, of Mahaica, died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on March 24 last, allegedly after ingesting a poisonous substance.

Kaieteur News understands that a post mortem, performed by government pathologist Nehaul Singh, indicated that death was due to pesticide poisoning.

But Ramsaran’s father expressed suspicion that his daughter did not ingest the poison herself, since she suffers from seizures that have rendered the mother of two unable to walk unaided or do the simplest tasks.

“She can’t open a bottle of soft drink by herself,” Mr. Singh said.

The father contended that his daughter was incapacitated some eight years ago after being badly beaten by a man, whom he identified.

Kaieteur News was told that attempts were being made to have the woman cremated.

However, through his attorney Bernard De Santos, Mr. Singh filed an injunction in the High Court requesting that the cremation be deferred “until a second and more through post mortem is done.”

Mr. Singh said that his daughter had always insisted that she be buried rather than cremated.

It is alleged that around March 23, last, Tharmattie Ramsaram contacted her father by telephone and told him that she wanted him to take her to his home. Kaieteur News was told that because of her condition, a teenage boy at the woman’s residence would dial and hold the phone for her.

Mr. Singh alleged that on March 24, at around 10:00 hrs, he attempted to contact his daughter by telephone. He said that her 14-year-old son answered and said that his mother was ‘cleaning chicken.’ The father said that this aroused his suspicion, since he knew that his daughter’s illness would have rendered her incapable of performing this task.

The father alleged that he kept phoning his daughter,

only to be repeatedly told that she was ‘cleaning chicken.’

He said that eventually, at around 15:00 hrs, the child told him that “mommy drink poison.”

He said that his daughter was taken to the Mahaicony Hospital before being transferred to the GPHC, where she succumbed.

The police at Mahaica were subsequently informed.

Mr. Singh said that the conflicting statements from several individuals aroused his suspicions.

One report he received was that there were no pesticides at his daughter’s house, and this raised questions as to how she could have acquired the

poison. Rather, it was alleged that pesticides were stored at the home of another relative who lives a few houses away.

Kaieteur News understands that the woman’s husband is a rice farmer.

The father reportedly became even more concerned after being told that his daughter would be cremated.

He subsequently contacted Senior Counsel De Santos, who filed an injunction to have the cremation stopped and a second post mortem performed. This was to have been conducted by pathologist Dr. Vivekanand Brijmohan.

But De Santos and his client say that they were

stymied by ranks at the Mahaica Police Station who failed to turn up for the post mortem.

De Santos said that he had contacted a senior police officer at the station and he had indicated that a constable would be instructed to view the post mortem. However, the constable failed to turn up. Mr. Singh said that the daughter’s remains began to deteriorate after being repeatedly being taken out of the mortuary freezing area in preparation for the autopsy.

He said that after the post mortem was again delayed yesterday, he bowed to the wishes of his daughter ’s husband to have the remains buried.

Chopping victim battling for life Lawrence Fanfair is battling for his life

A 27-year-old is now a patient in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) - after he was reportedly beaten and chopped by the owner of a city taxi service on Thursday night and was left bleeding on the road.

Injured is Lawrence Fanfair, a father of one, of Lot 40 Costello Housing Scheme, Georgetown. He was chopped on his hand, with the wound requiring some 22

stitches. He also received a chop wound to his abdomen.

The victim is now on a life support machine. Doctors at the health institution have since notified Fanfair’s family that he is in a critical condition.

Apart from the external wounds, the man is suffering from a damaged intestine and other internal injuries.

Yesterday, at the GPHC, Fanfair’s sister, Keona told Kaieteur News that she was informed that her brother was

Unidentified body found beneath GNIC wharf The body of an unidentified male of African descent was found beneath the Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) wharf yesterday. According to reports, staffers made the discovery and quickly contacted the police. Kaieteur News was told that the police took some time to arrive at the scene.

Undertakers from the Lyken Funeral Home were called to remove the body.

According to police sources, the body was clad in a blue three-quarter pants and a jersey. This publication was further told that it was unclear if the body had any marks of violence since it was badly decomposed. A post mortem is expected to be done next week.

Investigations are ongoing.

heading home on a pedal cycle when he stopped in the vicinity of the aforementioned taxi service to talk to one of his friends.

“He was there talking and a car from the base reverse and hit my brother and apparently my brother and the driver got into a fight and the owner of the taxi service came out with a chopper and started chopping my brother,” Keona said.

The woman explained that a taxi which was passing saw her brother lying on the road in a pool of blood and took him to the hospital.

But yesterday, when Kaieteur News visited the taxi service named by the injured man’s family, the dispatcher said that no such incident occurred there.

When asked to speak with the owner of the taxi service she added that he was not around.

However, this publication learnt that the police apprehended the owner for the taxi service late yesterday.

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Alleged ganja trafficking trio refused bail Three persons appeared before Magistrate Sueanna Lovell at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday on a joint charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Nigel Somersaul, 43, of 67 E Wismar Housing Scheme, Alfred A d r i a n , o f 5 5 Soesdyke Linden Highway and Rakesh Dyal of Vreede n - H o o p We s t C o a s t Demerara, all pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Somersaul’s lawyer Patrick Harris asked for bail in a minimal sum citing that the narcotics did not belong

to his client as it was not found on his person or any bag belonging to him.

“He was simply the driver of the vehicle and was unaware of the drugs.”

Police Prosecutor Seon Blackman said that police ranks, acting on information, conducted a search on vehicles along the Mabaruma Public Road.

A search was carried out on a vehicle with licence plate number PFF 7227 which was being driven Nigel Somersaul.

A further search conducted on the interior of the car resulted in the Police

uncovering a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis.

The suspected narcotics were found hidden in two separate bags - a grey travelling and black plastic.

The trio were then cautioned and arrested.

The substance was later weighed in their presence and it amounted to 724 grams.

The prosecution objected to bail based on the seriousness of the offence and the quantum of the drugs. As a result the three defendants were remanded until April 24.

Three teenage boys are in custody after being caught red-handed with an army officer’s car that they had stolen on Thursday.

The youths, reportedly aged 14, 15 and 17, were nabbed at around noon yesterday in Republic Park, East Bank Demerara, while seeking help to have the stolen Toyota Sprinter pulled from a ditch.

Two of the youths, who reportedly had previous brushes with the law, are said to be from D’Urban Street.

The third is from Nandy Park.

Kaieteur News understands that the army officer had parked his car in

Camp Street on Thursday night, while visiting an ATM, when the lads entered the vehicle and drove off with it.

It is believed that the youths went on a lengthy joyride before parking the vehicle in Republic Park.

Yesterday, the trio retrieved the car and were about to drive off when they reportedly spotted a police patrol.

At that stage, the lad who was at the wheel panicked and reversed into a ditch.

It is alleged that the youths exited the car and after walking some distance away, brazenly asked another driver to

assist them in hauling the stolen vehicle out of the ditch.

The driver reportedly left the scene and returned with a rope to haul the stuck vehicle.

At around the same time, police ranks also turned up at the scene and arrested two of the teens, while the third escaped.

However, he was nabbed in Nandy Park by the same driver who had come to the teens’ aid.

The man, with assistance from ranks of a security firm, took the boys to the Ruimveldt Police Station.

They are currently in custody at the Providence Police Station.

Teens steal army officer’s car, nabbed after driving into ditch

Sophia man faces attempted murder, robbery charges

A Sophia resident has been remanded on an attempted murder charge.

Darrel Gilkes, 22, of Lot 19 Block E, Sophia, faced Magistrate Sueanna Lovell yesterday accused of discharging a loaded gun with the intent to murder Seon Manderson. Gilkes is also

facing a robbery charge, accused of relieving Colin Fraser of a gold chain worth $90,000 in Georgetown on April 2, last.

Gilkes’ Attorney Leslie Sobers requested bail at an affordable sum.

However the prosecution objected to bail based on the

serious nature of the attempted murder charge.

The prosecution then explained that the objection is based on the fact that the victim is still hospitalised and is still in an unstable condition.

The matter is to be recalled on April 24.

Saturday April 06, 2013

ImmigrationINFOTM Immigration News For Our Community

By Attorney Gail S. Seeram Through this “Question & Answer” column, our goal is to answer your immigration questions. We appreciate your comments and questions. If you have a question that you would like answered in this column, please email: Gail@GailLaw.com.

Question #1: If someone has a holiday/tourist visa and travelled before and their permanent residency is in process is it possible for them to travel at the moment?

Answer #1: With a permanent resident petition pending, there is the possibility that the U.S. Embassy can revoke or deny renewal of a holiday/tourist visa. Remember, with a holiday/tourist visa, you must not have an intent to emigrate or remain in the U.S. If you have a valid holiday/tourist visa and chose to travel with a permanent resident petition pending, you may not have problems at the port of entry in the U.S. If the officer at the port of entry discovers you have a pending permanent resident petition then he/she may deny your admission into the U.S. Question #2: I was in the U.S. unlawfully and took voluntary departure back to Guyana. I am since married a U.S. citizen and we had an

interview at the U.S. Embassy. My case was in administrative review and now the U.S. Embassy in asking for me to file waivers. What is your advice?

Answer #2: It sounds like you need to file two waivers, Form I-601 and Form I-212. Note, by simply completing the required forms is not enough to get you an approval. You and your husband must submit additional evidence to support the waiver that will show the extreme hardship to your spouse if the waiver is not granted. This is a tough burden and there is specific evidence that the law requires. Contact our office for more information.

Question #3: My grandfather petitioned for my father and the visa is available. My parents are now divorced and I have a new sibling that was not included in the original filing. Should we tell the U.S. Embassy about my parents’ divorce and what about the new child?

Answer #3: Yes, you should tell the U.S. Embassy about your parents’ divorce. It is easy for the U.S. Embassy to search records in Guyana and find out about the divorce so try to be truthful. Also, give the U.S. Embassy the birth certificate

Gail Seeram for your new sibling and he/ she will be included in the visa application once the visa fees are paid.

Question #4: My grandfather had originally filed for both my father and his brother, and their families.

If one member of either party’s family gets rejected for one reason or the other, is it possible that everyone will be rejected?

Answer #4: No. Your father’s case and his brother’s case are two separate cases. If one is denied for whatever reason, it is not automatic that the other case will be denied. Note, a denial can be issued due to lack of income of the petitioner, unable to prove familial r e l a t i o n s h i p , misrepresentation to the officer, fraud, etc.

Opposition incapable of responding to major elements of the Budget - Dr. Luncheon As Government clashes with the Opposition Parties in the National Assembly over the provision of services, constitutionality, and corruption during the 2013 Budget debates, it claims that the Opposition is incapable of responding to the major elements of the $208.8B Budget.

Dr. Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday said that Government had expected that the Opposition Parties - A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance for Change (AFC) would have objected to the 2013 Budget.

Dr. Luncheon related that the major contention about the Budget is about process and the Opposition has resorted to claims of unconstitutionality, funds not being in the Consolidated Fund, and criticism of public expenditure under this administration.

The Government side of the House, since the debates began on Tuesday, has been arguing that the Budget seeks to satisfy the needs of all Guyanese and will see Guyana along a positive

growth path. However, Opposition Members of Parliament contended that the budget is not working class, does not cater for the poor, is unconstitutional, and accused Government of corruption.

According to Dr. Luncheon, the occasional outburst by the Opposition about content ignores Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh’s considerations of each sector. He said that the Opposition’s silence on macro-economic stability must be judged as a job well done under the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) from 1992 to 2013.

He said that macroeconomic instability wreaks havoc on the poor and vulnerable. As such, this Government was able to provide macro-economic stability and several features were highlighted by the Finance Minister during his Budget presentation on March 25.

According to Dr. Luncheon, in 2012, Guyana’s real Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.8 percent and the inflation rate was 3.5 percent as projected in 2011.

He emphasised that the Opposition is cultivating confusion of their actual intentions of the Budget: either reject the Budget and have elections; cut or do not cut the Budget; talks or no talks; or pause or no pause.

Dr. Luncheon stated that Cabinet wonders if the Opposition is talking to Guyanese when they comment that sugar workers are the Government’s problem and talk about lack of investments in Region 10.

He stressed that Cabinet feels that the debate was essentially defending that most comprehensive annual financing plan that is in line with PP P / C ’s o n g o i n g development strategy maintains macro-economic stability, sustains the level of investment in the social sector, and attends to the needs of vulnerable people.

Dr. Luncheon said that t h e Budget is a win-win proposition for all individuals, families and communities. “It is fashioned to respond to the various categories of Guyanese and brings total coverage and sustainability,” Luncheon stated.

Saturday April 06, 2013

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U.N. rights chief calls for Brazil to extend tax breaks as growth, elections eyed closure of Guantanamo prison

Dilma Rousseff (Reuters) - Brazil will extend payroll tax breaks to 14 new sectors starting in 2014, the latest in an offensive by President Dilma Rousseff’s government to keep businesses hiring and strengthen her re-election chances next year.

In a decree published late on Thursday, the government said it will eliminate payroll taxes for construction, engineering, railway and sea transportation companies.

Instead those companies will pay between 1 percent and 2 percent of their gross revenue.

Since last year, Rousseff has extended payroll tax breaks to dozens of industries, such as carmakers and other durable goods manufacturers, in an effort to revive an economy that is struggling to regain the redhot growth rates that made it an emerging market star over

the last decade.

The latest stimulus measures suggest the government is worried about economic growth in 2014, when Rousseff will seek reelection on the leftist Workers’ Party ticket, some economists say.

“This is one of the first signals that the government is worried about 2014,” said Gustavo Mendonça, an economist with Saga Capital in Rio de Janeiro.

“The government is looking ahead and seeing that 2014 may not present as robust growth as it had expected before, and it is looking at the political consideration of that as well.”

Rousseff has remained immensely popular half way through her term in office despite a sharp slowdown of the Brazilian economy, which grew only 0.9 percent in 2012, and steadily mounting inflation pressure.

Most Brazilians have been willing to shrug that off as long as unemployment remains at a record low and real wages continue to rise both of which require businesses to keep hiring, or at least put off firing - based on a perception that the economic outlook is improving.

Part of that includes measures such as tax breaks, intended to show Brazilian businesses that the government is behind them.

Brazil’s economy is expected to rebound to 3

Colombian FARC leader Catatumbo to join peace talks: source

Pablo Catatumbo BOGOTA (Reuters) Colombian FARC leader Pablo Catatumbo will join rebel negotiators already in Havana for peace talks, a security source said, in a bid to rally more support from rank and file guerrillas to end Colombia’s five-decade conflict.

Catatumbo, who is sought by the United States for drug

trafficking, has already left Colombia for Cuba, the source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

Government negotiators and leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, have been in talks since November to find a way to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands since it began in 1964.

It was not immediately clear if Catatumbo will replace an existing negotiator.

Some observers reckon the current FARC team, headed by Ivan Marquez, does not represent the entire group, which many believe has become fractured and unable to communicate following a ten-year military offensive that has killed top commanders and pushed the guerrillas into remote areas.

Catatumbo is one of the FARC’s six-member leadership known as the Secretariat.

percent growth this year, but the path toward recovery remains shaky with key indicators showing growth uneven.

Industrial output shrank more than expected in February, suggesting a longexpected rebound in the struggling sector has yet to take place, and some economists are starting to bet the economy as a whole will expand less than 3 percent in 2013.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights chief called on the United States yesterday to close down the Guantanamo prison camp, saying the indefinite imprisonment of many detainees without charge or trial violated international law.

Navi Pillay said the hunger strike being staged by some inmates at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in southeastern Cuba was a “desperate act” but “scarcely surprising”.

“ We m u s t b e c l e a r about this: the United States is in clear breach not just of its own commitments but also of international laws and standards that it is obliged to uphold,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged four years ago to close the controversial facility, opened by the Bush administration in January 2002

to hold men captured in counter-terrorism operations after the deadly September 11 attacks on America.

Pillay voiced deep disappointment at the U.S. government’s failure to close Guantanamo despite its repeated commitments, but welcomed comments by a White House spokesman last week reiterating the intention to do so while citing congressional legislation as the prime obstacle.

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Kaieteur News

CARIFORUM countries express concerns over EU policies GEORGEOWN, Guyana CMC – Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) countries say Europe’s decision for a ‘considerable reduction” of funds under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) must take into consideration the implications for the economic development of the region.

A joint communiqué issued at the end of the Second Meeting of the CARIFORUM-EU Parliamentary Committee held in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this week, noted that the parliamentarians have emphasised that the development component is an integral part of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that CARIFORUM signed with the EU in 2008.

They said that the EPA “should contribute to the achievement of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) as well as to regional cooperation and integration.

“The considerable reduction of funds available under the 11th EDF, as well as EU policy on differentiation in future

development aid, must carefully take into consideration the implications for the economic development of the Caribbean and should not jeopardize its capacity to implement the EPA. “While the EU has signalled that it will take into account the concept of vulnerability and the status of CARIFORUM States in the application of differentiation, it must indicate how it proposes to do so,” the statement said, adding that the parties have also acknowledged that graduating countries solely on the basis of gross domestic product (GDP) “can negatively impact on the issues of poverty, good governance and democracy”.

The CARIFORUM-EU Parliamentary Committee’s role is to monitor and review the implementation of the EPA as well as being a forum for members of the European Parliament and the CARIFORUM States Legislatures to meet and exchange views.

The statement said that

the Port of Spain meeting “stressed the importance of having all the institutions in place for the proper functioning and monitoring of this Agreement” and that particular reference was made to the Consultative Committee, the only Joint Institution for which membership is yet to be established.

It said the meeting also welcomed the outcomes of the Second Trade and Development Committee, held in Trinidad last year as well as the Second Meeting of the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council in Brussels.

“Among the decisions taken was the amendment of the EPA in order to allow for incorporation of the commitments of The Bahamas into Annex IV of the EPA, which addresses Investment, Trade in Services and Ecommerce.

“The Parliamentary Committee also took note of issues related to the treatment of certain goods of importance to CARIFORUM, urging both sides to continue to work to bridge differences.

Saturday April 06, 2013

Caribbean Airlines fined for barring passengers from leaving plane

WASHINGTON - CMC The Trinidad and Tobagoowned Caribbean Airlines, (CAL) has been fined US$100,000 for violating United States federal rules after it prevented passengers from disembarking from one of its planes delayed on the tarmac at the John F Kennedy International Airport last August.

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) said the plane was delayed for more than four hours and that CAL “failed to provide customers with food and water until almost four hours after the plane left the gate during the tarmac delay”.

The DOT ordered the carrier to “cease and desist from further violations.

“Passengers have rights when they fly, including the opportunity to leave a plane during a long tarmac delay and to access food and water,” US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in

a statement.

“DOT’s tarmac delay rules were put into place to ensure that passengers are treated with respect when they travel, and we will continue to work to ensure that airlines treat their customers fairly,” he added.

LaHood said that under DOT rules, foreign airlines operating aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats that fly to and from US airports are prohibited from allowing their aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than four hours without giving passengers on board an opportunity to leave the plane.

He said exceptions to the time limits are allowed only for safety, security or air traffic control-related reasons.

There is a three-hour limit for tarmac delays on domestic flights, he said.

For all flights delayed on the tarmac, airlines are also required to provide adequate

food and water no later than two hours after an aircraft leaves the gate or lands, unless the pilot-in-command determines that it cannot provide these services for safety or security reasons, LaHood said.

He said that on August 15, 2012, Caribbean Airlines flight 421 from New York’s JFK Airport to Trinidad’s Piarco International Airport was scheduled to depart JFK at 2:55 pm and arrive at 9:25 pm (local time).

But the flight was delayed due to poor weather conditions.

“Although weather was a factor in the delay, the carrier did not cite any w e a t h e r- r e l a t e d s a f e t y, security or air traffic control-related reason for failing to allow the passengers to leave the plane,” LaHood said, adding passengers were not offered meals until, about four hours after leaving the gate.

Doctors still off the job KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC – Medical doctors remained off their jobs for the second consecutive day as health facilities across the island continued to provide only emergency services.

President of the Association of Government Medical Consultants (AGMC), Dr Orville Morgan, said the doctors would only return to work depending on the outcome of talks with the Minister without Portfolio in the Finance Ministry, Horace Dalley.

“Well, conditions have not changed and I suppose that they will remain ill, for those who are ill.

The next move is that they will meet with the Minister, hopefully, and that there will be something positive out of that meeting so we can report back to our members.

The membership will then decide what is the next move,” he added.

President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association

Dr Fenton Ferguson (JMDA), Dr Dane Miller, also warned that the industrial action would continue.

“Well the nature of illness is that it can last; you can feel bad for a day or you can feel bad for two days or three days, so really we have to wait and see how the members are feeling.

We encourage them to take good care of themselves and try to get back to work when they feel up to it,” he said.

The protest has stemmed

from an impending reclassification exercise to be undertaken during the 2013/ 2014 financial year.

Health Minister, Dr Fenton Ferguson told Parliament on Thursday that he hopes the Ministry of Finance will deal with the reclassification issue swiftly to restore normality in the public health service.

But the opposition Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) spokesman on Health, Dr Ken Baugh, expressed surprise that the issue with the medical doctors has been ignored for so long.

“It is a complex issue. I heard Minister Dally saying that they are going to talk and that an arrangement is made for them to talk.

That kind of dialogue is more than necessary and I can’t understand why it is that it could get to this stage without that kind of dialogue having taken place so that this kind of action would not have become necessary,” Baugh added.

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

Fidel Castro advises friend North Korea against war HAVANA (Reuters) Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned ally North Korea against war yesterday and described the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula as one of the “gravest risks” for nuclear holocaust since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Saying he spoke as a friend, Castro wrote in Cuban state media that North Korea, led by 30-year-old Kim Jongun, had shown the world its technical prowess and now it was time to remember its duties to others.

North Korea, which along with Cuba is one of the world’s last communist countries, has been ratcheting up pressure by declaring war on neighbor South Korea and threatening to stage a nuclear strike on the United States.

Few observers believe it will actually attack anyone, but Castro has become an anti-nuclear advocate in recent years.

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was always friendly with Cuba, as Cuba

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro (L) attends the opening session of the National Assembly of the People’s Power beside his brother, Cuban President Raul Castro. REUTERS/Ismael Francisco/Courtesy of Cubadebate/Handout always has been and will continue to be with her,” Castro wrote, using an almost paternalistic tone.

“Now that it has demonstrated its technical and scientific advances, we remind it of its duties to other countries who have been great friends and that it would

not be just to forget that such a war would affect in a special way more than 70 percent of the world’s population,” said the 86-year-old, who turned Cuba communist after taking power in a 1959 revolution.

Castro called the present situation on the Korean Peninsula “incredible and

absurd,” but said “it has to do with one of the gravest risks of nuclear war since the Crisis of October (Cuban Missile Crisis), 50 years ago.”

He led Cuba through the October 1962 showdown when the United States and Soviet Union nearly went to war over the placement of Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, 90 miles south of Florida.

At one point, Castro wrote a letter to Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev urging a nuclear attack on the United States, which he assumed was about to invade the Caribbean island.

Cooler heads prevailed as Khruschev and President John F. Kennedy reached an agreement in which the Soviet missiles were removed and the United States promised never to invade Cuba.

Castro ruled Cuba for 49 years before age and ill health forced him to step down in 2008.

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Trinidad Judge dismisses motion filed by ruling party financiers PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – A High Court judge has dismissed a constitutional motion challenging the repeal of Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act 2011 that critics of the government said was initially aimed at ensuring the freedom of two financiers of the ruling United National Congress (UNC) .

The Act was proclaimed by former president George Maxwell Richards on August 31, last year and paved the way for persons, charged indictably with certain offences beyond a period of 10 years, to apply to a judge to have their matters dismissed. It was repealed on September 13, last year during an emergency sitting of Parliament.

But Justice Mira DeanArmorer, who heard legal arguments over several days in late January and early February from some of Britain’s leading

constitutional experts, ruled that claimants, Steve Ferguson and Ish Galbaransingh, “failed altogether to substantiate legitimate expectation” and that they were not prejudiced by the repeal of the legislation. She has ordered that they pay cost associated with the claim.

Attorneys for the two men have already indicated they intend to file an appeal against the 175 page ruling.

In their constitutional motion, Galbaransingh and Ferguson as well as 37other people and companies who had matters which were instituted 10 years and older, complained that the passage of the legislation deprived them of an assurance from the State before it was revoked to their detriment.

Galbaransingh and Ferguson are charged with a series of criminal offences arising out of the construction of the Piarco Airport Development Project dating back to 2002.

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Saturday April 06, 2013

North Korea asks embassies to consider moving diplomats out LONDON/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has asked embassies to consider moving staff out and warned it cannot guarantee the safety of diplomats after April 10, Britain said, amid high tension and a war of words on the Korean peninsula.

The requests come on the heels of declarations by the government of the secretive communist state that real conflict is inevitable, because of what it terms “hostile” U.S. troop exercises with South Korea and U.N. sanctions imposed over North Korea’s nuclear weapons testing.

“The current question was not whether, but when a war would break out on the peninsula,” because of the “increasing threat from the United States”, China’s state news agency Xinhua quoted the North’s Foreign Ministry as saying.

It added that diplomatic missions should consider evacuation. North Korea would provide safe locations for diplomats in accordance with international

conventions, Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying in a notification to embassies.

Britain said its embassy in Pyongyang had been told by the North Korean government it “would be unable to guarantee the safety of embassies and international organizations in the country in the event of conflict from April 10th”.

“We believe they have taken this step as part of their continuing rhetoric that the U.S. poses a threat to them,” Britain’s Foreign Office said.

It said it had “no immediate plans” to evacuate its embassy and accused the North Korean government of raising tensions “through a series of public statements and other provocations.”

A Polish spokesman said Warsaw saw the latest statements by Pyongyang as “an inappropriate element of building up the pressure and we obviously think that there is no risk from outside on North Korea”. He added that the Polish embassy saw no need to move staff out.

“This question has been directed to all embassies that are on the ground in Pyongyang,” a Swedish Foreign Office official said.

Under the Vienna Convention that governs diplomatic missions, host governments are required to help get embassy staff out of the country in the event of conflict.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said North Korea had “proposed that the Russian side consider the evacuation of employees in the increasingly tense situation”, according to a spokesman for its embassy in Pyongyang.

Moscow said it was “seriously studying” the request. A statement from its foreign ministry said Russia hoped all parties would show restraint and considered “whipping up military hysteria to be categorically unacceptable.”

In a fusillade of statements over the past month, North Korea has threatened to stage a nuclear strike on the United States, something it

lacks the capacity to do, according to most experts, and has declared war on South Korea.

Military analysts say North Korea might be able to hit some part of the United States, but not the mainland and not with a nuclear weapon.

The threats against the United States by North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong-un are “probably all bluster”, said Gary Samore, until recently the top nuclear proliferation expert on President Barack Obama’s national security staff.

The North Koreans “are not suicidal. They know that any kind of direct attack (on the United States) would be end of their country,” he added.

Yesterday, South Korean media reported that North Korea had placed two of its intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of the country in a move that could threaten Japan or U.S. Pacific bases.

The report could not be confirmed.

Speculation centered on two kinds of missiles, neither of which is known to have been tested.

One is the so-called Musudan missile which South Korea’s Defence Ministry estimates has a

range of up to 3,000 km (1,865 miles). The other is the KN08, believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The North has always aggressively condemned the regular military exercises held

by U.S. forces and their South Korean allies, but its reaction to this year’s has reached a blistering new pitch.

“The rhetoric is off the charts,” said Victor Cha, former director for Asian affairs at the White House National Security Council.

The verbal assaults from Pyongyang have set financial markets in South Korea, Asia’s fourth largest economy, on edge.

South Korean shares slid yesterday, with foreign investors selling their biggest daily volume in nearly 20 months, hurt after aggressive easing from the Bank of Japan

sent the yen reeling, as well as by the tension over North Korea.

“In the past, (markets) recovered quickly from the impact from any North Korearelated event, but recent threats from North Korea are stronger and the impact may therefore not disappear quickly,” Vice Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said.

Kim Jong-un, 30, is the third member of his dynasty to rule North Korea. He took over in December 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong-il, who staged confrontations with South Korea and the United States throughout his 17-year rule.

Some fear the young leader of the isolated communist state may view the risk of conflict as one worth taking.

(Reuters) - Syrian rebels said they overran an army garrison that defends the main southern border crossing with Jordan yesterday and vowed to press on to take control of the major transit route.

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army said they captured the Um al-Mayathen post on the main DamascusJordan highway in heavy fighting overnight that ended a siege that lasted more than a week. Dozens died in the clashes they said.

“It (the garrison) is a major defence and now we will lay siege to the border crossing and cut their (the Damascus government’s) supply lines,” Abu Omar, commander of the Lions of the Sunna Brigade, told Reuters by phone.

The army post is several kilometres (miles) from Syria’s’ Nassib border crossing which, before Syria’s two-year-old civil war broke out, funnelled billions of dollars of trade between

Gulf countries, Turkey and Europe.

Syria’s southern provinces bordering Jordan and Israel have become an increasingly significant battleground as the capital comes under pressure, with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and his loyalist militias hitting back hard.

The intensified fighting has also led to an unprecedented influx of refugees through Jordan’s 370 km (230 mile) border with Syria this year.

Rebels have stepped up fighting for control of the border area and the nearby town of Deraa in the last two months, gaining territory and capturing several bases.

They have also overrun several towns near the Israelioccupied Golan Heights, fuelling tensions in the sensitive military zone.

Only two weeks ago they seized an air defence base near the strategic southern international highway, bolstering access to supply

routes to the capital Damascus.

Rebels say their capture of large amounts of weapons, ammunition and vehicles has helped them to maintain an offensive after a long period in which the southern border area was quiet compared to northern and eastern parts of Syria.

“The latest gains have given us more weapons, helping the free army to mount even more attacks on key army positions,” said Abu Salim, from Liwa Tawheed al Janoob brigade.

Jordan has stepped up security and deployed more troops to the border, a Jordanian army source said.

Diplomatic and regional intelligence sources also said Amman was allowing limited supplies of light arms to moderate rebel g r o u p s opposed to the Nusra front, an Islamist militant group suspected of links to al Qaeda and blacklisted by the United States as a “terrorist group”.

Kim Jong-un

Rebels say take army post near Syria’s southern border

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Obama tries to woo Republicans with cuts in budget WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will offer cuts to Social Security and other benefits programs in a budget proposal next week aimed at winning over enough congressional Republicans to pass a broad deal to reduce the deficit.

While Obama’s previous budgets have largely been ignored in Congress, the White House wants to use this year’s proposal, to be released on Wednesday, to move beyond the fiscal fights that have consumed Washington since 2010.

But several attempts to reach an agreement balancing spending cuts with tax increases have failed, and prospects for a “grand bargain” remain dim. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who let taxes rise for the wealthiest Americans earlier this year, has ruled out any further revenue increases and was lukewarm about Obama’s latest proposal.

Obama will also face resistance from his fellow Democrats as a senior administration official

Barack Obama yesterday said the president will offer to apply a less generous measure of inflation to calculate cost-of-living increases that would affect Social Security and other government programs when he reveals his budget.

That change would result in lower payments to some beneficiaries of the Social Security pension program

and is staunchly opposed by many Democrats as well as labor and retiree groups.

But, Obama will only accept the cuts to so-called entitlements like Social Security and Medicare if congressional Republicans agree to higher taxes, the official added.

“This isn’t about political horse trading,” the official

Egyptian Sunnis protest warming Egypt-Iran ties CAIRO (Reuters) Hardline Sunni Islamists tried to break into a senior Iranian diplomat’s residence in Cairo yesterday in protest at warming ties with Tehran after a 30-year estrangement, but were repelled by Egyptian police, a Reuters witness said.

About 100 members of two purist Salafist groups demonstrated against Egypt’s recent steps to improve relations with Iran, which were cut off after the 1979 Iranian Islamic revolution.

The protesters tore down an Iranian flag at the residence in a Cairo suburb and briefly hoisted the Syrian rebel flag in protest at Iran’s support to

Syrian President Bashar alAssad’s government before police removed it.

The ultra-conservative Salafi protesters are, like most Egyptians, Sunni Muslims.

They are concerned about what they see as Iranian efforts to spread Shi’ite Islam in Sunni countries.

Iran’s charge d’affaires, Mojtaba Amani, said in comments carried by the Egyptian state news agency MENA after the protest at his home that allegations that Shi’ite Islam was being spread in Egypt were a “major lie”.

“Sunni Egypt” is a source of strength to Iran, he said.

The protesters chanted

slogans against Iran and Shi’ite Islam and criticized the government’s recent decision to allow Iranian tourists to visit Egypt.

Relations have improved significantly since the election of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, last June.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Egypt for an Islamic summit in February, the first visit by an Iranian leader in more than three decades. He called for a strategic alliance with Egypt and offered Cairo a loan as it faces a deepening economic crisis.

said. “It’s about reducing the deficit in a balanced way that economists say is best for the economy and job creation.”

Sidetracked by a series of budget fights since the 2010 midterm elections that gave Republicans control of the House, Obama wants to focus more on issues like gun control and immigration reform in his second term.

“What I think he would like to have is a grand bargain which puts these fiscal issues behind us for a good number of years,” said Rudolph Penner, a former Congressional Budget Office director. “If he doesn’t get the grand bargain, his second term is not going to be a very happy one.”

Analysts familiar with the administration’s thinking, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, say the White House is considering a plan to raise revenues by limiting tax deductions to 28 percent for wealthier taxpayers.

Boehner, an Ohio Republican, made plain that spending cuts should not be accompanied by more tax increases.

“If the president believes

these modest entitlement savings are needed to help shore up these programs, there’s no reason they should be held hostage for more tax hikes,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The White House and Republicans have had repeated high-stakes clashes over raising the nation’s borrowing limit, tax increases, and government spending.

Obama has been reaching out to individual Republicans to try to calm the waters, holding dinners and meetings.

He may have to focus his charm on Democrats to get them to accept using the different inflation gauge, the “chained Consumer Price Index.”

Supporters of the switch say the standard CPI index overstates price rises, but opponents say moving to the chained CPI would unfairly deprive older Americans of benefits they have been promised.

“We’re quite unhappy with this,” said David Certner, the legislative counsel for AARP, an advocacy group for older Americans. “We

don’t think Social Security should be opened up as a token as part of a budget deal,” he said before details of Obama’s budget were released.

Obama’s proposal would cut the deficit by $1.8 trillion over 10 years, the official said, and is expected to undo at least some of the $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration that went into effect last month.

He would replace some of the harsher sequestration cuts with less onerous ones.

“Undoing the sequester is very important,” said Michael Linden, managing director for economic policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress. “Lots and lots of little bad things are happening all over the country and it’s going to get worse over the next few months.

The sequestration cuts, as well as a payroll tax hike in January, were blamed by some economists yesterday for a jobs report that showed American employers hired at the slowest pace in nine months in March.

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Executive bans urged for “colossal” HBOS failure (Reuters) - Bailed-out British bank HBOS was so badly run it would have failed even without the 2008 financial crisis and the regulator should consider banning its former bosses from the industry, a parliamentary panel said in a report.

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, tasked with finding ways to reform UK banks, said HBOS was an “accident waiting to happen”, with bad lending and losses across the business likely to have led to its insolvency even without the funding and liquidity problems of the financial crisis.

HBOS, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, had to be rescued in 2008 with a government-engineered takeover by rival Lloyds, which subsequently needed a 20 billion pound bailout to survive.

The committee said regulators bore some of the blame, but primary responsibility lay with Dennis Stevenson, chairman from the formation of HBOS in 2001 until its collapse, and former chief executives James Crosby and Andy Hornby.

There was a “colossal failure of senior management and the board”, said Commission chairman Andrew Tyrie, a Conservative MP who expressed surprise that only Peter Cummings, who was head of corporate

Dennis Stevenson lending at HBOS, had so far been punished.

“The Commission has asked the regulator to consider whether these individuals should be barred from undertaking any future role in the sector,” Tyrie said in the report published yesterday.

Crosby was chief executive of HBOS between 2001 and 2006 before being succeeded by Hornby.

The trio earned millions during their time at the bank and in subsequent roles.

Crosby was paid close to 8 million pounds during his tenure as HBOS’s chief executive. Hornby was earning 1.9 million pounds a year before leaving the bank, while Stevenson’s package was worth over 800,000

pounds a year.

Following the report, Crosby, 57, promptly resigned as an adviser to private equity firm Bridgepoint. He is also senior independent director at the world’s biggest catering company, Compass, which declined to comment on whether he would keep his 125,000-pound-a-year position.

Cummings was fined 500,000 pounds by the now disbanded Financial Services Authority (FSA) in September and banned for life from the industry.

Hornby declined to comment on the report. After leaving HBOS, he worked as chief executive of healthcare group Alliance Boots, earning over 2 million pounds a year, and now runs betting shop

chain Coral, Coral had nothing but praise for Hornby, 46, and a spokesman said his position was safe. “Coral is performing extremely well, and we are really pleased with the great job Andy is doing.”

Stevenson, 67, who sits in the upper chamber of parliament, could not be reached for comment.

HBOS was created in 2001 by a merger between Halifax, a former mutually-owned savings and loans firm, and the 300-year-old Bank of Scotland.

It ramped up lending using cheap funding on the wholesale markets rather than safer customer deposits, and its high-risk strategy was exposed when that funding dried up after the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008.

HBOS’s managers blamed the financial crisis for the collapse, but the Commission said the bank’s business model was inherently flawed and its board was a “model of self-delusion”.

“The sums would never have added up,” Tyrie said.

“The Commission has estimated that, taken together, the losses incurred by the corporate, international and treasury divisions would have led to insolvency, regardless of funding and liquidity problems, had HBOS not been bailed out by both Lloyds and the taxpayer.”

U.N. alarmed by North Korea crisis, but aid staff still working UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon is deeply alarmed at the rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, though United Nations humanitarian workers remain active across North Korea for the time being, a spokesman said yesterday.

“U.N. staff in the DPRK (North Korea) remain engaged in their humanitarian and developmental work throughout the country,” said U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky. “The secretarygeneral remains deeply concerned about escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.”

The United Nations has 36 international staff and 21 locally recruited personnel working for seven different agencies and programs in that country, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said.

Nesirky said U.N. officials were at a meeting on Friday in Pyongyang during which North Korean officials asked foreign diplomats to consider moving staff out of their embassies and warned they could not guarantee their safety after April 10.

“The United Nations is studying the message and the United Nations will respond as appropriate,” he said.

The North Korean message comes on the heels of declarations by the government of the secretive

communist state that conflict is inevitable because of what it terms “hostile” U.S. troop exercises with South Korea and U.N. sanctions imposed over North Korea’s nuclear weapons testing.

“There is a general need for things to calm down, for the volume to be turned down,” Nesirky said in a conference broadcast in New York.

“It is really incumbent on the DPRK authorities to reduce the tension,” he said.

“It is after all the DPRK authorities that have made a number of statements in the recent days and indeed weeks that the secretary-general and others have said are alarming.”

North Koreans suffer from chronic poverty and widespread hunger, U.N. officials say.

ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran appeared to side-step responding to proposals by world powers to defuse tensions over its nuclear program at talks in Kazakhstan yesterday, diplomats said, and instead came up with its own plan - a measure of the gulf between the two sides.

The six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany had sought a concrete response from Iran to their February offer of modest sanctions relief if Tehran stops its most contentious nuclear work.

But instead Iranian negotiators outlined their own “specific” plan to resolve the dispute, which has been plagued by mutual mistrust and on-off negotiations for a decade.

“We are somewhat puzzled by the Iranians’ characterization of what they presented,” a Western

diplomat said before talks finished for the day. “There has not yet been a clear and concrete response to the ... (six powers’) proposal.”

Iran’s deputy negotiator Ali Bagheri did not say whether the offer of the six states was acceptable, but said the Iranian side had given a “detailed response to all the questions”.

The dispute centers on Iranian efforts to enrich uranium, which world powers suspect are part of a covert drive to achieve a nuclear weapons capability.

The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran stop the process, in several resolutions since 2006.

But Iran argues it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under international law and denies its nuclear work has military aims. It has refused to change course unless the big powers first recognize its right to enrichment and lift sanctions.

Ban Ki-moon

Iran, big powers appear miles apart at nuclear talks

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

MTV CHANNEL 14/CABLE 65 Sign on 06:00hrs - Living Word presentation 06:30hrs - Peace Love & Harmony (live) 07:00hrs - Dabi’s bhajan Hour 07:30hrs - Times of Refreshing (live) 08:00hrs - Full Life Broadcast with Pastor Findlay 08:30hrs - News Update 09:30hrs - Living the Life 10:00hrs - Children Movie: Hop 12:00hrs - Cartoons: 12:30hrs - Youth Excel 13:00hrs - National Geographic: Titanic Ballad Secret Revealed 14:00hrs - National

Geographic: The Whale 15:00hrs - Payless variety Show 16:00hrs - Sitcom 16:30hrs - Alabama Trading Music break 17:00hrs - Birthdays & other Greetings 17:15hrs - Death Announcements/ In Memoriam 17:30hrs - Sitcom 18:00hrs - Searching the Scriptures with Devi 18:30hrs - Cabinet Briefing 19:00hrs - Apex Forum (Live) 20:15hrs - MTV music break 20:30hrs - Indian Movie: Bachna Aea Haseeno 22:00hrs - English Movie: Law Abiding Citizen Sign off

DTV CHANNEL 8 08:55 hrs. Sign On 09:00 hrs. Back at the Barnyard 10:00 hrs. Fanboy and Chum Chum 11:00 hrs. The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius 11:30 hrs. Prime News 12:00 hrs. Movie: Not My Life 15:00 hrs. Movie: Special Delivery 16:00 hrs. Monk 17:00 hrs. The Baptist Hour 18:00 hrs. World News 18:30 hrs. Nightly News 19:00 hrs. Greetings and Announcements 20:00 hrs. Alliance on the Move (Live) 21:00 hrs. Indian Movie 00:00 hrs. Sign Off

Guides are subjected to change without notice

Saturday April 06, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): Thinking before speaking is always a good idea, and today it’s even more important if you don’t want to spend your time cleaning up the messes you created. There’s no need to be dishonest. The truth is absolutely required; however, it’s less about what you say than how you say it.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20): You need to be cautious in your interactions because your emotions are a bit elusive today. You might not be able to escape from the fog, making it nearly impossible to understand what you are feeling.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20): Today is a perfect day to meditate, but this isn’t something you’ll be able to learn on the spot if you haven’t already practiced. You may feel too restless to sit still for long enough to gain the benefits of this kind of metaphysical pursuit.

CANCER (June 21–July 22): Your feelings will come out into the open sooner or later, so you might as well bring them up yourself. You tend to avoid discussing an uncomfortable subject if you’re afraid of how others will react.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22): You may need to release some steam, but it’s wise to do it gently even if you are feeling angry. One strategy is to keep the larger issues in check so that you don’t blow your top.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): You might believe that your concepts are brilliant today — and perhaps they are — but there’s also plenty of room now for self-delusion.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): It may take too much energy and concentration to keep up with your fantasies now, so don’t bother to explain them to others.

Instead, concentrate on creative activities.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): It may seem as if you’re on a roller coaster of emotions today, but you’ll be able to enjoy the fluidity of your feelings if you view the day as a wild ride.

SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): You may be feeling as if you’re on the edge of something big today, but you can’t yet figure out what will happen. The past and the future have merged and it seems like the present moment should be clearer than it is now.

CAPRICORN(Dec.22–Jan.19): The rock-solid ground you thought was underfoot has temporarily disintegrated.

Something that is supposed to be stable has disappeared right before your eyes.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18): Your nervous system may be in a state of gentle rebellion as thoughts come quickly now, whether you ask for them or not. But you’re not entirely in control of your own mind today.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): It may still be challenging to narrow your vision today as the Moon in your sign contacts nebulous Neptune.

You might feel as if there aren’t any walls or boundaries now, making it tricky to know when to stop.

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Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

Beacon Ministries Golf tourney set for today Beacon Ministries Inc. as part of its 15th Anniversary will host today’s Medal/Stoke Play Golf tournament at the Lusignan golf Club.

Beacon Ministries is headed by golf enthusiast Reverend Dr. Philbert London who plays regularly at the Lusignan Course along with a few members of his congregation.

Lusignan Golf Club President Jerome Khan said that the tournament is expected to attract a large field with great prizes for the various winners including a golf travel kit, golf bags, umbrellas and other paraphernalia.

Dr. London said that his church promotes a healthy lifestyle and encourage its members to participate in

sporting activity in addition to worshipping.

The players expected to compete will include Brian Hackett, winner of the recent Demerara Mutual Life Tournament, Maurice Solomon, Avinash Persaud, Mohanlall Dinnanauth, Colin Ming, Fazil Haniff, Muntaz Haniff, William Walker, Carlos Adams, Clifford Reis, Gavin Todd, Mark Lashley, Alfred Mentore, Troy Cadogan, Kishan Bacchus, Mike Guyadin, Ronald Bulkan, Robert Hanoman, John Tracey, Munaff Arjune, Kassim Khan, Imran Khan, Christine Sukhram and Dr. Ram Singh.

Tee off is at 12:30 hours with the presentation ceremony scheduled for 18:00 hours.

Berbice Chamber of Commerce to hold awards ceremony today Sports business organisation to be recognised A number of sporting organisations and individuals will be recognised today when the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association (BCCDA) hold the annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony at the Albion Senior Staff Club, Corentyne Berbice beginning at 18:00 hrs.

The ceremony, which is an annual feature, will also mark the 80th anniversary of the Chamber which started in 1932. It is one of the oldest Chambers in the Country.

President Donald Ramoutar has been invited to give the key note address which is also expected to be attended by a number of other dignitaries including

regional chairman David Permaul Armogan.

A number of awards are expected to be given out including the - The Highest award, the Business Excellence Award which was won last year by business Magnate A. Ally and Sons Chains of Stores in Berbice.

Other awards include The Academic Achievement Award; Sports Ambassador Award, the Community Service Award, The Business Continuity award, the Long Service Award and the Sports Organisation Award including awards for various outstanding individuals in other sporting disciplines among others will be presented.

Tenelec 50 overs Final...

RHT Gizmos & Gadgets clash with Young Warriors today @ Albion The champions of the Tenelec 50 overs competition will be crowned today when the final is contested between Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets (RHTG&G) and Young Warriors Cricket Club at the Albion Community Centre Ground.

National player Delbert Hicks will lead RHTG&G’s challenge and will find able support from a plethora of fellow National players including West Indies middle order batsman Assad Fudadin, Renwick Batson, Dominic Rikhi, Khemraj Mahadeo, Jason Sinclair,

Clinton Pestano and National U-19 Captain Shawn Perreira.

While RHTG&G will start as odds on favourite to win, Young Warriors cannot be taken for granted.

Spearheading their ambition to lift the trophy will be Shimron Hetemeyer, Farouk Hussain, Kevin Ramdeen, Linden Austin, Kassim Khan, veterans Anil Beharry, Hubern Evans and Ishwar Singh.

Today’s winner will be rewarded with $100,000 and a trophy with half that amount to the loser.

Game time is 09:30hrs.

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Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes can win title - Sir Jackie Stewart BBC Sport - Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have a car which is capable of challenging for race wins and the world championship, according to Sir Jackie Stewart.

Mercedes have started the season strongly, with Hamilton finishing fifth and third in the first two races.

Stewart told BBC Sport: “Yes, they can win races. Lewis will drive the living daylights out of whatever car he’s got.

“They can challenge for the title, but they will need to keep up with Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of development.”

Kimi Raikkonen won the opening race of the season in Australia, with world champion Sebastian Vettel controversially winning in Malaysia.

Hamilton is currently fourth in the world driver’s standings on 25 points, a point behind Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Vettel leads on 40 points, with Raikkonen second on 31. The three-time world champion added: “If the Red Bull is as good as it can be, that’s your main opposition, while Ferrari are already more competitive at the start of the season than they were last year.

“The Lotus is very competitive, too, and McLaren will fight back, but [Mercedes team principal] Ross Brawn is an extraordinarily talented man.

Mercedes exist to win and they have the resources to do so.”

2008 world champion Hamilton joined Mercedes this year after spending six seasons with McLaren, who supported his racing career from the age of 13.

Mercedes, along with

their drivers Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, played down hopes for this season despite the car impressing in testing.

But the Silver Arrows were quick in Australia and the second best team in Malaysia, as Hamilton finished third and Rosberg fourth behind the Red Bulls to show that the team had made a step forward.

The next race, which is live on the BBC, is in China on 12-14 April.

Stewart added: “If Mercedes had let Rosberg pass Hamilton in Malaysia, could he have caught the Red Bulls? It’s not impossible.”

Hamilton has outscored teammate Rosberg in the first two races, although the German was instructed to hold position in Malaysia, and Stewart believes it is the newcomer who is currently in the strongest position within

Sir Jackie Stewart

the team.

Stewart said: “There’s no question that Lewis holds the upper hand because he’s had more success - he’s had more race wins and a championship.

He’s also started the season well. Nico has won a race (in China last season), but he has yet to follow that up.

“Mercedes have got themselves a very expensive driver and they’ll want him to do well.

“They’ve got the people

who Lewis feels will be good for the team. [Technical director] Paddy Lowe is coming from McLaren and I’m sure part of the reason is because Lewis is there.

“Nico is a skilled and talented driver and he may well be better on his tyres but he would have learned his lesson in Malaysia that you can’t leave it until the last minute to try and take the initiative. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds.”

Gold Cup Winner for FIFA Confederations...

From page 35 and July 21, respectively. The semifinals will head to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX on Wednesday, July 24.

With a mix of historic venues and brand new state of the art soccer facilities that average 57,000 spectators, the 2013 edition of the Gold Cup promises to provide fans both in stadium and at home with unforgettable atmospheres.

In 2011, the tournament drew more than 600,000 fans throughout 13 match-days, including nine sell-outs.

Taking place every two years, the Gold Cup has established itself as the region’s most popular national team tournament, routinely drawing capacity

crowds and millions of television viewers across the region. It features the confederation’s best players from the top 12 nations.

All games will be broadcast live on TV in the United States. FOX Sports Media Group, for the first time ever, is televising all 25 matches of the event, with three slated to be shown on FOX Sports, including the final on Sunday, July 28 (4:00

PM ET) from historic Soldier Field in Chicago.

Long time broadcast partner Univison will again be transmitting all games on its Spanish language platforms throughout their network.

In addition, Fútbol de Primera will broadcast all matches on Spanishlanguage radio through its more than 100 affiliates in the United States.

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.

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Saturday April 06, 2013

Hearts of Linden ‘Best of the Ward’ basketball competition on today Hearts of Linden - a New York based registered group - will be hosting their annual ‘Best of the Ward’ basketball competition, today at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court.

The event which starts at 16:00 hours, will see players based in the Amelia’s Ward community, competing in both the Junior and Senior category as well as in other novelty events; slam dunk and three point shoot out.

Said to be one of the largest housing schemes in Guyana, Amelia’s Ward is home to the “Jets”; Linden’s top basketball club as well as several other notable players from other teams in the mining community.

“This is actually the third year the event is being held but the first time its falling under the Hearts of Linden Group,” said Rawle Toney, the Group’s spoke person and founder member, while adding, “The teams are split in two; The Back Scheme and

Front Scheme and they will go head-to-head.”

According to Toney, the group comprises of himself, Odley Alleyne (whose idea it was to form the group), Tenicia Davids, Tamika Henry, Owusu Fraser and Sean ‘Black Sheep’ Charles, all of whom reside in New York and share one common goal which is to help develop Linden through sports, Entertainment and Education.

“We actually came together while at a regular outing in NY last summer and we became even more eager to bring our dreams to fruition after the protest last year. Our first project was a fund raiser to help rebuild One-Mile Primary School that was destroyed by fire, then we did a back-to-school drive where persons donated one backpack filled with school supplies,” To n e y mentioned.

He added that, “What’s heartening is that everything we do is a reflection of the

Meet the Hearts Of Linden Group, taken at the 2012 Guyana Day in Brooklyn. From left: Rawle Toney, Owusu Fraser, Tenicia Davids, Tamika Henry, Odley Alleyne and Sean Charles. willingness shown by overseas Guyanese to give back to the Linden community. So everything happening on Saturday is a result of what they have given.”

Trophies will be given the winners of the respective categories and novelties event, while runners-up will receive medals.

Patrons are also in for a treat since several prizes will

be given away during various fan interaction events planned.

The group would like to thank the 108 and Liberty Crew, Rockcliffe Joseph, Linden ‘Sancho’ Alphonso,

Errol Hinds, Travis Williams and all the guys that would normally gather regularly to play the usual Sunday morning pick-up games in Brooklyn and Queens, too numerous to mention.

GSCL TO HOST MASSIVE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT - raffle with fabulous prizes for spectators THE newly formed Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) along with some of its sponsors, will on 20th, 21st and 28th April, host a super 12 team 12/12 softball cricket tournament at the Everest Cricket Club ground, wherein a massive first prize of $600,000 and a trophy to the victorious team.

Teams such as Regal XI, Wolf Warriors, Memorex, Trophy Stall XI, Bartica Challengers, Speedboat XI just to name a few, are expected to do battle for supremacy in this tournament which will be played on a round robin basis, with a first come first serve registration

process being employed by the GSCL. Entrance fee per team is $50,000 and the closing date for registration is the 16th of April while the drawing of fixtures would take place two days later either at Everest, when the tournament is set to launch at 17:00hrs (5pm).

The second place finisher will take home $200,000 and a trophy, Man of the Match in the finals takes home $10,000 and a trophy, while the Best Batsman and Bowler of the tournament will each pocket $5,000 and a trophy, with the prize for the Man of the Series being a substantial one to be decided by the GSCL. Teams are reminded that

Alpha clash with Slingerz...

From page 33 was disturbed by the sequence of events but said that the referees are in charge of the game and their rulings are final.

He said that he has had to make some adjustments to the third place playoff after Den Amstel was ejected from the championships; the Guyana Defense Force will automatically place third.

Meanwhile, the organizer has compensated for that anomaly by staging two other matches on the final night.

New Amsterdam United will play Rhythm Squad, while the GDF will battle with Golden Grove shortly before the championship match.

The winner of the Alpha/Slingerz encounter wins one million dollars with the runners up carting off half that amount.

The GDF is already assured of the $300,000 third prize.

Admission to the finals is $1500. (Michael Benjamin)

a list of 15 names must be submitted to the GSCL at the time of registration, while the GSCL will be supplying the playing conditions for the tournament which to date has received the blessings of several business entities in corporate Guyana.

Business entities such as Tony’s Variety Store, Five Star Minerals and Ryan and Reuben Mahadeo out of Bartica, Payless Variety Store and Romaine’s Car Wash along with several others just to name a few, have signaled their intentions of throwing their support behind this tournament.

Admission to the venue on the playing dates is free and as an added bonus, spectators who are expected to throng the venue to witness the action will be asked to partake in a raffle whose ticket will cost $100 each and has lucrative and attractive prizes up for grabs.

The first prize is one two door refrigerator, a three piece living room suite is up for grabs as the second place prize, with the third, fourth and fifth placed winners of the raffle receiving one Sony Bravia LCD 32" television, four burner gas stove and one G-shock bicycle respectively.

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 29

Digital Technology/Yolo Entertainment 10/10 Cricket Competition...

Uitvlugt Community Centre to come alight tomorrow Do you remember playing cricket in your backyard or on the street or in any open space that you could find?

Do you remember the equipment that we used to use, a piece of wood or a stripped coconut branch as a bat, a kuru seed strapped with countless pieces of bicycle tube as a ball and a piece of old zinc as a wicket?

Those were fun days and we played because we all loved the game.

Now that same ‘backyard cricket” has been transformed into a competitive format called softball cricket with numerous teams and clubs registered throughout the length and breadth of Guyana.

Eight of those teams will match their skills tomorrow at

the Uitvlugt Community Centre ground in the semifinals of the Digital Technology/Chow Pow’s 10/ 10 Challenge Series.

At stake, $1million in cash and prizes and the bragging rights of being the first Digital Technology/ Yolo Entertainment 10/10 champions.

The first encounter which starts at 10:30hrs, will see the females in action with Regal Champs coming up against the mighty 4R Lioness that boasts West Indies female star Shemaine Campbell.

Both teams are very strong in all departments of the game and it will be interesting to see what will be the outcome of this match up.

The upset team of the competition Recharge battle

the new East Coast champs Superstars XI in the next featured semifinal. One would have remembered that Recharge defeated 2012 champs Regal and Speedboat in the preliminary games that were held at the Wales Center Ground.

The Superstars team is no walkover, however, and they plan to teach Recharge a few tricks.

The next encounter features West Indian player June Ogle, who will be representing Trophy Stall Angels when they play the evergreen Mike’s Wellwoman team.

The bookmakers are all placing their bets on the Trophy Stall Angels, but one cannot simply overlook the Mike’s Wellwoman team

Beach Footballer receive assistance in world cup qualifier bid

Mr. Tappin (left) joins Livasti Bhooplall (centre) and Dwayne Lovell to display a part of the gift Following a successful tournament organized by the executives of the Guyana Beach Football Association (GBFA), twelve players have been selected to represent Guyana at two international games; the CONCACAF beach football world cup qualifiers scheduled for Nassau Bahamas, May 8-12 and the USA Open Virginia tournament scheduled for June 7-10.

Those players are currently engaged in stiff training and General Coordinator of activities (GBFA), Rollin Tappin; in his continuing efforts to prepare the players have been able to procure a supply of Nutrophus tonic from the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (NGPC) to facilitate the team’s preparations.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Tappin visited the Farm ECD offices of the NGPC where he collected several boxes of the product from International Local Marketing Associate, Livasti Bhooplall, in the presence of company rep, Jason Hoyte and Finance Manager, Dwayne Lovell. The latter individual expressed delight at being able to assist the national team and wished the players well. He also urged them to be of exemplary behavior at all times. Mr. Lovell reminded the players that they will be representing Guyana and urged them to let their behavior reflect love for country.

Mr. Tappin expressed deep gratitude to his

benefactor and assured him that the gift would assist greatly in the team’s preparation. He also beseeched similar support from other corporate entities and individuals while explaining that the cost of the trip is somewhat prohibitive. The twelve players are: Michael Wilson, Darrel George, Travis Bess, Jarmaine Grandison, Claude Dennis, Keon Sears, Ron Fiedtkou, Marmarlaque Davidson, Odil Allicock, Omeion Wills, Colric Beckles and Colwyn Davids.

Mr. Tappin told Kaieteur Sport that the team has been christened ‘Golden Sand Jaguars’ and they will be going all out to win their respective matches and go on to represent Guyana at the World Cup tournament. He also informed that the organizing committee (GBFA) has managed to accrue approximately one million dollars to offset the required four million needed for participation in Nassau Bahamas and consequently, Tahiti. He said that his executives have sent out letters to several corporate entities soliciting their assistance to offset the huge cost of the tournaments. A similar correspondence has also been sent to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Frank Anthony and Mr. Tappin is confident of a favourable response. The local players and officials are tentatively set to depart Guyana on May 6th next and will play their first game two days later.

Yolo Entertainment officials’ hand over one of the giveaways to a lucky fan (centre) recently.

who’ve proven over the years that they play best when the odds are against them.

The game of the day, however, is the matchup of West side rivals, Speedboat and Wolf’s Warriors.

The “Warriors” have trounced every team that they’ve faced in the

competition and would definitely start as favourites, but Team Speedboat are another veteran unit that are usually a difficult opposition to get past.

They displayed tremendous fight in their qualifier against 2012 champs Regal and with Safraaz Esau

in their lineup and their fans in support the Warriors will not have an easy task.

With prizes all day for the fans up for grabs, the Uivlugt Community Centre is where sporting fans should be tomorrow.

It promises to be a great day of cricket and fun.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday April 06, 2013

Guyana Volleyball Federation congratulates GOA Awardee The Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) extends congratulations to Mr. Gregory Rambarran, President of the Berbice Volleyball Association & V/ President of the GVF, for receiving an award from the Guyana Olympic Association for his contribution to the development of sports in general and volleyball in particular.

The award was presented to Mr. Rambarran at the GOA’s Appreciation & Awards Ceremony held recently at the

Georgetown Club, Guyana.

Mr. Rambarran, a trained teacher with specialty in Physical Education, has been involved in sports since the early seventies and participated in several sports disciplines including, table tennis, cricket, volleyball, athletics, badminton, basketball, swimming, field hockey and football.

While attending the Government Teachers Training College he was the captain of the Volleyball team and was Badminton Singles

Past GOA Sec. General Ivor O’Brien (left) present the award to Gregory Rambarran.

Champion. He participated in the Inter-Varsity Games in Suriname in 1976. He served as manager/ coach for several swimming and athletics teams from the N/A-Canje District at the Guyana Teachers Union National Championships.

In 1987 he received accreditation as a FIVB Level 1 Coach and served as the coach for the Reg.6 Volleyball team and secretary of the BVA until 1991. He also accompanied representative teams in senior position on tour to Suriname, Trinidad & To b a g o , Ve n e z u e l a a n d Brazil.

Rambarran, who has been associated with the administration of volleyball for over 37 years, is also a qualified referee. This is his second stint as president of the BVA having served from 1998 to 2000. He took up the mantle again in 2010 to present. He is also currently the Vice President of the GVF, a position which he has held for several stints. He also served as General Secretary and media representative of the GVF. Mr. Rambarran is credited with reviving the sport of

Lenox Shuffler is flanked by Buxton Developer Mr. Robin Phillips (left) and Gregory Rambarran.

Volleyball in Berbice, and over the past 2 years the BVA has been able to produce the No 1 team in the country and can also boast of having the most affiliated clubs and holding the most competitions for males as well as females.

Gregory Rambarran is currently the Editor-in Chief/ Producer/News Anchor for Channel 8 News and Part

Owner of DTV-8 and still finds time to play volleyball at the recreational level.

During the ceremony GVF President, Lenox Shuffler also received kudos at the awards ceremony for mentoring a group of over 300 youths and enabling them to win the International Olympic Committee’s 2012 Trophy for Sports and Sustainable

Development. The group named the Buxton Youth Community Developers was loud in praise of Shuffler, who adopted an initiative he first tried out with the GVF, called “The Soul Train for Peace and Unity through Sports and Culture”, to use volleyball as a catalyst to promote positive changes in the Buxton Community. (Samuel Whyte

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 31

SUNRISERS DEFEND 126 ON IPL DEBUT ESPNcricinfo - Sunrisers Hyderabad made a winning debut in the IPL as they defended a low score at their home ground on a slow, difficult pitch. Thisara Perera, Sunrisers’ $675,000 acquisition, did not begin too badly for his new franchise, top-scoring with a quick 30, taking the first two Pune Warriors wickets and causing

a run-out. Amit Mishra wasn’t too far behind, his legbreaks leaving Warriors confounded on a helpful surface. Dale Steyn left the Warriors top order dazed with his outswingers and returned to blow away the lower order with three wickets in four balls.

Not many would have given Sunrisers a chance when they almost

Dale Steyn celebrates dismissing Ashok Dinda (BCCI)

sleepwalked their way to 126 after being put in, barring a brief effort to break free from Perera. Deccan Chargers, the franchise Sunrisers replaced, had an atrocious record at this ground, and Sunrisers appeared set to extend that in front of a lukewarm turnout.

But they came out a different unit with the ball.

Steyn, charged up as almost always, beat the Warriors openers repeatedly with quick outswingers.

Ishant Sharma was accurate and testing, as he can be in helpful conditions. The wickets came Perera’s way, though.

After running him fine for a boundary, Robin Uthappa tried repeating the stroke and went caught behind. Marlon Samuels gave the lone slip catching practice in Perera’s next over, Kumar Sangakkara deserving credit for sticking with the fielder and the bowler.

Warriors’ batting line-up stretched way down to No. 8 Mitchell Marsh, but it was to come unstuck as Mishra brought out his control and variations. Yuvraj Singh, on IPL comeback, walked down, and was easily beaten and stumped. Manish Pandey’s struggle to put bat to ball

::: Letter to the Sports Editor :::

UDFA’s Figueira supports Matthias DEAR EDITOR, I have had the honour and privilege of being afforded the opportunity to listen to all of the presidential candidates aspiring to be head of the Guyana Football Federation except for, Mr. Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major.

I would have relished the idea of having Mr. Major make his presentation to the general council of the Upper Demerara Football Association, to also share with us his renewed vision and plans for football and its development in Guyana since he has been one of the influential executive figures of the present GFF body for a number of years.

This would have also provided us with the opportunity to seek pertinent information on matters of the GFF that the football faternity and football enthusiasts would like to know, such as the moving of Guyana versus Mexico match from Guyana, the nonpayment of our national footballers, the GFF’s insurmountable debt and such likes. It is my conscious belief, that Mr. Major unfortunately misses out on a golden opportunity to sell himself and convince the representatives of the UDFA

that he is the man for the job.

It would be remiss of me if I had failed to acknowledge how impressive all of the candidates’ presentations were. Mr. King’s valiant efforts to persuade the gathering that he will be able to divorce himself from his governmental responsibilities and its influence from the business of the football federation if elected was commendable. His admirable pontification did not however deluded my consciousness of how difficult that will be, and the non-playing of international cricket in Guyana as a result of government’s intrusion is testimony to that regard.

Secondly, Mr. King, as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture is responsible for all sports discipline and his quest for the headship of this particular discipline causes me to question why, when he has an excellent opportunity to impact all.

Of all of the presenters, I was most impressed with Mr. Matthias’ presentation. His was one of a difference; it did not revolve around the ‘I’, what I would or wouldn’t do.

He being cognizant of what

is lacking, of what is needed and what should be done to advance Guyana’s football, still saw it fitting to propose what ‘we’ or ‘us’, the General Council of the GFF as a collective, desire to do for the development of our football.

His proposed constitutional reform will feature a shorter term for the president and limiting the dictates of the executives is commendable and would be welcome by the general council.

It is my conscious belief, judging from Mr. Matthias’ track record as a football administrator, makes him undoubtedly the best candidate for the GFF top post. He possesses the sagacity, the administrative experience, the vision and testicular fortitude of character that was and is lacking of the GFF. I am persuaded that he will be able to harness governmental and corporate support for the advancement of Guyana’s football which will bring a renewed confidence in players, clubs, associations, fans and all stakeholders.

Upper Demerara Football Association Executive Member Jermaine Figueira.

ended with a mishit slog off Mishra, as the asking-rate started mounting.

Almost everything clicked for Sangakkara on the field.

He needed young Ashish Reddy to bowl a decent 17th over, and the bowler responded by uprooting Ross Taylor’s leg stump with a full, slower delivery. With 33 needed off three overs, Perera was to make another important contribution.

Angelo Mathews, who came in at No. 7, smashed a full toss straight back at Perera, who stuck out his right hand, and the dangerous Marsh was caught short of his crease at the non-striker’s end.

Warriors’ lower order panicked against Steyn, trying to attack the fast bowler while their captain looked on helplessly from the other end, ruing the fact that his team left as many as seven deliveries unused.

Sunrisers used up their quota when they batted, but weren’t able to find any momentum. The top four got only starts, and it was down to Perera to breathe some life into a suffocating innings. He

Thisara Perera smashes one during his knock of 30 (BCCI)

began with consecutive fours off Rahul Sharma and slogged Marlon Samuels’ darts for two more boundaries before mishitting an Ashok Dinda full toss in the 18th over. Perera’s fall meant Sunrisers weren’t able

to finish well with the bat, but they were far more determined with the ball.

Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 126 for 6 (Perera 30) beat Pune Warriors 104 (Steyn 3-11, Mishra 3-19) by 22 runs.

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Kaieteur News

Pacesetters blowout Nets in retribution win for 6-0 record - Colts take on Ravens in crucial clash tonight

Saturday April 06, 2013

Yadram to captain Demerara in inter county U-15 TOURNEY Bhaskar Yadram has been named captain of the Demerara U-15 team for the upcoming Guyana Cricket Board inter county tournament.

Ronaldo Mohamed will serve as his deputy.

The full squad reads; Bhaskar Yadram (Captain), Ronaldo Mohamed (Vicecaptain), Clevon Mc Ewan, Timothy Mc Almont, Jaddel McAllister, Sajur Hetheramani, Ashmead Nedd,

Colin Barlow, Bhutnarine Singh, Kelvin Shewprasad, Paul Thomas, Afzal Rohoman, Dhanram Samaroo and Stephan Campbell.

Standbys are: Andrew Clifford, Vickram Talmakund and Kheshram Seyhodan.

Coach is Gavin Nedd; Manager: Dhanpaul All players are requested to turn up at the DCC ground on Sunday (tomorrow) at 8:00am.

BCB / Carib Beer T20 Tourney...

One Semi & final playoff games on tomorrow

Get out of here! Pacesetters’ forward, Jermaine Hamilton soars through the air to block this shot from Nets’ Fabian Johnson in the paint Thursday night on Burnham Basketball Court.

By Edison Jefford Republic Bank Nets had won its two previous encounters against Pacesetters after strengthening its core in two competitions before, becoming a top team in Georgetown, but Trinity Grid Holdings Pacesetters reminded Nets of its former place Thursday night.

TGH Pacesetters walloped Nets 74-55 to sit comfortably atop Georgetown’s Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Division I League with a 6-0 win/loss record, remaining the only unbeaten team in the ongoing League.

Point guard, Travis Burnett scored 18 points while

shooting guard, Stephan Gillis had 17 for the impressive Pacesetters that only has the indomitable Ravens, who has already dropped a game to Pepsi Sonics, to conquer to assume number one in Georgetown.

Nets’ leading offensive player, forward, Darrion Lewis scored 17 points while guard, Hodayah Stewart had 11 points. With the loss, Republic Bank Nets now has a 3-2 record after also losing to Pepsi Sonics early on in the League.

Turnovers from both ends dominated a low scoring first half that ended 32-28 in favour of TGH Pacesetters. A dubious travelling call from referee, Oswald Benjamin on

centre, Kurt Elias, who had not even moved off his pivot, received widespread rejection from spectators.

The call seem to allow Nets some momentum, as they equalised at 32-32, but Gillis’ And1 finish and then a lay-up returned the lead to Pacesetters. However, Lewis buried a huge three-pointer to ensure Nets stay in the contest in the best quarter of the game.

Loncke returned the Pacesetters fold after a brief hiatus and his tormenting defensive pressure on the inside was immediately felt with consecutive steals as Pacesetters went up 41-35, but forward Lewis buried yet another seemingly saving

three-pointer for Nets.

The keenly competitive third quarter ended 45-39 in favour of Pacesetters after the experienced Pelham Doris missed five straight freethrow attempts with five seconds left in the period after a technical foul call and threepoint infringement was enforced. As if none of the teams were taking notes throughout the League, Pacesetters continued a brutal fourth quarter onslaught outscoring Nets 30-15 for the win in the feature contest. In the Division III game, Plaisance Guardians won 65-59 against Panthers.

Kevin Yorrick had 12 points for Plaisance while Orlando Gibson dropped 21 points for Panthers in the game. The GABA League continues tonight with a topof-table clash between Ravens and Colts that could decide how Colts, especially, finish in the League.

One finalist for the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) / Carib Beer Twenty20 tournament would be decided tomorrow (Sunday) when play continues in the forgoing competition.

The lone semifinal game that will be contested as part of a double header at the Albion Community Centre Ground brings together West Berbice and Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets in the feature clash from 13:30hrs.

This will be preceded by a playoff game between host Albion and Bermine commencing at 09:30hrs.

Leading Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets’ quest for a place in the final are Delbert Hicks, Assad Fudadin, Renwick Batson, Dominic Rikhi, Khemraj Mahadeo, Clinton Pestano, Jason Sinclair and Shawn Perreira.

West Berbice’ charge will be led by National pacer Keon Joseph with assistance from the versatile Keith Fraser, Troy Halley, Kwesi Mentore and Arthley Bailey.

The home team Albion will depend on Sewnarine Chattergoon, Sharez Ramcharran, Verepen Permaul, Jonathan Foo and Balchan Baldeo. Bermine will be led by Keon De Jesus, Romario Shepherd, Hakeem Hinds, Stephen Latcha, Damon Vantull, Treistan Bynoe and Julian Moore.

Leewards vs Windwards now day game tomorrow St John’s, Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board announced a change to the upcoming round of matches in the WICB Regional Super 50 tournament. The match between Leeward Islands and Windward Islands at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground tomorrow, April 7 will now be a day game.

Play will start at 9:30 am (8:30 am Jamaica Time). The match was previously slated to be played under lights.

The other matches on Sunday will be: Trinidad & Tobago vs Barbados at Queen’s Park Oval – 9:30 am (8:30 am Jamaica Time) Guyana vs Jamaica at Guyana National Stadium 2 pm (1 pm Jamaica Time) The Final Four (Semi-finals 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.

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 33

DCB Inter Association U-19 50 over cricket...

Port Mourant Turf Club/ Jumbo Jet express appreciation East Bank and West Demerara record victories

The Jumbo Jet stables stood out both in the organising and performance at the event.

The executives and members and the Port Mourant Turf Club in collaboration with the Jumbo Jet who held the annual one day “Guyana Cup Fever” horserace meet on Sunday 31st March at the Clubs Entity Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice is expressing heartfelt thanks to all sponsors, members of the public and the various media houses in Guyana who contributed in making the event a success.

The members of the management Committee would like to say a big thank you to: Banks DIH Limited, Mr. Inshan Bacchus and family Trucking, Mohammed ‘Nanko’ Shariff Business Enterprise and Shariff racing stable, Jumbo Jet Auto Sales and racing stables and family, Romel Jagroop General Contracting, B.K International, Dalip Trading Enterprise, Mr. Ramesh Sunich of Trophy

Stall, Bourda Market, Francis “Chico” Chichester and family, Lakeram ‘Buddy’ Sookdeo and family, Imperial Manufacturing, Innovative Construction, Johnny Phillips, Yellow Mines, Hand In Hand Insurance Company, Trail Boss Trucking Company, Customs Racing Stable, Kanhai Electrical Agency among others including the Slingerz Sound System and all the members of the Port Mourant Turf Club.

According to coordinators the event was successfully held and they look forward for the patrons continued support, especially for the Digicel Horserace meet and the Guyana Cup. The next race meet on the calendar is the Bush Lot United Turf Club one day meet set for Sunday 14th at Sea View Park Bush Lot West Coast Berbice. (Samuel Whyte)

Alpha clash with Slingerz in mouth watering Mayors Cup Football final Following weeks of stiff rivalry and exciting football, Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United and Slingerz FC have extricated themselves from the crowd and will battle for championship honours when the finals of the Mayor’s Cup Football Championships get underway at the Guyana Football Club (GFC) Ground tomorrow evening.

The two earned the right to battle for the prestigious prize after winning their respective semifinal encounters Thursday evening last; Alpha defeated Den Amstel 2-0 in a truncated game that ended controversially, while Slingerz sent the army packing 2-1. Philbert Moffat (3rd) and Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams (48th) scored for Alpha, while Quason MacAulay (78th) and Olvis Mitchell (43rd) were on target for Slingerz. Sherwin Caesar had opened the army’s account in the 6th minute in what turned out to be inconsequential.

Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams The Alpha /Den Amstel game started at a fast clip with both sides attempting to seize the advantage. Moffat broke away early in the game and delivered a thunderous kick and try as he might, Den Amstel custodian could not intercept. The West Demerara team refused to relinquish the pressure and the ‘Hammers’ had to dig deep in order to maintain their lead. They succeeded and left the field at the intermission with their one goal advantage.

The trouble started shortly after the start of the

second session. After a keen tussle Den Amstel earned a free kick just outside the box of their goal. The player that took the kick tapped the ball towards his ‘keeper’ but Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson intercepted and passed it over to Abrams. The latter player then tapped the ball past the advancing Den Amstel custodian and the referee awarded the goal to Alpha.

Den Amstel players protested saying that the player was simply spotting the ball to take the free kick. They then refused to continue the game despite the referee urging them to do so. After several minutes had elapsed and the players continued to show dissent, the referee blew the game off and awarded it to Alpha. Den Amstel rebelled and the ensuing confusion forced a delay to the start of the feature game between the GDF and Slingerz.

Organizer of the tournament, Lennox Arthur (Continued on page 28)

By Zaheer Mohamed East Bank and West Demerara recorded victories when play in the Demerara Cricket Board U-19 Inter Association 50 over tournament commenced yesterday.

At Enmore, East Bank defeated East Coast by 3 wickets. East Coast batted first and managed 124-9 off their allotted 50 overs. They found the going tough and lost wickets at regular intervals on a track which looks good for batting. However a last wicket stand of 34 between Ramjeet Heeralall (19*) and Nandram Ganesh (15*) saw them to their eventual total which proved too small in the end. Brian Sahauz was their next best scorer with 16 as left arm pacer Asif Ilahi claimed 4-29.

East Bank then responded with 125-7 in 46.3 overs. Ryan Shun and Leon Persaud gave them a solid start by posting 55 for the opening stand before Persaud was dismissed for 11. Shun followed shortly for 33 before Deonarine Seegobin and Alex Loncke (09) added 36 for the third wicket but off spinner Alex Sheoprashad trapped Loncke leg before to pull things back for the host. East Bank then lost four wickets for 17 runs including that of Seegobin for 33, before Stephen Brown with 11 not out and Kevon Moore who got off the mark with a six over mid wicket won the game for the visitors with 3.3 over to spare as they finished on 125-7. Moore made 6 not out as Ravindra Beepat took 3-23 and Sheoprashad 2-21.

Asif Ilahi At Enmore, West Demerara overcame Georgetown by 2 wickets. Georgetown were bowled out for 122 in 41.2 overs after they were inserted by the home team. Andrew Gibson top scored with 31 while Martin Pestano Bell made 21 as off spinner Travis Persaud grabbed 4-26, Chandrika Persaud 226 and Kevin Paul 2-20.

West Demerara responded with 128 -8 in 32.3 overs. Travis Persaud returned to hit 34(3x4), while Rajiv Balgobin chipped in with 32(2X6) and Chris Persaud 21(3x4); Devon Lord snared 4-22.

The competition continues today with West Demerara facing East Coast at Enmore and Georgetown playing East Bank at Demerara Cricket Club.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday April 06, 2013

Jenson Button aims to revive his McLaren season in China BBC Sport - Jenson Button plans to revive his title challenge at next week’s Chinese Grand Prix after a poor start to 2013.

A risky car redesign put McLaren on the back foot in the first two races but Button says the team are closer to solving the car’s lack of pace.

“Everybody in the team has picked themselves up and really attacked addressing our car’s issues,” he said. “I definitely think there’s everything to play for with this championship. I can’t

wait to start the fight again.”

Button and his new teammate Sergio Perez have taken two points apiece as Button battled to ninth in Australia and Perez followed suit in Malaysia. A bungled pit-stop denied Button a potential podium finish in Malaysia but the 33-year-old says he is confident the team can now build on the improved race pace he showed in Sepang.

“Taking home two points from the first two races obviously wasn’t what we had in mind at the beginning

of the year,” Button said.

“The important thing for us as a team is to go into the weekend with clear focus, hone our strengths across the sessions and increase our understanding of the car.

“We know where we’re losing performance, so I think we’re actually all looking forward to seeing just what we can achieve in Shanghai. I think we can have a pretty good race next weekend.”

While most other teams have decided to build an evolution of their 2012 cars,

McLaren - who had the fastest car for most of last year - took a more radical approach. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, who has stood by his team’s risky car design, says the three-week break has given the team useful time to understand how to unlock the car’s potential.

“Our performance in Australia and Malaysia fell below the high standards we’ve come to expect at McLaren,” Whitmarsh said.

“However, the three-week

break between rounds two and three has been a useful one.

“We’ve been fully engaged in further developing our understanding of the MP4-28 and are confident of being able to implement a number of changes that will potentially improve its performance. “We feel confident that we are starting to turn the page. Formula 1 is an unpredictable beast. We head to China next week with the hope of making further progress and eating into the advantage currently held by the leading pack.”

Perez has also been pleased to get some breathing space after a mixed start to his McLaren career that saw him miss the cut in the first phase of qualifying in Melbourne and muscle his way to ninth in Malaysia.

“There’s been a little time to breathe after the first two races of the season,” said the

Jenson Button (AP) Mexican.

“That’s been important for us, as we’ve been able to get back to MTC [McLaren Technology Centre] and really throw all our efforts behind the modifications we need to make the car perform more consistently.

“So, we go into round three, and I feel there’s a lot of positivity within the team.”

Wozniaki advances in Charleston, Williams sisters delayed (Reuters) - Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the last eight of the Family Circle Cup without hitting a shot on Thursday, while matches involving Serena and Venus Williams were postponed after a lengthy rain delay in Charleston, South Carolina. A rain delay of nearly seven-and-a-half hours forced organizers to push back top seed Serena’s round of 16 match with qualifier Mallory Burdette and Venus’ battle with Varvara Lepchenko to Friday.

Second seed Wozniacki was given a free pass to the quarterfinals when Andrea Petkovic withdrew with a calf injury just a few hours before their scheduled match.

Third seeded Australian Samantha Stosur went down to Canadian qualifier Eugenie Bouchard, retiring hurt with a

leg complaint after losing the first set 6-1 and trailing 2-0 in the second.

Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic ousted 19-year-old American Jessica Pegula in just 64 minutes 6-0 6-4 but was affected by the lengthy delays. The former world number one was too strong for professional debutant Pegula, who won her first two matches before getting completely outclassed in straight sets.

“I wanted to take a nap, but I couldn’t,” Jankovic told reporters. “We joked that if they rained it out, we have a shopping day.

“At the end of the day, I was lucky. I came out and played quite well.”

Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele prevailed 3-6 6-1 6-3 over 10th seed German Julia Goerges.

Saturday April 06, 2013

Kaieteur News

Second horse dies at Aintree meeting Little Josh became the second horse to die at the 2013 Aintree Grand National meeting after falling on Friday (PA)

LONDON (Reuters) - A second horse in two days died at the Aintree Grand National meeting on Friday despite officials making changes to fences after criticism of deaths last year.

Little Josh was put down after a fall while Battlefront collapsed and died on Thursday.

The English Grand National, widely regarded as the world’s best known steeplechase, takes place today.

“We are sad to confirm that it has been necessary to humanely put down Little Josh on welfare grounds, as a result of his fall at the 15th fence in the Topham Chase,” an Aintree statement said.

“He received immediate veterinary attention for a

broken shoulder, but this injury was not treatable and it was the necessary course of action.”

The deaths of two horses during last year’s race and two in 2011 brought equine safety into focus and prompted an official inquiry amid calls by animal welfare groups for the National to be banned.

A number of modifications were subsequently recommended, with the organisers making famous fences such as the notorious Becher’s Brook less dangerous.

However, two deaths before the day of the main race this year will do little to ease the pressure on racing chiefs at the Liverpool course.

Battlefront, ridden by

Katie Walsh who hopes to become the first woman to win the National on Saturday, died on Thursday after being pulled up at the 11th fence in the first race of the meeting over the new fences.

This week Walsh had defended the National against accusations of cruelty, saying horses were treated “better than some children”.

Aintree chief John Baker also told Reuters this week that safety and welfare should always be a priority in jumps racing but the National must remain a test of horse and jockey and not lose its unique character.

The race was first run in 1839 and now has an estimated global television audience of 600 million.

Gold Cup Winner for FIFA Confederations Cup™ Playoff Match - this year’s Gold Cup Initial Sales Surpass 2011 Numbers MIAMI The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced on Friday that the champion of the 2013 Gold Cup will qualify for a playoff match to decide which national team will represent the region in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup™.

The champion of the 2015 Gold Cup will become the second team to qualify for the single-game playoff, scheduled to take place in the second semester of that same year at a site to be determined.

“This novel CONCACAF Gold Cup playoff format for the FIFA Confederations Cup is an essential and perhaps long due adjustment required to enhance the crown jewel of national team competitions within our Confederation,” said Jeffrey Webb, President of CONCACAF. “This innovative resolution will allow the Champion of every

single Gold Cup edition to have the same competitive opportunity to represent CONCACAF at the international level.”

The new CONCACAF qualifying process, approved by the Confederation’s Executive Committee, assures that both editions of the Gold Cup in each 4-year cycle have the same importance from a competitive perspective.

The change adds further importance to this year’s edition of the Gold Cup, which is already garnering significant attention among fans. With more than three months to go, initial sales to the 2013 Gold Cup have far exceeded the numbers from the 2011 edition.

In the case that the same nation emerges victorious at both the 2013 and 2015 editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, that team will qualify directly to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Taking place every two

years, the Gold Cup has become the region’s most popular soccer event, routinely drawing capacity crowds and millions of TV viewers across North, Central America and the Caribbean.

Mexico will anchor Group A, which begins play on July 7, in a doubleheader that kicks off with Canada taking on Martinique, 5:30pm EST, at the Rose Bowl. Honduras will lead Group B the following day, facing Haiti at Red Bull Arena, with El Salvador meeting Trinidad & Tobago earlier in the evening. The United States will play Belize on July 9 at Portland’s JELDWEN Field in Group C, preceded by an encounter between Costa Rica and Cuba.

The 2013 Gold Cup quarterfinals will be played in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome and Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, both first-time hosts in the tournament, on July 20 (Continued on page 27)

Page 35

Total Fitness Mania 3 – Trophy Stall on board - Show set for today With all the hard work put in over the past months, it is now time to showcase with the aim of out muscling each other when the curtains are drawn for Total Fitness Mania 3, an in house competition dubbed ‘The Storm’ put on by the Management of Total Fitness Gym, situated at Grove, East Bank Demerara.

Adding some more flavor to the prizes was The Trophy Stall of Bourda Market with a beautiful overall trophy for the athlete who will be crowned Mr. Total Fitness Mania 3.

Yesterday at their Bourda Market location, Mrs. Devi Sunich handed over the trophy to Mrs. Marissa Sookram, stating that they were pleased to be on board with the show for another year.

“This is our way of giving back to the development of the sport which we have been supporting over the years.

We have always tried, and will continue to do our little

Mrs. Devi Sunich (right) of The Trophy Stall hands over the trophy to Mrs. Marissa Sookram. to see and encourage our sportsmen and women to aim for higher heights.

I would like to challenge you however, to ensure that more work is done to have females compete at the next show.”

Mrs. Sookram expressed Total Fitness’ delight and pleasure with Trophy Stall partnering with them yet again and promised that they will leave no stone unturned to ensure that Total Fitness

Mania 4 attract female participation. Today’s show is set to begin at 19:00hrs and will take place at the Digital Technology building, situated at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.

Thirteen athletes will vie for supremacy in the Novice division (Under 154lbs and 155lbs & over) while the senior contestants will go head to head in the 164lbs and 165 & over.

Show time is 19:00hrs.

t r o Sp

CARIFTA team arrive to hero’s welcome

The locally-based athletes of the ultra successful 2013 CARIFTA Games team, from left Jason Yaw, Tirana Mitchell, Cassey George, Jevina Straker, Avon Samuels and Alita Moore pose with officials, Mark Scott (Coach) and Amanda Hermanstine (Manager) for a photo opportunity after arriving in Guyana early Friday morning. able to motivate and positively influence the team throughout the competition.

It was early Friday morning, 1:35 am to “I went through some race tactics with be exact, which may have deterred much them like how to set their blocks for the 200m more people from turning up at the Cheddi and 400m and things like that. They were Jagan International Airport (CJIA) to very timid on the first day, but I think after welcome home a CARIFTA Games team that Avon made the finals in her 400m race, they certainly made history in the Bahamas. woke up and believed in themselves,” he But those who did turned up, including continued.

Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Scott believes that all stakeholders officials, Gavin Hope and Aubrey Hutson, including Government should come forward Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport’s with support for the athletes moving ahead.

Admin Officer, Gervy Harry, among He said that from academic to personal stakeholders, athletes and coaches, were assistance should be high on the agenda for emphatically in appreciation. stakeholders to ensure that the athletes As the team exited the terminal at CJIA, transition from CARIFTA champions to be loud cheers erupted in the waiting area that World champions. Guyana finished sixth prompted an emotional moment for double overall from 19 competing Caribbean medallist (1500m gold, 800m silver in U-17), countries, the highest placing of the nation at Cassey George, who visibly cried as she the event. The other medallists included Jason Yaw (bronze 400m U-17), Jevina embraced her coach, Moses Pantlitz.

And why not, the feat of the Linden-based Straker (gold 800m U-20, her third George and the entire CARIFTA team was CARIFTA gold medal), US-based, Kadecia never before accomplished: six medals from Baird (bronze 400m U-20) and Tirana eight athletes is extremely commendable and Mitchell (bronze 200m U-17). The other represents a 75% success rate at the region’s athletes on the 2013 CARIFTA Games team were Avon Samuels, US-based Ashley most prestigious junior athletics meet.

Coach Mark Scott, who will now have the Tasher and Alita Moore.

Meanwhile, four of the eight athletes distinction of mentoring the first CARIFTA unit to the largest medals haul at a single made the qualification marks for the 2013 Games, said that he believes the World Youth Championships, July 14-18, ‘acclimatisation process’ was one of most Ukraine. Those athletes include George (800m, 1500m), Samuels (400m), Yaw important factors in the team’s success.

“By getting there a few days before to get (200m, 400m) and Mitchell (100m, 200m).

However, the 14-year-old George and acclimatised to the weather and the track especially was a major factor for us. It was Samuels are under the 16-year old age very cold,” Scott said, adding that he was requirement for the Championships.

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By Edison Jefford