Kaieteur News

l a i c e Sp

Online readership yesterday 46,660

April 08, 2012

$140

Email: kaieteurnews@yahoo.com Website:http://www.kaieteurnews.com

Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

$300M Hydroclave (waste disposal) system...

Huge difference in cost Pg. 3

- quotation from the same company shows almost half the price

This is the system commissioned at GPHC two weeks ago

Pg. 17

Robert Badal No govt. guarantee spends US$8M to on private financing upgrade Pegasus - sees Marriott as a for Marriott - Brassington 'sour grapes' project beaten GPL rental will Woman unconscious Pg. 49

Pg. 13

Meet beautiful Varsha

Pg. 11

be examined - APNU

with hammer

Pg. 8

Page 2

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

$300M Hydroclave (waste disposal) system...

Huge difference in cost A quotation from the Canadian supplier has put the cost of the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Hydroclave Sterilization System and its waste collection truck at millions of dollars below the cost cited by hospital officials.

Keith Burrowes, Executive Director of the Government’s Health Sector Development Unit, said that the two pieces of equipment were bought with World Bank funding at a cost of US$1.2M. However, a quotation from Hydroclave Systems Corp, Canada, revealed that the total cost for the exact model Hydroclave H-150 System is US$762,865. The

- quotation from the same company shows almost half the price quotation was supplied to this newspaper upon request.

This would leave a price difference of approximately US$400,000 unaccounted for.

Hospital officials could not immediately state the cost of the truck. According to the quotation provided by Hydroclave Canada, the cost for the equipment includes charges for training.

Burrowes, who has overall responsibility for the project, maintained that the cost to acquire the Hydroclave system was

approved by the World Bank.

According to Burrowes, initially the World Bank had provided US$1M to purchase the Hydroclave Sterilization System, but another US$200,000 was added to that amount by the time tenders began coming in for the project.

The project was not advertised locally. He said advertising for the project locally would have been unwise since the equipment is not available locally.

He further noted that

Price Synopsis for Hydroclave

since the equipment’s purchase was funded by the World Bank, the tender was advertised internationally, including in highly-rated UK magazine, the Economist.

Burrowes said that the tenders for the project were sent directly to Guyana’s National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).

They were evaluated and, in this particular case, the award of the project was approved by Cabinet and the World Bank.

Page 3

Page 4

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210

Editorial

EASTER

Today, Guyanese celebrate Easter. It is one of the religious public holidays on our calendar as it commemorates a signal event in the Christian calendar. Christians believe that three days after Jesus was crucified and buried (commemorated on “Good Friday”) he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

This resurrection provided irrefutable proof to believers that Jesus was indeed the Son of God as he claimed and that he had conquered death. It is entirely possible that if not for this event, Jesus might have been considered as just another Rabbi - as his fellow Jews still regard him.

For Christians, then, Easter symbolises the love of God for his human creation since he allowed his “only begotten son” to be sacrificed so that believers could then experience salvation from original sin. Emanating from its Jewish origins, Easter is associated with Passover and Christ, as the Lamb of God, replaced the Old Testament lamb eaten on that festival evening each year.

The New Testament symbols of the bread and wine were instituted so that Christians could eat the body and drink the blood of Christ, the true Lamb of God. Christ’s sacrifice replaced the need to kill a spring lamb.

The feast, and the festival of Easter, is moveable because it is not commemorated according to our dominant Gregorian calendar that is based on the solar year but the older Jewish system that follows the lunar demarcation. The choice of an Easter Sunday from a span of dates between March and April offers a long weekend to those countries like ours that offer public holidays for both Good Friday and Easter Monday.

And the activities over this weekend have been modified radically away from the original impetus even in Christian countries, much less very pronounced multi-religious ones like Guyana.

Here, even among Christians, Easter has become associated with many other traditions. Kite flying is about the most widespread and visible one. In the month preceding Easter kites are flown with increasing frequency culminating with the sky practically blanked out with kites of all hues and shapes across the coastland on Easter Monday.

Some insist that the flying of kites is meant to symbolise the ascension of Jesus into heaven after his resurrection, but this has not been conclusively proven.

What has been proven is that some of the traditions – including the name “Easter” itself - have come out of the previous religious traditions of converts – dubbed by Christians as “pagan”. The feast day of Easter was originally a European celebration of renewal and rebirth.

Celebrated in the early spring, it honoured the pagan Saxon goddess Eastre. When the early missionaries converted these Saxons to Christianity, the holiday was merged with the pagan celebration and became known as Easter. It fell around the same time as the traditional memorial of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

Hot Cross Buns also come out of this pre-Christian tradition. At the feast of Eastre, an ox was sacrificed and its horns became a symbol for the feast. They were carved into the ritual bread - hence later, “hot cross buns”.

The word “buns” is derived from the Saxon word “boun” which means “sacred ox.” Later, the symbol of a symmetrical cross was used to decorate the buns; the cross represented the moon, the heavenly body associated with the Goddess, and its four quarters.

So it appears that we are following a venerable tradition of merging indigenous customs into the received ones to create a uniquely “Guyanese” festival. The Bartica Regatta, the Rupununi Rodeo and other community celebrations that are held over the Easter weekend have joined the kite flying that brings us all together to assist in nation building.

But we ought not to forget that the kernel of the festival of Easter is a Christian religious one and all Guyanese should be respectful of the values sought to be transmitted in that tradition.

We hope the spirit of Easter will linger on in the National Assembly for the next two weeks. Happy Easter to all Guyana.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com

The people must ensure that promises made on the campaign trail are kept DEAR EDITOR, During the just concluded November 2011 General and Regional Elections, political parties campaigned rigorously laid out their plans for the people, should they win the elections. It is now time for the people to stay engaged in the political process to ensure that promises made on the campaign trail are made good.

If there is one thing that practically all of us would agree on is the fact that there was a common acknowledgement by the main political parties that the high Value Added Tax (VAT) was a burden on every Guyanese.

This acknowledgement caused parties to present tangible options to reduce VAT from 16 percent. A perusal of parties’ manifestos might reveal these and other tax related pledges made to

the people. The AFC and the APNU, promised a reduced VAT rate of 12 percent and 10 percent respectively.

Donald Ramotar, then Presidential Candidate for the PPP/C, promised that VAT would be reviewed with the aim of reducing it. In fact he told the nation, that should he become president, he will set up a committee to review the entire tax system with the aim of making it fairer and less burdensome on the ordinary wage/ salary earner.

VAT was singled out to receive special attention by his special review committee.

With the GECOM results the PPP/C gained the government and thus Donald Ramotar the presidency, but the combined opposition received the most votes, hence they collectively secured the parliamentary majority.

Ramotar ’s government presented a

budget with no reduction, as promised, in the 16 percent VAT rate.

This reality would cause many of us to ask whether we can rely on what we hear on the campaign trail. It would be fair to therefore ask whether promises on the campaign trail were just made for political gaff, to sound politically correct or to take the people for another ride?

Will the parliamentary opposition renege on their promise and support the passage of a budget with no reduction in VAT? Will some sit in the parliament and decide that to abstain from voting on this issue is the best political route for them?

To do any of these would be to put the people of Guyana ‘under the bus’, or to do like Ramotar did, shaft the people on VAT. There are so many other

shortcomings and issues with the 2012 budget, that demand careful scrutiny, but it would make for a greater travesty should the budget pass without reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) from that burdensome 16 percent.

The government boasts every year of how many billions VAT rakes in but yet they are unprepared to release this lasso from the pockets of the ordinary Guyanese. I believe that the government failed to listen to the people on this particular issue, and it is sad that in a country which professes to be democratic, it appears that the majority views are irrelevant.

It was unthinkable that with all the public outrage against VAT that the government decided to table a budget in the National Assembly with no reduction in VAT. What a mockery!

Lurlene Nestor

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Page 5

Kaieteur M@ilbox

We need to look at the previous Many teachers still to decisions of Chief Justice Chang receive their GTU ballots DEAR EDITOR, early. investigated for alleged I would like to reiterate at the expense of being criticized for beating my own drum, that prior to the court decision on the Henry Greene rape allegation, I was the only Guyanese who penned a critical comment on Chief Justice Chang for three decisions he made.

I have done so in several letters to both independent dailies and twice in my columns. In two of those correspondences, I took the position that I would be vocal if Justice Chang should achieve CCJ status (become a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice). I gave my reason which is repeated among the paragraphs of this letter.

My castigation of him related to three decisions, the most important of which was to assign for hearing the libel suit filed by then President Jagdeo, eleven months, three weeks after Mr. Jagdeo’s affidavit was processed.

It is generally said by Guyanese that this libel case has created a piece of history for itself in the annals of Guyana’s jurisprudence.

What is never mentioned is that the libel secured a historical place for another reason – the timing of the hearing.

I contend that not even in the most efficient countries in the world, a libel suit is heard in a year’s time. It does not happen even in places like the US, Canada, Australia, UK, India and the Caricom states.

In all my coverage of this disposition by Justice Chang, I never advanced a reason why he made the judgement of an early trial. The reason is that even if I was to secure help from the world’s greatest genius on the use of the English language, it would be impossible to evade making an allegation of bias against Justice Chang. For this reason I have abstained.

I am eager to submit my analysis of Justice Chang’s action but I world appeal to the C J to assure me that he would not take offence once the language is circumspect, civil and academic. Once the CJ assures me he will allow for the ventilation of my assessment, I will state why that trial reached a judge so

In the midst of the torrid controversy over the CJ’s decision in Greene versus the DPP, the nation needs to focus on other rulings by the CJ. I contend that on examination, I find two of his recent judgements unacceptable.

This is my opinion and I don’t have to be a lawyer to reject his pronouncements. It is reported in demerarawaves.com that the CJ is contemplating his resignation. This is one Guyanese who thinks the judiciary would be better served if he leaves and I mean nothing personal.

Let me be pellucid here. I am not disputing the statement made over time by many that Mr. Chang is a very learned judge. I have no reason to think otherwise. For me the criterion of brilliance is not overriding, but independence of office is.

First, the bauxite arbitration. He injuncted the arbitration hearing. It leaves the union without any further recourse. There must be extremely urgent reasons why a case of arbitration should be stopped by the courts.

It is the fundamental right of a trade union to seek arbitration in a situation where it feels aggrieved. The CJ says he is hurt at castigations of his decision by a Minister of Government and an opposition Parliamentarian. But he injuncted an arbitration process that was instituted by a Minister. How does he thinks that Minister feels?

The more debatable situation has to do with his permission given to the AG to search the homes and offices of six executives of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).

I have repeatedly written that I have no information that would lead me to exonerate the GCB heads from the accusations of wrong-doing.

My preoccupation was the illegality of the IMC and the arrogant arrogation of the Guyana Government to select the composition of the IMC without consultations.

Six weeks after the GCB executives were being

financial irregularities with police visits to the offices of the GCB and police interviews with the leading figures in the GCB, the CJ granted an order to the AG to search these people’s homes and offices.

The request that the CJ should have made (in camera) was to see what the police had in their six weeks of investigations. My opinion is that they had nothing therefore they couldn’t charge. Yet the AG went ahead and asked for searches.

More than a month after the search order was granted, there are still no charges. My contention is that that search order was reckless and the society was even more reckless not to condemn the CJ’s permission.

I have nothing personal against the CJ. My honest feeling, deeply held belief is that he has allowed a judicial inelegance marked by political overtones to characterize his presence in the judiciary and for this reason I think it is best he leaves the bench Frederick Kissoon EDITOR’S NOTE: The libel suit was heard in the time it did stemmed from a request by lawyers involved in the case to Chief Justice Chang.

The lawyers dearly wanted President Bharrat Jagdeo in the box. Mr Kissoon keeps attacking the early hearing of his case but he should be one person who should be happy for early trials. People who languish in jail also seek early hearings.

For Mr Kissoon to lament this fact is to accept the irregularity caused by delays to become the norm and this is disturbing.

DEAR EDITOR, I make reference to an article which was based on an interview of Milne Seymour Presidential Candidate, GTU, Malcolm Marcus Presidential Candidate as well as incumbent Vice President, GTU and the elections officer Patrice Henry dated April 2, 2012.

I place my attention on the following paragraphs.

“During a recent interview…the elections officer said that all of the 6494 ballots were posted between February 12 and February 18, 2012. He added that the GPOC had also indicated that all of the ballots handed down to them were distributed, with no stone left on turned.

Henry said he has indeed received complaints that a number of financial members have not received their ballots, and is of the opinion that these complaints are simply rumours.

According to Henry, the GTU election process is progressing smoothly. “I wish to assure all financial members of the Guyana Teachers Union that this election process would not be different from any previous process, and this elections process would run and be completed as is required by the constitution.”

The Easter Term has concluded and until now teachers of many schools have not received their ballots. Over one hundred and fifty teachers from Pomeroon were disenfranchised; teachers from Georgetown Technical Institute, Matthews Ridge, St. Ann’s Primary, Jasso’s N u r s e r y, 8 t h o f M a y

P r i m a r y, 8 t h o f M a y Secondary, other schools on the Essequibo Coast as well as the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara also did not get to vote.

This is not funny. I am very upset. Guyana Teachers’ Union has lost over two million dollars due to this process since the election officer will have to be paid.

This nonsense has never happened in all our history or if it has, it was not so blatant. This is the worst election ever. This is a typical example of what putting friends to do a job brings; friends do friends no wrong. Old people say, “Mouth open, story jump out” It is unethical to refer to people’s complaints as rumours. How can the elections officer say that the process is progressing smoothly, when a number of teachers have not received their ballots? Is that all can say for himself?

Should I then turn to the Post Office Management for

answers? My ballot was delivered to my school by a post girl; likewise other received their ballots at their schools. Did someone uplift the ballots and did not give them to their owners?

Should I further turn my attention to the head teachers or teachers who may have collected all the ballots and not hand them over to the teachers? What is really going on?

We are a few days away from April 7, 2012 and all the elections officer can say to defend himself is that teachers who reported that they have not received their ballots are lying.

Very cheap shot!!!!! I believe that if the elections officer wanted to help the process, he would have been a bit more vigilant and sensitive to the complaints of electorates.

On the other hand the GTU executive body is very silent on the issue, maybe hoping that the chaos brings great fortune to them. This is pathetic.

Disappointed teacher

Page 6

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur M@ilbox

Poor management of Guyana’s tropical rainforest DEAR EDITOR, I am writing coincidentally on a day when Kaieteur News’ front page banner says ‘Indian coffee company ships out 50 containers of logs in two months – contrary to agreement with Forestry Commission’ (KN, 05 April 2012). I wish to respond to a section of a letter in Guyana Chronicle signed by Peter Persaud and titled ‘IUCN appointment of Jagdeo an excellent choice’ (GC 29 March 2012). Peter Persaud wrote that my ‘analysis that Guyana is harvesting 30 times more than the regeneration limit is totally flawed and cannot stand up to constructive scrutiny. I challenge him to show his justification for his flawed and misleading analysis’.

What I actually wrote to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) included the phrase ‘prime commercial timbers are being overcut by 30 times the natural rate of regeneration’, this statement having been in the newspapers in Guyana since 2008. See, for example, the letter in Stabroek News on 15 November 2008 ‘The GFC’s data on forestry in Guyana are misleading’. That letter referenced the prime commercial timber purpleheart (botanical name Peltogyne venosa). This hard, heavy but easily sawn timber is prized in Asia for flooring and furniture.

Although technically superior to merbau (Intsia bijuga), the declared FOB price for purpleheart exported as unprocessed logs from Guyana to Asia has been astonishingly much below the price for merbau in Asia, by hundreds of US dollars per m3.

That persistent difference in itself should have alerted the Customs and Trade Administration of the Guyana Revenue Authority

about the likelihood of transfer pricing by log export traders, especially when the Guyanese shippers state low rates for ocean freight between China and Guyana.

The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) has a mass of pre-harvest forest inventory data including purpleheart. The forest botanist/ecologist D B Fanshawe summarized field surveys in 1953 by six regions of Guyana. Stocking of purpleheart was at best 0.49 m3/ha in the CuyuniSupenaam area (equivalent to one tree of 40 cm diameter (dbh) and larger per 5 ha, and 0.8 per cent of the commercial stand volume). Worst was 0.04 m3/ha in DemeraraMahaica (equivalent to one tree per 58 ha, and 0.2 per cent of the commercial stand volume).

Fanshawe estimated 2.3 m3 as the average volume of purpleheart trees greater than 40 cm diameter.

In 2000, forest ecologist Hans ter Steege also summarized data from inventory plots for trees of 30 cm dbh and larger. Unlike Fanshawe, ter Steege did not estimate average tree volume.

As he counted smaller trees than Fanshawe, I have here used 2.0 m3/tree. In the central wet forest region his teams counted 26 trees of purpleheart among 4101 trees in 50 ha spread over 16 locations (1.0 m3/ha, one tree per 2 ha, 0.6 per cent of the total trees counted). In the northwest wet forest region, ter Steege’s team counted 25 purpleheart among 4824 trees in 24 ha spread over 14 locations (2.1 m3/ha, one tree per 1 ha, 0.5 per cent of the total trees counted, all species).

In a background paper to the February 2007 debate on a national policy for log export, the GFC provided stocking data for commercial trees of 40 cm dbh and larger, for 7 logging concessions (plot numbers and sizes and concession locations not

TABLE 1

TABLE 2

mentioned). Purpleheart ranged from one tree per 3 ha (best, 1.9 m3/ha) to one tree per 9 ha (worst, 0.3 m3/ha), on average 2.3 per cent of the total number of commercial trees.

So purpleheart is widespread but not common.

It is one of the species which grows in clumps or ‘reefs’, so the ‘average’ tree stocking is actually misleading.

Purpleheart reefs contain more trees than the average stocking but then there are wide areas with no purpleheart until the next reef.

Thus purpleheart needs special protection against over-harvesting, provided by a rule to not fell trees within 10 m of each other, according to the GFC Code of Practice for Timber Harvesting (2002).

This 10 m rule is based on abundant research on tree gaps by the Tropenbos Guyana Programme.

The GFA Consulting Group scoping study on independent forest monitoring noted in December 2011 that the GFC had relaxed informally this critical distance to 8 m, thus

allowing more trees to be cut in a reef. The GFC cited higher-level ‘policy direction’ although there is no published research to justify this relaxation. The then junior Minister for Forestry at the time of the GFA study in October 2011 made no public explanation for the ‘policy direction’ to ignore the Tropenbos research.

On the contrary, the National Development Strategy 2001-2010 says that the regenerative capacities of identified forest types and species will be conservatively

estimated (section 14.IV.2.11).

And the above-mentioned GFC Code notes that ‘sustained yields can only be ensured if a minimum stocking is retained after logging for each individual desirable species . . This means that individual treemarking rules need to be developed for each particular forest type under different stand conditions. Yield regulation is an area of active GFC policy and research’.

Given that purpleheart is a commercially desirable Continued on page 7

I hope that our judicial system develops the new mindset that this case has highlighted a need for DEAR EDITOR, I join the community of persons who have felt confident enough to comment on Chief Justice Chang’s decision in the Henry Greene case.

And in repudiation of the ludicrous belief that only persons with a legal education are qualified to sensibly question the decisions of the court, I feel no compulsion to make the self-deprecating disclaimer about my not being a lawyer; for I am well aware that many of the decisions in our courts are ultimately made by juries comprised of persons with no legal education or not even one day of university education.

In a jury trial, which is what Henry Greene would have faced, the judge as the so-called trier of facts is tasked primarily with maintaining order in the court, determining the admissibility of evidence, ruling on the relevance of questions, and, if deemed necessary,

declaring a mistrial or vacating a jury’s decision. The prosecution and defense, on the other hand, spend their time trying to convince the judge and jury of the irrelevance and dubiousness of each other’s evidence.

In analyzing the situation in which the Chief Justice (CJ) finds himself, I have come to the conclusion that the CJ was hamstrung by a judicial process that relies primarily on common sense and eloquence of arguments to resolve cases.

I strongly believe that the CJ would have recognized the need to refer this case for trial if he were operating in a judicial environment that placed as much emphasis on the mundane but necessary testimony of experts in the physical and social sciences.

Unfortunately, fingerprinting, post-mortem, arson, and ballistic test results are probably the most pervasive types of scientific evidences used in our courts.

Very little, if any, resort seems to be made to social scientists such as psychologists. And the initial, undeveloped evidence before the CJ indicated that the testimony of a psychologist was needed.

But the CJ allowed common sense to prevail.

We and the CJ have in our lives seen or heard about many things that defy common sense. The most prevalent is the woman who is beaten by her man for tea,

breakfast, and dinner but never leaves or goes to the police, even if the man disappears into the gold bush for months.

He then returns and beats her to the brink of death, goes back to the gold bush, but she still stays and refuses to go to the police. I was also told of women who were regularly taken back by their husbands from the U.S. to Guyana to be beaten, even though they were aware of what would occur once they set foot in Guyana.

In exasperation, we conclude that these women are stupid, in the relationship for the money, or are fearful— or all three. But whatever we may think about their motivations, we would certainly not be averse to their abusers now or sometime later being prosecuted for their obvious crimes.

So in light of this reality, how much credence should we really give to our common sense in matters of this nature? But if we insist on using common sense alone, how much does it require to understand why a poor woman with a pending police matter would want to seem as friendly as necessary to the police commissioner who has the power to resolve that matter with a few phone calls, even if she feels in her heart that she has been raped by the commissioner? So would it have been unreasonable to

ask Henry Greene to go before a judge and jury to defend against the woman’s allegations?

And wouldn’t our jurisprudence have been enhanced by asking the state and the defense to produce psychologists to examine/ interview the complainant and pronounce upon the possible reasons for her actions after the alleged rape?

Apart from his unwise resort to common sense, I also believe that the CJ should not have taken cognizance of the additional expense Henry Greene would have incurred in defending himself as the search for justice owes Mr. Greene no such consideration. After all, it was his own disregard for himself, his family, and his office that caused this situation. Anyway, Mr. Greene has made use of the law and has apparently won.

But Mr. Greene’s victory has raised a lot of questions about our nation’s jurisprudence in general and about Chief Justice Chang’s judgment in particular.

Nevertheless, I hope that our judicial system develops the new mindset that this case has highlighted a need for: it must always be aware of and be willing to supplement common sense with evidence from the physical and social sciences whenever necessary. And it certainly was in this case.

Lionel Lowe

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 7

Kaieteur M@ilbox Large slice of budget to bail out two insolvent, badly mismanaged institutions DEAR EDITOR, The PPP claims this is the biggest budget ever and there was lots of cheering from the PPP benches in parliament.

What the PPP conveniently forgot to tell us is that the two largest items in the budget were going to bail out two insolvent institutions that have been badly mismanaged by the PPP. Those companies are GPL and Guysuco. Ramotar and the PPP would never open these two institutions to independent auditing but the

PAC needs to ensure that this is done and make it contingent on the bailout.

Another thing that must happen is that the board at Guysuco and GPL has to go.

The PPP’s unqualified stooges need to be removed before any money is given to these companies.

Sugar workers and others must support the opposition.

Even if you don’t like them, you must support that move to ensure accountability. It is for your benefit.

What is important to note, though, is that the PPP is very positive about the budget

and these massive expenditures and while NIS is also close to being insolvent as well, the PPP wants us to spend more money on a Marriot Hotel and they want us to spend more money on an airport no one needs.

Berbice roads are a mess but instead of fixing that let’s expand the airport roads because while those are used for a small fraction of the day, by few people, it is more important to fix something that is not broken than to fix something that is broken.

John B. Singh

Poor management of Guyana’s...

From page 6 timber but a not-common tree, a citizen (and thus a stakeholder in the national forest estate) might reasonably expect conservative management by the GFC. Harvests in proportion to the stocking in the natural tropical rainforest would not be more than an average of 0.5-1.0 per cent of the commercial crop. What do GFC’s sporadically published data show has happened instead? (Table 1) I can trace no data published for 2003. There are problems with the GFC data, it is not entirely clear that chainsawn lumber has been included. One set of data indicates that purpleheart percentages are 1-4 percentage points greater than in the table above. In December 2006 the GFC indicated zero chainsawn purpleheart in 2005 and 2006 but just two months later the GFC stated 9115 m3 of chainsawn purpleheart in 2006.

Clearly there has been a rise in selective over-cutting of purpleheart at least from 1996.

There are no comparable data for 2007 onwards because since then the GFC aggregates data into royalty classes and does not display data for individual species. There was concern

even in 2002: ‘The question is, however, can Guyana’s forest sustain this level of extraction in the near future.

This practice [the focus on timbers in the special (highest) class for royalty – greenheart, purpleheart, red cedar, brown silverballi, letterwood, bulletwood] can pose a threat to the Guyana’s forest’. And who wrote that?

The GFC did, in its Forestry in Guyana – Market Report for 2001 (July 2002). But no precautionary action was taken.

The selectivity of focus on purpleheart is even more striking in relation to the log exports, and recalling that the presence of purpleheart in the natural forest is mostly in the range of 0.5-1.0 per cent by standing volume. I have no reliable data for years before 1999, and years 2000-1, 2003, 2007-8 are also missing, unpublished by the GFC. (Table 2) It is contrary to all national policies for timber logs to be exported instead of processed in Guyana, yet the GFC appears to be happy to allow tens of thousands of cubic metres to leave Guyana each year at sub-normal declared prices even while there are claims of local lumber shortages.

Why is this matter important? Because Guyana

has committed to improvements including transparency of operations and reporting under its MoU with Norway, and because Guyana has applied for a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the European Union under the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade action plan (2003). Integral to a VPA is independent forest monitoring which implies also greater transparency and an end to government censorship of information.

The Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA) wrote to the GFC in December 2006, in advance of the discussion on a national log export policy in February 2007. The GMSA in essence requested publication of the kinds of data on production and trade which were normal during the lifetime of the Guyana Timber Export Board.

The GFC responded with only a fraction of the requested information.

The two tables above, summarizing sporadic GFC data, show that claims of sustainable management of Guyana’s forests made by the GFC and the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment are false even for one of the best-known timbers.

J R Palmer

Violence dims Syria truce hopes BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops pounded opposition areas, activists said, killing 74 civilians in an offensive that has sent thousands of refugees surging into Turkey before this week’s U.N.-backed ceasefire aimed at staunching a year of bloodshed.

At least 15 rebels and 17 security force members were also killed, raising the death toll in violence to over 100.

Each side has accused the other of intensifying assaults in the run-up to the truce due to take effect early on Thursday if government forces begin pulling back from towns 48 hours earlier in line with U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.

The military shelled Deir Baalba district in Homs, killing four people, the grassroots Local Coordination Committees opposition group said. Thirteen men were also found killed in cold blood in the same area, it said.

Amateur activist video showed scenes of carnage said to be the aftermath of the shelling. Mangled limbs and body parts in blankets were being loaded on a pick-up truck. A second video showed 13 men who appeared to have been tied up and executed.

No comment was immediately available from Syrian officials. The videos could not be independently verified. The government has placed tight restrictions on media access in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 74 civilians had been killed, including 40 in an army attack on al-Latmana, in Hama province, that began on Friday. The rebel Free Syrian Army lost 15 men in the battle, it said, and 17 members of the security forces were killed across the country.

In an activist video from al-Latmana, mourners held aloft the limp corpse of a child.

A row of bodies lay on the ground.

Mali junta sees civilian govt. ‘in days’ BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali’s coup leader said yesterday the junta would hand power to civilians within days in a deal under which neighbouring nations agreed to lift sanctions and help tackle Tuareg rebels who have seized much of the north.

The March 22 coup by soldiers angry at ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure’s handling of a two-month-old rebellion backfired, emboldening the Tuareg nomads to seize the northern half of Mali and declare an independent state there.

After three days of negotiations and growing international pressure to step down, Mali’s junta announced late on Friday it would begin a power handover in return for an amnesty from prosecution and the lifting of

trade and other sanctions.

“It is the will of the committee to quickly move towards the transition,” coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo said at the barracks outside the capital Bamako which has been the headquarters of his two-week-old rule.

“In the next few days you will see a prime minister and a government in place,” Sanogo, sitting in an armchair in the middle of his cramped office, said in an interview with Reuters, France’s i-tele and the Spanishlanguage channel Telesur.

A five-page accord agreed by Sanogo and the 15-state West African bloc ECOWAS for a return to constitutional order did not specify when the handover would start.

10-year-old girl gives birth to daughter A 10-year-old Colombian girl gave birth to a healthy baby girl, making her one of the youngest mothers ever.

The unnamed girl from Manaure, a town in the Colombian Department of La Guajira, arrived at the hospital in tears and “enormous pain” from the contractions, according to Univision’s Primer Impacto. She reportedly delivered her daughter, who weighed 5 pounds, by cesarean section.

Experts say a C-section delivery for such a young mother is not unusual.

“The baby’s head needs to come through a bony outlet. But in a young girl, the pelvis may not be ready or big enough to deliver a

baby,” said Dr. Kimberly Gecsi, an OB/GYN at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

Extremely young mothers also have a higher risk of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure known as preeclampsia, and their babies are at risk for fetal growth restriction, according to Dr. Frederick Gonzalez, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center.

The new mom is a member of the Wayuu people, an indigenous tribe in northern Colombia. The age of the father is unknown, but police can’t press charges because the tribe has its own jurisdiction, according to local reports. (ABC)

Page 8

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Man beats woman unconscious with hammer ST. Kitts PM seeking foreign - goes on the run, sends threatening messages to family

A battered Eureka Garraway

A Prashad Nagar resident is on the run after allegedly slashing his 38-year-old lover and beating her unconscious with a hammer last Wednesday.

The victim, Eureka Garraway, was found in a relative’s Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara residence, unconscious and bleeding profusely from head injuries.

A niece said that Garraway, who was admitted to a private hospital, with cuts to head which required more than 100 stitches, also sustained two broken fingers.

The relative said that the suspect, who is well known for his antics at cricket matches, contacted the woman’s family by telephone on Thursday and threatened to harm them.

According to the niece, Garraway was visiting a sisterin-law at Non Pareil last Wednesday when the lover arrived. He reportedly remained on the verandah while Garraway and other relatives gathered in another section of the house “laughing and drinking together.”

The sister-in-law and the others eventually went out, leaving Garraway and her lover at the residence.

Kaieteur News was told that before departing, the sister-inlaw, who was aware of the suspect’s history of physical abuse, expressed concern about Garraway being left alone with the man. Garraway reportedly reassured that she would be “alright.”

It is alleged that at around 15:00 hrs, neighbours heard screams emanating from the house where Garraway was staying. According to the niece, around 18:00 hrs Garraway’s brother received a phone call from the woman’s lover. The suspect reportedly told the brother “I leave your sister in a pool of blood; go home (and check).”

The brother relayed the information to his wife, who reportedly rushed home and discovered the unconscious and battered Garraway on a bed in the Non Pareil residence. The injured woman was rushed to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.

The niece alleged that the following day, the suspect contacted some of Garraway’s relatives and demanded to speak to her. He reportedly then threatened to kill them.

She said the matter was reported at the Vigilance Police Station. Kaieteur News was told that police have numerous reports, particularly at the Prashad Nagar Police Outpost about physical abuse and threats that the suspect inflicted on Garraway.

“Last year, she was at a ‘farewell’, and he ran upstairs with a knife and said he would stab her…” the niece said.

The police would sometimes detain Garraway’s lover but he has never been charged, she said. The niece alleged that the suspect has a relative in the Force and the rank would intervene on the suspect’s behalf.

investment in India BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS - (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis is hopeful that the twinisland Federation will benefit from Indian investment in tourism, renewable energy, financial services and manufacturing.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr. Denzi l L .

Douglas, who is on an Official Working Visit to India was guest of honour at a Business Banquet hosted at Bath Castle in Ludhiana, the industrial capital of Punjab State, India, on Friday night.

Dr. Douglas delivered a

powerful statement to over 100 Indian industrialists and business people about possibilities for developing partnerships between the business communities in both India and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Prime Minister Douglas stressed the global economic and financial recession has had severe impact not only on large economies in Europe, Asia and the United States, but also on small economies around the world.

For this reason he emphasized that the Government of St. Kitts and

Nevis could no longer pursue its public sector investment programme alone, but must now rely heavily on new partnerships with the private sector especially those in Brazil and India; hence his visit to India at this critical juncture.

Prime Minister Douglas has described his visit so far as “not only timely but quite successful.”

The St. Kitts and Nevis leader is the second Caribbean Prime Minister to visit India this year. In January, Kamla PersadBissessar, the Prime Minister

Dr. Denzil L. Douglas of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago visited the Asian nation.

Jamaica to sign military agreement with Canada KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC - Jamaica is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Canada for the establishment a Canadian operational support hub here, Information Minister Sandrea Falconer has said.

“This hub will enable the Canadian government, through its military (the Canadian Force), in collaboration with our Jamaica Defence Force, to provide

Information Minister Sandrea Falconer

logistical support to operations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean,” she said.

She said that the operations of the hub would be consistent with the policies and laws of Jamaica, and would include peacekeeping, humanitarian, development, and disaster relief.

“Cabinet was also advised that the government of Canada has routinely deployed Canadian forces

across the world to offer humanitarian assistance and other support. “ For the Canadians, the most effective and efficient way of providing this support is through a network of operational support hubs, allowing for easy airlift of sea and air assets in response to crises covered by the hub,” she said, adding “it’s not a military force that’s going to occupy”.

St Lucia PM denies suffering from cancer CASTRIES, St. Lucia CMC - Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony has sought to dispel widespread rumours here that he is receiving treatment for cancer.

“I am lost at to how the rumour started, but I first heard of it after last general elections. I am not sure why someone would have started this, but that is not so, I am fine and in good health,” he said on local television Thursday night during an

interview highlighting his administration’s first 100 days in office.

Following last November 28 general election there have been widespread rumours that Anthony, who led his St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) back into office after a five year stint in opposition, was suffering from prostate cancer after former foreign affairs minister Rufus Bousquet admitted publically that he was suffering from the disorder.

“I am 61 (years) and trying to look after myself, trying to eat better, trying to avoid certain things because you know once you have reached my age one has to make certain adjustments,” said a jovial Anthony.

He said that with age, adjustments would naturally include proper diet and exercise adding that like everyone else he needed to have regular general checkups.

Dr. Kenny Anthony

Dutch recall Suriname ambassador after amnesty THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Prime Minister denounced Suriname’s decision to grant amnesty to President Desi Bouterse for crimes committed under his earlier military dictatorship as “totally unacceptable” and recalled the country’s ambassador from its former colony in protest.

The amnesty, approved Wednesday night by lawmakers in the South American country, ended a long-running trial for Bouterse and 24 associates on charges of abducting and murdering 15 prominent political

Desi Bouterse opponents in December 1982.

“We consider it totally unacceptable,” Mark Rutte

told reporters in The Hague.

“The law must be allowed to run its course.”

The Netherlands also is barring all suspects in the killings from entering the country and vowed to take more action.

“We will do everything, internationally together with France, the European Union and other like-minded nations, to ensure that there are consequences and that they are felt by Suriname,” Rutte said.

Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal earlier called the amnesty “a slap in the face” for relatives of the slayings.

Suriname has long had a strained relationship with its

former colonial master the Netherlands.

A Dutch court convicted Bouterse in absentia in 1999 of trafficking cocaine from Suriname to the Netherlands, but he has claimed his innocence and avoided an 11-year prison sentence because he can’t be extradited under Surinamese law.

Bouterse seized power in a 1980 coup. He allowed the return of civilian rule in 1987 but staged a second coup in 1990. He stepped down as military chief in 1992, but has remained a powerful force in the nation of 500,000.

Lawmakers elected him president in 2010.

Sunday April 08, 2012

By Brigadier David Granger, Leader of the Opposition Minister of Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Kumar Singh presented the People’s Progressive Party Civic administration’s $192.8 billion budget to the National Assembly on Friday 30th March. The Budget boasted a promising slogan – Remaining on course, united in purpose, prosperity for all.

Its main proposals, however, have been hugely disappointing to the nation at large.

The Budget detailed a long list of large amounts of money to be collected and spent. It reminded the nation, as every Budget does every year, that it was the “largest in the history of the country.”

What the people saw beyond the big numbers of dollars, however, was a grim future where their hopes for a good life are growing dimmer and dimmer.

The people did not see a budget that offered new options for escaping from poverty, new opportunities for pursuing higher education and new prospects for jobs. In short, they felt that they will be worse off, rather than better off, under Budget 2012.

The National Assembly was told that the Budget was guided by the vision embodied in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s election manifesto. It painted a glowing image of a “Guyana that is a land of opportunity and prosperity, where every citizen can realize their personal and professional aspirations; where more of our people chose to remain to make a rewarding living

Kaieteur News

Page 9

Dem boys seh Forget the numbers!

What about the people? Is not only Christians live in Guyana

and where more of our diaspora find it worthwhile to return, whether for gainful employment or restful retirement; where investors prefer to do business; where productive activity continues to grow and where productivity and competitiveness improve steadily; where high quality social and other services are readily and efficiently available and where all of our actions and decisions are consistent with the longterm sustainability of the natural environment.” For the majority of Guyanese, that rosy image, however, was a mirage.

The proposals in the PPP/ C’s 2012 Budget fell far short of the vision of the PPP/C’s 2011 Manifesto. There was no shortage of bad news. The Budget admitted that, at the end of 2011, public enterprises had incurred an overall deficit of G$6.6 billion compared to $2.8 billion in 2010. The national external debt stock soared by 16 per cent to US$1.2 billion and its domestic debt stock rose by 2.2 per cent to US$ 728 million in 2011.

It acknowledged that the important sugar industry had under-performed and it blamed low labour turnout and the ‘need for greater managerial effectiveness,’ among other things, for the setback.

The Budget proposed the transfer of $6 billion from the Central Government to the Guyana Power & Light Company and another transfer of G$4 billion to the Guyana Sugar Corporation.

These two struggling state corporations have been languishing as liabilities

under PPP/C mismanagement for years.

Dishing out billions to ailing state enterprises was bad enough. Much worse was the stingy treatment of workers and the poor. The Budget signalled that no substantial new resources would be directed to the poorest and the most vulnerable people in the country. It neglected to make even the slightest reference to the administration’s own Poverty Reduction Strategy.

The most likely consequence will be that the poor will remain poor. They will be further marginalised and prevented from participating in the country’s economic development.

The Budget ignored the big issue of poverty – visible in the growing horde of addicts, alcoholics, beggars, destitute people and street children. It ignored the need to strengthen the administrative infrastructure of hinterland regions from which mineral wealth – especially bauxite, diamonds, gold and manganese – is earned.

The Budget did not indicate how jobs would be found for the thousands of young school-leavers who enter the labour market each year.

It ignored the need to protect our fishermen, miners and other working people by providing funds to equip the Police Force with the aviation, maritime and land transport assets it needs to curb piracy in our coastal waters and banditry in the hinterland.

The Budget’s weakness is that it is a ‘boardroom’ contrivance that is badly outof-touch with the reality of the

High tides lash coastal Guyana

High tides caused flooding on the Rupert Craig Highway as a result of water overtopping the seawall.

Other sections of coastal Guyana were also affected by the extraordinary high tides.

Stabroek Market which lies on the edge

of the Demerara River did not escape, neither did sections of Water Street, Georgetown.

Residents along the Banks of the three large rivers were also subjected to floods but they all said that they had experienced worse.

The tide was expected to peak yesterday.

actual needs of the people and the conditions in the country. Consequently, it did not even try to encourage the people themselves – through alleviating poverty, reducing the burdensome cost-ofliving, increasing jobs, improving education and enhancing human safety – to participate in the plan. The Budget’s ten big failures were: 1. Failure to introduce meaningful measures to reduce poverty; 2. Failure to lower the cost-of-living for the majority of the population; 3. Failure to reduce the burdensome value-added tax (VAT); 4. Failure to provide sufficient opportunities for jobs; 5. Failure to increase salaries for nurses, teachers and other public servants; 6. Failure to increase public assistance and old age pensions significantly; 7. Failure to provide adequate funding for the University and the College of Education; 8. Failure to provide adequate funding to enable the Police Force to counter crime; 9. Failure to provide adequate funding for the foreign missions to promote local exports and investment opportunities; and, 10. Failure to provide adequate funding to upgrade regional administrative centres – especially Bartica, Lethem, Mabaruma, Mahdia, Rosignol and Vreed-en-Hoop – to township status.

The PPP/C’s proposed Budget must be amended if the people are to see real progress. There is no way the country can move forward with such a budget that so recklessly disregards the most important factor in national development – the people!

De other day was Good Friday and all dem rum shop close up. Even dem food place and dem shop close because de law tell dem shop owners that if dem open is straight to jail dem going. Suh all dem boys who did want a drink had to wait till six o’clock when dem place open.

When is election time dem same shop does close from six to six and now is Good Friday dem close from six to six.

Dem boys seh that dem vex because dem is no Christian and dem ain’t got right to accept wha dem white man lef.

Dem is Hindu and dem is Muslim. Dem got to drink dem rum any day except when is dem holy day. And wha got dem boys moiré vex is that when dem Hindu and Muslim got dem holiday nobody don’t shut down de rum shops.

Things was really bad because de shut down dem masjid too. Dem nearly had a riot. Dem boys seh that this nonsense got to done next year or else is trouble. Is de same thing wid election. Who got to vote ain’t got to drink but all who don’t care bout elections got a right to go in a rum shop any time.

But while dem boys thinking bout run pun Good Friday dem people in de government deciding that dem gun stop commissioning anything because de Waterfalls paper always peeping and finding out de real cost.

De hydroclave price get skin up and is only time before dem boys check out wheh de rest of de money gone.

However, dem have one problem. Dem boys seh that dem same people who want to stop de commissioning like fuh see dem picture in de paper. Dem have only one way fuh get dem picture n de paper. Dem got to stop thiefing.

If dem stop de commissioning and try fuh do things in secret dem boys gun get Uncle Donald to investigate. Jail waiting.

Talk half and don’t thief de other half.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Greene matter to be “resolved in a matter of days” ...Ramotar tells media during Berbice visit

President Ramotar listening to the concerns of a resident of East Canje

By Leon Suseran In his first official visit to Region Six— East BerbiceCorentyne —as President, Mr. Donald Ramotar has stated that the issue involving embattled Police Commissioner Henry Greene will “be resolved in a matter of days”.

He was addressing media operatives at the Albion Estate Senior Staff Club on Friday. Ramotar, who was not prepared to deal too much with the matter, stated that he is aware of mounting public pressure for Greene to resign but denounced calls from Government officials for Greene’s resignation. “What I do know is there is a lot of public pressure as far as that is concerned.”

Ramotar said that “all of those things will be resolved in a matter days…I am not prepared to answer any more on that”.

He wrapped up an entire day on Thursday after

visiting several infrastructural works across the Region. He was accompanied by senior officials within the Ministry of Works, including Minister Robeson Benn; Region Six Chairman, David Armogan; Member of Parliament, Faizal M. Jaffarally and Commander of the Division, Deryck Josiah, among other senior police details.

INSPECTIONS The Guyanese leader first inspected the East Bank Berbice roadway which has been the centre of much anger and dissatisfaction amongst the residents and hire car drivers of that area. Ramotar stated that “some work” will begin on the East Bank Berbice road after the budget has been passed in the National Assembly “to bring some relief there”.

He wants to ensure that the people there “have good transportation as well”. Many vehicle operators have ‘jacked up’ their fares or have

pulled out of the area as one of their designated routes since the road, from Overwinning to Everton, has become impassable over the past months.

Remedial works have been underway in recent weeks by contractor H. Nauth & Sons.

Meanwhile, Minister Benn said, “We are doing just now some small intervention with Mr. Nauth”. He said that an immediate rehabilitation of the road will cost some $90M. “This design takes us to Everton”. Benn noted that the design of the road has to be revised since the administration has taken into consideration, the large, heavy- duty vehicles that have been using that roadway in recent times.

The road also leads to a few industrial companies such as a cement- bagging facility at Everton; a road construction company at Glasgow and a new fertiliser plant.

The President then

President Ramotar on the move during the infrastructural inspections in Berbice yesterday. visited the West Canje Road, the East Canje Road and New Forest where he inspected the brand- new road built throughout these areas by H. Nauth & Sons. New Forest, Canje for the first time in history now has a well- paved road reaching to the furthest areas in the predominantly farming community. Ramotar also inspected a sluice in the area which had some defects. (more details about this in a subsequent issue).

BLACK BUSH POLDER ROAD He and his team then visited the Black Bush communities where an inspection was done on the Black Bush Polder road, which was supposed to have been completed on April 4.

Sixty percent of the road has been completed so far.

Ramotar announced delays on the project due to “but assured they are working very hard to catch up...”

“I’ve seen they have revised the finishing time for

the road to November this year...so I am very optimistic they will finish the extension this November.”

Benn blamed the inclement weather and a modification in the design of the road on the delays. He added that there had to be a one- meter widening of the road since considerations were made for passage of trucks.

“A lot of trucks are building up their size to take on more weight and [these trucks are] putting that weight on the road...the road can take the weight but the trucks need double axles...when you pack all of these things on a single axle truck and concentrate all this weight on the road, that is what contributes to the deterioration of the road...people are boarding up their trucks”, he added.

“RAPID ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN BERBICE” “We also had the

opportunity to interact with citizens in all the various areas we went to; East Bank Berbice, East and West Canje; Black Bush and we also listened to their concerns”, he noted.

President Ramotar was pleased by the entire visit especially since seeing “rapid economic development in the [Berbice] area...there are sawmills and therefore, economic activity has grown enormously” Touching on the issue of blackouts in the region, Ramotar said that the Skeldon Generating Factory is not operating at full capacity. “We are still generating a lot of power from mechanical engines and heavy fuel oil that from time to time...these things have to be serviced, due to mechanical failures, so that could be a part of the problem”.

To date, there have been more than 60 blackouts in Berbice for 2012. There were 25 in March.

18th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda Yesterday, on the anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, the United Nations Secretary General sent the following message: Today, we mark the 18th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. We remember the more than 800,000 innocent people who lost their lives.

This year’s theme is “Learning from history to shape a bright future”.

Rwanda has learned from the appalling tragedy of 1994.

So has the world.

Rwanda is making progress towards building a more peaceful and just

society. The international community is striving to ensure that similar tragedies never happen again.

The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda delivered the first-ever verdicts in relation to genocide by an international court, and continues to pursue justice and accountability.

The International Criminal Court has become an effective deterrent for would-be perpetrators of grave crimes.

To all those around the world who persist in suppressing their fellow

citizens crying out for dignity and freedom, we send a clear message: justice will be done. Impunity must become a relic of the past.

We are also working to strengthen conflict prevention and mediation, and to uphold the responsibility to protect.

Preventing genocide is a collective obligation. Let us continue to work together to ensure a future forever free of genocide. This would be the most fitting way to remember those lost in Rwanda 18 years ago, and to honour the resilience of the survivors.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 11

GPL faces tough scrutiny in 2012 Budget debate…

APNU warns $$$M Caterpillar’s rental to be debated

Three of six Caterpillar sets that were shipped in last June to meet demands.

The country’s power company, Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), is expected to come under Parliamentary scrutiny, when the 2012 National Budget debate kicks off this week. The issue is the company paying millions of dollars to rent several Caterpillar sets.

According to Lance Carberry, spokesperson for the Opposition’s A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the coalition has been keeping a close watch on the state-owned corporation. “…Every aspect of GPL is under scrutiny. You will find

that as we come to next week’s debate…of the Estimates those issues will be dealt with.”

The official was speaking during the party’s weekly press conference at the office of the Leader of the Opposition, Hadfield Street, last Thursday.

The rental of the Caterpillar generators had come up recently when it was disclosed that GPL were renting several, reportedly paying more than $1.6B (US$8M) last year alone when it could have spend US$2.2M ($440M) to buy them.

On Thursday, APNU’s

Ronald Bulkan said that the party was of the view that corruption and management were factors involved in the decision to rent the generators which government said represented the only short term answer to meet growing demands for electricity.

“It highlights and brings to the fore clearly what is…that mismanagement, manipulation and no doubt corruption that is persistent and pervasive in the (GPL) operations,” Bulkan said.

He pointed out that it is little wonder that the budget has an allocation of $6B to

APNU’s Representatives: From left - Lance Carberry, Ronald Bulkan and Desmond Trotman. prop up its failure. “…And clearly these are matters of serious and urgent national interest but the example serves to illustrate what it is we are dealing with…it clearly says to the citizens that management is clearly out of control and (GPL is) not acting in the public interest.”

During a mandatory review of its 2011 performance by the regulatory body, Public Utilities Commission (PUC), late last month, GPL under questioning disclosed that it forked over hundreds of millions to rent the Caterpillar

Ramnarine responds to Brumell on disciplinary action Commissioner of Police (ag) Leroy Brumell is expected to make a decision soon on the requested disciplinary action against outspoken Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine. He is to decide on making a recommendation to the Police Service Commission.

Brumell had written to Ramnarine for him to state why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for his alleged breach of the force’s standing order, which prohibits him from speaking publicly without permission on matters related to the organization.

This followed a request

by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee who had declared that he had lost confidence in the divisional commander.

Ramnarine, who was given two days to respond to Brumell, has reportedly sent a belated response, the details of which were not immediately available.

Ramnarine had ruffled a few feathers when he publicly declared that he had not received any money to provide meals for his ranks during the elections, from the funds allocated for such purpose by the government.

He embarrassed the administration by stating that he was advised to beg members of the business community for assistance to feed his ranks.

The Minister of Home Affairs, obviously irked by

Commissioner of Police (ag) Leroy Brumell

Assistant Commissioner David Ramnarine

Ramnarine’s outspokenness, had at the annual police officers’ conference, issued a warning to officers about speaking to the media on force matters of a sensitive nature.

“I want to warn about this malpractice. The Guyana Police Force is an integral Member of the Disciplined Services, as such its Members are expected to behave in a disciplined manner.

Once the Commissioner of Police issues a Force Order in respect to communications with the Media, it is expected that all and sundry within the Force, particularly at the Senior level will fall in line and uphold that Order and will not seek to adopt an individualistic and egoistic stand and moreso, provide their personal view to the Media,” the Home Affairs Minister had told the officers.

This did not deter Ramnarine though, and a few days later he expressed his views in an articulate Letter to the Editor in Guyana’s two leading dailies. In the letter Ramnarine argued that his constitutional right to free expression superseded the Force’s standing order.

The situation reached boiling point as this further rattled the Home Affairs Minister who immediately wrote to Acting Commissioner Brumell requesting disciplinary action against Assistant Commissioner Ramnarine.

The Minister in his letter to Brumell stated that it must be borne in mind that Ramnarine serves at the highest level of the Force, yet he has chosen to set a bad example for the Force under cover of his constitutional rights.

“His actions are careless,

Part III of the Police (Discipline) Act Chapter (17:01) states: ‘Any Member of the Force (other than the Commissioner) who communicates to the Publisher or Editor of any newspaper or to any unauthorised person any matter connected with the Force without the permission of the Commissioner; commits an offence against discipline and is liable to such punishment as may be imposed upon him by the Commissioner or the Disciplinary Authority in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule except that no punishment provided in Sub-paragraph (d), (e), (f), or (g) or paragraph 1 of the schedule shall be imposed on a Special Constable who has not been called out full time service’.”

In the circumstances, the Minister of Home Affairs hereby declared that that he had lost confidence in Ramnarine and as a consequence, had requested that action be taken at his level in accordance with the Police (Discipline) Act Chap 17:01.

Should Ramnarine fail to respond to the acting commissioner’s memo, the matter will be taken before the Police Service Commission for action to be taken.

If a case is made out against Ramnarine, he could be demoted in seniority or could receive a letter of censure.

sets, raising eyebrows.

The company said that renting the generators was the only feasible option, as opposed to buying them.

Kaieteur News understands that on average, GPL was paying MACORP around US$60,000 monthly to rent the sets.

Each of the generating sets is actually rented for a base rental of US$43,000 every month, whether they are used or not. If they are used, that base rental only caters for 200 hours of work. Anything over the 200 hours automatically bumps up the rental to US$60,000, monthly. GPL sources confirmed that GPL worked the generators to the maximum; therefore what it has been paying is the full US$60,000 rental, per month.

This means that rental cost for the 12 generators amounted to some US$720,000 for each month last year.

The makers of the sets are retailing one for US$900,000 (G$180M), according to GPL officials. This means, it would cost only US$180,000 above the rental price.

GPL has said that it decided to rent against purchasing, because it did not have up-front capital at hand to go ahead and purchase the Caterpillar sets.

GPL’s Chief Executive

Officer (CEO), Bharat Dindyal, along with his Deputy Aeshwar Deonarine, in replying to questions, insisted that it is far more beneficial to rent the sets since the state-owned power company is not burdened by maintenance costs and maintenance fees are covered by the rental fee.

Further, Elwyn Marshall, Divisional Director (Operations) said that the generators which are rented are not suited for long-term operations, and are more ideal for a temporary solution.

This is despite the fact that in June last year GPL said that it had 22 of the same Caterpillar sets in the system.

Six Caterpillar sets brought in last June are still in the system at Versailles and Leonora, West Demerara and at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara, among other places.

Government is moving ahead with plans to build a 165-megawatt hydro-electric project at Amaila Falls, Region Eight, to meet growing demands.

GPL has said that electricity demand has been growing at least 10 per cent annually, outstripping investments and power production which until recently countrywide, topped over 80 megawatts.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Guyana protected in likelihood of oil spill - says Environment Ministry Guyana has the necessary safeguards in place and is adequately protected in the unlikely event of an oil spill, Government says.

“First of all, it should be noted that there is a statutory framework that exists in Guyana as it relates to environmental management.

This is mandated in the Environmental Protection Act, 1996, under which the EPA was established. This framework caters for environmental management of all developmental activities in the country including the Petroleum Sector.

“The functions of the EPA ensure that development integrates measures for environmental impact avoidance, mitigation, remediation, and protection, which are clearly stated in Part II 4(1),” the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment said yesterday.

There have been questions about the measures that Government has in place to protect the environment and possible fallouts from any disasters.

There are currently two wells being drilled offshore Guyana and hopes are running high especially in light of rising world prices.

CGX Energy has concessions off the Corentyne shores while Spanish-owned, Repsol, is also drilling more than 100 miles from the Georgetown shores.

“Developmental activities, which are deemed by the agency to have potentially significant impacts on the environment or listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Act, must apply to the Agency for Environmental Authorisation. The EP Act, No 11 of 1996, establishes the requirement for Environmental Authorisation of Developments/Projects,” the new Ministry said.

It is under Part IV of the EP Act, 1996, which both CGX and Repsol Oil Exploratory companies submitted applications for E n v i r o n m e n t a l Authorisations for Oil Exploration activities within the respective Prospecting Licences issued by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.

Prior to the submission of Applications for

Necessary safeguards are in place in the likelihood of an oil spill or other accidents

Environmental Authorisation, both companies submitted Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) which provided information on principled exploration drilling activities, a description of all supporting activities and baseline conditions, and assessed potential environmental impacts and mitigation actions.

CONSULTATIONS According to the Ministry, both SEAs were reviewed and approved by the agency and the relevant sector agencies. Several consultations with both the relevant sector agencies and public were conducted by the companies to garner views, and address concerns relating to the development, it was disclosed.

“Subsequently, Environmental Authorisations were granted to both CGX and Respol which contain specific conditions to ensure effective environmental management of the oil exploratory wells, and thus maintain the integrity of Guyana’s coastal resources.

“Both environmental authorisations stipulate national and international standards for various environmental parameters and operation protocols which must be adhered to.”

As a further check, the two companies are required to submit monthly reports on the progress of the operation and compliance with the conditions under which the permit was granted.

“In addition, the companies have submitted Emergency Response Plans (ERPs), Oil Spill Contingency Plans (OSCPs) and Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) for the relevant sector agencies review and feedback.”

The Ministry pointed out that in February, ERPs prepared by both companies were presented at a public forum which was attended by relevant sector agencies and the media.

“The companies would have also conducted seminars and table-top exercises to test the effectiveness of the emergency response procedures on April 02 and 03, 2012, with the relevant sector agencies.”

COMPENSATION Meanwhile, the Ministry also spoke of compensation in the event of problems.

“Another aspect covered in the Environmental Authorisations issued to these companies, is the mandatory compensation of affected party for any loss or damage to the environment that is directly attributable to the project.

The Environmental Authorisations also require that these companies provide the financial, equipment and technical capacity to adequately respond to any emergency that may occur on site and respond to any emergency immediately.”

In the event of finding oil within the Guyana basin by either company, Environmental Impact

Assessments (EIAs) would be required before commencing commercial drilling.

“EIAs are undertaken with the intention of protecting and enhancing the quality of human life and the preservation of the stability of ecosystems and species diversity by ensuring that economic development continues in a way that least harms the environment.”

Further, the EIA process allows for public consultation and participation in the decision-making process. The EIAs prepared by the Companies would have to be submitted to the agency for review and approval; after which an Environmental Authorisation for commercial drilling may be granted.

“This Environmental Authorisation would also contain conditions for effective environmental management of the said activity, accompanied with national and international standards for operations and environmental parameters, and the necessary submission requirements which would allow for the monitoring of operation in accordance with Environmental Authorisation conditions,” the Ministry said.

Safety will remain one of the top issues for any oil projects especially following the April 20, 2010 incident in which a BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and commencing months of oil leaking unrestrained into the ocean.

Efforts to manage the spill with controlled burning, dispersants and plugging the leak were unsuccessful until BP capped the well in m i d - J u l y, t e m p o r a r i l y halting the flow of oil into the Gulf.

The well was then successfully plugged and declared “effectively dead” on September 19.

$4B bailout will not solve GuySuCo’s problems - AFC “It will be good money in the hands of a bad management” The Alliance For Change (AFC) is convinced that no amount of bail-out will ameliorate the extremely deep crisis that the sugar industry is in.

Government plans to inject a whopping $4B to prop up the industry which has been in crisis mode for close to a decade.

This plan was announced

by Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh during his recent budget presentation.

The AFC is of the view that the problem with the sugar industry has to do with bad management and the planned bailout will just be money wasted.

“It will be good money in the hands of a bad management which will result in waste of the good money.

This has been the dreadful case of GuySuCo over the last decade or so.”

According to the AFC there is indisputable evidence

Crushed sugar spills on the ground due to defective machinery.

of the wanton disregard of proper factory practices, and rampant maladministration at

each of the sugar factories in the sugar sector.

Additionally, the party

said it has the evidence of bad husbandry practices on the (continued on page 53)

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 13

No gov’t guarantee on Republic Bank financing for Marriott - Brassington There is no government guarantee on the US$27 million debt that is being facilitated by Republic Bank (Trinidad) for the Marriott Hotel Project, says Winston Brassington, who manages Government investments.

“The shareholders will have to stand behind some of the obligations in the event of certain contingencies, but there is no government guarantee none whatsoever,” Brassington told Kaieteur News this week.

With investors not rushing to get into the project, industry insiders have suggested that the only reason Republic Bank (Trinidad) would want to get into the project is that the government has some special arrangement that guarantees the Bank, and the sub-parties it is pulling together, that it will get its money if the project folds.

But Brassington insisted that this is not so, and suggested that Republic Bank (Trinidad) sees the project as a feasible one.

Lead Parliamentarian for the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, had

suggested that no bank, local or overseas, would even consider a hotel in Guyana where the equity contribution is less than 50 percent.

Atlantic Hotel Incorporated (AHI), the company the government has formed to establish the hotel, has proposed a 22 percent equity, Ramjattan stated, and had suggested that it would be interesting to see the terms and conditions of Republic Bank’s syndicated loan.

The terms under which Republic Bank (Trinidad) is getting into the project remain

confidential, Brassington stated, but he suggested that the Bank would not have bought into the project without knowing that it was a solid project.

“Republic Bank would not have entered a binding term sheet if they didn’t feel comfortable with the feasibility study, the Marriott study…,” Brassington stated.

The arrangement for financing the hotel’s construction includes “senior debt” syndicated by Republic Bank (Trinidad) of US$27 million.

A syndicated loan is one that is provided by a group of lenders and is structured, arranged and administered by one or several commercial banks or investment banks. In this case, the loan is being administered by the Republic Bank (Trinidad and Tobago Limited) but the government has not named the other lenders.

Brassington said that that is totally an arrangement that Republic Bank is managing.

By agreeing to this type of loan arrange m e n t , t h e government is agreeing for

Rabindra Rooplall Last year was a difficult year for Guyana Power Light (GPL). Since power generation is mainly fossil fuel based, its cost of operation will invariably remain high and by extension its tariffs, according to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) 2011 annual report.

The commission disclosed that the power company had budgeted to spend just under $10 billion on its capital expansion programme in 2011. However, disbursements from the EXIM Bank of China that is funding major transmission and distribution upgrades delayed the start of the programme.

It was noted that GPL had budgeted to pay approximately US$80 per barrel of oil throughout 2011. The average price paid throughout 2011 was US$109 per barrel.

The financial losses to the power company were rated at $40 billion. At the current rate of exchange this translates to US$200 million.

GPL in its current five-year strategic plan is projecting to reduce system losses from 30 per cent in 2011 to 24 per cent in 2016. Even so, system losses are conservatively estimated to cost the company $15 billion or US$75 million during this period.

The PUC report disclosed that last year GPL had a

number of programmes in place to address and to reduce these losses. Some of these are: The ITRON programme that includes the installation of up to 2,900 ITRON meters that is expected to secure 60 to 65 percent of GPL’s billed power.

In addition, the power company intends to install 54,000 prepaid meters over the next five years. Significant upgrades to the transmission systems, financed mainly through a loan from the EXIM Bank of China.

“Relative to the earnings of the working class, electricity is an expensive commodity. It is for this reason, in spite of GPL’s best efforts the company faces an uphill struggle to reduce commercial losses. Capital Expansion Programme GPL plans to spend US$92 million on its capital expansion programme 2012-2016.

“To finance the programme, the company is expected to contribute approximately 50 per cent of the funds from its internal operations. The remaining 50 per cent will be from loans that have already been negotiated,” the PUC annual report noted.

The report further disclosed that should the hydro project begin operations within the stipulated timeframe it is by no means certain that tariffs would

be substantially reduced.

For the year under review the company is expected to report a loss of approximately $4 billion. In its 2011 budget the company had anticipated an after tax profit of $2.53 billion and to realize a cash flow of approximately $4 billion from its operations.

The main reason for the huge disparity between budgeted profits and the actual result was the procurement cost of fuel being substantially higher than budgeted.

On a positive note the company added a 15.6 MW Wartsila station to the Demerara interconnected system. It did not mean that avenues were unavailable to GPL to cushion the impact of higher oil prices. GPL’s licence gives the company the right to implement a fuel surcharge on a quarterly basis in the event that fuel prices increased by a certain percentage point over the previous quarter.

Had GPL triggered the surcharge it may have collected approximately $4 billion more in 2011 through increased billings.

“The Commission will not speculate on the reason(s) why GPL did not trigger the fuel surcharge but its reluctance not to, has contributed to the substantial loss suffered by the company,” the PUC noted.

Winston Brassington

GPL set to lose US$200M this year - says PUC

the investors who are part of the syndicate, to get back their investment first ahead of any other investor in the project.

So, if in a scenario where the project fails and the value of the property depreciates to a value below what the investors have plugged, then the investors will get back their money, and there would be nothing to return to NICIL, meaning that taxpayers’ dollars would go down the drain.

The financing arrangement with Republic Bank was long in the making, Brassington confirmed. In fact, he said that it was Zublin Grenada, which was initially a partner in the project, that commenced negotiations with Republic Bank.

It was Zublin Grenada that came out and said that it was in negotiation with the government for the project.

This angered the government, which said that Zublin Grenada had breached confidentiality agreements. It is believed that Zublin Grenada was kicked out for speaking about the project, but Brassington denied that that was the case.

With Zublin Grenada blanked from the project, the government followed on with Republic Bank to secure the debt for the project.

AHI had just been set up and having no asset base, and with the building interest fees before the hotel commences operation, plus other costs, the hotel would be out of operation within three months, Ramjattan has predicted.

But Brassington has rubbished Ramjattan’s assertion, saying that the government has “positive” feedback on the project from the feasibility studies conducted for the Marriott, an American firm contracted by the government, plus other research done by the government of Guyana.

The government will participate in the project, by way of equity, in the sum of US$4 million. This will be committed by National Industrial Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), the investment arm of the government which holds its assets.

The equity contribution determines the government’s strength in Atlantic Hotels Incorporated – the company created to see the project through. As it stands, the government is currently the sole shareholder in the company.

However, apart from the equity contribution, financing

for the project would also come from “subordinate loan stocks” of US$15 million invested by NICIL. Adding the US$2 million NICIL will end up spending in development costs for the project, including design and other preliminary studies altogether, NICIL will be putting US$21 million into the project.

The proposal is to build a 197room hotel on an eight-acre plot of land in the Kingston area.

SCG Shanghai Construction Group International (Trinidad and Tobago) Ltd was awarded the contract.

Brassington said that a French Group had also put in a bid, but the government went with the cheaper of the options.

He said that the government received 23 applications for prequalifications but in the end, two bids were submitted.

“The Chinese were a lot cheaper than the other bidder,” Brassington told Kaieteur News.

The government had initially budgeted to spend $41 million on the project, based on a design that was submitted by American company ADUA, which was the first named developer of the project.

(See artist’s impression and general plan on Page 31)

Page 14

Kaieteur News

Patrons, vendors to pay to fly kites at Botanical Gardens Patrons who intend to vend and those wishing to bring their vehicles (buses, cars, motorcycles) into the Botanical Gardens and Joe Vieira Park tomorrow, will be charged a nominal fee, according to the National Parks Commission.

- garbage bags would be distributed free of cost to groups entering the Park The commission, in a statement yesterday, noted that monies collected will be used to offset expenses incurred in cleaning the Gardens and Park of the

Former GDF Colonel dies in USA Former Guyana Defence Force Colonel, Perry James Foo, died yesterday morning in Long Beach California USA as a result of a heart attack.

His death was confirmed by his brother, Andrew Foo, Chief Constable of the Mayor and City Council.

The former army officer would have been 64 years old next month.

Foo had been living in the USA for several years after leaving the Guyana Defence Force.

Perry James Foo

God grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change, the COURAGE to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference.

usually heavy garbage and debris left in the aftermath of kite-flying and picnicking activities associated with Easter Monday in Georgetown.

It added that garbage bags would be distributed free of cost to groups entering the Park, with the view that they will be collected periodically during that day to ease the clean-up exercise.

Entrance to the Botanic Gardens will be the Western Main Gate on Vlissengen Road. The exit will be the Eastern Gate.

Similar fees will be charged at the National Park by the duly authorized franchisee. Entrance will be at the Carifesta Avenue Gate and exit, the Albert Street Gate.

Admission to the Joe Vieira Park will be free between 06:00 hrs and 18:00 hrs for picnickers; those wishing to vend and Park will also pay a nominal fee.

However, vending of beverages is strictly prohibited except by the duly authorized franchisee.

Sunday April 08, 2012

ImmigrationTALK

How To Obtain A Student Visa To Study In The United States?

By Attorney Gail S. Seeram Who is allowed to study in the United States?

People who are coming to the United States to pursue full-time academic or vocational studies are usually admitted in one of two nonimmigrant categories.

The F-1 category includes academic students in colleges, universities, seminaries, conservatories, academic high schools, other academic institutions and in language training. The M-1 category includes vocational students.

What are the requirements for a F-1 or M1 Visa?

You must be enrolled in an “academic� educational programme, a languagetraining programme, or a vocational programme.

Yo u r s c h o o l m u s t b e approved by USCIS. You must be enrolled as a fulltime student at the institution.

You must be proficient in English or be enrolled in courses leading to English proficiency. You must have sufficient funds available for

self-support during the entire proposed course of study.

You must maintain a residence abroad which he/ she has no intention of giving up.

How do I apply if I am outside of the US? You first must apply to study at an USCIS-approved school in the United States.

When you contact a school that you are interested in attending, you should be told immediately if the school accepts foreign national students.

If you are accepted, the school should give you USCIS Form I-20 A-B/ID. If you require a visa, then you should take the USCIS Form I-20 to the nearest U.S. consulate to obtain a student visa. You must also prove to the consulate that you have the financial resources required for your education and stay in the United States.

How can I change my nonimmigrant status to become a student if I am in the US? You first must apply to study at an USCIS-approved school in the United States.

When you contact a school

Gail S. Seeram that you are interested in attending, you should be told immediately if the school accepts foreign national students.

If you are accepted, the school should send you USCIS Form I-20 A-B/IID. You must submit this form with an Application to Extend/ Change Non-immigrant Status to the USCIS. You must also prove that you have the financial resources required for your education and stay in the United States.

Can I work with an F-1 or M-1 Visa?

F-1 students may not work off-campus during the first academic year, but may accept on-campus employment subject to certain conditions and restrictions.

There are various programmes available for F-1 students to seek off-campus employment, after the first academic year. F-1 students may engage in three types of off-campus employment, after they have been studying for one academic year.

These three types of employment are: Curricular Practical Training (CPT), Optional Practical Training (OPT) (pre-completion or post-completion) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Optional Practical Training Extension (OPT).

M-1 students may engage in practical training only after they have completed their studies.

For both F-1 and M-1 students any off-campus employment must be related to their area of study and must be authorized prior to starting any work by the Designated School Official (the person authorized to maintain the Student and Exchange Vi s i t o r Information System (SEVIS)) and USCIS. How long can I stay in the United States?

You are allowed to stay in the United States for as long as you are enrolled as a fulltime student in an educational programme and making normal progress toward completing your course of study.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 15

Page 16

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

President Ramotar for Summit of the Americas

P

resident Donald Ramotar will be l e a d i n g a delegation to the Sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. The summit begins April 14.

This was confirmed Thursday by Cabinet S e c r e t a r y, D r. R o g e r Luncheon, during his weekly press yesterday.

Dr. Luncheon further noted that President Ramotar will also embark on an official two-day visit to the Federative Republic of Brazil on April 19.

Heads of State and hundreds of business leaders will meet at the first CEO Summit of the Americas from April 13, in Cartagena, Colombia to discuss globalization, infrastructure, human capital and other key economic issues. The scope and level of participation makes it an unprecedented opportunity for a publicprivate exchange.

Ten heads of state have confirmed their attendance to the conference, which will be held during the Summit of the Americas. Joining them will be more than 500 business leaders and executives from 22 countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Under the theme,

President Donald Ramotar “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity the meeting is being convened by the government of Colombia and the country's private sector. The InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) is providing technical support.

The event will be opened

by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.

Participants will focus on five areas, with an eye to identifying opportunities where the public and private sectors can work together to encourage investment, combat poverty, and raise living standards for the citizens of the Americas.

Happy Easter to all!!

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Meet beautiful Varsha We are pleased to introduce you to beautiful Varsha Arjune. A bank employee and former Miss Guyana India Worldwide contestant, Varsha depends on a mix of horror movies and romance novels to keep her up at night. Among her favourite quotes is: “"Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but gets you nowhere.�

Page 17

Page 18

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Water conservation imperative as climate change evolves

By Rabindra Rooplall Only three per cent of the earth's water is fresh, nonsaline water. Of that nons a l i n e w a t e r, 3 1 % i s accessible as fresh water. For every gallon of fresh surface water, there are 30 gallons that lie underground.

Wa t e r i s h e l d i n underground reservoirs known as aquifers (water bearing rock). To collect in the aquifers, water passes through the atmosphere where it dissolves and collects atmospheric gases such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide.

When it falls to the surface as rain, it is mildly acidic with a pH just below 7.

Current water management practices may not be robust enough to cope with the impacts of climate change on water supply reliability. Higher water temperatures and changes in extremes, including floods and droughts, are projected to affect water quality and exacerbate many forms of water pollution and as such Guyana Water Incorporated is promoting discussion aimed to educate Guyanese about the need to conserve precious freshwater resources which are vital to the Agriculture sector and overall economy. One such programme was aired on National Communications Network (Channel 11) last Sunday under this year's World Water Day theme, “Water and Food Security”.

“We continue to be alarmed by persons dumping garbage into our freshwater,” GWI Public Relations Officer Timothy Austin asserts, “these include creeks, rivers and canals such as the Lamaha Canal which are used not only to provide our customers countrywide with water, but for irrigation and food production.”

The water authority two years ago also officially launched its public awareness radio

jingle titled 'Save the Water' that appealed for Guyanese to curb the wastage of water.

GWI also promoted its 'Water Conservation and Public Education Strategic Plan' which was executed under the theme “Creating Behavioural Change to Curb Wastage”. This strategy encompasses GWI'S “H2O Kidz' 'N' Action” School Education Programme and the Company's Customer Services Community Aw a r e n e s s C a m p a i g n , “Community Connect”.

The “H2O Kids in Action” workshop forms a part of the Company's overall public education programme which seeks to foster awareness among customers of the dangerous levels at which water is wasted in Guyana.

Students were urged to propagate the message of conservation within their school and home environments.

Students were provided with guidelines on how to identify leaks as well as the various water conservation methods which are necessary due to the looming global water scarcity.

The “H2O Kidz Programme” targets children ages 7-9 years since they are more receptive.

“The programme has been a tremendous success for the Company and we continue to receive positive feedback from schools and P a r e n t / Te a c h e r Associations,” Austin explained, adding that “the summer programme continues this success and our aim is to encourage participants to propagate the message of conservation, especially during this period.”

Nevertheless, water runs through homes for myriad reasons, from washing machines to dishwashers, sinks to toilets, showers to boilers; a healthy house depends upon a supply of clean water.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 19

THE FIVE BILLION DOLLAR QUESTION The government’s shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) had to be eventually placed on the auction block. These shares could not have been held indefinitely by the State, because the government needed the proceeds from these shares for its information and communication technology (ICT) programme.

The Norway funds have been dribbling in. Those environmental funds are needed to build the hydroelectric plant at Amaila Falls and to be used as state equity in the hotel which the oligarchy is interested in building in Guyana so that it can have an outlet for its billions.

The Norway funds are not going to come fast enough to allow for the ICT investment that is needed. The sale of the government’s 20% shares in GT&T was always, therefore, going to have to be used to fund the national ICT strategy.

The government has repeatedly said this was the reason for selling the shares.

But there may have been another more important reason for advertising the shares for sale.

The oligarchy is interested in want outlets to invest their money. The shares are a lucrative proposition.

It was not always so though. In the early days, the shares were underperforming financially because the

returns on them were poor.

But in recent years, the dividend flow became quite impressive. Once something is making money, the oligarchy is going to be interested. With their inside track, the oligarchy calculated that these shares were a good source to pump their money into because it offered at least a 10% return.

That may not be as good as the hotel deal or the deal that some private investors made in the Berbice River Bridge, but a 10% return is far more than the banks are going to pay to keep your money. The oligarchy therefore must have seen these shares as a business opportunity.

The government thus suddenly decided that these profitable shares had to be sold. The opposition asked that it be sold to the workers, but this was always going to be difficult, because the workers were never ever going to be able to secure the capital to purchase those shares in whatever manner it was to be sold. The shares were always going to be out of reach.

The shares were eventually advertised for sale.

No base price was set. The bids came in. The government said the prices were too low.

It could have continued to seek bidders, including breaking up the shares into portions that the local private sector could afford. But there was always the suspicion that

the government had its reasons why it wanted its shares to be sold en bloc.

As things stand now, it is reported that a Chinese firm has made an offer. It is very interesting that the Chinese firm made the offer now and not during the original bid.

The question is why were other offers not invited, that is, why were the shares not placed once again on the open market?

This reminds us very much of the sale of Sanata Textiles Mills Complex. The government advertised for the sale or lease of one part of the complex, but eventually accepted a later offer for the lease of the complex, with an option to buy, from an investor. In the case of the shares of the GT&T, the shares were advertised and there was no acceptable bidder. Then the shares are now sold to a Chinese company.

This is not too far off from what also happened with the one laptop per family project.

The contract for the supply of laptops was advertised.

Three firms bid and then we were told that none was successful.

Interestingly, the specifications were changed, and new bids invited.

Obviously the new bidders would have by then learnt of what the old bidders had bid.

These old bidders were thus placed in a disadvantageous position. And, of course, we

know a Chinese firm which has links to someone who is close to the local oligarchy won the bid.

Now we come to the five billion dollar question. Why would a Chinese firm be interested in holding 20% shares in a telecommunication company which is about to face the loss of its monopoly on overseas calls and impending legislation for the

liberalization of the telecommunication sector?

Why would someone be investing $25M in shares which would not allow them to have determining say in the affairs of the company they are investing in?

The Chinese are not interested in going into the telecommunication market in Guyana. We are too small for that interest. So why invest

all this money, and who is behind this investment?

The answer is right in front of your noses!

Page 20

Guyana’s Ambassador to China Professor David Dabydeen Sunday Special RAMOTAR BELIEVES “SECRECY” BREEDS SUSPICION Guyana’s Ambassador to China, Professor David Dabydeen, following a recent meeting with Head of State, Donald Ramotar, says that the President is fully committed to transparency and openness, as far as is feasible, when it comes to deals that the government would undertake with developmental partners.

In an interview with Kaieteur News last week, Dabydeen said that the President would not reject documents being released to interested and affected stakeholders to facilitate further scrutiny of the documents as well as illustrate the administrations above-the-board policy when it comes to contract details and the various agreements that the government would have committed the nation to.

“The President believes that secrecy breeds suspicion,” said Dabydeen, even as he hinted that the

Kaieteur News

Head of State, Donald Ramotar administration is exploring ways to have a more transparent arrangement.

However, there may be a limit on how much the government may release. The diplomat explained that there will be instances where negotiations dictate a confidentiality arrangement between parties and this will have to be respected.

Under constant pressure to come clean on massive infrastructure projects, the Donald Ramotar government in mid-March released the contracts for some of the most contentious deals signed by the previous Bharrat Jagdeo Government.

Contracts were released for the consultancy project for the access road to the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project site; the prospective Marriott Hotel and the expansion of the country’s lone international airport.

BUDGET UNVEILS ‘COST OF LIVING’ INCREASE FOR 2012 The growth that the Guyana economy has

experienced over the past six years seems to have slowed.

It will decline to 4.1 per cent this year from 5.4 per cent last year. This is according to the Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, who two Fridays ago commenced the process of accounting for the nation’s finances and state of affairs economically for 2011.

He said that although the inflation rate for the year was at an acceptable level, it is projected to increase further.

The Finance Minister explained that despite the prevailing global conditions, particularly as these relate to the difficulties facing the Euro, as well as the escalating oil prices, Guyana “achieved real growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 5.4 percent.

The Minister stated that inflation “remained within acceptable norms at 3.3 percent in 2011, notwithstanding the background of increases in global fuel prices.” He said that this performance reflected Government’s interventions to lower the taxes charged on fuel products and its provision of financial support to the GPL to avoid full pass through of imported fuel price movement.

The Finance Minister predicted that for 2012 the growth is projected to contract/decline to a 4.1 per cent rate while inflation is projected to be 4.6 per cent which the Minister attributed to the escalating oil prices.

The Finance Minister’s statements have since been denounced as a clever disguise, using technical and financial jargon, to basically say that the “Cost of Living” in Guyana will gradually Fire ravages four Regent St. businesses

Sunday April 08, 2012

Suriname Airways Flight 737 touching down at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, yesterday increase during the course of the year.

Monday Edition FIRE RAVAGES FOUR REGENT STREET BUSINESSES A Regent Street building that housed four stores was destroyed, while others suffered from major water damage after a fire of unknown origin broke out early last Sunday morning.

The stores - Dalip Variety, Akash People’s Variety Store, Prakash Discount Store and Monty Smart Choice Store were all housed inside the Jaigobin Building, which is located at the corner of Regent and Wellington Streets, opposite the Guyoil Gas Station.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire started sometime after 05:00hrs. Good work by fire fighters enabled them to contain the blaze to the Jaigobin building alone, saving other stores within close proximity.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told the media that the Fire Service received a telephone call around 5:35am from a male, stating that he saw flames in the building. Gentle said that three units - two from the Central Fire Station and one from Alberttown responded immediately,.

He said that when the units arrived, thick smoke and flames were seen in Dalip’s Variety Store, which is located on the upper floor of the building.

According to the Fire Chief, the building was heavily grilled and contained shutters, which initially hampered the work of the fire fighters. He further told the media that the building had a variety of items inside, such as batteries, aerosols, plastics and clothing, all of which would have fuelled the blaze.

The Fire Chief said that it took very little time for the entire wooden building to become engulfed in flames.

Gentle said that as the fire threat was raised, a second alarm went out and two other units were dispatched to the scene, one from West Ruimveldt and the other from

Campbellville.

Tuesday Edition PRESIDENT RAMOTAR SAYS GPL RENTAL COSTS ARE DISTURBING, IFTRUE President Donald Ramotar, on Monday last, toured operations of the cashstrapped Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) and did not dismiss questions raised about the lack of prudent spending at the utility.

“If what they say is true, it is obviously something to be concerned about,” Ramotar said regarding statements by GPL officials that a new Caterpillar generator costs US$900,000, but the company rented 12 generators last year at a cost of US$720,000 each.

The revelation comes at a time when GPL is lamenting a mammoth fuel bill coupled with a growing demand for electricity. The government plans to plough $6 billion into the company this year, saying this is meant to address its financial constraints and avoid already burdened consumers from paying higher electricity tariffs. Ramotar toured the major operations of the company, namely its Kingston and Sophia operations in Georgetown, and those at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara.

US$200M SKELDON FACTORY SET FOR MAJOR OVERHAUL Just two years after launching the country’s most expensive project to date, the government last Monday announced plans to begin a major overhaul of the Skeldon factory. The US$200M factory, on which Guyana has been pinning its hopes to revive a struggling industry, which is the country’s biggest employer, has been plagued with problems.

These problems were there since the sugar factory was commissioned in August 2009, raising questions whether Guyana had received its value for money.

Wednesday Edition

NBS EARNS $180M FROM BERBICE BRIDGE IN 2011 At the end of 2011, mortgage lender New Building Society (NBS) had recovered $584M, representing almost one-third of its total investments in the Berbice River Bridge. The society, weeks before it commissions its spanking multi-million-dollar new headquarters on Avenue of the Republic, also last year saw its highest profit of $772M – a whopping 34 per cent more than the previous year. It also disbursed mortgage advances totaling $4.2B, another record – 43% higher than the previous year.

“Our investment in the Berbice Bridge continued to yield the highest returns amongst out investments portfolio. At the end of the year, we have earned and received interest totaling approximately $179M. Our total earnings’ to date is approximately $584M or 32 per cent of our total investment in this venture,” the Society revealed in its 2011 Annual Report. NBS has reportedly invested over $1.8B (US$9M) in the Berbice Bridge which was commissioned in January 2009, purchasing the shares of fallen insurance giant, CLICO. SURINAM AIRWAYS RETURNS TO GUYANA AFTER SIX YEARS After six years, Surinam Airways has returned to Guyana and is now offering non-stop flights to Miami.

The inaugural flight arrived Tuesday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) at 10:00 hrs. On board were Surinamese President and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairperson, Desi Bouterse and a delegation who were welcomed by Guyana’s President, Donald Ramotar, and his delegation.

President Ramotar, moments after the plane touched down on Guyanese soil, stated that history was once more created with the Surinam Airways Flight 737’s (Continued on page 37)

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 21

Ravi Dev Column

With the developed world roiling from a second crisis precipitated by banks operating in a freewheeling liberalised financial industry, can we hope our parliamentary duellists will take some measures to ensure we don’t end up at that dead end? We raise the possibility, once again, of public and development banking.

Back in the ’70s, the government launched the Guyana National Cooperative Bank (GNCB) as a public bank, competing with the several commercial banks then operating, and the Guyana Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank (GAIBANK) as a development bank, securing its funds from grants and loans from the international community. By the ’80s, the government effectively assumed control over the entire banking industry

People are not as careful as they should be because they are not thinkers.

In fact, some of them have become more superstitious as their intellectual level diminishes.

That is why they have resorted to things unnatural to avert disasters.

That is why when the next fire strikes, the victims would be surprised although the incident would be because of their own carelessness. The fire would break out in a most unusual place and would spread quickly.

There would be initial efforts to contain the blaze and while these would not be as effective, they would

through varying levels of nationalisation of the private banks.

The rationale offered for our massive government intervention was bluntly, market failure. GNCB, as a public bank, was responding to the unmet need for a more distributed and accessible banking system, while GAIBANK was intended to fill the endemic financing gap for targeted entrepreneurial activities left unattended by the commercial banks.

Unfortunately, the system quickly degenerated into a classic, rightly-criticised, “repressed” financial system: the government maintained artificially low interest rates, inducing excess demand for credit which the government must now allocate.

The low interest rates (effectively so when the high inflation rates were deducted)

became an effective disincentive to savings, and combined with the inability of the government to borrow internationally, eventually resulted in low investment and thus low growth.

This situation was exacerbated by all the other potential negative features of development banking: cronyism, rent-seeking and corruption by bureaucrats, misallocation of funds in misconceived schemes, etc.

By the eighties we had plunged into negative “growth”.

The IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of 1989 bequeathed our present financial system: banks and other financial institutions totally privatised and “liberalised”.

It was putatively subject only to market forces, with government reduced to a “non- distorting” regulatory

help a bit. Losses would be exorbitant. ** Road accidents continue at an alarming rate, largely because of the carefree attitude of the road users. A speeding driver is going to attempt to overtake when he would encounter serious problems. He is going to collide with an immovable

object, spin and cause even more damage.

This is going to happen even as the nation takes time to enjoy the holidays.

Alcohol would be blamed and another soul would be sent to the Great Beyond. ** The criminals are busy planning their escapades, but there are the omnipresent police and community groups. But there is one group who would select an easy target in the eastern part of the country. Then there would be another that would target a community to the west.

The latter is going to prove problematic because of the limited escape routes.

role. GAIBANK was dissolved and GNCB privatised. So we have two decades experience with the liberalised financial system.

What have we learnt?

The developed world has now accepted what China and the other emerging economies have shown: participation of government is vital in the financial sector.

Otherwise, the social function of overall national development - which necessitated the invention (and the ongoing maintenance) of the banking system in the first place - will inevitably be eroded and vitiated by the workings of unmediated human greed.

A system driven only by the profit motive cannot do otherwise. We have been spared the worst excesses of the financial depravity experienced up north – through our relative “underdevelopment in financial instruments”. On the other hand we have not witnessed any turnaround in banking efficiency or the financial intermediation necessary to foster growth of our economy.

Our privatised banks have maintained and even extended the dispersion of branches into the countryside, but these have been deployed to more efficiently trawl for deposits rather than for disbursing

more loans.

In this former task, they have been singularly successful, but in their reluctance (even refusal) to service the domestic entrepreneurial potential necessary for our development, they have piled up billions and billions of dollars lying idle in their coffers (today $125 billion).

Theoretically, in the financial liberalisation model, the private banks were supposed to have competed with each other to lend the funds secured from deposits, leading to the lowest possible rate of interest, and still make a profit over the rate offered to attract deposits. If the claim was valid it certainly never reached Guyana.

Rather than leaving the financial market to do what was necessary to clear itself – offering lower rates to borrowers - the new orthodoxy, offered the banks a way out: Treasury Bills.

The banks then simply lowered their rates to depositors so that they still made a profit and we got the worst of both worlds – lower rates for depositors and the highest rate for borrowers.

To rub salt into the wounds of taxpayers, the government pays the banks billions in interest every year for the honour (?) of keeping their money locked away – “sterilising excess liquidity”!

Ravi Dev

The “spread” – the difference between the deposit interest rate and the lending rate - has always been in double digits.

The banks were being rewarded for not doing what justified their existence in the first place – taking risks to lend money. The government supposedly keeping down inflation - but what did it matter if no new business could be set up if they had to service loans at 15% interest?

In our considered judgement, and one we have been promoting the longest time, we threw out the baby with the bathwater when we closed down our development and public banks. The raison d’etre for those institutions is even more evident - and necessary – today, if we want to achieve the double-digit growth rates necessary for a quantum leap in living standards.

Of course, we have to rectify the downside risks inherent in government ownership, which in our case, having tried the model, can be easier identified.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

By Michael Jordan Eight years ago, shortly after Mashramani Day in 2004, residents living in a long yard in Public Road, Kitty, became aware of an unpleasant smell emanating from one of the houses in proximity.

The house, a twobedroom property at Lot 57, was occupied by 50-year-old Fazia Insanally and her youngest daughter, 11-yearold Allia, a student of F. E. Pollard Primary.

It dawned on the neighbours that they had not seen the occupants since the day after Mashramani. But the neighbours weren’t very concerned.

They and Mrs. Insanally were constantly at loggerheads. One matter had even ended up in court, with a magistrate placing Mrs. Insanally and a female neighbour on a one-yearbond for fighting.

But when days passed and the smell grew worse, and there was still no sign of the occupants, the neighbours became somewhat uneasy.

Then, on February 28, 2004, the residents observed that something was dripping

from Fazia Insanally’s floor to the ground below. They also observed that flies were gathering on the damp spot on the floorboards. Some speculated that Ms. Insanally had gone for a holiday and that the contents of her refrigerator had spoilt and were dripping onto the floor.

But others suspected the worst and contacted one of Insanally’s daughters.

The initial fear of the daughter was that her mother, an epileptic, had collapsed and died during a seizure.

At around 14:00 hrs, the daughter, Dianne London, accompanied by her husband and ranks from the Kitty Police Station, went to Insanally’s home. They observed that the lights were on, and all the doors and windows were locked. They

then forced open the front door and entered.

In the front bedroom they found the decomposing body of 11-year-old Allia Insanally.

The child was still dressed in her school uniform.

The couple and police then ventured into the second bedroom, where they found Fazia Insanally’s body under her bed.

A post mortem revealed

that she had been battered in the head and strangled.

According to another daughter, Latoya Mohora, the post mortem also showed that Mrs. Insanally had been sexually assaulted, while 11year-old Allia was suffocated with a pillow.

According to her, evidence at the crime scene showed that the killers had consumed alcohol, smoked cigarettes and even used cocaine in her mother’s bedroom.

Relatives suspected that Allia had come home at around 18:00 hrs from lessons and the killer or killers had attacked her as soon as she entered the front door.

From all appearances, the motive appeared to be robbery, since the slain woman’s television set and many other valuables were missing.

Police detained several of the victim’s immediate neighbours, but found nothing to link them to the

SEEKING HELP TO LOCATE RELATIVES OF EIGHT CHILDREN KILLED BETWEEN 1969-1970 Michael Jordan is trying to contact relatives of eight children who were murdered between March 20, 1969 and June 1970, by Harrynauth Beharry, also known as Harry Rambarran, Charles Bissoon, Charles Pereira, Anant Persaud and Maka Anan.

Some of the victims are Basmattie, an eight-year-old schoolgirl from Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara. David Bacchus, 15, of Tucville, 11-year-old Mohamed Fazil Nasir, of Number 78 Village, Corentyne, Mohamed Faizal, of Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, Jagdeo Jagroop, Mohamed Nizam Ali; Paulton of Hogg Island, Essequibo; Orlando Guthrie, of Grove Village, East Bank Demerara.

Please contact him via his email address mjdragon@hotmail.com., or on telephone numbers 22-58458, 22-58465, or 22-58491. HeI can also be contacted on 6452447.

double-murder.

But there were two other motives; one of which surrounded another murder in the same yard.

The victim, a female in her teens, had been stabbed to death by her boyfriend. One of Insanally’s daughters said that 11-year-old Allia had witnessed the murder from her bedroom window.

Although the alleged killer was caught and charged, she believes that the man’s associates feared that the child and her mother might provide the police with more evidence. One daughter said that the same man had tried to kill another girlfriend, but the victim had escaped by seeking refuge in their mother’s home.

But the second and stronger theory suggests that the victims had been slain by someone they knew well.

The suspect, known as ‘Felix’, had lived in the area and did odd jobs for Ms. Insanally. He was even sometimes allowed to enter her house. According to the daughters, ‘Felix’ disappeared after the bodies were found.

It is alleged that police located the murdered child’s schoolbag while searching the suspect’s house. They also reportedly found several sheared dreadlocks, which indicated that the dreadlocked ‘Felix’ had cut his hair to change his appearance.

‘Felix’ has never been seen since.

According to reports, the suspect, who travels frequently to Cayenne, has a deep scar on his face.

There are rumours that he was slain in Guyana some years ago after returning from Cayenne.

Latoya Mohora admits that the family is still traumatised by the unsolved case.

“We did not have a life (for a long time). We were scared to look under our beds.

I don’t sleep without a light.

It is hard, especially on Mother’s Day.” If you have further information on this case or any other, please contact us at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown office or by telephone. We can be reached on telephone numbers 22-58458, 2258465, or 22-58491. You need not disclose your identity. You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email a d d r e s s mjdragon@hotmail.com.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 23

== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==

White days, white nights in white satin with white lace I spoke to this young lady who does designing with a certain newspaper. I asked her not to misinterpret my curiosity as an intrusion into her work, because I have no such authority. My interest was the relentless lightcomplexioned bodies that appear in her advertisements.

She said that she goes onto Google Images and pulls down the faces. I then questioned why no darkskinned visage. I stumped her.

She couldn’t answer.

Months later, the situation remained unchanged. I went to the owner of a certain commercial enterprise to inquire if the faces on their advertisements are sent to the newspaper. She wasn’t in the country, but the manager said that the store does not design the page. At the time of writing, the same old story goes on.

What you are about to read here is the product of research. The reader has the choice of testing what is contained in this article. If I am contradicted, then I will discontinue this column. Here is my challenge if you are going to take me on. I am contending that over ninety (yes, as large as ninety) percent of the faces that

appear in all advertisements in the four daily newspapers (KN, SN, Chronicle and Guyana Times) and all (yes, all) local ads on television are of light complexion.

And when I mean light complexion I am not referring even to sapodilla brown, but light skin in the vicinity of whiteness, though not white as in Caucasian colour or very light colour which in common parlance we call red-skinned.

As to dark hue (like me, Uncle Adam, Uncle Dale Andrews and people like us), that is less than one percent.

Now here is the challenge.

You have to prove that it is less than ninety percent. I have opened up myself to vulnerability by going as high as ninety percent, but I will stick with that number, because this column is the product of observation that went on for more than two years. I spoke with that young lady referred to above more than a year ago.

If you are going to win me, you have to prove that less than ninety percent of the faces featured in the advertisements in Guyana are light-complexioned. Let me take the liberty of indulging in a little bit of chauvinism and

say that I cannot lose.

We have gone back full circle to the fifties and sixties in Guyana, where most employees in the private sector were people who were light in skin colour and the advertisements featured people with that kind of hue.

In this respect, the PNC Government, the PPP Government, Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan have failed.

As I type this, I have in my hand the book, “Nostalgias: Golden Memories of Guyana, 1940 1980” by Godfrey Chin. On page 47 is the hockey team in 1961. Not one player is even brown skinned.

On page 81 is Radio Demerara’s Christmas party.

No one is even of brown

complexion. On page 128 is a celebration of a prize-giving ceremony in 1961 at Banks DIH. Everyone in that picture is European, Portuguese or Mulatto. On page 239, the Christmas party at Royal Bank of Canada is featured.

All in the frame are European, Portuguese or Mulatto. Chin has a page that looks at men’s fashion in the late sixties; the male models were all European or Portuguese.

There was one Mulatto.

The beauty queens from the fifties onwards were Portuguese or clearcomplexioned Indians. This pattern was broken when the American Black Power movement swept the Caribbean, which coincided with republican status in Guyana.

The PNC

Government under President Burnham was overtly in favour of attacking the ubiquity of the lightcomplexion infamy. This emphasis on post-colonial aesthetic/cultural recovery remains one of Forbes Burnham’s great contributions to Independent Guyana.

One of the main vehicles for the clear complexion thing in this country is the Hindu film industry, commonly known in Guyana as Bollywood. It is truly shocking that in a country with one billion people, a majority of which are certainly not of light hue, there isn’t a leading actor of both genders that is even brown-skinned.

The Hindu film industry is totally shameless when it comes to this.

Frederick Kissoon It remains a mystery why human rights groups in India haven’t attacked this cultural and philosophical depravity.

On the issue of private sector employment, the old aesthetic, cultural bias has crept back in. The lighter you are, the greater your chance of getting that job. Life in Guyana is indeed a tragedy.

Page 24

A man for all seasons…

By Samuel Whyte To put someone’s life and achievements in writing is seldom an easy task, especially if they are multitalented and have diverse pursuits.

Many persons have excelled in just one area, but some have stood out in so many fields that placing their accomplishments in proper perspective takes the assignment to another level.

This week’s ‘Special Person’ presents such a challenge.

He is a Senior Counsel, veteran horse racing magnate, community leader, former national cycling champion and sports enthusiast. In short, today’s featured individual has unquestionably had a long and distinguished career.

The second of seven children and the older of two boys, Marcel Christopher Crawford was born on October 13, 1937, at Salton Village (Little Alness) on the Corentyne, to Ryan Crawford, a Scotsman, and Sarah Millicent Harrington. He currently resides at Alness, one village away from his birthplace.

Marcel Crawford is a household name in Berbice, Guyana and the wider Caribbean. His success has come with hard work and sacrifice. A prominent lawyer and the only Senior Counsel in the Ancient County, in itself is an extraordinary achievement. Couple that with being a former national cycling champion and living a life as a horse racing magnate and pace setter, and

Kaieteur News

Marcel Crawford SC is a ‘Special Person’ you get the picture.

He was married to the late Lillian Crawford nee Sooklall, a union which bore them two sons - Marcel Jr., resides in the United States, while Ryan is also a lawyer and straddles between Guyana and the United States, where he practices. He also ably assists his Dad with the horse racing duties.

Marcel Crawford was a high flyer at school. He first attended St Marks Anglican School in Alness, before going on to the Rose Hall Scots and Corentyne High.

He began his work career as a teacher at the Kildonan Scots School on the Corentyne. Crawford is particularly proud of his days at Rose Hall Scots, a school which produced an Executive President (the late Dr Cheddi Jagan), two senior counsel, in himself and Clarence Hughes, and a Chancellor of the Judiciary, Madam Justice Desiree Bernard.

SUCCESS, DOMINANCE AND DISAPPOINTMENT At school, young Marcel participated in almost all the games available, and it was during that time he developed an affinity for cycling.

His cycling career, though fairly short, was successful and dominant. He started riding whilst still at secondary school. His father was a butcher and he had to ride long distances to help sell the beef, as much as 40 miles per day. Sometimes his journey would take him as far as No 63 Village on the upper Corentyne.

He left high school in 1956 and it was that year that he

“took the game seriously”.

With encouragement from his older cousins Joseph Tyndall and Roland Crawford, he continued his riding quest with much success.

“My colleagues and I would take regular rides up and down the Corentyne Highway. We would ride from Alness to Skeldon and back, and the following week we would go in the opposite direction from Alness to Sandvort, West Canje. I would also train by lifting donkey carts and wheels, among other exercises.”

He loved cycling; especially the road races, and insists he was not afraid of any cyclist in his era. “There were some great cyclists back in the day, but I always backed myself to hold my own in any circumstance. Conditions were often tricky.

In those days the road was brick and you had to skillfully maneuver on it. I grew from strength to strength. Within a year or two…at age 20, I was right up there with the best. I preferred the road and longer distances. Quite honestly, the roads were safer to race on.”

His first participation in the Sandbach Parker 50-mile road race on the undulating hills of Timehri, in 1958, saw the young Crawford winning the event, a feat which he repeated the following year.

And it was in 1958 also that Crawford placed second to British cyclist Eric Thompson in an international road race from Blairmont, West Bank of Berbice to the Seawall Band Stand in Georgetown. The following

A runner-up finish in the demanding 68miler from Blairmont to Georgetown (Sea Wall Bandstand)

year he placed behind Thompson and ‘Boogie’ De Freitas.

That same year he was crowned national ‘B’ class champion. He was dominant on the track at the August Olympiad in which he won five of seven races, placed second in one and did not finish in the other, having fallen.

In 1959, he dominated and won the Cheddi Jagan 50miler from Skeldon to Stanleytown in New Amsterdam.

Crawford remembers that race very well, as he nearly struck down Janet Jagan (who would later become the country’s first female president) at the finishing line.

He stated that he always wanted to apologise to her for that incident, but was unable to do so.

After his sterling performance, he was part of a contingent that represented Guyana in 1959 in Tobago.

His exploits brought him a third place. Among the top cyclists in his time were the likes of George ‘Boy Blue’ Cumberbatch, Walter Liddell, ‘Boogie’ De Freitas, Thomas Paddy, ‘Toto’ Johnson, Vincent Lewis, Billy Figueira, Wilfred Mangal, Barry Massay, Len Robinson, Dennis Phillips and ‘Buckman’ Nicholson.

Crawford recounted that due to his consistent dominance, he was earmarked to represent Guyana at the Rome Olympics in 1960. Being the only cyclist to be recognized in this manner must have been quite an achievement, especially for a little “country boy” from the Corentyne.

However his enthusiasm was short lived. When the time came for the team to leave he was told by the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) and the Cycling Union that they had no money and thus he would be unable to participate.

It was heart rending and disappointing for young Marcel. The frustration prompted him to set sail to England, in August 1960, to further his educational career.

He initially wanted to pursue medicine and enrolled at Westminister College in London. He recalled being intensely homesick.

Marcel later met long time pal and former Chancellor of the Judiciary Cecil Kennard who was studying in England at the time. Kennard encouraged him to stay on and switch to Law. He took the timely advice, and the rest as they say, is history.

In April 11 1961 he enrolled to read Law at the famous Lincoln Inn in

Sunday April 08, 2012

Senior Counsel Marcel Crawford

London. On June 24 1964 he was admitted to the bar in England. In the same year he returned to the Caribbean to practice, stopping first in Trinidad, and then moving back to his homeland.

During his stay in England, he journeyed to Scotland in search of his relatives. He found some of them in Edinburgh.

Mr. Crawford has performed duties as State Counsel and also served as Police Legal Advisor.

He worked among many legal luminaries including Rex Mc Kay, Clarence Hughes, Keith Massiah, Donald Trotman, Charles Ramson, Doodnauth Singh and Winston Pompey.

He has so far carved out an outstanding pathway in the courts and performed in many memorable and outstanding matters. A listing of his outstanding performances will full a few pages.

He was made a Senior Counsel in 1991.

At present he is the only senior Counsel in Berbice.

Being one of four at one time - the others being Stanley Hardyal, Bhairo Prashad and Milton Persaud. His law practice still takes him to most

of the courts.

HORSE RACING IN THE BLOOD And lest we forget, there was the horse racing. Mr. Crawford has been associated with the ‘Sport of Kings’ for as long as he can remember.

He was born into it. In fact his grandfather Christopher Crawford, a Scotsman, started racing since 1929, while his father ‘took up the reins’ in 1934 and he joined in 1948 at the age of 12.

Marcel Crawford is something of an institution in local horse racing having been around for such a long time and acquired such vast knowledge. He knows the game inside out, having participated in or viewed it around the globe. Presently he is the Legal Advisor to the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA).

Mr. Crawford stated that in the early days there were few race tracks around, The Demerara Turf Club later known as D’Urban Park, the Corentyne Race Club now Port Mourant, and the Springlands Turf Club.

Looking back he stated that racing used to be done only at D’Urban Park in (Continued on page 29)

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 25

My column

The controversial issues of the past week This past week saw criticisms of Chief Justice Ian Chang and calls for the blood of Police Commissioner Henry Greene. I also saw two criticisms directed at me for the column I wrote last week.

Someone posted on a website that I was an intellectual who had come to the defence of Henry Greene because we went to the same school.

I would add that he is my friend, but that does not prevent me from criticizing him. I have taken him to task over many issues during his tenure as police commissioner.

Indeed, one woman who responded to that blog was correct when she said that she never considered me an intellectual. I am not and I have never been. She then made a comment that I had tried to destroy the reputation of the woman involved in the Henry Greene debacle.

I hasten to say that anything I say about an issue is the truth. In this country we have a way of favouring the person who comes up against authority. I have documentation to prove that whatever I said about the woman was the truth. I did not even worry to write about some of the more sordid aspects of her character.

But I am surprised that some of the comments about the law came from people who profess to be upright and are

the defenders of the poor and downtrodden. I think I have said enough on this particular issue, because the people being attacked can defend themselves better than I could.

There are other pressing issues. One of these has to do with the sale of the shares the government held in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company. When the Guyana Telecommunications Corporation was privatized, Government retained twenty per cent of the shares.

Those shares turned out to be a money spinner, because each year they contributed some $500 million to the national coffers. That was money coming in for doing nothing. We keep talking about making money for national needs. For example, the National Insurance Scheme is taking in less from contributors than it has to pay out.

The result is that it has had to invest in many things.

Some of these investments are providing interest and one was lost to Clico—a lot of money.

When I asked Dr Roger Luncheon about the sale, he said that there were US$30 million reasons. And indeed, ready cash is better than anything. It would have taken twelve years at today’s rate of return to make that kind of money. Of course, the value of that money would have decreased.

However, after a study of the situation, I found that the government was saying that its return would diminish, because of its very investment in the communication business.

The government is laying a communication cable equivalent to the one that the local telephone company has already installed and which has surplus capacity.

The government will be issuing all the services. In short, it will be in direct

competition with GT&T. For example, the One Laptop Per Family Programme would be getting its internet connection from the government. At $5,000 a month and with 90,000 computers, the government would be raking in $45 million each month. GT&T would not make that money.

The government would also be providing other services that the country needs. For example, all the systems would be connected.

A policeman could get all the information on a vehicle using some little instrument and the information would be provided in real time. No need to wait until the Licence Revenue Office opens its doors.

Then there are the security services connected to the various homes by a cable that is government-owned. GT&T would not be making money from these ventures. The government knows this and

recognizes that its earnings from its 20 per cent shares would be diminished.

Why is this happening? I believe that it has something to do with shattering the GT&T monopoly. The GT&T has a monopoly on landlines and for some time now the government has been trying to smash this monopoly.

There is more. I believe that the government is going to sell parts of its communication system to private operators who would then get into the cellular market.

There is a limit to the number of cell phone users in this country. At present, GT&T and Digicel have a combined subscriber base of just over 400,000. When the government gets involved, it is going to lower the rates.

There would be a mad rush away from these two providers. Government may therefore become the largest communication provider.

Surely the money it was

Adam Harris getting from GT&T would be reduced.

But the buyer may know something that the rest of us do not. He is Chinese and I cannot help note that in recent times the Chinese have been making their presence felt in this country. They are into every major construction to be undertaken in this country. They are becoming the kingpins.

Perhaps being aware of the changes in the telecommunication the buyer knows that there is still money to be made.

Page 26

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

The PPP/C and the 2012 Budget have failed to inspire Guyanese

By Trevor Williams Guyanese at home and abroad continue to wait on their Government to configure the “puzzle” of management of Guyana’s economy in such a way to deliver a reasonable standard of living and equal opportunity for its citizens.

From the outside looking in, Guyana continues to be a country that promises much and delivers so little of value to its citizens.

On the other hand, a majority of us within the borders continue to wait and hope for that “elusive new day “to dawn upon us.

A standard of living that rests not on an ambitious dream, but one that is inspired by the nation’s capacity to house, clothe and feed its citizens - a nation possessing the capacity to develop on par and level with all its neighbours and those far off.

The fact is, there exists the means and potential to deliver this. Guyanese waited in eager expectation for news of economic and social relief, but there was none.

Instead we were reminded on national television by a Junior Minister recently that the Old Age Pension is not an obligation of the Government. Can that comment ever be contextually acceptable?

We await the days when children in school will talk about their dreams of growing up to build this land and proudly serve the nation.

The days when we would no longer queue up at the Immigration centre finalizing documentation to get out at all cost. The days when the system of justice will give confidence to citizens and serve as a deterrent to deviant behavior.

The days when you can work and be promoted for diligence and performance rather than from neptotism and connectedness.

The days when those who waste and squander the nation’s resources are held accountable and made to comply within the legal framework of an effective justice system.

Hopelessness is worse than an injury.

One recent conversation with a Caricom national left me very embarrassed when he asked me to name some of the natural resources found in Guyana.

I was called a liar because I said the following, Guyana has rice, sugar, gold, bauxite, manganese, world class lumber, diamonds, uranium discovered, food crops, seafood, aquaculture, cattle ranches, produces and exports many other food items , craft/ shops, a predominantly young population, teachers of the highest quality in the region (those that remain) etc.

Unfortunately, I had no one to come to my

defence, because I didn’t want to give a reason why we are running away in droves and happily populating and building other nations.

I believe that daily, thousands of Guyanese are placed in this precarious position.

The ruling PPP/C must take responsibility for where Guyana is economically, politically and socially today.

A significant amount of Guyanese remain marginalized and continue to struggle for their daily bread, while they watch hopelessly as all the rules continue to be broken, rights are trampled and injustice rules.

Our Government, while boasting about infrastructural advancement, huge spending, and personnel development, has failed to address constitutional and institutional inefficiencies and plug the holes of wanton wastage fuelled by institutionalized corruption.

Every year, citizens must bear the agony of being informed about rapid white-collar crimes and fraud of detrimental proportions.

Unaccountability and secrecy still rules ironically when there ought to be freedom of information, as over 75 % of the major deals in Guyana over the past decade were brought to light by foreign sources.

In the year the former Agriculture Minister encouraged “Grow more”, food prices skyrocketed, e.g. plantains moved from eighty dollars to one hundred and sixty per pound.

VAT was introduced and billions came into the coffers; that we do know.

Prices continue to rise and the gap between rich and poor widens. Jobs are not created in quantity to match demand. A majority of Guyana’s youth remains unemployed or forced to leave home and head off to the interior.

The Alliance For Change has advocated a regularized mining sector, where there remains equal opportunity for big and small alike, also ensuring value-added industries develop.

The sugar workers have held record numbers of strikes as their frustrations become unbearable, and this is further understood by the outcomes of the Skeldon sugar factory.

What Guyanese must know is that even though the majority voted against the ruling PPP/C, the government thought it best to construct and deliver the national budget without consultation and opposition support.

We recall the new President, Mr. Donald Ramotar, promising inclusivity. Where is inclusivity more expressed than in the decision-making process? Guyanese have long complained about renegotiating the percentage of VAT, corporate tax, import duties, old age pensions and the threshold.

Instead of addressing these issues, President Ramotar has continued to lash out at the opposition as if he was in an election year.

The President will do well to keep his campaign promises to: be inclusive, address corruption and constitutional reform; deliver Local Govt.

Elections; reform the Security services; address Press freedom and fair allocation of State resources to all parties; enhance regional development; increase salaries for teachers, nurses and policemen, and adequately equip the military to secure our borders and tackle organized crime. Not just spend more money.

It does not inspire confidence. To be muzzled does not mean you are happy, it simple means you are restrained. Guyanese must now read and decide how many of the aforementioned issues the 2012 Budget 2012 addresses and to what extent.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 27

CSEC programme sparks ‘renewed interest’ in Mathematics The introduction of an ambitious programme, aimed at bolstering performances at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination, particularly in the area of Mathematics and English, has already started yielding satisfactory results.

At least this is according to Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, who revealed that there has been evidence of renewed interest, specifically in the area of Mathematics.

“We are sure that since this intervention (commenced) there has been renewed and certainly more interest in Mathematics across the board among teachers, students and parents.”

The Minister, since taking up her designation in the education sector, has introduced a pilot programme which saw Government furnishing both teachers and students at some 36 schools with relevant teaching/ learning materials intended to help improve students’

performances at CSEC. She revealed that it was just recently that a pre-CSEC examination was conducted and efforts are still being made to complete the assessment of the results.

However, Manickchand noted that while she does not expect the results to be fantastic, “we will certainly be able to get a better gauge of where we are as a country.”

The Minister revealed that at the moment there is no doubt that there has been “a rebuking of the ‘throwing up your hand syndrome’; if for nothing but that then that programme has been a success.”

However, once the results have been completely assessed, it is the belief of the Minister that the Ministry will be in a better position to ascertain to what extent the programme has made a difference. She nonetheless asserted that “I don’t think that we should rely on results alone to say whether it made a real difference, because if

you walk around Guyana you will see people talking about Mathematics a lot more; parents are being a lot more interested in what their children are doing.”

A whopping $85.7 M contract was approved in January by Cabinet, for the Ministry of Education, in the quest to help improve the pass rate in the subject areas of Mathematics and English at CSEC. According to Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, the sum is intended to go towards the procurement of items to boost students’ learning. These items included: CXC General Maths Book I and II; the SelfStudy Guide for CXC; the collection of revision DVDs; the combined past papers from 2008 to 2011; Model Solutions to difficult answers; and Combined Solutions for everything in addition to a geometry set, graph paper and a scientific calculator.

Teachers were each provided with individual syllabuses and

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand a collection of the package so that they will be able to effectively work with each child.

The Minister upon assuming office sought to amplify the need for an urgent improvement in the subject areas of English and Mathematics countrywide.

The latter mentioned subject area saw a significant decline, reflected in a below 35 per cent pass rate last year, thus

Barbados human rights procedures on right track, says UN official BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BGIS) — Barbados has been praised for accepting 15 of the 21 recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review of human rights in the island.

The accolades have come from United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, during a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, this week.

Pillay is in Barbados for a three-day fact finding mission. Noting that this country was on the right track in its promotion and protection of all human rights, she encouraged the government to suggest how the UN could help in the implementation process of those recommendations.

Pillay also confirmed that Barbados would be allocated a human rights adviser following the country’s formal request for on-site technical capacity from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

“We see your good initiatives, commitments and the political will,” the top human rights activist said, further praising Barbados for being a universal leader in establishing a human rights unit at the governmental level, and being the first Englishspeaking Caribbean Island to invite her and a delegation to

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay discuss implementation.

However, the commissioner called on officials to consider eliminating all forms of corporal punishment; to establish a national human rights institution; and for government to find ways that local legislation could better comply with and reflect international standards.

McClean noted the high commissioner’s observations and welcomed her compliments. She stressed that while the ministry of foreign affairs interfaced with the UN and other international agencies, the on-the-ground implementation of recommendations was done by a number of ministries. On the other hand, she outlined that the process was challenged by a lack of resources, personnel and a

need for training.

“We are working to adapt and adopt a collaborative approach with other ministries in the implementation process,” she remarked, further stating that, although an inter-ministerial consultation on human rights was in place and operational, it was not recognised formally as an established group as yet.

The foreign affairs minister called on the UN to provide assistance in education and technical support. She noted that it was critical for administrators, policymakers and officials of other ministries to be educated on the application of human rights issues, adding that this would help Barbados to “take a quantum leap forward”.

Assuring Pillay that this

island was committed to following best practices, she also appealed for similar assistance to be extended across the region.

The Universal Periodic Review is a system established by the UN that requires its 192 member states to submit country specific human rights reports once every four years. According to the website for the OHCHR, that report provides nations with the opportunity to “declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations”.

Barbados first submitted its Universal Periodic Review on December 3, 2008, and was asked to consider 21 recommendations to improve the human rights situation on the island.

The second review cycle is scheduled to start next month, and Barbados will be required to report on the implementation of those recommendations.

To date, Barbados has signed six of the nine human rights conventions. They are the Convention on Civil and Political Rights; Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Convention on the Rights of the Child; Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women; and the Convention on the Rights of the Disabled.

suggesting that there is a need for even more attention, according to the Minister.

Concern for the performance in the subject areas saw the Minister backed by senior education officials in travelling the country to meet with stakeholders ahead of the commencement of the project, which was introduced in December at the target schools.

Among the schools participating in the project are Abram Zuil, Anna Regina and Aurora (Region Two); West Demerara, Zeeburg, Patentia, Leonora, Stewartville (Region Three); Annandale, Covent Garden, Bladen Hall, Hope (Region Four); East Ruimveldt, Christ Church, North Georgetown, Central, Brickdam, North Ruimveldt, Richard Ishmael (Georgetown), Bushlot, Mahaicony, Bygeval, Woodley Park Primary Tops (Region Five); J. C. Chandisingh, Tagore Memorial, , New Amsterdam Multilateral, Berbice High, Skeldon Line Path (Region Six); Three Miles (Region Seven), St. Ignatius (Region Nine), MacKenzie High, Christianburg and Silver City (Region 10).

In addition to having trained Mathematics teachers, the schools were chosen based on the fact that their results were good enough in the past two years, and they are therefore deemed to have foundations which can foster the objectives of the ambitious project.

Just over 4,000 students are being targeted, Manickchand noted, even as she explained that the strategic move is expected to see students writing the CSEC examination this year reflecting improved results.

The move, according to her, represents a four-prong partnership, including collaboration between Government, teachers, parents and students. “If we focus on these students a little bit more they are going to be able to pass Mathematics and English,” she confidently asserted.

The Minister revealed that even as efforts are being made to realise improved CSEC performances this year, the Government is working assiduously to achieve universal secondary education.

Already the education sector has been able to realise universal primary education which allows children at the primary age to undertake the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA). The NGSA was conducted across the country last week, allowing for some 18,000 students at primary schools countrywide to participate.

This assessment is designed to place students into secondary schools, and according to Minister Manickchand, the Ministry is now faced with the challenge of ensuring that the same number of students who participated in this year’s NGSA are registered for CSEC in the next five years.

Page 28

Kaieteur News

Interesting Creatures...

The common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a small New World primate from the Cebidae (squirrel monkey) family, and native to the tropical areas of South America.

The common squirrel monkey can be found primarily in the Amazon Basin, including territories in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Paraguay and Venezuela; a small population has been introduced to Southern Florida and many of the Caribbean Islands.

A group of free-ranging individuals was spotted and photographed in 2009 at the Tijuca Forest in Rio de Janeiro - possibly the result of an illegal release or of an escape from the pet trade.

By 2010, the Squirrel Monkey had begun to be considered as an invasive species in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest, and there were concerns about its role as a predator of eggs of endangered bird species.

The common squirrel monkey prefers to live in the middle canopy, but will occasionally come to the ground or go up into the high

Sunday April 08, 2012

The Common Squirrel Monkey

canopy. They like vegetation which provides good cover from birds of prey in the rainforest, savannah, mangroves, or marshlands.

This species of monkey is considered both frugivorous and insectivorous, preferring berry-like fruit on branches. It also looks for insects, and small vertebrates, such as tree frogs. It obtains a majority of water from the foods eaten, and will also obtain water from holes in trees and puddles on the ground. When fruit is scarce, the common squirrel monkey will drink nectar.

The common squirrel monkey is polygynous with a multi-male, multi-female group structure. Most social interactions in some groups occur within the various age/ sex classes, with the division of classes being between adult male categories, mother-infant categories, and juvenile categories.

The core of the group is made up of the adult females and their young. As a result of the natural attraction each class has to the adult females, the different age/sex classes come together as one social group.

Even though juveniles play and jump around an appreciable amount during phases of high activity, they

usually stay close to the adult females. In terms of the males’ level of attraction to the adult females, the phase of the yearly reproductive cycle is what determines their distance from the adult females.

The fact that reproduction is seasonal plays a major role in the social behavior of some groups, where the frequency of between-sex interactions of the males and females differs between the birth season and the mating season.

Adult males are generally socially inactive during the birth season and spend their time travelling and foraging at a distance from the group.

On the contrary, during the mating season the adult males become fatter, excited, aggressive, and highly vocal and spend most of their time engaging in dominance interactions among themselves or following and approaching the adult females in estrus, in hopes of being able to mate with them.

Males can increase their chances at copulating with receptive females by approaching them q u i e t l y. N o n - r e c e p t i v e females, on the other hand, respond aggressively to any male approach and will threaten and chase the males away, usually with the help of

surrounding females. Overall, intersexual interaction among them greatly increases during the mating season.

Infants develop rapidly.

They become fairly independent between five to eight months of age and spend only a small percentage of the day with their mothers.

Also at this range of age, the infants can find food on their own. The infants are active members of the social group, climbing, running, exploring, and frequently making contact with adult members of the group.

Most adult-infant interactions are initiated by infants towards adult females who are not their mothers. Adults generally respond to the infants calmly, but some adults may respond with antagonism. Infants rank the lowest in the group.

Many other aspects of S. sciureus social behaviour, such as dominance relationships, coalitions, dispersal patterns, and aggression, stem from the feeding ecology of the animals. Feeding ecology directly affects the females of

the group which in turn affects the behaviour of the males in the group.

The feeding patches are very small and dense, which makes it possible for an individual with the greatest capability of winning a fight, if one were to occur, to monopolize access to any patch.

All males emigrate from their natal group and some females may as well, although the females are more often philopatric. Males are typically dominant to females, but females still have a high status in the group and are capable of forming coalitions against dominant males.

Genital display among males is an important social signal in relation to group hierarchy; it is derived from sexual behavior, but is used for social communication.

Dominant males display to submissive males to emphasize their higher status. The dominant males direct their action to the face of the passive males and the act can be done with the displayer leaning over the passive monkey or the

displayer doing the action from a distance in a more upright position.

This form of dominance interaction increases during the mating season when males want to emphasize their rank and strength and gain more control over other males in relation to access to females. Genital displays may also define male-male alliances when the males participate in “joint genital displays”.

The common squirrel monkey is diurnal. It is usually quiet but will utter loud cries when alarmed. It is arboreal but sometimes it will come down to the ground.

Bands or troops can be from 12-100. Occasionally troops as large as 500 have been seen in undisturbed forests.

The common squirrel monkey is rated as “least concern” by IUCN from a c o n s e r v a t i o n perspective. However, they are among many rainforest animals whose status may be harmed by deforestation. The species has also been captured extensively for the pet trade and for medical research.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 29

Marcel Crawford SC is a ‘Special...

From page 24 Georgetown.

“In those days, horses used to walk from Skeldon to New Amsterdam… about 50 miles,where they would be placed on the ferry and then be transported from Rosignol to D’Urban Park.”

He recalled preparing the horses with his team and patiently waiting for the group coming from Upper Corentyne. They would then walk all the way to the New Amsterdam Stelling. His father would follow on his donkey cart. When they reached to New Amsterdam he would be tasked with the responsibility of returning with the donkey cart to their home at Salton, Corentyne, approximately 40 miles away.

Horse racing is in his blood, and this is precisely the reason that the veteran has expressed his dissatisfaction with “what passes as horse racing nowadays”.

“Things are essentially done in a haphazard way.

There is abundant indiscipline and too much greed. Persons do not have any concerns for the horses; they are only interested in making a profit.

There is also too much doping (of horses) and illegal betting.

I can’t imagine doping a horse. I have never done it and will never do it!”

He mentioned that he was trained by his father, has owned over 35 horses, and has trained hundreds of others.

“Back then, horses would race for many years and not break down. These days the horses run for a year or two and that’s it. Horses such as Pinky, Joshua and Battle Chant won many races in Trinidad and Guyana. Battle Chant lived for 29 years and won 12 races in Trinidad and 16 in Guyana.

The horses were better bred, stronger and faster. The horses’ blood and saliva samples were taken and tested for any signs of doping. Persons should be charged for doping the animals, because it’s cruelty.”

“I recall the days when jockeys and horses used to come from Venezuela, and as far as England, to compete in races here. Also in those days, racing used to be administered by persons of calibre.”

He feels that a lot more needs to be done if the sport is to get back to the “glory days of D’Urban Park” and in line with other Caribbean countries.

“This country is woefully behind. Many of the racing entities need to improve their facilities.

My major disappointment is with the Government, in that relevant legislation has not yet been passed. I personally drafted the document and it was given to

Taking a hands-on approach at the racetrack

the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport a long time ago.

The minister had given a commitment to have it tabled in Parliament, but to date, nothing has been done.”

“For things to get better, the government must come on board and work with the GHRA (Guyana Horse Racing Authority). They must give concessions and pass the legislation, which will help to regularize the sport.”

Mr. Crawford opined that Guyana can once again be the centrepiece of horse racing in the Caribbean, but reiterated that “the Government must assist, they cannot play this laid back game”.

“In any country where sports are dominant the Government plays a leading role in assisting. They do not control, but assist.”

“Some of the persons

coming into the sport are not interested in learning to do things properly. No matter how much money is plugged into the game, if people are not interested in learning to do things properly, then things will not get better. To be involved in horse racing takes a lot of money and the cost has gone up astronomically.”

His family established their own facility, the Alness Race Track, now, the Ryan Crawford Memorial Turf Club and Sport Facility (RCMTC&SF) in 1975.

“Horse racing is a sport that I like very much and I will be around it as long as I can maneuver and continue to train horses. I would very much like the game to get back to the days of yore.”

Horse racing has run through five generations of

the family so far. His eldest nephew, Colin Elcock, is one of the leading race horse owners. In fact Mr. Crawford revealed that it was he who introduced his nephew into the sport and gave him his first race horse, Galaxy.

Two Sundays ago, Mr. Crawford’s stable was adjudged the champion stable away at the RCMTC& SF race meet.

Page 30

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Colombia prepares to welcome the Americas to this week’s summit

By Peter Tase, Research Fellow, and Roman Suver, Research Associate, from the Council on Hemispheric Affairs The upcoming Sixth Summit of the Americas will be held in the resort city of Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from April 14 to 15, 2012. Thirty-three heads of government, representing all of the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) except Cuba and the newly-abstentious Ecuador, will be arriving in Colombia this week to partake in the forum, which bears this year’s optimistic theme: “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity.”

The event follows on the heels of the inaugural summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a potential rival multilateral regional

alliance predicted by some to eventually replace the OAS. Comprised of all the members of the OAS except Canada and the US, CELAC staged its own debut meeting in Caracas on December 3, 2011.

Its regional focus and de facto exclusion of the US and Canada could signify a new era of Latin American selfdeterminism, and is widely viewed as an attempt to mitigate North American influence and involvement in the region’s politics.

The Summit was hosted by one of CELAC’s principal architects, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

With shifting regional dynamics and contentious politics between the longsurviving, Washingtonanchored OAS and the upstart CELAC, it is no surprise to see the distinctions between the two regional alliances repeatedly

accentuated in unfolding Latin American policy scenarios. In the context of the upcoming Summit of the Americas, the host nation is particularly visible, as its leader, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, has allowed himself to become a wounded warrior and a flawed servitor of the United States, conceding to Washington’s perpetually hostile tone towards Havana.

The current strategic objectives of the State Department are almost exclusively focused on selfserving electoral outcomes in Florida, and the related interests of anti-Castro Cuban-Americans in Miami.

These domestic pressures, coupled with a lingering adherence to Soviet-era politics, have thus far prevented any substantial improvements in bilateral relations between the United States and Cuba over the course of the last five decades.

As the Caribbean’s largest nation, Cuba has made an increasingly bold effort to open itself up to its immediate neighbors and the rest of the world, engineering significant reforms in its economic,

political, and ideological structures. These targeted domestic policy revisions have enabled the nation to become much more marketfriendly and receptive to outsiders.

By enacting measures such as relaxing tourism regulations, privatizing a growing percentage of public infrastructure, allowing private property ownership, and permitting private property transactions, the Cuban government has made clear that it is receptive to foreign investment.

Conversely, the US has not been willing to use these significant developments to re-evaluate its own policy towards Cuba, despite a number of positive acknowledgements by the Obama White House and its reversal of the Bush administration’s ban on travel and dollar remittances to Cuba by Cuban-Americans, students, and academics.

As it stands, Washington’s official hardline position remains unchanged, as does the current state of bilateral relations with the Castro administration. If anything, the Obama administration’s day-to-day ties to Havana are no better than they were under President Bush.

This week, when hemispheric leaders converge upon Cartagena, President Santos will become the sixth host of the largest and most widely-attended summit in the Western Hemisphere — a powerful position which he has already begun to effectively exploit. With his

newfound gravitas, he recently arranged a special high-profile “cool-off” visit to Cuba, where he met for several hours with President Raúl Castro, and had a separate private meeting with an ailing President Chávez, who was in the Cuban capital for cancer treatment.

Both meetings saw their participants discussing matters related to the upcoming summit.

In regard to the Cuba question, Santos reaffirmed his compulsory proAmerican stance by declining to invite Cuban authorities to the Cartagena summit.

The exclusion of Cuba from such meetings has been a contentious issue in the Latin American region, and Santos’ actions could seriously impair his reputation as being objective and well-balanced in his treatment of Cuba and in his hosting of this important hemispheric gathering.

His reluctance to support full Cuban participation in the OAS could negatively impact the organization’s long-term pursuit of a unified hemispheric voice, and the added obstinate rigidity of Washington’s Cuba stance will clearly affect the OAS’s core policy initiatives as well as its main objective of “connecting the Americas.”

When it comes to Cuba, a large contingent of regional leaders continues to oppose Washington’s long-obsolete and fallow treatment of Havana, despite the persistence of US backers like Santos, who serve to exacerbate the discord on the

matter.

In fact, just Tuesday, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa declared that Ecuador will not attend the summit, and will continue to boycott any future OAS gatherings as long as he remains President.

As he worded it in his letter to President Santos, “While I am the president of Ecuador, I will not attend any Summit of the Americas until it begins to make the decisions required.” Correa is the first leader to definitively announce his state’s nonparticipation in Cartagena.

There has been feverish speculation by regional observers as to the possibility of a Latin American boycott in response to the US’s unwavering stance on preventing Cuba’s presence at the summit, and Correa’s decision may be just what is needed to embolden other regional leaders to act in a similar fashion.

Thus far, leftist members of the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) have not joined fellow member Ecuador in withdrawing from the summit despite their similar political leanings and stance on US policy regarding Cuba, and their leaders have indeed confirmed that they will attend the meeting.

It has yet to be seen, however, if Correa’s move will ultimately sway any of Venezuela, Bolivia, or Nicaragua, among others, to abstain from attending next week’s events.

More substantial than (Continued on page 36)

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 31

The proposed Marriott Hotel (Guyana) An artist’s impression of the Marriott Hotel (Guyana)

Page 34

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 35

Why no air transport talks including REDjet?

By Sir Ronald Sanders What prohibits a meeting of representatives of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) governments on the crucial matter of air transport within the region, even as the situation worsens, is beyond comprehension.

Three blatant realties are these: Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) is losing money once its massive fuel subsidy from the Trinidad and Tobago government is subtracted from its declared profits; LIAT, the smaller Caribbean airline, is also losing money, in part because it is competing with CAL on an uneven playing field; and REDjet, a low-cost carrier has had to suspend its much sought after service, because of what it says are broken promises by the Barbados government and long delays by some Caribbean governments to grant it licences to fly into their countries.

It has long been the case that air transport in the region requires rationalization that takes account of costs, wasteful expenditure, and a means of satisfying the pentup desire by the people of the Caribbean to travel within the region at reasonable prices.

Today, the need for such rationalization is urgent.

If matters continue as they are, LIAT – whose majority owners are the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent and

the Grenadines – will grind to a halt. It cannot much longer compete with CAL when it pays US$110 a barrel for oil while CAL is paying the highly-subsidized price of US$50. Because of the subsidy by the Trinidad and Tobago government, which also owns CAL, the airline can set a lower price for tickets than LIAT. To compete, LIAT has to lower its prices and this adds to the factors that cause it to lose money.

Other factors are that LIAT employs more than 150 people than it needs, and the maintenance and breakdowns of its aging fleet are costly.

Long ago, CAL and LIAT should have held discussions to work out how the two airlines could cooperate to ensure the survival of each, while providing an affordable service to the people of the Caribbean.

One element of such a discussion could have included agreement for LIAT to service CAL’s long-haul flights from key Caribbean hubs such as Barbados, Antigua and Trinidad – in other words share the Caribbean routes.

The most satisfactory approach would be an agreement for CAL and LIAT to amalgamate into a single airline, with all the governments that are now shareholders in CAL and LIAT becoming shareholders in the new company, on the basis of some agreed

principles. Among such principles would be that the subsidy now enjoyed by CAL would be extended to the new amalgamated airline. This would help to bring down the costs of travel for Caribbean people. Another element would be recognition by all governments that some routes in the Caribbean will always be unprofitable and would need to be subsidized by all governments.

There is nothing novel in the suggestion of a subsidy.

As has been pointed out repeatedly, many Caribbean governments are subsidising flights of foreign airlines, such as American, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, to the tune of millions of dollars a year. They do so to keep tourists coming in to their countries and to protect jobs in the tourist industry.

But, there is little appreciation that Caribbean people are tourists too. In some countries, they represent the third largest number of tourists, and could be so for others if the cost of air fares is made reasonable.

The recent (third) resignation of CAL’s chairman, George Nicholas, could be an opportunity for CAL and LIAT to work out a co-operative arrangement or

amalgamation. Mr Nicholas had shown no interest in discussions with LIAT’s management that had begun under his predecessor. But, such a meeting, while highly desirable, is not a substitute for Caribbean governments to hold an extraordinary session on the matter.

Neither the purposes of regional integration nor enhanced tourism is served by the current situation and, in this connection, the suspension of flights by the low-cost carrier REDjet is particularly to be regretted.

There is great sympathy for the airline’s employees, and for potential passengers who paid for flights and are waiting in hope for the airline to resume flying. But there must also be sympathy for REDjet’s investors, who began their operations on the basis of written agreements and promises that have not been met.

Much was made recently of concessions to REDjet by the government of Barbados, where the airline is headquartered. And, while these concessions are not to be dismissed, they are no more than are given to other investment companies. They did not give the airline an advantage over LIAT and

CAL, which also do not pay many of the taxes and dividends from which REDjet is exempted.

Two years ago, in April 2010, REDjet was assured by the Barbados government that “a policy decision has been taken” that “it should be recognized as a Barbadian carrier” and that it would be provided “with the requisite aeropolitical support” to secure authorizations to fly into countries “with which Barbados has air services agreements”.

Those agreements exist with all CARICOM countries.

Yet, both Trinidad and Jamaica delayed licences while the airline haemorrhaged money.

In January this year, before REDjet announced suspension of its flights, there was a written understanding that the Barbados government would “pursue particulars of a possible guarantee for a loan facility” to assist with a US$4 million injection into the company.

This did not happen even though subsidies to foreign airlines continued.

The government of Guyana has indicated a serious interest in helping REDjet to resume its flights, particularly as the demand for

Sir Ronald Sanders airlift is currently increasing by 25% a month and authoritative indications are that a leading Caribbean bank is prepared to lend the airline money if the governments of Guyana and Barbados come to the table.

The Caribbean public and REDjet employees would certainly welcome the airline back in the air. A GuyanaBarbados government arrangement offers that prospect, and we must hope that it is pursued.

But, what is really needed is a comprehensive approach to affordable regional air travel.

(The writer is a Consultant and former Caribbean diplomat) Responses and previous c o m m e n t a r i e s : www.sirronaldsanders.com

Page 36

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Colombia prepares to welcome...

From page 30 Ecuador’s boycott, however, is the simple notion that the growing discontentment among Cuba supporters will give regional leaders good reason to lament the ongoing lack of hemispheric unity, and collective progress in the Americas will continue to be unattainable with existing regional divisions on the question of Cuba’s full OAS membership.

More than just words, actual concrete steps are needed to achieve and sustain a truly united hemisphere.

Only with a common understanding and objective can the poorer, developing OAS members move forward and address pressing domestic and regional matters with the full support of developed members.

Issues such as the eradication of poverty and the improvement of regional health outcomes will require extensive cooperation between all OAS member states.

Other initiatives, like public infrastructure projects, also benefit from unified strategies, and will test the area’s present capacity for collaboration.

Such proposals will be formally included in the Summit’s agenda under the auspices of the Colombian government, which is under mounting domestic pressure to resolve major issues like its decadesold FARC problem.

Auspiciously, with the Summit’s brisklyapproaching commencement this week, Colombia was

handed a timely gift when the last ten remaining non-civilian hostages were freed by the country’s longstanding guerrilla group, the FARC, on Tuesday.

This enormously symbolic act is consistent with the group’s new pledge to halt all kidnapping for the purpose of ransom, and conforms to last month’s promise to release the remaining captive members of Colombia’s armed forces and police.

Despite the noteworthiness of the deed, however, FARC is by no means noticeably weakened in its vision or ideology, and continues to hold an estimated 405 kidnapped individuals.

The new FARC policy on kidnapping is being viewed by most as an attempt by the guerrilla force to gain a higher degree of credibility and earn recognition as a legitimate military force, rather than a radical terrorist and paramilitary threat — the label by which it is currently classified by most of the world.

This development is being viewed with cautious optimism by Colombia’s peace-making community, but it remains clear that a more accountable, collaborative, and transparent Colombian government stands the best chance of peacefully resolving the FARC problem, and the summit in Cartagena could be an ideal starting point in this process, assuming the distracting developments involving Cuba do not undermine this opportunity.

In the rest of the region, current statistics from Latin American and Caribbean countries continue to reflect high levels of poverty and maldistribution of resources in spite of notable progress in poverty abatement, literacy, and a more developed regional infrastructure.

During this week’s Summit, the Obama administration will have an opportunity to persuade the OAS’ developing states of the notion that their own longterm prosperity is inevitably linked to trade with the enormous US market.

The United States represents a lucrative development opportunity for Latin American OAS members, especially when it comes to securing a closelysituated large consumer for their emerging export industries.

Concurrently, through trading with the US and Canada, developing nations have access to service products and infrastructure elements that are synonymous with a Westernstyle developed society, and the high standard of living that entails.

Another important matter related to trade talks is one of development.

With the inevitable reduction of North American influence in the region, many Latin American governments will face difficult questions about which manner of development is most beneficial.

This includes societal restructuring as development occurs, and the difficulties associated with properly harvesting the benefits of democracy and free market

development that come with the North American or European style of economic activity.

These plentiful economic opportunities promise to be among the more intriguing of discussions next weekend in Cartagena.

Along with these economic topics and questions relating to development in Latin America, the Summit’s agenda extends to a wide array of pressing matters in the Americas, including public security and anti-terrorism; South American continental integration and common infrastructure development; poverty, urban decay, and income inequality; natural disaster mitigation; science and technology integration; public health and education reform; and Pan-American perspectives on the global economic crisis.

As the opening day of the meeting in Cartagena draws nearer, a broad range of opinions continue to materialize as to the likelihood of the Summit’s success and its potential for historic and transformative agreements and policy changes among the more volatile OAS members.

Regardless of the event’s ability to secure meaningful and substantive policy advancements, however, the attendees promise to make the Sixth Summit of the Americas intriguing for the world to watch.

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

The Skeldon Sugar factory

From page 20 arrival at CJIA after many years of absence. He pointed out that the relationship between Guyana and Suriname continues to grow stronger, while referring to the recent opening of Surinamese insurance company, Assuria, in Guyana.

Thursday Edition INDIAN COFFEE COMPANY SHIPS OUT 50 CONTAINERS OF LOGS IN 2 MONTHS An Indian company known more for its coffee beans than its furniture making, reportedly shipped out almost 50 containers of logs during the past two months, despite Government insisting last year that the same company was not interested in “large scale” exportation.

The majority of logs shipped out are said to be washiba, a hardwood used to make top end furniture. Also shipped were purpleheart, greenheart and snakewood.

Guyana has not made a secret of its intentions to drastically reduce logs export in favour of more downstream or value-added processing.

The former Bharrat Jagdeo administration had heavily defended the Vaitarna Holdings Private Inc. (VHPI) deal that the local media only knew about after the deal was published in the Times of India.

With questions over the forestry concessions granted to VHPI, which is a subsidiary of the renowned Coffee Day Limited of India, in April last year, government had insisted that there was nothing secret about granting the concessions to that company.

Coffee Day is owned by V. G. Siddhartha an Indian businessman from Karnataka.

Friday Edition GOVT. SELLS

GT&T SHARES After disclosing to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) at its most recent Annual General Meeting that the decision to sell the 20 per cent shares it owned was “off the table,” Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, on Thursday, changed the tune.

Dr Luncheon announced that the government during its most recent Cabinet Meeting, on Wednesday last, decided on a proposal made by a

Hong Kong-based company to buy the shares for US$30M. The money will be paid in two instalments— US$25M upfront and the remaining US$5M to be paid over the course of two years.

Up until the sale, the government was receiving from GT&T, an annual dividend of US$2.5 million.

Dividends will more than likely be used to pay the $5M instalment.

The telephone company, according to reports, had noted the statements issued

Page 37

less than two weeks ago by Head of State Donald Ramotar that no decision was taken as it relates to the sale of the shares.

Ramotar at that time did reiterate that whenever such a sale is made, it “would be in the best interest of the Guyanese people”.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GT&T, Yog Mahadeo said that he was surprised at the manner in which the sale was handled.

Mahadeo stated that it was only after Dr Luncheon made the announcement and the media attempted to solicit comments from him, that he was made aware that the company’s shares were sold.

Government on Thursday declined to disclose who the Chinese buyers were. Head of the Privatisation Unit, Winston Brassington said that as soon as he informs the buyer that his offer has been accepted he would make the announcement.

Mahadeo also said that he found it to be extremely strange that the buyer had not ventured to have any discussions with him, his management team, or the parent company Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN).

It was also pointed out that any inferred due diligence was with Government, not the company.

The GT&T head questioned which business entity or individual would seek to purchase 20 per cent of a company and not sit one day to have a discussion with the CEO or management of that Company.

According to Dr. Luncheon, the decision to sell the company to an “Asian Chinese enterprise” was because of the due diligence that was conducted with the Chinese company and the offer that was made was communicated to GT&T subsequently.

POLITICAL COMMENTS UNDERMINING MY OFFICE - CHIEF JUSTICE Chief Justice Ian Chang believes that recent comments by political figures on his decision to quash the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are designed to undermine his office. The Chief Justice has been the centre of a growing controversy, following his recent ruling that the DPP’s advice to charge Commissioner

of Police Henry Greene with rape was irrational.

The Chief Justice was specifically concerned with the comments made by Education Minister Priya Manickchand and Attorneyat-Law Deborah Backer of A Partnership for National Unity. Manickchand, in calling for Greene to demit office, had expressed disquiet at the ruling of the Chief Justice in the matter involving the Commissioner.

In an interview with the Stabroek News, the former Human Services Minister, who had piloted the Sexual Offences Bill 2010 through Parliament, said that she is worried about the implications Justice Chang’s ruling will have “on other prosecutions or intended prosecutions for rape, even though she agrees that the court had jurisdiction to review a decision by the DPP.” And Backer, an APNU Member of Parliament, had stated that her party has placed on record its dismay and disappointment at the apparent lack of sensitivity and knowledge revealed by the statements made by the Chief Justice in his ruling.

Page 38

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Syria must be held to the law of war

By Laurie R. Blank and Geoffrey S. Corn (CNN) — The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria recently determined that the fighting in Syria is not an “armed conflict” — the legal term for war — under international law because the opposition forces are not sufficiently organized.

Yet surely the protesters, dissident fighters and terrified citizens caught up in the violence in Syria believe they are at war.

States and other international legal experts are following the same overly technical approach and, as a result, not applying the law designed for just this situation: the law of war.

The international community is left unable to use every available tool in its efforts to halt the violence and protect civilians from extraordinary suffering.

Failing to call Syria’s upheaval an armed conflict — the legal term for war — has real and immediate

consequences. Contrary to what events in Syria suggest, war is not waged in a legal vacuum. International law regulates permissible conduct during war, even civil war.

The law of war exists specifically to restrain brutality in war, protect innocent civilians from direct attack and minimize suffering.

It prohibits deliberate attacks on civilians and using them as human shields, requires humane treatment of the wounded or detained personnel, obligates parties to respect and protect medical aid providers, mandates efforts to facilitate delivery of humanitarian relief, and imposes criminal responsibility on those who disregard these obligations.

These basic and essential protections apply during any armed conflict.

The only rule that President Bashar al-Assad and his forces follow, however, is the rule of unrestrained brute force.

Indiscriminate shelling of towns; civilians forcibly used

Mourners carry the coffin of Ahmad Qarush, 13, who was killed in Shermin.

A boy holds up remains of Syrian Army shells. (AFP Getty Images) as human shields; and attacks on the wounded, ambulances and humanitarian workers are a daily staple in the

mismatched struggle between al-Assad’s heavily armed and morally corrupt forces and the regime’s opponents: protesters, dissident army units and other fighters.

Massive suffering from heavy-handed government responses to internal threats is nothing new; indeed, the images from Syria are unfortunately all too common.

Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Sudan and now Syria are the latest in history’s long line of notoriously brutal struggles between competing factions within a state.

Historically, states did not recognize the law of war’s application during internal conflict, arguing that internal matters were solely the concern of the state.

The need to maximize protection of civilians in the face of the unprecedented brutality of internal conflicts — especially the Spanish Civil War — was the primary motivation for including fundamental law of war protections for such conflicts in the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Demanding that the Syrian government respect international human rights obligations is certainly appropriate.

These obligations protect the same fundamental rights as the law of war. But armed conflict involves a level of force and violence that triggers the law of war’s more specialized international legal regime, one better suited to address war’s full range of challenges.

Notably, however, there are no demands that the parties abide by the law of war.

The United Nations Commission and other experts may fear that acknowledging an armed conflict in Syria will give both sides free rein to use

military force.

Such concern is naïve in the present circumstances. AlAssad is already using maximum firepower.

The primary concern must be whether we can use every available tool to regulate that use of force to protect innocent victims.

Reality thus tragically demonstrates that the essential dividing line in Syria is not between peacetime and wartime but between the law of war and no law at all. Syria’s

that the situation has risen to the level of armed conflict is no talisman: It will not result in immediate intervention, nor is it likely the regime will immediately change its tactics.

What it will do is arm those seeking an end to indiscriminate brutality with a clearly defined legal basis to demand restraint from the parties to the hostilities.

Perhaps more important, it will place Syrian leaders on immediate notice that their

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad crisis surpassed that demarcation line long ago, even if the opposition is not extensively organized.

Levels of violence obviously exceeding what is normal during peacetime and, especially, a government unleashing its full military might to repress a dissident threat call for the application of the law of war.

The international community’s refusal to recognize an armed conflict in Syria can only be characterized as not seeing the forest for the trees.

Widespread recognition

actions will be judged against a standard of wartime conduct, and that they are accountable for the widespread suffering they have caused.

It is time to call a spade a spade and demand compliance with this law.

By doing so, an international community increasingly disgusted by events in Syria can send a clear message that the law’s basic protections for persons in the conflict zone must be upheld and that every leader responsible for violating this law will be held to account.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 39

Page 40

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Infection Might Raise Blood Clot How stress works in the Risk for Older Adults: Study body, and how to avoid it

(HealthDay News) — Infections, especially among older adults, may increase the risk of developing potentially dangerous blood clots, a new study suggests.

The clots are called venous thromboembolisms, and include the deep vein thromboses (DVTs) that typically begin in the legs. However, DVTs can also travel to the lungs where they form potentially deadly pulmonary embolisms.

DVTs have been linked to prolonged sitting, gaining the nickname “economy-class syndrome” after cases of passengers developing them on long-haul flights.

But, the new study finds that if an older adult suffers an infection (for example, a urinary, skin or respiratory infection) after a stay in a hospital or nursing home, the risk of developing a venous thromboembolism can rise nearly sevenfold. In people who develop infections at home, the researchers found a threefold increased risk of a clot within 90 days.

The report was published in the April 3 online edition of the journal Circulation.

“Preventing infection can have long-term benefits, in ways that one may not expect,” said lead study

author Mary Rogers, a research assistant professor in internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“This includes fewer problems with blood clots,” she said. “If you do develop an infection — and we all do at times — be more vigilant regarding possible vascular effects. Keep hydrated.

Walking helps. See your doctor if problems arise,” said Rogers, who is also research director of the patient safety enhancement program at the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System

(AFP Relax News) - Longterm, chronic stress is just plain bad for your health, but a new study probes into the question of why. Researchers in the US found that stress reduces the body’s ability to regulate inflammation, which in turn bumps your chances of getting sick.

“The immune system’s ability to regulate inflammation predicts who will develop a cold, but more importantly it provides an explanation of how stress can promote disease,” study researcher Sheldon Cohen, of Carnegie Mellon University, said in a statement released this week. “When under stress, cells of the immune system are unable to respond to hormonal control, and consequently, produce levels of inflammation that promote disease.”

In the study, 276 healthy adults completed “intensive” stress interviews before being exposed to the common cold virus, then were quarantined for the next five days. The researchers kept note of their symptoms, finding that if a person was undergoing long-

term stress, he or she was more likely not to be able to regulate inflammation, and hence had a greater risk of getting a cold.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Occasional stress is a fact of life, but suffering chronic stress can wreak havoc on your health.

Prevention magazine suggests stress can manifest in unexpected ways, from nightmares to teeth gnashing.

Other signs that you’re

stressed include weekend headaches, terrible period cramps, a sore jaw, odd dreams, and sudden acne.

Medical resource WebMD recommends learning better ways to manage your time and finding ways to cope with stress, such as relying on a support system of friends or family.

Taking good care of yourself is also vital — be sure to get plenty of rest and regular exercise. Also eat well, don’t smoke, and limit your alcohol consumption.

Genital warts tied to range of cancers

Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis Early and Aggressively: Guidelines

(HealthDay News) — More aggressive treatment for people in the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is among the most important changes recommended in updated American College of Rheumatology treatment guidelines.

This change is the result of emerging opinions that RArelated joint damage is irreversible and that early, intensive treatment helps preserve patients’ physical

function, quality of life and ability to work.

More than 1 million Americans have rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease that causes pain and swelling in the lining of joints. Threequarters of those with RA are women.

The updated treatment recommendations guide doctors in the use of two main classes of rheumatoid arthritis treatment: disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and

biologic agents.

“With so many new advances in the treatment of RA since 2008, it was important to update recommendations now as the field strives to better control disease progression and improve quality of life,” guidelines principal investigator Dr. Jasvinder Singh, an associate professor of immunology and rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a news release.

“The new guidelines for the first time offer guidance on how and when to switch between drug classes,” Singh said.

“They also stress the need for vaccination and screening to protect RA patients from infections such as shingles and tuberculosis, and address the treatment of patients who also have cancer, hepatitis or heart failure.”

The guidelines were published Monday in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who’ve ever had genital warts may have a somewhat higher risk of several types of cancer — possibly including common skin cancers, a new study suggests.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, confirm some wellestablished connections between the genital warts virus and certain cancers. And they hint that there could be additional risks.

Genital warts are caused by certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV). It’s well known that some of those HPV

strains — some of which are the focus of vaccines — can also promote tumors.

In most people, the immune system is able to clear HPV infection fairly quickly. But some people harbor persistent infections, and a chronic infection with a cancer-linked strain can eventually lead to cancer in some cases.

HPV is probably best known as a cause of cervical cancer — a disease that experts say is nearly always caused by HPV. The virus is also blamed for most cases of anal cancer, and a large share of vaginal, vulvar and penile cancers.

Lesser known is the link between HPV and certain cancers of the mouth and throat.

But a number of studies have found that a large portion of those cancers can be traced to HPV infection.

These latest findings, from a study of more than 49,000 Danish adults, confirm all those connections, said Dr. Susanne Kruger Kjaer of the Danish Cancer Society, who worked on the study.

They also hint that HPV might be involved in the risk of non-melanoma skin cancers — the most common, and highly curable, types of skin cancer.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Choosing Sunglasses For Different Face Shapes Picking Right Sunglasses For Your Face OVAL FACES This is most common face shape and an oval shaped face has the most proportionate features. If you have an oval face shape, you are blessed, as almost all type of sunglasses would look great on you. Hence, do not fear to try on the challenging ones, like the cat eye sunglasses and wayfarers or upswept and cool aviators too. Nevertheless, square and rectangular ones which are softly rounded at the edges would praise your face.

ROUND FACES The width and length of your face is almost same, and your chin is a bit rounded too. What would praise your features is the kind of sunglasses that counters your round shape, making it look longer.

Geometric and angular shaped sunglasses like rectangular or square sunglasses with prominent edges, even wayfarers or upswept ones would sharpen your features.

Higher temples create an elongated look which also looks good on your face.

SQUARE FACES A very angular face shape and proportionate too, with a broad forehead and a strong jaw line. To balance the angular feature out, you should wear the fashionable and bold round sunglasses, aviators also look great on your face shape. Cat eye sunglasses look best when flaunted by a square face.

Keep away from angular or geometric shaped sunglasses as they scream out of a disaster when on your face.

OBLONG FACES Oblong faces have a big forehead, a long nose and a very narrow face. If you have a narrow face you should wear sunglasses that make your face look wide and small.

Wear oversize round shaped sunglasses, you can also try large square ones that widen your face. Do not wear sunglasses that are small in size.

DIAMOND FACES These faces have a narrow forehead, wide cheekbones and then it narrows down to little and beautiful chin. To compliment your face you should wear oval and square sunglasses. Experiment with the styles of cat eye, butterfly and wayfarers or upswept sunglasses. Do not wear sunglasses that are narrow and makes your cheek bones pop out from the sides.

TRIANGLE FACES/HEART SHAPED FACES Triangle or a heart shaped face has a wide forehead and narrow jaw line. You should pick sunglasses that balance the narrow jaw line and drive away attention from the forehead. Styles like cat eye and butterfly can really do the trick. Aviators are classy and they also bring out the best in you.

How To Wear Them Always purchase sunglasses with nose pads so that they fit comfortably on your eyes. A round sunglass should always cover your eyebrows or just ends on your brow line.

Upswept or wayfarers should be worn in such a way that the ends of the sunglass stick a little off your face. I prefer option for thick frames when buying a square sunglass, this gives the classic feel. And for cat eye sunglasses, keep in mind to tone down the bold effect by choosing colors like black or white.

SOLUTION FOR LAST WEEK’S SEARCH & FIND

Kaieteur News

Page 41

Page 42

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Born Loser

WHITE HAIR One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.

She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, “Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?” Her mother replied, “Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.”

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, “Momma, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?” ************** WATERMELONS There was a farmer who grew watermelons. He was doing pretty well, but he was disturbed by some local kids who would sneak into his watermelon patch at night and eat his watermelons.

After some careful thought, he came up with a clever idea that he thought would scare the kids away for sure.

He made up a sign and posted it in the field. The next night, the kids showed up and they saw the sign which read, “Warning! One of the watermelons in this field has been injected with cyanide.”

The kids ran off, made up their own sign and posted it next to the farmer’s sign. When the farmer returned, he surveyed the field. He noticed that no watermelons were missing, but the sign next to his read, “Now there are two!” ************** APPLES The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: “Take only ONE. God is watching.”

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.

A child had written a note, “Take all you want. God is watching the apples. ************** HAIR CUT A man and a little boy entered a barbershop together.

After the man received the full treatment - shave, shampoo, manicure, haircut, etc. - he placed the boy in the chair.

“I’m goin’ to buy a green tie to wear for the parade,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

When the boy’s haircut was completed and the man still hadn’t returned, the barber said, “Looks like your daddy’s forgotten all about you.”

“That wasn’t my daddy,” said the boy. “He just walked up, took me by the hand and said, ‘Come on, son, we’re gonna get a free haircut!’”

Garfield

Non Sequitur

Peanuts

Shoe

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 43

Sunday’s Kitchen Pineapple Upside-Down 1 cup sugar ½ cup butter, melted 1 tablespoon dark rum or milk 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled Chocolatehazelnut spread (optional) Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (5 medium)

Ingredients 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup powdered sugar 4 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¾ cup butter, cut into pieces ¾ cup dried cranberries, snipped dried cherries, dried currants, or snipped raisins 2 eggs, lightly beaten ½ cup buttermilk Buttermilk Granulated sugar Whipped cream or butter Directions 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl stir together flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a large bowl, c o m b i n e f l o u r, b a k i n g powder, lemon peel, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, mashed bananas, sugar, melted butter, and rum. Add egg mixture all

at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Transfer one-third of the batter (about 1-1/4 cups) to a medium bowl; fold in melted chocolate.

3. Drop alternating spoonfuls of plain and chocolate batters into the prepared pan. Using a table knife or narrow metal spatula, gently cut through batters to marble.

4. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. If necessary, cover loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning.

5. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Wrap and store overnight before slicing. If desired, serve with chocolatehazelnut spread. Makes 16 servings.

crumbs. Stir in dried cranberries. Make a well in center of flour mixture.

2. In a small bowl combine eggs and the 1/2 cup buttermilk.

Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.

Using a fork, stir just until moistened.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing it for 10 to 12 strokes or until dough is nearly smooth.

Divide dough in half. Pat or lightly roll each portion into a 1/2-inch-thick circle.

Cut each circle into six wedges. (Or instead of dividing dough in half, pat or lightly roll dough until 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough with a

floured 2-1/2-inch round cutter.)

4. Place scones 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Lightly brush tops with additional buttermilk and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack; cool for 5 minutes.

Serve warm with whipped cream.

Minted Mango Tea 4 cups boiling water 1 – 2 tablespoons sugar Ice cubes

Ingredients 1 cup chopped refrigerated mango slices 1 cup pineapple juice 8 green tea bags 2 mint sprigs

Directions 1. Place the chopped mango and pineapple juice in a blender container or food processor bowl. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate the pureed mixture.

2. Meanwhile, in a large glass bowl, pour boiling water over the tea bags and

mint sprigs. Cover and let steep 5 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bags and mint sprigs. Cool, covered, for 1 hour. Chill for 2 hours.

3. Transfer the chilled tea to a 2-quart pitcher; add the pureed mango mixture and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

4. To serve, pour the tea mixture into ice-filled glasses. Garnish each glass with an additional mango slice and a pineapple star.

Makes 6 (8-ounce) servings.

Ingredients ½ cup (1 stick) butter 1 cup packed brown sugar 12 canned pineapple rings in juice* 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened ½ cup granulated sugar ½ cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs ½ cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla Vanilla Greek yogurt or sweetened whipped cream (optional) 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar (optional) 12 maraschino cherries (optional) Directions 1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; set pan aside. For pineapple topping, melt 1/2 cup butter in a medium saucepan over

low heat. Stir in 1 cup brown sugar. Bring to boiling over medium heat, s t i r r i n g f r e q u e n t l y.

Pour into prepared pan.

D r a i n pineapple rings, reserving 1/2 cup juice.

Fit 12 rings into bottom of pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In a large bowl, beat softened butter, granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.

Add eggs; beat until combined. On low speed, beat in half the flour mixture.

Pour in reserved 1/2 cup pineapple juice and the milk; beat until combined. Beat in remaining flour mixture and vanilla.

3. Spread batter carefully atop pineapple slices in pan.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted near

center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. (If you invert the coffee cake too soon, the pineapple rings may stick to pan.)

Place a serving tray or baking sheet over coffee cake; carefully invert. If any pineapple sticks to pan, gently replace on cake top.

4. Serve warm topped with yogurt and maraschino cherries. Store at room temperature up to 3 days.

Makes 12 servings.

From the Test Kitchen Tip *You will need to purchase 1, 20-ounce can of pineapple slices and 1, 8ounce can of pineapple slices for the 12 slices. There will be a few slices of leftover pineapple.

Page 44

Kaieteur News

Junior page

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kiddies Section

MORAL OF THE STORY: There is no limit beyond which we should stop practicing forgiveness

There was once a hand whose fingers were great friends. The owner of this hand started a dangerous job and, despite the care he gave the rest of the fingers, the thumb always came off worse, with lots of cuts and bruises.

At first, the other fingers asked the thumb's forgiveness for their clumsiness, and the thumb did indeed forgive them.

However, this happened so

many times that, o n e d a y, t h e thumb decided to forgive the fingers no more.

He stretched himself away from the fingers, and wanted nothing to do with them.

Initially, the thumb looked dignified, straight, rigid and aloof. However, that kind of position was forced and ridiculous. The owner even had to keep that hand in his pocket, and there the fingers suffered in darkness and obscurity.

F i n a l l y, t h e t h u m b understood that it had all

Once upon a time, there was a boy who was so badly behaved that the Chief Fairy of the land came by to punish him. The Fairy turned the boy into a monster, in a spell which meant the boy could only escape from being a monster if he managed to seriously frighten someone.

At first the boy thought this would be easy, but he soon found that the children in his area were very difficult to

scare.

A long time passed, and he got more and more fed up; so he decided to look for some easy prey: a boy who was well known as a s u c k e r. To e n s u r e success, he studied this boy for some time, following him wherever he went, and in passing, seeing all the good works he did. His target gave

If you should ever meet a crocodile, Don't take a stick and poke him; Ignore the welcome in his smile, Be careful not to stroke him, For as he sleeps in the wild, He gets thinner and thinner, And whenever you meet a crocodile, He is ready for his dinner.

been his fault, and he asked the fingers' forgiveness, fearful that they would reject him.

On the contrary, the fingers easily forgave him, because they - better than anyone - knew that we all make mistakes. Friends once again, all five of them worked together to prove to the owner that they were perfectly well again.

Before long, they returned to the light again, this time well aware that they should always forgive each other, and thus avoid ending up inside a gloomy and depressing pocket.

Unscramble the words into the boxes to the right, and then unscramble all circled letters to find a word related to Easter.

What do you call it when a bunny changes the kind of clothes it wears?

What is it called when a row of bunnies breaks apart? to charity, played with the children in hospital, helped old people...

Finally, he had fully prepared the best fright ever.

A fright that would free him from monsterhood forever, and leave that good, unsuspecting boy, scared stiff. However, when he went to frighten the boy, there came into his mind the images of all the people the boy had helped. The monster decided to leave the boy alone, because he realised that all his good work was without price. And if he did the boy any damage, he would be responsible for him not being able to help more people.

At that exact moment the Chief Fairy appeared, and rewarded the monster's good attitude by turning him back into a boy.

And that boy, who had been so badly behaved, became very kind, and a good friend of the boy he had been about to frighten to death.

Every row, column and mini-grid must contain the letters B A S K E T. Don’t guess - use logic

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

tell it to uncle roy

Teen TIME

BUILD SELF-ESTEEM Develop your Sense of Belonging

To develop this vital sense of belonging within an environment which is safe and leading them in the right direction, teenagers will need to involve themselves in the following three areas:1.The creation of an accepting environment in which they are supported by their peers. This can be achieved by getting involved in organisations which are geared toward providing some service to themselves and to others.

As members of an organisation, all have the obligation to contribute towards achieving mutual understanding, acceptance and inclusion of all others. It must be remembered always that other persons have the same emotional needs as we have and, as we must help them to satisfy these, awe will be able to benefit in the same way.

Everyone must be treated as equals, even though some would be in positions of authority. Membership of a worthwhile organisation gives a sense of group pride and increases this feeling of

belonging.

Anytime one feels a part of something larger than oneself, especially if one is doing his bit to keep it running, it enhances this sense and our personal worth.

Social and emotional support is essential to the development of selfconfidence in every human being. For those adolescents in whose homes this support is lacking, because parents/relatives are emotionally distant, harshly critical, abusive or neglectful, then it is important that they get this brace from their peers in a healthy manner.

Again, if you experience any feelings of shame, loneliness or sadness, it may be necessary to look for pleasant and respectable friends, especially who have similar experiences and whom you can trust, and discuss your mutual problems.

2. Make use of opportunities for social interaction.

This may already be taken care of in carrying out your obligations

Page 45

towards an organisation, but you need to purposely make the time for strengthening the social relationships among your peers, keeping this within the bounds of proper conduct, and in an atmosphere of appreciation for each individual.

3. Develop supportive b e h a v i o u r.

While competition is useful in getting the best out of us, if we are not in the top third of our group, we can be easily discouraged. What caters for everyone is cooperative behaviour which makes us willingly contribute to the common goals of our group and make ourselves available to be of service to others.

This helps to develop our character by instilling a sense of social responsibility in contrast to only looking out for oneself.

By taking the steps to help others to belong, we get the satisfaction which comes from being unselfish, and this serves to maintain this sense of belonging which is necessary for our personal development into a mature adult.

DEAR UNCLE ROY, Please afford me the space in your column to share the following with your teen readers.

Due to the lack of proper communication our young people, when they encounter problems which they cannot handle, and which they feel can ruin their lives, are more and more seeing suicide as the easy way out.

Every day people have to deal with real problems, and those who have faith and can fall back on the experiences of people who should know pull through.

Others who do not have this faith, and who also lack the ability or the willingness to communicate with their parents or other responsible elders, are not as lucky, and fall to the temptation by accepting self-destruction as the solution.

There are times when children get into disagreements with their parents, and in some of these situations the parents may be

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK The more your opinions are grounded in facts and not emotions, the more they will be respected.

too harsh. In such a case, the child has the right to say: "Mom/Dad, you are being unreasonable", and try to reach a compromise with that parent.

After all, parents cannot be right at all times, and we have to be firm but polite when we feel we need to tell them so. If a parents yells or abuses a child, that should make him/her think about suicide. We should talk to them and try to make them understand our point of view.

Many teenage suicides result from parents being too severe or overprotective. Children who suffer in this way need to prove to their parents that they could be trusted to

POETS'

behave responsibly when they go out. You have to work to earn this trust, and then maintain it, then they will tend to lighten up.

So, my fellow teens, whenever you are faced with a problem which you feel unable to deal with, you need to open up to your parents or other responsible persons to allow them to help you. No problem is worth your precious life, and each will be solved with proper guidance.

S. M., Bath Settlement, West Coast, Berbice Dear S. M., I am sure your excellent advice will help to make teens in trouble want to do the right thing to get help.

CORNER

Alcohol is not good to drink any day, If you take too much you won't see your way; Alcohol can make a man lose his life, Also it would not allow you to strive Alcohol can make you speak too loudly, And be the cause that you get angry quickly; After drinking all day and you go home, Your stomach will burn and you will groan.

You have many friends, as we all do, But, if they encourage you, you should not go; Because alcohol can make people look down on you, And the very friends will end up laughing at you.

BELOW

Solutions to last week’s EASTER CROSSWORD ACROSS: 2. Church 4. Bonnet 5. Crucified 7. Basket

DOWN: 1. Prayer 3. Rabbit 6. Feast 7. Bible

KIDS & KITES Debbie's kite is number 2. She is 9 years old and the kid who is with their grandfather is 10 (clue 1).

David is 12 and his kite is number 1 (clue 2).

By elimination, Darren's kite is number 3 and he is 10 years old and (1), he is with his grandfather. David isn't with his brother (2), so father. By elimination, Debbie is with her brother.

Darren - 10 - grandfather - kite 3 David - 12 - father - kite 1 Debbie - 9 - brother - kite 2

Page 46

Country profile:

Kaieteur News

AFGHANISTAN

OVERVIEW Landlocked and mountainous, Afghanistan has suffered from such chronic instability and conflict during its modern history that its economy and infrastructure are in ruins, and many of its people are refugees.

Since the fall of the Taliban administration in 2001, adherents of the hardline Islamic movement have re-grouped.

It is now a resurgent force, particularly in the south and east, and the Afghan government has struggled to extend its authority beyond the capital and to forge national unity.

Its strategic position sandwiched between the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent along the ancient “Silk Route” means that Afghanistan has long been fought over - despite its rugged and forbidding terrain.

Great Game It was at the centre of the so-called “Great Game” in the 19th century when Imperial Russia and the British Empire in India vied for influence.

And it became a key Cold War battleground after thousands of Soviet troops intervened in 1979 to prop up a pro-communist regime, leading to a major confrontation that drew in the US and Afghanistan’s neighbours.

But the outside world eventually lost interest after the withdrawal of Soviet forces, while the country’s

Sunday April 08, 2012

President Hamid Karzai protracted civil war dragged on.

The emergence of the Taliban - originally a group of Islamic scholars - brought at least a measure of stability after nearly two decades of conflict.

But their extreme version of Islam attracted widespread criticism.

The Taliban - drawn from the largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns - were opposed by an alliance of factions drawn mainly from Afghanistan’s other communities and based in the north.

In control of about 90% of Afghanistan until late 2001, the Taliban were recognised as the legitimate government by only three countries.

They were at loggerheads with the international community over the presence on their soil of Osama bin Laden, accused by the US of masterminding the bombing of their embassies in Africa in 1998 and the attacks on the US on 11 September 2001.

After the Taliban’s refusal to hand over bin Laden, the US initiated aerial attacks in

October 2001, paving the way for opposition groups to drive them from power.

Infighting between local commanders over power and territory became a feature of the post-Taliban period. The authorities in Kabul have been able to exert little control beyond the capital and militant violence has continued.

Predictions of the Taliban’s demise after the adoption of a new Afghan constitution in 2004 proved to be premature - the hard-line group came back with a vengeance and violence has risen steadily to levels not seen since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Drugs trade The Afghan conflict replaced Iraq as the main policy headache for the US and their allies, and in March 2009 US President Barack Obama unveiled a new American strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to combat what he called an increasingly perilous situation.

In December, this was followed by an order boosting US troops numbers by 30,000, as well as a pledge to begin withdrawing forces by 2011.

Meanwhile, tentative steps towards a negotiated peace agreement were made in 2012, when the Taliban announced they had agreed to open an office in Dubai for talks with US officials.

Afghanistan’s drugs industry was reported to make up more than half of the economy by 2007, having

boomed since the fall of the Taliban. The country supplies over 90% of the world’s opium, the raw ingredient of heroin.

International bodies and governments say the drugs trade is helping to fuel the Taliban insurgency, which is estimated to receive up to US$100m a year from the trade.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has called on Afghanistan to target the major traffickers and corrupt government officials, who it says operate with impunity in the country.

FACTS Full name: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Population: 29.1 million (UN, 2010) Capital and largest city: Kabul Area: 652,225 sq km (251,773 sq miles) Major languages: Dari, Pashto Major religion: Islam Life expectancy: 49 years (men), 49 years (women) (UN) Monetary unit: Afghani Main exports: Fruit and nuts, carpets, wool, opium GNI per capita: US $370 (World Bank, 2009) Internet domain: .af International dialling code: +93 LEADERS President: Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai, in power since Taliban rule was ended in 2001, won a second five-

year term as president in an August 2009 election widely criticised both at home and abroad as being marred by widespread fraud.

Initial vote tallies for the first round looked set to give Mr Karzai an outright win, but the UN-backed electoral complaints authority discounted hundreds of thousands of votes as fraudulent, cutting his share of the vote to under 50%.

This result would have forced a second round, but Mr Karzai was declared the winner when the secondplaced candidate, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the race, claiming not enough had been done to prevent further fraud. Mr Karzai was finally sworn in for a second term as president in November 2009.

In his inauguration speech, he said was determined to tackle the problem of corruption, and would work to bolster the strength of Afghan security forces and reduce the role of international forces.

Mr Karzai again ran into difficulties in January 2010, when parliament rejected most

of his new cabinet line-up, much of it reputedly chosen to please the president’s allies among the powerful but unpopular former warlords.

Hamid Karzai was initially put in charge of the provisional administration set up when the Taliban were driven from power in 2001, and won Afghanistan’s first direct presidential elections in October 2004.

National unity He faced the tough challenges of forging national unity, disarming regional militias and tackling drug production.

Mr Karzai, a Pashtun leader, was seen an effective player on the world stage and initially he enjoyed strong backing from his Western allies. In 2002 persuaded international donors to pledge $4bn to help rebuild his country.

However, the president’s relations with the West cooled significantly towards the end of his second term, amid allegations of widespread corruption in his administration.

Mr Karzai has defended the presence of international troops in Afghanistan, but has been critical of coalition air strikes that have caused heavy civilian casualties.

From 2008, Mr Karzai held secret talks with the main factions of the Taliban in a bid to achieve some kind of national reconciliation - with the knowledge and cooperation of the US. But in October 2011, he said there was no point in continuing to talk to the Taliban. Instead, he said, his government should be talking to Pakistan - in his view, the power behind the Taliban.

Born in the southern Afghan town of Kandahar in 1957, Hamid Karzai studied in India and France. Exiled in Pakistan for much of the Soviet occupation and during Taliban rule, he was chosen as post-Taliban Afghanistan’s interim leader in late 2001. Afghanistan’s constitution, which was adopted in 2004 by an assembly of tribal representatives, envisages a powerful presidency and defines Afghanistan as an Islamic republic, where men and women enjoy equal status before the law.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 47

Page 48

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 49

Badal spends US$8M to upgrade Pegasus - sees Marriott as a 'sour grapes' project

The Aromas restaurant at the Pegasus Hotel.

This is what the exterior of the Pegasus Hotel would look like after refurbishment.

Businessman Robert Badal is spending US$8 million to upgrade the Pegasus Hotel, which he bought over from Le Meridien three years ago.

Badal is investing in the Pegasus at a time when he now has to compete with efforts by the government to establish a Marriott-branded hotel right next to his hotel.

“I have to pay taxes, and my staff members have to pay taxes even before they see their salary, and that very tax is being taken to compete with us. It is fundamentally wrong; it doesn't augur well for investments by the private sector,” Badal argues.

He sees the Marriott project as a vindictive “sour grapes” response initiated by the former Jagdeo government after it failed to secure the property for Jagdeo's allies.

Some groups had demonstrated an interest and Government had a four per cent stake in the hotel.

The upgrades Badal is currently pursuing at the Pegasus include a completely new exterior look, taking on a modern feel, along with a fine-dining restaurant on the roof of the hotel which overlooks Main Street and historical Kingston.

The hotel is geared to open a new bar at the Pegasus poolside, and plans also for a wine bar that will offer a wide selection of wines, gourmet cheeses, crackers, chocolates and all that go with it.

Already, the rooms on the third, fourth and fifth floors have been renovated, and Badal is willing to take things further.

If the demand justifies it, he could add a new tower

comprising 150 onebedroom suites providing ultra-modern world class facilities.

But Badal, who is most known for taking over Guyana Stockfeeds in 1998 and making it in a multibillion dollar operation, sees mischief afoot by the government in using tax payers dollars to establish a Marriott-branded hotel just next to his hotel.

What he is peeved about is not the actual setting up of the hotel; he is angry that the government is using taxes to directly compete with him.

“My problem is when the government deliberately seeks to compete directly with the private sector; it's a wholesale assault on the private sector and an assault

on an honest investment in the hotel industry.

However, Badal is not against private businesses investing in the hotel industry. “Whoever has money and wants to take the risk, let him put their money.”

“The government must stay out of business and allow the private sector to invest,” Badal declared, stating that if businessmen see profit in a Marriottbranded hotel, they would invest.

The total debt on the Marriott-branded hotel would be borne by tax payers' dollars and a senior debt syndicated by Republic Bank (Trinidad and Tobago).

Badal sees the deal as a continuation of the cycle of

corruption.

Wi t h n o i n v e s t o r s coming on board, the government sought the arrangement with Republic Bank (Trinidad) to bring together a group of financial institutions to back the project on the guarantee that the group will be the first to get back its money if the project fails.

For Republic Bank (Trinidad) to take that risk, the government would have had to make some strong concessions, Badal suggests.

“Why is Republic Bank going in? There is something the government is not telling us. I feel there is a government guarantee. If that's the case, it's the government putting all the money,” Badal argued.

He noted that apart from what is coming from the arrangement with Republic Bank, the rest of the money to construct the hotel is coming from government, namely the government a s s e t s - h o l d i n g e n t i t y, NICIL. In the three years that it will take to build the hotel, the interest on the debt, Badal stated, will amount to US$12.8M, and Atlantic Hotel Incorporated (the new company the government created for the hotel project) would not have that income to cover it.

According to Badal, the income the hotel will make in its operations would not be enough to cover a fraction of the interest cost alone.

“Giving a guarantee with

prospect of failure means the tax payers will be called upon that when it fails,” Badal declared, saying that ”competition must be fair, I will fight all the way .”

Badal took interest in the hotel in 2008. That was after Le Meridien had already exhausted a three-year search for a buyer.

The government, which maintained its four percent interest in the business, was offered the first opportunity to take over the hotel; it did not and the advertisements went out.

Badal was chosen over the three other interested parties, and in September 2008, he negotiated a deal to close financing before the end of that year. Little did (Continued on page 52)

Page 50

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Co-star and producer of her adult film eager to cash in on Sunny Leone's popularity in the country.

While adult film star Sunny Leone is busy shooting her Bollywood debut in Jaipur, it looks like Phillipines-based actorfilmmaker Stegath Dorr's is trying his best to cash in on the actress' recently flourishing career in India.

Dorr is looking to release his second adult content film with Sunny, Black Shama in the country.

I n c i d e n t a l l y, t h e filmmaker is also confident that the film will find a connect with the Indian audience. According to Dorr, the film is “an old-fashioned ghost story about abrasive

Katrina Kaif was recently spotted at a Bandra cafe frequented by King Khan.

Buzz is that their friendship is only growing stronger after their recent London stint.

She may be the ex-girlfriend of Shah Rukh Khan's biggest archrival Salman Khan, but Katrina Kaif makes no bones about bonding with King Khan. And this is not just within the confines of their film set in London.

Apparently Kat was recently spotted at a café in Bandra, which is also one of SRK's regular spots, whenever he is in town.

Interestingly, regulars at the restaurant say that they have often spotted SRK and Gauri at the café.

One wonders if he might have recommended the joint to his leading lady who is keeping her weight in check for her next film with Aamir.

Says an eyewitness, “Katrina was there for lunch on Sunday with a bunch of girlfriends and spent a lot of time at the café. Shah Rukh usually orders

pro-am bird photographers arousing the vengeful spirit of a medieval Malay witch doctor on sacred land.”

The adult film actress is said to play a Canadian-Sikh professional female photographer Jenny Singh in this film and it has been shot in Cebu, Philippines.

Incidentally, Sunny too is said to be of Sikh-Punjabi origin.

Dorr however is a little apprehensive about how the Indian Censor Board will react to his project, made on a modest budget of $ (US)1, 00, 000.

While referring to a notorious and graphic molestation scene featuring Sunny and him, he says, “The graphic brutality of the

shakes and salads.

Katrina and her girlfriends called for a maxi protein burgers, coco brown rice and multivitamin juices.”

Says our source, “She seemed very conscious of what she was eating. She seems to be on a diet and that's probably why she chose the place. Also, the place serves vegetarian food.”

The growing friendship between Katrina and SRK also came to light recently when the actor came to Kat's rescue when she was almost mobbed at the airport. SRK was even quoted praising her acting talent at a recent event.

He said, “Katrina is a very good actor. I was extremely impressed.”

Well it's always good to make new friends, but here's hoping Khan does not forget his old ones (read Salman).

Now that Kat has joined the list of his friends we wonder if she'll play catalyst in bringing together the longlost buddies.

PS: Coincidentally, the café where

Kat was spotted is situated adjacent to Salman and Arbaaz's Bandra office.

The actress is furious with the online hacker who is sending random emails from her account and also has access to all her personal photographs and film scripts.

Mahie Gill is furious and the cause of her ire is the hacker who has played havoc with her e-mail ID. Her account has been sending spam and her outbox is full of messages to random people she has not e-mailed to.

What is worrying her is that confidential information that included film scripts, her shooting schedules, personal photographs and details might be in the in-box of several people as the hacker had been busy sending e -mails from her account.

And what compounded the problem is that she realised it only a day later after the problem ensued. Her e-mail account was hacked on March 29 but as

she was shooting for the sequel of a Salman Khan starrer that day, she did not access her mail.

The actress realised it only the next day when she logged in. Though she immediately changed her password, by then the hacker had done extensive damage forcing her to lodge a complaint. Says Mahie, “I have filed a complaint with the Mumbai cyber crime department. I have a lot of important information in my mail. I hope that it does not get misused.”

Though she is currently in Jallandhar due to personal commitments, she is following the case closely. She is currently feeling handicapped without an account as she has been told to create a new one.

“My biggest worry is that the scripts and my personal stuff might fall into wrong hands, ” she rues.

Page 51

molestation-murder sequence resulted in extensive re-editing.

And the sheer realistic nature of the death scenes were so shocking that the Philippine Film Board would never allow the movie to see the light of the day.”

Dorr has no qualms in admitting that he is actually trying to cash in on the hype of Sunny's newfound Bollywood connection and adds that there was once a time when the actress was not at all in favour of working in India.

He points out, “Back then, Sunny spoke very little Hindi and the casting couch in Bollywood also turned her off, ” and adds, “When she

was a pediatric nursing student in California, she was also doing modelling in the nude.”

Dorr's first film with Sunny — Pirates' Blood, was shot at South star Mohanlal's studio in Kerala in 2008.

However, the film was shelved due to a regulatory dispute between multiplex owners and the filmmaker in 2009.

Sunny's Bollywood debut under Pooja Bhatt has also helped revive Pirates' Blood. Dorr says, “A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by Gulab Premkumar and was requested to return to India to shoot additional scenes for the film in order to rerelease it.”

Page 52

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Govt. defends Fire causes multi-million-dollar increased electricity losses at Stabroek Bazaar - Faulty GPL transformer cited as cause tariffs for Linden

A stall owner at the Stabroek Bazaar is now contemplating her next move after an early morning fire destroyed over $10 M worth in groceries from her stall.

Around 03:00 hours on Good Friday, Chandroutie Dass, said that she received a telephone call informing her that her business, Stall Number 149-152, was on fire.

Dass said that she immediately raced down to the scene but by the time she got there the fire was already out.

The woman said that upon arrival she noticed dozens of fire fighters at the scene as well as persons who appeared to be working with the Guyana Power and Light Company.

She said that the fire service did a good job at containing the fire since all of the other stalls are very close to each other. The two stalls located on the right and left of Dass’s stall were merely scorched. Dass said the stall was mainly a dry goods stall.

Dass said that she strongly believes that the fire was electrical in origin. The woman said that she and other stall holders in the area made several complaints to the Power Company about a transformer which would spark when it rains or whenever there were high winds.

The woman said it appears as if their complaints fell on deaf ears, since to her knowledge no one ever came

- Claims necessary to compensate for GPL shortfall

The burnt out remains of the Grocery Stall at Stabroek Bazaar. to check out the transformer.

Dass said that since the beginning of this week the light in her stall was blinking and going dim from time to time. This too was reported but no one visited to investigate.

She stated too that her section which houses four stalls is connected directly to the pole on which the transformer rests. The businesswoman said that she hopes that a thorough investigation will be

conducted into the fire and if it is found that the power company was at fault she hopes that she will be compensated accordingly.

Yesterday Dass said that she was just standing by as she had purchased some items to catch a day’s sale for market day. The items were

placed on the scorched counter top.

Dass said that the fire is a severe blow to her thriving business which has been in operation for some three years. She added that only recently she secured a loan from a city bank to facilitate some expansion.

Stall owner Chandroutie Dass

Government is defending the impending electricity hike in Linden. The new tariff was announced by Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh during the recent Budget presentation.

On March 30, last, the Finance Minister noted that electricity tariffs were last adjusted in 2007, when light and heavy fuel oils were procured at US$71 and US$109 per barrel respectively.

The prices have since increased by 61percent and 38 percent to US$114 and US150 per barrel respectively. GPL funded the escalated costs without any tariff adjustments.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) Dr. Roger Luncheon, Thursday, at his weekly post-Cabinet briefing defended the increase in electricity tariffs called for by the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).

Dr. Luncheon explained that the increase is justified since the GPL reported a shortfall of $11B and despite the request by Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh in his budget presentation for a $6 Billion transfer from Government, the company still has a $5B shortfall.

This $5B, he said, has to come from the customers as opposed to the entire $11B which would result in inordinately high tariffs.

In rebutting to the Opposition’s concerns of the price hike, Luncheon noted, “If the political opposition has risen in arms in defence of what was planned or is planned for tariff increases in Region Ten, if we are to take it to its logical conclusion when tariff increases occur elsewhere, I don’t know what

Badal spends US$8M to upgrade ...

(From page 49) Badal know that he would be at the centre of “politics behind the scenes” by the Jagdeo government to prevent the deal from going through.

The businessman remembers that he was the subject of several news items in the state media discussing his business affairs, attempting to show that he didn't have credibility.

“I found this very offensive,” Badal said this week, as he recalled what transpired in the three months leading up to the final sale.

He said that the sellers did “proper due diligence” to en-

sure that he had the ability and capacity to close the deal.

But he said efforts were afoot “direct from government circles” to cause the sellers to back off, or to cause him to back out.

Badal said that key government officials even told the sellers not to sell the hotel to him because there was no way the Bank of Guyana would give approval for the transaction.

Badal had to seal the deal on December 31, 2008.

“The Bank of Guyana approval came on the afternoon of 31st of December; so you see there was a clear effort behind the scenes to prevent

me from owning the hotel, to show me in a bad light, to use every facility within the government to block the deal because the powers at Office of the President wanted their group to buy the hotel.”

Reliable sources told Kaieteur News that the government went as far as seeking legal advice on how it could acquire the property compulsorily.

Despite the hostility he has faced, Badal said that he is determined to let the Pegasus remain the country's premier hotel.

“It's a lot of patriotism and faith in Guyanese that is in this hotel.”

Dr. Roger Luncheon they are going to do.”

Adding that it would be illogical for Guyanese everywhere other than Region Ten to bear the brunt of tariff increases, Luncheon said the costly rental of generators by the GPL was a decision made at the Board of Directors’ level and not Cabinet or Central Government and, he is not privy to the other factors that contributed to the decisions that were made by the GPL. Friday last, a group of Lindeners comprising of mostly women, took to the streets in the mining town to protest the impending electricity hike for the area.

The protesters converged in front of the Linden Utilities Coop Society Limited (LUCSL), which provides electricity for residents on the West Bank or Wismar shore, before marching down the street chanting, “No increase in electricity”, “Ashni eyes pas we” and, “PPP mean fuh punish we”. Apart from the chants the protesters carried placards with similar slogans.

The march culminated in front of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Office, where the protesters were addressed by Chairman of Region Ten, Sharma Solomon, and Member of Parliament Vanessa Kissoon.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 53

From the Diaspora ...

By Ralph Seeram Back in my youthful days, my mother always remarked that I “don’t care if Good Friday falls on a Saturday” to remind me of how irresponsible I was. Now if she was living in the United States at the time, it would have little meaning. The thought of Easter in Guyana occurred to me last Good Friday as I was shopping with my son Calvin in the supermarket. The most vivid reminder of Good Friday in Guyana was when I observed quite a few customers purchasing alcoholic beverages. I told him that no “liquor” was sold on Good Friday in Guyana. All the bars were closed or supposed to be closed.

I say supposed to be closed because a particular incident came to mind of a

Good Friday night way back in my “rum drinking” days.

Like I mentioned all the bars, rum shops, beer gardens and liquor stores were all closed for Good Friday.

My late good friend, Deo, and I decided that a day without “liquor” would be a good idea; we needed to “rest up for a day”. After all, we can do without rum for a day or so we thought.

We did hold out well for the day occupying ourselves in some “sponge ball cricket” and cards with the boys until night stepped in and the thirst began. It is now going on 9pm to 10pm. The thought of going without a “drink” is now becoming unbearable.

“Want a drink”? My friend Deo asked.

“Yes” I replied, “I can really do with one” “Let’s go and wake E. J”.

Father promises to turn in rape accused The father of the 26-yearoldTapakuma resident, who allegedly raped his 14-yearold cousin between March 30 and March 31, has promised police to hand over his son.

Although that promise was made to detective ranks, they are clueless as to where the suspect may be hiding.

At Tapakuma, the Toshao and an Amerindian advocate were alerted about a report of rape committed in the Amerindian Community.

According to reports, the 14-year-old Cotton Field Secondary School student was sent to uplift a package from her stepfather, who resides some distance away from her residence, at Tapakuma. Upon returning home, the 14-year-old was

reportedly approached by her 26-year-old cousin, who was riding a motorbike. According to reports, the 26-year-old offered the 14-year-old a lift back home.

While it was reported that the 14-year-old complied, reports are that instead of continuing in the same direction, the 26-year-old cousin took the opposite route, where he headed to a location and had sex with the minor. The matter was subsequently reported to the Toshoa and the police were notified.

Searches were conducted by the police but those searches were not successful.

The 14-year-old has since undergone a medical examination.

$4B bailout will ...

From page 12 fields which have resulted in the decline in production and productivity per acre and per worker.

“Sugar workers are gradually becoming aware that their lot has seen no improvement over these years, notwithstanding massive financial inputs into the sector year after year.”

The AFC which holds a balancing vote in the National Assembly said that it is for this reason that sugar workers themselves are demanding a

total overhaul of the Board and Management at GuySuCo. It warned that the “politicos in the Board will continue to ‘misspend’ and ‘misadvise’ and interfere with the modicum of professionalism that is left within management. This was what happened whilst the directorship consisted of Donald Ramotar and Nanda Gopaul, both of whom have now been promoted to President and Minister respectively.”

He suggested.

Now E.J. was the owner of the neighborhood rum shop.

E. J. stood for Eugene Jardine, and he was the owner of a rum shop/grocery/cake shop which was situated at the corner of Winkle and Republic Road (Backdam Road) in New Amsterdam. It was a favourite “watering hole” for many New Amsterdam residents back in the day.

You could go and wake up E J anytime in the night to buy a take away drink. This privilege was however reserved for a selected few of his customers including yours truly. Obviously he would let out a few choice cuss words for waking him up, but he nevertheless will sell you.

So we set out to E J which was only a few minutes’ walk.

The place was closed as expected so we walked around to the rear of the building where we observed an unusual number of bicycles stacked behind the building.

After calling out for E J, the rear door of the building opened and to our amazement the entire bar was filled with patrons from every walk of

Guyanese life.

The music was low, the aroma of “cutters” frying filled the air, and everyone was having a good time as if it was just a regular Saturday night out on that Good Friday night. We were not the only alcoholics that badly needed a drink that Good Friday night.

Most Guyanese try to observe their Easter tradition in the Diaspora, just as they observe other traditional holidays such as Christmas.

When I resided in New York I attended a Lutheran Church that had many Guyanese members. It was located in the heart of Richmond Hill more known as “Little Guyana”.

The Pastor asked us (Guyanese) what was our Easter tradition in Guyana.

One of the things we mentioned was flying kites, so he decided we should go fly kites. Some of us made “board kite while others made “pineta” kites.

So it was on a cold Easter Sunday morning our church group was in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens trying to get some kites in the air. I have no doubt in my mind that the non-Guyanese who were observing us were

probably thinking “what these fools were doing flying kite in winter”. It was indeed a strange sight then. Today Richmond Hill is mainly Guyanese and it would not be an unusual occurrence today; but back in the 80’s it was a strange sight.

My son remembered flying his kite in Smythfield, New Amsterdam, and being pulled away. I reminded him that I had to tie him to a coconut tree so he could not be flying in the air like his kite. Outside of Christmas, Easter is probably the best time to visit Guyana, with its four days holiday weekend.

I saw some videos on You Tube of Easter Monday at the #63 Beach. I was amazed at the crowd, the number of cars

and atmosphere and not to mention the ladies who are not shy to wear their two-piece swimsuits in public. In the “old days” one only went to the beach by an excursion with a bus. Today it looks like almost everyone has a car in Guyana. I am thinking of spending my next Easter Monday on the #63 Beach especially if the airfare wars continue between Suriname Airways and Caribbean Airlines. More on that next week.

Happy Easter to all Guyanese at home and in the Diaspora. Mara, Gregory, Joey and Errol have an Easter drink for me.

Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: ralph365@hotmail.com

Page 54

Kaieteur News

WANTED Waitress for bar, preferably from East Bank, 19- 23 yrs.

Call: 233-5477/643-2090 for interview.

Experience Dispatcher. Call: 227-1200, 225-4111 Experienced Tractor drivers to work on Logging concession. Call: 261-2553 1 Maid, 1 handyman to work at hotel. Apply in person @ 12 Henry Street. Tel: 2236284 Technical series Inc Industrial Site Eccles, 1 accounts clerk, Tool room clerk, 1 Industrial electrician, apply in person. Call: 6144358

SALON Make up courses, artist trained & certified in Trinidad: 660-5257,647-1773 Cosmetology courses. Tel: 225-6026, 682-2604 Quality yourself in Cosmetology or nails, make up, Register, Limited spaces.

Call Abby: 216-1950, 6197603, 666-5241 (Easter offer) get your hand tips down for $2,000, toe tips $700. Call: Fiona: 651-9418 HEALTH HIV/AIDS you can still have a second chance. Call: 639-6054

1 male or female to look after layer birds in the interior.

Tel: 688-0197 East Coast Guyoil wanted day & night pump attendants, washman, manager, office assistants & sales girls. Call: 684-2838, 671-3983 Watchman/ handyman. Call: 225-0188, 225-6070 One live in waitress age 1825 yrs salary $40-50,000 monthly. Call: 222-4890 Carpenters to work with limited supervision with own tools 225-0188, 2256070 Persons interested of working in the interior. Call: 626-0006, 231-3159 One male or female to work in Interior; 1 Shop Assistant.

Call: 663-4476 Wanted experience workers for land dredge. Call:6188800 Live-in waitress to work in bar. Tel: 692-4847 Used Blackberry. Call: 6149246 Live-in domestic and waitress salary $50,000. Call: 610-5043 Pooran Sanchar General Construction Services, 4 able bodied labourers, 1 driver.

Contact us on: 265-3556, 6653550, 617-8369 Salesgirl to work in shop on E.C.D. Age 17-24. Text or Call: 615-8121

WANTED Drivers, porters and office clerk with computer, Apply at Survival Lot 10 Vlissengen Rd Carpenters, masons, labourers, bulldozers& excavator operator, truck drivers. Call: 681-0685, 6263644 2 certified mechanics for overseas job. Contact Jonny: 611-8742 Shikhan, cleaners & casher, apply in person 34 Princess Street Wortmanville Waitresses @ Diamond Gate Liquor Restaurant and Bar, Lot 18 Belmont Mahaica. Call: 228-5013, 622-5599 Scrap metal. Call: 616-0617, 663-3285 1 graphics artist, 1 clerk, 1 cashier, apply at Jarrods .

Main Street, Georgetown. Call: 226-1058 1 handy boy to work, living accommodation and meals free. Call: 228-5655, 628-1756

SERVICES

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Permanent &Visitors Visa Applications Professional Immigration Consultant Room E-4 Maraj Building 225-6496/662-6045.

Property in Pomona, Essequibo Coast, two storeys -30x50. Price negotiable. Call: 690-4673

ONLINE SHOPPING NO COMMISSION, WEEKLY S H I P M E N T S , AFFORDABLE RATES, FREE PRIVATE MAILBOX T E L # 2 3 1 - 5 7 8 9 FREIGHTLINKEXPRESS@ GMAIL.COM WE FILL OUT PASSPORT & VISA FORMS:USA, UK & CANADA TEL#231-5789 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer. Omar:231-0655,6838734 We refill HP cartridges for $1,800. Call:650-7699 Trinidad work permit enquires.

Call: 614-4705/675-8352 GET FREE SHIPPING ON ONLINE FOR ALL ORDERS FOR EASTER (CONDITIONS APPLY) @ E M A I L : freightlinkexpress@ gmail.com. TEL: 231-5789 House plan drafting for only $10,000. Call: 694-9843 VISA FOR USA, CANADA OR THE UK! Non immigrant visa application processing.

225-0762, 18 Garnette Street VISAPLUS Repairs, sales & spares, air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & Stoves.

Ultra Cool: 225-9032, 647-2943 Repairs to gas stoves, deep fryers, washing machines, electric stoves. Call: 686-6209 Custom brokerage. Call: 6613043 For all general construction, carpentry, masonry, painting etc, affordable cost. Call:6487013, 231-0821 The solution we do pest Woodants, bees, plants and animals too. Call :673-6027, 617-2575

TO RENT One Bobcat Skid Loader for rent. Please contact: 610-3575 MASSAGE American style massage services. Call: 609-4036

Bahir to work interior. Salary $80,000/month. Call:6942310

CAKES & PASTRIES PEN PAL Single Indian male, 43 seeking Indian female 35-42 for companion. Call: 6182782

1 Two storey house Ave ‘A’ Diamond HS, Asking price $20M. Call: 643-5161, 2160968 Diamond-$18.5M, Atlantic Garden-$18M, Mahicony$60M. Steve: 699-5490 West Coast-$7.5M, East Bank-$12M, East Bank (Public Road)-$13M, Albertown-$25M. Diana: 227-2256, 626-9382 Section K-$60M, Bel Air$90M, Sheriff Street-$150M, Ave of Republic-US1.1M. Diana:227-2256, 626-9382 Lot 9 Johns St. Port Mourant Berbice house with 12 rooms, on 16 Acres Land.

Call: 337-1500 Craig Street, Campbellville, $42M; Bel Air Pk $48M. Phone: 621-6888 Parcel 57&62 Block 10 zone, Essequibo Coast (Queenstown) with building and erections. Call: 233-6931, 225-6726 South Rumiveldt-$30M, Diamond-$18.5M, Mahicony-$60M, Daniel Town Esseq-$18.5M, Kitty$28M, Kingston-$17.5M. Steve: 699-5490 Fully furnished home in Diamond ‘A’ neg. Call:6194682, 687-2806 McDoom $23m, Industry $80m, Blankenburg $20m, P/ Nagar $36m, Carmichael Street $50m, Campbellville G$52m, Agricola G$21m, BB Eccles G$27m, CC Eccles G$23m, 609 2302/645 2580/ 233 5711 LIBRARY Closing down sales, text, university, novels & others from-$100 up. Call: 223-8237

Unlocking of all models of Blackberry starting from $2,500, Vickram at. Call: 6527560/674-6072

One boy to work in shop on E.C.D. Call: 615-8121 One house or apartment to rent in GT or Vreed-en-Hoop, for one week. Call: 692-3634

Sunday April 08, 2012

Baking courses West Coast Demerara, Saturdays’. Call: 276-4018, 693-6335 Character cakes: 1-lb #5,000.

Call: 223-9497

FOR SALE 1 German shepherd, 1 Rottweiler & vehicle gear box.

Call: 647-4040, 696-5151, 2202070 Clean garden earth and builders’ waste, also Bobcat Rental Excavating clearing and Leveling. Call: 616-0617, 663-3285 I slate pool table. Call: 2654161 4 cylinders Dutz Engine, 4 cylinder Turbo charger engine. Call: 227-8401, 2269076 Titan parts, engine DIFF etc.

Call:648-2075

FOR SALE 1 washer & dryer by self or pair, 1 HP laptops -140,000, 1 PS 3 160 GB -100,000.

Contact: 650-7719 2 Miller welder. Tel:660-7572/ 621-6952 Toyota Starlet 2 E Turbo engine with gearbox and ECU: Call: 624-7155.

Diving suits. Call: 613-5158/ 265-3449 4 Massey Ferguson tractors & one 45" flat screen TV & one pressure Washer.

Contact Rayman:668-9020 NARS lipgloss, eyeshadow & Clinique lipgloss. Tel: 6698374.

Satellite phone with minutes.

Call: 614-4705/675-8352 One Honda CBR 600 F4I 2005 Excellent condition. Call: 6100653 One CG 125 HOADB Series CG 1549. Price $140,000 negotiable. Call: 697-0296 New Dell laptops, Mp3/Mp4, car music transmitter, card reader. Call: 642-6664 Used Blackberry. Call: 6731232 One 2002 Tundra, low mileage and one welder 4 cylinder with Perkins engine 400amps. Call: 685-8962, 6115114 1 steel barrage as is 198ft x 50ft, 114ft Draft. Tel: 2272027, 623-4045 Quick sale!!! 1 Acer Aspire Laptops $55,000, cam, 17’’ inch screen 120GHD, DVD, WIFI. Call: 624-3071 Taxi service -lucrative business situated at a Prime location-Sheriff Street, Georgetown give away price.

Call: 647-2491 Any amount live chicken, pluck chicken, Liver, giblets & foots. More info contact: MayMay: 621-4304, 220-1043

FOR SALE Dell computers complete with LCD from $49,000, Dell.

Future Tech. Call:231-2206, 644-6760 1 Cargo ship 1500 Tons as is, engines need repairs.

Call: 227-2027, 623-4045 1 Ice cream truck, slush machine, pop corn machine, freezer, cotton candy machine, 1 ice cream machine. Call: 641-2597 Roofing shingles $5,995 per bundle. Call: Mr.Skepmire: 227-5195 1 Cannon HD Camcorder.

Call: 673-1232 Taxi service for sale, cars already in yellow serious enquires only. Call:660-9977, 621-1548, 226-7268 120 KVA Perkins generator excellent condition $2 Million. Contact Brian: 6281079 Used cassette AC units 36,000 BTU 3 Ton $160,000, 48,000 BTU 4 Ton $200,000.

Contact Brain: 628-1079 3000 watts Honda Generator (new) 125 Yamaha Riva Scooter, Astak wireless security system (3 cameras).

Call: 231-1786, 625-1874 One dish washing machine; for sale price -$150,000. Price negotiable. Daniel: 615-7132 One set of used 14 inch, mag rims complete with tyres, in excellent condition. Price $35,000.Call: 645-5177 Any amount oil & cooking oil contact: Papo: 650-4421 One AT 192 – 1st owner AC, CD Deck, end to end leather.

Price $1M. Contact: 6458253 Games for PS2-$900, PSP$900, PS3-$2600, Xbox 360$2600, Xbox 1-$2000, WII$1600.Call: 672-2566, 2653231 One Honda Civic PHH. Call: 683-6666, 650-6450

Spares for washer, microwaves, fridges, stovetimers, gear boxes, pumps etc. Contact:225-9032, 6472943 Going cheap used truck engines Perkins 1006 series.

Call: 661-3043

Perkins 1006 6 cylinder turbo diesel motor; runs excellent, perfect for mining operation. Contact: 600-6000

Pool tables, freezer, QSC Peavey Amplifier Ashly cross over RCF & SPEAKER, CD & DVD Duplicator’s chairs & table. Call: 601-7776

One 10 RB Dragline. Call: 687-6174 PS2-PS3-PSP-WII- Games, consoles, controls. Call: 6666661

1 washer & dryer by self or pair, 1 HP laptops -140,000, 1 PS 3 160 GB -100,000.

Contact: 650-7719 American ladders 30ft/10ft adjustable with platform. 20ft heavy duty scaffold with platform/wheels. Call:8266346, 612-1486

One cargo ship. Call: 6876174

1 overhauled & repainted Ford 5000 tractor with Boughton Winch. Call:6619318 PLAY STATION 3& XBOX360: Video games.

Call of duty MW3, Killzone etc.Call: 609-8132, 264-2498 (Continued on page 56)

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 55

The Abigail Column Best friend’s boyfriend doesn’t make the cut DEARABIGAIL, One of my very best friends of seven years started dating a new man about eight months ago.

My fiancé and I have hung out with her and her boyfriend numerous times, and every time we walk away unimpressed. He hasn’t made any effort to get to know us — her best friends — and he usually keeps to himself in social situations despite our attempts to engage him in conversation.

She is constantly catering to him and whispering with

him; it’s gotten to a point that we feel we are imposing on their time and are not welcome. My friend loves this man and wants him to ask her to marry him.

I think she could do much better. Do I tell her that I don’t like her boyfriend and risk our friendship, or do I just keep my lip zipped, stay away and possibly drift from one of my best friends?

Frustrated Friend Dear Frustrated Friend, Your friend will make her choice regardless of what you think of her boyfriend.

The next time she waxes

poetic about him, instead of making critical statements about him, you should ask questions like, “Do you like the way he treats you?” and “Do you like the person you are when you are with him?”

If she asks you directly what you think of him, you can tell her that it seems she is doing the heavy lifting in the relationship and that he hasn’t offered you and your fiancé much in the way of friendship.

This situation is a friendship minefield and you should navigate it by being honest but not gratuitous in your comments.

Sunday April 08, 2012 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): There's a new relationship in your life, and it's going to start taking you in some very interesting directions. You might not feel completely comfortable with this person right now, but you can sense that, deep down inside, the two of you have a lot in common. ****************** TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): New faces on the social scene hold some new opportunities, but you need to choose your next adventure with a very conservative mindset. ******************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Pay more attention to your health today -- both your emotional wellbeing and your physical wellbeing are in a state of flux, and a brief examination of your feelings would be beneficial. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Following your hunches has led you to some interesting and educational places in the past, but it won't lead you anywhere good today. So act with caution at every turn. ******************** LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): You're about to be faced with several exciting opportunities.

The good news is that they will add a lot of excitement to your life, and get you a lot of attention. ********************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept.

22): A friend's negative moods are starting to rub off on you, so be aware that your negative frame of mind today might not be warranted. Take an objective look at what is going on in your life right now, and you will see that it's not bad at all.

********************** LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): Your interests are moving away from the world of material goods -- although you won't be overtaken by the urge to cut up your credit cards any time soon! ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21): Sometimes, reaching your goal is not nearly as important as how much effort you put forth in trying to reach it. If that mountain looks too high to climb, don't give up and forgo the challenge altogether. ********************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 Dec. 21): It's great that you have such an easygoing attitude about things today, but instead of sitting back and just going along with whatever happens, why not try to figure out why things are happening? ********************* CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): There is someone in a place of power who is paying a lot of attention to you today, so be sure you look your best and put your best foot forward. *********************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18): Be very aware of who your audience is today. Understanding the people you're addressing should influence how you deliver your message. ********************** PISCES (Feb. 19 - March 20): Your only problem today is that you are not going to be clear about what you want -everything else will go along quite well. This inability to decide where you want to go next is not a crime, so stop beating yourself up.

DTV CHANNEL 8 09:25hrs. Sign On 09:30hrs. DTV’s Easter Messages 10:00hrs. Kickin’ It 11:00hrs. Lab Rats 12:00hrs.

Movie: A Daughter’s Conviction 14:10hrs. Movie: Mars Needs Mom 15:50hrs. Movie: The Smurfs 18:00hrs. Faith in Action 18:30hrs. Know Your Bible 19:00hrs. Greetings and Announcements 20:00hrs. The Amazing Race 21:00hrs. The Good Wife 22:00hrs. CSI: Miami (Season Finale) 23:00hrs. Sign Off NTN CHANNEL 18/ CABLE 69 05:00hrs - Sign on with the Mahamrtunjaya Mantra 05:00hrs - Mediation 05:15hrs - Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital Inc Presents Ram Bhajans 05:30hrs - Queenstown Masjid Presents Quran This Morning 06:00hrs - R. Gossai General Store Presents Ram Bhajans 06:15hrs - Jettoo’s Lumber Yard Presents Ram Bhajans 06:30hrs - Muneshwar Limited Presents Ram Bhajans 06:45hrs - Double Standard Taxi Presents Ram Bhajans 07:00hrs - Ramroop’s Furniture Store Presents Religious Teachings 07:30hrs - The Family of The Late Leila & David Persaud Presents Ram Bhajans 07:45hrs - Sankar Auto Works Presents Ram Bhajans 08:05hrs - Sa Re Ga Ma Live with Joel & Natasha 09:30hrs - Guytrac 10:00hrs - Headline News 10:30hrs -Teaching of Islam 11:00hrs - Dharmic Milan 11:30hrs Guyana’s Entertainers Platform 12:00hrs - Hinduism in a changing world presented by Pt. Ravi 12:30hrs - LETS TALK WITH LAKSHMEE 13:00hrs - Cricket:- IPL 5 RAJASTHAN ROYALS v KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS 16:00hrs - Cricket:- IPL 5 PUNE WARRIORS v KINGS X1 PUNJAB 16:30hrs - Dance India Dance 19:00hrs - Geet Gaata Chal Live with Joel 20:00hrs - Ganesh Parts Presents - JAI DURGA MAA

- Serial 20;15hrs - Birthday Greetings / Death Announcement & In Memoriam 20:30hrs - Indian Soap - Ram Milayee Jodi 21:00hrs - Indian Soap Yahaan Mein 21:30hrs - Indian Soap - Choti Bahu 22:00hrs - Indian Soap - Pavitra Rishta 22:30hrs - Sign Off with the GAYATRI MANTRA NCN CHANNEL 11 01:00hrs – NCN Late Edition (R/B) 01:30hrs – Late Nite with GINA 02:00hrs – Movie 05:00hrs – Inspiration 05:30hrs – Newtown Gospel 06:00hrs – NCN Late Edition News(R/B) 06:30hrs – IPL#7 Rajasthan Riders 10:00hrs – Cricket 1st Test West Indies VS Australia Day 2 12:00hrs – Lotto Cricket Info & Quiz 12:40hrs – Cricket Resumes 17:00hrs – Bollywood 60 Mins 18:00hrs – NCN Week in Review 18:30hrs – Guysuco Roundup 19:00hrs – Close Up 19:30hrs – Kala Milan 20:00hrs – Ravi D Show

Esseqibo Edition 21:00hrs – Feel the Beat 22:00hrs – IPL#8 Pune Warriors VS Kings XI Punjab (Delayed) MTV CHANNEL 14/ CABLE 65 06:00hrs MTV Bhajan melodies 06:30hrs Prayag Vanie 07:00hrs BBC world News 07:30hrs The Diary 08:00hrs Christ for the Nation 08:30hrs Puran Brothers: Shiva Bhajans 09:00hrs Muslim Melodies with Al Madina Exclusive 09:30hrs Teleview Kutbah 10:00hrs DJ Stress Indian Movie: 13:00hrs Garam Geet 14:00hrs Wendy Khan and Dheeraj Show 15:00hrs The Variety Show with WR Reaz 16:00hrs Bollywood Sensation with Kavita 17:00hrs Birthdays & Other greetings 17:15hrs Death Announcements/ In memoriam 17:30hrs AL Ja Zeera News 18:00hrs Entertainment Buzz with Shivanie 18:30hrs Village Talk 19:30hrs Focus on GRA 20:00hrs Sangeet Mehfil 21:00hrs Movie: Kites Sign Off

Guides are subjected to change without notice

Page 56

VACANCY Vacancy exists for an Accountant, Executive Secretary and Clerical Clerk.

Please make contact:2185120, 218-5121 Sales girls & Cashier. Call: 226-0881, 226-1316 Canter driver for East Coast location. Call: 266-0881, 2261316 1 refrigerator & washing machine technician/ trainee.

Call: 683-8734, 231-0655 Have an interest in customer service? Then be apart of Q! Call:220-0401, 225-6466

Kaieteur News

Just arrived: Allion and Premio, tel: 624-2000, 6221610 1 Toyota Tundra, magrims, tray canter, fully loaded, $3.5M, 1 Nissan Titan $3.5M, GMM Series. Tel: 227-2027, 623-4045 1 Dually, Dodgeram ideal for interior purposes, off road tires.GNN Series. Tel: 2272027, 623-4045

EDUCATIONAL Princeton College Forms 1-5 CXC Adults Lesson for students. S.A.T.-Phonics etc.

Call: 690-5008/611-3793 Learn Spanish. Call: 673-1232 Register now for full time & adults CXC classes. Call: 6835742, 227-7627 Easter computer classes all ages-$6,500, Micro Graphics Technology Vreed-en-Hoop/ Grove Public Road. Call: 2643057 Easter computer classes all ages &6,500, Micrographics Technology Parika Highway (Bollywood Building). Call: 670-5734 Professional tutoring in designing & dressmaking.

Call: 627-3257 LEARN TO DRIVE B&C Driving School pick up & drop off: 225-0150, 6806826, 229-7258 Soman and Sons Driving School. First Federation Building. Call: 225-4858, 6445166, 622-2872, 615-0964

Nissan Cefiro car excellent condition, 125 Yamaha Riva Scooter. Call: 231-1789, 6251874 Unregistered Tundra, Tacoma and interstate batteries. Call: 265-2103, 6459860 Unregistered Premio, Allion, 212 vehicles, fully loaded. Call: 609-8188,602-6307 UNREGISTERED ALLION, PREMIO, ALEX, RUNX, SPACIO, 2 TON CANTER. CALL:677-7666,610-7666 1 Toyota Super Custom bus late GMM Series.

Immaculate condition, fully powered. Price negotiable.

Call: 648-7109, 686-4818 Hilux 4x4 solid Def pick up, Diesel, long base, excellent condition. Call: 623-0243 One Hilux Vigo 2011 (New) GNN series. Contact: 231-5171, 619-7134 1 Camry $600,000. Tel: 6216965 EP 71-Starlet automatic, AE 91-Sprinter, Honda FIT 2004, RVR, 212, NZE. Call: 6445096, 697-1453 3 Ton enclosed canter, unregistered.Tel: 617-2891 3 Ton 4 wheel drive canter, unregistered. Tel: 617-2891

VEHICLES FOR SALE Quantum Auto Sales, Toyota Allion, Silver & White with TV/NAV, Toyota Spacio & Fielders, Low mileage, excellent condition. Call: 6247684 Toyota Tacoma Parklights & Bumper lights, BMW Parklights. Call: 643-6565 1 Bedford 500, 1 Mazda titan, 1 Nissan Diesel. ContactKeith:642-6234, 611-4327 1-500 Bedford truck long tray, 1 Leyland Daf 620 truck, 1Pajero Junior, 1- Dina Double pick up. Call: 642-5915, 6543488

Messi scores 2, Barcelona wins...

(From page 54)

VEHICLES FOR SALE 99 Honda Civic Leather interior. Call:648-2075

1-2RZ Mini bus, reregistered. Call: 617-2891 Unregistered Black Spacio, Silver Premio; reverse camera, Cerisor. Call: 6970294, 220-9514 Unregistered Cedia Lancer, Allion, Spacio, Buses, IST, Wagon, AT 192. Cheapest.

Call: 616-7635 Driven Auto - Unregistered, Toyota BB, Passo & Sienta.

Fully loaded and lowest price.

Call: 643-6565, 226-9931 Driven Auto Sales- Preorder any vehicle and save at least $200,000. Highest quality.

Call: 643-6565, 226-9931

Sunday April 08, 2012

TO LET Furnished two bedroom apt Eccles E.B.D. Tel: 698-3644/ 602-5089 Self contained rooms Prashad Nagar 10,000, weekly. Contact: 227-2993 Short term apartments. Tel: 667-1549 One two bedroom house by itself Haslington E.C.D. Call: 220-2940, 663-9816 2 bedroom apartments fully grilled, 8th Street Cummings Lodge $25,000. Call: 6960255 Lamaha Gardens -$90,000, Section K-$120,000, Bel Air –US1700, Regent StreetUS1200. Diana: 227-2256, 626-9382 One bedroom flat. Call: 2642920, 615-9824 Lot 10 Area “G” Ogle. Tel: 683-6666, 650-6450 1 (28x60ft) first floor building for rent located in Diamond. Call: 266-0422/347-299-5570 V/Hoop 3 bedroom-500US, Eccles 3 Bedroom-700US. Steve: 699-5490 House to let Vreed-en-Hoop, top floor, ground floor back building 2 Flat. Call: 614-6718, 682-3011 Journey Inn apartments & car rental (short term), Eccles.

Call: 679-7139 Self contained rooms Prashad Nagar 10,000, weekly. Contact: 227-2993 Fully furnished 3 bedroom top flat US$950, unfurnished top flats, 3 bedroom $100,000, 2 bedrooms $65,000, 609 2302/ 645 2580/233 5711 Ground floor business, $85,000 & US$1,500, two flat residence/business US$1,200, 2 bedroom apt $45,000, 609 2302/645 2580/ 233 5711 DATING SERVICE Immediate link-Singles 1880yrs. Confidential: Tel:2238237,648-6098. (No -text) 8:30am-5:00pm Mon-Sun (Both phones same hours).

CAR RENTAL Cars. Call: 643-1131 Progressive auto rental, cars from $3,500 per day. Call: 6435122, 656-0087, www.progressiveautorental.com

From page 59 86th to become the first player to score 60 goals in a major European league since Gerd Mueller had 67 for Bayern Munich in 1972-73.

Messi then set up struggling teammate Pedro Rodriguez in stoppage time to seal the win at La Romareda Stadium.

The three-time world player of the year has scored 38 times in league play, giving him one more goal than Cristiano Ronaldo as the two stars duel to break the Madrid forward’s league record of 40 from last season. The four goals took Barcelona’s campaign tally to 161 in all competitions, a record for the

Catalan side under Guardiola during his highly successful term.

Also, Miguel “Michu” Perez scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season to help Rayo Vallecano to a 6-0 rout of Osasuna. Last-place Sporting Gijon lost 2-0 to Getafe, and Carlos Vela netted twice to give Real Sociedad a 2-0 draw at Espanyol.

Barcelona struggled early on, and the relegationthreatened Zaragoza had the game’s first clear scoring chances through Aranda.

The striker first redirected a cross off the near post. Then in the ensuing scramble, Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes was whistled for

fouling Angel Lafita in front of goal. But Aranda again failed to put his side ahead when Valdes judged correctly and dove to his left to smother his low spot kick.

Aranda, however, saw his luck turn when Valdes blocked his low strike only to have the rebound ricochet off Aranda’s head and into the net.

The game swung back in Barcelona’s favor thanks to an uncharacteristic mistake by goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez, one of Zaragoza’s few bright spots this season.

Roberto fumbled a routine corner kick and the ball fell to the feet of Puyol, who leveled the score in the 36th.

Port Mourant Easter Horserace Meet...

From page 60 winner in every event and with such a disclosure the feature B class matchup is expected to a sizzling race.

The Four-year-old open 1200M event fetches a winning purse of $450,000 and Turfites will be anxious to see the return of Better than Gold against the likes of Swing Easy, Work Force, Technology, Bridal Stone Corner, Captain Crook, Face The Fire, Northern Dancer, Intriguing Account and the newly imported Step in Town in what is expected to be a close encounter.

LAND FOR SALE Transported- Land of Canaan. Tel: 266-0014/6698139 Lot 20 St. John’s street and Savannah Road, New Amsterdam, 85’x60’. Call: 232-0417, 615-2085 32 acre for sale, Lot 5 Content E.C.D, $256,000.00 (USD) Call: 813-319-4219 or r.pooran@tampabay.com Soesdyke Public Rd 437’ X 104’ US$300,000, Land of Canaan Wharf 140’ X 50’ on 11.88 acres US$2.5m, Grove H/S 86’ X 50’ $4.5m. 609 2302/ 645 2580/233 5711 Forshaw Street Q/Town 240’X 62’ WAS US$560,000 NOW US$525,000 Eping Ave B.A.P 150’ X 100" US$500,000, Carmichael Street 100" X 62" US$500,000 609 2302/645 2580/233 5711 Ogle Seawall Rd 140’ X 100’ $45m, Sophia Seawall Road 130" X 86’ US$550,000, Ogle Railway Corner 200’ X 78’ US$750,000, Yarrowkabra 50 acre & house $15m.

609 2302/645 2580/233 5711

Work Force will be looking for another upset victory in the E and lower Event over 1500M for the $400,000 top prize but will have to contend with Night Crescendo, Home Bush Baby, Technology, Gold Plated, Top of the Line, Bailiff, Majestic and Got to Go. The Three year old event for animals bred and born in Guyana and the West Indies over a distance of 1500M is for a tantalizing $390,000.

Settle in Seattle starts as favourite with Red Cloud, Come Dance with Me, Feels like Gold, Times have changed, Rosetta, Princess Kiara, Storm in a Tea Cup, Rock Sonia and Pride and Joy and the newly imported Silent Lizzy.

The Three-year-old Guyana bred horses will be running for a top prize of $300,000 over 1200M and the battle will be renewed among Third World, Watch My Shadow, I want Revenge, Blessings and Golden Reprise.

The ‘G class 1200M gallop will see the winner taking home $220,000.

Horses entered include Appealing Harvest, South Sea, Intriguing Account, The Gap, Gold Princess, Prado Gold, Royal Champion,

Happy Choice, Gold Plated, Face the Fire, and the newly imported Bollywood Star.

The ‘I’ and Lower event with a winners money of $190,000 over 1200M will have among them the Gump, Apostle, Savion, Sun Raiser, Black Water, Kevin and Extra Heat among them.

There is an event for I3 and lower horses for a pole position payment of $150,000.

Among those entered are Bounty Flyer, Miracle Silver, Speed Vision, Natural Mystic and Modern Cowboy.

Among the sponsors on board are Beverage Giants Banks DIH limited, Digicel, Jumbo Jet Auto Sales and the Shariff racing stables.

Champion jockey, champion Trainer and stable will all be presented with accolades compliments of Trophy Stall, Bourda Market and the organizers.

The day’s event will be run under the rules of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority.

Bugle Time is 13:00hrs.

Last minute queries can be directed to C. Ramnauth on telephone numbers 337-5311/ 697-1979, Kris Jagdeo on 3220369 or R. Gajnabi on 643-9696 for further information.

(Samuel Whyte)

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 57

“Against Australia in three Tests, West Indies batting will have to steel itself” Colin E. H. Croft No, I am not an obeahman, voodoo-man, sorcerer or soothsayer, even if I have survived many a plot! Yes, I simply had premonitions and used common sense too; not even inside information had I got!

You will have noted, days early, in last week’s submission, that I actually named all of West Indies squad for Test No. 1, now ongoing at Kensington Oval, Barbados. That was actually easy to do so!

West Indies senior selectors – Chairman Clyde Butts, Robert Haynes and Courtney Browne – are predictable and consistent picking Test teams. It is only for “A”, ODIs and T-20’s that they confound!

Darren Sammy, West Indies captain, reminded, before Test No. 1 started, that last time West Indies played Test cricket, they made over 500 runs, against India. Butts also informed that his committee kept faith with players who were on that last tour. No surprises there!

For Test No. 1 squad, though, only three players – Shiv Chanderpaul (137 Tests), Fidel Edwards (50 Tests) and Sammy (21 Tests) - have more than 20 Tests. Indeed, the squad’s total Test appearances is a very paltry 309 Tests, exactly the same wickets as Lance Gibbs got his entire 18-year Test career!

West Indies squad’s aggregate age is 341 years, average age 26.2 years, average 23.7 Tests each. This

is misleading, though, given facts above. Removing Chanderpaul’s age and experience; 37 years, 137 Tests; one could see how inexperienced in terms of Tests played, West Indies really are!

Only three players – Chanderpaul (49.28), Kirk Edwards (54.09) and Darren Bravo (52.50), have batting averages close to that mercurial 50.00 runs per Test innings.

West Indies youngest player is Kraigg Brathwaite, 19, while least experienced – 4 Tests – is 22 year old Kieran Powell.

Chanders, Edwards and Darren Bravo have massive responsibilities on their shoulders to carry this team, as West Indies will always be hard pressed when batting!

Theirs are the great hopes of survival!

Our selectors travel to all regional games played, either collectively or individually.

Along with Head Coach Ottis Gibson, they must have seen all of the players in the region.

I do not know how the selectors feel generally about our batting standard, but it does, as the young people say, “suck!”

There have not been many players making runs, or, for that matter, taking wickets, asking to be noticed. This year has been another where extremely few new names have come up to be recognized, much less to be considered. Besides those that we already know, our cupboard is quite sparse!

Each year, Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad &

Tobago, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and Jamaica contest our 1st Class season, to “gain superiority” against the others. Even if they win, as Jamaica has done these last four years – they are looking for a fifth success with appearance in this year’s final - what have they gained, if anything, except bragging rights? It is the almost useless leading the very useless!

Few of these 1st class games make any sense at all, as the same names perform just sufficiently creditably every season to be considered for international selection. Most of them then normally perform extremely putridly in internationals.

Unfortunately, most will also return again next year too!

I would dare anyone to name, objectively, an additional six; only six; players, outside of those away at Indian Premier League, those that have been tried, tested, found wanting time and again, that we already know, and those included in West Indies 1st Test squad against Australia, who could, at the very least, command additional consideration for our present representative teams. Very hard one, eh!

In passing, Jason Holder, 20 year old Barbadian allrounder, Delorn Johnson, Windward Islands 23 year old left-arm fast bowler, Sheldon Cotterrell, Jamaica’s 22 year old left-arm fast bowler and 23 year old Trinidad & Tobago fast bowler Shannon Gabriel are, hopefully, almost

Chelsea secure controversial...

From page 58 evident the longer the game remained goalless.

Michael Essien was booked for a cynical foul on Victor Moses before Drogba went close with a low shot from the edge of the area which flashed narrowly wide of the Wigan post. Then in the dying moments of the first half, Al-Habsi clawed away Drogba’s goal-bound header from close range after the Ivory Coast striker had connected with Florent Malouda’s teasing cross.

Al-Habsi had only managed five clean sheets before the match but he was inspirational against Chelsea.

The second half started in the same way the opening 45 minutes ended - Al-Habsi denying Drogba with his body - before the game exploded in controversy.

Shaun Maloney was cautioned for a clumsy

challenge on Ivanovic, who ultimately made him pay from the resulting free-kick with a 62nd-minute opener that should have been disallowed.

Wigan thought they had cleared the danger but Raul Meireles played the ball back in to an offside Ivanovic, who steered it home. The visitors were furious and surrounded referee Mike Jones and his assistant Dave Bryan, who were unmoved.

Then Ivanovic denied Wigan when he blocked Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Franco Di Santo’s shot on the line after a goalmouth scramble before substitute Diame crashed an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net to make it 1-1.

But the drama was far from over, with Mata scoring in the 93rd minute after Torres brilliantly volleyed Drogba’s cross against the post.

Inother results: Sunderland 0 - 0 Tottenham, Bolton 0 - 3 Fulham, Liverpool 1 - 1 Aston Villa, Norwich 2 - 2 Everton, West Brom 3 - 0 Blackburn, Stoke 2 - 1 Wolves.

POINTS TABLE: Team Played GD Man Utd 31 49 Man City 31 50 Tottenham 32 20 Arsenal 31 21 Chelsea 32 18 Newcastle 32 6 Everton 32 0 Liverpool 32 3 Sunderland 32 5 Fulham 32 0

Points 76 71 59 58 56 56 44 43 42 42

immediate futures of West Indies.

Strangely, these are bowlers. Where are the batsmen? Anyway, if these four are not playing relatively regularly for West Indies within a year or two, I would simply accept, dejectedly, that they would have regressed sufficiently badly, similar to most of those who now ply their trade, to just making up numbers and taking space, in respective regional teams, without making real meaningful contributions.

Check this out! Even with unavailability because of West Indies 1st Class semifinals – Guyana v Jamaica and T&T v Barbados – West Indies’ cricket fraternity should shudder with horror, wonder and disbelief when Devon Smith, after so many years – 33 Tests, Test average 24.71, 1st Class average 35.54 - could still be considered for West Indies Cricket Board’s President XI. Where exactly are we going with this?

Those recent regional semi-finals should have been informational and instructional. Jamaica v Guyana, at revered Sabina Park, and Barbados v Trinidad & Tobago, as similarly considered Queen’s Park Oval, both lasted only three days; just. Only one team made 200 plus; only four batsmen made more than 50!

Donavan Pagon, 53, Tamar Lambert, 51, and Xavier Marshall, 59, all for Jamaica “The Land of wood and

water” – made half centuries against Guyana - “The Land of many waters” – who, set only 260 to win, lost by a massive 133 runs. Neither team even managed to get 200! May be just too much water!

Trinidad & Tobago v Barbados was a new low!

With two of present senior West Indies Test batsmen in its ranks – Darren Bravo and Adrian Barath – “The Red Force” was powerless, destroyed for a meager 84 and 128 in two innings. What exactly is this? Even beach cricket produces more runs!

Only Barbados’ pugnacious Jonathan Carter made a half-century – 52 – while Barbados made 216, the only above-200 score in eight – yes, eight innings – in our regional 1st Class semi-finals, no less. Mind you, these were not exactly reserves.

Most of these cricketers had international exposure already!

I would ask that hanging question again. All regional teams have so many supposed coaches that players can use one for cleaning teeth, another for whitening shoes! Obviously, these coaches seem not to be able to teach batsmen to make runs! What the hell are these coaching doing exactly?

It is of little wonder that one selector mentioned recently; “Crofty, we have few real cricketers. We only have people who try to play cricket!” This situation reeks

Colin E. H. Croft of decidedly desperate cricketing poverty!

In days of yore, Charlie and Brian Davis, Richie Richardson, Gordon and Geoffrey Greenidge, Irving Shillingford, Vivian Richards, Larry Gomes, Clive Lloyd, Basil Butcher, Alvin Kallicharran, Rohan Kanhai, Seymour Nurse, Peter Lashley, Garfield Sobers, Robin Bynoe, Easton Mc Morris, Maurice Foster, all Test players, while not always active in Test teams, made runs like rain playing for their respective countries.

Consider others who played few Tests; Richard Austin, Collis King, Alvin Greenidge and Basil Williams; or those who never got a sniff at all; Renford Pinnock, Richard De Souza, Timmy Mohammed, Emerson Trotman, Jim Allen, Andrew Lyght, Ralston Otto; who, despite massive runs, never made big!

Chris Gayle and IPL boys may return may be in the future. Now, reality of West Indies batsmanship will show. We can hope that it is good enough to survive 15 Test days! Enjoy!

Page 58

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Guyana Badminton Association Junior Disgusted by Gibson’s comments Easter Doubles tournament concludes >>>Letters to the Sports Editor<<<

DEAR EDITOR, Please allow me to express my utter disgust and sorrow at the arrogant and juvenile comments of the West Indies Coach Mr Otis Gibson with respect to Narsingh Deonarine. I had to read the article twice to make sure it was what it said.

Does Mr. Gibson have any experience in management, has he taken any basic management course? He would realise that these are not comments you make about your players in public.

You do not use the public forum to threaten and undermine your players, you do not talk down and ridicule your players in public like this.

Mr Gibson should realize that the most important asset of any organization is its people. While the West Indies players need to be shaken out of their complacency, this is not the way to do it. You never as a manager achieve long term success and respect from your players by threatening and ridiculing them in public.

Here is Mr Gibson commenting on someone who is just coming in back into the

team, essentially saying that you Mr Narsingh is just in the side because we do not have Marlon Samuels. Well Marlon Samuels has not done anything outstanding or special since coming back into the side. And further he goes on to say that Narsingh, do not get too sure of yourself with your achievement of topping the regional average you are not that good. Has Mr Gibson used this same analogy or barometer for the other mediocre players in the WI side, who have not done as well as Mr Narsingh.

Reading Gibson comments on Bravo, he seems to be a bit more understanding and respectful of Bravo than Narsingh, which makes one wonder if there, is any hidden bias or agenda at play here.

To be fair to the management of West Indies cricket, one agrees that the players need to be more professional, focused, determined, take pride in the fact that they are privileged to play for West Indies not that once in the team they have a right to play. Mr. Chanderpaul is the only player in the side who understands this.

Having said that, there are ways that Management can go about changing the culture and value system of the players in the side; Management should not lose self respect by behaving and conducting themselves as perceived thugs and enforcers, this colonial systems of master and servants has to be replaced by one of respect, tact, understanding, empathy, humility and not the crass and arrogant behaviour we see that continues to emanate from the Management side. There are times when one has to let go of pride admit you are wrong, not afraid to apologize, this in the long run will do more to heal wounds, instead of I am the big boss man, you are the peasant, that sort of management does not work, Mr Gibson you should understand this and try to refrain from making these outrageous comments, it will only restrain the progress of our cricket. Let’s lift the standard and move forward, we are a great cricket nation with a history that is second to none.

Fizal Abe

Disappointed at Gibson’s take on Cricinfo DEAR EDITOR, It is with great annoyance and frustration that I pen this letter about an article posted on the Cricinfo Website on April 04th 2012 by Mr. Daniel Brettig and titled ‘Deonarine on probation -Gibson’. The article quotes Mr. Gibson (coach of the West Indies cricket team) saying that Mr N. Deonarine is a direct swap for Mr. M Samuels who is currently participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Furthermore the coach spoke at lengths about Mr. Deonarine’s fitness and its effects on his ability to bat for long periods. He stated that this was the prime reason for him to be dropped from the team.

It is disheartening what the coach had to say in the above mentioned article.

First I would like to examine the fitness issue. Mr. Gibson being the coach is foremost responsible for the fitness programme of the team.

I must agree that players have to show the dedication and discipline necessary towards their individual fitness that will ensure that they are match ready however it is the coach who needs to be mentor and guide to the players and prepare the programmes that each player

can follow to enhance their fitness.

No two individuals are alike physically and as such individual programmes might be required for each player to follow. The coach at no point in the article alluded to what he has done to improve Mr. Deonarine’s fitness neither did he say whether he presented Mr. Deonarine’s local coaches (Guyana Cricket team coaches) with a fitness programme/regime which they can use to improve Mr. Deonarine’s fitness. We must remember that Mr. Gibson is head coach of West Indies Cricket and therefore it is expected of him to work along with member cricket teams.

I recall our own S. Chanderpaul’s difficulties at the beginning of his career to bat for long periods without cramping and the number of test innings he had to bat before registering his maiden test century. Had Mr. Gibson been the coach at that period of Mr. Chanderpaul’s career probably he would have been a discarded cricketer. While I cannot use the names of two great cricketers Mr. A Ranatunga and Mr. InzamanUl-Haq as excuses for poor fitness I must remind Mr. Gibson that they went on to have prolific careers and to even captaining their countries successfully

despite their fitness constraints.

Secondly the coach referred to Mr. Deonarine as being a temporary solution for Mr. M. Samuels who is currently participating in the IPL. Many cricketers have sacrificed the cash the IPL offers for the glory and honour of representing their country in test match cricket.

Mr. M Clark the current Australian captain is a very good example. Is the coach telling us that he will be willing to cast his lot behind a cricketer that will not make himself available for test matches because of the IPL rather than someone who has the talent and ability as Mr. Deonarine and is willing to make himself available for all matches?

Mr. Editor the coach should revisit what he said and embrace players who have the talent and ability and work with them with the intention of correcting whatever flaws they may have so that they can produce the results that the West Indies Cricket team so desperately needs. His current approach will only isolate players and de-motivate them.

I am throwing my lot behind Mr. Deonarine and would like to wish him well in the upcoming series against Australia.

Renaldo Puran

Winners from the Badminton Association Easter Junior Doubles tournament display their medals following the conclusion of the event at QC Courts.

The GBA Junior Easter Doubles Tournament concluded on Wednesday April 4 at the Queens College Badminton Courts along with the presentation to the 1st, 2nd & 3rd placed winners. The Medals was presented by Mr. Jackson & Ms. Boodram.

The round robin tournament gave the players a chance to compete with each other and getting the best results for the over-all winners.

The Over-all results are as follows: Boys Doubles Round Robin Events: 1st Place: Narayan Ramdhani & Avinash Odit

2nd Place: Noel Shewjattan & Cecil Abrams 3rd Place Anthony Murray & Jonathan Mangra: Girls Doubles Round Robin Events: 1st Place: Priyanna Ramdhani & Greer Jackson 2nd Place: Ambika Ramraj & Varsha Boodram 3rd Place: Nadine Jairam & Jea Ramsammy 3rd Place: Kara Abrams & Dominique Assing The GBA would like to thank all its supporters for making this tournament possible.

Chelsea secure controversial late win

Juan Mata (right) scored a stoppage-time winner to sink struggling Wigan Juan Mata scored a stoppage-time winner to sink struggling Wigan and strengthen Chelsea’s hopes of a top-four finish.

Branislav Ivanovic was in an offside position when he put Chelsea ahead in controversial circumstances after a floated pass by Raul Meireles. Mohamed Diame appeared to have earned the visitors a priceless point when he netted from the edge of the area. But Chelsea secured victory through Mata after fellow Spaniard Fernando Torres hit the post.

It was tough on the Latics, who remain anchored in the Premier League relegation zone, but manager Roberto

Martinez will be confident his side can still escape the drop if they can produce this level of performance in their remaining six games.

While Wigan proved they were no pushovers during a battling first-half performance, Chelsea appeared to be suffering a Champions League hangover following their quarter-final victory over Benfica. They were sluggish before Maynor Figueroa’s 38th-minute clearance off the line frustrated Didier Drogba on his return, one of seven changes to the side that played in midweek.

With a derby match at Fulham on Monday, Chelsea

manager Roberto di Matteo handed Ryan Bertrand his first league start for the club while Daniel Sturridge partnered stand-in captain Drogba in attack.

Yet Wigan, who had failed to keep a Premier League clean sheet against Chelsea, were not troubled enough by the club hoping to overcome Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.

Latics keeper Ali Al-Habsi was at his best to deny his former Bolton team-mate Gary Cahill from 25 yards in the 19th minute before Figueroa tested Petr Cech from distance at the other end.

Chelsea’s frustration was (Continued on page 57)

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 59

De Villiers, Murali overcome Delhi West Indies grind on dour day Royal Challengers Bangalore were without their talisman Chris Gayle, who had an injured groin, but four other overseas players performed roles expected of them to give the campaign a successful start in front of a packed Chinnaswamy Stadium. AB de Villiers prevented Royal Challengers from finishing on a below-par score with a well paced half-century that contained a mix of the orthodox and the unconventional, while Muttiah Muralitharan, in his first game in these colours, confounded Delhi Daredevils’ batsmen during an incisive, economical and match-turning spell.

Delhi Daredevils’ major Indian stars also failed, with Irfan Pathan leaking 47 runs in a wicketless spell and Virender Sehwag making a duck in the chase. The visitors were competitive due to Doug Bracewell’s performance with the ball and in the field, Morne Morkel’s pace and bounce, and a cameo from Naman Ojha. That collective effort, however, was no match for the wealth of talent and experience of Royal Challengers’ overseas performers.

De Villiers began his innings with Royal Challengers on 46 for 2 in six overs, and watched that platform erode because of regular wickets at the other end. That start had been given

by Andrew McDonald, who targeted Irfan and the straight boundary to take 19 runs off the third over. McDonald’s flurry ended when Bracewell sprinted back and to his right from mid-on, watching the ball over his head, and lunged full length to hold stupendous catch with one hand.

De Villiers scored at a run a ball for his first 22 deliveries, losing three partners on the

AB de Villiers scored a well-paced half-century that contained a mix of the orthodox and the unconventional

way, and then launched Bracewell over extra cover to bring up the team’s 100 in the 14th over. And then he began to turn it on, mixing deft glances and sweeps to the fine-leg boundary with audacious reverse-hits to third man. He hit Irfan for two such boundaries, getting into position early and reverseswatting full tosses, one over the rope and the other short of it.

De Villiers crashed another straight drive past the bowler, Bracewell, in the final over but could not get on strike for the final three deliveries, and so Royal Challengers could not get past 160. Bracewell finished the innings clinically for Daredevils, taking wickets with the final two balls to end on 3 for 32.

It was a heartening performance from Daredevils, considering they had lost Umesh Yadav to an injury after he bowled two overs for eight runs.

The start of Daredevils’ chase was promising as well, with Aaron Finch threading the first three balls from Zaheer Khan to the boundary between point and cover.

Sehwag, however, slapped his first ball to cover point and

Lebedev knocks out Cox in Moscow MOSCOW (AP)—Denis Lebedev retained his interim WBA cruiserweight title Wednesday by knocking out challenger Shawn Cox of Barbados in the second round at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall.

The 32-year-old Russian earned his 18th career knockout and improved to 25-1.

Cheered on by the home crowd, Lebedev unloaded a series of lefts and rights in the first round and continued to dominate in the second.

Four heavy lefts almost sent Cox into the ropes, and Lebedev then finished him off with a hook to the head that sent the challenger to the

canvas, unable to get up.

Lebedev took a left to the chin in the first round, but his victory never seemed in doubt after that.

“Sometimes it happens like this,” Lebedev said of his quick win. “But in fact, I’ve allowed him one shot and a very dangerous one. I was lucky to stay concentrated.”

It was Lebedev third straight victory in Moscow.

The Russian knocked out Roy Jones Jr. last May and beat James Toney in November.

His only career loss was a controversial points loss against Marco Huck in a title bout in Germany in 2010.

was caught. McDonald was economical at first change for Royal Challengers but Finch and Ojha steadied the chase, reaching 46 for 1 after six overs.

It was at this point that Daniel Vettori and Murali began to bowl in tandem, and peg Daredevils back. Finch was dropped at short third man in Vettori’s first over, and Ojha by wicketkeeper de Villiers off Murali’s first ball.

Two balls later, however, Murali had Ojha edging to slip.

And in his next over, he had Finch lbw, reducing Daredevils to 68 for 3 after ten overs. Vettori and Murali were so effective that, after scoring 12 runs off his first three balls, Finch was dismissed for 24 off 25.

The pressure created by Murali’s first spell of 3-0-11-3 was so much that Daredevils struggled to rediscover their momentum. Irfan struck a few big blows towards the end to spoil some bowling analyses but it had been Royal Challengers’ game since the 13th over of the chase, when the asking-rate inched over 10 while the spinners were being parsimonious.

Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 157 for 8 (de Villiers 64*, Bracewell 3-32) beat Delhi Daredevils 137 for 7 (Murali 3-25) by 20 runs.

There’s no doubt about it: the Test series has started. After two weeks of limited-overs games between these two teams and while the IPL, with its promise of immediate gratification, gets under way in India, West Indies and Australia played out a dour first day in Barbados. By the end of a rain-shortened day, neither side could claim any real advantage but Kraigg Brathwaite’s stubborn half-century and Kirk Edwards’ 61 had given the hosts something to build on.

An afternoon shower halted proceedings after 73 hard-fought overs in which West Indies had inched along to 179 for 3.

The Australians had not long removed the limpet-like Brathwaite for 57 from 199 deliveries only to be greeted by the sight of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who during the last Caribbean series between the sides enjoyed a batting stretch of 18 hours without being dismissed, walking to the crease.

When play was abandoned for the day, Chanderpaul was on 8 and Darren Bravo had made 20 from 60 deliveries, and their partnership loomed as a key for both sides with Narsingh Deonarine the only specialist batsman still to come.

The two men were hoping to build on the platform constructed by Brathwaite and Edwards but should Australia separate them early on day two, the work of the top order might be annulled.

Bravo had shown some inclination to attack early in his innings as he launched the occasional legspin of David Warner high into the stands over long-on, but he was quiet after that. It didn’t help that he lost the established Brathwaite, who tickled behind off Peter Siddle to give the debutant wicketkeeper Matthew Wade his first catch in Test cricket.

It was the end of a gritty but far from unblemished innings from Brathwaite, who now has four half-centuries from his seven Tests but is yet to move beyond the 60s. The Australians dropped Brathwaite twice and Edwards once in an untidy fielding display and their partnership was allowed to blossom to 104 runs thanks to the let-offs.

Brathwaite was put down on 10 when he pushed a ball from Siddle uppishly back to the left of the bowler, who misjudged the chance and spilled the catch with his left hand.

Another life came on 44, when Ricky Ponting at second slip grassed a tough diving opportunity off Shane Watson.

The simplest of all the lives was the chance given to Edwards on 56 when he edged a fullish wide ball from Siddle and Watson at fourth slip saw a sitter bounce out of his hands.

Fortunately for Watson, Edwards added only five more to his score before on 61 he gave Warner his first Test wicket and just his second

in first-class cricket.

Warner bowled some good balls during his spell, flighting the ball to encourage strokeplay, and Edwards obliged by driving a delivery hard back at the bowler. But Warner’s reflexes were good enough and he snapped up an excellent return catch low to his right, rewarding the willingness of the captain Michael Clarke to try new things in the search for a partnership breaker.

The only wicket in the first session had come when Adrian Barath, on 22 from 54 balls, fell for an obvious plan as Ryan Harris came around the wicket with a short-leg and deep backward square leg in position. The bouncer was bowled and Barath obliged with an attempted hook that flew off the top edge and was easily taken by Siddle at deep backward square leg.

But that brought Edwards and Brathwaite together and they dug in to deny Australia’s bowlers. Brathwaite is renowned as an oldfashioned style of opener, one whose first priority is survival and a player for whom scoring appears to be an afterthought. That was precisely how he played his first Test innings at his home ground, Kensington Oval.

He took few risks, although a couple of drives flew off the edge through gaps, and his four boundaries all came behind the wicket. He ended the innings with a strikerate of 32.80 in his short Test career, comfortably the lowest of regular specialist batsmen in Tests in the past year, but West Indies would prefer an opener who can grind out a half-century than one who flashes and falls quickly.

Generally, it was up to Brathwaite’s partners to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Edwards did that through some confident strokeplay down the ground against the offspin of Nathan Lyon. Edwards lifted Lyon over long-on for a six and was happy to drive him along the ground, while he also picked off the fast men when they strayed on to his pads.

His half-century came with an impressive loft over long-off against the legspin of Warner from his 97th delivery, whereas Brathwaite took 163 balls to bring up his fifty. Together they caused problems for Australia’s fast men, who found early swing but couldn’t force enough shots to make it dangerous.

Harris was included and James Pattinson was named 12th man, and there were times when Clarke must have wished for Pattinson’s explosiveness and ability to run through an order. By the close of play Australia had fought back but the first session of day two loomed as a big one for both teams.

Scores: West Indies 179 for 3 (K Edwards 61, Brathwaite 57) v Australia.

Messi scores 2, Barcelona wins 4-1 win at Zaragoza BARCELONA, Spain (AP)— Lionel Messi scored his 59th and 60th goals of the season to fuel Barcelona’s fightback for a 4-1 win at 10-man Zaragoza as the defending champions stayed in the chase for a fourth straight Spanish league title yesterday.

Barcelona’s ninth consecutive league victory provisionally reduced league leader Real Madrid’s advantage to three points before Valencia’s visit today.

The European champions host Real Madrid in three rounds in a “clasico” match that will likely go a long way to deciding the league

crown. “We just have to persevere,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said.

“This was a complicated and dangerous game, and we are proud to have won here after a hard week with games against AC Milan and Athletic Bilbao.”

A scrappy Zaragoza deservedly went ahead through Carlos Aranda’s goal after half an hour. But Barcelona captain Carles Puyol quickly leveled for Barcelona and Messi grabbed the lead for good in the 39th with a brilliant individual effort. Zaragoza played the second half a man down, and Messi scored a penalty in the (Continued on page 56)

Lionel Messi (L) controls the ball during a match against Real Zaragoza

Page 60

Kaieteur News

Aruwai Mining / D&C Promotions Regatta T20 KO tourney...

New Line Cavaliers, South Essequibo, Orient & Wakenaam into semis Defending champions New Line Cavaliers, South Essequibo, Orient and Wakenaam have all booked their places in the semifinals of the 3rd Aruwai Mining Enterprise sponsored D&C Promotions Regatta T20 knock-out cricket competition which bowled off at the Bartica Community Centre Ground, last weekend.

National cricketers Gajanand Singh and Ricardo Adams slammed half centuries to guide New Line Cavaliers to their 3-wicket win over D’Edward Sports Club of West Berbice.

New Line Cavaliers won the toss and invited D’Edward to bat in front of a large and colourful crowd.

D’Edward posted a respectable 141 all out in 19.5 overs. Keith Fraser slammed 5 sixes and 4 fours in his top score of 51, while Eon Abel made 24 (2x4 1x6), Tyrone English 23 (1x4 2x6) and Lakeraj Sookra 18 were the other principal scorers.

Balram Samaroo and National all-rounder Paul Wintz grabbed 4 for 22 and 21 respectively for New Line Cavaliers who in response suffered some nervous moments before Singh, who mixed aggression with defence, batted them to safety with an unbeaten 64 decorated with 3 sixes and 6 fours.

Farouk Hussain supported with 16 and Cohan Ismond made 15 as Cavaliers won the game in 17.1 overs ending on 142-7. Fraser, who received $6,000 for effecting two run outs was the pick of the bowlers for D’Edward with 2-30 off 4 overs.

Wakenaam overcame the home crowd and Rising Star of Bartica to win their rubber comfortably by 49 runs.

Wakenaam took first turn at the crease after winning the toss and found themselves in trouble at 20-4 after 3 overs before left hander Ricardo Adams stole the show by blasting five massive sixes and eight fours in a thumping 70 as the visitors recovered to score 157-7 after the game was reduced to 15 overs.

Seon Venture 18, Chandreka Ragnauth 16 and Nazeer Mohamed 12 were the other batsmen that reached double figures as Jerome Basdeo claimed 3-18 and Shemroy Barrington 2-26.

When the home team began their reply they lost national opener Shemroy Barrington and Robin Bacchus both without scoring in the first over which was bowled by Adams.

Gajanand Singh

Ricardo Adams Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as Rising Star never really recovered and managed 108-8 when their overs expired.

Kellon Tracy top scored with 20, while Kenzo Baksh contributed 19, Yusuf Khan 17 and Festus Benn 14. Left arm spinner Damien Vantull and offspinner Nazeer Mohamed bagged 3 wickets each for 11 and 24 runs off 3 overs respectively while Adams had 2-8 from 2.

Orient defeated Challengers by 17 runs in a low scoring affair. Orient took first strike and fell for 115 in 19.4 overs. Elton Baker struck 4 fours in a top score of 30, Quincy Ovid Richardson made 29 (3x4 2x6) and skipper Jonathan Foo clipped 3 fours and one six in 24 before he lost his off stump to medium pacer Cort Welcome, who ended with 3-35.

Garfield Morris and Lenox Cush were the other main wicket takers with 3-18 and 227 respectively.

Challengers began their reply disastrously losing opener Andrew Lyght Jnr. who was caught in the first over off pacer Keon Joseph.

Thereafter only their Captain Lenox Cush who scored 29 (3x4 2x6) and Arjune Jagroo 10 made it into double figures as Challengers were bowled out for 98 in 15.3 overs.

Richardson bagged 4-18 and Baker 2-18 for the winners.

South Essequibo narrowly got past East Bank Essequibo by 6 runs. South, who won the toss and batted

found the going tough and only managed to score 118 before they were bowled out in their 20 overs.

Akenauth Persaud led with 23 (2x6 2x4) with support from opener Norman Federicks 19, Jagdesh Dindyal 15 and Shaun Grovesnor 14. Jimol Marks 28 and left arm pacer Mahendra Nandkishore took 2-24 were the main wicket takers.

East Bank Essequibo responded with 112-9 in 19.2 overs; Sheldon Alexander their leading batsman with 22 (3x4,1x6) while Kenworth Smith made 20 and opener Kevon Boodie 14. South Essequibo’s bowling was led by offspinner Ian Gonsalves who exhibited good control by taking 4-16 off 3.2 overs, former national Under-19 pacer Rayon Thomas backed up well with 2-25 from 4 overs.

East Bank Essequibo’s Jason Heyliger collected $3,000 for effecting one run out.

The competition, which has a first prize of One Million dollars at stake with half that amount for the runner-up team, will continue on April 20 at the same venue with semifinal action. The third place and final will be contested on April 22.

CARIFTA Games open with blaze of colour

Guyana athletes during the March Past.

A carnival atmosphere engulfed the National Sports Centre (NSC) last night as the 41st LIME Carifta Games was officially opened under a colourful array of pageantry.

In front of hundreds of fans sporting their countries’ colours, athletes from the 27 nations were introduced as the parade marched around the track to huge applause.

The Bermuda Regiment band added to the festive atmosphere which was enhanced with the arrival of Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and most

Port Mourant Easter Horserace Meet on today Banks, DIH Limited, Digicel Jumbo Jet and Shariff Racing Stable on board The Port Mourant Turf, Corentyne Berbice will be the place to be today when the club stages its grant one day Easter Sunday horserace meet. The question being asked is who will win the battle of Port Mourant as thousands of Horseracing fans are expected to flock to the famous venue as all the ingredients are in place for what is expected to be a pulsating and action pack day of racing.

With Eight races listed to be contested and over $5M in prizes and other incentives available, the arena is expected to be a hive of activity, with over 95 of the country’s top horses entered.

The track in good condition and some fast times are expected to be recorded. The club is expected to be its usual sea of colours at this time and all preparation have been made for the mega event, and Turfites are expected to watch horseracing in absolute

Sunday April 08, 2012

comfort in what is expected to be to be a grand showdown.

There are four feature events on the day’s programme with the mouth watering feature B class collision again the talk of the day with a whopping winner’s take of $1M and trophy. The distance is 1500M and with such massive takings the forecast looks good. The event will pit the likes of The Message, Jet Set Go, Damascus Dream, Donut Prince, Grande Roja, Who is on the Case, Prince Charming. Clever Cat, Who so ever, Fresh Again, Awesome Warrior, Marathon Man, Miss Karina and the newly imported Dark and Lovely and Brow and Majestic in a keen tussle.

So far for the year no horse has been able to stake a claim to be the champion animal in the feature B class Division, with a different (Continued on page 56)

notably the Bahamas whose fans brought musical instruments to cheer their contingent.

As the hosts, Bermuda brought up the rear, their team of 55 led by flag bearer Quaashie Douglas, who had been forced to withdraw from competition because of injury.

The event recognised Sonja Smith, a former Bermuda shot putt champion at the Games, for her outstanding performances in years past.

On hand for the annual spectacle were officials and dignitaries from the respective countries as well as Bermuda Governor Sir Richard Gosney, Premier Paula Cox and Sports Minister Glenn Blakeney along with Bermuda Track and Field Association President (BTFA) Donna Watson.

The evening’s activities included performances by

local entertainers and the always popular Gombeys.

Sir Richard also welcomed the visiting athletes but underlined his support for the local contingent.

“There are a lot of athletes that will showcase their abilities throughout the meet and although I will be rooting for Bermuda I will also be wishing no harm to any of the athletes, both local and visitors, nor to officials as we look to make these Games one to remember,” he said.

Premier Cox echoed the Governor ’s sentiments, clearly lying out where her support was going. “It is with great privilege that I welcome all of the athletes to Bermuda and wish you all the best success possible, but I am biased to my homeland and will be looking for our local athletes to perform well here on local soil,” she said.

(Royal Gazette)

‘Screw’ Richmond Memorial Schools Football Competition...

Final group matches to be played on Tuesday Marcia Craig Educational Institute (MCEI) and Harmony Secondary School were the recipients of walkovers, while Christianburg / Wismar defeated Mackenzie High as play in this year’s Edward ‘Screw’ Richmond Memorial Schools Football Competition continued during the week in the Linden community.

MCEI benefitted from three points after Linden Foundation Secondary School failed to show up and has all but indicated no further participation in this year’s tournament.

In the second encounter, Linden Technical Institute’s

no show gifted three points to Harmony Secondary School.

Over at the LTI ground, Christianburg / Wismar beat Mackenzie High School 3-1 with Yannick Simon (2nd min), Jamal Croal (22nd min) and Kwesi Quintin (59th min) strikes leading them to victory, while Jermaine Josiah’s (39th min) effort was not enough to avoid defeat.

Meanwhile, the four teams going forward to the semifinal round will be determined this week when the final set of group matches will be played.

The games will be played at the LTI ground on Tuesday, starting from 15:00 hrs.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Mitchell on her way to athletic stardom

Roshandin feeling good about new car

By Edison Jefford

Group 2A champion Shairaz Roshandin takes a lap of honour with the chequered flag shortly after winning the second Group 2A race last Sunday.

Even the change of machine did not effectively affect the usually high quality of driving and success that is associated with defending Group 2A champion Shairaz Roshandin, who blazed to one win and a second place, during the recently staged ‘Race of Champions’ Meet, at the South Dakota Circuit.

Roshandin, who previously drove a very fast Toyota Levin at previous Meets now drives a Honda Civic and in an interview with Kaieteur Sport said he felt no different in the new car and is confident of retaining his title this year.

“This car is just as competent and reliable as the Levin and if I’m to judge from last week’s performance I’m positive that the results will be the same,” Roshandin opined.

Roshandin, who has been around the sport for sometime now and is the reigning Endurance champion along with a quality drag racer, told

this newspaper he intends to represent Guyana at all the upcoming overseas engagements in an effort to give this country a good chance of regaining the Caribbean title.

“I would like to go to those races to score valuable points for Guyana which could place us in a strong position to recapture the title that we lost to Barbados last year,” Roshandin stated.

A normally reserved driver, who prefers to leave his talking for the track, Roshandin seemed upbeat about his chances of retaining the individual crown in the category.

Sponsored by M.S Roshandin an entity that deals with Diesel Pumps and Injectors Services, Total Lubricants and Bakewell’s Roti Hut and Rituals, quizzed on Guyana’s odds of recapturing the title in the Caribbean Series said that the country’s chance of doing so has increased, especially with

Page 61

the new breed of drivers who’re sparing no effort to get their machines in the best working condition to challenge the mighty Jamaicans and Barbadians where the economic gap among the three countries is huge.

“Those countries are investing far more than us to get the best performance from their cars, while the business community are more than willing to invest in the sport, but I feel that the sport here is getting bigger and with the exposure that it is enjoying, I feel pretty soon we will catch up with them,” he felt.

Roshandin said rivalry within the division is fierce and competitive and this he says is good for the fans and the sport.

The 2A champ informed that he is looking forward to the next Meet where he is hoping to produce a more dominant performance and really stamp his authority in the category.

Third Hugh Ross Classic Body Building Show...

Tiranna Mitchell is an unassuming teenager with an intrinsic girlishness that literally undermines her imposing ability on the track, but it is clear after just two years of competitive track and field, that Mitchell is on a trajectory toward definite athletic stardom.

“I love track and field because I think it is something fun to do; since I was young I always loved running. I took part in school sports and I loved the fun, but now I think I can get a scholarship,” an ever-smiling Mitchell told Kaieteur Sport in an exclusive interview.

The 14-year-old East Ruimveldt Secondary School student-athlete, who burst onto the scene two years ago at the National Schools’ Championships with a silver medal in the U-14 Girls’ 200m at the National Stadium, said athletics is one of her natural abilities.

And from all indications, it had to be; Mitchell wears a permanent smile, and never looks to be in the usual competitive spirit of athletes; she is obviously shy, which brought into sharp focus how she transitions that timidity to the typical aggression of sprinters.

“I train hard and I am dedicated. I think I am at the highest level right now for my age, and when I go to compete I think the same way. I say to myself that no one could beat me,” she continued in our interview, adding that her aim is always to develop consistently.

Following Mitchell’s 2010 silver medal performance at Nationals, she returned last

Tiranna Mitchell

year and won gold in the 100m U-16 race and opted out of the 200m after an injury. It was her first year in that age-group and she delivered for her South Georgetown District.

But she really turned heads, sent tongues wagging and triggered inquisitions relative to her place of origins at the CARIFTA Games trials last month when she blast out of her blocks like a rocket to win the 100m U-17 race in a fast and impressive 12.1 seconds.

The performance was a split-second outside the Athletics Association of Guyana qualifying standards and resulted in Mitchell being named among 10 athletes to compete at the CARIFTA Games, but a lack of funding to send the full team prevented her from representing Guyana at the Games that concludes tomorrow in Bermuda.

“I am young, I will have other chances. I really do not feel any way about that. I still have time to compete at CARIFTA. I still have two more years Under-17, and hopefully when my time comes I will be fully ready,” she said about missing CARIFTA Games.

Asked what motivates her

to continue to aspire to athletic excellence, Mitchell indicated that she has her entire family behind her career.

The soft-spoken athlete from Kwakwani believes support is inseparable from the success of young up-and-coming athletes.

“I have my whole family behind me, my mom is always encouraging me to continue running and take school seriously. I want to go as far as possible in athletics; later this year, or next year I will have a firm plan of what I want exactly from athletics,” she posited.

But for the while, Mitchell informed that her grades in school are good and if she does not get an athletic scholarship, she will be sure to have her education, to fall back on. If she was to choose a career at this juvenile stage, Mitchell said it would be teaching.

She remains an integral part of the Mercury Fast Lanners Track and Field Club that arguably one of the best junior coaches in Guyana, Christopher Gaskin, heads.

Mitchell’s athletic dream is one that sees her setting new world records and winning Olympic medals.

For the Reggae Boyz this game will represent the start of the final stretch of preparation, which will also include a home-and-away game against Panama, May 27 and June 1, respectively, and a major training camp expected to begin middle May. The game against Guyana was originally planned for April 29, but the GFF requested a change of date to allow the Federation

to get their best squad together, including their overseas-based players. A number of England-based players from the various tiers of English football are expected to represent the team.

Jamaica will also field a number of overseas-based players, who would have ended their club obligations by that time.

Playing the games in Montego Bay continues the effort of the JFF to help with the rebuilding of the game in the western region and is in acknowledgment of the support the games have got at the venue.

It is also part of the Federation’s thrust to expose as many of the players to as many fans as possible in the buildup to the qualifiers.

Mohamed’s Enterprise & City Mall flexes $500,000 muscle Reggae Boyz set Guyana date The buzz is already on and athletes are busy getting themselves in shape ahead of what is anticipated to be the biggest Hugh Ross Classic Body Building and Fitness show yet, slated for Saturday July 28 at the National Cultural Centre.

The Hugh Ross Classic Committee did announce at their Media Launch last month that there will be Three (3) Regional shows around Guyana aimed at selecting the best bodies (male & female) leading up to the finals on July 28.

Corporate support has already begun to flow in with Mohamed’s Enterprise and the City Mall flexing a $500,000 muscle when Managing Director Nazar Mohamed handed over the cheque to HRC’s

Sponsorship and Finance Officer Dexter Garnett on Thursday last at their Lombard Street, Office.

Mohamed’s Enterprise and City Mall have been on board with the HRC from its inception three years ago and Mohamed in handing over the cheque said that they had no hesitation in continuing their partnership with the biggest body building show in Guyana.

“We see our partnership as our commitment to the continued development of sports in Guyana and in this instance, body building. We have a wonderful track record when it comes to the support of sports and our athletes in Guyana.”

“Mohamed’s Enterprise and the City Mall would like to encourage other corporate

entities to also see the support of sports as part of their development which would ultimately impact positively on the development of our country.”

Garnett in response thanked Mr. Mohamed for their continued support while promising that this year’s show will be second to none.

The Regional shows will be held on May 5 in the Ancient County of Berbice, May 12 in the Bauxite Mining Town of Linden and May 26 in the capital City. More details on the respective venues and times will be released by the committee at a press briefing set for weekend.

Details about the guest poser who has already been confirmed for the July show will also be released shortly.

Jamaica’s National Senior Men’s team, the Reggae Boyz, will play next in Jamaica against the National team of Guyana, the Golden Jaguars, on Friday, May 18 at 8:00 pm at the Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay. The match will be played 21 days before both teams play their first match in the semi-final round of the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers on June 8.

Guyana shocked the region when they beat Trinidad and Tobago to qualify for the semi-final stage and will be using this game against Jamaica as a major practice. Victory over Trinidad and Tobago is said to have reflected the new beginning in Guyana’s senior football team’s prospects on the international stage.

Page 62

Kaieteur News

Sunday April 08, 2012

Cream of Guyana’s boxing stars on board Jadeja lives up to with Briso Promotions, GABA amateur card price tag, Chennai The cream of Guyana’s boxing stars have joined forces to throw their support behind the Seon Bristol and his Briso Promotions Group and the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) amateur boxing card at Linden, which will be part of their Town Week activities, set for April 30.

The open air event will be staged at the Car Park in the Mining Town and will feature 12 fights involving the country’s top amateur boxers including several from Linden and those hunting Olympic glory led by Imran ‘Magic’ Khan.

According to information coming out of GABA President Steve Ninvalle, many past world champions

and world rated Guyanese boxers along with local stars living overseas have thrown their support to assist the amateurs in displaying their skills and having valuable

competition, a path they have trod in years gone by.

Among those lending support are: Kenny Bristol, Lennox Blackmore, Winfield Braithwaite, Brian Muller, Dillon Carew, Randy Tappin, Steve and Rawle Frank, Darius Ford, Vivian Harris, Wayne Braithwaite, Leon Moore and Elton Dharry.

Several other persons and US-based organisations have also chipped-in in various ways. Among them are Gym owner Kevin Smith, Mark Arthur of Copy King in Brooklyn, New York, Allison Butters CEO of Global Connections Consultants, Miss Trincina Sobers Managing Director of Children and Women Over Borders of the

AFP – Colombo: Graeme Swann claimed a match haul of 10 wickets as England roared to a series-levelling win over Sri Lanka in the second and final Test on Saturday to retain their number one ranking.

Swann followed his four wickets in the first innings with six in the second as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 278 at the stroke of lunch on the fifth day at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo.

England, set a modest target of 94, coasted home by eight wickets despite a brief stutter at 31-2 following the dismissals of skipper Andrew Strauss for no score and Jonathan Trott for five.

Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen carried the tourists home with a brisk third-wicket stand of 66 in 69 balls, amid wild celebrations from some 5,000 travelling English fans at the ground.

Left-hander Cook remained unbeaten on 49 and Pietersen, who hit a century in the first innings, smashed 42 not out from 28 balls, signalling his team’s emphatic victory with a six off Tillakaratne Dilshan.

“We are still number one, for a while yet, hopefully,”

said Strauss, who has been under pressure for both his leadership skills and his poor form with the bat. “The most important thing was winning the game. We did not want to walk away from Sri Lanka having lost the series. I’m delighted by the way the guys reacted to the challenge.

“At the end of the day this will look like a reasonably comfortable victory, but we all know how hard we had to work for that. It’s been a tough winter and we’re delighted to come through at the end of it.”

It was England’s first win in five Tests on their Asian sojourn this year after being thrashed 3-0 by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and losing the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.

The ICC confirmed that England and South Africa were level at the top of the Test charts with 116 rating points, but Strauss’ men nudged ahead when the ratings were calculated beyond the decimal point.

Strauss saluted Swann, man-of-the-match Pietersen and seamer Jimmy Anderson.

“Anderson was outstanding on an unresponsive wicket, Swann proved his worth

once again and Pietersen showed everyone why he is such a special talent,” the skipper said.

Sri Lanka, currently ranked sixth, paid the price for not reaching 300 in either innings of the match and will remain without a series win since 2009, when they beat New Zealand at home.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who ended with 354 runs in four innings at an average of 88.50 with two hundreds and a halfcentury, was declared the man of the series. “We knew England would come hard at us because good players and good teams always s t e p up to the plate,” Jayawardene said.

“We made a few mistakes.

It was important to get a big first-innings score, which is always so important in our part of the world. We probably fell 100 runs short. And then KP (Pietersen) came and turned the game around. His century shifted the momentum of the Test match.

We were outplayed on the first two days and that proved the big difference.”

Jayawardene paid rich tribute to Swann, saying he was one of the best spinners

Steve Ninvalle

US and Delta Airlines.

Ninvalle said he was heartened on learning of the response from, especially the former boxers, who have come to throw their support to aid the continued development of local amateur boxing. He complimented them for this effort and said it will go a far way in helping the young boxers and also provide entertainment for the fans at Linden.

While some will get the chance to display their skills, the Olympic hopefuls will get a last chance to test their preparations ahead of the Olympic box off in Rio de Janerio, Brazil a few days later.

They are due to leave or that event on May 2.

Ten-wicket Swann fires England to big win over Sri Lanka

LinWest Games on Sunday The 12th edition of the sponsored Guyana Sports Association (GSA) LinWest Games will get under the starters and officials order on Sunday April 15 at the Blairmont Estate Sports Club ground from 10am.

The Games, which is geared in enhancing inter-schools athletes’ performance, will feature all field and track events.

President of Guyana Sports Association, Richard Thompson who revealed that prizes for the three top place winners were imported

from New York, stated that the Games is sanctioned by the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG).

Admission for the event according to the GSA President will be easy.

The competition will be contested among all school districts of Guyana; Georgetown School District amassed 327 points to snatch Linden School District’s title after entering the competition for the first time the last time it was held.

Graeme Swann he had faced. “We knew going into the series that Anderson and Swann would be the main threats because they can bowl well in any conditions,” he said.

“It was a hard-fought series. We made mistakes and we have to learn from that and become more consistent going forward.”

Scores: England 460 (Pietersen 151, Cook 94, Herath 6-133) and 97 for 2 beat Sri Lanka 275 (Mahela Jayawardene 105, Swann 475) and 278 (Mahela Jayawardene 64, Swann 6106) by eight wickets.

thrash Deccan

Yahoo! Cricket – VIZAG: Chennai Super Kings trounced Deccan Chargers by 74 runs to get their first points of IPL-2012 at the ACAVDCA Stadium here, on Saturday, as the $2 million Ravindra Jadeja justified his price tag with an all-round show.

The 23-year-old scored a brisk 48 (29b, 3x4, 3x6) to help Chennai to 193-6 and then spun out five wickets when Chargers went about their chase. The home team never recovered from the Jadeja double whammy – it only made it worse that Faf du Plessis (39, 25b, 1x4, 4x6) and a rampaging Dwayne Bravo (43 not out, 18b, 5x6) had also drawn their fair share of Deccan blood in the first innings. Although Chennai’s tweakers bowled tightly and to a plan, it was really the skyhigh asking-rate that played on the minds of Chargers’ batsmen.

The top four all got starts, but were dismissed trying to force the pace against a predominantly spin attack, and in the end lost the battle against a spiralling asking rate. Chargers appeared likely to make a fist of it when they were 77 for two in the 11th over – with Parthiv Patel and skipper Cameron White in the middle – but once Jadeja and Shadab Jakati got rid of the pair, it was only a matter of time. Jadeja – five for 16hogged the limelight, but it was R. Ashwin – none for 12 in three overs – who opened the bowling and set the defending champion on the right course.

Earlier, Chennai was asked to bat and made good the opportunity by adhering to a frenetic rate through the innings. They didn’t let up after M. Vijay was bowled in the opening over, the innings bolstered, first, by du Plessis and Jadeja, and later by a rampaging Bravo.

Suresh Raina got things moving with fours off Dale Steyn and Manpreet Gony, but it was when the latter ran in for the fifth over that the innings shifted into high gear. du Plessis took 18 – including two towering sixes – from Gony’s erratic offerings and ended the over with another huge strike that went sailing over long-off and into the first tier.

Chennai suffered a setback when Raina was caught-and-bowled by Daniel Christian, but du Plessis was finished just yet. He smacked one more maximum off Harris - again over long-off - and

Ravindra Jadeja walloped Ankit Sharma into the stands, as the defending champion crossed 50 in the seventh over.

The young South African prospect was caught trying to clear long-on against seamer T.P Sudhindra, leaving the stage clear for Jadeja – Chennai’s only acquisition in the latest player auction – to ply his trade. Jadeja looked rather sedate as he played second fiddle to S. Badrinath (25, 20b), but revved into action once his senior partner left the scene.

He plundered 18 off Ankit – taking Chennai past the 100 mark in the 14th over – and maintained the tempo by hammering boundaries as Christian and Sudhindra shared bowling duties for Chargers. Jadeja was out hitwicket to Steyn in the 18th over, and then it was time for Bravo to assume centre stage.

The West Indian mauled the attack for five sixes as he raced to an unbeaten 43 in just 18 balls. The last five overs of Chennai’s innings yielded 72 runs and the last over – bowled by Gony – 23, as Bravo bludgeoned three maximums – each hit soaring well and truly over the boundary line. Such was Bravo’s dominance that of the 46 runs (in 15 balls) that he added with Albie Morkel, just two were contributed by the South African.

Scores: Chennai Super Kings 193 for 6 (Jadeja 48, Bravo 43*) beat Deccan Chargers 119 (Jadeja 5-16) by 74 runs.

Sunday April 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 63

t r o Sp

West Indies grind on dour day Pg. 59

Kirk Edwards plays a powerful pull shot.

Third Hugh Ross Classic Body Building Show...

Kraigg Brathwaite is watchful in defence.

Mohamed’s Enterprise & City Mall flexes $500,000 muscle

Pg. 61

Managing Director of Mohamed’s Enterprise and the CityMall Nazar Mohamed (left) hands over the cheque to HRC’sSponsorship and Finance Officer Dexter Garnett.

Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Limited, 24 Saffon St.Charlestown, Georgetown.Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/ 226-8210