Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Saturday April 20, 2013

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Rohee’s $17.5B budget passed without cuts The estimates for the Ministry of Home Affairs were passed without cuts last evening after the seven-seat Alliance for Change (AFC) withdrew its proposal to slash the budget for the Citizen’s Security programme and other critical interventions.

The AFC had proposed to cut $500 million from the Citizen Security Programme, and a further $23 million from other programmes, including so called Justice Houses at which citizens can have NIS and passport issues sorted out.

The proposed cuts also would have covered funding

…as AFC withdraws motion for a holding house for juvenile delinquents.

AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan announced that the AFC would not proceed with its cut, but the largest coalition bloc APNU went ahead. However, APNU’s 26 seats in the 65-member House were not enough to stop Rohee’s budget.

The implementation of the three strategic plans will allow for more effective prioritisation in the use of the total sum of $17.5 billion allocated to the sector. Focus will be placed on enhancing physical infrastructure, and

providing air, land and water transport and equipment for the sector to carry out its mandate effectively.

With regards to the fight against drugs and piracy, the maritime sector will benefit from greater physical presence of maritime forces with the operationalising of floating bases in Regions Two and Six. In support of further advancing the capabilities of the safety and security personnel, ranks of the police from the level of constable to assistant commissioner will benefit

from mandatory overseas training while fire service personnel will benefit from the new training school.

Furthermore, the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory will be completed and is expected to become operational in the latter part of the year.

This new state-of-the-art laboratory will make a significa n t i m p a c t b y providing sound scientific basis for investigations and expert testimony to support the adjudication of cases, and will thus raise the quality of analysis that can be carried out in Guyana to international standards.

Three in a row for Guyana…

Karanambu Lodge cops prestigious tourism award Guyana has emerged as the biggest winners at the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)/ Travelmole Sustainable Tourism Awards, held in Trinidad and Tobago during the Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC14).

This is the third year in a row that Guyana has carted off major awards at the STC, including the Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable Tourism.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, of the five nominations submitted, the country received the top awards in the Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable To u r i s m Award. This was won by Karanambu Lodge.

The Biodiversity Conservation Award went to the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society while the Heritage Aw a r d r e c e i v e d t h e National Trust of Guyana.

“We are proud of the winners who have worked hard to ensure that their businesses and practices fit in to the country’s overall sustainable development agenda. This is indeed a poignant moment for all of Guyana. Congratulations to all of Guyana on this significant achievement,” Tourism Minister, Irfaan Ali said in making the announcements.

The remaining awards included Destination Stewardship which was won by the Puerto Rico To u r i s m C o m p a n y ; t h e Best Sustainable Tourism Accommodation which was given to Tryall Club and Villas in Jamaica and the Community Benefit Aw a r d w h i c h w e n t t o Bowden Pen Farmers ‘ Association in Jamaica.

Karanambu Lodge has copped a regional tourism award, third year in row for Guyana.

Alluding to the significance of this accomplishment, Minister Ali said, “The fact that we won three of the five awards at the STC 14 is furth e r p r o o f t h a t o u r product is the strongest.

This sends an important message to the international community, to international tourists and groups of tourists that look for ecoadventure, nature, adventure, and sustainable tourism…the haven for sustainable t o u r i sm resides in Guyana.”

Minister Ali noted that with this added recognition, the country can move forward on the progressive frontier of advancing our eco-tourism product and remaining the most outstanding sustainable tourism

destination in the Region.

Pointing to this year’s awardees, he noted that they all fit into very tight criteria of ensuring that their product is sustainable, that they protect the environment and they integrate the environment in the development of their product.

Meanwhile, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Indranauth Haralsingh who is in Trinidad for the STC 14 Conference; also recognized the importance winning the various awards will have as Guyana cements its commitment to leading the Region in sustainable development.

He said, “We are one step closer to achieving our vision of being the leaders in sustainable tourism development. Winning the top three awards here, with three recognitions, makes

Guyana the leader among the 34 CTO members. Guyana is the only country to have gained a place and a winner in each category.”

Setting the precedent in 2011, Surama Eco Lodge won the Excellence in Sustainable Tourism for Guyana, jointly with Harrison Caves in Barbados.

Additionally, the country won three of the five top tourism awards at the 13th Sustainable To u r i s m Conference hosted in Guyana, from April 15-18, 2012 Back then, Guyana’s Rupununi region won the 2012 Caribbean Excellence i n S u s t a i n a b l e To u r i s m Aw a r d while the Community Benefit Award w a s p r e s e n t e d t o t he Iwokrama International Centre; and the Biodiversity Award was won by Guyana’s Mangrove Reserve Women Producers’ Project.

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Kaieteur News

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

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

EDITORIAL

Failure to recognize a major resource A report out of Jamaica was most revealing. And coming on the heels of an announcement that Guyana had literally given away two cable frequencies to people who happened to be close to the former president, Bharrat Jagdeo, one is left to wonder whether the people who lead this country are actually aware of the worth of the assets.

This question might not have arisen had it not been for some parliamentarians who opted to seek answers in the National Assembly to the allocation of the radio and television frequencies. Shortly before he demitted office, Jagdeo decided to maintain his campaign promise to liberalise radio. He allotted frequencies to about a dozen individual operators.

What caused the problem was the manner in which the allocation was made. Three operators were granted five frequencies, ostensibly to allow for their development of repeater stations. Many of the others were given single frequencies and they were all apparently entertainment radios.

Above all, there was the allocation of two cable frequencies.

There was no known application for cable channels except for an old one by a cable operator who established a service on the lower East Bank Demerara. The operator who began about twelve years ago paid a million dollars for a licence to broadcast television signals. Those were the early days of cable operations in Guyana.

For some reason the government sought to confine the operations to a specific location. One decade later former President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that he had allocated two cable licences to a company that is already providing a wireless cable service and to another entrepreneur.

It is here that the Jamaica decision begins to be seen in a particular light. From all appearances, Jamaica is a far more developed country than Guyana. It has facilities of which Guyana can only dream. It is a country that has been hit repeatedly by hurricanes only to rebound and rebuild the damaged parts of the country to emerge better than Guyana.

This is a country that has repeatedly produced Olympic champions and academics who developed patents and above all, some of the best tourist resorts in the region. Like any country, Jamaica has fallen on hard times but it continues to maintain an exchange rate which when compared to Guyana, forces people to ask if Guyana is playing in a high-scoring cricket match against the United States. This said, one must wonder whether it is that Jamaica is more technologically savvy when it comes to communication. Jamaica recognizes the importance of the spectrum. In fact it recognizes the importance of intellectual property as does the other countries in the Caribbean.

Guyana is the exception.

Jamaica knows the cost of intellectual property and the cost of acquiring things via the communication network. It recognizes that any communication network is expensive so it has attached a high cost to its cable. Guyana has not been accustomed to paying for many things. Broadcasts are treated as though they are in the zone for a free for all. The result is that the country has not spent much time on productions that could be sold as intellectual property. Given the productive capability of the society most of the signals are pirated from the developed world and broadcast for a fee on the present cable channels. In the past these signals were offered free of cost to the wider Guyanese society.

It is this that must have caused the government to behave as though it is authorized to offer state property as though it is coming from mother’s breast and so treat cable as a something that can be had for little or nothing.

The shocking thing is that in the face of the revelation that Jamaica has placed a high value on its cable Guyana has not demonstrated that it may have made a mistake when it gave two cable frequencies for free to two people closely associated with former President Bharrat Jagdeo. Instead, the party is angry that there has been this revelation.

The society knows that all is not lost; President Donald Ramotar could revoke the frequency allocations and so undo all that former President Jagdeo did just before he demitted office. He could then proceed to make the allocations in a manner consistent with what would be done by any other country.

Saturday April 20, 2013

Letters... Where your views make the news

The right of the National Assembly to cut the budget DEAR EDITOR: I know this issue has been dragging along for some time and many people including competent lawyers have expressed opinions on it, but it is yet unresolved. The Speaker of Parliament has given his decision and we yet await the ‘final ruling’ of the Chief Justice. It is in that context I would like to express an opinion.

Under our Republican Constitution, Parliament has two separate components the National Assembly and the President. The two together constitute Parliament, the sovereign and supreme legislative authority of the country, whereunder the National Assembly passes Bills but the President must assent to them before they become law.

The giving of his assent is not a mere formality, as in England, and cannot be forced, since he must act in accordance with his own deliberate judgement.

Even though we have an Executive Presidency, the structure of our National Assembly is based largely on the Westminster model and in its operation and function we look mostly to the British House of Commons.

In a Parliamentary Government, like in the United Kingdom, the executive Branch is more or less fused with and dependent upon the Legislative Branch, which controls the executive by

passing or rejecting its Bills and by making Ministers answerable to the House for their actions.

In a Presidential Government, like ours, there is a far clearer line of separation between the powers of the Executive and Legislative branches, and the President depends upon the Constitution and not upon the Legislative Branch for his authority.

In fact the Legislative Branch depends upon the President’s assent to pass its laws. He is the Head of State and the Supreme Executive Authority, which makes him the Government, with the authority to appoint members of the National Assembly, and sometimes others, to exercise various segments of his executive powers.

The Minister of Finance is one such appointee, who is concerned with money matters, chiefly how to raise money to pay the expenses of Government.

To govern, the President will need money, and he will also need to have other laws passed, as the constitution says, for the peace, order and good government of the country. This is where the National Assembly can exercise control over the government, and this is also why the government needs to have control of a majority, or in the case of a minority government, be assured of majority support, in the National Assembly.

In theory, any member of Parliament can present a Bill, but in actual practice, as part of the process of governance, Bills are presented to the National Assembly by Ministers to meet the needs of their departments.

The development and presentation of a Bill by a Minister, who is an appointee and agent of the Supreme Executive Authority, is an executive act of governance, and that Bill can be changed or withdrawn only by the Executive Authority.

In the National Assembly the Bill is read and then if necessary debated, and in the course of debate or at a committee stage the opposition could suggest changes and amendments, but in the end the Minister will have to decide whether or not to accept those changes. If he does not, the Assembly has to accept the Bill as it is or defeat it. The Assembly cannot make its own changes and then proceed to pass the Bill. If they do they will be performing an executive function, an act of government, which is clearly outside the powers of the Legislative Branch.

In England, the House of Commons has pre-eminence in money matters, and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the Government. There the governing party is always in a majority or could control majority support. The Party and any other supporting

element are intimately involved in the development of the budget long before it is presented, and at presentation, the Commons reviews the main estimates and then votes on whether or not to support them.

In fact the passing of the budget is a vote of confidence in the government, and the government, needing that vote, makes sure the budget is acceptable before it is presented. Any attempt to chop or butcher it is unknown.

Guyana now has a minority government which cannot pass its budget on the strength of its own votes.

What all other democratic governments the world over in such circumstances do is seek to enlist the support of another party to get majority support in Parliament.

They have to negotiate with that party while they are developing their budget, and may sometimes have to make major concessions for its support.

It happened in Canada with the first Harper government which was a minority. He had to negotiate with the NDP and grant major concessions to Mr. Leyton for his support in Parliament, outside of a coalition. He governed successfully and then came back to win a majority government.

In Guyana that position is stymied by one simple fact.

While I believe the PPP Continued on page 6

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

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

Is there merit in Jagdeo’s machinations? Playing by the rules DEAR EDITOR: When a columnist makes charges of racism if you do not particularly like his writings or his political credos one can simply dismiss his postulations as vacuous ramblings, but when the immediate past president of a nation makes those charges the entire nation should take note and ask some hard questions.

It is odd that Bharat Jagdeo chose the funeral service of a “religious leader” to display such crass levels of insensitivity to the bereaved by his (now) infamous malevolent outpourings.

Jagdeo has to explain to the nation what the source of this resurgence of anti-Indian sentiments is, surely with two dominant racial groups, negative sentiments towards Indians must (by logical deduction) be coming from Africans.

One can deduce also that there was a previous period of anti-Indianism in Guyana and that this had waned (or was suppressed) and there is an existing period of resurgence. Jagdeo needs to tell the nation when was the

previous period of anti-Indian sentiments, when did it wane and when did he notice this grand resurgence.

What section of the Guyanese population has called for Indians to stay out of schools and not participate in the public service? Who has been calling for qualified Indo-Guyanese to be denied good jobs in the civil service?

Is there merit in Jagdeo’s machinations or is he reaffirming the PPP’s trademark of nasty appeal to racial sentiments?

Is this his usual clarion call for Indo-Guyanese to close ranks and rally around the PPP, the so-called protector of Indians, because of the possibility of fresh elections?

Was he making good use of the standard operating procedure of the PPP, and read the same scare tactic script; if Indians are made to feel that there are legions of anti-Indians out to get them, their best resort is to run into the saving arms of the PPP, despite its failings it will protect Indians from the people who are trying to deny them good education, good jobs in the public service and

dominance in commerce.

What is Jagdeo’s interpretation of antiIndianism?

As evidenced in the ongoing libel case to which he made reference, is it that qualified Afro-Guyanese with decades of experience in the Foreign Service have been bypassed in favour of (the chosen) Indians who are overwhelmingly comparatively unqualified?

Is it the witch hunting of Afro-Guyanese in the public service, where they are hounded out of senior positions and replaced with Indians of lesser qualification and experience, is it the withholding of hard earned pension and gratuity after retirement or is it the habit of writing to the employing agency of hard working Afro-Guyanese seeking their termination?

The funeral utterance of Jagdeo is probably an explanation of why things turned out the way they did, in that, his policies were intentionally skewed?

Or is it that Jagdeo is not man enough to stand in court and defend his record on race

relations and that this latest flare-up represents escapist antics of a coward?

J a g d e o ’s f l a v o u r o f growing anti-Indianism is phenomenally oxymoronic, perhaps Guyana needs a strong dose of, the completely nonexistent, anti-African sentiments; then government contracts, public land distribution, funding in their economically functional zones, public i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , scholarships, foreign service postings and senior public service jobs will go their way.

In parting, a few words to Jagdeo; Sir, you instituted legal proceedings to clear your name and prove to the nation that you are not a racist and that you have not pursued racist policies during your term of office, instead of jumping around the country ejecting vile sputum, please collect your evidence and take them to court with you.

You have ample opportunity to defend your record in court, shedding crocodile tears over a dead pandit will not help.

Lenno Craig

DEAR EDITOR: The framers of our Constitution, of which the PNCR was a major player, certainly had in mind the need for a coherent and troublefree system of governance when it came up with the idea of an Executive that could emerge from a plurality and not necessarily from a majority of the popular votes or seats in parliament.

The underlying assumption was that there should be independence of the three major arms of the State - the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary.

In the same way that the Executive is not expected to interfere in the work of the Judiciary, in like manner the Judiciary is not expected to get involved in the work of the Legislature or vice versa.

This does not mean, however, that the advice or guidance cannot be sought of each other if the need for such is felt, as in the case of opposition cuts to budget estimates which the Court ruled was unconstitutional.

I am no expert when it comes to matters of the Constitution, but I think I know enough to state without fear of contradiction that the

Executive in any jurisdiction is the body responsible for putting together and executing the country’s work programme as embodied in the national budget.

I know of no country in the world where a budget is crafted based on the dictates of the political opposition.

Not even in the United States with its advanced constitution is there any provision for opposition inputs.

What is done in the United States in an attempt to control spending beyond statutory limits is to invoke the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act which provides for automatic spending cuts if the deficit exceeds a set of fixed targets. This procedure is known as budget sequestration which in effect limits the size of the federal budget.

Sequestration involves setting a cap on the amount of government spending within broadly-defined categories and if those caps are exceeded an across–the– board, spending cuts are automatically imposed on these categories by an equal Continued on page 7

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Kaieteur News

Saturday April 20, 2013

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

Rohee should think before he writes and speaks DEAR EDITOR: Clement Rohee, the Minister, has found his voice.

Since Mr. Rohee feels that the no confidence motion passed against him in the National Assembly can be dishonoured, he has decided to emerge from his slumber and shame to, once again, write his drivel to the press.

In a letter published in SN dated 04/17/2013 and captioned “Trotman should provide information to the police”, Rohee attempted his usual scare tactic and subtle

threat against WPA member and APNU member of Parliament Desmond Trotman whom he claimed, maligned the PPP by describing it as a ‘criminal cabal’.

According to Rohee, Trotman, while making his budget presentation, stated that the people use these words to describe the PPP. In his letter, Rohee calls on the police to pursue Desmond Trotman M.P to provide evidence which supports the view that Guyanese people refers to the PPP as “a criminal

cabal.” In his usual attempt to intimidate people, he stated that he will be following up this matter with the police. I have heard, and I am sure that Rohee and the entire PPP/C cabinet would have heard, Guyanese describe the PPP/ C in even more disparaging terms, so what ‘hullabaloo’ is Rohee trying to create with this mild version of how the people may have described the PPP? Is he trying to reassert himself or change the political conversation?

If Rohee is serious, he

should take some time and visit with the people in the community and ask them to express their view of the PPP government.

I am quite sure the responses will neither disappoint nor surprise him, but will rather remind him of the reality that people will have nothing complimentary to say.

When he gets the response he should, using his words, follow up with the police and call for the people to provide evidence of their

pejorative comments. I bet the police will run out of charge slips for all these people, and the courts will be doubly overwhelmed.

Guyanese have often questioned the wisdom of Mr. Rohee, and his April 17 letter once again provides an opportunity for us to scrutinise his ‘intellectual bearing’ and depth of common sense.

Why is it that none of the other PPP/C ‘bigwigs’ see it fit to make these kinds of foolish comments or engage in such idiotic gaff?

Rohee feels that intimidation and threats are the appropriate means the PPP can use to suppress views and keep the people in check, so he swiftly pens his letter to put Desmond Trotman on notice. Rohee ought to be reminded that the Guyanese people have sent a clear message to the world that they have lost confidence in him as Minister of Home Affairs and therefore, anything said or done by him as Home Affairs Minister is left to the conscience of the people.

The time Rohee takes to engage in nonsensical issues and take up space in the media, he should be explaining to the Guyanese why the police shot and killed three Linden protestors and injured many others; why the police shot and killed 17-yearold Agricola resident Shaquille Grant; why the

police shot and killed 22-yearold Dameon Belgrave while chasing persons they claim were acting suspiciously and why the police brutally beat a woman and child in an interior location.

Rohee should be providing answers to these and other atrocities committed by the police, under his watch. The buck stops at him. These grave realities are sufficient reasons which justify Mr. Rohee’s incompetence for the office of Minister of Home Affairs, to simply pass the buck to the ranks and their supervising officer is coward. Rohee must take responsibility.

Guyanese people want to know why these kinds of illicit happenings occur with such frequency and boldness by the police perpetrators.

Just for clarity, I see Clement Rohee signed his letter as “Minister” as opposed to Home Affairs Minister. Is this an indication that he has come to the realization that he is not competent to function as said subject Minister? Or is it that his political advisors informed him that it would be wise to simply sign the letter as a non-portfolio minister, in order to let the controversy surrounding his status as Home Affairs Minister silently escape the people. Whatever the reason, the people are alert and smart enough to discern malicious intentions.

Lurlene Nestor

The right of the ...

From page 4 genuinely wants to practice good governance, it seems to believe it cannot possibly let the public see that a minority government can be a success, for it fears it will never again get a majority, so it cannot cooperate with the Opposition, and must keep on behaving as if it thinks it is the majority.

So when the Speaker ruled that the Opposition can cut the budget he was entering new territory. Maybe he thought that desperate times required desperate measures, for how else can the National Assembly control a minority government that refuses to cooperate?

What he in effect did was to implicitly abrogate old existing conventions about the separation of powers and create a new one to the effect that where a minority government does not have majority support in Parliament and refuses to cooperate with the majority opposition to construct the budget, when that budget is presented, the National Assembly as the supplier of money to the Government, can commandeer the functions of

the Executive, and over the head of the Finance Minister reshape the budget to suit itself, pass it, and then leave it to the President to assent or not.

If the President assents, that is the end of the matter. If he does not then the Government falls and new elections must be called.

Whether all this is in keeping with constitutional provisions is another matter. To say that Guyana is now in uncharted waters is to put it mildly.

A new election at this point in time may not help, for what with APNU not yet shaping up as a credible alternative and with the AFC some distance behind, the results could be the same.

What is most urgently needed is amendment of Article 177(2) (b) of the Constitution to give the Presidency to a group capable of commanding a majority in the National Assembly. Unless this is done, I do not know where we are heading, and I could quite understand the apparent reluctance of the Hon. Chief Justice to further deal with this matter.

Kumar D. Doobay

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

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

Playing by the rules From page 5 proportion. In actual fact, the amount exceeding the budget is held back by the Treasury and not transferred to agencies specified in the appropriation bills.

This, incidentally, is a far cry from what the parliamentary opposition is attempting to do in Guyana.

To begin with, there is no such thing as far as my knowledge goes as a Balanced Budget Act or for that matter a Sequestration Act and hence no provision for automatic budget cuts as in the case of the United States.

Budget cuts in 2012 were done without rhyme or reason and were purely a r b i t r a r y, w i t h o u t a n y regard to its impact on the national good. From all indications, the combined opposition is once again prepared to use its oneseat majority to engage in a repeat performance this year, despite a ruling by the Chief Justice that it has no such authority.

It is possible that with the passage of time the need for legislative action to control spending, as in the case of the

United States, may arise.

Guyana’s economy, however, is not in a crisis mode. There is no huge budget deficit as in the case of the United States which is on the verge of what is described as a ‘fiscal cliff’.

On the contrary, the country’s economy has never been as good, with strong reserves at the Bank of Guyana . The country at the end of 2012 recorded a surplus of US$12.4 million, due largely to improvements in the country’s capital account.

At the time of writing this column, the oppositioncontrolled parliament had already secured for itself the right to amend the budget estimates submitted by the Finance Minister, thanks to a ruling of the Speaker of the National Assembly.

The government side of the House, despite its disagreement with the ruling, has agreed in the national interest to abide by the Speaker’s ruling. This is indeed a good gesture on the part of the PPP/C administration.

One hopes that the opposition parties in

parliament will also heed the advice of Speaker Trotman when he said: “The power to amend must not be exercised capriciously, vengefully, or wantonly and without any rational basis.

The preeminent duty of the National Assembly is to pass laws for the peace, order and good government of the State of Guyana. In exercising this right to amend, I believe that it will be exercised responsibly and within the spirit of the Constitution.”

It remains to be seen how this ruling by the Speaker will play out in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly.

One can only hope that good sense will prevail and the good of the nation will be the sole basis for action.

It is important that as a country we rise above narrow partisan interests and put the interest of the country as the overarching principle that dictates the way we treat with and relate to issues of national importance. Failing to do so could result in a distortion of the national mood and skewed priorities.

Hydar Ally

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Egyptian Islamists rally at High Court, demand judiciary purge (Reuters) - Thousands of Islamist protesters clashed with opponents as they rallied yesterday to demand a purge of Egypt’s judiciary, a sign of rising tension between the Islamist government and legal organs seen as a redoubt of old regime influence.

Thirty-nine people were injured in a bout of stonethrowing, and occasional gunshots outside the High Court, according to witnesses and a security source cited by state media. Police use tear gas to quell the disturbances.

Islamist President Mohamed Mursi’s rule, in which he has repeatedly locked horns with judges over decrees seen by liberal and leftist opponents as moves to entrench Islamist domination, has divided many Egyptians and led to repeated street violence.

Yesterday’s rally was called by the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated Freedom and Justice Party which propelled Mursi to power in last year’s election after the popular uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Friction between the government and judiciary worsened in March when the Administrative Court ordered

Mohamed Mursi the cancellation of a Mursi decree calling for parliamentary elections, forcing a delay in voting due to have begun in April.

Later that month an appeals court ordered the justice ministry to reinstate the former prosecutor general who had been sacked by Mursi in November, saying that move was illegal.

In statements by the FJP

and the Muslim Brotherhood ahead of yesterday’s protest, they called for what they said would be an independent judiciary by passing new legislation and removing corrupt members of legal institutions.

They further demanded prosecutions of those involved in killings of antiMubarak demonstrators in 2011. “The people want to sack the Justice Minister and carry out revolutionary trials!” said an Islamist banner at the rally.

“This protest (was) essentially part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s anti-judiciary campaign,” said Gamal Soltan, political science professor at the American University in Cairo. “I don’t believe the Brotherhood believes in the separation of power. They want to have complete control over the country and this means the presidency, legislation, police, courts. But they are just taking it one at a time and now it is the time for the judiciary,” he said.

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

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday April 20, 2013

Port Kaituma residents deserve better- GWMO The recent gastroenteritis outbreak in Port Kaituma that claimed the lives of four children is etched in the minds of residents, who are demanding potable water, improved health care and better road infrastructure from the Administration.

This was revealed during a public meeting held by the Guyana Women Miners’ Organization (GWMO) at Port Kaituma Community Centre, Region One yesterday. There seems to be mixed theories as how the water got polluted but there is a common feeling that Government needs to provide well dug potable water for residents.

According to Simona Broomes, President of GWMO, children, residents and miners of Port Kaituma deserve better than what Government is currently offering them.

Port Kaituma is a mining district that contributes significantly to Guyana’s economy and it is only fitting that Government helps to develop the area with a portion of wealth that is generated, she added.

Broomes said that the loss of lives could have been prevented if Government had invested in the provision of potable water and better

health system to residents.

Something as vital as water, which is needed for human existence should have never been compromised.

Residents explained that their water is pumped from Port Kaituma River head, where mining is being executed. And, this is where the contention lies with residents and miners.

According to a resident, miners operating in the area polluted the waterways.

Apparently, the water supply was shut-off for two weeks to facilitate mining. And, residents found that period difficult since treated water is costly. She stressed that the solution to Port Kaituma’s water woes is a deep well to pump potable water through pipelines.

But, a female miner, Margaret, who operates at the Port Kaituma River head vehemently refuted that heartless miners are polluting the waterways. She argued that miners have been operating in the area for years, according to Guyana Geology and Mines Commission’s regulations.

She claimed that when the sanitation team tested samples of water from the Port Kaituma River Head and the Four Mile areas it was found

- Need potable water, better health care

Section of the gathering at Port Kaituma Community Centre that the Four Miles had the presence of the E.coli bacteria.

As such, this is a vindication for miners operating at the River head.

She also believes potable water is needed.

However, weeks ago Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Water Inc, Shaik Baksh, said that plans are in the pipeline to improve the water system in Port Kaituma.

Baksh had said that Government is currently working on a plan to have clean portable water in Port Kaituma, but he could not say when the study will be concluded. He explained that

because of the geological makeup of the mining district, a water well will not be feasible; but if something has to be done, there will be a water treatment system as in the case of Bartica, where

water is supplied from the Essequibo River through a water treatment system.

According to Broomes, the water being supplied by Bartica is brown and is unacceptable to drink.

No new leads into shootings in South Ruimveldt It has been one week since Desmond Marcus was shot in the head after a passenger in his minibus shot him during an altercation, and to date there has been no arrest.

According to a police source no one has been arrested and there seems to be no leads into the incident.

Marcus was shot at the corner of National Avenue and Caneview Avenue, North Ruimveldt.

Initial reports are that Marcus had picked up a man who appeared to be a normal passenger. However when

the man met his destination he refused pay and this angered Marcus.

A confrontation ensued between Marcus and the passenger as Marcus demanded his money.

The man drew a gun and discharged two rounds one of which struck Marcus to his head.

Also on Sunday, 52-yearold Orin Joseph, a domino fanatic was pronounced dead by doc t o r s at the Georgetown Public Hospital who were feverishly trying to save his life. Joseph sustained

three gunshot wounds after he was reportedly attacked and robbed just outside of his Gaulding Place, South Ruimveldt Park home.

Initial reports are that after gunshots were heard two men were seen running away from Joseph who was left lying in a pool of blood.

Reports are that the gunmen made off with a gold ring and a gold band.

To date, there has been no arrest in that matter too but sources close to the investigation have stated that investigations are ongoing in both matters.

A high-speed chase Thursday night at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara ended with police nabbing two suspected carjackers and recovering an unlicensed firearm. Police identified the victim of the carjacking as 47year-old taxi driver Elvis Albert of ‘B’ Field, Sophia.

The drama began around

23:50hrs on Thursday, when three men, two of whom had handguns, robbed Albert of his vehicle, HC 1720 at Cane View Avenue, South Ruimveldt.

Information on the incident was communicated to all police patrols and the stolen vehicle was subsequently seen by ranks

of a mobile police patrol. The ranks gave chase behind the vehicle which ran off the road at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara.

Two of the suspects were arrested, while the third managed to escape. An unlicensed .38 revolver loaded with one round was recovered.

Armed carjackers nabbed after high-speed chase

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 9

LEARNING FROM BOSTON Guyana had its own tragedy recently when a small aircraft crashed into a house in the village of Plaisance.

And the American State of Boston was the scene this past week when bombs exploded at the famous Boston Marathon, killing three persons and injuring scores.

While the nature of both tragedies was different, there are important lessons that Guyana can learn from how the Americans went about dealing with the bomb attacks.

For one, there was at the Boston Marathon an immediate response by the officials and security personnel on hand. They moved in early to offer assistance to those injured but more importantly having done so with great efficiency, they also immediately cordoned off the areas where the bombs went off, so as to preserve the integrity of the crime scene.

In Guyana, after the plane crashed there were citizens walking all over the crash site.

In fact, the debris of the crash was being trampled upon and scores of citizens were freely accessing the crash site.

Guyana has to have an improved emergency response not just for plane

crashes but also for accidents, fires and other emergencies. There should be emergency and rescue services in each area and there should be drills to prepare these services for action if and when they are required to go into action.

One of the immediate things that should happen, is that the ambulance and rescue services should descend on the scene to assist those injured.

Concurrently cords should be thrown up around the scene so as to prevent the many citizens who like to run to these scenes.

We have the distinction in Guyana of being one of the few places in the world where people hear gunshots and actually run to the direction of the g u n s h o t s . We h a v e h a d situations where women take their children and put them in between fleeing bandits and the pursuing police.

The police are too small and its resources are too limited to effectively engage in emergency services and this is where a local brigade can be formed in each of the designated areas to take charge of this situation.

These persons can be volunteers.

Dem boys seh...

Clement and Barbie smiling It look like if APNU want run off Robeson when it come to using de hammer. Only thing is that dem either using scissors or shares or axe. Clement was waiting fuh dem yesterday. Ash Knee present de budget and he had some money fuh Clement.

APNU got a problem wid Clement suh dem decide that dem gun cut de man money. But dem didn’t bargain fuh Clement. Ever since de goat pelt a bite at he and miss he does always watch wheh he putting he foot.

He know Carolyn ain’t deh because she gone to Venezuela and he know that Sam pretending to be President.

So he was two people short when was time to vote suh he get de police fuh threaten Moses and Prakash. That wuk.

Dem back down. De budget pass and Clement smile. Even when he drop to sleep last night he still smiling.

But dem boys hope that he don’t do stupidness and buy another water cannon that spraying water at de crowd like when a rat peeing.

Sam wasn’t suh lucky. APNU wid David and Joe and Carl join wid Moses and Prakash and cut de money to GPL. Well dem boys never hear a man holler suh hard. He talk how dem gun get nuff blackout but dem boys know that even wid de money dem woulda get nuff blackout. Dem seh that dem rather know that dem keep de money fuh other things and get de blackout than fuh pay fuh de blackout.

Berry Berry get he money cut too. De hospital that he was hoping to control – de one wid only doctors and nurses from India—get cut from de budget. He only lef to cry.

But Barbie ain’t got to worry. De Ministry of Education get all its money suh he can still collect he three million every month although de people in de North West and part of de Rupununi still can’t see de learning channel.

He getting pay to mek all dem people see de learning channel but old habits die hard. He did get pay to supply drugs too.

Talk half and watch Clement and Barbie celebrate.

They can include the community policing groups and NDCs and they can be trained in dealing with emergency responses. They can be supported by the local military which has some capability in dealing with this sort of thing. It is no use having an army in peacetime and not putting that army to work. The army can play an important role in emergency situations. For example if there is a crisis such as the one we have a few months ago when the Harbour Bridge was down for two days.

Immediately, a emergency response should kick in for which the participants would have been drilled and prepared. The second lesson that we can learn from the response of the Boston marathon is the importance of the use of CCTV cameras. It was these cameras rather than

human intelligence that allowed for the suspects that the FBI is now pursuing to be identified. The cameras that captured the images of the suspects were used by a business enterprise and they were high resolution cameras.

They caught the images of the men and these were enhanced to allow for pictures to be made public.

In Guyana, we have to do the same and this responsibility is as much that of citizens and the private sector as it is of the government. There should be pilots for security cameras. A good place to begin is the Stabroek Market area which is often teeming with pickpockets, choke and robbers and all kinds of characters just waiting to pounce on innocent passersby.

There are criminals who

also hang out there and who prey on the hire car drivers, hiring them and robbing these hardworking individuals at other locations.

If there were cameras erected all around that area, it would easier for the police to identify some of the characters who perpetuate and hang around this area.

The Stabroek Market area is therefore a useful place to launch security cameras.

Eventually the entire commercial district can become an extended surveillance area so that even if a cockroach moves, it will be caught on camera.

This is an initiative that the private sector should pursue.

It has benefits for their members because with more camera surveillance, people will feel more secure to go into commercial areas and this will be good for business. It is

important that whenever a tragedy occurs even if it is through misadventure or accidental that attempts are made to ask certain basic questions, such as what could have been done to prevent this from happening; what could have been done to reduce the loss of life, injury or destruction to property; and what could been if something like this occurs in the future?.

Unless this is done, we will not be prepared for future disasters.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

All broadcasters must confirm with Broadcast Act - Dr. Luncheon “It is not an easy task,” said Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, of the mandate of the Broadcast Authority to ensure that all licensees who fell under the former Post and Telegraph Act to now conform to the Broadcast Act of 2011.

Dr. Luncheon’s comments were prompted by a question posed to him during his most recent post cabinet press briefing about the possibility of a foreigner owning 50 per cent or more shares in the local broadcast sector.

In offering a detailed explanation, the Cabinet Secretary noted that in 2011 after the enactment of the Broadcast Act, the government had moved to get the Act operationalised thereby allowing for the Post and Telegraph Act, which he described as a colonial piece of legislation, to be replaced.

There was however a delay in operationalising the Act, which, according to him, was no fault of the Government.

“I think that you can’t help but be aware of the difficulties that the administration faced in moving from its intentions to reality that indeed as late as August of 2012, virtually a year l a t e r, the administration was unable, I might even go as far as to s a y, p r e v e n t e d f r o m operationalising the Broadcast Act.” He explained that the governing board on which a

member of the opposition sits was in fact never constituted until Sherwood Lowe was appointed by the leader of the opposition during the third quarter of 2012.

He said that ahead of this development the extant applicable law under which all broadcasting was being done in Guyana was the colonial Post and Telegraph Act. Moreover, noted that the award of the radio licences that took place in 2011 were done under the auspices of the Post and Telegraph Act and not that of the Broadcast Act whose commencement order was issued in September 2012.

“What will happen today is that for any broadcaster to be licensed to broadcast...they would have to convert their entire operations and put it in accordance with the Act.” As a result, Dr Luncheon said that all broadcasters who would have been licensed under the former Act are now required to bring their operations in accordance with the Broadcast Act. This, according to the Cabinet Secretary, is not only a requisite for new broadcasters but also “those who were given radio licences, those who were given television licences in the 1990s and 1980s...all of them, every single one of them, will have to bring their operations in accordance with the Broadcast Act provision of today.”

Saturday April 20, 2013

Rosignol Murder accused freed Murder accused Ashton Lambert, 20, of Mc Rae Street, Rosignol, West Bank Berbice walked out of The Berbice High court a free man. This was after the mixed jury sitting in the Rosignol Murder trial at the Berbice High Court on Friday returned with a formal verdict of not guilty of murder and manslaughter. The jury had earlier listened to the summation of Justice Dawn Gregory and retired for just under two hours to consider the evidence.

The judge had used part of the morning hours to sum up the evidence.

Lambert was accused of killing Bharrat Thatpaul, 33, called “Sunil”, a cane cutter and taxi driver of 192 Shieldstown, West Bank Berbice. The killing occurred on Tuesday February 22, 2011 following a misunderstanding.

The defence had earlier closed its case on Wednesday following the prosecution which did so on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Justice Dawn Gregory, had overruled defence attorney Murseline Bacchus and Perry Gossai’s no case submissions and

Ashton Lambert

Bharat Thatpaul

called on the accused to lead a defence.

The defence had then sought permission to recall police detective corporal Duke Jacques for further cross examination after what defence counsel Murseline Bacchus had pointed out was some inconsistency in the earlier evidence and in the taking of the caution statement.

It was pointed out in that statement that there were inconsistencies with the timing of the statement and the time the accused allegedly took the police to the crime

scene.

The judge had then ruled as inadmissible the statement which was earlier admitted into evidence since it was tainted with many inconsistencies.

At that stage, the defence attorney declined his right to address the jury thus denying the prosecution the opportunity to do likewise.

In her opening address prosecutor Mc Cammon had told the court that on the day in question Thatpaul a cane cutter and taxi driver, Mohammed Razack and one “Popo” were drinking at

various spots on the West Coast Berbice.

They eventually ended up at a snackette on the Rosignol Stelling Road where an argument developed between Bharrat and another man during which time Bharrat was stabbed. Thatpaul’s body was picked up and taken to the Fort Wellington hospital where the victim was pronounced dead on arrival.

During the trial the prosecution called six witnesses, including main prosecution witness who testified to seeing the accused plunge a knife into the shoulder of the deceased, detective Corporal Duke Jacques, Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, the wife of the deceased, Omawatie Basdeo, an aunt of the deceased, Silvanie Heralall, and barman Rajbeer.

After returning with the formal verdict of not guilty of murder the judge told the accused that he was free to go. The accused quickly left the court room.

Relatives of Thatpaul including his wife broke down in tears outside of the courtroom and had to be consoled.

Local movie set for redcarpet launch at NCC tonight

The latest Guyanese movie, “Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me”, is set for an official red-carpet launch this evening at the National Cultural Centre.

The screenings are scheduled to continue at the same venue on Sunday and Monday, commencing at 19:00 hrs each night.

Patrons will be afforded the opp o r t u n i t y to experience the red carpet walk which is generally associated with movie launches overseas and which has been in place for similar endeavours under the auspices of Mahadeo Shivraj Productions and the Dramatic Arts Academy.

The production has already received overwhelming support via the Astro cinema in West Demerara and at the Satya cinema in Mahaicony earlier this month.

Now it is time for the people of East Bank Demerara to enjoy Mahadeo Shivraj’s latest work. Shivraj is hoping to receive similar support from the city folks.

This production, “Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me”, follows “Till I Find A Place” and “A Jasmine for a Gardener” which were released in 2010 and 2012 respectively.

Shivraj, along with his full cast and crew members, have expressed profound gratitude

Mahadeo Shivraj in a scene from “Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me” for the responses the movie has received thus far.

“Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me” is a poignant tale of love, devotion, and social injustice on a sugar plantation in Guyana.

Ram, a cane cutter is trapped on the sugar plantation because of his lack of skills and education. He considers the plantation a prison and is only able to break out and forget the

hopelessness of his station in life when he is imbibing adulterated rum at the village rum shop, the only entertainment centre for the impoverished sugar workers.

His wife, Leela, also a plantation worker, reconciles herself to the terrible conditions of plantation life and is able to cope by seeing the beauty in the cane fields that have trapped her husband.

Ram and Leela were cognizant of the iniquities of plantation life and vowed that their sons would not inherit the legacy. They devoted all their love and resources to their children and encouraged them to make a clean break from cane sugar both physically and mentally.

Despite the intrigues of plantation life and the machination of the conniving money lender, the two boys were able to make a break with Raj migrating to the U.S.A and Arjun able to attend the local university.

The full story can be seen on screen tomorrow night.

Given the main theme and its setting within the sugar belt, the film is aptly dedicated to the Enmore Martyrs and to the 175th anniversary of the arrival of East Indian indentured immigrants in Guyana.

The movie which has thirteen songs, some originals and some redone by overseas-based Guyanese, stars Mahadeo Shivraj, Radika Olharte, Michael Ignatius, Neaz Subhan, Aditya Persaud, Shivanie Latchman of the Ishara Dance Troupe, Derek Gomes, Kijana Lewis, Mark Luke Edwards, Shameza Mohamed, Akash Persaud, Nadir Bacchus and many others.

Tickets for this weekend’s screenings are available at the venue (NCC).

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 11

Canadian company developing hydro in Region Seven Government on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canadian companies, Sandsprings Resources Incorporated and CM Power, to undertake further feasibility studies and other measures to develop a 60 MW hydropower project on the Kurupung River, Region Seven.

Representing government were Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, and Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud.

According to the statement from Government, CM Power is a company registered in Guyana which is affiliated with ETK Inc., both subsidiaries of Sandspring Resources.

“It intends to initiate operations at Toroparu where it has been developing a mineral property, utilising electrical generation equipment to convert hydropower generation through the development of Kurupung River Hydropower project (KRHP).

Signing the MoU for the Government was Prime Minister Hinds and on behalf of Sandspring Resources Inc., was its Chief Executive

Officer and Director, Rich Munson. The signing took place at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Hinds explained that the MOU gives CM Power authority to maintain studying the project site and to expand plans to the level of an application for a licence to be approved.

“Along the way there will be an Environmental Impact Assessment to give opportunity to persons who may be involved or affected, to get them to know what is intended, to give them an opportunity to raise their concerns and to seek ways in which reasonable concerns may be ameliorated or mitigated,” he stated.

Sandspring Resources Chief Executive Officer, Rich Munson, lauded the prudence shown by the government in recognising that the successful implementation of mining operations will be enhanced by a stable power supply.

“Having an electrical power supply of this nature in Region Seven will certainly attract other industries, as well as other mining companies, so this is a very significant event obviously not only for

MOU Signing: From left is Sir Shridat Ramphal, Adviser to Sandspring Resources Inc., Rich Munson, CEO of the Company, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Minister of Natural Resources Robert Persaud; Major General (Rtd) Norman McLean, Advisor to Sandspring Resources, and Morsha Johnson, of Office of the Prime Minister Sandspring, but for Guyana also.”

Minister Persaud, commenting on the Toroparu project, said that with a preliminary resource approximation of four million ounces of gold, it is a leading

project that can adequately aid in developing Guyana’s natural resources.

He noted that the KRHP is welcome, especially from an environmental position and if completed, it would be a vehicle for developing not

only mining, but new settlements and agriculture.

Sandspring Resources was given permission to undertake feasibility studies for the KRHP near the Kumarau falls in December 2010.The site which was

evaluated by the United Nations in the 1970s was deemed to have potential for hydropower development.

Last year, CM power applied to the Government for a licence to further develop the project.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Saturday April 20, 2013

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Four freed of 2011 East Coast Demerara race beating Magistrate Jamilla Ali who presides at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court, yesterday dismissed all charges against the four men who were accused of beating four youths at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara on November 23, 2011.

The four men, Nazim Abdool, Ramnauth, Seenarine and Surujnauth were all charged for unlawfully wounding Mark Lustol, Lancelot Griffith and Shakeel Answick at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, on November 23, 2011.

The incident which took place at the height of the 2011 political seasons had attracted considerable public attention and outcry, in which the three young men, who claimed that they went to a shop to purchase some items, were mistaken for bandits.

In upholding the no case submission made by

Attorneys-at-Law Jerome Khan and Euclin Gomes, the Magistrate found that the testimony of Mark Lustol and Shakeel Answick were inconsistent, particularly about who actually dealt any blows to them.

Khan argued that no identification parade was held and none of the accused was known to the victims. Further, no medical evidence was presented in court, nor was there any confrontation between the defendants and the four men. Khan told the court that he never denied the incident happened, but the police picked up the wrong persons. Magistrate Ali, in handing down her decision, stated that this case reveals how police investigations should not be done.

Attorney-at-Law, Euclin Gomes was not present when the decision was handed down but in his earlier

submission said that the evidence of Shakeel Answick was inconsistent, unreliable and conflicting to the testimony of other witnesses.

Injured in the fracas were Mark Lustal, 16; Shaquille Answick, 17; and Lancelot Griffith, 16; all of Company Road, Buxton. A fourth boy, Omar Answick had managed to escape and immediately informed the parents of the other three boys.

The three had sustained lacerations to the head, hands and backs. They were treated at the Buxton Health Centre and taken back to the Vigilance Police Station where they were detained and questioned. Later in the evening they were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital. According to one report the young boys had attempted to rob a grocery store in Non Pareil and were beaten and chopped.

Missing OLPF laptops…

Lie-detector tests fail to identify the culprits Lie detector tests to determine who stole 100 laptops from a special government programme have failed to find the thieves, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said on Thursday.

Last August, 100 laptops bought under the One laptop Per Family (OLPF) project disappeared from the project’s Queenstown, Georgetown office. The Criminal Investigations Department of the Police was called in.

To date, no one has been arrested and according to Dr. Luncheon, the result from the lie-detector test “has not really allowed us to put our

finger on the actual thief who disappeared with 100 laptops.”

The Cabinet Secretary said that on the basis of the investigation by the police and the result from the liedetector test “we haven’t got any closer to identifying who specifically is or was the thief.”

Kaieteur News was told that all the people who came under suspicion took the test and the response of quite a few of them “generated considerable doubts in the minds of the analyst.”

Dr. Luncheon said that the investigation hasn’t reached to the point where officials can pinpoint anyone. He explained that the probe is ongoing.

Dr. Roger Luncheon The OLPF is meant to distribute 90,000 computers to poor families who cannot afford one over a three-year period.

Page 13

ImmigrationINFO Immigration News For Our Community

Immigration Bill Introduced by Senate Attorney Gail Seeram G a i l @ G a i l L a w. c o m President, American Immigration Lawyers Assoc – Central FL @GailSeeram On Tuesday, April 16, 2013, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a major immigration Bill that would bolster border security, legalize many of America’s 11 million undocumented immigrants and put them on a path to citizenship.

It will also dramatically overhaul the legal immigration system, and crack down on employers who hire unauthorized workers. The press conference was canceled due to the Boston bombings.

The immigration Bill/ proposal is entitled, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013.

In summary, the proposed Bill creates a new legal immigrant status, referred to as Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI), which will allow the current undocumented population to earn lawful permanent resident (or green card) status in 10 years.

Also, the Bill/proposal eliminates U.S. citizen sponsorship of brothers or sisters and enacts an age limitation on U.S. citizen sponsorship of married children. Further, a new guest worker visa, W visa, is created and non-immigrant work visas numbers/ availability will be increased.

Lastly, a merit based visa system is created for skilled workers and all employers would be required to use the E-Verify system.

The immigration Bill/ proposal still has a long road through hearing, amendments and approval from the House of Representatives before making it to President Obama’s desk for signature and enactment into law.

NEW Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) Status: A new immigrant status would be created called the Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) for individuals in unlawful status (the 11 million undocumented in the U.S.) to adjust their status to legal immigrant status.

The requirements are as follows: (1) residence in the United States prior to December 31, 2011 and maintenance of continuous physical presence since then;

and (2) paid a $500 penalty fee (except for DREAM Act eligible students), and assessed taxes, per adult applicant in addition to all applicable fees required to pay for the cost of processing the application.

Applicants will be found ineligible for RPI status if they were convicted of an aggravated felony; convicted of a felony; convicted of three or more misdemeanors; convicted of an offense under foreign law; unlawfully voted; and are inadmissible for criminal, national security, public health, or other morality grounds.

The following are other benefits of the RPI immigrant status: 1. Spouses and children of people in RPI status can be petitioned for as derivatives of the principal applicant (but must be in the United States at the time).

2. Immigrants in RPI status can work for any employer and travel outside of the United States.

3. Individuals outside of the United States who were previously here before December 31, 2011 and were deported for noncriminal reasons can apply to re-enter the United States in RPI status if they are the spouse, of or parent of a child who is, United States citizen or lawful permanent resident; or are a childhood arrival who is eligible for the DREAM Act. 4. The Application period will be for one year with the possibility of extension by the Secretary for an additional one year.

5. Individuals with removal orders will be permitted to apply as will aliens currently in removal proceedings.

6. RPI status shall last for a 6-year term that is renewable

Gail Seeram if the immigrant does not commit any acts that would render the alien deportable.

Another $500 penalty fee is applicable at this time.

After 10 years, aliens in RPI status may adjust to Lawful Permanent Resident Status through the same Merit Based System everyone else must use to earn a green card (described below) if the following things have occurred: (1) the alien maintained continuous physical presence; (2) they paid all taxes owed during the period that they are in status as an RPI; (3) they worked in the United States regularly; (4) demonstrated knowledge of Civics and English; (5) all people currently waiting for family and employment green cards as of the date of enactment have had their priority date become current; and (6) $1,000 penalty fee is rendered. People in DREAM Act Status and the Agricultural Program can get their green cards in five years and DREAM Act kids will be eligible for citizenship immediately after they get their green cards.

Page 14

Kaieteur News

Essequibo road fatality...

Canter was overloaded - says driver Hassan Ally, the driver of Canter lorry GDD 7614, that was involved in Thursday’s accident, ‘which left one person dead and 21 injured, has said that the vehicle was overloaded.

Ally said that he was transporting some 40 persons to the cremation site at La Union, Essequibo Coast.

Ally is currently under police guard at the Suddie Public Hospital. He sustained a cut to his head.

Six other men, Navindra Lall, Annand Singh, Shiv Lall, Felton, Nick Rampersaud and Bedesh Rampersaud remain hospitalized at the Hospital.

That accident claimed the life of Basmattie Prashad, aka

Samantha, a mother of one of Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara.

Prashad died after she was pinned beneath the Canter which toppled twice, at Walton-Hall.

Prashad was attending her uncle’s funeral at Jibb Housing Scheme when she met her demise.

Parbattie Rampersaud, 44, of Parika had to be transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, Friday morning due to the severity of her injuries.

Ally said that as he was proceeding south along the Walton Hall Public around a sharp turn, all of the persons that were in the tray of the

Saturday April 20, 2013

Rice farmers protest bug infestation

Canter tilted on one side, resulting in the vehicle toppling.

Nick Rampersaud, 23, of Devonshire Castle, who sustained an injured right hand and lacerations to his face, said that he cannot recall how the accident unfolded but recalled being thrown out of the tray of the Canter and unto the road.

He said that he assisted himself and was later taken to the Suddie Public Hospital, where he remains a patient.

Twenty-one persons were seen by doctors at the Suddie Public Hospital, while six remain hospitalized.

Parbattie Sukhai was discharged Friday morning.

Woman’s body found floating in Pomeroon River Police Thursday night recovered the lifeless body of 33-year-o l d , Shakti Bissessar, formerly of Lima, Essequibo Coast, some hours after she went missing. It was floating in the Pomeroon River.

The body of Bissessar, a mentally challenged woman, was taken to the Oscar Joseph Hospital to await a post mortem.

According to reports,

Bissessar visited her brother at Tennessee, in the Pomeroon several days ago.

The report added, that on the day she went missing, the woman was said to have used a pit latrine that hung over the river.

The report suggested that from all indications, Bissessar, who usually suffered frequent epileptic attacks, may have suffered an attack

and fell overboard.

Searches were conducted the day of the incident, after Bissessar’s relatives could not have located her.

A child discovered the woman’s body floating in the river on Thursday.

An alarm was raised and a report was subsequently lodged at the Charity Police Outpost.

There were no marks of violence on Bissessar’s body.

Farmers, plagued by an infestation of ‘bugs’ continued a three-day protest by congregating in front of the Region Two Democratic Council. The protest commenced on Wednesday.

Yesterday’s protest attracted farmers from along the Essequibo Coast who marched from Reliance to the Anna Regina High Bridge.

They are insisting that the protest will continue if their concerns are not being addressed.

One of their persistent problems is the rapid ‘bug’ infestation.

Other problems are nonpayment, poor pricing and post dated cheques.

Rice farmer, Rudolph Singh, of Bounty-Hall, said that for the current crop, farmers have suffered the worst. Entire fields have been destroyed by the bugs.

Singh alleged that the chemicals that farmers have

been using have proven noneffective since there continues to be a resurgence of bugs even after the fields have been sprayed.

The farmer further explained that the Guyana Rice Development Board at Anna Regina should test the chemicals and send an Anthropologist to analyze the infested fields.

“Farmers need other assistance in order for them to go back into the fields. The situation is helpless, farmers are one of the most hard working people of this country; they should be recognised for their efforts.”

Singh said that at the time when the government organized the deal with Venezuela the deal was intended to be an exchange of paddy for fertiliser. Singh said that that agreement never materialized.

Alliance For Change Councillor, Naitram, said that

the Act that was prepared for farmers needs to be reviewed since it currently benefits millers, rather than the farmers.

Naitram added farmers have also been receiving post dated cheques and the situation is becoming dire since farmers have no representation on the Coast.

Parmanand Persaud, the Regional Chairman, told farmers that he was in support of their protest. He said that after visiting several rice fields, he observed that at least 30 percent of the fields were damaged.

An official from Guyana Rice Board, Deoram, told farmers that GRDB and the Rice Producers’ Association (RPA) do not have the authority to price paddy.

Some farmers have received up to $4,000 per a bag. Harvesting began two months ago. (Yannason Duncan).

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 15

$28B Education budget passed…

No decision yet on UG tuition increase- Minister Manickchand - Critchlow Labour College subvention still in limbo Government has not yet taken a decision to whether it would back a call to increase tuition fees at the University of Guyana (UG).

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, on Tuesday said that while the issue is engaging the attention of Government, no monies as further subsidy have been allocated this year in the budget to offset any possibilities of a fee increase.

The Minister was being questioned Tuesday night by Members of Parliament during considerations of the estimates of the 2013 National Budget. UG has been struggling to maintain the campus, meet overheads and introduce new programmes. It has targeted tuition fees as a means of raising much needed cash.

Government, as part of its subvention to UG last year, had allocated $621M. This year, it has set aside $680M. The Ministry’s budget, some $28.7B, was approved shortly before midnight.

According to Manickchand, Government continues to have a “deep interest” in the Turkeyen campus.

Earlier, Deborah Backer, a Parliamentarian for A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), said that her side was not inclined to back any raise in tuition for UG students, especially as the Constitution guarantees free education for all Guyanese.

Another critical issue

raised that night was the withdrawal of a subvention to Critchlow Labour College.

The subvention was withdrawn by the Bharrat Jagdeo administration a few years ago after the government said it wanted management there to account for how the monies are being spent. The college was described as a critical institution for providing continuing education.

Observers have accused Government of withdrawing the subvention because of the college’s apparent closeness to a number of unions considered to be not so friendly to the government.

During the consideration of the Education Ministry’s estimates, issues like the school feeding programme, the Guyana Learning Channel, training, welfare officers and contract employees, were discussed.

Of the $28.7B for the Ministry, $214.9M was allocated to the National Education Policy; $1.1B on Training and Development and $7.2B on Education Delivery.

According to Government, a total of $139B has been allocated from 2008 to 2013 to finance the National Education Strategic Plan and a new five-year plan is currently being developed.

APNU’s member, Africo Selman, inquired about budgeted salary increases for some sectors such as the main office of the Education

Education Minister, Priya Manickchand

APNU’s MP, Deborah Backer

Ministry, to which Minister Manickchand responded that the number of staffers remain the same, but increased salaries were budgeted for as the incoming staffers were taking up senior positions.

APNU’s Backer queried whether the amount for the Guyana Book Foundation was adequate given the work that it catered for, but the Minister explained that it was merely a subsidy for the Non Governmental Organisation and as such there was a limit on how much assistance could be offered by Government.

The increased costs for the National School Feeding Programme were questioned

by APNU member Amna Ally.

The Education Minister responded that this was previously funded from an external source and government was filling the

gap created by catering for both hinterland and coastal students.

The Minister said that approximately 64,000 students benefit from the feeding programme and included 48 hinterland communities.

Government will also pay the previously externally funded incentives to teachers being posted to hinterland locations.

Nokta, Collymore among highest paid at Local Government Former Ministers of Local Government Harripersaud Nokta and Clinton Collymore are among the highest paid workers in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.

Nokta and Collymore have been employed by the same Ministry they once presided over since 2007.

This was revealed in the National Assembly yesterday.

The current Minister of Local Government, Ganga Persaud, said that Nokta is employed as Hinterland Coordinator at $380,000.per month while Mr. Collymore is paid $317,000 per month.

They are among the top five most highly paid workers in the Ministry.

The Opposition has argued that the continued employment of Nokta and Collymore reflects the government creating “jobs for

the boys.”

Apart from their salary, Nokta and Collymore are ea c h p r o v i d e d w i t h a gardener and a maid. Their gardeners and maids are paid $25,000 each, per month.

In addition, security is provided at the homes of the two men and they are also afforded a vehicle to do their work. All those transportation expenses are covered by the Ministry.

The Alliance for Change (AFC) had proposed cutting out the

employment of the two men, but withheld yesterday.

AFC Parliamentarian, Moses Nagamootoo, said the proposal for cuts was withdrawn after he said the party has proposed that the government freezes the employment of contract workers and that all hiring be channeled through the Public Service Commission.

In the end, the salaries for Nokta and Collymore were approved, along with salaries for their maids and gardeners and security at their homes.

Teachers from Regions One, Seven, Eight and Ten are catered for under this programme, according to the Education Minister.

Details for rehabilitation works to be undertaken were also given and these included repairs to the National Resource Center, The Cyril Potter College of Education and several others.

The education sector will be boosted with the addition of 409 newly trained teachers expected to enter the education system in August 2013, while another 41 teachers will complete the requirements for certification under the Trained Teacher’s Certificate Programme, a further 68 in-service teachers in Regions One and Nine will continue to access the Trained Teacher’s Certificate, while 366 students will continue to access the Associate Degree in Education at the coastal centers and Linden.

The move towards increasing Information Technology in schools will

see 14 laboratories in the Science and Technology Faculties rehabilitated; with full internet connectivity to all faculties and the libraries.

Additionally, 35 IT labs are expected to be completed in 2013, while 3,000 teachers will be trained in ICT literacy.

Under the project section of the budget, funding will see the construction of Kato Secondary Complex which will provide for 350 students; the reconstruction of One Mile Primary, and extensions to Alexander Village Nursery, East Street Nursery, St. Barnabas Special School, Tutorial Academy and Tagore Memorial Secondary, rehabilitation of St. Rose’s High, and maintenance of other schools and educational facilities countrywide.

The sum of $450M has been approved for the accommodation of student loans for the University of Guyana with further funding for infrastructure and other support services for the tertiary institution.

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Nandlall dubs Speaker’s ruling to cut budget a “constitutional enigma” Government will soon be looking to the courts to rectify what Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, has described as a “constitutional enigma” which he claims characterises the ruling of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman.

Trotman ruled to allow the opposition to cut the national budget. The Attorney General insisted yesterday that the Speaker’s ruling has collided with an express pronouncement from the court.

According to Nandlall too, the Speaker in his ruling “essentially conferred upon himself a jurisdictional

freedom to depart from a ruling of the court and that is a power that he simply does not have.

“His ruling therefore has presented this nation with a constitutional enigma...how we will unravel this enigma we are not sure...but what I know is that the constitutional anomaly which the Speaker’s ruling has created has far and deep reaching implications way outside of the budgetary process.”

His remarks which came when he spoke at a People’s Progressive Party (PPP) press conference at the party’s Freedom House Headquarters, follows several

cuts of the national budget earlier this week as part of the consideration of the estimates.

This development, according to Nandlall, is directly linked to the ruling of the Speaker which, he said, is “an anomalous state of affairs which has to be dealt with swiftly.” “...Recourse will have to be taken in the court to rectify what I consider to be, with the greatest of respect, a constitutional errata - a wrong, not only because of what is happening in Parliament but for the constitutional democracy of this country; for peace, order

and good governance...”

According to the Attorney General the problem that obtains is one whereby one arm of the State that has confined and defined responsibility is almost violently encroaching into the domain of another and therefore cannot be allowed to continue in a democracy.

Corrective measure is an absolute necessity, as according to Nandlall, while last year Government was able to restore cuts such as those that were instituted against the National Communication Network and the Government Information Agency, the difference this year is that “we actually have a ruling from the honourable Speaker of the National

Assembly governing this matter and that is the distinguishing factor.”

The ruling, he said, has put the constitutional structure of the country in some form of disarray even as he pointed out that even lay people are cognisant that the constitution is supreme and the parliament, the executive, everyone else and every other agency of state are subjected to that supremacy.

Nandlall explained that in that constitutional formula the court is ascribed the responsibility exclusively to interpret the Constitution; a move he insisted must be regarded as the final pronouncement on any matter gaining its attention.

Moreover, Nandlall noted that any such matter should no longer be open to any other agency in the land to, in an institutional way, offer another ruling or an interpretation that is different from that which emanated from the court.

Had the court ruling not been binding, Nandlall noted that the executive could have itself placed an interpretation on the constitution that it finds favourable in the same vein that the Speaker interpreted it to say that the National Assembly has the power to cut the budget.

“The executive can today or tomorrow decide that they determine that very provision

Attorney General Anil Nandlall to mean that the National Assembly does not have the power to cut. So you have these three vital organs of State each having an opinion of their own as to what the constitution says,” stressed Nandall.

He noted, too, that it is for the avoidance of such eventualities that the constitution reposes only in the court that responsibility. As such he added that “the court system has in it a hierarchical mechanism that allows any person who may be aggrieved by any interpretation given by the court on any given matter to utilise that mechanism to challenge that ruling; that did not happen here.”

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GPHC creates centre for improved care for HIV/AIDS patients Over a five-year period, Guyana has developed an advance care and support system for persons affected

by HIV and AIDS, through partnership and collaborative efforts of USAIDS, Center for Diseases Control, and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, GPHC. “Under the establishment of Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), several thousand Guyanese were able to access suitable health care, the creation of Centre of Excellence, a state of the art unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital which caters for in-patient treatment of person affected HIV/AIDS,” Administrator of the Programme, Matron Audrey Corey said yesterday.

She highlighted the accomplishments of the division, yesterday. Noting that “much work had been put into the unit,” Corey said that a great deal was also acquired.

During the creation of the inpatient treatment unit, appropriate furniture and equipment were installed.

The health staff received appropriate training on the use of personal protective gear. “Local health care providers also benefited from

training, with their education being delivered through the use of workshops and seminars. In excess of 100 nurses and 12 physicians as well as social workers obtained knowledge and skills needed to cater for those affected by the HIV/ AIDS epidemic.”

Overseas training was also granted to several persons, who later contributed to educating nurses in care and support for HIV/AIDS infected persons.

An incentive package for staff was also provided. This was aimed at improving their skills.

“Careful analysis and review were placed in the transition process, as patients were reintegrated into society, the relevant monitoring system was given to those who needed follow up support and treatment such as, equitable arrangement for those who are homeless due to the disease, suitable arrangement for continued clinical therapy ….social workers would aid in this process providing prolonged counseling with patients and their relatives as well as offering education on nutrition and support.”

As a result, there has been an increase in awareness of the infection and reduced time

Seated from left to right Administrator of the Programme, Matron Audrey Corey, US Ambassador, Dr D Brendt Hart and CEO of GPHC Michael Khan to make diagnosis…As the project continues, training and greater access to literature research document and related material will be provided for HIV research so as assist those affected by the outbreak. In addressing the audience, Dr. Barbara Allen, Director of the Center for Disease Control, Guyana, who was among the dignitaries present, stated that there are approximately 6,000 HIV patients in Guyana.

In light of such, it is imperative that all efforts are made to surmount the damnable disease at whatever extent it is possible.

Dr. Allen added that there is no other place in Guyana

that provides such a level of health care for HIV patients other than GPHC, no doubt, since the Centre of Excellence is equipped to provide treatment in the highest levels.

She further admonished the audience to do away with stigma and discrimination towards individuals infected with HIV since this can lead to that individual seeking proper treatment too late.

She said that this is the mindset that is being adopted in the hospital; moreover, it is that mindset that is needed in the community in order to encourage persons that are infected with HIV to seek treatment in the early stage of

infection.

Dr. Allen upheld the belief that persons infected with HIV can live a long and healthy life with early diagnosis. The Director reassured that there will be continuous support given to the work as persons have shown commitment to the vision. “Although our corporate agreement has ended we will continue to provide aid. This is just another stage of our support as the USAID Center for Disease Control will provide ongoing technical assistance to Guyana.” At the closing ceremony of the five-year programme, Chief Executive Officer, of GPHC, Michael

Khan, expressed gratitude to the staff of the institution as well as to those who contributed and assisted in the advancement of the activities. “We will work to achieve what the five years has taught us”. Khan said.

US Ambassador, Dr Brent Hardt applauded those who worked diligently to establish the centre for excellence.

“You can be proud, both of the lives you have saved and the improvement in the quality of life you helped make possible. Our challenge now is to ensure that this investment is sustained as we move forward to the next phase of our PEPFAR engagement.”

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Maduro sworn in, Venezuela to review disputed vote CARACAS (Reuters) Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela’s president yesterday at a ceremony attended by leaders from Iran to Brazil after a decision to widen an electronic audit of the vote took some of the heat out of a dispute over his election.

Maduro, a bus driverturned-foreign minister who became the late Hugo Chavez’s chosen successor, narrowly beat opposition challenger Henrique Capriles in the election last Sunday.

Capriles refused to accept the result, alleged widespread irregularities, demanded a full recount and called his supporters onto the streets in protest.

Eight people were killed in post-election violence and Maduro blamed the deaths on Capriles, although the opposition says Maduro allies staged some incidents to distract attention from the dispute over balloting.

Maduro took the oath of office yesterday alongside a large framed photo of the socialist Chavez, who led Venezuela for 14 years before losing a battle against cancer last month.

“I swear, on the eternal legacy of our founding fathers ... on the eternal memory of our supreme commander, that I will uphold this constitution,” Maduro said.

In an embarrassing breach of security, a young man in a red jacket ran up to the

Nicolas Maduro podium, pushed the president out of the way and shouted “Nicolas, my name is Yendrick, please help me,” into the microphone. He was tackled by bodyguards.

“Security has failed completely. They could have shot me up here,” said Maduro upon resuming his speech.

Overnight, the 50-year-old Maduro attended a lastminute meeting of South American leaders in Peru to

discuss the post-election crisis. They congratulated him on his victory, and called on both sides to reject violence.

While he was in Lima, Venezuela’s electoral authority said it would widen to 100 percent an audit of electronic votes from a previous audit that reviewed 54 percent of the machines.

“We do this in order to preserve a climate of harmony ... and isolate violent sectors

Phillips faces more criticism over tax statement Jamaica Gleaner - The Finance Minister is facing more criticism for his declaration in parliament Wednesday that no new taxes are being imposed to finance the 2013/2014 budget.

Financial Analyst, Ralston Hyman says the statement is misleading and will only serve to erode

confidence in the policies of the government.

Hyman notes that several taxes were introduced on April 1 when the financial year started and, therefore, Phillips cannot say there are no new taxes just because the budget was presented on April 18.

The opposition spokesman on finance has

also accused the finance minister of attempting to hoodwink Jamaicans when he said that there will be no new taxes. Shaw said the finance minister is being disingenuous given that most of the measures in the $15.9-billion tax package announced in February took effect this month.

that are seeking to injure democracy,” Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), said in a televised speech to the nation. Venezuelans vote electronically, but the machines also print out paper receipts of each vote that are kept in boxes. The audit involves counting the paper ballots at some stations to ensure they are consistent with the machine-tallied results.

Capriles, who insists the opposition’s figures show he won, accepted the CNE’s decision although it fell short of the full manual recount he had wanted.

Even so, opposition legislators boycotted Maduro’s inauguration.

Capriles urged supporters to play salsa music and bang pots and pans to protest the event, following similar protests since the night of the election.

“Let’s hear that salsa all over Venezuela! The voice of the people! This is a ‘for now’ government,” Capriles tweeted.

In upscale eastern Caracas, the sound of

celebratory fireworks drowned out more muted opposition protests.

The date for the start of the wider audit is to be announced next week. It is expected to take 30 days.

The CNE’s decision considerably eased tensions after days of violence and angry allegations by both sides that their rivals were sending armed thugs into the streets to terrorize people.

The heads of state attending Maduro’s inauguration included Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with leaders of Chavezera allies such as Bolivia, Uruguay and Nicaragua.

Ahmadinejad paid tribute to “the spirit and the soul of Commander Chavez, who had only love for all the peoples of the world” in comments to state television as he arrived at Congress, where the inauguration was held.

Russia and China, both partners in major oil projects in Venezuela’s vast Orinoco belt region, sent delegations headed by senior officials.

The ceremony at the National Assembly was to be

followed by a military parade.

Jets making practice runs have soared over the capital repeatedly this week.

Thousands of government sympathizers surrounded Congress in downtown Caracas, dancing to upbeat music and clad in the Socialist Party’s signature red T-shirts.

Vendors peddled trinkets including foam mustaches that Maduro supporters tape to their upper lips in imitation of his facial hair.

“The streets out ours; we’ve come to defend them from the right wing,” said Carlos Poveda, 45, a merchant.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said on Twitter that tomorrow morning she planned to visit the military museum in Caracas where her friend Chavez is buried.

“I want to be there a bit more alone, without so many people, without so much noise,” she said. “To Caracas, without Hugo. It’s going to be difficult and strange at the same time. His funerals were so impressive it was like I was in a daze.”

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Trinidad reacts to charges of unfair export practices in Jamaica Jamaica Observer Trinidadian trade groups this week disputed allegations that exporters from the twin island republic are engaging in unfair trading practices in Jamaica.

Jamaican manufacturers have raised concerns that exporters from and Tobago are violating trade rules by misrepresenting products as

being of CARICOM origin, allowing them to benefit from lower customs duties and price advantages in the local market.

Goods from CARICOM member states which meet rules of origin are traded duty-free throughout the region. A Common External Tariff is usually applied on products originating from outside

CARICOM. In response to an article on the allegations published in the Caribbean Business Report last week, the and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) said the organisation is “committed to fostering the process of free and fair trade” among CARICOM member states “as enshrined in the

Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas”.

“The association strongly condemns the practice of any company engaging in activities that are in breach of the CARICOM Rules of Origin. Such actions cause problems for legitimate businesses, and portray and Tobago in a negative light both to our CARICOM

neighbours and internationally,” said the TTMA in a statement.

The TTMA particularly took issue with Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA) President Brian Pengelley saying, “In other words, you could bring in imported peanuts, but all you do is put the peanuts in a little bag... That’s not what we call a full conversion process,” though it’s unclear whether Pengelley was making reference to a suspected violation or just providing an example of how exporters can attempt to circumvent rules of origin.

“We wish to categorically state that we have found no evidence to support Mr Pengelly’s statement,” said the TTMA. “Shelled peanuts are imported into Trinidad and Tobago under tariff heading 1202.20.90 (Shelled Peanuts) then processed [roasted, blanched (removal of skins), fried, seasoned and packaged] and exported under tariff heading 2008.11.00 (Prepared Peanuts), thereby meeting the criteria of substantial transformation qualifying for CARICOM originating status,” said the Trinidadian manufacturers’ lobby group.

The national export facilitation organisation in Trinidad also disputed the allegations of unfair trading practices.

ExporTT noted that one of its responsibilities is to provide certification of origin (COO) for Trinidadian products that are exported into the CARICOM market.

Against this backround, the organisation said that it wants to assure that all T&T products undergo a rigid certification programme to

ensure that they meet the trade requirements to qualify as locally produced.

“Each exporting company and exported products are recertified at regular intervals.

This involves our officers undertaking site visits to production facilities and observing the entire production process to ensure that enough transformation takes place for the goods to qualify under the COO regime,” stated ExporTT. Both organisations, TTMA and ExporTT, said they were ready to assist with investigating the claims of trade rules violations by Trinidadian exporters.

Jamaican Opposition spokesman for Industry, Commerce and Energy Gregory Mair raised the alarm to the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament last week, saying that there have been reports of goods being passed off as Trinidadian when in fact they were only repackaged in the twin-island republic.

Mair said the practice would make it even more difficult for Jamaican manufacturers, already being hurt by a flood of cheap imports and high cost of production, to compete. JMA head, Pengelley confirmed that there were indeed concerns over imports not being completely made in CARICOM. It’s the latest complaint in a longrunning trade dispute between the two Caribbean countries.

As Jamaica grapples with a widening trade deficit with CARICOM, now nearly US$1.2 billion ($119 billion), there have been increasing calls by some locals to pull out from the 15-member regional organisation.

Barbados Nation - The Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) has seceded from the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) and therefore no longer has a voice among the social partnership.

In an interview yesterday after the launch of the May Day celebrations at Solidarity House, Harmony Hall, St Michael, BWU general secretary Sir Roy Trotman showed correspondence between the union, the Ministry of Labour and

CTUSAB chronicling the deteriorating relationship between the entities, ending with two letters – dated Thursday – informing the ministry and CTUSAB they were no longer a member of the latter body.

Sir Roy outlined a number of reasons why this decision had been made. He noted one of them included moves to prevent the BWU from representing Barbados at the International Labour Organization session in Geneva, Switzerland in June.

BWU withdraws from CTUSAB

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Coalition partner differs Duprey, Monteil summoned again on support for Warner PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – The Congress of the People (COP) party yesterday disagreed with a statement by Communications Minister Jamal Mohammed that embattled National Security Minister Austin “Jack” Warner has the support of the entire Cabinet.”This assertion is misleading. The party has consistently stood by the principle that, any public figure facing serious allegations should step down and allow a full investigation to reveal the facts.

“In this regard the COP is on record calling on two occasions for the Honourable Minister of National Security to step down. Similar positions were taken with respect to other public figures,” the party said in a statement.

Mohammed, who is one of several COP members within the coalition People’s Partnership government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, told reporters at the end of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Thursday that Warner “enjoys the full support of every single

member of the Cabinet”.

The opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) has been leading calls for the removal of Warner from the Cabinet in light of the ongoing revelations regarding his tenure as a vice president with the International Football federation (FIFA).

But Prime Minister Persad Bissessar has said she will not act against her senior Cabinet minister unless she is confronted with the facts supporting the allegations against Warner.

Reuters News Service, in an exclusive report late last month, said that an FBI probe into alleged corruption in international soccer has recently intensified after investigators persuaded a key party to be a cooperating witness, US law-enforcement sources said.

The news agency quoted the sources as saying that Daryan Warner, the son of the national security minister, is assisting the probe, but could not say who might be charged, or when.

The COP, the second biggest member in the fourparty coalition, said that it continues to adhere to “our founding principles, our commitment to maintaining the highest standard of good governance and the Fyzabad accord.

“The success of the Partnership starts with every Cabinet Minister and its failure could have a damaging effect on future generations.

The COP makes no pronouncement on the guilt or innocence of any individual facing allegations in the public domain,” it added.

$7.5 million to WFP during since the Syrian conflict began.

The vast majority of the pledges and donations that the U.N. has received have come from Assad’s critics, with Kuwait, the United States and European Union making the biggest donations.

Syria’s neighbours Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq have also borne a huge burden of refugees. Turkey has provided more than $750 million of assistance to refugees, Guterres said.

Asked to explain its comparatively low contribution to the U.N. appeal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that China was taking the humanitarian situation very seriously.

“We share in the suffering of the Syrian people. We have been taking practical actions to assist the Syrian people. China will continue to provide assistance to the Syrian

people within our ability,” she said, without giving any figures.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Russia provided aid to Syria through both international humanitarian organisations and bilateral channels.

“We are among the 20 biggest donors to Syria, with a volume of targeted contributions of more than $7 million in 2012.

In the current year, Russia plans to earmark more than $3 million for these aims, and we provide solid humanitarian support to states bordering Syria,” he told a weekly news briefing.

Russia and China, Assad allies, have been engaged in the so far fruitless diplomatic peace process for Syria, along with the United States, the European Union and several Gulf Arab states.

But senior U.N. officials are reluctant to suggest Moscow and Beijing should do more to sort out the humanitarian crisis.

Austin “Jack” Warner

Russia, China aid to U.N. for Syria falls short of Assad’s foes

(Reuters) - Most of the contributions to the U.N.-led aid effort in Syria’s two-yearlong civil war have come from critics and enemies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while his supporters Russia and China have given little, aid sources say.

The United Nations has been working off an estimate of $1.5 billion (984.2 million pounds) for its Syria funding needs, but that figure is already looking much too low, with refugee numbers far ahead of forecasts and no end in sight to the fighting.

U.N. High Commissioner of Refugees Antonio Guterres has said almost half of Syria’s 20.8 million people will rely on aid by the end of 2013.

“These figures are terrifying,” Guterres, head of the refugee agency UNHCR, warned the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

The UNHCR says China so far has given $1 million for Syrian refugees in Turkey, while the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), which already needs almost $20 million a week to feed Syrians, says it has not yet received anything from China.

Russia has given $2 million for UNHCR’s operations worldwide and

Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out. - Stephen Covey

Trinidad Guardian - The lone commissioner in the enquiry into the collapse of CL Financial Limited, Sir Anthony Colman, QC, Thursday ruled that CLICO business magnate Lawrence Duprey and former group financial director of CL Financial, Andre Monteil, must present themselves to testify at the ongoing enquiry.

Colman, in a 32-page ruling delivered Thursday and distributed to various attorneys seeking an interest at the enquiry, gave seven directions to Duprey and Monteil, after an application by the men that they not testify at the enquiry because the police had started a criminal probe into the matter. In his ruling, Colman directed that Duprey and Monteil once again be served with summonses and must attend the hearing.

“Having attended they must go into the witness box and take the oath. They must then verify their name and address, following which counsel for both the men and the commission will ask selected questions as distinct as from every single minor question,” Colman wrote in his ruling. Such questions must be disclosed to

Lawrence Duprey attorneys two days prior to the men testifying. Colman said should either Duprey or Monteil claim the self-incriminatory privilege, the onus will be on him to invoke such.

In January, Duprey, 79, wrote to the commission saying he was unwilling to appear before it to give evidence. He said he was initially willing to testify at the enquiry, but upon consulting his legal team, was advised not to take part in it since the police had begun an official probe into the collapse of CLICO. Duprey subsequently wrote to say he was withdrawing his legal team

from the proceedings. The Government has so far spent some $20 billion to bail out CLICO, which collapsed in 2009.

The 12th hearing of the enquiry is scheduled for April 29 at the Winsure Building, Port-ofSpain. Testimony given at the enquiry so far has alleged hundreds of millions of dollars were squandered and millions of dollars transferred during suspicious transactions. On November 8 last year, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, in a media release, said the police had started a criminal investigation into the conduct of individuals and corporate entities involved in the collapse of CLICO and related companies.

The announcement came as Gaspard warned the media “should not publish or broadcast anything which might jeopardise, hinder or otherwise prejudice the investigation or any possible proceedings which might result from it.” He also wrote to Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Colman over the public hearing of the enquiry, saying if the enquiry went on it was likely to delay a prosecution and jeopardise the police investigation.

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Pakistani police arrest former president Musharraf ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani police arrested former president Pervez Musharraf yesterday to face allegations he overstepped his powers while in office, marking a dramatic break with a political culture in which military rulers have remained untouchable.

The one-time army chief had hoped to rekindle a degree of influence by standing in a general election in May, but has instead become ensnared in a showdown with judges who fought bruising battles with him while he was still in office.

A magistrate had raised the stakes earlier yesterday when he ordered Musharraf be placed under house arrest for two days before he is due to appear in court on allegations of illegally detaining judges during a crackdown on the judiciary in 2007.

Musharraf is accused of violating the constitution by placing judges under house arrest after he sacked the chief justice and imposed emergency rule.

Musharraf’s office said the charges against him are baseless and have been cooked up by sections of what it described as an “overzealous judiciary” and “unscrupulous lawyers”.

“The allegations leveled against the former president in judges detention case are false and politically motivated,” the office said in a statement.

Pervez Musharraf One of Musharraf ’s lawyers said he would file a petition to overturn the arrest order at the Supreme Court later yesterday.

Judges had signaled their intent to take a tough line with Musharraf yesterday when they ordered his case be heard in an anti-terrorism court on the grounds that detaining judges could be considered an attack on the state.

Police later transferred Musharraf into custody at a guest house at their headquarters in Islamabad after a senior officer failed to issue paperwork necessary for him to remain under detention at his home, said his spokesman, Mohammad Amjad.

“He’s been shifted to a police guest house for two days of remand,” Amjad said.

Pakistani television broadcast footage of

Musharraf leaving his farmhouse residence at an exclusive estate on the edge of Islamabad in a black SUV escorted by police vehicles.

The spectacle of a man who once embodied the army’s control over Pakistan being forced to answer to judges was a potent symbol of the way power dynamics have shifted in Pakistan, which has been ruled by the military for more than half its history.

The May 11 general election will be the first transition between elected civilian-led governments in Pakistan.

Musharraf seized power in a coup in 1999 and resigned in 2008. He returned to Pakistan after almost four years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai last month to stand for the National Assembly but was disqualified by election officials earlier this week.

While the sight of a former army commander being arrested is sure to rankle some in the military, who see the armed forces as the only reliable guarantor of Pakistan’s stability, Musharraf’s ill-starred return has bemused some former comrades.

“I don’t think the army was in favor of him returning and tried to dissuade him,” said General Hamid Khan, a former senior army commander. “But he decided to come, and now he has to face this. The army is staying out of it.”

Saturday April 20, 2013

U.S. near $10 billion arms deal with Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - The United States is finalizing a complex $10 billion arms deal that would strengthen two key Arab allies while maintaining Israel’s military edge, defense officials said yesterday ahead of a trip to the Middle East by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The deal, more than a year in the making through a series of coordinated bilateral negotiations, would result in the sale of V-22 Osprey aircraft, advanced refueling tankers and anti-air defense missiles to Israel and 25 F-16 Desert Falcon jets worth nearly $5 billion to the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia also would be allowed to purchase weapons with “stand-off” capabilities those that can be used to engage the enemy with precision at a greater distance, defense officials said.

The deal marks the first time the United States has offered to sell tilt-rotor Ospreys to another country, and the “stand-off” weapons would give Saudi Arabia and the UAE a more advanced capability than they have had in the past, said the defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“This is one of the most complex and carefully orchestrated arms sale packages in American history,” one of the officials said. “That’s not just because of the kinds of equipment that

Chuck Hagel we’re providing to Israel and Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. It’s also a reflection of intensive defense shuttle diplomacy.”

The announcement comes amid mounting concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, with little progress reported at talks this month between Iran and world powers. U.S. officials concede that crippling sanctions have so far failed to force concessions from Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful.

Israel has renewed warnings it reserves the right to resort to military action to stop what it says is Iran’s

pursuit of nuclear weapons.

U.S. defense officials touted the arms deals as the culmination of President Barack Obama’s effort to find a way to boost the military capabilities of key Arab allies in light of the threats in the region while still fulfilling the U.S. policy of maintaining Israel’s military superiority.

The announcement of the deal came as Hagel was preparing for his first trip to Middle East since taking office in February. He planned to visit Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE and was expected to continue discussions about the arms sale at stops along the way.

Obama acts to strengthen gun background check system (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, moving swiftly after the Senate rejected a measure to expand background checks for gun buyers, acted yesterday to patch holes in the existing database dealers use to ensure they are not selling weapons to criminals or the mentally ill.

The Health and Human Services Department will issue a formal proposal yesterday to make sure one of its privacy laws does not prevent states from reporting information to the background check system.

“While this background check system is the most efficient and effective way to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals, it is only as effective as the information that is available to it,” an administration official said.

Obama was visibly frustrated after the Senate on Wednesday defeated a bill that would have expanded background checks for guns bought at gun shows and on the Internet.

“Even without Congress, my administration will keep doing everything it can to protect more of our communities,” Obama said on

Wednesday.

“We’re going to address the barriers that prevent states from participating in the existing background check system,” he said. The idea was part of a series of executive actions Obama first announced in January.

Health and Human Services will ask for public comment on how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s privacy rule prevents some state agencies from reporting data to the background check system, and how best to remove those barriers.

The rule allows hospitals and agencies to disclose data when it is required by law, but some states did not have explicit laws requiring state agencies to share data from mental health records, said a report last year by the Government Accountability Office, a federal government watchdog.

The GAO found that 17 states had provided very few records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

The privacy rule was one issue, but technology problems and limited staff resources were also identified as barriers.

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Second bombing suspect taken alive BOSTON—After a daylong manhunt that completely shut down the city of Boston, police nabbed the 19-year-old suspected Marathon bomber, who was hiding out in a boat in a Boston suburb.

An ambulance arrived at the scene to take the suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, to a hospital. A volley of gunfire was heard in the Watertown area around 7:00 p.m., and police told residents to stay inside and shelter in place as SWAT teams rushed in.

Tsarnaev was found in a boat in the yard of a home on Franklin Street, close to where he and his older brother engaged in a shootout with police nearly 24 hours earlier.

Police could be heard calling to him to come out with his hands up.

A neighbor told ABC News that the homeowner discovered Tsarnaev when he saw blood on the outside of his boat and then lifted the cover to find a person inside.

Watertown residents— finally able to leave their homes around 8:45 p.m.—broke into cheers and applauded police officers after word spread that the suspect was captured.

Just a few hours earlier, police announced that the 19-

year-old suspected bomber had so far eluded capture after fleeing from police on foot early Friday morning.

An overnight police chase and shootout left Dzhokhar’s 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev dead and Dzhokhar on the lam.

Federal investigators had released photos and videos of the two men hours earlier, showing them in the vicinity of the marathon finish line before the twin explosions.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was seen placing a backpack on the ground minutes before the blast, investigators said.

One police officer was killed and another seriously wounded during the violent spree. The city of Boston and its surrounding areas ground to a standstill for hours as police went door to door searching for the suspect in the suburb of Watertown.

Police said they had uncovered several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Watertown and in the brothers’ home in Cambridge.

Tsarnaev is a student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. The Tsarnaev family is originally from Chechnya, a volatile and once

Slain MIT police officer Sean Collier war-torn southern Russian republic. The family fled to Kyrgyzstan and eventually immigrated to the United States as refugees about 10 years ago.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the dead suspect, studied at a local community college and was a Golden Gloves boxer. He also reportedly had a wife and young child. The FBI questioned him two years ago for terrorist ties at the request of a foreign government, but cleared him, according to the AP. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was remembered by former classmates as bright and personable, posted links to pro-

Chechnyan independence sites on his social media page, and listed his world view as “Islam.”

It’s unknown if either the separatist politics of Chechnya or their religion had anything to do with the suspects’ motivations.

In an interview with The New York Times, the suspects’ father said Tamerlan had been unable to become a U.S. citizen because he was arrested for hitting his girlfriend, and that he traveled to Russia last year to live for six months and renew his passport.

Dzhokhar is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

The suspects’ uncle, when told that one of his nephews was killed by the local CBS News station, replied that he deserved it.

“He deserved his. He absolutely deserved his,” Ruslan Tsarni said. “They do not deserve to live on this earth.”

Later, in an emotional press conference outside his home in Maryland, Tsarni said his nephews had brought shame upon his family, and called them “losers.” He speculated that they were not “able to settle themselves” and were “angry at everyone who was able to.” He said he did not believe they were

motivated by radical politics in Chechnya or their Muslim religion.

“Dzhokhar, If you’re alive, turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness from the victims [and] the injured,” he said.

“He put a shame on our family. He put a shame on the entire Chechnyan ethnicity.

Turn yourself in.”

He added that he hadn’t been in touch with the family for several years but would not say why.

“I’m ready to kneel in front of them and ask their forgiveness,” Tsarni said of the victims of his nephews’ crime. “I respect this country; I love this country ... this country that gives everybody chance to be treated like human being.” Other family members, including an aunt and the brothers’father, said they did not believe the brothers could have planted bombs.

The mayhem began at approximately 10:20 p.m.

Thursday in Cambridge when police said the bombing suspects shot and killed an MIT campus officer, Sean Collier, 26.

The terror suspects then carjacked a Mercedes-Benz SUV with the driver inside and fled, eventually letting the driver go unharmed.

Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev The suspects exchanged dozens of rounds of gunfire with patrol officers, and lobbed IEDs out of their vehicle, injuring several officers.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot by police and brought to Beth Israel Medical Center.

He arrived at the hospital under cardiac arrest with multiple gunshot wounds and blast-like injuries to his chest. The second suspect fled on foot.

A transit police officer, Richard H. Donohue, was seriously wounded during the exchange of gunfire, officials said.

K9 units and SWAT teams searched homes on Spruce Street as officers with a police robot searched an SUV that the suspects had abandoned.

Multiple devices were left in the road and two handguns were recovered, according to police scanners.

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Osborne hit by call for austerity rethink, downgrade (Reuters) The Chancellor suffered a double setback yesterday when the head of the IMF said it might now be time for a change in his austerity push and the country lost its AAA status from a second ratings agency.

George Osborne came to the twice-yearly meetings of the International Monetary Fund this week vowing to stick to his plan to fix Britain’s still-wide budget deficit.

But the pressure on him to alter course grew further when Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, said the weak state of the British economy meant it was appropriate to consider a change.

Lagarde was asked in an interview yesterday with BBC television whether the government should show more flexibility.

“We are saying with this medium-term, strong anchoring of fiscal consolidation, the pace has to be adjusted depending on the circumstances and given the weak growth that we have observed lately ... now might be the time to consider,” Lagarde said.

A few hours earlier, Osborne had dismissed suggestions by the IMF’s chief economist Olivier Blanchard that he should consider relaxing his austerity program.

“I think he is just one voice,” Osborne told reporters, adding it was more important that Lagarde had said on Thursday that the Fund was not changing its p o s i t i o n o n B r i t a i n ’s economy. “She speaks for the whole organization.

She was clear that the I M F ’s p o s i t i o n h a s n o t changed,” Osborne said.

But that was before Lagarde’s interview with the BBC when she used language similar to Blanchard.

The IMF has previously said Britain should consider relaxing its belt-tightening should growth slow.

Data due next week could show the British economy slipped into its third recession in less than five years in early 2013 although many economists expect it might just escape that fate.

The bad news kept on coming for the government

Christine Lagarde yesterday when Fitch Ratings stripped the country of its top-notch credit rating, citing a weaker economic and fiscal outlook.

Moody’s downgraded Britain in February. Standard & Poor’s has said there is at least a one-in-three chance it will follow suit.

Britain’s opposition Labour party seized yesterday’s news to ramp up

its criticism of the government’s economic policy.

“When even your biggest allies - the IMF and the credit rating agencies - abandon

you it really is time to put political pride aside and finally act to kickstart the economy,” said Ed Balls, Labour’s main spokesman on economic issues.

The IMF is due to carry out an annual review of Britain’s economy in May and Osborne suggested that he would not heed a formal call for a change of policy, which now seems likely after the comments from the IMF this week.

“It depends on whether you agree with that advice,” he said when asked whether countries should follow IMF policy recommendations.

The IMF’s so-called Article IV recommendations are often ignored by member countries.

Osborne defended his response to Britain’s slowdown, saying he had already shown flexibility by allowing a target for cutting the country’s debt to slip and

announcing new measures to boost the housing market.

He also said the government and the Bank of England would announce “fairly shortly” changes to their Funding for Lending Scheme.

It provides banks and other lenders with cheap financing if they keep or raise lending to households and businesses.

The FLS was launched last year to increase lending for mortgages and businesses but so far it has not resulted in much more borrowing by small and medium-sized companies.

Osborne said Britain’s problems were small compared with those of the euro zone.

“The principal cause of uncertainty has been the weakness of the real economy in the euro zone and the ongoing problems there,” he said.

Prodi quits Italy president race, leaving center-left in chaos

ROME (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Romano Prodi withdrew from the race for the Italian presidency yesterday, deepening the chaos in the center-left after party rebels helped his old enemy Silvio Berlusconi scupper his candidacy.

The collapse of efforts by the center-left to secure the presidency for Prodi underlines the deep fractures running through politics in a country still seeking a government nearly two months after February’s inconclusive general election.

“The politicians should be ashamed of what they’re doing to the country. Today we’re seeing a level of irresponsibility that goes beyond all limits,” said Diego Della Valle, head of shoe group Tod’s, one of Italy’s most successful clothing companies.

The presidency, an office elected by parliamentarians and regional representatives, is a largely ceremonial position, but is important at times of political instability like the present, when the president plays a major role in forming a government.

Without a government, efforts to pull the euro zone’s third-largest economy out of recession and pass meaningful reforms will remain blocked, while rising unemployment and declining living standards feed an increasingly bitter popular mood.

Berlusconi’s center-right group boycotted the vote for

Romano Prodi president and protested outside parliament, accusing center-left boss Pier Luigi Bersani of breaking a promise to put forward a candidate the center-right could accept.

Many center-left rebels also refused to vote for Prodi, delivering the latest in a string of humiliating rebuffs for Bersani, whose leadership of the badly divided Democratic Party (PD) is under threat.

“Prodi’s failure was stunning and embarrassing.

What’s left in the ballot box are the fragments of the PD,” said Renato Brunetta, the leader of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party in the lower house.

In a sign of the PD’s internal strife, its president Rosy Bindi announced late yesterday that she was quitting because she did not want to carry responsibility for the party’s “poor showing” in recent weeks.

The vote was the fourth in a complex election process by 1,007 electors from both houses of parliament and the regional representatives. Fifth and sixth votes are expected today.

But the failure of four votes so far demonstrates the political animosity and uncertainty since the election in February, in which Bersani’s bloc won the most votes but not enough to rule on its own.

Since then, Bersani has failed to agree a ruling coalition with either Berlusconi on the center-right or former comedian Beppe Grillo, whose protest movement’s unexpected electoral success has confounded the traditional parties.

Prodi won only 395 votes, well short of the absolute majority of 504 he needed.

Around 100 center-left rebels refused orders to vote for him in the secret ballot.

The bitter battle over the presidency has underlined how hard it will be to reach political consensus on anything, let alone vital economic reforms or changing an electoral law that is one of the main causes of the current impasse.

Bersani’s selection of Prodi marked a dramatic about-turn, after he failed on Thursday to impose 80-yearold former Senate speaker Franco Marini on the centerleft as presidential candidate under the terms of a deal with Berlusconi.

Saturday April 20, 2013

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High Court action filed to quash Jagdeo-issued licences Two challenges have been filed in the High Court against the granting of radio frequencies by then President Bharrat Jagdeo in November 2011.

Broadcaster Enrico Woolford, the National Media and Publishing Company (publishers of Kaieteur News) and the Guyana Media Proprietors Association are asking that the High Court quash Jagdeo’s decision.

Both challenges were filed in the High Court yesterday.

In the first challenge, broadcaster Enrico Woolford is asking the High Court to declare that President Bharrat Jagdeo’s granting of radio licences was “arbitrary, unconstitutional, unlawful, unfair, unreasonable, capricious, irrational, procedurally improper, ultra vires, null, void and of no legal effect.”

Attorney General Anil Nandlall is named as a respondent in the case to show why the court should not quash the decision made

by Jagdeo.

The second named defendant is Valmiki Singh of the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU), the authority which assigns frequencies.

It was recently revealed that Jagdeo, in the very month he was leaving the Office of the President, granted five radio frequencies to his best friend Dr. Ranjisinghi Ramroop; the company which publishes the newspaper of the ruling party; and Telcor, which has as its directors Ruth Baljit, the sister of Minister Robert Persaud, and Kamini Persaud, who is the niece of Jagdeo and wife of Minister Robert Persaud.

One frequency each was granted to seven other companies.

In the proceedings, Woolford claims that Jagdeo had signed an agreement with then Opposition Leader Robert Corbin in May 2003, saying that no broadcast licences would be issued until the new broadcasting legislation comes into effect.

However, Jagdeo went ahead and granted those new

frequencies almost one year before the broadcasting act came into being. The Broadcast Act came into being at the end of August, 2012.

Woolford is claiming that he applied for radio broadcast frequencies in October 1997.

However, he claimed he never received a response from the NFMU. In documents filed in the court, Woolford claimed that the sole and predominant purpose of issuing 15 frequencies to three companies was done to ensure “overcrowding the radio spectrum” and to ensure that the Broadcast Authority would find it easy to refuse applicants.

Woolford stated that Kaieteur News, Stabroek News and Capitol News have for several years prior to the granting of the licences, criticised the government for human rights violations and breaches of the rule of law The three named media houses applied for FM Radio Broadcasting frequencies but none of them got any.

In the second challenge filed in the High Court, National Media and Publishing Company, publishers of Kaieteur News, and the Guyana Media Proprietors’ Association have asked the court to make a declaration that the granting of those radio licences was done under improper considerations and was discriminatory, unconstitutional and of no legal effect.

The action by the Media Proprietors Association is also against those who were granted cable licences by Jagdeo, namely his friend Brian Yong and the ruling party’s associate Vishok Persaud.

Those filing the second challenge claim that for sixteen months after the allotment of the radio licences, the names of the persons who were granted licences “remained a dark secret within the bosom of President Jagdeo until the Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, was obliged to do so in the National Assembly.

The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) deems the distribution of radio and broadcasting frequencies by President Bharrat Jagdeo as unfair and as a danger to freedom of expression in general and press freedom in particular.

This is according to theACM’s President, Wesley Gibbings, yesterday in a press statement on the settlement of broadcast licensing dispute in Guyana. He believes that the dispute could be settled with dialogue.

Gibbings stated, “The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) joins with the Guyana Press Association (GPA) in expressing grave concern that the assigning of radio and television broadcasting frequencies in Guyana has not been in keeping with best regulatory practice for the sector and poses a real and present danger to freedom of expression in general and press freedom in particular.”

This danger Gibbings speaks of, was created when Jagdeo ignored independent media requests for radio licences and gifted his close friends and political party with radio and television broadcasting frequencies before demitting office in November 2011.

Private media in Guyana

has been protesting Bharrat Jagdeo’s use of executive powers to grant his party’s newspaper, The Mirror, five frequencies to broadcast across the country. The move has widely been seen as carefully planned by Jadgeo and the ruling party to control the airwaves of Guyana. Jagdeo also granted five frequencies to his personal friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi “Bobby” Ramroop and another five to Omkar Lochan, Permanent Secretary of Natural Resources Minister, Robert Persaud.

Persaud happens to be the nephew-in-law of Jagdeo.

The former President did not stop there. He also granted two television cable licenses to close associates–Brian Yong and Vishok Persaud. Persaud is the son of the late former Government Parliamentarian and Agriculture Minister, Reepu Persaud.

Yong was a candidate for the ruling party during the 2011 elections.

Reportedly, the 2.5 Gigahertz band to Persaud and Yong are capable of offering other services, including catering to smartphones and the popular tablets computers. Radios and telephone services could also be offered using this band. There have been several protests by local media houses which had

applications in for radio licences but were inexplicably sidelined when Jagdeo made his decision. There are indications that no procedures were followed and that the former President merely used his executive powers, knowing he had days left in office.

According to Gibbings, the association believes the current unsatisfactory state of affairs can be resolved via a process of dialogue aimed at achieving the following short and long-term objectives. He suggested the establishment of an independent regulatory authority accountable to the people of the Republic of Guyana through the country’s parliament; and the establishment of an appointments process to the Board of the Authority based on professional familiarity with the media sector and not on political alignment of any kind. Gibbings said that the governance process for the broadcasting sector should be the responsibility of the Authority, not a Government Minister or Ministry, and should not extend to the Internet.

“Content regulations related to the sector should be clear and unambiguous, be in full

compliance with the principle of free expression and designed to satisfy public interest prerogatives as defined under the law,” he noted. In addition, the process for the granting of licences and concessions should be transparent, fair and equitable and the Authority should be accountable to parliament for its decisions. Gibbings reminded, “The Republic of Guyana is bound by the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to create the conditions under which freedom of expression is respected and applied by all citizens.” He said that there is also the globally-accepted commitment to promote the concept of media pluralism as, among other things, a check on the incidence of concentration of media ownership. Under such conditions, all ideas, opinions and other forms of social, political and cultural expression thrive.

“Our proposals should, however, not serve as a constraint on the assigning of frequencies to applicants currently in the queue for consideration. The fact that some licenses have been awarded in the absence of a regime based on transparency and accountability is regrettable,” he said.

Issuance of favoured radio and broadcasting frequencies danger to freedom of expression - Media body

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Saturday April 20, 2013

Lindeners to pay for waste collection

By Jeff Trotman Linden householders will have to pay $300 to have their domestic waste collected and transported to a landfill site following an agreement signed by the Region Ten Democratic Council (RDC), and Cevon’s Waste Management on December 19, last.

The agreement is for ten years and came into effect on January 2, last. It is renewable based on satisfactory performance of the contractor.

However, the collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste under the agreement has not begun since Lindeners were not informed of the new arrangement until there was a discussion on the NCN Programme ‘What You Need to Know’.

One of the terms of the agreement is that there should be adequate public awareness and information on the new waste disposal regime before it goes into effect.

The RDC and the Contractor were expected to notify residents of the services to be provided by the contractor. These include the placement and disposal requirements regarding solid waste; the specific location for collection of solid waste; schedule time and date of pick up; the cost for service; official landfill sites; the mechanisms by which residents can address incomplete or non performance of the service to be provided by the Contractor and any other complaints.

RDC concerns

When the matter came up for discussion during correspondence at the first RDC Statutory Meeting for 2013, Regional Chairman, Sharma Solomon, said he had explained to Local Government Minister, Norman Whittaker, that the Linden Municipality instead of the RDC, should have signed that agreement.

The Regional Chairman said that he also informed the Local Government Minister “of the danger of the programme not being properly promoted and advertised. If prior notice is not given, persons would only know that they have to pay for garbage when garbage is being collected.”

Solomon claims there are complications in the agreement because the municipality will have to pick up garbage that the contractor does not collect and the contractor is not responsible for street corner garbage.

Currently, the Linden municipality picks up household solid waste free of cost.

The Regional Chairman said he had expressed another concern to the Local Government Minister that “if the awareness campaign is not done we (Linden) can have more street corner garbage than we’re trying to prevent because when households don’t agree to pay the $300, they will dump on the street corner.”

Solomon added that because people were not properly sensitized to the new garbage regime before it was started “they might just don’t want to pay and claim that they pay rates and taxes

although we all know that the rates and taxes are ridiculously low.”

He said that he wanted it to be put on record that he as Regional Chairman had voiced objections on various matters coming out of the signed solid waste collection and disposal services agreement.

He, however, stated that the programme had been advertised nationally and it has been implemented in seven other Regions.

During the RDC Statutory Meeting, the Chairman of the Region’s Health and Environment Committee, Maurice Butters, said that when Minister Whittaker outlined the Waste Management Programme for Region Ten, he objected to the way it was done because the people in Linden were not involved in the exercise from its inception.

“Until now, the people in Linden and Region Ten don’t even know about this programme,” Butters said.

“Here it is, you have a contract already signed, committing the people of Linden to pay $300 for collection.

“They (Cevon’s Waste Management) would be providing the containers for people, who would sign an agreement, and they would be responsible to dispose of what would be put in that container.

“But what I’m more concerned about as a Councilor, representing the people of Region Ten, and as Chairman of the Health and Environment Committee, we were asked to work along with Cevon’s to educate, advertise

and inform the people of Linden about this programme.

“I am very uncomfortable about doing this in the sense that Cevon’s might have programmes on NCN or at different locations and for me to go there would give the impression that I am part of the whole thing – that I am in agreement with the whole thing and with what is going on - without the knowledge of the people out there from the inception.”

Noting Butters’ concern, the Regional Chairman said that he had also told the Local Government Minister that the Chairman of the Health and Environment Committee had been brought up to date after the fact and it does not go well in promoting the Region by the Regional representatives.

The Regional Chairman said that irrespective of all that had transpired the Regional Health and

Environment Committee should review the contract and make recommendations as to where there are shortcomings and how these can affect residents in terms of garbage and waste management in Linden.

During the RDC meeting, concerns were expressed that landfill sites of the new waste disposal regime could affect the town’s potable water sources.

The Regional Chairman said the contractors and Minister Norman Whittaker had indicated that an environmental assessment was done to the satisfaction of the government.

Meanwhile, RDC Councilor Charles Sampson said he is perplexed that such a contract was signed in Linden. Sampson, who is also a member of the Linden IMC, said the L i n d e n To w n Council has enough garbage trucks and

equipment to provide adequate waste disposal service in Linden but the Council is unable to attract workers because of its low wages and salaries.

He said the $300 that the contractor would be collecting is equivalent to rates and taxes for most buildings in Linden. “We’re going to get some problems,” Sampson said.

“Look at it this way, if you’re paying $300 a month that is $3,600 a year. I remember paying rates and taxes up to 2023 and it was less than $3,000.”

According to him, if the town council could get people to pay their rates and taxes as well as obtain a more realistic scale of rates and taxes, it would be able to better pay its workers and there would not be any need for private contractors to provide services such as waste collection and disposal.

Man jailed, partner remanded for possession of AK47 Two men were nabbed before their alleged plan to rob a mining camp became a reality. Yesterday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Chief Magistrate Priya Beharry, Andrew McDonald, 28, of 11&12 Triumph pleaded not guilty to the allegations whilst Joel Joseph, 22, of Lot 3 Byderabo Road, Berbice pleaded guilty to three counts as charged.

The charges read to the defendants in court were that within the time frame of April 1 and April 16, at Buck Hall, Essequibo River, the two conspired with others to commit a felony.

On April 16, they allegedly

had in their possession one AK47 without being the owner of a licence. Further on the April 16, the defendants were allegedly found with 12 live rounds measuring 7.62 x 39 without being the legal owner of a valid license. .According to court documents, On April 16, ranks of the Guyana Police Force were on duty along the Buck Hall trail when about 23:00 hours, motor lorry DRR 1317, was stopped. The vehicle which consisted of several occupants including the defendants, was searched.

Subsequently, a bag belonging to McDonald contained an AK47. Another

bag belonging to Joseph was also discovered and ranks therein found a dozen 7.62 x 39 rounds. All occupants were arrested and investigations were carried out which revealed that the defendants were planning to commit a robbery at a mining camp in the interior. Moreover, legal advice was sought and the charges were instituted.

Joseph was sentenced to four years imprisonment on each charge which will run concurrently whilst McDonald was remanded.

The trial is due to commence on April 24 at Wakenaam Magistrate’s court.

Anthony Alexander Collymore

Janice Edwards

Anthony Alexander Collymore and Janice Edwards are asked to contact the police on telephone

numbers: 226-1326, 226-7065, 225-2227, 225-6411, 911 or the nearest police station.

Cops seek man for fraud, woman for break and enter

Police are seeking a 40year-old man for fraud and a 34-year-old woman for break and enter and larceny.

A police release said that Anthony Alexander Collymore is wanted for questioning in relation to fraud. It also stated that Collymore, of African ancestry, was born on October 14, 1973, and that his last known address is given as Lot 198 Camp Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown.

According to the release, Janice Edwards is wanted for questioning in relation to break and enter and larceny.

The suspect, of mixed ancestry, was born on June 7, 1979 and her last known address was given as Lot 121 ‘C’ Field, Sophia.

Persons with information about the whereabouts of

Saturday April 20, 2013

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Saturday April 20, 2013

Govt. vows to improve living standards despite budget cuts Despite budgetary cuts to the national budget imposed by the parliamentary opposition, Government has assured that it will continue to work to improve the living standards of people countrywide.

This was the assertion of Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who during a press conference at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown, stated that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) will seek to provide subsidies for water and electricity rates for pensioners. Government, he said, will also cater to the

provision of school uniforms and school feeding programmes.

Nandlall made these disclosures even as he commented on moves by the joint opposition to slash from the budget allocations to various vital sectors thereby denying Guyanese from all walks of life certain facilities and services that human beings enjoy all over, as part of their basic human rights.

“The PPP/C will never abandon our people. While A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) have betrayed our people, the PPP/C

Members of Parliament (MPs) will stand with our people.”

The opposition, according to Nandlall, was successful in their quest to slash the sum of $5.2 billion from the budget that was proposed for the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL).

Government, he disclosed, had allocated $10.2B to GPL in order to prevent an increase in electricity rates, even as he emphasized that the power company provides electricity to Guyanese households at approximately $60. kw hour even though real cost is about $80 kw hour.

“In addition to providing support to GPL to prevent a rise in electricity rates, the PPP/C Government support of $10.255B to GPL was intended to help GPL to expand its distribution and transmission system by the construction of five new substations and expansion of two existing sub stations.”

The subsidy was intended to further reduce loss reduction and enhance energy conservation, added Nandlall.

“The merciless cut of $5.225B from GPL’s budget means that the MPs from AFC and APNU are deliberately

trying to prevent improvement of electricity supply to the people of Guyana and to cause a rise in electricity rates to the people of Guyana.”

While $10.22B seems to be high, it comes out to be an annual subsidy of about $13,000 per capita, said Nandlall.

“This means that the uncaring MPs of APNU and the AFC have disgustingly cut the PPP/C subsidy of $13,000 per person to less than $6,000 per person.”

He highlighted too that the 2013 budget has a subsidy of $2.9B for electricity to the communities of Kwakwani and Linden.

This allocation would in fact work out to be about $72,000 per person, he said.

“Last year the Government had proposed that the people of Linden and Kwakwani pay a part of this cost, but the MPs of APNU and AFC rejected this. The result was a violent reaction that led to death and destruction,” recalled Nandlall yesterday.

“It will be interesting to know whether APNU and AFC think that the citizens of Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six should not benefit like the people of

Linden and Kwakwani.

The PPP/C rejects the unequal treatment of our people in Guyana by the APNU and AFC,” he insisted.

NCN and GINA Turning his attention to the cuts of the allocations to the National Communication Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA) to $1 each, Nandlall said that more than 250 workers and their families would be on the bread line as a result.

“Once again, the joint Opposition are saying to the Guyanese people that they are not entitled to information in respect of what the Government is doing for them; that they are not entitled to view important sports programmes such as cricket, football, boxing etc. including the local events which are given prominence

by NCN.” By cutting budgetary allocations to these news agencies, the Attorney General said, the Opposition is once again displaying its inherent dictatorial and antidemocratic tendencies by assaulting freedom of the press and the constitutional right and freedom of the Guyanese people to receive information.

The People’s National Congress (PNC), according to him, had done precisely the same thing “during their dictatorial reign when they were in government. They murdered and jailed journalists. They banned importation of news print. They monopolised the press. They tolerated no dissenting views.

“Today, with the limited power they enjoy in the Opposition, they continue their attack on the press. They remain critical of the Government for liberating the airwaves in relation to radio licences,” added a very vocal Nandlall yesterday.

He noted that “paradoxically and illogically, they continue to demand airtime on NCN and press coverage from GINA but yet they cut the Budget of these agencies to $1.

In other words, they have completely shut down these entities yet they want coverage from them.

It simply does not make sense.”

Nandlall said that Government is of the view that even as the consideration of the estimates continues the cutting and slashing of the budget is likely to continue.

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 29

Gold miner loses $70M as imported containers turn up empty A local gold mining investor is now counting over $70M in losses after the two imported containers which should have accommodated boxes of mercury, turned up empty.

The materials were purchased from a Company in China called Qingdao Basite Chemical Industry, and shipped by ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Limited. It was received in Guyana via John Fernandes Limited.

A representative of the local importer told Kaieteur News yesterday that when the first container was opened at the John Fernandes Wharf, it was done in the presence of Customs Officers, representatives of John Fernandes, and relatives of the importer. The container which was expected to have housed 35 boxes of bottles containing mercury was clearly sealed.

Security camera footage has cleared the air as far as John Fernandes Limited is concerned. Kaieteur News was provided with these videos which showed that the containers were not tampered with.

Meanwhile, closer examinations revealed that the 35 boxes were empty. Of this number, 20 of the boxes contained bottles, but even those were empty.

Upon arrival to Guyana, some of the mercury was expected to have been sold while the rest would have facilitated the importer’s gold mining business.

After this “heartrending” discovery was made, the importers made immediate contact with Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur, who subsequently granted permission for the importer to examine their

goods before it had to be processed.

Processing fees were paid on the first opened container, but with the permission from Sattaur, the importer did not have to pay to examine the second container.

This shipment contained larger quantity of mercury; 40 boxes. This too was also sealed empty.

Kaieteur News was told that the transaction was done via an agent in China. The agent was “fully” researched and hired to recommend a “trusted” company to provide the mercury.

The embattled importer does not have proof of where the breakdown lies, but is confident that the chemical company is responsible.

The importer is in the process of penning a letter to the Chinese Embassy, the Office of the President, and the chemical company.

A multi-million-dollar project aimed at improving the quality of service and supply of electricity to several communities across Guyana is moving ahead aggressively, according to Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).

Residents of Cummings Park, Georgetown, one of the beneficiaries of the project, will now get improved electricity, and reduced power outages and low voltage as infrastructural works have been completed in the area under the network rehabilitation project implemented by GPL. The project which is funded under a loan agreement between Guyana and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), seeks to build capacity and energy conservation, rehabilitate the low voltage distribution network and commercial loss reduction actions.

This new distribution system is designed to reduce losses by the company as a

result of illegal connections and substandard network and, to enable customers to become more energy conscious through the use of the Prepaid Metering System.

According to GPL, the new system will be implemented in 18 other communities: La Grange, Canal Number Two, East La Penitence, North East La Penitence, Mon Repos, Enmore, Victoria and Helena in Region Four, Windsor Forest in Region Three, Now or Never, Cotton Tree and Rosignol Housing Scheme in Region Five and Edinburg, Lochaber, Canje, Rose Hall, Miss Phoebe Port Mourant and Springlands in Region Six. As part of the project, consumers would be better educated on several issues to allow for better management of electricity consumption under a Social Management Programme.

“The aim of the outreaches is to engage residents and businesses in discussion about the project,

its benefits, challenges and schedule for outages as well as listen to recommendations and complaints from residents and businesses.

Schools within the communities to benefit from the rehabilitation will be involved in energy conservation discussions, spelling bee and debating competitions during the project,” GPL said.

These are all aimed at educating the residents, including children, about the importance of electricity and the need to practice conservation.

“Residents are encouraged to participate in the community meetings to become aware of what steps they should take to better manage their electricity use.

Dates, times and venues for meetings will be published in the daily newspapers as well as on the radio and television, the company will also be distributing flyers within the villages as the dates and times for meetings approaches.”

GPL rolls out outreach to educate customers

Help and Shelter hosts ‘Salute to Mothers’ fundraiser On Sunday, Help and Shelter will be hosting its annual “Salute the Mothers” fundraiser brunch on the lawns of the Georgetown Club, Camp Street. The event starts from10 am.

Entertainment will be provided by Dave Martins and Friends.

Eighteen years ago, a group of concerned persons vowed that no one in danger of being abused in their homes by their partners should ever be alone and

without refuge.

Today the nation is seeing the results of their vision; a shelter for abused women and their children, a crisis centre where anyone, man or woman, who is a victim or at risk of domestic violence, can access help and support.

The centre affords them their dig n i t y, a n d t h e i r right to live free from fear and harm.

Help and Shelter receives funding from the

g o v e rnment and from a variety of concerned groups.

The needs are great and the financial gap continues to widen each year.

Last year alone, more than 30 persons were violently killed by their partners. Some have been maimed for life.

Apart from the deva s t a t i n g s o c i a l a n d personal cost of domestic and sexual violence, the direct and indirect economic cost to the national economy is enormous.

- blames Chinese chemical company

Page 30

Kaieteur News

DTV CHANNEL 8 08:55 hrs. Sign On 09:00 hrs. Back at the Barnyard 10:00 hrs. Fanboy and Chum Chum 11:00 hrs. The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius 11:30 hrs. Prime News 12:00 hrs. Movie: Too Young to Die 14:00 hrs. Movie: Glass House: The Good Mother 17:00 hrs. The Baptist Hour 18:00 hrs. World News 18:30 hrs. Nightly News 19:00 hrs. Greetings and

Announcements 20:00 hrs. Alliance on the Move (Live) 21:00 hrs. Indian Movie 00:00 hrs. Sign Off MTV CHANNEL 14/ CABLE 65 06:00hrs - Living Word presentation 06:30hrs - Peace Love & Harmony (live) 07:00hrs - Dabi’s Bhajan Hour 07:30hrs - Times of Refreshing (live) 08:00hrs - Full Life Broadcast with Pastor

Saturday April 20, 2013

Findlay 08:30hrs - News Update 09:30hrs - Living the Life 10:00hrs - Children Movie: Lego Batman 11:30hrs - Cartoons 13:00hrs - National Geographic: Big Cats 14:00hrs - National Geographic: Micro Planet 3D 15:00hrs - Payless variety Show 16:00hrs - Sitcom 16:30hrs - Alabama Trading Music break 17:00hrs - Birthdays & other Greetings 17:15hrs - Death Announcements/ In Memoriam 17:30hrs - Sitcom

18:00hrs - Searching the Scriptures with Devi 18:30hrs - Cabinet Briefing 19:00hrs - Apex Forum (Live) 20:15hrs - MTV music break 20:30hrs - Indian Movie: Student of the Year 22:00hrs - English Movie: Pitch Black NTN CHANNEL 11 05:00hrs - Inspiration 05:30hrs - Newtown Gospel 06:00hrs - Feature 06:15hrs - IPL- KKR vs Super kings 09:30hrs - Pulse Beat 10:00hrs - Kross Kolor School Show 11:00hrs - Ebenezer Praise Time

12:00hrs - Save the Children 12:30hrs - Epic Hype- Live 13:00hrs - IPL- RCB vs Royals 16:00hrs - Revelation & Power 17:00hrs - Feature 17:30hrs - Choices 18:00hrs - NCN News Magazine – Live 18:30hrs - Close Up 19:00hrs - Feature 19:30hrs - President’s Diary 20:00hrs - 3d/daily millions/ play de dream/lotto draw 20:05hrs - Video Hit List- Live 21:00hrs - Jingle & Song Competition - Bollywood 22:30hrs - Bollywood Hits 23:30hrs - Caribbean Next Top Model 24:00hrs - Movie

Guides are subjected to change without notice

Saturday April 20, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): You really don’t want to wait for others to catch up with you because yesterday’s anticipation has turned into today’s impatience.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20): You prefer to make a plan and stick to it, but now you’re likely to change your mind at the very last minute. You could receive an invitation to a social event that you might normally consider skipping.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20): Your key planet, Mercury, hooks up with brilliant Uranus in your 11th House of Dreams ... provoking you to think about your future in a whole new light. You’re suddenly inspired to head off in an entirely different direction.

CANCER (June 21–July 22): You may feel anxious now because it’s difficult to stop thinking about the plethora of possible paths in front of you.

There’s so much going on within your head that you can’t filter through all the noise to hear what’s really being said.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22): You probably think that your friends are acting weird today when they speak without considering the consequences of their words.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): You’re itching to experiment with unconventional methods today, but a friend or partner may resist your efforts. Some of your outrageous ideas lead you on wild goose chases, but one brilliant thought might result in a real breakthrough now.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): You don’t want any discord in your life, but believing that everything is perfect today could leave you feeling detached from reality.

It may appear like everyone is having a lovely time, but this is not the entire picture now as anger lurks beneath a tranquil surface.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): Finally, you’re able to get back to the research that you recently had to set aside. Your mind is like a sharply honed razor today and your intuition is working like a finely tuned sonar.

SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): Others often want to play with you because they know that you are usually up for an adventure. Although you’re looking forward to having fun, you may still find it difficult to kick back and relax as highfrequency static interferes with your senses today.

CAPRICORN(Dec.22–Jan.19): You know that something significant is happening, yet you’re distracted by weird ideas that you can’t get out of your head. It’s easy to slip into an obsessive pattern by resisting the stream of radical thoughts that flow through your mind.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18): Inventive ideas are popping into your consciousness so fast that you may not be able to keep up with them.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): Today’s ingenious Mercury-Uranus conjunction strikes in your 2nd House of Resources, but it’s challenging to make practical use of your current brilliance.

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 31

Page 32

WISA Division 2 As the old adage goes, “Who last laugh, laughs the best”, well the first laugh was coming from the Regal’s dugout.

They took first strike but suffered an early set back at 6 for 1 off 2 overs. With some attacking batting thereafter by the Regal’s batsmen, balls were flying to all parts of the playfield situated on Redfern Avenue & Beach 12, USA. V. Singh (67 runs) and A. Rampersad (69) made full use of the small boundaries, taking on every bowler that was introduced. They were scoring freely as well as loosing wickets. Eventually Regal XI ended their innings on 269-9 off their 25 overs.

Sanjay, Nazam and M. Khan grabbed 2 wickets each bowling for Rockaway.

With brilliant sunshine and chilly winds blowing from the Atlantic, most people taught that the target of 270 was a tough ask for the team chasing.

But, knowing the conditions were well known by the Rockaway team and

Kaieteur News

Saturday April 20, 2013

Rockaway CC beat GSCL 12/12 Tournament starts today Regal X1 by 4 wickets their home ground presented another advantage backed up with a powerful batting line up; the feeling was that no target is too big for the Rockaway boys on home turf.

With an asking rate of 10.8 per over, openers M. Ali ‘Bunty’ slammed a 101 and Charlie hit 43 in laying a solid foundation for their teammates to build on and to also ensure that they had the last laugh.

No Regal bowler was spared and felt the full length of the Rockaway batters blade to the extent that panic crept into the Regal camp which saw them cracking up.

Imran Hassan chipped in with 35 as Rockaway reached their target of 270 losing 6 wickets along the way with 2balls to spare from the 25 overs.

Despite one team coming out victor, both teams enjoyed the very exciting encounter. M. Ali ‘Bunty’ was named the most valuable player for his matching winning 101. Rockaway also won another game against

M. Ali ‘Bunty’ the local Boys which was contested on April 7.

Rockaway Cricket Club is sponsored by Mr. Hafeez Ali of Rockaway Car Service and Roti Shop, A Ali (Jango) of Ozone Auto Repairs and H. Ali (Ginger) of All in One Construction.

The inaugural Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) 12/12 Tournament bowls off today and continue tomorrow with matches scheduled for the Everest Cricket Club ground, starting, at 10:00hrs. On-field action will be preceded by a brief opening ceremony from 09:30hrs.

Twelve (12) teams were placed into four groups on Tuesday, during the Launch that was conducted at the Guyana National Industrial Corporation Pavilion.

Today’s fixtures will feature teams from groups B and C. Speed Boat will oppose Recharge, with Farm XI playing the winner and loser of that contest in that order in a group B fixture while out of group C, Universal DVD Titans will oppose Trophy Stall XI In the first encounter, with Hillfoot Vipers taking on the loser of the opening match followed by a contest against the winner.

Tomorrow’s action pits Memorex playing out of Group A against Herstelling in the opening encounter,

with Smith XI taking on the loser of the first encounter, before they tackle the winner while in group C, Bartica Challengers will oppose Regal XI in the first match, with Cotton Field Wild Oats taking on the winner and loser respectively.

At stake in the competition is $600,000 and a trophy for the winner, the loser will receive $200,000 and a trophy, the best batsman and bowler $5,000 and a trophy each, while the Player of the Series will receive a 3 piece suite, Black and Decker Oven and one Hamilton Beach juice extractor.

The semifinals and finals will be contested next Sunday, at the same venue, with the winner of group A taking on the top team from group C in the first semifinals, while the second semifinal will see group B and D winners do battle.

Dilo Enterprise, DC

Promotions, Five Star Minerals, El Dorado Trading and Ryan and Reuben Mahadeo (all out of Bartica), Star Party Rentals, Regal Stationery and Computer Supplies, Romain Car Wash, Bank of Baroda, Ravi Sarwan and Trophy Stall are some of the sponsors on board with this tournament and admission to the venue on all playing days is free.

As an added attraction to the hundreds of spectators who are expected to witness the actio, there will be a raffle at a $100 a ticket that carries a first place prize of one Daewoo double door refrigerator.

The second to fifth placed prizes for the raffle which will be drawn on the final day of the tournament are three piece living room suites, 32" LCD Sony Bravia television set, Royal four burner gas stove and a G-shock mountain bicycle respectively.

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

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Inter School U-13 football competition in Berbice

Canje Secondary and Tutorial Academy to collide in final Surprise package Canje Secondary School (CSS) and Tutorial Academy Secondary School (TASS) are the school that will clash in the final of the fourth edition of the Trinidad and Guyana Sports Club and Outreach Programme (TGSCOP) U-13 Inter Secondary school football competition for schools in the NA/ Canje district, which is being played at the All Saints Scott’s Church ground in New Amsterdam.

In semifinal play Thursday, giant killers CSS with a goal off the boot of Dwayne Austin squeezed past last year’s losing finalist Overwinning Secondary school (OSS) 1-0 to continue their unbeaten run in the competition.

In the second semifinal it was Tutorial Academy Secondary School (TASS) who surprisingly failed to show up for their first game that whipped Berbice Educational Institute (BEI) 41 to book their place in the final.

TASS’s onslaught was led

by doubles off the boots of Lamar Reid and Joshua Butts.

Mark Porter scored the consolation goal for BEI. The third place playoff will precede the final with OSS coming up against BEI. In results of matches played on the final day of the preliminary rounds which was held on Wednesday, Giant killers CSS through a Dwayne Austin strike in the last minute of play, needled NAMS 1-0 to play unbeaten and end the preliminary round on nine points.

In another game, OSS for their part surprised SON 1-0 with the winner coming off the boot of Gevon Shultz. The next game saw BEI continued BHS dismal run in the competition with a 2-0 victory with goals coming off the boot of Arion Kendall and Daniel Thomas.

In the final game TASS continued their strong comeback in the competition with a Lamar Reid double leading them to a comfortable 2-0 victory over VESS. (Samuel Whyte)

2013 Berbice River Bridge First Division 50-Over Knock-out Competition starts tomorrow The inaugural Berbice River Bridge first Division 50Over Knock-out Cricket Competition organised by the Berbice Cricket Board starts tomorrow with six (6) first round matches.

Thirteen teams including last year’s Ramcharitar Knock-out Berbice champions, Young Warriors Universal DVD, are down to participate. D’Edward opted out due to their involvement in earlier organised activities.

Tomorrow’s first round fixtures: Port Mourant Karibee Rice vs Police at Port

Mourant Skeldon Community Centre vs Upper Corentyne at Skeldon Rose Hall Town Gizmos & gadgets vs Cotton Tree Die Hard at Rose Hall Town Albion Community Centre vs Bermine at Albion Edinburgh vs Blairmont Community Centre at Edinburgh Bush Lot United Rising Star vs West Berbice at Bush Lot in West Berbice Young Warriors Universal DVD Bye. All of the matches are scheduled to start at 09:30 hours.

Adams to lead E’bo in...

From page 38 37; Gonsalves had 3-31. In another encounter, Adams stroked a fine 144 to lead his team to 335 all out after they decided to take first strike. Shivendra Hemraj supported with 38 and Ricardo Peters made 29 as Herry Green captured 4-40 and Kemo Paul 2-58. Paul XI in reply were 196-6 when the game was called off to facilitate a 40 over match. Paul hit an unbeaten 60 while Avinash Persaud chipped in with 56 and Andy Dass 26; Gonsalves took 2 wickets.

Dorway plans to make...

From page 36 bantamweight belt over 12 rounds. This replacement occurred after Dharry’s original opponent, Hewley Robinson, sustained a shoulder injury and had to seek medical attention.

He was later deemed unfit for the bout.

Ticket prices vary with the VIP section being $10,000 while ringside and outer ringside cost $5000 and $2500 respectively.

Page 33

GCB LAUNCHES GTM INTER COUNTY U-19 TOURNAMENTS

GTM Group Marketing Officer, Yasmin Bowman hands over the sponsorship cheque to Secretary of the GCB, Anand Sanasie in the presence of other officials from the GCB and GTM

By Zaheer Mohamed The Guyana and Trinidad Mutual Fire and Life Insurance Company (GTM) has once again sponsored the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) inter county U-19 tournaments. The company presented a cheque for $3,875,000 million to the GCB at the launching which took place yesterday at the GTM head office in Georgetown.

This year, the GCB has included a President’s X1, increasing the number of teams to four. The competition which began in 1976 is of tremendous importance to the GCB as it being used by the junior Selectors to select the Guyana team for West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Regional Under-19 competition later this year.

This is the largest sponsorship by GTM in the 36-year-old history of the competition which has produced a number of Guyana and West Indies Test players.

Clyde Butts and Neil McGarrell are the only two Guyanese in the last three

decades to play Test cricket without taking part in the GTM competition.

Guyana’s premier youth cricket tournament started as a 3-Day competition, but a One-Day tournament has been included after the introduction of a Regional Under-19 limited overs series to complement the Three-Day version which began in 1999 in Barbados.

At a simple ceremony, Secretary of the GCB, Anand Sanasie thanked GTM for their solid support over the years. He noted that despite the absence of 2012, GTM is one of the most successful and devoted sponsors over the years. Sanasie also spoke of the effectiveness of the annual GTM Under-19 InterCounty tournaments.

“The bulk of our players normally pass through GTM competitions, it is very useful since it is one that builds the cricketers,” he added.

Speaking at the ceremony, General Manager of the company, Roger Yee said that he was pleased to continue the relationship between the

GCB and GTM. “We at GTM are very pleased to be associated with the GCB in this venture for the past three decades. We have been looking on from the outside and the progress made by some of the players who participated in this competition is worth mentioning.

We are pleased to be connected with a competition that is efficiently run by the GCB where the likes of Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan just to name a few have excelled,” Yee said.

The first round is set for the Wales Community Centre ground and Everest Cricket Club ground from Wednesday April 24-26 when Essequibo clash with Demerara and the President’s X1 oppose Berbice.

The second round will be played from Sunday April 28th -30th with Berbice playing Essequibo at the Demerara Cricket Club ground and Demerara taking on the President’s X1 at Enmore Community Centre ground.

In the final round of the Three-Day competition which is scheduled for May 2nd -4th will see Demerara doing battle with Berbice at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, while the President’s X1 will face Essequibo at the Everest Cricket Club ground.

The One-Day tournament bowls off on May 6th with the President’s X1 challenging Essequibo at Everest Cricket Club ground and Berbice clashing with Demerara at Albion Sports Complex.

In round two scheduled for May 8th, Berbice will take on the President’s X1 at the Demerara Cricket Club ground, while Essequibo entertains Demerara at Georgetown Cricket Club ground.

In the final round on May 10, Essequibo and Berbice will clash at the Imam Bacchus ground, Affiance Essequibo, while the President’s X1 plays Demerara at Wales Community Centre ground.

The final is set for May 12th at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Bourda.

Page 34

Kaieteur News

Linden segment of Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ reaches KO stage

The knockout stages of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Competition in Linden is expected to commence this evening with eight matches, at the Wisroc Bus Park, starting from 18:00 hrs.

Following six nights of intense rivalry amongst the 32 teams, which saw defending champions TLC Shippings Russians, Coomacka United and Silver Bullets play unbeaten, the competition has now reached the stage where previous performances goes out the window and it is niw a question of which team performs better on the night.

The Russians backed their pre-tournament talk, by scoring seven goals while their defence ensured no one found the back of their net, as they topped Group H with a perfect 3 in 3 record, while being adjudged the Most Outstanding team.

Tonight they take on The Amazings who placed second in Group E on a better goal average and even though the former is regarded as the best team in the community in

this particular format of the sport, they can expect a tough encounter.

In other matchups, Group ‘E’ winners Coomacka United take on Speightland United who finished second to TLC Shippings Russians in Group H and this game promises to be a sizzler.

Trainline Warriors, the second placed finishers of Group B face off against Group C runner-up Star Boys, in a clash that follows the TLC Shippings Russians versus The Amazings encounter. Classic Six then do battle with Wisroc in a matchup of teams that finished second in Group A and D respectively.

Group D winners One Mile/Half Mile go into action against Group A winners Cherokee Park, while Hard Knocks who finished as the top team out of Group B square off against Silver Bullets, who topped Group C. The night’s action culminates with Retrieve Unknowns who placed second in Group F, taking on the winners of Group G Mini Bus. To date, 92 games were played and 111 goals scored, with Classic Six’s Mario Batson leads the goals tally with five goals followed

by Shawn Daniels (TLC Shippings Russians), John Waldron (Mini Bus) and Derwin Daw of Coomacka United with three goals each.

The quarterfinals will be contested next Saturday, semifinals two days later and finals on 1st May at the same venue and at stake is one year’s bragging rights and $600,000 for the top team, while the top two finishers earn a place in the national playoffs.

Saturday April 20, 2013

Hikers Hockey Club Mixed Team Festival...

Promising junior stick players on show tomorrow -Global Technology, Woodpecker Products recognised Some of the most promising junior players will be on show when the Hikers Hockey Club stages its inaugural 7-a-side mixed team Festival tomorrow, at the St. Stanislaus College ground on Carifesta Avenue.

According to a release from the Organisers, players the likes of Omar Hopkinson, Micah Hartman, Mark Sargeant, Leroy Jack, Jamarj Assanah and Aroydy Branford for the men, while Aliyah Gordon, Laticia Chung, Dacia Woodroffe and Samantha Fernandes will be among those appearing for the ladies.

President of the club Devin Munroe, speaking during Thursday’s press briefing which was held at

Antonio’s Grille said the day’s event will also have the presence of the national ladies team currently preparing for the Pan Am Cup in Argentina later this year, while most of the top men’s players will be on show.

Nine teams will be divided into two groups with each side mandated to have a minimum of three female players. The tournament which is being used as a fund raiser will see the top two teams from each group move forward to the semi-finals, before the winners advance to the final.

Up for grabs is $50,000 and medals for the winning team, while the losers go home with $30,000 and medals.

Among the sponsors of the Festival are: Ansa McAl under its Stag Beer brand, Global Technology, Woodpecker Products, Antonio’s Grille, Diamond Mineral Water, Colours, EMTEC, German’s Restaurant, Jai Signs and Pepsi.

Meanwhile, the club stated that it continues to benefit from the support of Global Technology and Woodpecker Products.

The two entities are long standing sponsors of the Club and have both sponsored a team each for tomorrow’s Festival in the form of uniforms that were handed over by representatives of these companies to Munroe, who thanked them both for the kind gesture.

Banks DIH onboard Firestorm boxing card

Mortimer Stewart (left) presents the cheque to Clairmont De Souza while Keron Savory of the Sales Department looks on.

Banks DIH Limited is on board today’s “Firestorm” International Boxing card billed for the Princess Hotel and Casino.

The local beverage giants presented a sponsorship cheque to the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) during a simple ceremony at Thirst Park yesterday.

Outdoor Events Manager Mortimer Stewart made the presentation on behalf of Banks to Treasurer of the GBBC Clairmont de Souza. The card will headline Guyanese Clive Atwell and Howard Eastman, Venezuelan Raphael Hernandez and Jamaican Sakima Mulling.

Exeim Mining Supplies Golf tourney set for today at Lusignan A large field including several overseas players is expected to participate in the inaugural EXEIM MINING SUPPLIES Medal Play golf tournament slated for this Saturday at the Lusignan Golf Club.

Managing partner, Jerome Khan, who is also LGC’s president, said the recently established business EXEIM, a supplier of mining products to gold industry, will offer many fabulous prizes aside from the trophies for first,

second, third place, best gross and nearest to the pin.

So far more than 32 players have registered and keen competition is expected from inform players Alfred Mentore, William Walker, Mohanlall “Santo” Dinnanauth, Imran Khan, Gavin Todd, Mark Lashley, Brian Hackett and Fazil Haniff.

Also listed to compete are Patrick Prashad, Chatterpaul Deo, Dr. Ram Singh, Dave Mohamed, Munaff Arjune, Carlos Adams, Brian Glasford,

Clifford Reis, Albert Semple, Haresh Tewari, Maurice Solomon, Colin Ming, Dr. Philbert London, Christine Sukhram, John Tracey, Troy Cadogan, Mike Gayadin, Kassim Khan, Roy Cummings and Robert Hanoman.

Tee off is 12:30pm and the presentation of prizes is expected to take place at 5:00pm.Khan said the public is invited to witness the event and may follow their favorite players during the tournament.

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 35

NAMILCO/Bakewell T20 Champion of Champions Tourney

Albion aiming to win Kaieteur Sport continues to feature the teams that will be competing in the inaugural NAMILCO/Bakewell/Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club T20 Champion of Champions tournament set to bowl off tomorrow.

Today we are pleased to highlight Albion Cricket Club (ACC) undoubtedly one of the premier clubs in the Ancient County. Together with the Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets (RHTG&G), the two have been dominating the sport at all levels in Berbice.

ACC has produced numerous Test players for the West Indies team and that feat is unmatched in the past few years. The four players coming through the ranks and going all the way in recent times are Narsingh Deonarine, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Devindra Bishoo and Veerasammy Permaul.

This club is one of the pre-tournament favourites along with RHTG&G and would open their quest for the championship when they host Blairmont next Sunday.

West Indies Test player and ‘A’ Team Captain Veerasammy Permaul will lead the team whose batting

would be centered on Test players Narsingh Deonarine and Sewnarine Chattergoon.

Able support will come from the hard hitting Jonathan Foo, Sharaz Ramcharran, Andy Mohan, Veerapen Permaul, Kandasammy Surujnarine and Brian Dookna.

All-rounders Veerasammy Permaul and Devindra Bishoo (Vice Captain) can also lend support with the bat in the middle order if required to.

However, Albion’s strength and main area of success over the years would have been there all spin bowling attack which at home is almost impossible to get the better of. West Indies spinner Permaul, Bishoo and Deonarine will lead the attack with support from off spinners Sharaz Ramcharran, Balchan Baldeo, David Latchaya and left arm spinner Gudakesh Motie.

Recently, ACC has been unlucky in tournaments since most of their senior players are usually away on national or international duties. This would not be the case this time around however; they will be at full strength for this competition and with most of their games will be played at home which is an added

Bush Lot United Turf Club expressed appreciation The executives and members and the Bush Lot United Turf Club of Sea View Park, West Coast Berbice would like to express appreciation to all those sponsors, members of the public and the various media houses in Guyana who contributed in one way or the other in making their one day horserace meet, which was held on Sunday 14th April 2013 at the Club’s Entity at Bush Lot West Coast Berbice, a success.

The members of the management Committee would like to say a big thank you to Banks DIH Limited, Mr. Inshan Bacchus and family, Mohammed ‘Nanko’ Shariff Business enterprise and Shariff racing stable, Jumbo Jet Auto Sales and racing stables, Digicel Guyana Limited, Guyana

Tourism Authority, Eron Lall Civil Engineering and Construction, Buddy Shivraj, Lenny Singh and Family, Balram Singh and family, Shano Seenarine Business establishment.

De Roop, Francis “Chico” Chichester and family, Lakeram ‘Buddy’ Sukdeo , Rohan Oudit, Feroze Service Station, Frank Du Vallier, Trans Pacific Motor Establishment, Rohit Lumber yard, Hot and Spicy Food Beverages, Hand In Hand Insurance, International Pharmaceutical Agency, Surujnauth Sewsankar and Family of USA, Premo Baldeo among others including all the members of the Bush Lot United Turf Club. The next race meet is scheduled for September 29 and the club is looking forward for continued support.

incentive for the team.

In 2011, ACC won the Tenelec Cup and was the losing finalist in the 2012 Busta Cup competition while they also reached the semi finals of the Tenelec Cup and Ramcharitar competitions in 2012.

Their final X1 will come from Veerasammy Permaul (Captain), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Veerapen

Jonathan Foo

Gudakesh Motie

Sewnarine Chattergoon

Permaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Jonathan Foo, Devendra Bishoo (Vice Captain), Gudakesh Motie, David Latchaya, Sharaz

Ramcharran, Balchan Baldeo, Andy Mohan, Kandasammy Surujnarine, Shivnarine Shrikishun, Brian Dookna, Joshua Harrichand and

Rohan Harripersaud.

The Manager is Muthuswammi Permaul with Andre Percival performing duties as Coach.

Page 36

GBBC Firestorm boxing card...

By Michael Benjamin The vicious exchange of vile epithets that characterized the press conference last January when Mark Austin and Gladwin Dorway were scheduled to match gloves in a card promoted by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) had dwindled to naught after the latter boxer was diagnosed with a heart infection and debarred from entering the ring.

Austin had said then that he was extremely disappointed because he had felt slighted by Dorway’s prefight comments and had wanted to crush him physically and psychologically. Dorway had responded saying that his opponent, despite feigning sorrow, was happy by the turn of events and abused the situation by magnifying himself as the better boxer.

The hype and fantasy changed when cardiologists at the Caribbean Heart Institute later pronounced that Dorway was as fit as a fiddle and advised officials of the GBBC that he was given the green light to resume his career. Not one to let the opportunity for a golden fight to slip through his fingers, President of the GBBC, Peter Abdool immediately recommenced negotiations to match the two fighters and the fruits of his efforts will fructify tonight when the two gladiators square off over twelve rounds for the local welterweight belt at the Princess Hotel, Providence EBD tonight.

The fight will precede two

Kaieteur News

Saturday April 20, 2013

Dorway plans to make amends for February debacle against Austin tonight other title fights; Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman against Jamaican, Sakima Mullings and Clive Atwell up against Venezuelan, Hernandez Raphael. Fans will also be entertained when Syrian boxer, Mahmood ‘The Extractor’ Loul attempts to replicate his 1st round knockout in his debut fight against Patrick Boston when he faces off with Berbician, Derick Richmond in super/ middleweight 4 rounds middleweight shindig.

At a first glance the pundits might want to give the edge to Austin whose resume consists of several grueling bouts against Barbadian, Miguel Antoine and Barbados based Guyanese, Revlon Lake. Yes, he had lost those bouts but he had defended himself furiously up to the time of Lake’s stoppage and Antoine’s decision win.

Austin had a dream start to his career, chalking up 5 impressive wins while conceding a drawn decision against Clive Atwell. When one examines the latter boxer’s record, the Austin feat becomes even more meritorious.

Something then went wrong and Austin fell away, surrendering fights to Antoine, Simeon Hardy and Iwan Azore. He also fought Lake in a return match and suffered the ignominy of an 11th round knockout before dropping a 12 rounder to Iwan Azore for the very belt he aspires to win tonight.

Austin enters the ring with an 8-5-1 record and the fact that he was only able to knockout Errol Trotman in the very early stages of his professional career

demonstrate a poor propensity for knockouts and his ratio in this department after boxing for 88 rounds is merely 7.14. He has been engaged in many wars and had stood his ground against Simeon ‘Chin Checker’ Hardy even as other boxers fell after similar engagements.

Austin then retreated from the sport in order to conduct introspection and when he returned in December last year, Troy Lewis had been his first victim and Austin had announced that he was ready to return to his winning ways.

In the meantime, Dorway was making a name for himself and his opponents to date, Shawn Pile, Cassius Matthews, Anson Greene and David Thomas have all failed to hang around for the final bell thus earning Dorway a 100% knockout ratio. The Austin bout is Dorway’s first legitimate test and though he has earned the unenviable reputation as a knockout artiste, he will find that not all of his foes will fall. The big question therefore is, can Dorway withstand twelve fiery rounds against a boxer of Austin’s caliber?

While the argument may rest on his knockout ability and while Dorway’s fans will argue that he will close up shop way before the fight has progressed that far, one is tempted to believe that he will have to dig real deep to remove Austin within the stipulated period of the bout.

Should he fail to take out Austin, is Dorway experienced enough to rally through the latter rounds while dominating his opponent? Would Dorway be able to withstand the grueling

Mark Austin (right) and Gladwin Dorway will square off tonight. pace that Austin is known to whip up in the latter rounds?

It is certainly one thing to spew rhetoric in pre-fight press conferences but the real test of a boxer’s ability lies within the ‘square jungle.’

Tonight’s confrontation will determine whether Dorway is made of the stern stuff he so grandiloquently professes to possess.

Dorway had inadvertently

sustained an injury in his initial attempt at Austin.

Tonight he enters the ring free of all heart ailments but whether or not his heart is really in the fight will only be known when he enters the ring for the toughest bout of his fledgling career.

Otherwise, fans could look forward to the exciting exchanges that are bound to set the tone for a night of

fistic fury when Eastman takes on Jamaican, Mullings and Atwell squares off with Hernandez. More action will follow in the super/ middleweight bout between Syrian boxer, Mahmood ‘The Extractor’ Loul and Berbician, Derick Richmond while Elton ‘The Bully’ Dharry will clash with Orlan ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers in defense of his (Continued on page 33)

Tomorrow is D-Day in GABA League

By Edison Jefford Whenever Pacesetters and Ravens are headlining a basketball programme the stakes never seem to matter, since both teams are known to be aggressive whenever they face off, which ultimately gives little credence to what is at stake at the end.

The point is any Ravens vs Pacesetters basketball game, for some reason, is taken very personal; the two teams are diametrically opposed in persona in Georgetown. Ravens are 5-2 in the win/loss ratio and Pacesetters are 7-0, but that means nothing to them.

Tomorrow is DecisionDay; literally D-Day in the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Division I League when Trinity Grid Holdings (TGH) Pacesetters headline the day with an expected intense showdown against Ravens.

The contest will ultimately decide how both teams finish in the League with more at stake for the Ravens since Pacesetters are unbeaten in an unassailable lead for the number one seed in the two month old competition on the Burnham Basketball Court.

TGH Pacesetters have beaten everybody except Ravens, who surprisingly dropped two games in the

Seraiah Clarke

Robert Cadogan

League to Pepsi Sonics and Colts. Ravens was seeded number one after the last League; they will drop that place in the 2013 competition, but a win over Pacesetters tomorrow could help them finish among the top three teams.

Admittedly, Ravens had its issues throughout the League, which had nothing to do with shortage of talent, but as senior player and team administrator, Seraiah Clarke said, the team had problems with chemistry owed to internal personality clashes.

“We’re in a slump; we said we will get licks... we have a lot more licks to get, we’re not training and playing as a team, we have a lot of egos in this team,” Clarke told Kaieteur Sport recently. It was clear that Ravens knew that its problems were not on the court.

But despite those issues,

the team remains a very talented bunch of players with Ryan Gullen and Ryan Stephney having crucial roles. Pacesetters should be well-aware of the fact, which is one of the reasons Ravens cannot be taken for granted on Sunday.

Coach Robert ‘Bobby’ Cadogan has led Pacesetters with superiority in the League. He has set an undeniable standard and will want to complete his unbeaten run with a victory over his long-time nemesis, Ravens. It is certainly the best way to finish the League.

The sponsors of the Division I Grand Finale tomorrow include the New Palm Court, Mackeson, Paladin Security Service and Pier One International, which will be providing the entertainment at the Burnham Basketball Court for the Grand Finale.

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 37

Solomon for Botofago 7-A-Side Fun galore as Georgetown Turf Club stages one day gymkhana event Football President of the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA), Sharma Solomon will deliver the feature address at the opening ceremony of the Botofago Seven-A-Side Football competition, which will be held during the Linden 2013 Town Week.

Chairman of the Linden Town Week Committee, Eon Halls, will kick off the ball to set the competition in motion at 10:00am at the Silvertown Play field on Sunday April 28th, 2013.

All ten affiliated clubs of the UDFA are expected to participate in the knockout competition with the first three teams receiving cash prizes, trophies and medals.

The one-day fundraising football extravaganza is a collaboration of the Botofago Football Club and the Silvertown All Stars Sports Club in which there will also be draughts and dominoes competitions.

President of the Botofago Football Club, Colin Moore

Jockeys will vie for these beautiful trophies when the action gets underway tomorrow.

Botofago FC President, Colin Moore (left) receiving the balls from former Botofago and national player, Nigel “Mice” Cummings. has disclosed that the club has been resuscitated over the past sixteen months after being inactive for about seven years. He added that Botofago Football Club had been the pride of its host community, Silvertown and its environs for decades, producing national players such as Nigel ‘Mice’ Cummings and Ivan Persaud, recently elected Vice President of the Guyana

Football Federation (GFF).

Moore said the club with assistance from former players has purchased twenty pairs of soccer boots for its current players, who are mainly under the age of nineteen. He said the boots are expected to arrive in time for Town Week, while the fundraising venture is intended to obtain seed financing for a proposed tour of Trinidad. (Jeff Trotman)

VCB, Felix eagerly await JII meet

Veronica Campbell Brown (left) and Allyson Felix.

Jamaica Observer MONTEGO BAY, St James — Jamaican sprint queen Veronica Campbell Brown and American Allyson Felix, who have dominated the women’s 200m for almost a decade, are both looking forward to a rare meeting over the 100m at the Jamaica International Invitational (JII) on May 4 in Kingston.

In a teleconference put on by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) yesterday, both athletes said they were “excited” to be taking part in the race that they would use to gauge their preparation for the upcoming season with the Diamond League set to start in three weeks’ time.

IAAF World 2012 female Athlete-of-the-year Felix, who won three gold medals, including the 200m at the London Olympics last year, will be making her first trip to Jamaica in 11 years since she

represented the USA at the 2002 IAAF World Junior Championships in Kingston, said: “I’m just excited to open my season and see where I am.”

After a long 2012 season, the 27-year-old Felix said she is “gradually” getting back to where she “needs to be this year. I’ll be racing to get sharpness. I need to be in shape for the US nationals, so for that race (in Jamaica) it’ll be opening up and seeing where things are at.”

Campbell Brown, who will be running her first 100m, told

the participants in the teleconference: “That race will be my first 100m, so I’ll be trying to see where I am at as well. It’s always a pleasure and it’s always so much fun, and (it is) exciting to compete at home, so I’m looking forward to entertaining all the fans that are coming out to support us.” The two fierce competitors, who will be meeting for only the sixth time since 2010, have raced against each other in the individual sprints 18 times in their career.

Campbell Brown, the reigning IAAF world 200m champion, has the marked advantage in the 100m, winning six out of seven times, while the American has won seven times in 11 meetings in the 200m, including in London where Campbell-Brown was fourth.

Felix will open her Diamond league season at the opening meet in Doha, Qatar, while Campbell Brown will compete for the first time at the Adidas Classic in New York in late May.

GCC second division team donates prize money to club The Georgetown Cricket Club second division team which took the runner up spot in the recently concluded Georgetown Cricket Association\ Noble House Sea Foods second division 2 day tournament recently donated the prize money ($60,000) they received from the competition to the club.

Photo in seas pics as gcc. Manager of GCC Rudolph Singh receives the prize from captain of the second division team Devon Lord in the presence of other members.

All roads lead to the Georgetown Turf Club (GTC) aback the Mocha Arcadia community when the executive of that institution presents a grand horserace and gymkhana scheduled to get underway tomorrow midday at the East Bank Demerara facility.

Organizers have reported that all systems are in place for what is expected to be a day of frolic fun and excitement heightened by two main events, the U Classified and one cart horse race over distances of 6 furlong respectively. Additionally, turfites would be entertained with popular musical sounds as well as a well stocked bar.

Some of the horses expected to add to the excitement are Shane, Redbull, Red Light, Red Dragon, GT Rush and Hungry. These animals are listed in the ‘C’ category while several others will add to the excitement including Plucky, Starboy, Rum till I Die and Blessed Child.

Millenium Manor Hotel of 43 Hadfield Street Georgetown is the main sponsor of the programme tomorrow.

Management of the GTC promises an action packed day and said that organizers are merely attempting to reinvigorate the sport in Demerara.

Page 38

Kaieteur News

Saturday April 20, 2013

NAMILCO/Bakewell T20 Champion of Champions Tourney...

Youthful Bermine Cricket Club in focus While Bermine Cricket Club (BCC) might be one of the underdogs competing in the inaugural NAMILCO/ Bakewell/Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club T20 Champion of Champions tournament set to bowl off tomorrow, they must be taken for granted.

BCC like West Berbice, over the last five years has reached the semi-final stage of numerous first division tournaments but somehow couldn’t go all the way, losing to either Albion or RHT Gizmos & Gadgets.

Wi t h o n e o f t h e youngest teams in Berbice, Bermine is going through a learning curve and is expected to come through it a better team once their players gain more experience.

Leading Bermine is former national Under-19 player Joemal LaFleur. The team would be without the services of Eugene LaFleur, Anthony D’Andrade and Devon Clement who are all overseas fulfilling contracts.

Joemal LaFleur will be supported in the batting by Hakeem Hinds, Trison B y n o e , Keion DeJesus, Damon Vantull, Romario Sheppard and Stephen Latcha. Medium pacer Tremayne Smartt, Mark Jackman and Romario Sheppard are all capable new ball bowlers while the spin department centers around left-armers Gavin Moriah Jnr., Damon Vantull, Troy Mickle, Off-spinners Stephen Latcha and Troy Matheson.

Bermine’s strength is their youth, exuberance and unity while one of their weak areas is a fragile middle order.

Their team comes from Hakeem Hinds, Nial Smith, Joemal LaFleur, Trison Bynoe, Keion DeJesus, Damon Vantull, Stephen Latcha (Vice Captain), Troy Mickle, Tremayne Smartt, Romario Sheppard, Kevin Pelew, Mark Jackman, Troy Matheson and Gavin Moriah Jnr. Performing duties as Manager is Carl Moore with Julian Moore as Coach.

Keion DeJesus

Joemal Lafleur

Stephen Latcha

Romario Sheperd

Adams to lead E’bo in GCB\GTM U-19 inter county tourney Talented left hander Ricardo Adams has been named captain of the Essequibo team for the upcoming Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)\GTM inter county U-19 competition.

The squad also includes former national U-15 captain Kemo Paul, Ricardo Peters, left arm spinner Herry Green, Mark Gonsalves and Shivendra Hemraj.

The full squad reads, Ricardo Adams (Capt.), Kemo Paul, Ricardo Peters, Parmesh Parsotam, Rajiv Balgobin, Andy Dass, Herry Green, Mark Gonsalves, Paul Williams, Shivendra Hemraj, Raj Parbattie, Placid Edwards, Wazeem Karoon and Avinash Persaud.

The stand bys are Keanu Harry, Hassan Mohamed, Akash Jagroop and Devon George. The coach is Forbes Daniels and the manager is Nazeer Mohamed.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Adams XI defeated Kemo Paul XI by 71 runs when the

Ricardo Adams Essequibo Cricket Board trial matches continued recently.

Adams XI batted first and posted 285 all out in 50 overs.

Adams top scored with 58 while Parmesh Parsotam made 45, Paul Williams 40, Ricardo Peters 36 and Mark Gonsalves 33. Herry Green captured 3-27 for Paul XI who responded with 214 all out in 37 overs. Raj Parbattie was their leading run scorer with 58 while Ryan Adams slammed 42 and Keanu Harry (Continued on page 33)

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 39

John Fernandes Insurance Services Ltd 2nd Division Hockey League...

Western Union Hikers lead after first round Airbenders midfielder Maria Munroe in control against GCC

GCC’s Stuart Gonsalves is challenged

by Michael Harding of the Hikers Defending Champions, Western Union Hikers, have stormed to the lead at the end of the first round of the two round John Fernandes Insurance Services Ltd Second Division hockey league with their only loss of the pool being to second placed All Greys.

With the top three teams capturing 12 points each, goal difference separates them and places GCC in third place, while Old Fort, Airbenders and Saints round out the pool in those respective positions.

In their most recent duel with arch-rivals GCC, the Hikers managed to stave off a rain of attacks from the

Bourda machine to secure the 1-0 victory. After the first half failed to produce any goals despite sound efforts from both sides, a goalmouth scramble in the 45th minute fell kindly to newcomer Royden Ramroop who tapped in his first goal of the season.

GCC looked threatening to the final whistle but failed to balance the deficit and giving Hikers a full three points and the lead in the first round of competition with a plus 8 goal difference (goals scored minus goals conceded).

Second place All Greys took the majority of their clash with Old Fort to score their lone goal of the match. Old

Fort fought bravely against the second placed All Greys with Dwight Allen and goalkeeper David Williams in particular playing solid defence to keep Old Fort in contention. Their 1-0 victory however has kept All Greys within striking distance of the trophy.

GCC took out the Airbenders (comprising of the national ladies squad) with a 2-0 victory on the following afternoon to keep them in third place in the pool. Stuart Gonsalves and Shebiki Baptiste each scored one for the victors in the 11th and 40th minute respectively.

The Airbenders, however,

DeGroot gets the better of Shuffler Former Caribbean Under19 champion Kathy Shuffler made a classy return to competitive squash on Thursday night but was defeated by current Caribbean Under-19 runner up Ashley DeGroot on night two of the Ansa McAl sponsored Senior Easter Squash Tournament at the Georgetown Club Squash Facility. The in-form DeGroot played brilliant squash during the first two games, keeping Shuffler on her toes.

Those two games saw several exciting rallies, with DeGroot controlling the pace of the encounter. Her superb shot selection and rally construction helped her

Ashley DeGroot outplay Shuffler during the first two games which DeGroot won 11/6, 11/2.

Shuffler’s remarkable competitive spirits ignited mid-way through the third game and even though she

Thursday Night’s results Nyron Joseph defeated Theron Mohabir 11/0, 11/5, 11/2 Raphael DeGroot defeated Jonathon Antczak 11/4, 11/4, 11/3, Ashley Khalil defeated Taylor Fernandes 11/1, 11/3, 11/3 Ashley DeGroot defeated Kathy Shuffler 11/6, 11/2, 9/11, 11/3 Steven Xavier defeated Medhi Ramdhani 11/3, 11/4, 11/8 Ben Mekdeci defeated Alec Melville 12/10, 12/10, 11/6 Nicholas Narain defeated Allan Downes 11/8, 11/5, 12/10 Regan Pollard defeated Haopei Yang 11/2, 11/4, 11/2 Jason Ray Khalil defeated Jamaal Douglas 11/1, 11/1, 11/2 Ashley Khalil defeated Adam Alves 11/5, 11/5, 11/8

trailed 5-7 in the third game, she managed to come from behind and stay alive for one more game with a clutch 11/9 win in the third.

In the fourth, DeGroot, who is also an acclaimed hockey player, got back on her game, and while fatigue may have stepped in the equation for Shuffler, DeGroot thrived as she did in the first two games and prevailed 11/ 3.

The youth and skills of 22-year old Nicholas Narain prevailed against veteran campaigner Allan Downes in straight games 11/8, 11/5, 12/ 10.

Meanwhile, Ashley Khalil played her first match in the male category and managed to defeat Adam Alves 11/5, 11/5, 11/8. In her other encounter in the female category, Khalil defeated Taylor Fernandes 11/1, 11/3, 11/3. Jason Ray Khalil, Steven Xavier, Nyron Joseph and Regan Pollard also secured victories in their first round encounters on Thursday night.

managed to salvage some pride in their very next match against Saints when Samantha Fernandes struck in the 52nd minute with the lone goal of the match. This 1-0 victory completed the first outright victory in the tournament during regulation time for the Airbenders.

The lone match to date for

the second round saw Old Fort off to a fine start as they pulled off an upset victory over GCC by 2-1.

Old Fort led from the beginning when Keon Evans put his side up by one in the 8th minute of play and Anthony Cole buried a second in the 29th minute.

The second half saw most of

the action at the Old Fort end, but GCC could only manage to pull back a lone goal through Leonard George in the 51st giving Old Fort the 2-1 victory.

Matches resume at Saints ground today with All Greys facing GCC at 14:30 hrs and Old Fort taking on the Hikers at 16:00hrs.

Page 40

Kaieteur News

Saturday April 20, 2013

Saturday April 20, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 41

Blairmont No 4 win Attorney Tajenarine Ramroop T10 softball title Blairmont No 4 came back in the finals and put their best foot forward when it mattered most to upstage favourites and previously unbeaten Blairmont No1 by eight wickets to take the final of the Blairmont Premiere League Inter Settlement 10/10 softball cricket completion which was played at the Blairmont Settlement cricket ground.

The competition, which was sponsored and organised by Attorney at Law and former cricketer Tajenarine Ramroop for teams in Blairmont and Ithaca villages, saw play in both male and female categories.

Six males and two female teams participated in the competition.

The teams taking part competed on a round robin basis with the top two teams emerging to contest the finals; with Blairmont No 1, 2, 3 and 4, Ithaca and Veterans coming out tops.

In the final, Blairmont No4

won the toss and inserted No1 to take first strike and they reached 84 all out in 9.3 overs with Khemchand Persaud 29 and Jugeshwar Singh 17 being the top scorers. Bowling for No 4, Lakesh Takeram had impressive figures of five wickets for seven runs from his two overs.

In reply, Blairmont No4 pair of Vejai Farad with an unbeaten 52, which include 6x6 and Sohanlall Bissonlall 23 not out, were in devastating form as they clobbered the bowling to all parts of the field as their team raced to 86-2 for the win and take away the Attorney at law Tajenarine Ramroop trophy and $20,000. Bowling for No1 Zai Karim picked up both wickets.

In the female game, Blairmont No3 defeated Blairmont No2 by eight wickets to cop the female version of the competition.

Batting first No2 reached

79 with Soma Kissonlall cracking 41 and Zena Singh 22 being the principal scorers.

Bowling for NO3 Babita Dwarka took two wickets. In their reply, No3 led by Dwarka with 38 Not out raced to 82-2 in 8.1 overs and she was well supported by Orica Felix with an unbeaten 19 as they hurried their team to victory.

A number of individual prizes were presented to the outstanding individual performers with Vijai Farad copping the man-of-thematch award and the batsman with the most runs in the finals. The best wicketkeeper prize went to Carlos Holmes.

The Best Bowler award went to Leslie Amsterdam, the emerging player award went to D. Rasheed, while Dewan Persaud copped the trophy for taking a hat-trick.

On the distaff side the player of the match went to Babita Dwarka for scoring 38 and taking two wickets.

The winning No. 4 team pose with their silverwares and organiser and sponsor Attorney at Law Tajenarine Ramroop

GNRA Fullbore Championships

Goodluck aiming to consolidate on day 2 of 3 today Leading Guyanese and Caribbean marksman Ransford Goodluck will be aiming to consolidate his leader role when the second day of the National Fullbore Rifle Shooting championships continues today at the Timehri Rifle Ranges.

Goodluck will take a slim lead from day one in the X-Class into today’s competition which is anticipated to shoot off from 11:00hrs. The competition will not be easy as Reigning Caribbean Fullbore Champion Lennox Braithwaite, who is just behind Goodluck by a single point, will also be gunning for the top spot when the dust finally settles tomorrow.

Also in pursuit will be National Captain

Mahendra Persaud who won the Valladares Trophy at the 500 Yards Range after the first day of competition, Sunday last.

Leading in the ‘O’ Class is Lt. Col. Terrence Stuart with 120 points and 3Vs after recording 32.0 at 300, 49.3 at 500 and 39.0 at 900 yards.

Charles Dean is next with 119 points and 8Vs. Competition today will be at the 500 and 600 Yards Ranges while tomorrow’s final day will see the competitors aiming to be the sharpest at the 300, 600 and 1000 Yards Ranges.

The local marksmen are preparing for the visit here of a Great Britain team as well as their defence of the West Indies Fullbore Shooting Short and Long Range titles.

The winning No. 3 winning team pose with the accolades, sponsor, and organiser attorney at law Tajenarine Ramroop Soma Kissonlall got the award for scoring the most runs in the finals. Theresa Cozier with figures of 4-14 and Vasha Basdeo with 3 wicket got prizes for their bowling performances.

Most Outstanding emerging female player award went to Kimberly.

All the outstanding individual players were presented with trophies. In all 16 matches were played

and the tournament was sponsored to the tune of $120,000.

According to MR Ramroop, who was a former magistrate, the main idea of organising the competition is to keep the youths off the street and off of drugs, alcohol and other illicit activities.

Mr. Ramroop used the opportunity to call on the government to come forward and help the communities by

organise community and sporting activities. The villages are made up of mostly sugar workers from the nearby Blairmont Estate and farmers.

A number of other activities have been organised by Mr. Ramroop including a tapeball competition involving Police, Blairmont Community Centre, Blairmont Settlement, De Edward and Ithaca.

t r o Sp

Warner and Blazer accused of fraud by CONCACAF P

ANAMA CITY (Reuters) C O N C A C A F ’s former leaders Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer were slammed as “fraudulent in their management” of the soccer confederation’s affairs by the head of the regional body’s Integrity Committee yesterday.

David Simmons presented CONCACAF’s congress with a detailed report into allegations of financial mismanagement by former president Warner and ex-general secretary Blazer based on documents and interviews with 38

people.

“I have recounted a sad and sorry tale in the life of CONCACAF, a tale of abuse of position and power, by persons who assisted in bringing the organization to profitability but who enriched themselves at the expense of their very own organizations,” said Simmons, a former Barbados chief justice.

Delegates responded angrily to the report with one describing Warner, who is Minister of National Security in the Trinidad and Tobago government, and American Blazer as “white collar thieves”.

The report found that Warner, 70, did not disclose to CONCACAF, which represents soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, or world body FIFA that a $25.9 million Center of Excellence was built on land owned by his companies.

“Approximately $26 million of CONCACAF funds went into Center of Excellence and that is no longer an asset of C O N C A C A F, ” s a i d Simmons.

CONCACAF is looking at legal options regarding the Center.

NO CONTRACT

Simmons said the 67year-old Blazer, who is standing down from FIFA’s executive committee and will be replaced by a vote at congress on Friday, received more than $20 million in compensation from CONCACAF, including $17 million in commission.

He added that Blazer worked without a contract from July 18, 1998 and his compensation was discussed only three times in CONCACAF forums during 21 years.

The report also found “no business reason” for the renting of apartments used

by Blazer in Manhattan and

Jack Warner

Chuck Blazer

said the American had also departures. tried to buy property in the HAVELANGE CENTER Bahamas, in 2007, for about Simmons began his $4 million using football address to the congress, funds. The 67-year-old including FIFA president Blazer was described by Sepp Blatter, by highlighting S i m m o n s a s “ e n t i r e l y the case of the Joao negligent” for failing to file H a v e l a n g e C e n t e r o f income tax returns for Excellence in Port of Spain, CONCACAF in the United Trinidad.

States which led to the body The Integrity Committee losing its tax-exempt status reported that the Center in as a non-profit organization. which CONCACAF Concluding his report, invested at least $25.9 Simmons said the auditors million, some of which u s e d b y C O N C A C A F included loans from FIFA, during the Warner era, was built on land owned by Tr i n i d a d - b a s e d K e n n y Warner privately and not the Rampersad and Company, confederation. were not independent and “Warner represented to cited documented proof that FIFA that funds would be Warner and Blazer were used to support development clients of the firm. but never told FIFA that Neither Warner nor Center would be situated on Blazer were immediately l a n d o w n e d b y h i s available to comment. Both companies,” said Simmons. men have always previously “There is no evidence denied any wrongdoing. that Warner or anyone else Warner walked away ever disclosed to the from soccer in 2011 and thus CONCACAF executive did not have to face a FIFA committee or congress that Ethics Commission inquiry lands on which the Center r e l a t i n g t o b r i b e r y was built was owned by his allegations surrounding the companies,” he said. body’s presidential election Simmons said that in while Blazer resigned as deals surrounding the g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y i n Center, Warner “deceived December that year. persons and organizations” The Integrity committee into believing the facility was not asked to look into was CONCACAF’s and not the details of the ‘cash for his. Simmons said that votes’ affair that led to the neither Warner nor Blazer row between Warner and c o o p e r a t e d w i t h t h e Blazer and their subsequent investigation.

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